Acting Presidency: Yar’Adua loyalists decide new strategies against Jonathan

Following yesterday celebrated dethronement of Nigeria’s most corrupt Attorney General since independence, Michael Aondoakaa, who was widely considered to be the most influential member of the Yar’Adua kitchen cabinet, Sahara reporters has learned that the group may have decided on immediate legal action, to be spearheaded by Northern politician, Tanko Yakassai. Rallying the deflated troops yesterday evening, its Abuja-based arrowhead, James Ibori, hurriedly summoned a meeting of its deflated remnants of the group. They met all night to consider fresh options to combat to Goodluck Jonathan, who was named “Acting President” via resolutions of both houses of the National Assembly 72 hours ago.

Jonathan started his new role by chairing the Federal Executive Council meeting perched on the seat of the president, which had been empty for close to 80 days. Before entering the chambers for the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, sources say he tried frantically to sack Aondoakaa outright, perhaps to eliminate his divisive tendencies, but other members of the kitchen cabinet advised against it. It was then he settled for a minor reshuffle by moving Aondoakaa to a less conspicuous cabinet position where he will have limited powers to cause immediate havoc to what has become a shaky resolution by the legislative arm of the Nigerian government. That move alone was certain to change the dynamics within the government, and the country.

Ibori, the former Governor of Delta State has everything to lose with the removal of Andoakaaa from the coveted seat of AGF, as it immediately conjured up the nightmare prospect for him of his wife and associates facing criminal trial in a UK court may all end up in jail. The group last night resolved to respond by dragging the legality of Jonathan’s ascendancy to the presidency into question and transform the issue into a full-blown constitutional crisis that would position the military wing of the group to strike.

Sources say the EFCC may also have been activated already to search Aondoakaa’s house based upon a fresh petition that the Bayelsa State governor paid him $1.5 million to fight Jonathan, but what was found turned out to be the remainder of a $3 million deal the state had with Aondoakaa to sign off on Yar’Adua on citing a campus of the Nigerian Law School campus in the state. Aondoakaa routinely extorts money from state governors for favorable decisions concerning them to be made by Yar’Adua.

Another source told Sahara reporters that but for the removal of Aondoakaa yesterday, he was already armed with a lawsuit with which he wanted to get a judge in Abuja to help “interpret” the motions of the National Assembly by which Jonathan became Acting President, hence the mobilization of policemen to his house and office to forestall any such action.

Sahara reporters also spoke to several National Assembly members over their action, and they all insisted that they did what they did out of necessity and to close the vacuum and the political crisis created by Yar’Adua’s absence. Our sources said, however, that the members of the National Assembly acted only when it was leaked to them that a radical group in the military planned to take over power and wipe out the entire political class including former head of states, media owners, businessmen with political connections, some visibly political traditional rulers and some members of the clergy. The intelligence that was shared with them through diplomatic sources led to the “expedient” action to make Jonathan “Acting President”. There may be credence in this, given that only the previous week, many National Assembly members continued to stand by Yar’Adua.

On Tuesday, when the Senate President was making his declaration regarding the resolution to make Jonathan “Acting President and the Commander –in-Chief of the Armed Forces”, he had practically plagiarized the proposition of notable human rights activist, Femi Falana, who earlier proposed that the issue could be resolved on the basis of the “doctrine of necessity”.

Last night’s proposed response by Yar’Adua loyalists, in which they chose to seek ways to extend the crisis in order to turn things in their favour, suggest that Nigeria’s troubles are not over. So far, they have refused to allow members of the House of Representatives delegation currently in Jeddah to visit Yar’Adua. A source at the National Assembly confirmed to Sahara reporters that the delegation of the House of Representatives was denied access to Yar’Adua outright. According to their flight itinerary, they are now billed to return to Nigeria tomorrow.

Sahara reporters has also learned that another three–man delegation comprising the Governors of Katsina, Bauchi and Benue States may also meet with no success in their effort to see Yar’Adua, a mission that they could not accomplish by the close of business in Jeddah today. The delegation had been used as a back up to force out a letter from Yar’Adua’s wife, the woman who has been the most intransigent of all the kitchen cabinet members.Turai Yar’Adua has vowed that Nigeria will never see a letter transmitting power to Jonathan. She has kept that promise, but if by the vow she meant that Jonathan will not ascend to Acting President, it seems she needs a new calculator.

As for the Abuja based kitchen cabinet, they have resorted to agreed lines of propaganda, which Nigerians will see more of in the following days, to mobilize against Jonathan, including repeatedly using Obasanjo’s name to poison the political elite in the North again him. For example, Yar’Adua’s Chief Economic Adviser, in a text message obtained by Sahara reporters last night following the strategy meeting, said, “Obj, Aliko, Steve (Orosanye) all meeting. Obj has hijacked the gov(’t), Kayode is Obj nomination, They will sack Ruma next week. Farida is going! Nuhu (Ribadu) is coming back. And VP is coming for us. Gov(’t) is withdrawing from all lawsuits against Yar’adua-TY”. Various elements of this propaganda were repeated in James Ibori’s Daily Independence newspaper today.

Obasanjo was supposed to be attending an event promoted by his business partner Andrew Young thorough the LEON H. SULLIVAN FOUNDATION today at the National Press Club in Washington DC, but the event has been cancelled due to the inclement weather in the DC area. One of his aides told Sahara reporters that Obasanjo was actually at the Lagos airport last night enroute to the US but had to return to his farm in Otta because he was told the event in DC was canceled.

Part of the kitchen cabinet strategy is also to reactivate the rumor that Yar’Adua will return by the end of February 2010 when it would have been 90 days since his “marabouts” reportedly put him into spiritual and physical regeneration in Jeddah.

For the moment, some members of the National Assembly told Sahara reporters they are eagerly awaiting any legal moves by Yar’Adua’s loyalists as that would enable them embark on more drastic measures against the missing “president.” The options being considered include impeachment or a total invocation of section 143 or 144 of the constitution that would enable Jonathan act fully as president for the rest of Yar’Adua’s tenure.

Sahara Reporters.

DR. CHRIS NWABUEZE NGIGE'S PRESS BRIEFING

TEXT OF A PRESS BRIEFING BY
DR. CHRIS NWABUEZE NGIGE, OON, KSJ
GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE OF ACTION CONGRESS
ON THURSDAY 11TH FEBRUARY 2010 AT AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE.
Gentlemen of the Press:

It has become imperative to meet with you again in order to alert the people of Anambra State, Nigerians and the World at large that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has once again engaged in a severe breach of our constitution as it pertains to electoral matters.

You may recall that at my last press briefing on Sunday, February 7, 2010, I had highlighted the issue of the disenfranchisement of over 83% of Anambra State people, especially in my areas of voting strength. I also mentioned the issue of violence, arrest of AC agents, ballot box snatching and stuffing as well as monetary inducement of voters at the polling areas. On the day of the election at the discovery of these lapses, I quickly brought them to the attention of the INEC Chairman and he advised that I put them in writing and submit to the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) before the final results are announced.

We immediately put up our petitions to withhold results in those areas mainly Anaocha, Onitsha North and South as well as Ogbaru. Our INEC Collator Mr. Kingsley Ezenwenyi vehemently protested these results. Even with the INEC collated figures (anomaly and all notwithstanding) it was clear to our Collator that no clear winner had emerged and he promptly brought this to the attention of the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) who is the Returning Officer but he was ignored. The State REC instead proceeded to announce a winner.

Having now received the official results from INEC, we have carefully analyzed same and come to the painful conclusion that the announced winner did not meet the mandatory constitutional requirement as provided in Section 179 (2)(a) and (b). This section provides as follows:
(2) A candidate for an election to the office of Governor of a State shall
be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being two or more
candidates -
(a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and
(b) he has not less than one-quarter of all the votes cast in each of
at least two-thirds of all the local government areas in the State.
INEC therefore subverted the Anambra Governorship electoral process by announcing a non winner, thereby truncating a second election (run off) in accordance with Section 179 (3) (a)(b). This section provides thus:

(3) In default of a candidate duly elected in accordance with subsection
(2) of this section there shall be a second election in accordance with
subsection (4) of this section at which the only candidates shall be -
(a) the candidate who secured the highest number of votes cast at the
election; and
(b) one among the remaining candidates who secured a majority of votes
in the highest number of local government areas in the State, so
however that where there are more than one candidate with a majority
of votes in the highest number of local government areas, the
candidate among them with the next highest total of votes cast at the
election shall be the second candidate.

In summary, we need to bring to light the injustice in this case. The announced winner did not meet the constitutional requirement of winning "not less than one quarter of all the votes cast in each of atleast two-thirds of all the local governments areas in the State". In other words, the announced winner must meet this requirement in 14 Local Government Areas in Anambra State. Indeed, the announced winner met the requirements in only 13 Local Government Areas.
(See attached analysis)

Having secured the next highest number of votes and fulfilling Section 179(3)(a) (b) as stated above, I should be going for a second election as stipulated in Section 179(3)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
Because of this travesty meted on me and the Anambra electorate, I have decided to take my matter to the election court for the invocation of the relevant provisions of the constitution dealing with second elections (run off) following the inconclusive election of February 6, 2010.

Thank you.

FOR WIDE DISTRIBUTION

AP Good luck Jonathan and the War against Corruption

I Read This

Is Jonathan Goodluck on a strong moral pedestal to prosecute the war against corruption?

In his first address to the Nation as acting President, Goodluck Jonathan among others things said: “One of the cardinal commitments of this administration is our commitment to Good Governance, Accountability and Transparency. We shall continue to pursue these policy objectives with all the seriousness they deserve. In particular, the war against corruption will be prosecuted more robustly. We will therefore strengthen the capacity of the anti-corruption agencies and give them a free hand to prosecute the anti corruption war

In September 2006, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) named Mrs. Patience Jonathan, wife of Goodluck Jonathan, then Bayelsa State Governor, as an accomplice in the N104million- money laundering case involving Mrs. Nancy Ebere Nwosu.

The EFCC in suit number FHC/ABJ/M/340/ 06 filed on August 21, 2007 at the Federal High Court, Abuja alleged that the governor’s wife was the one that instructed her agent to launder the huge sum in a First Bank of Nigeria account number 3292010060711 held in the name of Nansolyvan Public Relations Limited.

So Can this man really prosecute a war against corruption?

This is what is inside that file:
"Our investigations revealed that Mrs. Patience Jonathan, wife of the Governor of Bayelsa State, was the person who instructed one Hanner Offor to launder the said sum of N104, 000, 000 into the account of Nansolyvan Public Relations Limited with First Bank of Nigeria Plc (FBN), Niger House, Marina, Lagos," Ofem Uket, a legal officer with the EFCC averred in an affidavit in support of originating summons of the suit.

"Already, the court presided over by Justice A.I. Chikere has ordered the freezing of the said account and another, Access Bank Plc no. 001001006221 held in the name of Finviclaud & Co. Limited, which the EFCC alleged was also involved in the laundering of the money".

According to the EFCC affidavit, "Access Bank blew the lead on the scam when it submitted a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) to the Financial Intelligence Unit (F.I.U.) of the commission, indicating that N70million had been laundered into an account held by Finviclaud & Co. against the usual flow of funds into the said account.

The commission deposed that its investigation showed that the N70million was deposited in the account with a personal current account FBN cheque no. 3292010060711 drawn on Nansolyvan Public Relations Limited at the Niger House Marina branch of the bank.

It claimed that the N104million found in the frozen FBN account was lodged by one Hanner Offor in two tranches of N70million and N34million on the May 3 and 4, 2006, averring that it was the governor's wife that instructed that the money be laundered into the account. The EFCC further deposed that the two accounts belonged to Nwosu who had made statements to that effect, and consequently requested that the accounts be frozen in accordance with Section 34(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act No. 1 of 2004.
This is what , in my view , prevented him from assuming the Presidency sooner , not the constitution . There's a damaging evidence that , under the instruction of Turai , EFCC has kept a file of Jonathan's wife laundering case open . The News is no secrete among Nigeria's political elite and the Nigerian PRESS . What's NEWS is how the dent will affect his Presidency ? His supporters say don't worry - The case may now go to REST permanently ....with a change in the Chairmanship of the anti-corruption Agency .....

But Nigerians would want to know what's inside that file . Don't you ?

PRESIDENCY: CRISES NOT OVER

Fellow Compatriots'

By conferring on the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan the status of Acting President the National Assembly seems to have bowed to public pressure. Transferring presidential power to Goodluck Jonathan is the right thing to do. But the manner in which the National Assembly invoked Section 145 has not completely resolved the constitutional crisis. The federal legislators merely created a constitutional fiction to redress constitutional violation by President Yar’adua and members of his Kitchen Cabinet.

While the legal and Constitutional basis of the decision to empower the Vice President are inherently flawed, the fact remains that Nigeria has taken a step back from the abyss by the legislators’ decision and the consequent assumption of Acting President by Mr. Jonathan. But the fear remains that this fiction may fail unless reinforced with reality of Section 144 of the Constitution.

As a group dedicated to the institutionalization of good governance at all levels, 3G believes that the only way to truly resolve the crisis surrounding the Presidency is for the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) under Acting President Jonathan to as a matter of urgency and national importance, determine the exact whereabouts of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua as well as his exact state of health.

3G believes that the absence of President Yar’adua from the country for nearly three months without passing through the established procedure as provided in the laws of Nigeria is a clear breach of the Constitution that should not by simply brushed aside. It is a critical breach of security for a President of a country to be supposedly holed up in a hospital in Saudi Arabia without top government officials, including the Vice President and security chiefs, knowing his whereabouts. It is also disheartening that a resolution of the Senate to President Yar’adua to send to it a letter of vacation received no response and the Senate did not bother to inquire whether the resolution was delivered to the sick President.

If the President Yar’adua is incapacitated and therefore unable to send a written memo as required by the Constitution, then it raises serious questions about criminality and duplicity that demand answers. For instance, who signed the supplementary budget? Who has been authorizing presidential decisions in the name of President Yar’adua for 78 days? Have the security Chiefs made efforts to ascertain the state of President Yar’adua? And who took the decision to not only keep the nation in the dark, but also embarked on a campaign of falsehood to misinform the public? These questions require urgent answers if our democracy is to survive and grow.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Good Governance Group hereby calls on the National Assembly pursuant to its oversight power under Section 88 of the Constitution and the Executive Council of the Federal under Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently:

(1) Establish the exact whereabouts of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and determine the exact status of his health;

(2) Identify the different persons behind the decision to transfer the President abroad and the various roles they may have played in misinforming the public;

(3) In the event that President Yar’adua is considered medically unfit or incapable of carrying out the functions of President, to declare him so and swear in Acting President Jonathan sworn in as President and Commander-in-Chief.

In the meantime, the Good Governance Group calls on the Acting President to recognize this moment as a transformative moment and redeem the promises of electoral reform and war against corruption which President Yar’adua thoroughly compromised. The Good Governance Group offers the Acting President a hand of fellowship at this defining moment to move fast and unwaveringly towards comprehensive and genuine electoral reform that will ensure that Nigerians have a real opportunity to effect genuine and democratic change of leadership at all levels of government in 2011. The Good Governance Group will continue to mobilise Nigerians to demand democratic accountability and constitutional governance at all times.
The struggle continues.

Salihu M. Lukman
For 3G

3G Organizing Secretary

Buhari’s resignation affected ANPP badly

By Suleiman Ahmed



Hundreds of people have started withdrawing from the Kano State chapter of the All Nigeria Peoples Party after last week’s resignation of their former presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari.

Some of the party members said their membership withdrawal was a mark of loyalty to Mr. Buhari.

“We decided to denounce our membership from the party because our mentor and hero quit the party,” one of them, Ahmadu Haruna Zago, said. “His withdrawal is a good omen to us because the party failed to carry along its members.” Mr Zago, who is the former chairman of the party in the state and close associate of Mr Buhari, said his supporters are celebrating Mr. Buhari’s exit from the party.

“General Buhari will join another party after consultation with his advisers and the well meaning Nigerians,” he said. “General Buhari’s supporters in Kano, which numbered in the millions, have unanimously withdrawn their membership from ANPP and will join any party that Buhari will join.”

He said politicians in Kano and other states who ‘betrayed Buhari’ will now have to run the party on their own, ‘because the era of camouflaging with Buhari’s name is over.”

The State chairman of the party, Sani Hashim Hotoro did not pick his calls when he was called to solicit his opinion on the matter.

Waiting on Buhari

Some of those who have left the party in sympathy with Mr. Buhari are former House of Representatives member from Kano municipal, Umar El-Yakub and a former Deputy Governor of the state, Magaji Abdullahi.

Others are the party’s youth leader, Nasiru Adhama and Sagiru Panshekara, a former council chairman and now Special Assistant to the state governor.

A reliable source said some members of the party in the state and the National Assembly were equally planning to quit the party and join Mr. Buhari in the new party that he might declare his interest for next week.

Malawi: “Stop harassing LGBT minorities!”.....say Members of the European Parliament

Malawian police recently arrested Peter Sawali, 21, for putting up posters stating “Gay rights are human rights” on a busy road in Blantyre, the country’s commercial capital. The posters were confiscated. Sawali faces a fine of MWK 5,000 (EUR 25) and up to three months in prison.

This arrest follows the case of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, who performed a traditional marriage ceremony in December 2009, and now face up to 14 years’ imprisonment. Responding to widespread international criticism of their prosecution, Kondwani Nankuluma of the Malawian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee recently declared to Africa News: "We are following our laws and proceeding with the case for the two in the courts. [...] Why do they keep pestering us to release the two?"

Michael Cashman MEP, Co-president of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights, commented: “Malawi is a sovereign nation, and its laws should be respected; but using post-colonial laws to oppress citizens instead of protecting them is unworthy of any sovereign nation in the world. If Malawian authorities want to stop being ‘pestered’, they must first live up to the legal commitments they made when signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, and enacting the Bill of Rights in their constitution.” Michael Cashman continued: “Given that Malawi is now chairing the African Union, it is incumbent upon them to uphold the human rights of all their citizens, and that includes lesbian, gay and bisexual people.”

Ulrike Lunacek MEP, Co-president of the Intergroup, added: “It isn’t just about the rights of sexual minorities, as reminded in the UN Joint Statement of December 2008, which was signed by 67 countries including Cape Verde, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius and São Tome and Principe. It’s also about freedom of expression, which is universally recognised in all the international treaties to which Malawi is signatory.”

The trial of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga is set to continue with a hearing today. Its outcome will be decisive in influencing the country’s stance towards LGBT minorities.

Albanian Law Drops Gay Marriage Proposal

Gay rights advocates in Albania are welcoming the partial victory of an antidiscrimination law parliament passed Thursday. The law includes protections for the LGBT community, but it drops a provision to legalize same-sex marriages that drew international attention this past summer.

According to Reuters, “the bill guarantees citizens against discrimination on grounds of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation, but has widely come to be known in Albania as the gay law because of the publicity (Prime Minister Sali) Berisha gave their cause.”

Religious groups successfully lobbied against the proposal to recognize same-sex marriages as part of the law, however.

“Approved by the ruling Democratic Party and its allies in parliament late on Thursday, the law does not allow same-sex marriage as promised by Prime Minister Sali Berisha,” reports Reuters. "Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic communities condemned the idea.”

The Alliance Against Discrimination, an Albanian gay rights group, hailed the antidiscrimination law as a strong start despite the loss of the marriage equality provision.

“This law is not simply a fulfillment of requirements that Albania has undertaken for European Union integration and visa liberalization,” said a statement issued by the group. “Above all, it is a victory for democracy and for human rights for all Albanians.”

DHAKAR: Citizens' monitoring of public procurement

THE planning minister's frank admission that graft gobbles up 40 to 50 per
cent of the public funds allocated against any procurement contract only
confirms the public perception on the issue. Since public procurement
involves about 70 per cent of the expenditures under the Annual
Development Programme (ADP), the amount of money involved in it is also
huge. Naturally, unless the rules of procurement are strict and foolproof,
one should not be too surprised if a significant sum of the money leaks
through into corrupt hands.

Reassuringly, the minister has informed that a Public-Private
Stakeholders' Committee (PPSC) has been instituted as a watchdog to ensure
transparency and accountability in the Public Procurement Act (PPA) and
thereby institutionalise social audit of public procurement.

This is certainly a good move to make the expenditure of the public money
in the procurement process answerable to the representatives of the
various stakeholders from the private and the public sectors.

However, the success of the PPSC in plugging the holes through which
corruption creeps in depends on how effectively it can oversee the
procurement process.

But recently, with a view to speeding up the procurement process some
provisions of the Public Procurement Act (PPA), 2006 have been amended.
The somewhat relaxed procurement regime has definitely thrown a fresh
challenge before PPSC or any monitoring mechanism for that matter meant to
ensure transparency in the purchasing procedure as it has by definition
become vulnerable to quarters seeking to gain from the slackened
procurement rules. By bringing public procurement activities within the
ambit of what it calls 'social auditing' through engaging citizens through
the PPSC, it is expected that accountability and transparency in the
procurement procedure could be ensured. The point is, being a new entity
itself it would have to go through a lot of self-assessment and evolution
before becoming efficient in delivering the goods.

The exalted motive behind creation of the watchdog body, PPSC, to involve
the private sector alongside the government to oversee public procurement
is commendable. Now, its modus operandi will have to be worked out
thoughtfully. It would have to devise a mechanism to ensure that it can
deliver while on the job of monitoring the performance of public
procurement activities.

ENSURING TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT DEALS

THE issues relating to public procurement have been under the scanner of
major donors, media and experts since the government initiated moves to
amend certain provisions of the public procurement act (PPA). Despite
opposition from multilateral capital donors, the government got a few of
the controversial amendments to the PPA approved by the parliament. Some
local critics, however, had held the view that the amendments were
basically aimed at "distributing" favours among the ruling party workers
and supporter's at the local levels. On their part, some key development
partners had then communicated their opposition to the amendments,
maintaining that the changes would weaken an earlier law that was
otherwise aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability in public
procurement.

The government, for quite sometime, stood firm on its PPA amendment
stance. But it later appreciated the need for taking a fresh view of the
donors' argument. Some such donors had then reportedly conveyed their
decision to suspend disbursement of fresh funds to their aided projects
unless the government signed revised deals agreeing to follow their
procurement guidelines. The initial opposition of the government to the
donors' point of view on public procurement was partly because of the
reason for encouraging new local businesses in procurement-related
activities. There may be some pluses of this stance. But the admission by
the planning minister the other day about corruption and other
irregularities eating up often 40 to 50 per cent of the fund spent on
procurement in public sector projects would give here a contradictory
signal. Speaking late last week at the first meeting of the 27-member
public-private stakeholders committee (PPSC) formed last month with a view
to ensuring transparency and accountability in public procurement, the
planning minister made this observation.

The decision of the government to constitute a watchdog body involving
people from both private and public sectors is otherwise welcome. However,
there are some grounds for raising questions over the inclusion of the
representatives of a few organisations in the committee. Furthermore, it
also remains to be seen whether the newly constituted PPSC would be able
to monitor any irregularities in spending of a substantial amount of funds
on hundreds of projects under the annual development programme (ADP).
However, the job of the PPSC could be made relatively easy, in terms of
availability of technical expertise, if two relevant organisations --
Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) and Implementation, Evaluation
and Monitoring Division (IMED) -- can effectively carry out their duties
and responsibilities.

Meanwhile, it would be befitting to note here the crux of the problem for
ensuring effective and efficient uses of resources meant for public
procurement of goods and services for different development projects, as
has rightly been pointed by out none other than the planning minister.
That relates to corruption involving public funds. The government will
need to demonstrate its seriousness about addressing this problem while
combating the menace of corruption. If the implementing agencies strictly
follow the provisions of the PPA in letter and spirit, notwithstanding
some recent amendments, and if also the "vested interests" do not meddle,
unduly, in the related process, the extent of corruption in the spending
of development funds can certainly come down to a tolerable level.

Nigeria: Public Procurement - Plugging a National Drain

By Abimbola Akosile

Lagos — Analysts have identified the public sector as the greatest source
of corruption in Nigeria, and public procurement as the top channel
through, which public funds are diverted and converted into private use.
However, there is an ongoing process, being coordinated by the Public and
Private Development Centre (PPDC), a non-governmental organisation; which
seeks to plug such corrupt loopholes.

Procurement Scenario

The latest official update on public procurement process in Nigeria is
that, in line with the Public Procurement Act of 2007, the Bureau of
Public Procurement (BPP), one of the coordinating bodies for public
spending in Nigeria, is currently collating procurement plans for
uploading on their websites where they can be accessed by Ministries,
Departments, and Agencies (MDAs)

Meanwhile as that is going on at BPP, official looting and siphoning of
public funds, through inflation of government contracts and bogus
contracts for white elephant projects, continue unabated.

Seeing billions of naira being subtly pocketed through official processes
is no laughing matter. All one has to do is to picture what a billion
naira can do in the lives of thousands of villagers or hundreds of angry
youths and jobless graduates, to appreciate the need for a definite check
on the drain of national revenue and public resources.

This is the reason why a plan by PPDC to establish a public procurement
portal where any and every stakeholder can access information on public
spending in any sector, is both timely and necessary for national growth
and development.

This is one of the sub-themes under the Nigerian Procurement Monitoring
Project designed by PPDC, and now supported by UNDEF, according to the
organisation's coordinator, Mr. Chibuzor Ekekwuo.

Background Check

The role of governments all over the world is to provide for the welfare,
peace and security of the citizens. It is for this reason that section
14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
provides that "the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary
purpose of government."

Governance, according to PPDC, envisages the management of public,
material and human resources for the common good. Good and effective
governance therefore is dependent upon the workings of institutions
charged with the delivery of public good, services and the guarantee of
public security.

Public procurement is a very important aspect of the delivery of public
goods and services. Virtually every business of government is conducted
through a procurement process. Where the process of procurement is
unregulated and ineffective, it affects socio-economic and human
development as public services and projects which give support to human
existence and activities will be lacking.

The periods before and immediately after the return to democratic
governance witnessed great challenges in the implementation of policies
especially the planning and execution of government contracts, the
organisation explained. To Ekekwuo, the absence of institutional, legal
and regulatory frameworks regulating public procurement led to massive
corruption, abandonment of public projects and works leading to the loss
of revenues for government, waste and infrastructural decadence.

In order to arrest this ugly trend, governments at Federal and State
levels embarked upon various legal and institutional reforms to improve
governance, economic development and the delivery of public goods and
services to the citizens. These reforms led to the passage and signing
into law of the Public Procurement Act (the Act) in June 2007.

The Act establishes the "National Council on Public Procurement and the
Bureau of Public Procurement as the regulatory authorities responsible for
the monitoring and oversight of public procurement, harmonizing the
existing government policies and practices by regulating, setting
standards and developing the legal framework and professional capacity for
public procurement in Nigeria and for related matters."

Vital Visit

On January 27, Ekekwuo and his team paid an advocacy visit to the House of
Representatives Committee on Due Process, led by Hon Maitama Tugar, at the
National Assembly Complex in Abuja.

The advocacy visit was by a delegation of CSO members led by Public &
Private Development Centre (PPDC) and representation from Crime Free and
Peace Initiative (CRIPFI), Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC), and National
Procurement Watch Platform (NPWP).

In an address he presented to the legislators, the lawyer cum civil
society practitioner sought to explain the rationale for PPDC's persistent
quest for transparency and accountability in the public procurement
process in Nigeria, and the need to check any sharp practices by public
officials.

"Our goal in PPDC is to improve citizen participation in governance in a
way that supports improved integrity and prevents corruption in Nigeria.
Our visit is intended to present to the House Committee on Due Process the
full concept of our United Nations Development Fund UNDEF Supported
Nigerian Procurement Monitoring Project;

According to Ekekwuo, "There is no doubt that corruption is a major cause
of poverty, and no sector bears the risk for corruption more than the
Procurement Sector in Nigeria. Public procurement is a key aspect of
delivery of social services and by extension, socio-economic development.
This explains why our country embarked on Procurement Reforms;

After the passage of the Public Procurement Act 2007, PPDC designed and
launched its Procurement Watch Programme, which sought to activate the
citizens monitoring provisions in that law. The programme, he said, soon
secured support from PACT Nigeria ADVANCE programme and achieved some
outputs.

These included the formation of the National Procurement Watch Platform
along with many other CSO actors; publication of the first guide for
procurement Observers called Non State Actors and Procurement Watch in
Nigeria; an assessment of levels of implementation of Procurement Act
2007.

Others are that the programme trained the first set of citizens
procurement monitors under the Public Procurement Act 2007; the Platform
produced a Code of Conduct for civil society procurement observers, which
was approved and published by the Bureau for Public Procurement; and the
Platform also designed and produced a checklist for procurement
observation reports.

The programme, he said, activated organised CSO engagement of relevant
public bodies for purposes of procurement observation, and actual
observation of Procurement by CSO's and some professional bodies in
Nigeria.

Monitoring Challenges

Ekekwuo said his organisation discovered many challenges, as it watched
CSO and Professional bodies get invited and monitor the procurement
exercise. "Few CSOs have technical knowledge, skills and resources
required to monitor procurement, there is a concentration of few NGOs with
capacity in and around Abuja", he explained.

"Despite the access to information provisions of the Act, levels of access
to information and access to procurement proceedings remains limited,
partly because of resistance within procuring entities and partly because
CSOs and professional bodies are yet to assert the full measure of the
provisions of the Act", he added.

Procurement Project


The identified challenges and current scenario led to PPDC designing the
Nigerian Procurement Monitoring Project now supported by UNDEF.

The Nigerian Procurement Monitoring Project has four major objectives to
build capacity of non state actors on procurement observation and
monitoring; strengthen the legislature on procurement oversight and
monitoring; improve access, analyses and sharing of procurement
information; strengthen advocacy for improved transparency and
accountability in the procurement process.

The programme is geared to establish an independent procurement monitoring
mechanism for Nigeria. The strategy and activities will include capacity
building; building partnerships; documentation and research; and design
and deployment of ICT tool called Procurement Observatory.

Fashola & Mega Corruption: The true face of Lagos

By Tunde George & Kasali Martins

We are tax payers residents in Lagos who are desperately desirous of
accountability since taxes have recently become major revenue of Lagos
State government. In the developed societies where a similar revenue
regime operates, associations such as ours have acted as Government
Watchdogs, which is why some of us have decided to take up the gauntlet of
championing the cause of taxpayers in the state. After all if we don’t pay
our taxes, government can charge and eventually jail us.


In the last ten years, tax revenue has come to constitute about 75 per
cent of government revenue base, yet, the government never bothers to
render account to tax payers in Lagos . In the last three years alone, a
colossal sum of 1.1 trillion naira was budgeted by Fashola’s government
with the government itself affirming that it has consistently recorded a
minimum of 75 per cent of budget performance out of which 80 per cent came
from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). This is 30 per cent more than
the entire budgets recorded by successive governments between 1992-2007-a
period spanning 15 years.


Today, the total tax revenue of Lagos on a monthly basis hovers between
N14 and N17 billion naira while federal allocations come to N6 billion
Naira monthly. This is more than the revenue of seven states put together
on a monthly basis. But how has the governor been spending the money?
While we note the heavy investments in roads and environmental
infrastructure mainly and commendably so, there is the need to question
some of the ways the governor has been expending tax money which in our
opinion reflects financial recklessness, mismanagement, gross
constitutional violations and abuse of office.


Set below are some of the expenditures which the government claimed to
have incurred on behalf of ‘Lagosians’ and which we feel were mere avenues
to corruptly enrich some privileged individuals in and out of government
and to which the state House of Assembly under the tutelage of ‘governor
emeritus’ otherwise known as the Lion of Bourdillon has become an
accomplice covering up a lot of misdeeds on the part of the executive.
Just last week, it was alleged that each member of the House was given a
sum of 20million naira through a lawyer member of the House from the Lagos
west senatorial district, the constituency of the governor emeritus
himself. When this was about to be leaked to the press, the Lion of
Bourdillon used his powerful media contacts through two of his former aids
who are media chieftains to suppress the leakage. Were this not to be the
case, we would have otherwise sent these complaints to the House of
Assembly. But since we no longer trust this pliant House of Assembly, we
have decided to go public with the following:


1. Last year, Fashola (BRF) gave N250 million to Rotimi Akeredolu led Exco
of NBA for the NBA conference held in Lagos . At a time when Lagos
teachers and doctors were on strike for improved welfare package.


2. The BRF government within 6 months, January to June 2009 spent N420
million on hiring of private security – to guard who – despite his heavy
investment in the Police Force through the State Security Trust Fund.


3. BRF spent N1.5 billion to demolish the Bank of Industry (BOI) building,
paying a company introduced by one Tunji Olowolafe in cash transfer only
for him and his cronies to claim the land adjacent to it.


4. BRF government awarded part of Western Avenue ( Funsho Williams Road ),
about 2 kilometres road for N7.7 billion just between Abalti Barracks and
Costain. And without the construction of any bridges, the project was
carried out by Julius Berger. This project must certainly be investigated.


5. Between January and June 2009, the BRF government claimed to have
fuelled 225 vehicles in his office alone with N135 million. These figures
amount to about N800, 000 per day, at a time that petrol was sold for N65
per litre and government always get it cheaper, but BRF claimed to have
bought it at N85 per litre.


6. Also between January and June 2009, BRF’s Chief of Staff and PAs
expended N290 million in sending TEXT Messages and phone CALLS on their
lines.


7. It is also very sickening to know that the BRF government awarded the
construction of a road and drains inside Gbagada General Hospital for over
N1.8 billion to the same Tunji Olowolafe’s company (DEUX Projects
Limited).


8. The sum of 1.5 billion naira of un-appropriated funds, without approval
was claimed to have been spent on demolition of Oshodi.


9. The Helicopter Deal – was a big fraud. The helicopter was not built for
any kind of emergency evacuation, rescue or to even combat urban fire.
Over N5 billion has been spent on the two helicopters. And, the seal of
Lagos State is not on it, and it is not even in Lagos but in the Niger
Delta making money for some private people in government. The whole
helicopter deal stinks to high heavens; it constitutes the biggest
governmental fraud of all times and confirms the rot in the State. See
ThisDay December 19, 2009


10. The SSA (Media) to BRF spent N183 million in 6 months on press
coverage and on editors outside the approved budget but funded directly
from the Governor’s Office.


11. In a State where children are sitting on the floor in classrooms,
where unemployment is rampant and poverty pervasive. BRF paid a lady wife
of a controversial pastor over N600 million in 2 years for Xmas
Decorations for about six streets in Lagos.


12. In Six months between January and June 2009, BRF spent on several
faceless organisations, subventions, grants and donations and they quickly
pocketed N2 billion.


THE RIPPING OFF OF LAGOS – ESSENTIAL DETAILS


1. The BRF government recklessly increased and paid over 60%
increase on the LASU – IBA road awarded by the Bola Tinubu government for
N6.2 billion but was jerked up to N10 billion less than 2 weeks that BRF
came on board.


2. Also, the Tinubu administration awarded the construction of
City Hall for N2.3 billion. BRF only changed the floor tiles to marble
tiles and increased the contract sum to N5.2 billion. This project was
increased by 126%.


3. Publishing of INDICATOR Magazine, is falsely presented to the
public as a private magazine but is actually co-ordinated by Tunji
Olowolafe and Hakeem Bello, SSA (Media) to BRF with government money.


4. BRF recently gave a media-related Permanent Secretary, and
some others the sum of N100 million to do a soap opera on himself. They
are presently in London recording the film.


5. The BRF government has failed woefully in the area of Public
Private Partnership (PPP) in three years. Yet, BRF is paying the PPP boss
in Lagos State N2 million per month in violation of the Constitution, when
even commissioners recognised by the Constitution are receiving N300,000
per month. The PPP guy is the highest paid government official presiding
over a non-performing and failed parastatal.


6. The Beautification Programme of Fashola administration is
reeking with corruption. In a State where there is no water, where over 90
per cent of the road in Lagos is in a deplorable state of disrepair, he is
spending over N13 billion on planting grass and flowers. Most of the money
was spent to import Palm trees from Niger Republic , a sahel region when
Lagos is in the rain forest which explains why most of them have dried
up...


7. Also, it is important to note that the renovation of
classrooms of usually 12 blocks plus one which was done for N26 million by
the Tinubu administration up till 2007 was increased to N53 million with
the collaboration of the housing commissioner who is supervising projects
in the education ministry.


8. CCTV project was awarded to BRF’s relation who claimed to be
acting for CISCO. The contract was awarded for $62 million dollars, while
the rejected quote for the contract was $30 million. It is important to
note that this is only a pilot scheme.


9. BRF’s wife travels abroad once bi-monthly and takes N30
million per trip from the State coffers, apart from her monthly running
cost.


10 The mother of all rip off is the award to DEUX PROJECT LIMITED,
a company owned by the powerful Tunji Olowolafe 11 out of 19 contracts in
the Lagos State Ministry of health between January and August 2009. Out of
N5.6 billion naira contract in the Ministry of Health, Olowolafe alone
collected N5.1 billion worth and was paid 70% upfront in cash.


OTHER QUESTIONS


1. Why did BRF divert N1.85 billion in the Ministry of Women Affairs
and Poverty Alleviation to a project that was not originally provided for
in the budget and promptly awarded to Olowolafe?


2. Why is Lawyer BRF’s administration illegally deducting funds from
the statutory allocation of the Local Governments in Lagos State ?


3. Why was the Mayegun Scheme which was sold to Olowolafe and other
friends and cronies against public interest without any independent
valuation by relevant agency of government? Why is the size of the scheme
shielded in secrecy? Why was N5.2 billion for which the land sold
untraceable? Where is the over N2 billion loan borrowed to sand-fill the
place? What is the fate of the Tourism and Art-craft sellers chased away
from the place?


4. Pinnacle – why did the governor and his cronies engage in
questionable transfer of 400 hectares of land to Pinnacle, South Africa,
when it is known that the company is almost bankrupt and the ABSA Bank now
owns over 60% of the Company. What nature of PPP is this? The world is
watching!


5. Why was the illegal sand-filling of about 1 km in the Badagry –
Marina awarded for N1.5 billion out of which N700 million has been paid
and yet the contractors and the Tourism Ministry have completely destroyed
all the historical relics and artefacts in the area? It has also created
an environmental disaster for West Africa because of greed. And it appears
the Commissioner has been settled.


FASHOLA AND CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS


1. Flagrant and deliberate disregard for the Appropriation law passed
by the Lagos State House of Assembly, in violation of Section 120 of the
1999 Constitution.


2. Criminal diversion of funds without due approval of the Lagos
State House of Assembly, in further violation of Section 120 (3) of the
1999 Constitution.


3. Indiscriminate award of contracts without due process, without
following the laid down financial regulation as well as the public
procurement guidelines. The payment of such contracts is in violation of
Part (E) Section 120(4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.


4. Most Ministries, Departments, Parastatals sometimes do not know
when contracts are awarded in their names and for what purpose, they only
find out later. And they don’t know when payments to contractors are made
by the State Treasury Office. This is in further violation of Section
121(2) of the 1999 Constitution.


5. Illegal and unwarranted deductions from the statutory Allocation
of the local governments. This is in direct contravention of Public
Revenue Provision of the 1999 Constitution and in violation of Section 162
sub-section 6, 7 and 8.


6. Opening of illegal and unconstitutional Dedicated Accounts which
is contrary to the provision of the 1999 Constitution and which Revenue
Monitoring Agency is unaware of. This act is in direct violation of
Section 120(1) of the 1999 Constitution.


7. Office of the Chief of Staff which is unknown to the Constitution
has more staff than any other Ministry in Lagos State . This violation is
very grave as it is in direct breach of the Governor’s Oath of Office in
the 7th Schedule of the 1999 Constitution Section 13 and a gross violation
of Sections 192, 193 and 208(2d) of the 1999 Constitution.


8. Indiscriminate borrowing by the Ministry of Finance without
legislative approval, which the Finance Commissioner calls Bridging Loans,
is a grave assault on Fiscal Federalism, a coup against Financial
Regulations and a shameful and criminal violation of Section 120(1), (2),
(3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution.


9. Concentration of over 70% of Lagos State Government contracts in
the hands of one Tunji Olowolafe. This is the clearest indication of the
betrayal of trust by Governor Fashola, it is against the Oath of Office he
swore to, it is a violation of Sections 14(4), 15(5) and 17(2a) of the
1999 Constitution on which social objective of a just, free and equitable
social order is founded.


10. Arbitrary use of Special Expenditure Vote for activities not
originally provided for under the Appropriation Law. This is a further
betrayal of Fiscal Federalism and a violation of provisions of Section
120(3) and (4), and Section 123(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution.


11. Payment of 70% up-front to persons and cronies for contracts not
yet executed. Similarly, this is a contravention of Section 120(4) of the
1999 Constitution.


12. Giving arbitrary donations to selective professional associations
and faceless organisations for acting as sycophants without appropriate
authorisation by relevant constitutional bodies. This is a clear violation
of sections 120(4) and 123 of the 1999 Constitution


13. The fraudulent purported acquisition of 2 Bell 412 EP Series
Helicopters from a Canadian firm constitute a flagrant violation of
Section 123(1) and (2) and Section 120(4) of the 1999 Constitution.


14. Furthermore, the award of contract of courts and other Judicial
Infrastructure as well as procurement for the Judiciary in Lagos State by
the Attorney-General, Tunji Olowolafe and Governor Fashola is in gross
violation of Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution.


In all these aberrations, the Lagos State House of Assembly has kept mute,
and the House has become inept, achaic, drab, docile and inefficient. All
the noise by Mr. Speaker about accountability and probity be only to
enable house members line their pockets and feed fat on the sweat and toil
of the people of the State?


Is it also true that they have been given their own share of the loot,
they are maintaining undignified silence over the report of the ad hoc
Committee set up to look into the books and activities of the Lagos State
Government pursuant to Section 103 of the 1999 Constitution with powers
expressly provided in sections 1a, b(i) and (ii), as well as Section 129 1
a b c and d.


We are aware that the report has been submitted since November 2009, so
why is the Lagos State House of Assembly still sitting on the report? This
is just a tip of the ice berg of financial recklessness by the Lagos
executive led the seemingly performing governor Fashola! More soon .

By Tunde George & Kasali Martins

Reps back independent monitoring of procurement process

From Emeka Anuforo


THE House of Representatives may have thrown its weight behind the recent
efforts by civil society organisations, through the Public and Private
Development Centre (PPDC), to create an independent procurement monitoring
portal for the nation.

Chairman of the House Committee on Public Procurement, Yusuf Maitama
Tuggar, gave this indication when promoters of the independent monitoring
system paid his committee a visit in Abuja.

Tuggar stressed that the National Assembly would work with
non-governmental organisations to ensure compliance with the procurement
law.

Noting that procurement was at the centre of some of the ills of Nigeria,
he explained that one of the ways to check such was to have an act to
monitor procurement to make it comply with laid down rules.

Tuggar pointed out that the legislative arm was concerned about the lack
of procurement implementation, noting that the House alone does not have
the capacity to cover procurement nationwide.

According to him, with initiatives formed by companies like the PPDC, a
fair amount of procurement could be covered together.

He advocated that there should be a link on the portal giving members of
the public access to the website of the committee, to ensure that
Nigerians have access to what the committee is doing. The legislator
further called for the setting up of an adhoc committee to facilitate a
synergy and the PPDC secretariat.

PPDC coordinator, Mr. Chibuzo Ekwekwuo, stressed that the aim of the
independent monitory project was to improve citizens' participation in
governance in a way that supports improved integrity and prevents
corruption in Nigeria.

He said: "There is no doubt that corruption is a major cause of poverty,
and no sector bears the risk for corruption more than the Procurement
Sector in Nigeria. Public procurement is a key aspect of delivery of
social services and by extension, socio-economic development. This
explains why our country embarked on Procurement Reforms.

"After the passage of the Public Procurement Act 2007, PPDC designed and
launched its procurement watch programme, which sought to activate the
citizens' monitoring provisions in that law.

"This programme activated organised CSOs engagement of relevant public
bodies for purposes of procurement observation, and actual observation of
procurement by CSOs and some professional bodies in Nigeria.

"But as we watched CSOs and Professional bodies get invited and monitor
the procurement exercise, we discovered many challenges; few CSOs have
technical knowledge, skills and resources required to monitor procurement,
there is a concentration of few NGO's with capacity in and around Abuja."

He added: "Despite the access to information provisions of the Act, levels
of access to information and access to procurement proceedings remains
limited, partly because of resistance within procuring entities and partly
because CSOs and professional bodies are yet to assert the full measure of
the provisions of the Act.

"In addition, it became clear to us that for procurement monitoring to
achieve its intended objectives, CSO's and professional bodies need a
mechanism to collate, analyse and make sense of feed back from the various
monitoring activities. Results of monitoring need to support the oversight
functions of the BPP and more important the legislature."

To ensure shared ownership, as well as synergy with other existing
development programmes, he said that the PPDC was setting up an
independent advisory board for the portal.

ANAMBRA ELECTIONS: PETER OBI MIGHT WIN………..BUT

ANAMBRA ELECTIONS: PETER OBI MIGHT WIN………..BUT

Despite all the heated polity and the too much fuse about possible violence as well as the proposed break-down of law and order in the Anambra State Governorship elections, to the surprise of stakeholders, the elections ended peacefully with little or no reports of violent clashes, with rumors of possible victory for Mr. Peter obi as the Governor elect for the State.

As the celebration is going on, the administration of Mr. Peter Obi has some issues to address with respect to election matters and civic participation, his leadership must address, to establish and build a sustainable foundation for democracy to flourish in the state, most especially now that the state has demonstrated their love and support to the cause of peace and order as well as a manifestation of their confidence and love for the leadership prowess of Mr. Peter Obi.

The Obi-led administration must seek proactive and productive ways to build the confidence of the Anambra people to meaningfully engage in civic participation activities, especially those which promote and deepen democratic process in the state, we look forward to a near future where the Anambra people will with zero pressure or presence of armed military /para-military operatives democratically exercise their lawful civic responsibilities, this task before Obi’s administration is challenging, this task is one Obi and his party APGA alone cannot handle, they need the collective contribution of all well meaning Anambra sons and daughters.

The most disturbing and challenging task in Anambra elections was the distortions in the voters register and the disappearance of voters names in the voters register, the zero presence of INEC staff at some polling stations and the denial of voters rights to vote.

Obi’s leadership must invest in the design and update of a new voters register and voters education.

RE: 6TH FEBRUARY 2010 ANAMBRA ELECTION: AWKA WARD 6 OBSERVERS REPORT

YOUTH COALITION ON ELECTORAL REFORM (YCER)
DELTA STATE CHAPTER
OFFICE OF THE STATE COORDINATOR
49F EKWO STREET, AJAJI QRTS, ASABA, DELTA STATE, NIGERIA.
www.unovin.blogspot.com; unovin@gmail.com; zccdelta@gmail.com; 07063557099.


RE: 6TH FEBRUARY 2010 ANAMBRA ELECTION: AWKA WARD 6 OBSERVERS REPORT

Some days before the February 6th 2010 Anambra election, the Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Anambra State Chapter, with Support and Funding from National Democratic Institute (NDI), organized a capacity building workshop for civil society organizations monitoring democratic and electoral processes in Nigeria brought together by Youth Action Initiative Africa (YAIA), on voters education, voters registration and election observation system for civil society organizations, for master trainers, selected from various states of the 6 geo-political zones of the nation, Youth Coalition on Electoral Reform (YCER) Delta State Chapter, was one of the selected participants and was assigned to observe the election at Awka ward Seven.

The observer (Youth Coalition on Electoral Reform-YCER-) was primarily supposed to observe electoral processes at Unity Primary School, Umuokpu-Awka, with the knowledge that other polling stations in the ward include: community primary school 1 & 2, as well as, Ebe Duru Square, these other polling stations had the attention of the observer as the distance between them was within a close distant.

The observer arrived at Awka ward seven at about 8.25am, up till 10.30am in the morning there was no sign of INEC Electoral officers, voting material and any sign that voting will take place, at about this time both electoral materials and INEC electoral officers were ready to commence the voting process at St. Augustine Anglican Church, Aguogba-Amawbia, which is less than 5 poles away from Unity Primary School, and on the same tarred major link road to other towns in the state.

At about this same time at St. Paul Anglican Church, Umuokpu-Awka, voters were visibly ready to cast their votes but there were no INEC Staff, Voting Materials or any sign that voting will be possible.

In all these, there are some questions begging for answers, some of these include:
* why has the JDPC through the catholic church parish priest failed to mobilize their members for the voting exercise at Unity primary school, Umuokpu-Awka?
* does it mean that the JDPC has no communication channel with the parish priest as to inform him that his parish and the school there was selected as one of the polling stations in ward seven?
* is it true that parish priests distant themselves from the activities of the JDPC, if not why this grand failure in the voters mobilization process, which the catholic church was to champion at unity primary school?
* what could be the major problem that brought forth this communication failure and lapses in the voters mobilization process in a polling station within the JDPC and catholic church controlled area?
* is it not time NDI investigate the reason behind the lapses at ward seven?
* is it not time NDI reconsiders the nature of the partnership thrust between JDPC and NDI?
* why on earth will INEC deny the eligible youth and women voters from ward seven their rights to civic participation, especially their right to choose who will lead them?
* why were the polling stations controlled by the Anglican churches more proactive and committed?




The observer could not find reasons why the polling stations in ward seven had zero sign of electoral processes, if one is to accept that INEC abused the rights of voters at Umuokpu-Awka to choose who will be their governor, yet, another issue is how come the JDPC and the parish priest at Umuokpu-Awka failed to protect the confidence and rights of the voters within their religious jurisdiction.

The observer believe that the roles played by the JDPC and the parish priest with respect to elections at ward seven should be investigated by NDI to find out why voters mobilization failed, if INEC failed to provide electoral materials and staff, it is not enough reasons why there should be failure in voters mobilization.

From practical field observation, the observer gathered that there was no proactive and productive move from the parish priest to ensure that the fundamental rights of voters at Awka ward seven was protected and to ensure that election actually take place in the ward, again at the Amawbia collation center where, the parish priest was sighted but there were no signs that he was visibly concerned that the peoples right to vote was abused at Awka ward seven.

That the election in some other parts of the state was violent free and relatively fair will not be all that we need in future elections in Nigeria, the Anambra February 6th election would have been the best electoral process in the country, if not for the black spot on the near perfect Anambra elections, that black spot is a huge injustice done to all the eligible voters (men, youth and women) at Awka ward seven, the hijacking of the fundamental rights of voters at Awka ward seven is a political evil, it is akin to beating a child and forcing same not to drop any tears, this action as believe by many ward seven voters was planned and implemented by INEC staff with back from the Governor Peter obi incumbent administration.

We, the entire leaders, members and supporter of Youth Coalition on Electoral Reform (YCER) Delta State Chapter, say no to the abuse and denial of fundamental rights of all the eligible voters in Awka ward seven, Awka south local Government Area of Anambra State, knowing that any injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere, YCER Delta State Chapter is aware of Awka ward seven, who knows how many of such denial took place in Anambra State, our fellow youths who want a great future have being denied access to their fundamental right as citizens of this great nation, any such future attempt will be resisted.

We now call on INEC, APGA, Mr. PETER OBI, Anambra State Government, South-East States Governments, Federal Government, JDPC, Nigerian Non-Governmental Organizations, NDI, DFID, Action Aid, United Nations, and International Non-Government Organizations to prevail on the Government of Anambra State and other state-based stakeholders to collectively seek for a proactive and result-oriented redress agenda for the abuse of the fundamental rights of the Awka ward seven voters, as well as fashion a sustainable program that will prevent such injustice to such large magnitude of voters.

Copies of this memo will be sent to all the above mentioned agencies, organizations and institutions.



Yours In The Service Of Rights Protection



COMRADE OKONTA EMEKA OKELUM
STATE COORDINATOR
YOUTH COALITION ON ELECTORAL REFORM (YCER) DELTA STATE CHAPTER