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Femi Fani-Kayode’s Fourth Marriage Explodes Over Domestic Violence

Sources told SaharaReporters that the former minister started physically abusing Precious from the first year of their marriage — the same fate that befell her three predecessors.

former Minister of Aviation in Nigeria, Femi Fani-Kayode, and his ex-beauty queen wife, Precious Chikwendu, have separated.

Fani-Kayode, who had had a hat-trick of marriages before meeting Precious with whom he has four sons, including a set of two-year-old triplets, accused her of infidelity.

Sources told SaharaReporters that the former minister started physically abusing Precious from the first year of their marriage — the same fate that befell her three predecessors. 

The violence, it was gathered, increased as the years went by. 

FFK as the ex-minister is often reffered to, was said to have ordered Precious to abort her last pregnancy, claiming it did not belong to him.

The sources said Precious ignored him but got savage beating, including on her belly for the recalcitrance.

A source said Fani-Kayode always hit the woman violently in presence of their homehelps and sometimes threatened her with a gun by sticking the weapon in her mouth to warn her against squealing.            

He sometimes instructed his bodyguard to hit the ex-beauty queen.

Fani-Kayode’s first wife, Saratu Attah, whom he married when he was 22, was also regularly pummeled by him.

Sources said the woman, daughter of the late Adamu Attah, was viciously beaten for requesting a swimming pool in their home on Marine Road in Apapa, Lagos. 
                    
FFK’s next marriage was to Yemisi Odesanya, daughter of a judge. 

She is now known as Yemisi Wada after remarrying. 

In newspaper interviews, the woman told stories of Fani-Kayode’s viciousness and lack of care for their daughters, the reason for which he was excluded from the marriage of one of them, Temitope, in 2014.

Despite the disconnect between him and the children, FFK never fails to advertise his “love” for them on Facebook on their birthdays.

Under to hide his ‘spot’ like the Leopard, FFK soon displayed his ugly part when in August he attacked Eyo Charles, a journalist with Daily Trust, for asking him a question during a press conference in Calabar, Cross River State.

Apart from describing Charles as “stupid”, FFK used other derogatory words on the journalist, drawing criticisms from far and near.

The former minister eventually bowed to public pressure and apologised for his conduct.

(Saharareporters)

Uzodimma Rejects Edo Governorship Election Results

—Says INEC Was Compromised By Opposition

—Assures APC Will Get Judgment At Tribunal

The Governor of Imo State and the Deputy Chairman of the APC Edo State Governorship Campaign Council, Senator Hope Uzodimma, has rejected the results of the Edo State Governorship Election.

The Governor made this known when he arrived the Imo State Government House Owerri on Sunday morning after the election which held on Saturday, 19th September, 2020.

Governor Uzodimma disclosed that the entire process in Edo State was marred by irregularities from officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who sabotaged the system, making it difficult for the APC votes to count.

Governor Uzodimma went on to describe the conduct of INEC officials in the Edo Governorship Election as ‘shameful’.

The Governor also thanked the Governorship Candidate of the APC in Edo, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, for his resilience and doggedness.

He also assured that the APC is already gathering evidence to proceed to the Election Petition Tribunal any moment from now, confident that the party will get judgment in due time.

Governor Uzodimma urged all APC faithfuls and party supporters to remain calm and law abiding, noting that what happened in Edo State is a sabotage to our hard-worn Democracy in Nigeria.

Oguwike Nwachuku

Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser(Gov.)

September 20, 2020

UK spends £1.4 million on COVID-19 palliatives in Borno, Benue, Kaduna

By Bode Olushegun

United Kingdom has spent £1.4 million on COVID-19 palliatives in three northern states of Borno, Benue and Kaduna.

The European country disbursed the fund through its department for the administration of overseas aid, Department for International Development (DFID).

The fund is disbursed in Borno in partnership with Christian Aid (CAID), the Mercy Vincent Foundation and EYN Project.

Speaking at a learning and reflection meeting on Localised Preparedness and Response to Primary and Secondary Impacts of COVID-19 on IDPs, Returnees and Vulnerable Populations in hard-to-reach areas of Nigeria, held at the weekend in Maiduguri, the Cash Coordinator of CAID, Mr Sendi Dauda said the DFID through the project focused on: “Supporting and Empowering Vulnerable Households to successfully deal with the effects of COVID-19 and reduce the risk of infection.”

Dauda said in Borno State alone, 6374 households benefited from four local government areas of Maiduguri, Dikwa, Jere and Konduga.

He disclosed that most of the beneficiaries were from internally displaced persons’ camps in the benefiting local government areas.

Dauda said the project had brought smiles to the faces of many of the displaced persons and had aided in reducing their vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic.

theconclaveng

#EDODECIDES: An overview of Edo governorship election

The Edo governorship election on Saturday held across the 18 local government areas of the state with commendation for the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) for a peaceful conduct of the election from observers.

Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN), who monitored  the exercise in the three senatorial  districts of the state, report that voters and election monitoring groups expressed satisfaction over the process in spite of the pre election apprehension of violence.

NAN observed high turnout of voters across the polling units, with substantial compliance with the COVID-19  safety protocol while INEC staff, who arrived early in most of the polling units with voting materials, provided hand washing buckets, sanitiser and thermometers.

The polling units witnessed visible presecence of security personnel in all the polling centres visited.In Edo North, Mr John Atsegameh, an election observer,  with Centre for Democracy and Development CDD, described the election as peaceful devoid of any violence.

“From the reports am getting from other places the election is free and devoid of violence.“The electorate conducted themselves properly; there was a strict adherance to COVID-19 safety protocols.

“So far, no form of violence, party agents conducted themselves and corporated with INEC personnel’” he said.

Similarly, the Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Mr Clem Agba and Sen. Francis Alimikhena (APC-Edo-North) expressed satisfaction on the conduct of the Edo governorship election.Agba stated this shortly after casting his vote at Uzani, Ward 3, Unit 8 in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo.

The minister commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the process, saying that he was impressed with the exercise.“I can only say here and if it is the reflection in other places then it is good” the minister said.

Sen. Alemikhena, APC Edo-North Senatorial District, said that he was impressed with the large turnout of voters. “The turnout here today is totally unprecedented,” he said.

Alemikhena, however, expressed confidence that with the turnout and peaceful conduct of the poll, his party would win. “This area is APC and we expect 100 per cent, I am very confident thst if everything goes well like this our party, APC is sure of victory,” he said.

In Edo Central district, aside the report of slight delay in one polling unit arising  from failed card reader, which was promptly replaced, the electorate and respondents applauded the conduct of the Governorship election.

There was large turnout of voters across all polling units in Esan West Local Government Area of the state. Most of the voters arrived in the various polling units before officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Some of the polling units visited by our correspondent included those in Ward 6 (Ogbomoide Primary School) with polling units 6, 7 & 8, and polling units 3, 4 & 5 (Central Primary School) all in Iruekpen, Esan West. Others included polling Unit 2 in Ward 5 (Uhunmudumu Primary School) in Ekpoma which has six voting points.

Accreditation of voters and voting commenced on scheduled at these polling units. While electoral materials and officials arrived on time at the polling units, security personnel were visible in all the polling units visited.

Also at the polling units were Policemen as well as personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

The situation was not different in Edo South as the only two cases of police authority dismissed the two alleged reported cases of gunshots at Oza in Orhionmwon LGA and Ologbo, a border town between Edo and Delta.

There was calm situation at Ugboko ward 5 unit 26, in Orhionmwonand ward 5 Unit 19 in Oredo Local Government Area, where Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Godwin Obaseki, both governorship candidates of APC and PDP, respectively, voted.

Some of the electorate who spoke with NAN in separate interviews commended INEC for adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols during the electoral process.

Mr Benson Ibizugbe said that he was impressed that the process was going on peacefully and violence-free.

Ibizugbe said ”INEC did a good job by conducting a peaceful election here.

“There has not been issues of faulty equipment and they provided face masks for voters who don’t have to make them eligible to vote”.

An INEC observer, Ada Opkara, from Smile Africa, said that the voting process was seamless and commended the people of Ugboko ward for their peaceful conduct.

“I resumed here at 7: 18 a.m. before the INEC staff resumed activities, from that time till now, about three hours later, everywhere is calm.

“The electorate are cooperative and they are obeying the rules of COVID-19 and INEC officials,” he said.

She expressed optimism that the peaceful atmosphere at the polling unit would continue throughout the voting process going by the presence of security personnel.

Another electorate, Mr Monday Erhabor, said that he was happy that there was no violence at the voting centre.

“Everywhere is calm and peaceful, there is no violence, the security is tight and we are sure of a free and fair process,” he said..Obaseki, however, expressed different opinion taking a swipe at INEC and security operatives on his noticed lapses on their parts.The PDP governorship candidate said he expected better preparations from INEC for the Saturday’s governorship poll, after queueing for over an hour before voting.

He stated this, shortly after he cast his vote  at 11:48a.m, having joined the queue for hand washing at 10:24a.m.

According to him, to wait for one and half hours on the queue before exercising his franchise is a bit disappointing.

“Given that this is a sole day election, I expected a bit more planning and preparation, and resources should have been put into this election.

“During the last presidential election in my polling unit, there were two polling points which helped thep voters. You all are witnesses of how long this has taken.

“The card reader is working very slowly, and this is the situation in all the major voting centres in Oredo Local Government area of the state as I speak.

“In Garrick Memorial Secondary School, I understand that more than 500 voters are already stranded because they can’t vote because of the slow processing of the card readers.

“One would have expected that INEC will have deployed more card readers and more voting points in highly numbered polling centres,” he said.

On the issue of vote buying at polling units, the governor said that the security agencies were not doing what they assured Edo people and Nigerians of, before the election.

“The security agencies assured us that they won’t allow anybody who don’t have business of voting in a particular place to be there, but they are working on the contrary to what they promised us.

“You can see cars parked with a lot of cash being disbursed to people and it seems to be normal practice, but we are not perturbed. People know what to do; cash can’t buy their future,” he added.

Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Adeleye Oyebade, in charge of Edo governoship election, has said nobody who violated electoral laws would be above the law.

Oyebade spoke after inspecting INEC’s office where the final collation and results of the Edo governorship election would be announced.

He said that the security agencies had appealed to the electorate and major actors not to cross the line, but do the needful.

He explained that the inspection was to further strengthen what was on ground, adding that minor issues that had been brought before the security agencies were being handled.

He noted that every security agency in the state under the banner of Inter Agencies Consultative Committee on Election Security were all involved in the election security to ensure free, fair and acceptable results at the end of the poll.

He said that security agencies were committed to ensuring that the election was conducted peacefully, adding that nothing was too much to sacrifice for the success of the election.

On the allleged shooting of an electorate at Ologbo in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government area and the alleged shooting at Oza, in Orhiomwon Local Government Area, Oyebade said that there was nothing of such.(NAN)

The NPF (Establishment) Act 2020 Has Not Completely Disengaged Lay Policemen From Criminal Prosecution; It Is A Serious Setback For Criminal Justice Administration In Nigeria


By Sylvester Udemezue

It also appears to support the notion in some quarters, that our Bar Association does not care about us. Where was the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) during the “public hearing” that was said to have been held prior to the passing of this Act? Was the NBA not invited? Did it not send Representatives? What had happened? Why are we still where we were? (discussion for another day)

THE HISTORY:
The powers of all policemen to appear in court as prosecutors WAS not in doubt. The Court of Appeal had held in OLUSEMO V. C.O.P. [(1998) 11 NWLR (PT 575) 547] that any police officer could prosecute in superior courts but that such police officer should have been called to the Nigerian Bar. Thus, while all police officers were entitled to prosecute cases before inferior courts in Nigeria, only those police officers duly called to the Nigerian Bar were permitted to prosecute in superior courts of record. This dichotomy between inferior and superior courts was however later displaced by the Supreme Court of Nigeria which held in the case of *FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA v. OSAHON [(2006) 5 NWLR (pt. 973) 361] that all police officers, whether or not they were qualified as lawyers, were entitled to appear and prosecute cases in all courts in Nigeria.

Further, as I learnt, the Ebonyi State ACJL has done something similar. The news we had got from Kano State had earlier indicated that a similar action had been taken, until unfortunately, we saw that the Kano State ACJL still permits LAY policemen to prosecute; section 123(2) of the ACJL, Kano provides: “Nothing in this section shall prevent a Police Officer from prosecuting any offence triable by any Magistrate’s Court”

Since the ACJA 2015 does not apply to all courts in Nigeria, some lawyers had mounted heavy advocacy for replication/extension/expansion of the position under the ACJA, 2015, to all other criminal jurisdictions in Nigeria. I wrote several published commentaries on this. And in a published learned paper, I had made the following suggestions, among others:
“… it is considered pertinent here to recommend that relevant governments and stakeholders should, as a matter of urgency, set necessary machinery in motion to amend provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice (Repeal & Re-enactment) Law, Lagos63, the Criminal Procedure Code Act and the Criminal Procedure Laws of the various States in Nigeria, so as to extend or replicate this innovative step started by the ACJA to all other courts and criminal jurisdictions in Nigeria, with a view to completely removing lay police officers from all aspects of criminal prosecution in all parts of Nigeria. Such move, which is long overdue, would considerably reduce the amount of delays currently being experienced in criminal proceedings and ensure a speedier and more effective administration of criminal justice. Lay police officers’ involvement in criminal prosecution is partly responsible for the worsening cases of awaiting trial64 cases and prison congestion in the country. Because of their professional limitations in this area, so many of the so-called police prosecutors are not able to match or withstand the legal firework of professionally qualified lawyers who act as defence counsel in courts during criminal prosecutions, because these lay police officers do not understand the intricacies of formal courtroom proceedings and trial procedure, and more often than not have very little or no preparation prior to their court appearances. There is no doubt that when lay police officers are finally completely disengaged from criminal prosecution in all the courts in the country, more jobs would be available for professionally qualified legal practitioners; prosecution of all criminal cases in all courts in Nigeria would then be taken over by only lawyers. However, the clamour for extrication of lay policemen from criminal prosecution is primarily not targeted at creating more jobs for lawyers, but rather at leaving criminal prosecution in the hands of lawyers who alone understand the law and are well able to match the expertise of defence counsel in court, fire-for-fire, to ensure that justice is dispensed in good time and more efficiently” (see: Udemezue SC, “DISENGAGING LAY POLICE OFFICERS FROM CRIMINAL PROSECUTION FOR A MORE EFFICIENT CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA” (African Journal of Constitutional and Administrative Law) <http://journals.ezenwaohaetorc.org/index.php/AJCAL/article/view/854> accessed September 20, 2020).

This is why I had felt elated on hearing the news (19/09/2020) that the NPF (Establishment) Act 2020 had taken us to the Eldorado as far as this was concerned — elated until I read the said section myself. Section 66(1) of the NPF (Establishment) Act, 2020, grants legal Practitioners the right to prosecute, although this is an unnecessary provision because there are already many laws granting legal practitioners the right of audience in all courts in Nigeria. Section 66(1) provides: “Subject to the provisions of sections 174 and 211 of the Constitution and section 106 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which relates to the powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation and of a State to institute, take over and continue or discontinue criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria, a police officer who is a legal practitioner, may prosecute in person before any court whether or not the information or complaint is laid in his name.”

However, section 66(2) NPF (Establishment) Act, 2020 creates a serious confusion when it says a policeman can prosecute any offense that a “non-qualified Legal Practitioner” is permitted to prosecute. Section 66(2) provides: “A Police Officer may, subject to the provisions of the relevant criminal procedure laws in force at the Federal or State level, prosecute before courts those offences which non-qualified legal practitioners can prosecute.”

QUESTION:
Who is a “non-qualified Legal Practitioner?” What sort of absurdity is that? One is either a legal Practitioner (as defined in sections 2 and 24 of the Legal Practitioners Act) or one is not. However, that term (“non-qualified Legal Practitioner”) could be reasonably interpretated to mean ”a person who is not qualified as a legal practitioner.” If we accept that interpretation, then, the NPF (Establishment) Act, 2020, has obviously taken us back to square one in this wise; it means that NO progress has been made. The implication is that it is only under the ACJA, 2015, and in those states (if any) where the statutes have expressly or by implication barred the LAY (non-lawyer) policemen from prosecuting, that we can confidently say lay policemen are not qualified to prosecute?

The question is, ARE WE UNDER A SPELL? How could we in the 21st century, enact a Law with such a retrogressive and archaic provision? Anyway, I am happy that section 66(3) is a step in the right direction, and has brought some cheering news. It provides: “There shall be assigned to every police station at least one police officer: (a) Who is a legal practitioner in accordance with the legal practitioners Act; and (b) Whose responsibility is to promote human rights compliance by officers of the division.” I recall that I had in my humble intervention during the 2019 NBA Annual Conference held in August 2019, in Lagos, called for the Establishment of Legal Sections at Police Stations Across the Country. Then, in a commentary circulated on social on September 01, 2019, and later published to the wider public on December 30, 2019, I had written thus in this respect:

“… if the Police Act is amended to provide for setting up of a legal section in every Police Area Command, and Divisional Police Office, each of such legal sections to be headed by a Divisional Legal Officer (DLO), just as we have Divisional Police Officer(DPO) as the executive head of the entire police division and then a Divisional Crime Officers (DCO) and DTO (Divisional Traffic Officer),etc. The DLO would become the head of the legal section in the police division, with mandate to advice the DPO, DTO, DCO, and other men and officers of each police station on observance of human rights requirements in treatment of arrestees (arrested persons) and detainees, to draft criminal charges and First Information Reports (FIR) for filing in relevant Magistrate Courts, advising the police on what offense to charge to court and on what to not charge, and on when to institute a charge and when to not, etc. This would in turn decongest our courts as fewer cases would be filed, because frivolous charges would have been weeded out at the investigation level. Besides, Lawyer-police officers from the various legal sections of police divisions would also participate in prosecution of cases in Magistrates courts. This has two more additional advantages:

(a) There would be need to employ more lawyers into the police force to meet this high demand for prosecutors; and
(b) With Lawyers as prosecutors at Magistrates Courts, defence lawyers would wake up and begin to take their cases at the Magistrates courts more seriously, seeing that they’re no longer dealing as prosecutors, with only police officers who have little or no knowledge of prosecutorial knowhow/expertise or finesse.

Section 66(2) of the Nigeria Police Force (Establishment), 2020, which purports to authorize non-lawyers to appear as prosecutors in courts of law should be amended immediately — as a matter of extreme urgency. As I stated in my paper, already cited above (on disengaging lay police officers), “there is hardly any good ground for continuing to accommodate lay prosecutors within the Nigerian criminal justice space. The practice of using policemen who are not lawyers to prosecute criminal cases in Nigeria dates back to the colonial era; there was then insufficient number of qualified lawyers to handle such cases, thus justifying their involvement which used to be in the nature of extemporization. Happily, today, the legal profession in Nigeria has come of age; there are currently over [120,000] qualified lawyers in Nigeria. So, just as it happened in 1913 when an application by one J. Osho Davies[65] to be appointed a local (self-taught) attorney in Nigeria was turned down by the Chief Justice of Nigeria on ground that the era of self-taught attorney was over in Nigeria, today, [in 2020], the use of lay prosecutors in the Nigeria`s criminal justice administration has become outmoded and ought to be discontinued in all courts, as the practice has done, and still does more harm than good to our judicial and justice system. The Nigerian Federal legislature (the National Assembly) deserves kudos for the innovative stride in the ACJA, 2015, but the job is not complete until all other relevant statutes are modified to follow suit, so as to rid our criminal justice system of activities of quack prosecutors who, as far as criminal prosecution is concerned, are nothing but square pegs in round holes.”

Respectfully,
Sylvester Udemezue
(udems)
(20/09/2020)

2020 Edo Governorship Election Was Peaceful And INEC Did Not Interfere With Voters — NBA Interim Report

The Nigerian Bar Association has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) for free and fair conduct of the Edo State governorship election that was held on Saturday.

This was made known in the interim report submitted to the President of the Association, by the Election Observer group.

TheNigerialawyer(TNL) recalls that the President of the Nigerian Bar Association – Olumide Akpata had appointed a team led by the NBA 1st Vice President – John Aikpokpo-Martins, as members of the NBA Observer Group for the Edo State Gubernatorial election.

The group in their report highlighted all the processes done during the election which commenced with the arrival of election officials, provision of materials, voting pattern, covid19 compliance, demographics of voters, agents of political parties, electorate/voters turnout, card readers, security, and vote-buying/inducement.

Read the interim report below

Nigeria Bar Association ‘NBA’ Edo State 2020 Governorship election Observer Group

Interim report

Introduction

The Nigerian Bar Association ‘NBA’ is one of the foremost professional bodies in Nigeria that the Independent National Electoral Commission ‘INEC’ partners with for the purpose of its statutory elections. As it is conventional, the NBA President constituted a 12-man supervisory observer group ‘the group’ for this purpose. The group is led by the 1st vice President of the NBA, Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins. The membership of the group was majorly drawn from different NBA branches in Edo state.

Background

The group converged and met in Benin City on Thursday 17th September 2020. We discussed logistics and coverage plan. The group members took possession of their election materials.

The group was divided into about seven ‘7’ different groups and we agreed that for the purpose of logistics and adequate coverage, other members of the NBA branches in the state should be co-opted to provide onsite reports of electoral incidents to assist us. The group agreed to utilize different social media platforms for the purpose of dissemination of reports.

Pre-election observation

The group observed from Thursday17th September to the early hours of Saturday 19th September 2020 ‘election day’ that there was heavy presence of security personnel in every nook and cranny of Edo state. The presence of police security and military appear to have calmed nerves of political stakeholders and their agents. There was no incident of violence in the last 48 hours before election day. We heard in the news that the People Democratic Party ‘PDP’ Edo election national coordinator, Governor Wike of Rivers state’s hotel was besieged by security operatives. The group made an attempt to verify this report through visit to the locus, however we were unable to confirm the precise position.

Election day Observation

As early as 7:30am, the group set out to different wards and Local Government Areas ‘LGAs’ as agreed. The convergence of opinion generally suggests that voting commenced between 9am and 10am in about 70% of the polling units throughout the state. The electorate converged as early as 8am, however most of the Polling Units officers did not arrive in the stations until about 9am-10am. The accreditation and voting were conducted simultaneously.

Arrival of Election Official

From the over 250 polling units aggregately covered by the group, we concluded that arrival time of INEC officials is fair, and we score them 60% in this regard.

Voting

As alluded above, voting commenced between 9am and 10am in most of the polling units. The sensitive materials for the elections did not arrive until about this time. We believe, INEC require some improvement around logistics and deployment of ad-hoc staff/election materials.

Provision of materials

Our group is of the opinion that provision of materials was adequate in the circumstances of the elections conducted in the different units. We observed that materials were available in over 80% of the Polling units as and when due.

COVID19 compliance

The overall impression of the group in the areas covered suggests that there was a disappointing observance of COVID19 protocols. INEC officials could have done better by organising voters in this instance. We strongly hold the opinion that COVID19 protocols compliance at the just concluded Edo election was abysmal and it is rated 25%. Protocols like washing of hands and social distancing were not observed at all.

Electorate/Voters turnout

The turnout was low. However, it is important to state that the people who turned out were enthusiastic about the process and there was a considerable level of interest in most of the Polling units visited in the state. There was obvious voter apathy.

Demographics of voters

The older voters from age 40 and above came out to vote, while the youths did not come out.

The female citizens represented about 70% of voters during the election.

Agents of political parties

The agents of most political parties were generally satisfied with the election. We spoke to several agents and they expressed satisfaction.

Card Readers

In the units covered by the group, the card readers malfunctioned minimally. The device worked well in most polling units and we observed that there is substantial improvement in the deployment of card readers. In one or two units where the card readers broke down, the officials informed us that they had requested for back up card reader.

Security

There was more than adequate security in the state. The polling units had heavy presence of security and we observed that the security personnel were not in the faces of the voters. They did not intimidate the voters.

The only snag we observed is the fact that the Policemen were either not professionally trained about election protocol or they were not informed that observers are part of the election process. We recommend that INEC should improve in this area of enlightenment engagement with security forces.

Vote Buying/Inducement

The group only heard about vote buying and distribution of money to induce voters, however we did not see or encounter any of such incident on the day of election.

Interference by Election officials

The election officials did not interfere with the voters in almost 100% of the units we covered.

Conclusion

The 2020 Edo state governorship election was generally peaceful. We have not been able to confirm any death in any polling unit during the election. Our observation ended at about 4pm on the day of election and we have deliberately excluded the final process of result collation since we did not cover that aspect. In a subsequent report, we shall elaborate on additional recommendations for INEC during future elections.

If The Charges Are Bogus, Why Is Prof Odinkalu Scared Of Appearing Before The Court For Exoneration? — El-Rufai Replies SERAP

The Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has challenged a human rights lawyer and former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, to appear before the court if he feels that the charges filed against him by the state are bogus.

El-Rufai said this in reaction to a tweet by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) calling on him to drop the charges he filed against Prof. Chidi for being “bogus” and a pretext targeted at critics

“BREAKING: We’re again urging governor @elrufai & @GovKaduna to immediately drop bogus incitement charges against human rights lawyer @ChidiOdinkalu
& end attacks on critics.

“Your friends violated the Penal Code of Kaduna Stare (sic), and believe social media activism makes them above the law.”

“Kaduna authorities should stop using ‘incitement charges’ as a pretext to target critics & journalists.” the tweet reads

El-Rufai while responding to the tweet said if the charges are bogus, Prof. Chidi should appear before the court to clear himself

“If the charges are bogus, why is he scared of appearing before a court of law for exoneration?” El-Rufai asked

He said Prof. Chidi is not above the law.

Nigeria’s security dilemma

Service Chiefs

The discordant tunes on the worsening security issue in the country from the government and some notable groups, associations as well as prominent Nigerians, who are perhaps voicing the position of the embattled majority, are clear indications that the battle is far from over.

By Anayo Ezugwu

ON Monday, September 14, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, narrated how he was ambushed in the northeast of the country by terrorists in 2015. He explained how his deputy,  Lieutenant General Lamidi Adeosun, chief of training and operations, saved his life.

While commissioning of a bridge constructed at Kuta in Osun State by the Nigerian Army Engineering Construct Regiment, Ede, Buratai said it was his deputy that mobilised troops to counter the terrorists, who attacked him in September 2015. “When I had the first ambush, he was with me in the vehicle, by my side and I could see the courage he exhibited. He was able to mobilise the troops to counter the bandits, the criminals, the terrorists out of the way,” he said.

But five years after he was saved from the ambush and untimely death, Buratai has not been able to replicate the same gesture to thousands of Nigerians, who that are being killed or kidnapped by the terrorists, bandits or herdsmen on daily bases. For instance, in the month of June 2020, Civic Media Lab reported that 395 Nigerians were killed, with 48 injured in 39 different attacks across the country.

According to the report, most of the attacks, which took place in the northern part of the country, were carried out unhindered as security agencies were not available to protect the people from the onslaught. The report highlighted how bandits and Boko Haram carried out their attacks in Borno, Katsina, Niger, Kogi, and Zamfara States.

In the breakdown of the attacks, 167 Nigerians were killed by bandits in June 2020. Also, 152 persons were killed in coordinated attacks by Boko Haram members, while unknown gunmen and herdsmen were responsible for the death of 18 and 17 people respectively.

Apart from this, Iba Gani Adams, Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, has raised alarm over the activities of armed terrorists, which he alleged are now occupying Kishi, North-west area of Oyo State as well as the vast old Oyo National Park in the state.

Adams in a statement signed by Kehinde Aderemi, his special assistant on media, said the recent development posed a great danger to the security of the entire South-west region. He disclosed that in the past few days, the armed groups engaged in kidnapping of locals apart from threatening their means of livelihood and access to forest resources, stating that children, the aged and women are the most targeted by the violent activities of the armed groups.

“I have received numerous reports from Kishi, North-west of Oyo State. The reports range from ceaseless kidnapping, rape and threat to lives of the Yoruba people in the Oke Ogun area, with Kishi as the present hub of terrorist attacks. It’s my responsibility to alert the public and also the relevant authorities,” he said.

Adams, while expressing worry that the region is gradually becoming a haven for bandits and terrorists masquerading as herdsmen, warned that the situation must be nipped in the bud to prevent the Southwest taking the ignoble part of the Northeast and the North-west areas of Nigeria where violence has taken a firm root.

He added that what appears like the gathering of armed groups in the area would affect the stability of the entire South-west region. The Yoruba leader said Oyo State has the largest land mass in Yorubaland with an area of 28,454 square kilometers and listed as the 14th by size among the 36 states of the federation, warning that the occupation of the state by terrorists will strengthen their infiltration of the entire South-west region.

Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria, also raised alarm that the country is drifting to a failed state. He said the country was fast-moving to the precipice. Speaking at a consultative dialogue in Abuja on the topic “Moving Nigeria away from tipping over,” Obasanjo said economically the country is becoming a basket case and poverty capital of the world, and socially, it is firming up as an unwholesome and insecure country.

He charged the federal government to deal with issues of terrorism, organised crimes, banditry, kidnapping, human trafficking, drug, money laundering, and corruption.

Likewise, Alani Akinrinade former Chief of Defence Staff, has urged the President Muhammadu Buhari to find a permanent solution to the recurring clashes between herdsmen and farmers, and killings in the country. He warned that not putting an end to the killing of farmers in the country may lead to famine.

“We are regaled everyday with blood-chilling stories of killings and pillaging of villages, sometimes towns in the north and central parts of Nigeria, and of recent talks of impending massacres and intensification of kidnapping coming our way in the Southern States and the main protagonists of the disturbance is the Fulani herdsmen.

“Sometimes, we are told that they are Fulani mercenaries from outside Nigeria being sponsored by our Nigerian brothers. The situation is so daring, that in collaboration with unexpected bad weather this year, a famine is imminent. We hear we are already borrowing grains from the ECOWAS countries, the immediate result of farmers being forced to abandon their farms.

“I suggest to him to read the riot act to the Fulani herdsmen, that it is not acceptable for any foreigner by whatever name called to enter our country illegally and molest our people. They are not welcome. We should not, by mistake of omission or commission allow our people to degenerate to self-help. It is a sure road to anarchy and perdition, which will not go away,” he said.

But the federal government has insisted that the country is not a becoming a failed state. Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, said Buhari’s assumption of office in 2015 prevented Nigeria from becoming a failed state, after a long stretch of rapacious and rudderless leadership.

He said Buhari came into office at a time that a swathe of the country’s territory was under occupation, a period when many Nigerian towns and cities, including the capital city of Abuja, were a playground for insurgents and a moment that the nation’s wealth had been looted dry, with little or nothing to show for the nation’s huge earnings, especially in the area of infrastructure.

He said it was therefore a cruel irony that those who frittered away a great opportunity to put Nigeria on a sound socio-economic footing, at a time of financial buoyancy, and those who planted the seed of the insecurity in some parts of the country today, are the same ones pointing an accusing finger at a reformist government.

”Nigeria today faces a lot of challenges. But whatever situation the country has found itself in, things would have been much worse but for the deft management of resources, unprecedented fight against corruption, determined battle against insurgency and banditry as well as the abiding courage of Mr. President in piloting the ship of state.

”Nigeria today is not a failed state, but a nation that is courageously tackling its challenges and building a solid infrastructure that will serve as the basis for socio-economic development, a nation that is unrelenting in battling insecurity and working hard to ensure the greatest prosperity for the greatest number of people,” he said.

With terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and herdsmen spreading their activities across the country,

it is yet to be seen what the federal government will do to avert impending security crisis in the country.

Realnewsmagazine

Former Senator, Dino Melaye, ‘waxes’ new musical to mock Oshiomhole over Edo defeat

Saraki Congratulates Edo People, Says Obaseki’s Victory Has Several Implications

Immediate past Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has congratulated Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, for his re-election which he described as having several symbolic representations for Nigeria and her democracy.

Saraki in a statement from his Media Office in Abuja stated that Obaseki’s victory at the elections which took place yesterday represented the determination of the good people of Edo State to decide who governs the state and to ensure their votes count at all times.

“The result of the Edo election represents the true wish of the people who stood firmly behind their Governor against power mongers who were determined to foist their choice on the people. It represents the will of the people to vote in free, fair, credible and peaceful elections. The people of Edo State who had sleepless nights in order to protect their votes, those who rejected the cash being thrown around to buy their votes and the intimidation to force them to compromise their belief, deserve our praise. Therefore, my congratulations go to all the people of Edo State.

“Let me give kudos to the leaders and governors in our party, the PDP, for working together to achieve this victory. The PDP leaders and members in Edo State who whole-heartedly accepted Governor Obaseki since he joined the party and co-operated with him to bring about this victory deserve to be appreciated

“The result of the just concluded election also represents the fact that our people actually desire to be governed by a truly democratic government headed by those they genuinely voted for. It represents the fact that our security and electoral officials can conduct free and fair elections if they have the right atmosphere. We are happy that throughout this election we did not see the military brutalizing the people or security officials supervising the snatching of ballot boxes and vandalisation of  votes. Thus, the military and other security agencies deserve commendation for this successful polls.

“Also, we saw how the INEC officials maturely handled the complaints of the APC agent who sought to create confusion at the state collation centre when the Orihomwon Local Government result was about to be declared. The INEC and its officials deserve to be commended for their neutrality in this election.

“We can see that the result represents realistic figures from one local government area to the other. No case of outlandish figures being reeled out. That is also a sign of some level of credibility in the process. It is for the above reasons that I have to commend President Muhammadu Buhari for keeping the military out of this election and for giving the instructions that led to the apparent neutrality of members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other security officials in the entire process”, Saraki stated.

He further urged Governor Obaseki to see his victory as a charge by the people of Edo State to him to intensify his focus on development of the state and the welfare of its people.

“The Edo election result is a victory for our country, her people and democracy. We have shown that the glory of the country is more valuable to the citizens than the wish of a tiny power clique”, he added.

End

Signed 

Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office

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