TUESDAY 11TH APRIL 2023

Tinubu, Obi Eulogise Afenifere Leader, Ayo Adebanjo, at 95 He’s been consistent in fight for social justice, says president-elect He has no bone of bigotry in him, LP presidential candidate attests Adedayo Akinwale and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the presidential candidate of

Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, have congratulated the leader of Yoruba’s foremost socio-political group, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, on his 95th birthday and paid glowing

tributes to him.

While Tinubu noted with admiration Adebanjo's consistency over the years in the fight for good governance and social justice

in Nigeria, Obi said at 95, the nonagenarian had no bone of bigotry in him.

Continued on page 10

IMF, W’Bank Urge Nigeria, Others to Provide Targeted Financing to SMEs... Page 5

Pa Ayo Adebanjo

Tuesday 11 April, 2023 Vol 28. No 10226. Price: N250

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INEC Replies APP, Says Electronic Collation of Results Not Mandatory... Page 8

Obi: Mission to Rescue Nigeria 'Will Come to Fruition' Clark: Lai Mohammed's US Trip Increasing Political Tension Chuks Okocha and Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the just concluded general election, Mr. Peter Obi,

yesterday, assured his supporters, especially the OBIdient Movement that the mission to recover his

mandate would be fulfilled.

This, he vowed, would be done with “all lawful and peaceful means

allowed under our laws and constitution to reclaim our mandate to create a New Nigeria.”

At the same time, a former Federal Continued on page 10

With 50 Days To Go….Buhari Defends Choice of Service Chiefs

Knocks Kukah again, insists cleric ‘cooks’ only bad news Wanton killings remain Buhari’s lowest points, states Adesina His ailment was a setback, presidency admits Deji Elumoye and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Roughly 50 days to May 29 handover date, the federal government, yesterday, defended some of President Muhammadu Buhari’s decisions in the last eight years, especially his choice of service chiefs, his long absence following a prolonged ailment as well as his alleged failure to sell off some assets in the presidential fleet as promised during his election campaign.

Speaking on Channels Television last night, presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, explained that the appointment of service chiefs should not be subject to ethnic balancing or the federal character principle.

The president, in the last eight years, had come under severe criticisms for alleged sectionalism in the choice of his service chief and heads of security agencies to the exclusion of certain parts of the country.

Buhari has largely declined to Continued on page 10

FIRST COMMERCIAL VESSEL ARRIVES LEKKI DEEP SEAPORT...

L-R: Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Lekki Port, Mr. Daniel Odibe; Executive Director, Lekki Port, Mrs. Adesuwa Ladoja; Managing Director, Lekki Port, Mr. Du Ruogang and Managing Director, Lekki Freeport Terminal, Mr. Yann Magarian celebrating the arrival of the first commercial vessel at Lekki Deep Sea Port, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos... at the weekend

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Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 0803 350 6821, 0809 7777 322, 0807 401 0580

NEWS

NCSCN VISITS NCC...

L-R: Head, Digital Media, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nafisa Rugga; Director, Programmes and Organisation, National Civil Society Council of Nigeria (NCSCN), Oscar Kalu; Head, Corporate Communications, NCC, Nnena Ukoha; Director, Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka; Executive Director, NCSCN, Blessing Akinlosotu, and Head, Media Relations, NCC, Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan, during a courtesy visit by the NCSCN to the Commission to seek areas of collaboration in Abuja…recently

IMF, World Bank Urge Nigeria to Provide Targeted Financing to SMEs Assemble debtor countries, lenders for global sovereign debt roundtable Bank predicts world economy to grow at 3% for five years Nume Ekeghe in Washinton DC The President of the World Bank Group, David Malpass and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva stressed the need for policy makers in Nigeria and other low income countries as well as emerging economies to create targeted financing for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in their countries.

They disclosed that the call for support for SMEs was part of the discussion with low-income countries and emerging markets, adding that such intervention would help enhance inclusive growth, tackle inflation and high-interest rates.

They both made this call at a joint seminar on, “The way Forward: Building Resilient” yesterday, at the ongoing IMF/World Bank Spring meetings in Washington DC. In addition, the Washington-based institutions also noted that the global economy was expected to grow at three per cent for five years despite an increase in consumer spending in the United States and Europe and China.

It also forecasted that the decline in global economic growth would impact negatively on low-income and emerging economies.

The Fund also added that for the first time, there was an assembly of all creditors and debtors to address

the debt crisis globally.

Georgieva said: “Central banks do have a preoccupation to bring inflation down and it is paramount because, without price stability, there is no sound foundation for investments and for growth. " Their job has become more complicated because of the exposure to vulnerabilities in the financial sector. That means attention has to be paid to financial stability.

"Fortunately, they have different tools they can apply to deal with these two different problems. They can fight inflation by keeping interest rates higher for longer and they can provide targeted liquidity should there be a need to bring down risks to financial stability."

Furthermore, on an emerging global debt crisis, Georgieva added that for the first time in history, the IMF and WBG have assembled all countries with significant debt and their creditors for a roundtable to restructure debts.

Georgieva added: “We are not letting our guard down on this issue.

We are going to have the global sovereign debt roundtable bringing for the first time all creditors traditional new public-private with the debtor countries and the key institutions, so we can sit around the table and find solutions to what otherwise can be devastating for countries."

On his part, commenting on

funding for SMEs, Mallpass said: “And as we look at it, the elements of growth into the future it's important that there'll be more investment in small businesses and in new businesses.

"And that means a flow of capital and a worry that we have for developing countries is the capital inflow. is out of developing countries. So there's that for many of the developing countries that look like they're in a phase of decapitalisation rather

than recapitalisation that goes with your point that instead of having convergence meaning people, people with lower incomes growing faster than people with higher incomes, so convergence toward a higher level, that's not happening right now. It's actually a divergence.

"And that's, that's gravely concerning, that means inequality, that means fragility, for countries and we see more countries falling into fragility."

Speaking further on the growth

Ahead of the commencement of the 2023 census, the National Population Commission (NPC) has urged field workers currently undergoing a four- day training in Bauchi State to utilise the opportunity of the capacity building exercise to rededicate themselves to the commission’s work.

This, according to the NPC would enable the Commission generate credible, reliable and acceptable data for development planning purposes.

NPC’s Federal Commissioner in the state, Ibrahim Muhammad Darazo, who stated this at the weekend, during an inspection visit of the

training of 750 functionaries at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Yelwa campus in Bauchi, expressed satisfaction with the training process.

He said the exercise was going on smoothly without any hitches.

According to him, the training would aid help in shaping the proficiency of the participants as they would also train others at the local government level.

The Federal Commissioner said the success of every project was as a result of quality of manpower deployed in its execution, especially for a major national assignment such as the 2023 Population and Housing Census.

He also restated the Commis-

"So in that context, what we are projecting for this year is despite the remarkable resilience of consumer spending in the United States in Europe, despite the uplift from China's reopening global growth would remain below three per cent as we projected earlier this year and what is more concerning, it will remain around three per cent for the next five years. That does not give us high hope for meeting the aspirations of people, especially poor people.”

NMSMEs Responsible for Nigeria's Recovery from Recession, Says NAFDAC DG Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said Nigeria was able to recover from economic recessions that hit it few years ago, due to the support from Nano Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NMSMEs).

The agency said in view of critical position of NMSMEs, it is ready to give her continued support to enable them to act as catalyst for the nation's economic transformation.

Specifically, the NAFDAC said it would give more support to

NMSMEs to grow the economy, by offering products' renewal waiver to encourage business operators.

A statement by the Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola, quoted the Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, to have made the pledge recently at a meeting organised by the Lagos State Office of the a gency with operators of NMSMEs, held in Lagos.

She said NAFDAC would continue to drive collaboration and understanding between NMSMEs and the regulatory authority with a

NPC UrgesTrainees in Bauchi to Be Committed to 2023 Population Census Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

of the world economy, he stated that central banks around the world have to continue to keep interest rates high to combat inflation in a way of restoring the prospects for robust growth.

He added: “We have seen that this rapid transition from lowinterest rates, abundant liquidity to higher interest rates and much less available liquidity has exposed vulnerabilities in the financial sector that made the task of policymakers even harder.

sion’s vision of conducting the 2023 census which he said was designed to produce accurate, reliable and acceptable census and inclusive, user-friendly census data According to him, "We have just gone into the classes and inspected what is happening at the training and from what I saw, everything is going on very well as planned, the facilitators at the training are doing their best".

"These functionaries at this training are the most important persons required to facilitate the success of this National census, so I am expecting them to give in their best because they will also become trainers at the next level.

"I expect them to comprehend what the are learning very well because they will convey the knowledge acquired here during the field work.

"A lot of money has injected into the success of this national census and we are starting the training of about 900,000 persons nationwide very soon, so every thing is set for the success of this census taking place this month," he said.

He however said participants who did not attend the training would not be paid their allowances, adding that they would be replaced with other participants who are ready to attend the training and do the job.

view to empowering them to grow their businesses.

The statement quoted Adeyeye as having said NMSMEs were driving the economy of Nigeria, adding that the country entered into recession few years ago and came out of it quickly despite the challenges of the mega industry.

Adeyeye, said the NMSMEs sub-sector was the magic wand that sustained the economy during the turbulent times.

She said NAFDAC remained committed to meeting the yearnings and aspirations of the business community, noting that the gains and positive impact of subjecting their processes and products to regulatory scrutiny were immense.

According to the DG, such regulatory scrutiny was also meant to protect their businesses.

She lamented the incidence of rejected food exports from Nigeria at the point of entry due to bad quality, stressing that if such food items were subjected to NAFDAC scrutiny, the incidents of rejected food exports from Nigeria would have been greatly curtailed.

The NAFDAC boss, however, disclosed that the agency was already talking with the United Kingdom Department of Business and Trade to build a bilateral relationship whereby Nigerian products that are exported to the United Kingdom will be of quality, (having been registered and certified by NAFDAC).

"Please lets think of the future or where we can take our products to, she said, adding that Nigerians abroad, "are concerned about what we are doing in terms of food that they cannot live without overseas."

Adeyeye explained that three of NAFDAC's mandate - food, packaged water, cosmetics and even some chemicals, herbals were under NMSMEs She urged operators of NMSMEs to always focus on one product that was well accepted by the consumers rather than manufacturing many products at the same time whereby none would be doing well in the market.

"Don't make five products at a time please. You can try it and the one that is fast you can focus on that and make it great,’’ she said, as she admonished NMSME operators to dream big by entering the global market with their products.

She emphasised the commercial benefits and opportunities that abound for products that have been subjected to regulatory scrutiny, describing them as immense.

One of such she said, was the possibility of exporting such goods.

"With exportation comes quality.

Without being quality-conscious, exported products will be rejected.

We are here to work with you to take your trading to the level that you want. I want us to also think not of just what we consume here but what we can export," she added.

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NEWS

HYBRID SENSITISATION WORKSHOP ON THE BUSINESS FACILITATION...

L-R: Former chairman, Nigerian Bar Association-Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), Seni Adio SAN; Group company secretary/head of legal/chief compliance officer of CFAO, Nigeria, Aramide Nwokediuko; Chairman, NBA-SBL, Dr. Adeoye Adefulu; Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business/Executive Secretary of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Jumoke Oduwole; partner, Jackson, Etti, and Edu, Folasade Olusanya; partner, Banwo and Ighodalo, Toyin Bashir; and managing partner, The New Practice, Baba Alokolaro, at the Hybrid Sensitisation workshop on the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous) Act 2022 organised by NBA-SBL in collaboration with PEBEC, in Lagos...at the weekend

FG, Two Others Sign Agreement for Reconcessioning of Lagos Trade Fair Complex Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has signed a tripartite agreement with Portman Freight Services Limited and Lagos

International Trade Fair Complex (LITFC) to lease a portion of the complex to the freight service company.

The BPE Director General, Mr. Alex Okoh, who spoke at

the agreement-signing ceremony in Abuja, noted that the event marked the commencement of the work Parcels A and B that were not designated for concession.

He added that the standardisa-

tion of lease agreements would ultimately increase the earnings of the LITFC and the federal government in particular.

In a statement issued by its Head, Public Communications,

Amina Othman Tukur, the BPE quoted Okoh as saying that in line with the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act (1999), the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) approved the concession-

Benin Port Project: Edo Govt, NPA, BPE, ICRC, Others Complete Request for Qualification Exercise To fast-track the development of the Benin Port Project, the project delivery team has completed the Request for Qualification (RFQ), which sets actions in motion to accelerate the realisation of the project.

In a statement obtained yesterday, the Chairman, Benin Port Project, Engr. Greg Ogbeifun, said following the due process earlier initiated by the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, the Minister of Transportation had set up the Project Steering Committee (PSC) and Project Delivery Team

(PDT) to ensure realisation of the Benin Port Project under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, as already approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).

The PSC and PDT comprise representatives from the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ), Federal Ministry of Finance (FMOF), Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), Infrastructure Concession Regulatory

Commission (ICRC), Edo State Government (EDSG), and the Transaction Adviser (CPCS Transcom, Canada).

He said, “The RFQ advertisement was approved by the PDT and officially launched by the Transaction Adviser (CPCS) in both national and international media publications on 15th and 16th February 2023, and a virtual pre-application conference was held with prospective bidders on 22nd February 2023.”

Ogbeifun assured stakeholders of the commitment of the Edo State Governor to a transpar-

ent and competitive bidding process for the development of the Benin Port, to comply with international best practices.

The Chairman of the PDT, Mrs. Ugo Madubuike, who is the General Manager PPP, Nigerian Ports Authority, had assigned Mr. Wanka Ahmad (NPA) to head the PDT Sub-committee on RFQ Evaluation, and the exercise was professionally executed.

The Project Director, Dr. Joe Aigboduwa expressed appreciation to members of the evaluation team for their

dedicated time, and the diligence exhibited during the exercise, and looked forward to further cooperation in continuation of the bidding process.

The Benin Port is a legacy project of the Edo State Government that would be a unique agro-based multipurpose port in Nigeria, encompassing a smart Port Community complex with sustainable renewable energy for the promotion of green emissions and protection of the environment, and would create massive opportunities for host communities and beyond.

ing of LITFC to Aulic Nigeria Limited in 2007. However, the Concession Agreement, he added, was terminated by the NCP in 2017, due to the failure of Aulic Nigeria Limited to meet covenants listed in the concession agreement and the BPE was directed to immediately recommence the process of re-concessioning of the Complex Okoh stressed that the Management Board of LITFC repossessed the enterprise from Aulic Nigeria Limited and the BPE immediately recommenced the process of re-concession of the LITFC as directed by the NCP on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) with the call for Expression of Interest (EOIs) on Monday, June 20, 2022.

But Okoh added that in the process of carrying out the concessioning plan, it was discovered that Portman Freight Services Limited had an existing 20-year lease agreement for Hall 4 with the former concessionaire (Aulic Nig. Ltd) before the termination of Aulic’s concession by the NCP in August 2017.

Ijaw Youths Threaten Showdown with SPDC over Alleged Violation of Nigerian Content Policy Put FG, NCDMB, security agencies on notice Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa The umbrella body of Ijaw Youths worldwide, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), has threatened to shut down the exploration activities of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) over alleged violation of the Nigerian content laws which deprived host communities and local contractors in the oil and gas sector of jobs and others.

The IYC said the youths were ready to shut down the exploration activities of the Shell Petroleum Development Company "even if it means to be killed by the triggerhappy Niger Delta Military Joint Task Force in the region.

The body said the warning was to put the federal government, the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), security agencies, and leadership of multti-national oil companies on notice to avoid breakdown of law and order, vowing to engage multinationals until their demands are met.

National Spokesman of the IYC, Ebilade Ekerefe, in an nteractive session in Yenagoa, yesterday, said despite the intervention of senior officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), officials of the SPDC terminated jobs meant for indigenous contractors.

Ekerefe said contracts which ought to be awarded to local contractors and jobs for host communities in the Niger Delta Region were been given to relatives of expatriates and other Nigerians at the helms of affairs of the multinationals, depriving cals of their rights.

He stressed that the situation was unacceptable.

The IYC spokesman noted that local contractors from the region have met all value procurement requirements by the certifying bodies in the country to qualify to be awarded such contracts and be gainfully employed in those fields, but frowned at the actions of the SPDC and other oil multinationals.

He added, "The Ijaw Nation

is troubled and angered by the ongoing deliberate deprivation and oppression against indigenes of host communities by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

"It is an open fact that we are one of the major producers of crude oil in Nigeria and in view of our agitations for improved regulations of the oil and gas industry and the bloody sacrifices we made for peace to prevail for an improved crude oil explorations and end to militancy in the region.

“Despite the known sacrifices that had led to the existing Local Content Act and the Petroleum Industry Act, it is worthy to note that these companies that are supposed to abide by the laws are not obeying them.

"These laws are to regulate the involvement of indigenes of host communities in the businesses of crude oil exploration and the benefits to the people that kept the peace and assist in the security of the nation's wealth."

He added: “But it is an open

fact that these oil multinationals, including the SPDC, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and others, have showed high level of disdain to host community indigenes with little or no benefits.

"Even the few small jobs being handled by indigenous contractors are being taken away from them.

"A case in point is the GA Logistics Service Contracts. The small contract, which entails supply of speedboats and other logistics materials for the use of the security personnel stationed at the oil facilities in and around the host communities”.

“Until now, this security contract was handled by indigenous oil host communities. But SPDC is taking away the said GSA contracts from the indigenous contractors and planning to give same to non-Indigenous contractors.

"In fact, SPDC had already sent termination notices to the indigenous contractors before the process was suspended after much protests from oil host communities.

"Let the Ijaw Youths Council

(IYC) worldwide put on record that the council is ready to shut down the exploration activities of the Shell Petroleum Development Company "even if it means to be killed by the trigger-happy and the Niger Deltaphobe military Joint Task Force in the region.

"The Ijaw Youths Council is calling on the SPDC to stop the deliberate deprivation and oppression against indigenes of host communities. We are not going to issue ultimatum as expected but are ready to occupy the platforms of the affected oil multinationals. We would make our position known by following the laid down rule of engagement with these errant oil multinationals.

“We are also determined to join our ijaw brothers to resist, by every means possible any further tendencies of oppression and deprivation in the form of NIPEX or otherwise against our indigenous contractors in the fold of the oil multinationals, particularly the SPDC "As point of information, these

oppressed contractors met all requirements by the SPDC and even went further to register on NIPEX. NIPEX is an arm of the National Petroleum Investment Management Service (NAPIMS).It is an electronic one-stop transaction centre that improves on value procurement in the oil and gas industry.

“We also want to draw the attention of the Nigerian Content, Monitoring and Development Board (NCMDB) to the ongoing violation of the local content policy by the SPDC and declare that these oppressed indigenes of the region and contractors should be given “Right of First Refusal” based on their performance and their origin”.

He advocated for the strict adherence to provisions of the existing Local Content and Petroleum Industry Acts, stressing that these laws regulate the involvement of local and host communities in the business of oil exploration and benefits the people, resulting in the peace and security of the nation’s oil infrastructure in the region.

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PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP...

L-R: Director Ext. Affairs & Sustainability, Seplat Energy, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku; Independent Non-Executive Director, Mr. Bello Rabiu; President C4C, Dr. Kechi Ogbuagu, and former Independent Non-Executive Director, Seplat Energy, Ms. Arunma Oteh, during the cheque presentation to C4C at the event to celebrate past beneficiaries (Fellows) of the Seplat JV/C4C Entrepreneurship Programme held in Abuja …recently

INEC Replies APP, Says Electronic Collation of Results Not Mandatory Insists it acted according to electoral act, guidelines

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Independent National Electoral Commission ((INEC) has for the first time responded to accusations that it failed to follow the Electoral Act 2022 and also failed to abide by its own guidelines on mode of collation of results in the last presidential election.

It is an indication of the legal line of argument it intends to canvass in its defence at the Presidential Election Tribunal. INEC's position was in response to a petition by the Action Peoples Party (APP) before the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) in Abuja.

The APP is challenging the

Seplat Energy Invests $11.5m to End Routine Gas Flares in Operations, Achieve Sustainability Peter Uzoho Nigerian energy company, Seplat Energy Plc said it had committed $11.5 million in 2023 towards projects that would end routine gas flares in its operations by 2024.

The company listed on the Nigerian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, also reaffirmed its aggressive and unwavering commitment to sustainability and energy transition.

According to a statement issued yesterday, the Chief Operations Officer, Seplat Energy, Mr. Sampson Ezugworie, stated this in Abuja at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum 2023, held recently.

The themed of the forum was, "Effective Gas Resources Utilisation: A Lever for Enhanced Energy Security and Achieving Net-Zero Emission Goals in Nigeria."

He noted that the company's ability to maintain the lead in the Nigerian gas sector was hinged on a strong Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) framework, which he said has provided the strong foundation for Seplat Energy’s gas business and its decarbonisation projects.

Speaking during the Energy Forum Discussion Session, Ezugworie, who represented the Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Energy, Mr. Roger Brown, noted that the company had been leading in domestic gas supply in the country, with about 300 standard cubic feet per day (300scf/d), translating to about 30 per cent of Nigeria's gas-to-power supply.

He reiterated the company’s commitment to energy transition, energy security and sustainability, noting

that Seplat Energy’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes had grown over the years with immeasurable impacts on the people.

The COO also confirmed that at Seplat Energy, “we have a very aggressive programme to eliminate flares by 2024, through a combination of solutions. We have created a New Energy Directorate, with a mandate to look into power and the entire energy transition value chain.”

He said the company’s primary commitment was to reduce its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions resulting from direct operations, adding that Seplat Energy has established a broad set of investment activities designed to reduce emissions from its operated facilities and offset residual emissions.

"Seplat Energy’s Flares Out project, which forms part of our commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050, is on schedule to reach the target of ending routine flares by the end of 2024.

Ezugworie said, "In 2022, improvements in performance of the AG compressor in Oben and Amukpe, alongside regular asset integrity checks and other facility improvement activities, were effective and AG flare volume was reduced by 18.2 per cent at Oben (5.7 MMscfd against 6.97 MMscfd in 2021) and by 39.9 per cent at Amukpe (1.1 MMscfd against 1.83 MMscfd in 2021).

"The Seplat boss added: “Our diesel replacement programme seeks to increase the use of gas, a less carbon intensive fuel for power generation and where feasible, solar power is also being considered. We are piloting solar at our Amukpe warehouse to power equipment on site and plan to power the security outposts located around our operations using solar energy in 2023.”

result of the presidential poll and the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) standard bearer, Bola Tinubu, on the grounds of alleged substantial non-compliance with the electoral laws of Nigeria, as well as breach of the INEC guidelines.

But in a reply to the suit instituted by one of the parties, the APP, INEC through one of its lawyers, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) , insisted that it conducted free and fair polls on February 25.

“The election was free, fair, credible and in compliance with the constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022 and other relevant laws and guidelines,” it stated in one of the documents before the tribunal.

The APP had alleged that INEC

breached its own laws and guidelines.

However, INEC dismissed the party’s argument that results collation were to be done electronically, citing paragraphs 50 to 55 of the regulations and guidelines for the conduct of the 2023 presidential election. “ There was no collation system of the 3rd respondent (INEC) to which polling unit results were required to be transmitted by the presiding officers...the prescribed mode of collation was manual collation of the various forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C,EC8D and EC8E in the presidential election,” the electoral umpire stated in its defence.

It also dismissed the allegation that its officials doctored results to favour a particular political party’s candidate or that there was over-voting.

It further stated that its online result viewing portal became erratic at the point of collation and members of its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) team were called in to rectify the problem, reason the presidential results were not immediately uploaded.

“It was observed that while the result sheets were being successfully uploaded through the e-transmission system to the iRev portal in respect of the Senatorial and House of Representatives elections to their respective modules, the e-transmission was not processing and uploading the result sheets to the iRev portal in respect of the presidential election.

The system was encountering glitches and was extremely slow. “ The 3rd respondent’s (INEC)

technical team took every step to restore the application to functionality...five application/patches updates were created and deployed immediately with the aim of fixing the error,” INEC said in its court filing.

To give further credence to its argument, the electoral body said it will tender in evidence the report of its ICT department during the tribunal hearing with two witnesses who are INEC officials for further clarity.

The dates for hearing of the five petitions so far received from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), the APP, Action Alliance (AA) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) is yet to be fixed by the PEPC.

WAMCO's Good Friday Advert Offensive to Christians, CAN Declares Threatens to boycott product Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has expressed dismay over yhe recent social media advert by Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, makers of Peak Milk, which used the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as a metaphor to promote their product on Good Friday.

The association said it was considering sanctions against FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, including a boycott of their products by members and all

well-meaning Nigerians who share similar concerns.

A statement signed by the General Secretary of CAN, Rev. Joseph Daramola, said the company by the act showed insensitivity and disrespect for the Christian faith.

"We find this advert to be insensitive, offensive, and totally unacceptable. Good Friday is a solemn day for Christians all over the world, a day we commemorate the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who was crucified on the cross for our sins. It is not a

day to be used for crass commercial purposes.

"FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc's action is not only disrespectful to the Christian faith, but also an affront to the millions of Christians in Nigeria and beyond.

"We are deeply disappointed that a company of such repute would stoop so low to exploit the religious sentiments of its customers for profit "We are considering sanctions against FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC, including a boycott of their products by our members

and all well-meaning Nigerians who share our concerns. " We call on the company to issue an unreserved apology to the Christian community and withdraw the offensive advert immediately," he said.

There was a similar incident in the past when Sterling Bank used a crucifixion imagery to promote their product and CAN had condemned it and later dropped it's threat on sanction the bank after recieving appologies from management of Sterling Bank.

Agusto, DataPro Assign Investment Grade Ratings to Fast Credit Ltd Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Fast Credit Limited, one of Nigeria’s leading finance institutions has earned a long-term investment grade rating of ‘Bbb’ from Agusto & Co with a stable outlook as well as a ‘BBB+' long- term with an A2 stable outlook for 2023/2024 from DataPro, respectively.

According to DataPro and Agusto & Co, the investment grade ratings reflect the company’s good profitability, adequate capitalisation, competent and experienced management team and an array

of innovative products.

The rating committees approved the ratings after an assessment of the company’s financial performance, corporate governance and risk management, regulatory environment, risk factors, and outlook of its current healthy profile in the medium to long-term period.

It was learnt that the development signals that Fast Credit has a very strong credit profile, ample liquidity, and a minimal default risk.

“Fast Credit is delighted at the credit ratings from both agencies which resulted in investment grade

ratings of the company and a further testament of our consistent growth and success over the years,” said the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the company, Emeka Iloelunachi.

He noted that the company’s key strengths were taken into consideration and the rating agencies placed emphasis on its strong profitability, good capitalisation, experienced management team, asset quality and a variety of innovative products.

“We at FCL are excited at the credit rating from both rating agencies, which is a next step towards

other strategic initiatives that will continue to provide the company with a competitive advantage,” Iloelunachi said.

He explained that the company provides assorted and innovative types of credit products such as payroll lending, consumer products, small and medium enterprises, and corporate lending products to private and public sector employees and institutions.

The company, he said, also provides high-yielding investment products and target savings to individuals and institutional investors.

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TCN: Existing Power Equipment Have Capacity to Deliver Up to 17000MW Blames perennial under-capacity production on low demand for energy by the populace Highlights options for states to play in a decentralised power market Peter Uzoho As Nigeria's electricity supply continues to hobble around 4,500 megawatts (MW), with many Nigerians complaining about

poor or lack of power supply, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has stated that the existing grid equipment in the country have the capacity to generate and supply between 16,000 and 17,000

MW. Market Operator, TCN, Mr. Edmund Eje, disclosed this during an exclusive chat with THISDAY. Eje said the perennial undercapacity delivery by the power operators was due to the low de-

mand for energy by the populace.

Eje also highlighted options available for state governments to participate actively in the electricity market following the signing of the amendment made to Paragraph

14, Part II, Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, which empowers states to own, generate, transmit and distribute power in their areas.

He said the low demand for power by the populace made the

equipment not to function at their full installed capacity, adding that currently, TCN would only be able wheel up to 8,000MW to distribution

“God bless you all, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

But Clark, in a statement personally signed, accused the Information Minister of allegedly using the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), as an agent of his Ministry to suppress, gag and intimidate the press.

He condemned the recent trip of Mohammed abroad to address international journalists on the alleged call for an interim government, saying, "His (Mohammed) recent sojourn to the United States of America (USA), on the issue of Interim National Government (ING), to damage the reputation of Mr. Peter Obi’s rising profile, to me, is an effort in futility.

"This is because Lai Mohammed did not base his accusations on any report or information given by any state agency, but on mere propaganda targeted at destroying the reputation of an innocent citizen.

If I may continue further, why will the Minister of Information take more than usual interest in not only

notable politician, particularly, in the South-west who is not a product or beneficiary of its activism and activities."

Obi described Adebanjo as a foremost delegate to the 2014 National Conference, explaining that when Adebanjo and other leaders initiated the “handshake across the Niger and Benue”, it was geared towards the needed unity of the country, with Adebanjo still crisscrossing the Nigerian landscape.

Obi added that the history of the 2023 elections would be incomplete without the records of the incomparable sacrifice of Adebanjo for the unity and progress of the nation, which he continued to pursue beyond any shadow of doubt.

"As we celebrate this great nationalist, a gift of God to our country and humanity, we pray for his greater service to the nation in good health and long life, far longer than his father, who joined his Creator at the age of only 105 years," Obi said.

scandalising and lying against Peter Obi, but using his privileged position to circulate same to the country and entire world.

"If we were to talk further about those who have held strong positions against the current political situation in the country; why has the Minister avoided to take note of the views of other persons such as our respected elder statesman and colleague, Chief Afe Babalola.

"By April, 2022, Nigeria was actually facing a crisis of all dimensions – economically, insecurity corruption, lack of direction – because there was no courageous, competent Nigerian leader, and the question was, where do we go from here? There were very few politicians in the corridors of power who believe that Buhari’s administration has performed exceedingly well.

"It was during this period of uncertainty that many Nigerians came out patriotically, felt they should speak out, even though they were not partisan politicians, and one of those is chief Afe Babalola, an honest and self-made Nigerian. It was during this period he made an honest and sincere contribution, and that it may be difficult to have a free, fair and credible elections.

"It was at this juncture of a failing Nigeria that he suggested that Nigeria should have an interim national government. I have known Chief Afe Babalola for a very long time, we were both in the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He was one of the leading counsel, and I still remember when I accompanied him as a NPN counsel to prosecute the case involving Alhaji Balarabe Musa.

"One of the proponent of the interim Government is Rev. Chris Okotie, and even on Easter Sunday, he spoke extensively about it. Bola Ahmed Tinubu also in one occasion said that cabals plan to disrupt 2023 elections, introduce interim government, stated in the People Gazette News of 4th February 2023.

"Even within government circles, this subject of interim government was discussed in the open by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, recently on 17th February 2023. We all know that at no time from the

beginning of the current political season did His Excellency, Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, make any statement that in whatever manner constituted a breach or threat to the peace and security of this country.

"The question that Lai Mohammed needs to answer is to tell Nigerians on what platform, at what time and in what manner did Peter Obi make the supposed treasonable or seditious remarks?" he said, arguing that Mohammed’s conduct was even more damaging to the Muhammadu Buhari government.

"President Muhammadu Buhari has stated time and again, that he will handover to a president who will emerge victorious in a free, fair and credible election. It is more disturbing and surprising when one realises that Lai Mohammed is a lawyer and ought to be in a position to give proper professional advice to the Government which he serves on, what the situation of the law is. I, for one, who found myself as Federal Commissioner for Information a position which he holds today after nearly 50 years.

"My instincts and training as a lawyer were always brought to bear in the overall interest of the country and the direct duties which I perform.

This is the least of standard which we expect him to uphold in the interest of our noble profession.

"I had on several occasions condemned this conduct of his attempting to suppress, gag and intimidate the press. He has used the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), as an agent of his Ministry. The NBC is no longer the independent organisation, which it used to be, treating the press as a noble profession, made up of noble practitioners.

"A case in point is the five million naira fine slammed on the Channels Television without even the rudiments of natural justice, in this case fair hearing, which is a basic procedure of justice to ensure fairness. Rather, slamming media houses with fines without hearing from the media houses, is the trial that has now become a constant weapon of intimidation and harassment of the press,” he concluded.

moment of introspection as he prepares to leave government, whether he fulfilled his promises to halt incessant killings, end banditry, defeat corruption, sell off part of the presidential fleet and whether he has been fair to all Nigerians, among others.

But Adesina said, “You know Bishop Kukah cooks very bad news and they are not appetising at all.

Somebody has said that it’s time he pulled off his cassock and become a full time politician. He’s rather too partisan.

“Those things don’t do credit to Father Kukah’s intellectual posture.

He is somebody that we had always admired for his intellectual bent, but his opinions have been coloured by politics.

“He talked about selling the presidential fleet. Was that ever promised? In 2015, there were a rash of promises made that even the candidate did not know about.

So, how can you start claiming that he promised that? Can he prove it?”

While noting that, it was disappointing Kukah insisted Nigeria has not improved markedly, he said, “Are we where we were on the issue of banditry in 2015? The

job is not fully done but are we where we were? If Father Kukah is true to himself and true to his calling as a cleric, he will know that this country is not where it was in 2015.”

On corruption, the special adviser opined that no country ever defeats corruption, even in China, where he said they summarily execute corrupt officials. “I think Father Kukah is rather disappointing in those choice of words,” Adesina added.

He, however, admitted that the president’s sickness in his early days as Nigerian leader was a setback for his plan for reviving the country.

“It should be because when he fell sick in January 2017, he came back in March (and) went again in April and didn’t come back till August 19. About all, eight months. That sickness took eight months of his time in the office.

Of course, nobody would like that.

But what we are glad about is that he came whole, sound and better than country,” he noted.

Ramping up his defence that Buhari never promised to sell off the presidential fleet, Adesina said Buhari only promised to ‘look at the

fleet' and not sell off the fleet, when he campaigned for office in 2015.

He stated that, ‘two to three jets' had been sold from the presidential fleet and ‘two to three' of the helicopters given to the Nigerian Air Force to aid their job of securing Nigeria.

“President Buhari promised to look at the presidential fleet, which he did. Helicopters were given to the Air Force, two or three jets were sold off. That is cutting off excesses. What some people expect is selling off all the jets and start flying the Nigerian Airways if Nigerian Airways still exists,” he argued.

On the president’s highest and lowest moments, Adesina said anytime reports of killings in any part of the country got to Buhari, it always hit him negatively, while he was always glad when any Nigerian did something right or acts in an upright manner.

Addressing the economy, inflation, and unemployment among others, the spokesman argued that Buhari met a mono-economy but he would be leaving a diversified one since the contribution of oil has reduced to less than 10 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Continued on page 28

OBI: MISSION TO RESCUE NIGERIA 'WILL COME TO FRUITION' Commissioner for Information in the First Republic, Chief Edwin Clark, has accused the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, of heightening the already tense political situation in Nigeria with his recent trip to the United States.

The elder statesman, who is currently leading the Southern, Middle Belt Leaders Forum, said Mohammed, by his press conference abroad, was causing division in Nigeria instead of taking steps to preaching unity.

However, the former Anambra State governor, who wrote to members of the Obidient Movement and other supporters, stated this in series of Tweets yesterday..

Obi said he was aware of the, “vituperations, physical attacks, loss of rights and privileges, hateful trolls, indignities and vexatious fighting words, even from some of those we long regarded as civic leaders and conscience of our nation.”

He urged them to bear the attacks as sacrifices towards creating a new Nigeria, “where justice, equity, fair-

ness, love and prosperity shall reign.”

The full tweets read: “My Obidients, a very happy Holy Month of Easter and Ramadan to you all.

As we celebrate the Easter and look forward to a joyous Eid El Fitr, we pray for God Almighty’s guidance, protection and blessings as we face and pass through litany of challenges in our dear country, Nigeria – flawed electoral processes, insecurity, weak institutions, multidimensional poverty, unemployment, inflation, lack of justice, fairness, equity, opportunities and many more.

“As we reflect on these challenges and look forward to a New Nigeria that is POssible, Datti and I are painfully mindful that for the mere reason of being OBIdient, most of you have suffered vituperations, physical attacks, loss of rights and privileges, hateful trolls, indignities and vexatious fighting words, even from some of those we long regarded as civic leaders and conscience of our nation.

“Please bear such attacks as the

sacrifices that we are all required to make in order to create a New Nigeria, where justice, equity, fairness, love and prosperity shall reign. While underpinning the supremacy of our Constitution and imperatives of the rule of law. Do not relent; and do not be lured into unnecessary conflicts.

Be assured that in the fullness of time, our mission to rescue Nigeria from those engaged in State Capture will come to fruition.

“We are also using all lawful and peaceful means allowed under our laws and constitution to reclaim our mandate to create a New Nigeria that is POssible. Therefore, in all your actions and inactions, I continue to implore you to be law abiding, respectful and peaceful.

“In all you do, always remember those immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr, that “The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience, but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges.”

A New Nigeria is Indeed POssible.

TINUBU, OBI EULOGISE AFENIFERE LEADER, AYO ADEBANJO, AT 95 In a statement yesterday by Mr. Tunde Rahman, Tinubu commended Adebanjo for his contributions to progressive politics and good governance in the country.

The president-elect particularly commended Adebanjo for his leading role in the fight against military dictatorship, his prodemocracy struggles in the then National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), and his remarkable leadership within the Afenifere fold.

He stated in the birthday message, "I congratulate Baba Ayo Adebanjo on attaining 95 in good health. Baba is one of the few remaining disciples of our late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Papa Adebanjo has remained consistent in sustaining the ideals of progressive good governance and social justice.

"I salute his courage over the years and the useful role he has played in ensuring that Nigeria remains a strong, united and prosperous country."

Tinubu prayed Almighty Allah to grant Adebanjo more years so

he could witness the dawn of a new era, where the hopes of the people for a better, stronger, more secure and more prosperous Nigeria would not only be renewed but also come to full realisation.

Obi, in a statement he personally signed, stated that at a time like this, when Nigeria was in dire need of statesmen, Adebanjo occupied a pride of place in the country.

According to him, the birth and upbringing of the Afenifere leader prepared him for a balanced view of issues affecting the country, especially given that his father, Joel, was a Christian, while his mother, Salawatu, was a Muslim.

The former Anambra State governor recalled that Adebanjo grew up in the deep knowledge and love of the two dominant religions such that bigotry had no place in him.

Obi added, "Born on the 10th of April 1928 and lived his early life on Lagos Island, he was caught in the frenzy of nationalism, becoming a follower of Nnamdi Azikiwe as

a young Zikist. But in 1951, when the great Awo formed the Action Group (AG) with its philosophy of federalism, it attracted young Adebanjo as one of the founders.

He had, thus, learned at the feet of the greatest nationalists in our clime."

The LP presidential candidate described Adebanjo as a renowned journalist, who later, since 1961, became a great legal practitioner, a combination of which made him an activist and politician.

He said regarding Adebanjo, "He has ever remained unwavering in the service of our country. So much committed is he to the cause of Awoism and Nigeria that he is today the only surviving disciple of Awolowo with whom the sage was charged in the infamous treasonable felony in 1962. With other leaders, he was in the frontline in the formation of NADECO, which forced the military out of our nation’s politics.

"So effective is Afenifere in this endeavour that there is hardly any

WITH 50 DAYS TO GO….BUHARI DEFENDS CHOICE OF SERVICE CHIEFS make any corrections to the alleged imbalances in the years that he has led the country even though he has even been severely flayed by his kinsman, Atiku Abubakar, for the alleged lopsided appointment of heads of security agencies by his administration. Atiku had put the number of northern heads of security agencies at 17.

But Adesina maintained that Buhari reserved the exclusive right to appoint whoever he wanted and from wherever he desired, arguing that the criterion for such selection was competence and not the ethnic grouping of the government officials so appointed.

“Critics will always be there.

That’s their job. The thing about critics is that they hear themselves only. They don’t hear alternate voices,” the presidency said in defence of Buhari.

Adesina said when the administration became aware of the public discourse concerning the so-called imbalance in Buhari’s appointments, the federal government came out with a checklist in 2018, which showed that Ogun State had the highest number of government officials, followed by Imo. He maintained that Katsina,

where the president comes from was number five or six on the rung of Buhari’s appointments.

“Security is where you bring your best foot forward. Look at the echelon of the heads of security agencies since 2015, would you honestly say they have all been from one part of the country? Who was the chief of naval staff, who was the inspector general of police?

“So, security is something that you do based on the best and the brightest because all you want is for the country to be secure,” Adesina pointed out, stressing that people who highlighted where the head of a security agency came from “do not know what they are talking about.”

The presidency argued that Buhari had done his best given the circumstances he took over the nation, maintaining that the president did the right thing by opting for what it called the best, rather than their place of origin.

“Do not subject security to ethnic balancing, don’t subject security to federal character. In fact, the constitution that prescribes federal character even gives the president some prerogatives that he can appoint on his own. What

the constitution requires of you is balancing in terms of each state being represented in terms of certain positions. Security is not part of it.

“A president will always have the prerogative to appoint those he feel will help him secure the country and have the kind of country he desires to have,” Adesina declared.

Reminded that between May 2015 and May 2022, over 55,000 Nigerians were killed by terrorists, bandits and armed gangs operating across the country, Adesina posited that Buhari was leaving the nation’s security better than he met it in 2015.

According to him, “You have quoted those figures. Do you also know of a report which says that in the last 12 years , 2022 was the year that recorded the least number of deaths in terms of insurgency and insecurity? We know that in this country, the figure has been coming down progressively over the years and it’s a fact of history.

Nobody can change it,” he added.

The presidency, also, for the umpteenth time, took a swipe at the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, saying “Kukah cooks only bad news.''

Kukah had during his Easter homily urged Buhari to have a

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OYEBANJI MARKS EASTER CELEBRATION AT HIS COUNTRY HOME...

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji with some residents, during the Easter celebration at his Ikogosi-Ekiti country home… yesterday

Bank Worker Shoots Dead Five Colleagues in Louisville, United States Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja A 23-year-old bank employee armed with a rifle shot dead five colleagues and wounded nine other people at his workplace yesterday while livestreaming the attack in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, officials said.

The attacker was fatally shot at the scene, the Louisville Metro Police Department said, but it was unclear whether he died from police gunfire

or a self-inflicted wound.

A Reuters report said that police identified the shooter as Connor Sturgeon, who joined the downtown branch of the Old National Bank as a full-time employee last year.

In the latest in a long series of mass shootings in the US, police said they responded within minutes to reports of an attacker at about 8:30 a.m. at the bank office near Slugger Field baseball stadium.

Officers fired at the gunman, who was armed with a rifle, police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters. The attacker broadcast live video of his attack over the internet, she said.

Police identified the dead as Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliot, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and James Tutt, 64.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, on the verge of tears, said during a

news briefing that he knew some of the victims, including Elliot, a senior vice president at the bank.

"He taught me how to help build my law career, he helped me become governor, he gave me advice on being a good dad," Beshear said.

"One of the people I talked to most in the world," he added.

Two police officers were among the nine people wounded, including a 26-year-old recent police academy

Civil Servants’ Vested Interests, High Personnel Cost, Bane of Nigeria's Food Security Dike Onwuamaeze Agro experts that featured at a recent webinar organised by the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) have identified vested interests by civil servants, lack of synergy among agencies and departments of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), high personnel cost and recurrent expenditure as major hindrances to Nigeria’s quest for food security.

The experts, who spoke on the theme: “Nigeria’s Agricultural Sector Allocation Relative to the National Budget: Implications on Food Security,” also said a collaboration between the FMARD and ministries of agriculture at state government level would be an important strategic step for the promotion of agricultural development in Nigeria.

They also tasked the incoming government to appoint a seasoned professional with firm grasp on issues affecting the agricultural sector as Minister of Agriculture, adding that agriculture should be the topmost priority of the next administration because the opportunity cost of neglecting agriculture is already telling on the Nigerian economy.

According to the President of IoD Nigeria, Dr. Ije Jidenma, the budgetary allocation of N228.43 billion for 2023, and N291.4 billion for 2022, which were 1.05 per cent and 1.78 per cent respectively were too small and too far less than the Malabo Declaration that Nigeria was a signatory to.

Jidenma said: “There is need to address funding challenges in order to address growth in agricultural output. I am advocating upward budget review of the sector’s budgetary allocation across all levels of governments.”

The CEO of Iproduce Africa, Mrs. Aisha Umar, who was a former Senior Special Assistant to the President

Goodluck Jonathan, said that the vested interests of civil servants constituted a big clog on Nigeria’s search for food security.

She said: “I am sorry to say that there are some vested interests who do not want the status quo to change.

And these vested interests, I have to say with all due respect, are the civil servants who are benefiting from the current budgetary system that we have.”

Umar, who had served as legal consultant to the FMARD that help the ministry to create the legal framework for the setting up of certain agencies and departments in the ministry, alleged that unaccounted money in foreign currencies are going into the sector from the World Bank, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), etc.

“We have not talked about the foreign money coming. You know that Nigeria is a member of many international food orgnisations like IFAD, FAO and the World Bank are giving us a lot in foreign exchange and nobody knows about them except the civil servants.

“I think the budget is not the problem. My solution is that we need a minister that has no vested interest who and who will be able to control the civil servants.

“It is very convenient for us to continue as we are because of the vested interests, especially the civil servants. They know how to feed new ministers with information that suits them.

“To be honest, most of the funding ends up being fretted away on meetings, training, and very little per cent of the allocation gets to the farmers.

They take so much in running their day to day expense that they leave very little for capital development.”

The Managing Director of Nigerian Agriculture Insurance Commission (NAIC), Mrs. Folashade Joseph, who

was represented by Mr. Jerome Olowoyeye, said that we have to look beyond budgetary allocations to monitoring their utilisation of funds allocated to the sector.

She said: “I want to agree that more budgeting for agriculture is necessary but first it should be target based budgeting, not budgeting for budgeting sake. It must be goal oriented budgeting.

“The bane of Nigeria’s underdevelopment is throwing money at problems while ignoring the fundamental issues. Even though the allocation may seem to be small, what has been its utilisation?

Former Hon. Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ekiti State, Dr. Olabode Adetoyi, who is also the CEO Value Ingredients, said a professional was needed as minister at the FMARD because agriculture is a science based profession.

“It is very important to have a professional agriculturalist at the top

of the ministry who knows his onions and his attention will be focused on targets like ‘what is our policy on crop production?’”

Also, a former Chairperson of the LCCI Agricultural and Allied Group, Mrs. Edobong Akpabio, who is the executive director of Greenport Impact Cluster Nigeria Limited, observed that there is no synergy among the departments and agencies that are under the FMARD at the federal level. “Also the coordination between the federal and state ministries of agriculture is almost non-existent,” she said, adding that so much is being spent on recurrent expenditure that there “is absolutely no basis for an expectation of improvement in the sector nationwide.”

But the President of AFEX, Mr. Akinyinka Akintunde, said government should put prioritise agriculture for it to attract appropriate financing from the private sector through innovative ways.

graduate who was struck in the head and remained in critical condition after brain surgery on Monday, police said. The nine were all treated at the University of Louisville hospital, a hospital spokesperson said. Two other victims were also in critical condition.

The status of the shooter's job at the bank was not immediately clear on Monday. Gwinn-Villaroel said at a news conference that he was employed there. But CNN, citing confidential law enforcement sources, said he had been notified that he would be fired.

According to the Facebook page of the shooter's mother, Sturgeon grew up in southern Indiana, which is just north of Louisville. The elder of two boys, he attended Floyd Central High School in Floyds Knobs, Indiana, where he ran track and played basketball for the team his father, Todd, coached. He enrolled as a business student at the University of Alabama in 2016.

Sturgeon worked at the bank as an intern for three summers from 2018 to 2020 before becoming a full-time employee in 2022 as a portfolio banker, according to a LinkedIn profile page. He had no prior contact with Louisville police, the police chief said.

"This was a targeted act of evil violence" Craig Greenberg, the mayor of Louisville, a city of 625,000, told reporters at the briefing. Greenberg said he was also friends with Elliot, who had worked on the mayoral transition campaign.

It is not the first time that a gun rampage has been live-streamed by an attacker. The gunman who killed 10 people in a racially motivated

shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store in May 2022 had live-streamed his attack, as had the attacker who killed 51 people in the May 2019 at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States. So far in 2023, the nation has experienced 146 mass shootings, the most at this point in the year since 2016 — using the definition of four or more shot or killed, not including the shooter — according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.

In one of the most recent highprofile incidents, three nine-year-old students and three staff members were killed at a school in Nashville, Tennessee, by a former student on March 27.

In an unrelated incident hours after Monday's attack, a man was killed and a woman was injured in a shooting outside a Louisville community college, officials said.

Police said there were multiple suspects in the shooting at Jefferson Community and Technical College, about two miles (3.2 km) from the bank, who fled the scene and remained at large.

In response to the Louisville bank attack, President Joe Biden again reiterated his wish that Congress pass legislation requiring safe storage of firearms, background checks for all gun sales and elimination of gun manufacturers' immunity from liability.

"How many more Americans must die before Republicans in Congress will act to protect our communities," Biden, a Democrat, said in a statement.

JAMB Reschedules Timetable for 2023 UTME, to Hold Mock-UTME April 18 Kuni Tyessi in Abuja The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has brought forward the conduct of its 2023 UTME which was earlier scheduled to hold on Saturday, April 29th, 2023, to Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

The Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in a statement. He explained that the adjustment in the date of the UTME was to accommodate some other major and critical national assignments.

By so doing, the Board hopes that no citizen would be denied

the opportunity of exercising their civic responsibilities.

“It should be noted that the Board does not have the liberty of shifting forward its examination as other public examinations are billed to commence their exercises in the early part of May, 2023. Yet another factor is the need to accommodate those institutions with stable academic calendar to resume as scheduled,” he added.

JAMB had earlier conducted its 2023 Mock-UTME on Thursday, March 30, 2023, in 725 centres across the country. However, the exercise ran into some technical hitches in

some centres thereby denying some candidates the opportunity to sit the examination.

The Board’s mock examination was designed for the purpose of testing its preparedness and that of its partners for the UTME as well as give prospective candidates the opportunity to have hands-on experience of the CBT test environment.

According to him, in order to give those candidates, who were unable to sit for the examination owing to no fault of theirs, the opportunity to take the examination that the mock examination had been rescheduled to hold on Tuesday, 18th April, 2023.

He stressed candidates who were present and screened for the examination but could not sit the examination have been rescheduled to retake the mock examination on Tuesday, 18th April, 2023.

In the meantime, the result of the candidates who successfully took the mock examination on 30th March, 2023, has been released.

“The Board will continue to partner with relevant agencies of government to ensure that its candidates get the best. It, therefore, solicits the understanding of all as it delivers on its critical mandate”, he added.

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POLITICS

Acting Group Politics Editor DEJI ELUMOYE Email: deji.elumoye@thisdaylive.com (08033025611 SMS ONLY)

10 Aspirants at Daggers Drawn over N’Assembly’s Speakership Seat

Udora Orizu writes that the race for who becomes Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 10th National Assembly is gathering momentum, as no fewer than 10 aspirants are intensifying campaigns and consulting politicians that may help them realize their ambition.

Betara

T

Kalu

he 10th National Assembly, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives, is expected to be inaugurated by June, 2023.

As expected, the race for who will be the next Speaker and Deputy Speaker is already gathering momentum, as aspirants and their supporters are consulting politicians and relevant stakeholders that may help them realize their ambition.

For the Speakership position, no fewer than 10 persons have indicated interest to take over from current Speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila.

The position just like the three other presiding offices in both chambers are expected to be zoned to the various geopolitical areas of the country.

As it is now, the President-elect is from the South-west while the Vice President-elect is from the North-East. In line with existing arrangement, South East, South South, North Central and North West, are expected to fill other positions in the Assembly.

There are also calls to balance the religious faiths as both the President-elect and Vice President-elect are Muslims.

However, lawmakers are divided over the geopolitical zones to produce the presiding officers of the federal parliament.

The lawmaker also said the results of the 2023 elections indicated that the opposition members could exert a lot of influence if they were united.

According to him: “This session is to enable us to network, interact and familiarise ourselves as people that the results of the 2023 general election have thrown up as a new phase, having numbers that give us greater strength to deepen opposition politics and democracy.

Therefore, we need to realise such and bond in the interest of our parties and the people we are here to represent.”

Following the resolution of the minority caucus meeting, there might be repeat of the leadership tussle in 2015. Recall that in 2015, Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara emerged as Senate President and House of Representatives Speaker against the wish of the ruling party.

Following the rejection of their leadership by the APC, the duo defected to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and led the National Assembly for four years.

Opposition Forms Alliance to Upstage APC While everyone is waiting to know the regions the ruling party will zone the four positions to, APC aspirants, members and minority lawmakers have started lobbying and wooing their colleagues.

Last Tuesday, members-elect from the opposition parties met and formed an alliance ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June, 2023, with the aim of determining the leadership of the parliament.

The opposition parties comprising of PDP, Labour Party and others currently combined are about 163 while the ruling APC has 162 with some seats awaiting the April 15th run off.

At the strategic meeting, the lawmakers-elect unanimously formed a group to be known as ‘10th Assembly: Greater Majority.’

In attendance were old and newly elected members of the House on the platform of the PDP, Labour Party, New Nigeria People’s Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Social Democratic Party, African Democratic Congress and Young Progressives Party.

Some serving lawmakers present at the meeting were, Wole Oke (PDP/Osun), Beni Lar (PDP/Plateau), Boma Goodhead (PDP/ Rivers), Bamidele Salam (PDP/Osun), Jonathan Gbefwi (SDP/Nasarawa), and Dachung Bagos (PDP/Plateau).

The convener, Hon. Fred Agbedi (PDP/ Bayelsa), in his welcome address, said it was the inaugural meeting of minority caucuses of the ‘Greater Majority’ of the expected 10th House.’

Gbajabiamila Meets Speakership Aspirants Two days after the strategic meeting of the minority lawmakers, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, last Friday in Abuja met with his colleagues who are aspiring to be

Onuoha

Gagdi

Speaker.

At the meeting with Gbajabiamila were, Deputy Speaker Idris Wase; Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Aliyu Betara; Chairman, Committee on Navy, Yusuf Gagdi; Chairman, Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu; Chairman, Committee on Land Transport, Tajudeen Abbas; Chairman, Committee on Disaster Preparedness, Abdulraheem Olawuyi; Chairman, Committee on Water Resources, Sada Soli; Makki Yalleman and Sani Jaji.

A reliable source who briefed THISDAY on what was discussed at the meeting said Speaker Gbajabiamila was worried that he has never met with the aspirants and encouraged all of them to be peaceful The source also told THISDAY that Gbajabiamila promised that as a party man he will support whatever region the party decides to zone the position to.

“The Speaker was worried that he has never met with us (the aspirants) so as the leader of the House there was need to interface with all of us. He encouraged us to be peaceful and live in peace with one another. He equally affirmed to us that as the leader of the House, any day anytime the party zoned the position of speakership he’s not going to fight the party, he will support the zoning because he’s a party man. Some little issues that was raised regarding to whether he’s supporting Tajudeen Abaas, he said No. We actually discovered that it was one of his staff that was seriously campaigning using the name of the Speaker,” the source said Gbajabiamila confirmed the meeting on his verified Twitter handle @femigbaja. He wrote, “I

met with aspirants for the office of the Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives in the coming 10th Assembly. All nine aspirants I have known and worked with for many years and I have no doubt will do well in continuing and building on the legacy of the 9th Assembly.”

Meet the Aspirants Below are the lawmakers who want to replace Gbajabiamila. While some have publicly declared interest in the race, others who are yet to are also lobbying and wooing supports from their colleagues and stakeholders behind closed- doors.

Ahmed Idris Wase Wase is currently the Deputy Speaker of the House. He represents Wase federal constituency of Plateau State north central zone. He was first elected into the House in 2007 and is currently serving the fourth term.

Benjamin Okezie Kalu Kalu is the spokesman of the 9th House of Representatives, representing Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State.

In his declaration speech, the second term lawmaker promised to ensure parliamentary independence if elected Speaker.

According to him, Nigerians need a speaker that has the capacity to achieve cohesion, national unity, inclusiveness that will bring everybody together for the purpose of achieving prosperity for the nation.

The lawmaker assured that he has the capacity and competence to lead the Green Chamber having served meritoriously as the spokesman of the 9th Assembly and other positions.

Kalu said: “Nigerians are looking for a Speaker that will increase what I call parliamentary sovereignty where the motions, the resolutions and independence of the arm of government would be showcased better than 9th assembly had struggled because 9th assembly has maintained its independence, then we need somebody that will take the bath and sustain that independence.

Speaking on other issues, he said, “It is a Speaker that is gender sensitive that will reopen that space and begin to see reasons what they did not pass though before the President and then begin to give it the sense of belonging. So, prioritising education is what is in the mind of Nigerians”.

Last Tuesday, members-elect from the opposition parties met and formed an alliance ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June, 2023, with the aim of determining the leadership of the parliament.

The opposition parties comprising of PDP, Labour Party and others currently combined are about 163 while the ruling APC has 162 with some seats awaiting the April 15th run off. At the strategic meeting, the lawmakers-elect unanimously formed a group to be Yusuf Gagdi Gagdi represents Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam known as ‘10th Assembly: Greater Majority.’

Federal Constituency of Plateau State. He was In attendance were old and newly elected members of a Deputy Speaker of the State House of Asbefore getting elected into the House the House on the platform of the PDP, Labour Party, sembly of Representatives in 2019. He’s currently the New Nigeria People’s Party, All Progressives Grand Chairman, Committee on Navy.

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the Alliance, Social Democratic Party, African Democratic online edition on www.thisdaylive.com Congress and Young Progressives Party.

TUESDAY APRIL 11, 2023 • T H I S D AY

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16 T H I S D AY TUESDAY APRIL 11, 2023 TR

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& RE A S O

Tuesday April 11, 2023 Vol 27. No 10225

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opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

THE DELTA STATE GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION MIDENO BAYAGBON argues that Ovie OmoAgege’s claim to victory is ludicrous

See page 17

RACE FOR THE SPEAKERSHIP OF THE HOUSE OF REPS Benjamin Kalu has what it takes to lead the House of Representatives and take it to higher level, contends EMEKA NWOSU

See page 17 EDITORIAL

GOVERNORS AND SECURITY VOTES

18

1

KUNLE JENROLA urges the disputants to repose confidence in the ability of the courts to dispense justice

THE LOVELY IRONY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FRAY Somehow, the geometrical construct known DV WKH 7ULDQJOH SOD\V D VLJQLÀFDQW UROH WR instruct human conduct. In its tripartite or trichotomous forms, it’s been known to shape human actions and reactions remarkably, albeit subliminally.

Think of the composite three states of being, P\VWHU\ RI WKH S\UDPLGV WKH H΀FLHQF\ RI a tripodal stove, aka “aro meta”, and the intricacies of a love triangle and you’d gain an orbed understanding of this phenomenon.

Yet, it is as likely as not that the peculiarities of a three-way love tangle, for instance, could equate the complexities of a novel triangular tussle and political acrimony deriving, principally, from the outcome of the February 25, 2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria.

With a winning edge blighted by XQSUHFHGHQWHG FRPSHWLWLYHQHVV WKDW ÁLSSHG political strongholds, the advent of an overperforming third force and a glitchy transmission of results, the stage was set for a familiar but new post-election showdown.

8QOLNH WKH IDPLOLDU IDFH RͿ EHWZHHQ WZR major contenders on our political arena of yesteryears, there’s a new triangular spat awaiting the deconstruction of the courts among the three top political parties viz: the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) .

At the inception of the Second Republic in 1979, the political fray in the court was between the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

President Shehu Shagari, NPN, became the legitimate winner to the inevitable concession

by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, UPN, in a judicial GHFLVLRQ WKDW À[HG WKH WZR WKLUGV RI VWDWHV DW 12 two thirds.

Indeed, the General Ibrahim Babangida’s military government attempted to correct D SHUFHLYHG GHÀFLHQF\ RI RXU PXOWL SDUW\ heritage by legislating the Social Democratic Party ,(SDP) and the National Republican Party, (NRC) to run in 1993. The outcome of that experiment is a now a narrative of legend VWXͿ 7KH SRLQW LV WKDW WKH ÀQDO RQVODXJKW RI presidential elections from the President Olusegun Obasanjo versus Chief Olu Falae era in 1999 through President Umaru Yar’Adua and General Muhammadu Buhari tug in 2007 to President Buhari against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar slug in 2019 - it’s been a construct of two intersecting tussle.

Fast forward to 2023AD however, the results of the Presidential Elections announced by Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof Mahmood Yakubu, showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu scored a total of 8,794,726 votes to claim the vertex of this triangle.

His victory compelled his two closest rivals and candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party who polled 6,984, 520 and

6,101,533 votes, respectively - to occupy the bases.

Interestingly, a tripartite rivalry popped up with each of the relevant parties winning 12 states and New Nigeria Progressives Party (NNPP) swinging Kano State to complete a 36 plus One (Abuja) state structure.

By sheer chivalry or indoctrination, the last Presidential Elections turned out to be a triangular post- election contestation among the top three parties.

As earlier inferred, it would have been the two political behemoths: APC and PDP slugging it out at the polls and, ultimately, in the courts.

But, the LP, thought to be a structure-less, paper tiger introduced an interesting twist to the scenario.

Recall that as election approached the ruling APC carried the baggage of insecurity, petroleum queues and cash crunch policy, while PDP was racked by the decamping of Peter Obi its erstwhile vice presidential candidate and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso to the LP and NNPP respectively. Also, WKH VWLͿ RSSRVLWLRQ RI WKH * JRYHUQRUV WR chairmanship of Dr Iyorchia Ayu was an obstacle to victory.

The LP, on the other hand, did not seem to have as much encumbrances such as APC’s Muslim/Muslim ticket controversy and PDP’s lopsided leadership problem.

Drawing an ironical political goodwill from the ill-will of Nigerian electorate against President Muhammadu Buhari’s lackluster response to socio- economic and security LVVXHV WKH /3 RͿHUHG D UHIUHVKLQJ DOWHUQDWLYH The Labour Party and its relatively young standard bearer, Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State seemed to aggregate the hopes and aspirations for a hardly likely seismic change of direction.

Although many other parties paraded other young, brilliant and untainted presidential candidates, soft -spoken Peter Obi captured the imagination of those craving for an equitable power sharing formula in Nigeria.

Subscribers to this ideal, across ethnic divide, argued that the South Eastern geopolitical zone has been short -changed and were resolute about pushing an Obi agenda to the hilt if only to balance the equation.

Expectedly, the ruling APC albatrossed by

its outspoken, bare-knuckling presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu and the opposition SDUW\ 3'3 DPEXVKHG E\ LWV ÁDJEHDUHU $WLNX $EXEDNDU ZRXOG EURRN QRQH RI WKH HͿURQWHU\ DQG RYHUEHDULQJ FRQÀGHQFH RI WKH VRFLDO media-savvy, LP. Curiously, this atmosphere of reciprocal suspicion which hung over the polity now EHFORXGV D SRVW HOHFWLRQ ÀUPDPHQW The situation today is such that even as a judicial challenge to the results has been DFWLYDWHG WKURXJK SHWLWLRQV ÀOHG DW WKH Election Tribunal, the dins of undemocratic propositions have reached a crescendo.

Apart from LP/Obidients backed protests W\SLÀHG E\ D OXGLFURXV DSSHDO IRU PLOLWDU\ intervention and impatience with judicial process, outright acts that skirt the rinks of treason have seeped into the triangle of FRQÁLFW WKURXJK FDOOV IRU PDVVLYH DQWL 0D\ 29- handover protest and the institution of an unconstitutional Interim National Government(ING).

In the wake of these glittering incongruities, the Department of State Services (DSS) had to issue an alert that some people were planning to disrupt the handover process by pushing for an interim government. But for the fact that the DSS is an instrument of governance which treads cautiously on politically sensitive issues, their alarm would have been dismissed as utterly facetious.

Evidence for these untoward undercurrents however became rife in the desperate prime time Television outburst of the Vice Presidential candidate of the LP, Datti %DED $KPHG ZKR WKUHDWHQHG ´ÀUH DQG brimstone” if the president elect, Bola Tinubu was sworn-in on May 29 ,2023- the constructional handover date. In his reaction WR WKLV LQÁDPPDWRU\ VWDWHPHQW WKH 1REHO Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka denounced the “menacing utterances” of Datti Ahmed as “incipient fascism”.

Expressing disappointment with the intolerance quotient of “Obidients”, Prof Soyinka, also revealed that he was able to send a message to Peter Obi that “if he lost the election, it was his followers that lost it for him.”

The questions that arise from these developments would bother on why the average politicians do not believe that their subscription to justice, democratic ideals and the rule of law should not be selective.

They seem to forget in a hurry that politics LV QRW D GR RU GLH DͿDLU DQG WKHUH·V D OHYHO RI decorum below which a democrat must not descend: win or lose.

What depth of disgust or frustration would make the LP, which placed third in the Presidential election petition the tribunal to order a rerun in which the winning APC and its candidates should be excluded?

Jenrola, a veteran journalist and communication consultant, writes from Lagos

T H I S D AY

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TUESDAY APRIL 11, 2023

MIDENO BAYAGBON argues that Ovie Omo-Agege’s claim to victory is ludicrous

A CASE OF SOUR GRAPES A lot has been said in the media, especially on political platforms on television and in the social media, about the gubernatorial elections in Delta State, which the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, the Right +RQ 6KHULͿ )UDQFLV 2ERUHYZRUL ZRQ convincingly, pulling over 360,060 votes to Ovie Omo-Agege, the APC’s candidate’s 7KH ÀUH ZRUNV KDYH H[SHFWHGO\ heightened and the intense battle which engulfed the state during the campaigns, and the elections proper, are set to shift to

from the disagreements between the acclaimed leader of the party in the State, Chief James Ibori and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa over who should be the candidate of their party in the March 18th governorship elections. Their divided house became the hunting ground for the APC candidate. The unthinkable happened. An aggrieved Ibori, was said to have sworn that over his dead body would the Ifeanyi Okowa-supported 6KHULͿ 2ERUHYZRUL ZKR HPHUJHG WKH candidate of the party, become governor of the state. ([SHFWHGO\ EHFDXVH RI KLV LQÁXHQFH LQ the party and in the state, a lot of people kow-towed to him. Many who were sitting on the fence claimed they got personal calls or visits from the Odidigborigbo himself WR QRW DOORZ 6KHULͿ 2ERUHYZRUL EHFRPH governor of Delta State. A lot of them obeyed and resigned from the party, even at the dying hours, to throw their weight, behind the candidate of the APC who most of them, before now, could not stand, and had no respect or regard for. The Ovuozorie Macauleys, the Omizu Odebalas and other known heavyweight chieftains of the PDP jumped over the fence and landed on the laps of Ovie Omo-Agege. An impotent feat, the courts. As has become the tradition with it turned out, as most of them lost in their our politicians, especially in the South of units and wards during the elections. But Nigeria, no politician agrees he or she was Ovie had expected to reap much political fairly beaten, clean and square. capital from the problem in the PDP and That is why, typically, the Deputy Senate from the high powered defections.

President, Ovie Omo-Agege of the APC, It is either he and Chief Ibori did not study who was the main opponent of the PDP in well the political terrain and the impact of the contest, in refusing to accept defeat and the deliberate Okowa political engineering, congratulate his rival, has amply served wrought over the last almost eight years, or notice that he is heading to the courts to they underestimated it and thought it would “retrieve” what he claims is his mandate. be a walk in the park. I think they somehow Under Nigerian law, and as it has become failed to understand what Senator Okowa the norm, the courts have over the years has done to the PDP, in the years of James EHFRPH WKH ÀQDO DUELWHU ZKRVH YRWH Ibori’s absence. While the party structure GHFLGHV ZKR RFFXSLHV ZKLFK R΀FH DQG on ground was built around the big party who does not. Sometimes, the court rulings men in each ward and local government are so outlandish, so stupendously buried when Ibori and Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan in legalese, most people have been left held sway, Okowa turned the applecart and wondering how technicalities supervene and devolved power to the units and the wards, out-do the will of the people. In carrying out built several layers of leadership that are their duty, the courts, especially the Supreme not dependent on any “big politician”. The Court, have unfortunately acquired an structure of PDP in the state today is built unsavoury reputation in the public eye. in the image of Governor Okowa who has For some of the politicians, it is a case of control of it. That’s why Ibori’s candidate impunity. They do everything and anything and others were beaten silly during the possible to be declared winners. Then they primaries. That explains why those who tell their opponents: go to court. For some, defected to the APC could not move with it does not matter whether they are declared the structures in their areas, and could not winner by the Independent National deliver the vote.

Electoral Commission (INEC), or not. They Ovie Omo-Agege, like Olorogun Kenneth tell whoever cares to listen that they know Gbagi, started this dream run for the their ways around the courts. One of such governorship of the state early. He had ample persons is the current governor of Imo strategies which he diligently implemented State, Hope Uzodinma, who is called, by over the last four years. He appointed a lot his people, the Supreme Court Governor of of Special Assistants from all the eight local Imo State. Like him, DSP Omo-Agege, and government areas of Delta Central, spreading his followers boast, that no matter what, his tentacles to other parts of the state in a they can always get the courts to declare the bid to build a formidable groundswell for APC candidate winner. They point to the his ambition. This was further enhanced two previous elections which he has won when he was able to convince the Buhari through the courts as evidence. government to award the monthly N4.5 Nevertheless, even as both parties prepare billion Pipeline Surveillance Contract to to present their evidence in court, as an WKUHH HQWLWLHV 7RPSROR KLV RZQ \RXQJHU active participant, and as most Deltans will EURWKHU -LPP\ 2PR $JHJH DQG D FRPSDQ\ testify, there are some cogent reasons, both OLQNHG WR )ULGD\ 2VDQHEL ZKR HQGHG XS DV from what happened on election day and his deputy governorship candidate, in their precursors to it, why the candidate of the failed bid to be the occupants of Osadebe APC, Omo-Agege, could not have won. Yet House, the Delta State Government House. he had so many things going for him. The ÀUVW RI WKHVH LV WKH LPSORVLRQ LQ WKH ULYDO 3'3 Bayagbon the factions which sprouted uncontrollably is a former Editor of Vanguard Newspapers

Benjamin Kalu has what it takes to lead the House of Representatives and take it to higher level, contends EMEKA NWOSU

RACE FOR THE SPEAKERSHIP OF THE HOUSE OF REPS The 2023 General Elections have come the Speakership slot. But information and gone, but bringing in its wake a lot from the grapevines suggests that the of upsets and surprises, especially in the APC may zone the position of the Deputy outcomes of the National Assembly polls. Senate President to the South South. If Many old Members could not secure return that happens, the Speakership position tickets. Indeed, the attrition rate is so high may berth in the South East. that over two-thirds of the old law makers This is where the Benjamin Kalu factor lost their bids to return to the House. In the comes in. He is one of the only three old incoming 10th House of Representatives, Members of the House that returned from new members are over 280 in number. This is the South East. Other APC Members-elect very interesting.

IURP WKH 6RXWK (DVW DUH ÀUVW WLPHUV ZKR The implication of the current demographics going by the ranking rules of the House, of the House of Representatives is that the are not in consideration for the position new members, if they act in unison, can of Speaker. One of the two returning determine who gets what in the leadership Members from the South East is Mariam of the House. Both the old Members that Onuoha from Okigwe in Imo State. were re-elected and the new ones, last week Rep Kalu towers high and above his LQ $EXMD UHFHLYHG WKHLU &HUWLÀFDWHV RI 5HWXUQ contemporaries from the South East, given from the Independent National Electoral his visibility and impeccable credentials.

Commission (INEC).

He is currently the Chairman of the Since then, the campaigns by interested House Committee on Media and Public candidates have acquired increased $ͿDLUV D SRVLWLRQ KH KDV GLVFKDUJHG most creditably to the admiration of his colleagues and indeed, the nation.

As the spokesman of the House, he has shown excellent communication skills.

In the last four years, acting on the instrumentality of his Committee, he has done commendably well in positively projecting the image of the House in the public space.

Benjamin Kalu is a man of character, competence and integrity who has succeeded in building bridges of unity and understanding across the various geo-political divides in the Parliament.

It is no wonder that he has continued to receive accolades from major players in momentum, pending the decision of the the polity. According to the Speaker of majority party, All Peoples Congress (APC) the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. to zone the top positions in the National Femi Gbajabiamila: “He is a Chairman $VVHPEO\ *LYHQ WKH ÁXLG VLWXDWLRQ DW WKH who continues to think outside the PRPHQW LQWHUHVWHG FDQGLGDWHV IURP GLͿHUHQW box and who is taking the media zones of the country have thrown their hats committee to a towering height like never into the ring. before in the National Assembly. His They include the out-going Deputy capacity, his ability, his competence, his Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase and Hon. compassion and that of the committee Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, both from Plateau remains unparalleled in the history 6WDWH LQ 1RUWK &HQWUDO +RQ 0XNWDU $OL\X of media committee of the House of Betera from Borno State in North East, Hon. Representatives”.

Tajudeen Abbas, PhD from Kaduna State, As for the Senate President, Senator Hon. Sanni Jaji from Zamfara and Hon. Sada Ahmed Lawan, Rep. Kalu has done Soli from Katsina State, all in the North West well as the spokesman of the House. His and Hon. Benjamin Kalu from Abia State in words: “He speaks not only for the House South East. There are indications that there of Representatives but for the entire are other aspirants who are campaigning 1DWLRQDO $VVHPEO\ DQG KH KDV GRQH underground waiting for the decision of the that so well. Abia is blessed to have Rep. $3& RQ WKH ]RQLQJ RI WKH R΀FHV Benjamin Kalu”.

As at now, the President-elect, Asiwaju On his part, the Abia State Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu is from the South West who is of the opposition Peoples while his Deputy, Senator Kashim Shettima Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okezie is from the North East. The North West is Ikpeazu said this of Kalu: “Hon. Benjamin PDNLQJ VWUHQXRXV GHPDQG IRU WKH R΀FH RI Kalu is the representative for Abia State the Senate President. The zone is anchoring QRW %HQGH DORQH DQG KLV VW\OH RI SROLWLFV their demand on the ground that the bulk of without bitterness has closed the door to the votes that gave Tinubu victory came from rancor and acrimony among politicians of WKH 1RUWK :HVW 7KHUH LV D FOHDU MXVWLÀFDWLRQ diverse party colours”. for their demand which can hardly be faulted.

These testimonies clearly show that In the case of the North Central, their Hon. Benjamin Kalu is a man of the clamour for the Speakership is not getting people who has what it takes to lead the enough support because the zone is holding House of Representatives and take it to the Chairmanship of the Party courtesy of higher level. As the APC is being awaited Senator Abdullahi Adamu. It will be very on its zoning decisions, there is every unlikely that the North Central Zone would hope that Hon. Benjamin Kalu would be allowed to hold the positions of National emerge victorious at the end of the day.

Chairman and Speaker at the same time.

That leaves out the South South and South Dr. Nwosu, East as the two Zones to be considered for a Political Analyst, writes from Abuja

18 4

T H I S D AY

TUESDAY APRIL 11, 2023

EDITORIAL

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

GOVERNORS AND SECURITY VOTES Security votes must be spent transparently

I

n a bid to stem the pervasive tendency of public R΀FHUV ZKR WUHDW VHFXULW\ YRWHV DV SHUVRQDO HQWLWOHPHQWV WKH JRYHUQRUV ZHUH H[SHFWHG WR PHHW ZLWK VRPH JRYHUQPHQW ÀQDQFLDO agencies over the management of the funds.

7KH RXWFRPH RI WKDW PHHWLQJ ZDV QRW PDGH public. But the Nigeria Finance Intelligence Unit 1),8 DW ZKRVH LQVWDQFH WKH PHHWLQJ ZDV FDOOHG has given this Friday, 15th April as the deadline for DOO FDVK ZLWKGUDZDOV IURP DOO SXEOLF DFFRXQWV LQ WKH country.

7KH IDLOXUH RI SXEOLF R΀FHUV WR JLYH DQ DFFRXQW of their monthly security votes has generated so much controversy over the years. But it is a practice entrenched in virtually all the states of the federation.

Some government agencies are also deeply involved in it. Every month some governors collect hundreds of millions of naira from WKHLU VWDWHV· FRͿHUV LQ WKH name of security vote, ZLWKRXW DFFRXQWLQJ IRU it.

Yet the framers of WKH 1LJHULDQ &RQVWLWXWLRQ ZHUH QRW VWXSLG LQ JLYLQJ VHFXULW\ VLJQLÀFDQW DWWHQWLRQ $ERYH DOO other attributes, security (territorial integrity) is ZKDW GHÀQHV D VWDWH 7KDW LV ZK\ SHUKDSV LW LV WKH RQO\ DSSURSULDWLRQ YRWH RYHU ZKLFK WKH H[HFXWLYH is granted discretionary spending. The spirit (the HQQREOHPHQW LV WKH H[SHFWDWLRQ WKDW KLJK R΀FH KROGHUV ZLOO H[HUFLVH WKLV GLVFUHWLRQ ZLWK XWPRVW ÀGHOLW\ WR WKH SXEOLF LQWHUHVW %XW LQ WKH LQFUHDVLQJO\ festering culture of corruption in Nigeria this spirit is REVHUYHG PRUH LQ WKH EUHDFK $QG LW LV JHWWLQJ ZRUVH The scale of this abuse is best left to the imagination ZKHQ ZH H[WUDSRODWH IURP WKH EUD]HQ FRUUXSWLRQ WR ZKLFK QRQ GLVFUHWLRQDU\ VSHQGLQJ LV XVXDOO\ subjected in our country. For instance, revelations IURP KRZ VHFXULW\ IXQGV ZHUH DOOHJHGO\ GLVEXUVHG by the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, as slush funds to prominent members of the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are LQGLFDWLRQ RI WKH DEXVH WR ZKLFK VXFK GLVFUHWLRQDU\

spending is subjected in Nigeria.

Indeed, this formed part of the reasons the Court RI $SSHDO D΀UPHG WKH FRQYLFWLRQ RI D IRUPHU governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, in 2018.

Nyame collected billions of Naira as security vote ZLWKRXW DFFRXQWLQJ IRU WKHP ´$Q\ SXEOLF R΀FHU in charge of such funds must either account for WKHP RU UHWXUQ WKHP WR WKH SXEOLF FRͿHUV µ GHFODUHG -XVWLFH (PPDQXHO $JLP ´)DLOXUH WR GR VR DPRXQWV WR VWHDOLQJ µ 7KDW LV ZK\ ZH EHOLHYH WKHUH LV QHHG IRU D WKRURXJK UHYLHZ RI KRZ VHFXULW\ VSHQGLQJ VKRXOG EH FKDQQHOOHG ZLWK D SURSHU VWUXFWXUH SXW LQ SODFH DW DOO OHYHOV VR WKDW WKHUH ZRXOG EH YDOXH IRU PRQH\ and less abuse. :H DFNQRZOHGJH WKDW QRW DOO VHFXULW\ H[SHQGLWXUH (properly understood as such) can stand SXEOLF VFUXWLQ\ ZLWKRXW jeopardising its overarching purpose of PDLQWHQDQFH RI ODZ DQG order. But nothing can justify the current situation ZKHUH WKH H[HFXWLYH at all levels allocate to themselves jumbo sums RI PRQH\ WKDW LV VSHQW ZLWKRXW DQ\ DFFRXQWDELOLW\ RQ LVVXHV WKDW KDYH QRWKLQJ WR GR ZLWK WKH VHFXULW\ RU ZHOIDUH RI WKH SHRSOH ,QYDULDEO\ VHFXULW\ YRWHV KDYH EHFRPH D FOHYHU ZD\ E\ ZKLFK SROLWLFDO R΀FH KROGHUV LQ LPSOLFLW FROOXVLRQ ZLWK RU H[SORLWDWLRQ by, security agencies, defraud the public.

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There is need for a thorough review of how security spending should be channelled, with a proper structure put in place at all levels so that there would be value for money and less abuse T H I S D AY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

T H I S D AY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

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LETTERS GAGDI: AN ENIGMA FOR 10TH ASSEMBLY SPEAKERSHIP , KDYH VHHQ SHRSOH ZKRVH OLIH WUDMHFWRU\ VSHDNV YROXPHV RI KDUG ZRUN GHWHUPLQDWLRQ DQG SDVVLRQ IRU WKH FRPPRQ JRRG The story of Hon. Yusuf Gagdi is such that it can make the devil JUHHQ ZLWK HQY\ +H KDV GHPRQVWUDWHG WKDW WKHUH ZLOO EH D ZD\ RQFH WKHUH LV D ZLOO 7KLV PXFK KDV GHÀQHG KLV SXUVXLW LQ OLIH culminating in the Federal House of Representatives as a mem ber representing the Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke federal constitu ency of Plateau State. ,Q KLV EDJ DUH D FRPELQDWLRQ RI H[SHULHQFH DQG FUHGLELOLW\ As Deputy Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, he GLVSOD\HG OHDGHUVKLS DW LWV SHDN +H ZDV DOVR LQVWUXPHQWDO LQ WKH VHDPOHVV UHODWLRQVKLS EHWZHHQ WKH ([HFXWLYH DQG /HJLVODWLYH arms of government in Plateau State. ,I \RX FDOO KLP WKH :L]NLG \RX ZRQ·W EH ZURQJ EHFDXVH KH is a young chap that understands the language of the teeming \RXWKIXO SRSXODWLRQ LQ WKH FRXQWU\ $V D \RXQJ PDQ ZKR KDV ZLWQHVVHG VRPH RI WKH FKDOOHQJHV FRQIURQWLQJ WKH \RXWKV LQ WKH FRXQWU\ KH PD[LPL]HG WKH RSSRUWXQLW\ WR EULQJ DERXW PHDQ LQJIXO FKDQJHV ZKHQ WKH\ DYDLO WKHPVHOYHV 0DNH QR PLVWDNHV +RQ <XVXI *DJGL LV QRW D QHZFRPHU to politics and leadership. As a fact, he cut his teeth from the

unlikely of places, and since then, he has not looked back. The EXUQLQJ GHVLUH WR EH D SDUW RI WKH V\VWHP WKDW ZRUNV KDV QHFHVVL WDWHG KLV LQYROYHPHQW LQ YHQWXUHV WKDW UHVRQDWHV ZLWK WKH RYHU DUFKLQJ LQWHUHVW RI VXVWDLQDEOH JURZWK DQG GHYHORSPHQW LQ WKH country.

It, therefore, didn’t come as a surprise his reelection to the House of Representatives despite the upsets recorded in Plateau 6WDWH +H SURYHG WKDW WKHUH VKRXOG EH QR H[FXVH IRU SXWWLQJ SHR SOH ÀUVW LQ DOO HQGHDYRXUV³WKLV PXFK KH KDV GRQH DQG VWLOO GRHV in his constituency and Plateau State at large.

Aside from the fact that he has a large and accommodating mien that speaks volumes of a pan Nigerian even at 42, his re spect for rules and procedures is infectious. He also has in his kitty an unblemished record in public service that puts him on a high pedestal and above his contemporaries.

7KRVH WKDW KDYH HQFRXQWHUHG +RQ <XVXI *DJGL ZRXOG UHDGLO\ attest to his intelligence and grasp of issues, especially concern ing the national discourse. He is not shy to make his intentions NQRZQ WR \RX $ GLͿHUHQW EUHHG RI SROLWLFLDQ \RX VKRXOG FDOO him. His contributions on the Federal House of Representatives ÁRRU KDYH DOZD\V EHHQ UHFHLYHG ZLWK DQ RYDWLRQ

We must indeed admit that Hon Yusuf Gagdi is the epito me of humility and passion for the common good in Nigeria.

He tells any that cares to listen that his driving force in life is the ability to bring about positive changes in the country’s so FLR HFRQRPLF OLIH $QG WKLV H[SODLQV ZK\ KH KDV UHPDLQHG WKH darling of the youthful population in Plateau State and beyond.

That the country deserves leaders in the mould of Hon Yusuf *DJGL PXVW EH HPSKDVL]HG 7KH SHFXOLDULWLHV RI WKH WLPH UHTXLUH WKDW ZH PXVW JHW LW ULJKW ZLWK WKH FKRLFH RI OHDGHUV HVSHFLDOO\ in the legislative arm of government, to complement the ef IRUWV RI WKH H[HFXWLYH LQ WKH TXHVW WR IRUPXODWH DQG LPSOHPHQW IDU UHDFKLQJ SODQV DQG SURJUDPPHV WKDW ZRXOG KDYH PHDQLQJ IXO LPSDFW RQ WKH OLYHV RI HYHU\ FLWL]HQ RI 1LJHULD 7R DFKLHYH WKLV HPSKDVLV PXVW EH SODFHG RQ FRPSHWHQFH H[ posure, commitment and passion for the common good. These DWWULEXWHV GHÀQH +RQ <XVXI *DJGL +H KDV GHPRQVWUDWHG WKRVH as mentioned above during his political career hence his suit ability for the speakership position of the 10th Assembly.

Best Agbese, Scotland, United Kingdom

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Bello-Koko: Focus on Port Efficiency Has Increased Revenue, Remittance to FG

Taking charge of affairs as the substantive Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, over a year ago, Mohammed Bello-Koko, had his sight on increasing the revenue base of the authority by over 30 per cent next year. Sharing more about his leadership in this interview with THISDAY, he spoke of efforts currently being made by the NPA to shore up Nigeria’s Agric exports as a way of helping to diversify the nation’s economy away from hydrocarbon resources. He also spoke about how he has been able to implement his plans to increase contributions into the Consolidated Revenue Fund and, of course, the Lekki Deep Sea Port’s ability to wrest cargoes from Nigeria’s closest neighbours as the country awaits her first commercial vessel to berth at the nation’s deepest sea port on April 1, 2023. Excerpts: When you marked 100 days in office, following the confirmation of your appointment, you unveiled your plans and roadmap to Nigerians then. How far have you gone with the implementation of those plans? hat I did then was to give you our plans, both short term, middle and long term and to a large extent, I can say we have achieved this.

The first thing we needed to do then was to improve port efficiency and for us, if we improve port efficiency, it means we would become more competitive and to do that, we either introduce automation or ensure that the necessary marine equipment and other tools necessary for offering and providing services are provided and we have done that.

I also said that we would ensure that we increase our revenue. We have increased our revenue from probably about N317 billion to over N360 billion in 2022. We transferred about N80 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in 2020 and over N91 billion in 2022. We have also improved on staff welfare whether it is in terms of their offices, their salaries and allowances, provision of buses, working tools, uniforms where necessary and for the physical port infrastructure, that is a bit of a long term project, but we have gone very far.

We are looking for funding and necessary government approvals to ensure that we start rehabilitating all the ports, which include Tincan Island, Apapa and the broken down and collapsed Escravos Break Water. There are also jetties and berths at Port Harcourt Port, Onne and Warri and Calabar, so these are the plans we put it place, so for each of them, we have done quite well.

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Within this same period, the Lekki Deep Seaport was inaugurated by President Buhari. It was said then that the port would be the game changer. What’s the situation report and have the ships started coming to berth and as well transport their cargoes?

Well, as you know, the Lekki Deep Seaport is the first deep seaport in Nigeria with a draft of about 16.5 metres. It has been commissioned by the President and that that was a very, very good thing for us and you know for the government itself. This is the first government that I can say started construction of a port, finished and commissioned it before it left office.

The Lekki Deep Seaport has been in the brain box for over 10 years, it was this administration that came in and gave all the necessary support through the Ministry of Transportation and the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).

They have done the test run on all the necessary equipment, they have done their recruitments, people have been training and the vessels have started coming in, at least, we had a vessel that came in to take out empty containers and by April, we expect that the first commercial vessel will start coming.

So business has started actually in Lekki Deep Sea Port. So, everything is ready and it is going to be automated as we said and all the gaps we observed either in Tincan Island Port or Apapa, whether in terms of scanners, equipment and others, you will find all of them in Lekki.

How much of a game changer really is the Lekki Deep Sea port?

It changes everything. For instance, you are an importer, and you know that going to Apapa, sending in your cargo or importing your cargo through Apapa will take you two weeks, whether because the road is bad, whether because the Customs scanning system is limited, or probably the automation is not

Bello-Koko complete and so on and so forth, it will take you two weeks. Buy if you take it through Lekki, probably in two days you are out.

So, everybody is going to look at what will reduce cost, whether you as an importer or even as a shipping company. Now, also it serves as a role model for feature tech development, we already have Badagry that has been approved and then we are providing technical guidance and assistance to ports that are coming like Benin and Ondo and other ports. And even the Badagry itself. So it looks like now Lekki will be the major port that everybody will like to coming. So it changes everything.

The Second thing is that we are already working on that for trans-shipment of cargo.

That is something that the neighbouring countries have, neighbouring countries have, cargo transshipment. So you find that the

bigger vessels go to Lome and then they use smaller vessels to bring the cargo into Nigeria. But that is what Lekki wants to start doing and they already have a market for it, it is just to have the necessary corporation by relevant government agencies, so that, that happens.

So you find that, that brings in more revenue to Nigerian Port Authority, more activity into Nigeria also. So it changes that perspective. We are no more going to have situations where cargo cannot come into Nigeria because of lack of port infrastructure. And the interconnectivity from Lekki to other locations, you know what is going on, there is a survey for a train to be linked there. So it changes everything. It also creates competition; it means that the existing terminal operators need to sit up so as not to lose business to Lekki.

The real concerns are on the impact of this on infrastructure. The last time, you said trucks wouldn’t need to come through to this axis to load, but would have to go through outside the town. Are there plans to upgrade those infrastructure so that people do not suffer the same experience as it is in Apapa?

The problem first of all with the Tin Can and Apapa ports is the total land size, the landmass, those ports are not going to increase in sizes and they are currently operating far beyond the installed capacity. So, that already is a problem on its own. The stocking area in these two ports is not large enough to contain the cargo that is coming in and ensure smooth and quick sharing of the cargo.

Now, the road to Tincan Island Port, the one right in front of the port is currently being

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NPA Targeting 30% Increased Revenue Generation in 2024 worked on and expanded by Dangote and Hitech and what the Lagos State government has done is, from the junction to Epe down to the boundary with the neighboring states, they are working on it and then the other State will also continue that construction which we all know is taking place.

What this means is that we are going to have good roads moving cargo from Lekki all the way to outside Lagos and for the trucks coming into Lagos, probably factories within Lagos. We can see that the road is being worked on, but what Lekki deep sea ports has done also was to enter into agreements with barge operators. So, they are working on using barges to also move cargo from Lekki Deep Sea Port to off dock locations within Lagos and what it simply means is that they are also going to have less traffic, less trucks, fewer trucks on the road.

Another thing is that we are already working to deploy electronic truck call-up system, which is what we introduced in Tin Can and Apapa that has brought a bit of sanity. So, abinitio, there was a plan also for truck parks, the port itself is providing a lot of parking space for trucks so it is more like a holding bay within the port itself unlike Tin Can and Apapa where the original locations for parking of trucks have been given to concessionaires who have turned some part of it to warehouses, operational areas and stocking area.

So, there is a plan already and they know the problems. We know the problems in TinCan and Apapa and we are doing everything we can to ensure that it does not repeat itself and finally, there are few tank farms close to the port itself. Now, of course, you can say with Dangote refinery what is going to happen, but Dangote is going to be transporting most of liquid products via pipelines. In Apapa and Tincan, you have tank farms just beside the ports themselves, so the traffic in Tincan and Apapa is not just the traffic for cargoes, but we also have tankers who have added pressures on the roads.

How much regulatory control do you have over the deep sea port like the one Pinnacle Oil, has which is about 11km into the sea – big mother vessels will come, discharge through pipes to the land depot terminal. How much regulatory control do you have over that?

We do and they call it an SPS. It is a Single Port Model that is mostly used for liquid cargoes, whereby the vessels do not need to come on shore to either load or offload. We give approvals for locations of those things, we also do coordinate, we also know when their vessels are coming in, we need to regulate their in and out, they are also using our channels.

So whether you have an SPM, it is the NPA’s channels that those vessels would come through and the regulatory functions are as it relates to their marine activities, but as for the evacuation and loading, that is between them and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited and whoever the importers are.

How much is your involvement with the Lekki Port? How much stake do you have?

Well, initially, the idea was for NPA to have about 20 to 25 per cent, but we felt, there was need for us to reduce government involvement in private ports and reduce our equity to about 5 per cent. But however, irrespective of the equity that NPA owns in that port, we still remain the regulator. We are the port regulator, we regulate the port activities and there will be revenue coming from there and of course, we know the issue of the land, there is contention as to who owns the land from a certain distance between the ocean and the land.

It is owned by the government or NPA, but that was sorted out between Lagos State and the Lekki Deep Sea Port. so that equity that we gave actually introduced statutory cover to the fact that you cannot have a private port in Nigeria and government does not have equity in it, so that is the essence of that equity.

With the success and completion of the deep seaport, how much has it inspired other business owners to want to replicate what is happening there in other parts of the country?

Without mincing words, actually we saw that all of a sudden, proponents of various sea port are struggling to ensure that they have their own approved. Badagry Deep Sea Port has seen the need for them to also sit up. We immediately got the necessary approvals, which we have secured from the

Bello-Koko Federal Ministry of Transportation.

And we have had proponents that have been coming with their ideas. I can tell you, we have like three or four now that are really, really serious about investing in other Deep Sea Port. So they have seen the possibility, it can be done. They understand that somebody has set the pace and they see that it is going to be profitable based on the projections.

What are the new challenges that you have encountered and those ones you envisage as you move on?

In terms of a new collaboration with other government agencies that has really improved, I can ascribe that to probably to PEBEC. It has been done in such a way that we are made to sit down and work together to achieve those presidential directives. So whether it is the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), we work together. We need to have improved collaboration between government agencies that is really important and it has improved, but it is still there.

We have issues to do with infrastructure, the ports are decaying and we need to rehabilitate them. What we have done is to take drastic, concrete and deliberate actions that will lead to the reconstruction of the physical infrastructure at the ports. Other issues could be probably funding, and because we are providing services and if we do not provide that service, the revenue does not come in.

So, we are requesting government to give us a bit more laxity to be able to spend to buy the necessary marine equipment, reconstruct the ports, provide service, because you cannot provide service if you do not have the necessary working tools, so that is a challenge on its own, but we are seeing some improvements on that, the government is listening to us and we are speaking to relevant ministries and agencies of government that will determine how much you can spend from the revenue that we have generated.

Are there plans to improve on the revenues you have generated so far and how do you intend to achieve that?

So, let us assume that we are losing 30 per cent of cargoes meant for Nigeria to neighbouring countries and by the time we improve our services and efficiencies to get in the trans-shipment cargo which we have never had in Nigeria, through Lekki deep sea port, that will be another source of revenue which is also huge and now by the time you also have improved scanning and inspection system by the Nigerian customs, that will also bring in more revenue.

We are automating our system currently and we already have the revenues mechanism, which we are using to generate revenue to raise bills and so on and so forth, but we have been working with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to deploy what we call a Port Community System.

The Port Community System is a platform whereby all the stakeholders will come in to share information and documentation and automate their activities whether it is for importers or exporters and by the time we do that, it reduces the number of days it takes or hours for you to clear your goods.

It means that you will be able to clear goods faster and you will be able to bring back your cargoes into the country while also generating revenues. So, we are working with IMO to ensure that we do that. There are also new business lines - we are giving licenses to so many jetties to ensure that cargo is moved from the ports to other locations through the inland waterways and even the barge operations also is another new business for us. So, we see prospects, there are opportunities, it is just to tap into them and provide the enabling environment for them to thrive.

Do you have a projection in terms of what should come in?

I can say that easily we should be able to increase our revenue by between 20 to 30 per cent in the next year. Now, don’t forget that NPA has not increase its tariff since 1993 and every time you hear the cost of doing business at the port, people ascribe it to NPA, but it is not. If the Nigerian Customs increases its tariffs, it increases the cost of doing business at the port, if immigration or the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) increases their tariff, or of NIMASA increases, the cost of doing business at the ports increases.

When vessels call at the port and spend longer days before it offloads its cargo, that is also cargo waiting time incurring demurrage.

We are working to ensure that we reduce ship waiting time and the cargo dwell time, but even though we have not increased our tariff for how many decades, we are actually able to increase our revenue and we are looking at the possibilities of reviewing some of our tariff, because there are some tariffs that haven’t changed even when the naira to the dollar exchange rate has changed several times. As we speak, International Oil Companies (IOCs) are paying N1000 to use our channels, so those are things we are working on.

Can you shed more light on the barge operations?

So, for the barge operations what we did first of all, is that we realised that for us to get multi modal means of transportation, you need to provide multiple ways of transportation apart from the road, which is the normal one. We are looking at rail, sea, and we have encouraged barge operations.

We spoke with the terminal operators and a few individuals that had a few barges to say, ‘let us give you few license to start moving cargoes via barges.’

But of course, we gave them Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and conditions and they have been doing that over a year without the authority charging them anything and we realised that the total percentage in terms of cargo being moved by barges increased astronomically from 10 per cent, it doubled over. So we now have situations whereby containers and other cargo are being moved from the ports to off dock locations and other jetties and it is really encouraging and that has reduced the number of trucks that are on the road.

Some of the barges take 30 to 40 containers per movement, so that is 30 to over 40 trucks we are taking off the road, so imagine moving cargo from Tin Can and Apapa to Ikorodu or to Ijora, what you have done is that you have reduced the traffic that would have come to the ports. We have also realized that there are a lot of substandard barges, some of the pilots do not have the relevant and required pilot licenses, some of the badges don’t have communication equipment also and we came up with an SOP to ensure that all those are in place.

Before we came up with the minimum safety standard for truck. We also came with minimum safety standard for barges, we also gave them the SOP on the times that they are allowed to move, the routes that they should take, the communication that should take place between them and our control towers and we also encourage them to use self propelled barges, because most of them have a tug pushing the barge, which is not very efficient and it is very expensive, but we also tried to regulate the cost so that we get more importers or exporters to use the barges.

What have you done to improve infrastructure in Warri, Calabar and Port Harcourt Ports?

What we observed is that first of all, the ports in the East have the longest channels - for instance Calabar has over 110 km from the fairway buoy to the Port itself, then Warri has over 100 kilometres from the fairway buoy to the Port and of course, the multiple issues of security discourage the pilots themselves and the ships from coming into port at a certain time. After 4 o’clock, nobody actually comes in there and then the infrastructure was bad, so the first thing we did was to say, okay, you know what, let us improve security patrol within those channels and so we had a discussion with the Nigerian Navy and I will like to appreciate the Chief of Naval Staff for his cooperation.

So, we have more security patrol along the channel and then we bought more marine equipment and we have given tariff relief especially in Calabar for importers, so, that way, they can use flat bottom vessels to come in there. We are currently working on the rehabilitation of the collapsed breakwater in Warri. A breakwater is a physical engineering infrastructure in the middle of the sea that is meant to reduce siltation and migration of silt into the channel where it collapsed over 10 years ago.

But we have been able to conclude and

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We are monitoring the terminal operators to ensure that the agreement we have with them in terms of provision of cargo and equipment are in place not have to load it.

finish the surveys as it relates to the breakwater.

The essence here, is to reconstruct it and it is going to cost a lot of money over a hundred million dollars to construct a new one. So, by the time you do that, you reduce the siltation into the channel. But what we have been doing is remedial dredging up to the fairway buoy and that way, you will have more vessels coming in, because two to three years ago, the instances of vessels going aground was quite frequent and we have been able to resolve that.

We encouraged the port managers in those locations to also go out and find importers and businesses around their locations and neighboring states who are importing through Lagos and encourage them and let them understand the ports are viable, they are available, asking them if they can bring in some of their cargoes through these ports and you see even in Calabar now you have more vessels coming into Calabar and we are ensuring that all the necessary cargo handling equipment are been provided by the terminal operators. We are monitoring the terminal operators to ensure that the agreement we have with them in terms of provision of cargo and equipment are in place. We are taking our responsibilities very seriously in those terminals and ports.

What’s the update on the export processing terminal and how it has boosted exports?

So under the Presidential directive in terms of ease of doing business, what we are mandated to do was to set up export warehouses and terminals within the ports, but of course you know that the size of these ports will not warrant that we create those export processing terminals within the ports, so we had to think outside the box and that is why we now advertise and ask for interested investors to show interest in developing those export processing terminals.

The essence of the export processing terminals is to have locations where an exporter will bring in his cargo, the cargo will be sorted out there, it will be tested, it will be certified, it will be repackaged, it will be containerised and then sealed and sent directly to the vessels. We are concentrating now more on agro produce and exports and that is to diversify the economy.

Before that, we used to have a lot of cases of perishable items getting spoilt at the ports before they are even exported and that is due to so many reasons either because of the NXP forms that have not been filled up or delay in loading or vessels that we’re leaving behind export cargo because they had more interest in taking out empty containers because of probably demand for high demand for empty containers in Asia. So the export processing terminals are meant to reduce that gap and also reduce cost of export.

We gave out 10 licenses distributed around Lagos and neighboring States and we have given them our conditions. The conditions are of course, we must have a weigh bridge, internet, you must have accommodation for customs and so on and so forth and you must have laboratories for testing and certification these agric products and out of the 10 about four we are very sure are ready to start business out of which two are more serious and then we had sat down with the shipping lines to also streamline charges and costs to ensure that whatever tariff is charged at the export processing terminal, there is no charge by the terminal operator so that there won’t be double charges, and we have also gave those provisional licenses and also gave them the data that at a certain date, we will terminate any license held by any company that has not met our requirements.

Currently, what we have done is to encourage local investors to be engaged and to be involved in the setting up of this export processing terminals and we keep encouraging Nigerians to invest in it. We will keep doing that until we find Nigerians that can do it, but I don’t think there is any business Nigerians will not be able to handle, it is just to have the right and enabling environment.

So, that has really helped and we have less complaints although, it is difficult to say all exports must go through the export processing terminals, because there are some Domestic Export Warehouses (DEW) which are being managed by Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and are working with them to ensure that as they are coming in, they have smooth and quick entry into the ports using the ATO app. So this is just to encourage even small exporters, manufacturers, agric producers to be able to export agric produce when that time comes.

The traffic situation in the Apapa axis

Have you been able to resolve the dispute between Samsung and LADOL? What has happened was NPA entered into a lease agreement with LADOL for a certain size of land and LADOL eventually sublet a certain part of it to Samsung, which in the initial agreement is allowed, if you want to sublet, you can, but you need to tell the authority. Samsung had wanted that land to be given to them directly without them leasing it from LADOL. LADOL had requested for an approval from the President for another 21 year lease renewal which they secured as at that time.

However, the NPA made the mistake of cancelling that approval to LADOL and gave the land to Samsung. The matter went to court, but I was mandated to ensure that we resolved the issues as quickly as possible. So, it is one of things that we achieved when I was acting Managing Director. I formed a committee and they discussed with both parties. Eventually we signed an agreement and out of court settlement, both parties withdrew their cases from the court and they are now back to business.

Where are we now on the lease agreement with the existing terminal operators?

As you know there was an inter-ministerial committee set up that had NPA, the Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Justice, Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and ICRC, that committee sat down to determine what to do in terms of the renewal of their concessions and of course they came up with an Outline Business Case (OBC) and a Full Business Case (FBC) and ICRC gave them the necessary approval. What is currently happening is that the government is being more diligent to ensure that we get a better agreement not like the agreement that was signed in 2006.

We want to be able to hold the terminal operators responsible to their duties and their development plan. We also want to ensure that we get the relevant revenue in terms of revenue sharing with them. We are waiting for the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) approval. The Transportation Minister has presented the necessary memos, to FEC and they have made recommendations for us to make a few changes and they have presented the memo again to FEC for approval. I believe that before the end of this administration, the issue will be resolved.

Bello-Koko appears to have improved commendably, but there is huge traffic from Mile 2 into Berger along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

Why is that?

Well, I don’t think that there is a port in Mile 2. Our own responsibility is the port corridor, but what we have done is working with the Lagos State Government to improve enforcements. You could have SOPs, you could have rules and regulations to advise people on where to park their vehicles, if there is no enforcement, we won’t be able to achieve that. I want to commend the Lagos State Government for working with us to do that.

The Lagos State government has set up a team that has LASTMA, LASTWA, NPA, FRSC, the police and some other government agencies that go round to ensure that we don’t have those issues of checkpoints. But what is happening towards Mile 2 is the road actually, the road is still being worked on and until the road gets better, all we can do is to be providing palliative patch up of roads here and there and I know the police go on regular patrol to ensure that the miscreants do not disrupt activities.

I am sure you know before this, traffic extended far back to Surulere? It was terrible, we hold virtual meetings twice a month with the drivers of truck parks, with the transport associations, with the operator of the e- call up system just to review what is happening on a weekly basis, if we need to tweak things, if there are any problems.

So is the consistent monitoring and follow ups that have led to the improvement you are seeing and have we achieved what we want. What we have now is far better than where it used to be. We have given more licenses for truck parks, created more parking capacity around the port locations and by that way, we are removing more trucks from

the roads, because formerly they were just parking indiscriminately along the road.

Are you worried about the carnage being caused by some of these rickety trucks and what are you doing to salvage the situation?

Really, it is a major thorn in the flesh, it is major problem, wherever in this country you see a bad truck carrying a container, it simply means that a bad truck went into the port and came out unchecked. What we did was to collaborate with the FRSC and we came up with minimum safety standard for trucks and there was a time when we had over 14 or 15000 trucks registered on the ATO platform and by the time we insisted on them coming up to meet the minimum safety standard, we had very few because of the things that the trucks must have.

Before now we were giving them yearly licenses, but we are thinking of reducing it down to about three or six months. We also insisted on the truckers having latches. They must be able to latch containers. However, I want to say that in recent times we have been seeing a lot of accidents from trucks carrying containers and if you observe, most times, the body of the truck flips with the container still attached to it. This shows that it was latched at the ports before it came out.

So, working with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), we have started an enlightenment and sensitisation campaign to let drivers understand they are not driving small vehicles, but trucks. We are now working with the terminal operators to say that any container or truck that leaves the port without it being latched, we will hold the terminal operators responsible, so if a truck goes into your location and it does not have the relevant mechanism and safety procedures for it to be latched then they do

You have been able to wrest cargoes meant for Nigerian ports from neighbouring countries such as Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana seaports. Can you talk more about this?

First of all is for you to determine who are the importers of these cargoes and if you determine that, you will then ask why they are taking these cargoes to those locations. As I have said earlier, what we simply did was just improve efficiency. If you are efficient nobody wants to send his cargoes to Lome and starts dragging it down to Nigeria.

The Akwa Ibom State Government is said to believe that federal government agencies are frustrating its effort at developing the Ibom Deep Seaport port.

What really is the problem with the Ibom Deep Sea Port?

To the best of my knowledge, ours is to provide technical assistance. A committee was set up and the NPA was part of the committee that sat down to look at these things and ways for development. We have done all the studies and we have worked on it, they have changed technical partners on the port, but our PPP department is well equipped and they are very knowledgeable and they are ready to handle anything that comes up.

They handled Lekki, they handled Badagry and they are involved in Ibom. I think it is for the state government to put it on the front burner and I know that there is no government agency that would stall the development or frustrate the development of any deep sea port as it is in the best of the country.

I think one of the major issues might be a community dispute as it relates to the location of that port, which is what I remember. We are waiting for them any time they are ready, we will get back to keep working. We will be very happy to have one or two more deep sea ports in the southern part of the country. We are waiting to see and whoever comes and is very serious; we will work with them as seriously as we can to achieve it.

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‘Land Use Act: A Failure in Legislative Drafting’

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Former AGF Ajibola, SAN Passes On ure l i a F A : t c A e s ‘Land U g’ n i t f a r D e v i t a l in Legis

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JI ADELEKE

QUOTABLE ‘When I studied it, I found out, actually, that INEC has the legal authority to present results either through the normal paper way, and the BVAS. So, there’s been no real change. I hope that in the next round of amendments, we should really be very clear - what exactly is electronic voting? What is the consequence of not following electronic voting?' - Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, former President, Nigerian Bar Association

AGA-Africa Donates Books Worth $70,000 to Veritas University Page V

Ogun CJ Urges Magistrates to Embrace Digital Technology Page V

COLUMNISTS PROF MIKE OZEKHOME, CON, SAN, FCIArb, PH.D. LLD Constitutional Democracy, means a system of government, in which political and governmental power, is defined, limited and shared by a grundnorm called the Constitution, which provides inbuilt checks and balances.

This column seeks to fiercely discuss constitutional, legal and political issues, with a view to strengthening, deepening and widening the plenitude and amplitude of democracy and good governance, without fear or favour.

The writer of this column, Prof Mike Ozekhome, SAN, is a Constitutional Lawyer, Human Rights Activist, Pro-Democracy Campaigner, Notary Public and Motivational Speaker. He co-founded the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Nigeria’s pioneer human rights league, on October 15, 1987, the Universal defenders of Democracy (UDD), in 1992, and with Chief Gani Fawehinmi and others in 1998, the Joint Action Committee of Nigeria (JACON), to push out the military. In his early days, he lectured at the University of Ife. Prof Ozekhome is an author of many books. He is also a Special Counsel at the International Criminal Court (ICC), at The Hague.

LAWYER

STEPHEN KOLA-BALOGUN Stephen Kola Balogun, is a vastly experienced Legal Practitioner who obtained his LL.B from University of Ife and LL.M from the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London.

He has Post-Graduate Diplomas in Intellectual Property Law from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London and in Construction Law, Management and Arbitration from Kings College, London.

He has served in various capacities since his Call to the Nigerian Bar in 1982, including practising at Akinjide & Co., and lecturing part-time at Oxbridge Tutorial College. He was the Honourable Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Special Needs, State of Osun, August, 2011 to November 2014. He is currently the Principal Partner at Kola Balogun & Partners, and sits on the Advisory Board of the Centre of Law and Business. SKB, as he is fondly called, is accredited with several publications to his name, both International

ONIKEPO BRAITHWAITE: EDITOR, JUDE IGBANOI: DEPUTY EDITOR, PETER TAIWO, STEVE AYA: REPORTERS

III THE ADVOCATE

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023

Election Petitions: Between Public Opinion and Judicial Process Two Cardinal Principles here are two cardinal principles which a large number of non-Lawyers seem to be unaware of, while many of our learned colleagues have simply chosen to ignore them and throw caution to the wind, particularly because some of them may be peeved with the outcome of the elections: 1) the court of public opinion, is not a court of law; and, 2) what may be considered to be immoral or distasteful by society, is not necessarily unlawful. The second principle was one of the first things we were taught in Jurisprudence, as Law Students - if my memory serves me correctly, it was a topic titled ‘Law & Morals’.

For example, while stealing is both immoral and unlawful, marrying a mother and a daughter may be immoral, even abominable, but it doesn’t qualify as a criminal offence. And, therefore, those using the court of public opinion and INEC’s alleged unkept promise to showcase their dissatisfaction with the just concluded 2023 general elections, purposely riling the people, inciting disaffection, resentment and hatred amongst the various ethnic groups that form Nigeria, creating an atmosphere of unease and disharmony around the country, should be cautioned that this inflammation of the polity, is detrimental to us all as a nation - it is simply driving us further apart and causing too much bitterness.

In our society, our dispute resolution mechanism is the judicial process and not the Court of public opinion - see Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution). If we want our country to flourish, the only reasonable option open to us is to await the outcome of the election petitions, particularly those concerning the Presidency. Making veiled threats against the Judiciary before the petitions are even adjudicated upon, to intimidate and force them into deciding one way or the other, and attempting to bully and subdue those who do not share your political choices, is absolutely unacceptable. In the case of the latter, see Sections 39 and 40 of the Constitution on freedom of expression/hold opinions and association.

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Clairvoyance & Predicting the 2023 Presidential Election: Nostradamus/‘Nostrakepsy’ About six weeks before the February 25th, 2023 Presidential election, our columnist, Stephen Kola Balogun (My Brief by SKB) asked me which candidate I thought would be victorious at the polls, and I responded that I didn’t see a clear path to victory for any of the three frontline candidates. I actually thought it could go into a runoff election, and so, SKB and I debated about the clumsy provisions of Section 134(3) of the Constitution in case we had to cross that bridge. I felt that each of the leading parties was carrying its own baggage, which stood as an impediment to each party’s victory.

I gave my general predictions, on how I thought the election would go.

1) LP For the Labour Party (LP), it was obvious that it would win the South East; a good chunk of Lagos (because of the non-Yoruba population, comprising of a large number of Igbos amongst others, elites and youths); Edo, Delta and the Northern Christians who are spread across different States principally Southern Kaduna, Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa. I saw LP as having its base in the South East and amongst the Christians; but, without the South West, North West, North East and parts of the North Central, it would fail to secure the requisite national spread.

2) PDP As for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), it had weakened – split up into three parties - PDP, LP and NNPP; the fact that the LP candidate who was PDP’s Vice Presidential candidate in the 2019 election had left to go it on his own, meant that PDP no longer had a stronghold in the South East; ditto for Kano, since Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso had also quit PDP. But, I predicted that Kano would be split among NNPP, PDP and APC (All Progressives Congress). However, I thought that the PDP would take Adamawa, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, possibly Cross River (which had always been a PDP State, till the incumbent Governor defected to APC); and there would be a struggle for the North West and some of the North East with APC. Because of the disagreement with the G5 Governors, I didn’t expect the PDP to win the Presidential election in any of their States, translating to a redistribution of the votes in the G5 States between LP and APC (two of the G5 States were in the South East anyway, and would go to LP, while that of Oyo State would go to APC; I knew that Rivers and Benue wouldn’t go to PDP, I had a feeling that both States could be shared between APC and LP).

3) APC The APC candidate had serious struggles to contend with. Not only would the stigma of his Party’s nonperformance these past eight years affect his chances at the polls, the Party leadership in Government seemed to be working against him. I had written an

ONIKEPO BRAITHWAITE onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive. com onikepob@yahoo.com

The

Advocate “Section 50(2) of EA doesn’t provide for electronic transmission of results, only for transmission in accordance with a procedure determined by INEC. This means that electronic transmission isn’t mandatory, and therefore, there’s no consequence provided in the EA for the non-usage of this process.

Where then, is the noncompliance?” editorial referring to the unnecessary lingering fuel shortage and currency confiscation/crisis in the guise of a currency redesign policy, as anti-party activities orchestrated to turn the people against the APC Presidential candidate and make him ‘lu le’ (lose) at the polls! The President-elect and other APC candidates had to distance themselves from APC's bad governance, and the fuel shortage and currency crisis, as there was a backlash from the people.

But, I predicted that APC would win all the South West States, Kwara, Kogi, Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Katsina, and Gombe (while sharing the aforementioned Northern zones with PDP).

Interestingly, I expected APC to get at least 25% each in Ebonyi and Imo State, because I thought that the Governors of those States would try to prove to their party, APC, that they were had gained some converts (even though I knew that LP would win South East predominantly). Of course, I also looked at the number of voters, in the various regions, while I thought FCT would be split among PDP, LP and APC. When I finished my predictions, SKB commented that what I had predicted/ analysed showed a better path to victory for APC. I disagreed with him. I maintained that it was unclear.

The election came and went; and while I wasn’t as accurate as the renowned clairvoyant, Nostradamus, some of ‘Nostrakepsy’s’ (my humble self) predictions came true! However, at the end of the Presidential election, contrary to my prediction of a possible runoff, INEC declared a winner - Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu of APC. Electronic Voting In the period leading up to the enactment of the Electoral Act 2022 (EA), many imagined that this new legislation would somehow change the whole electoral process, and make it fully electronic. This was simply wishful thinking!

They did not expect that, apart from the better

accreditation device (BVAS, instead of the card reader), the electoral process would more or less, remain the same - manual. A perusal of the EA shows that it has not removed the manual processes from the conduct of our elections, since by virtue of Section 60(1) - (5) of the EA, ballot papers are still used and counted, the number of votes scored by candidates are entered into a Form by POs, co-signed by candidates or party agents, making the signed Forms available to the necessary parties and announcing results are all done manually. So, what would even be uploaded via the Result Viewing Portal (IRev), would still be derived from a manual process (see Sections 60-74 of the EA generally).

With all the debate about electronic voting in 2021, and the back and forth between the National Assembly and President Buhari, Nigerians failed to read the ‘small print’ of the much-serenaded EA properly! In a 2018 editorial, I had alluded to the fact that the provisions of the then Section 52(2) of the EA 2010 concerning electronic voting, were rather wide and non-specific, and the proposed amendment thereto was clumsy.

On its very first outing, the EA has proven itself to be somewhat lacking, and has left room for a floodgate of confusion to be opened. For one, Section 152 of the EA, the interpretation/ definition clause, fails to define electronic voting specifically and what the process entails. On this, a further amendment is required.

One of the main objects of outrage and controversy consequent upon the 2023 general elections, was that INEC failed to upload the results electronically from the polling units, using the IRev. But, the truth of the matter is that nothing in the EA actually makes it mandatory for INEC to upload results via IRev, and there are no consequences for failure to do so in the EA. Section 78 of the Constitution empowers INEC to register voters, and conduct elections (also see Item F 15 Part 1 Third Schedule to the Constitution). See the case of Alagbaoso v INEC

& Ors (2023) LPELR-59702 (SC) per Helen Moronkeji Ogunwumiju JSC on the powers of INEC to organise, undertake and supervise elections; NDP v INEC 2013 6 N.W.L.R. Part 1350 per Olukayode Ariwoola JSC (now CJN). Section 50(2) of the EA clearly provides that voting at an election and transmission of results under the EA, shall be in accordance to the procedure determined

by INEC. This obviously makes it lawful for INEC to use any procedure it deems fit, not just for voting, but for the transmission of results (which is also part of undertaking or conducting the elections). Section 60(4) & (5) of the EA further confirms the latitude given to INEC, for the Presiding Officer (PO) of a polling unit to announce and transfer results in a manner prescribed by INEC. When I gave the election petitions a fleeting look (since the matter is sub judice, it’s not proper to discuss them in depth), I was rather amazed to read averments which placed emphasis upon the fact that assurances were given by INEC that results would be transmitted electronically in real time, and the failure of the Commission to honour its word.

I read newspaper reports in Punch and Tribune, published on February 22 and 23 respectively, in which the INEC Chairman stated at a meeting with international election observers, that election results would not be transmitted electronically due to the fear of hacking, but that BVAS would be used to photograph the result sheets which would be uploaded into IRev. As much as those who may have it in for INEC may not want to hear it, we all know that what is of importance in law are the provisions of the law, and not promises or assurances! What is therefore relevant, is whether INEC breached the EA by not electronically uploading the raw results immediately upon voting through IRev. At best, INEC not keeping to its word, raises a moral issue of reneging on its previous assurances - the aforementioned issue morals, therefore arising here. While not using IRev to show election results in real time may have been annoying, the provisions of the EA referred to above, do not make not uploading results to IRev, unlawful.

Section 50(2) of EA doesn’t provide for electronic transmission of results, only for transmission in accordance with a procedure determined by INEC. This means that electronic transmission isn’t mandatory, and therefore, there’s no consequence provided in the EA for the non-usage of this process. Where then, is the noncompliance? What would make its non-usage, a viable ground of noncompliance with the EA in an election petition? Nothing. This is yet another issue in the EA, that requires attention. It is however, unlikely that this omission can vitiate the election results, or can even be considered to be an election malpractice/noncompliance, unless it can be proven that the results recorded in the result sheets were manipulated, and such manipulation must be substantial, to substantially affect the results of the election - Section 135(1) of EA. In the case of Maku v Al-Makura & Ors (2016) LPELR-48123(SC) per Onnoghen JSC (as he then was), the Supreme Court held inter alia that, where an election petition alleges noncompliance with the EA in an election, the Petitioner has the duty of proving that the noncompliance substantially affected the result of the election; also see Wike v Peterside (2016) LPELR-40036(SC) per Kekere-Ekun JSC where the Apex Court held that a Petitioner complaining of noncompliance with the EA “must prove it polling unit by polling unit, ward by ward, and the standard of proof is on the balance of probabilities. He must show figures that the adverse party was credited with, as a result of the noncompliance”.

Conclusion It appears that in the case of not using IRev to transmit election results in real time is not fatal to the elections, because under the EA, INEC has the power to transmit results as it determines. Therefore, the issue of noncompliance with the EA in this regard, cannot arise. Maku v Al-Makura & Ors (Supra).

And, even if the 2023 INEC Guidelines provided for the use of IRev, it goes to no issue, as the guidelines are inferior to the EA, which doesn’t so provide. In Jegede & Anor v INEC & Ors (2021) LPELR55481(SC) per Agim JSC, the Apex Court held inter alia that: “Failure to obey the directive or instruction of the 1st Respondent (INEC) in the said Regulations or Guidelines, cannot be relied on as a ground for an election petition to invalidate the election…..because such failure is not contrary to the EA 2010…..Section 153 of the EA 2010 clearly made regulations, guidelines and manuals, subject to the provisions of the EA”. This means that, even if INEC failed to follow its guidelines with regard to electronic transmission of results, as long as this failure didn’t breach the provisions of the EA, it is of no moment. It appears that the Petitioners may have to rely on the more solid grounds of their petitions, not the issue of the failure to transmit results electronically/use IRev in real time.

Going forward, hopefully, some of these observations will be taken into consideration in making amendments to the EA, to make for a better electoral process.

IV LAW REPORT

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

Consequence of a Finding of Breach of Fair Hearing Facts Following the demise of Oba D. M. Osiyemi, the then Ebumawe of Ago-Iwoye in 1988, a public notice was issued by the Ijebu North Local Government requesting the Paripete Ruling House to present a candidate to fill the vacant stool. After a meeting of the Ruling House, the names of four persons including C. A. Adesanya (now deceased), were nominated and forwarded to the Kingmakers. The Kingmakers selected the said C. A. Adesanya and forwarded his name to the Military Governor of Ogun State for approval, despite protests from some members of the family that the Kingmakers usurped the function of the family to elect one of the candidates. Nevertheless, the selection of C. A. Adesanya as the Ebumawe of Ago Iwoye was approved.

The Appellant and one Otunba Samuel Onalaja felt aggrieved and instituted an action before the High Court of Ogun State, seeking inter alia, an order nullifying the selection and appointment of the said C. A. Adesanya as Ebumawe of Ago Iwoye. The said C. A. Adesanya, died before trial commenced.

Pleadings were duly filed by the parties at the trial court; however, the trial court opined that since the basic facts were not in dispute, oral evidence need not be called. The trial court directed parties to formulate issues for determination, which would form the basis of the conduct of trial. The Appellant and his co-Plaintiff distilled their issues for determination, which were agreed to by the 3rd – 5th Respondent.

At the hearing, some documents were tendered from the Bar and admitted in evidence by consent, while respective counsel addressed the court on the issues of law as formulated.

On the date finally reserved for judgement, the 3rd - 5th Respondent brought an application for leave to amend their statement of defence, which was granted. In their Further Amended Statement of Defence, the 3rd-5th Respondent raised the issue of waiver for the first time, by which they pleaded that the Appellant’s ruling house had by conduct waived the right to nominate only one candidate, having participated in the process that led to the nomination of four candidates from the Paripete Ruling House and the eventual selection of the late Oba C. A. Adesanya as Ebumawe.

Without hearing the parties on the issue of waiver, the trial court proceeded to deliver its judgement, in which it raised a fresh issue to accommodate the waiver pleaded by the 3rd – 5th Respondent. The trial court answered the issues initially formulated by the Appellant and the 3rd -5th Respondent in the Appellant’s favour, but resolved the issue of waiver against the Appellant. The trial court held that the Appellant’s ruling house had by conduct waived their right to present a single candidate for election to the stool of the Ebumawe of Ago-Iwoye, by reason of certain steps taken by the Appellant during the selection process. Dissatisfied, the Appellant filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal. The Appellant ‘s grouse was that the trial court breached his right to fair hearing, by not affording him the opportunity to address the court on the issue of waiver raised by the trial court in its judgement. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and declared the proceedings at the trial court and the judgement a nullity, for breach of the Appellant’s right to fair hearing.

The Court of Appeal ordered that the case be assigned to another Judge of the High Court of Ogun State for trial de novo. Dissatisfied with the order of rehearing, the Appellant filed an appeal before the Supreme Court.

Issue for Determination The Supreme Court considered the following issue in its determination of the appeal:-

UGO v OBIEKWE (1989) 1 NWLR (PT. 99) 566. He argued further that the Chieftaincy Declaration is not a statutory instrument, but a declaration regulating the selection of the Ebumawe of Ago Iwoye and would at best, qualify as a Regulation and a subsidiary instrument which could be waived, contrary to the Appellant’s arguments.

Respective counsel for the 3rd Respondent and the 4th – 5th Respondent argued similarly that the order of retrial made by the Court of Appeal accords with Section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, and the position of the law that where it is found that a party has been denied the right to fair hearing, the proceedings, no matter how well conducted, would be declared a nullity. They submitted that the Appellant’s arguments tending to give reasons why the issue of waiver could not have succeeded were speculative, and thus, have no place in law.

Honourable Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, JSC

In the Supreme Court of Nigeria Holden at Abuja On Friday, the 3rd day of March, 2023 Before Their Lordships Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun Mohammed Lawal Garba Helen Moronkeji Ogunwumiju Ibrahim Mohammed Musa Saulawa Adamu Jauro Justices, Supreme Court SC/114/2006 Between CHIEF EMMANUEL OBASAN

APPELLANT

And 1. MOJIDI ABUDU RESPONDENTS 2. AILERU ADENUGA (For and on behalf of the Paripete Ruling House of Ago Iwoye) 3. THE SECRETARY, IJEBU NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT 4. THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, OGUN STATE 5. GOVERNOR, OGUN STATE (Lead Judgement delivered by Honourable Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, JSC)

Whether the Court of Appeal was right to have ordered a trial de novo, in the circumstances of the case.

Arguments Counsel for the Appellant argued that the Court of Appeal ought to have set aside only the portion of the trial court’s judgement relating to the issue of waiver that was raised suo motu, rather than order a rehearing of the entire case.

He submitted that it is the duty of the 3rd - 5th Respondent who pleaded the issue of waiver in their Further Amended Statement of Defence to adduce evidence to support the same, and in order to lead such evidence, they ought to have

“Once proceedings of a lower court are declared a nullity by an appellate court on grounds of denial or violation of a party’s right to fair hearing, the only proper, appropriate and valid step to take and order to make by the appellate court, is one for a valid trial of the case in which parties shall be afforded and accorded the full right to a fair hearing in the proceedings”

applied to the trial court to set aside its earlier order directing the hearing to be on issues of law alone. He submitted that the implication of pleading the issue of waiver on the day the judgement was delivered, is that it is deemed abandoned and of no moment. He cited NATIONAL BANK OF NIGERIA LTD v P. B. OLATUNDE & CO. NIG. LTD (1994) 3 NWLR (PT. 334) 512 @528 E-G. Counsel for the Appellant argued further that, ordering a trial de novo was akin to giving the 3rd – 5th Respondent a second opportunity to re-litigate the entire case, and this was highly prejudicial to the Appellant. He also submitted that the mere attendance of the Appellant at a meeting could not constitute a waiver, and that in any event, the law is that the where the observance of a statute such as the subject Chieftaincy Declaration is required for the benefit of the public, it cannot be waived.

Counsel for the 1st and 2nd Respondent submitted that the effect of the trial court formulating and deciding an issue suo motu during the judgement is a mistrial, which the lower court could not rectify.

Counsel argued that with the amendment of the 3rd – 5th Respondent’s pleadings, the pleadings that stood before the amendment were extinguished, and there was the need to resettle the issues for determination; and a retrial based on the amended pleadings was what would meet the justice in the case. He cited

Court’s Judgement and Rationale The Apex Court held that the effect of any proceeding conducted in breach of a party’s right to fair hearing is that it is a nullity and liable to be struck out, no matter how sound the judgement or order may be. The Court referred to A-G RIVERS STATE v UDE & ORS. (2006) 17 NWLR (Pt. 1008) 436 and WATGBATSOMA v FRN (2018) LPELR – 43722 (SC) @ 29 – 30 E-D. The Court held that where a court raises an issue suo motu and makes a decision based on that issue without first inviting the parties to address it, it constitutes a breach of the parties’ right to fair hearing and occasions a miscarriage of justice.

Once proceedings of a lower court are declared a nullity by an appellate court on grounds of denial or violation of a party’s right to fair hearing, the only proper, appropriate and valid step to take and order to make by the appellate court, is one for a valid trial of the case in which parties shall be afforded and accorded the full right to a fair hearing in the proceedings.

The Court held that although there are a few exceptions, as stated in OMOKUWAJO v FRN (2013) LPELR – 20184 (SC) @ 37 -38 G –D, where the court need not to give parties a hearing where the court raises an issue suo motu, such as where the issue relates to the court’s own jurisdiction or where both parties were not aware/ignored a statute which may have a bearing on the case and which the Judge is expected to take judicial notice of, or when on the face of the record serious questions or fairness of the proceedings is evident; however, none of these exceptions was applicable to the Appellant’s case.

The lower court therefore rightfully held that the Appellant’s right to fair hearing was breached, and consequently set aside the proceedings and the judgement of the trial court, and ordered that the case be remitted to the trial court to be heard de novo by a different Judge. The Court held that once the court makes a finding that there has been a breach of the right to fair hearing, it has no other option than to set aside the proceedings and any order or decision rendered therein. The Appellant who complained of breach of his fundamental right to fair hearing, cannot therefore pick and choose which portion of the proceedings and judgement to be set aside. The consequence of successfully establishing the breach, is that the entire proceedings are a nullity. No aspect of the case can be saved under any guise.

Appeal Dismissed.

Representation O. A. Owolabi, Esq. for the Appellant.

B. Ademola-Bello, Esq. for the 1st and 2nd Respondents.

Folashade Alli Esq. with Umar Saka, Esq. for the 3rd Respondent.

S. O. Ajayi, Esq. for the 4th and 5th Respondents with fiat of the Attorney General, Ogun State.

Reported by Optimum Publishers Limited, Publishers of the Nigerian Monthly Law Report (NMLR)(An affiliate of Babalakin & Co.)

V

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Judge Bola Ajibola, SAN

L-R: Mr John Edozie, Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN, Mr Markus Green, and Vice Chancellor, Ogun State Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Mosunmola Veritas University, Abuja, Prof Hyacinth Ichokwu Dipeolu

Former AGF Ajibola, SAN Passes On Former Attorney-General of the Federation, His Excellency, Judge Abdul Jabbar Bolasodun Adesumbo Ajibola, SAN passed on in the early hours of Sunday, April 9, 2023. This was announced in a press statement signed by his son, Adesegun Ajibola, SAN. Judge Ajibola was President of the Nigerian Bar Association and Father of Arbitration in Nigeria; Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; Chairman, Body of Benchers;

Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and member of its Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague; President of the Jurists Association of the World Association of Judges; Member of the United Nations Compensation Commission on Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait; Arbitrator and Commissioner of the Ethiopia/ Eritrea Boundary Commission; member, Vice-President and then President of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal;

Chairman of the National Boundary Commission and Chairman of the Nigerian Delegation to the Nigeria/ Cameroon Mixed Commission on the Bakassi Peninsula; and last but not the least, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, amongst numerous other high profile, national and international commitments, assignments and accolades.

He was a recipient of many honours, including those from King Abdullah II of Jordan and

AGA-Africa Donates Books Worth $70,000 to Veritas University Alex EnumaninAbuja In recognition of the critical role education plays in the development of an individual and society in general, the Attorney General Alliance Africa (AGA-Africa), has donated books worth $70,000 to the newly built Justice Chukwuweike Idigbe Law Faculty of the Veritas University in Bwari, Abuja.

The books were formally handed over to the University last week in Abuja, by Pfizer Inc's Vice President/ Assistant General Counsel and Founding Board Member of the Attorney General Alliance Africa (AGA-Africa), Mr Markus Green in company of some executives of Punuka Associates, led by Anthony Idigbe, SAN. Speaking at the handing over, Mr Green observed the role books play in shaping the lives and minds of young people, hence his organisation’s decision to support the institution with the said books.

"Part of our work is capacity building, and one of the ways in which we build capacity is through connectivity with University. We understand that all of these belong to young people, because all of us standing here, our batteries will run out at one point; so, we have to hand over to the next generation, and we have to ensure that the next generation has the tools to do the work that needs to be done.

"As part of that we are starting a program where we have donated books to Kenya, we are moving on to Zambia, Malawi, so with all of our partners we are working to give books to universities.

We understand that this is the foundation; that universities are the foundation of learning, we understand that education is not only a right but is a responsibility and so we are taking it very seriously, and at AGA-Africa, we are very proud to donate these books and we look for other ways to partner with Veritas University", he said .

The Pfizer Vice President however, urged the students to be focused, work hard and do everything needed to succeed and excel in their career and life in general, adding that, "You have to be prepared for opportunities, open yourself to opportunity and when the opportunity comes, say yes . Fear not.

Also speaking, Senior Partner, PUNUKA Associates, Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN, who facilitated the books donation commended the institution for its fast growing rate, especially with the Law Faculty.

Chief Idigbe said, "The event we are having today is a confirmation of a relationship; it is not a touch and go, if it was a touch and go relationship we would have just assisted you with the building and go away but it is a relationship as you can see.

"We hope to deepen the relationship more further because of the other commitments, we will try our best.’

In his response, the Vice Chancellor of Veritas University, Professor Hyacinth Ichokwu, commended the AGA-Africa and Chief Idigbe for the kind gesture.

While promising that the

institution would make good use of the books as well as preserve them for future generations, he gave assurance that both the students as well as the University would also do their best to stand out in the academia and professional world.

King Abdullah bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud, the immediate past King of Saudi Arabia.

Judge Ajibola was a Fellow of the Aal al Bayt Institute of Thought in Amman, Jordan, and has remained for more than a decade, a regular biographee of that Institute’s prestigious publication, ‘‘The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World’’.

At the humanitarian level, Judge Bola Ajibola founded the African Concern in 1994. This was intended as an African response to the Rwandan genocide and many other wars and civil strife, and which then bestraddled the entire African continent in one form or the other. He founded the Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA) in 1996, to promote Islam in its true light

as a religion of peace, love and harmonious co-existence amongst all peoples - doing so through the means of education, socialisation, publicity and enlightenment.

The crowning glory of the IMA endeavour was the establishment of Crescent University, which became a Private University through the grant of Licence by the Federal Government on 9 June, 2005.

Peace Returns to NBA Nyanya/Karu Branch Peace has finally returned to Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Nyanya/Karu Branch, following the firm efforts of the NBA’s former General Secretary, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN. Mazi Osigwe, successfully brokered peace among warring factions in the intractable face-off among NBANyanya/Karu Branch arrow-heads.

According to a communiqué made available to the press during the recent NBA-NEC meeting in

Birnin-Kebbi, the resolution of the longstanding crisis has now set the stage for the Branch to elect its leadership.

NBA President, Mr Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, had informed the meeting that “the leadership crisis rocking the newly created Nyanya/Karu Branch of the Association, was resolved following an intervention facilitated by Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN”.

Aleading Lawyer and Bar leader, Osigwe is also the Chairman of the

Technical Committee on Conference Planning. Since the Nyanya/Karu Branch was created in June 2022, it has been embroiled in a leadership crisis with two parallel factions claiming to be authentic.

According to the NBA communiqué signed by Maikyau and NBA General Secretary, “following the intervention of Osigwe, SAN, the NBA President appointed a Caretaker Committee to oversee election for the Branch in June 2023”.

Ogun CJ Urges Magistrates to Embrace Digital Technology Steve Aya Magistrates in Ogun State have been advised to take up the advantage of current innovations presented by digital technology, to facilitate dispensation of justice.

The Chief Judge of Ogun State, Hon. Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu, gave the advice at the 2023 Magistrates Association of Nigeria (MAN) Conference, which was held at the Judiciary Complex, Kobape, Abeokuta.

The Conference with the theme: ‘The 21st Century Magistrate: Challenges, Prospects and Future Trajectory’, was organised by the Ogun State branch of MAN. The CJ who was represented

by Justice Olanrewaju Mabekoje of the Ogun State High Court, said it has become imperative for legal professionals to rely more on what technological innovations offer, like the electronic law reports, virtual case management tools. ”E-Justice has the potential to bring development and the rule of law, to the forefront. Non-digital justice systems can no longer align with everything else in the society”, she said.

She noted that Magistrates

play a vital role in the Judiciary, and are central to the criminal justice system, saying that they should take up the challenges associated with global change and stay relevant.

“As Magistrates willing to be relevant in the 21st century, you must think critically, have an effective communication skill, sense of self direction and self- development.

“You must embrace global realities, have technological skills and be digital literate.

“Widen your horizon, do not be limited to your knowledge of law books, and understand the cyberspace to be effectively guided in such matters”, she said.

Also speaking, Mrs Moriyike Osinbajo, who is also the State Chairman of MAN, noted that the ability of a Magistrate to develop

themselves in a globalised society, requires training and commitment.

Osinbajo added that Magistrates cannot continue to play vital roles in the administration of justice in years to come, if they do not embrace technology and remain committed to the principles of justice and fairness.

She noted that, technology can significantly change the way Magistrates write their rulings

FROM THE ARCHIVES

L-R: Professor Jadesola Olayinka Akande, CON (November 15, 1940 - April 29, 2008); Hon. Justice Atinuke Omobonike Ige, OFR, JCA (Rtd) (April 4, 1932 - April 10, 2003); Former President, Nigerian Bar Association, Dame Priscilla Kuye; and Richard Oma Ahonaruogho, SAN. It was 20 years yesterday, and 15 years on April 29, since Hon. Justice Atinuke Ige and Professor Jadesola Akande respectively, both joined the saints triumphant.

May their good souls continue to rest in peace, Amen PHOTO: COURTESY OF MUYIWA IGE

#upjudicialsalaries “Presently, rent allowance is 50% of the basic salary….In view of the nature of judicial work, which among others, places a burden on judicial officers to be selective in their place of abode….we propose a 100% rent allowance across board, for all judicial officers.” - NBA Working Committee on Judicial Remuneration and Conditions of Service

VI

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

TALKING CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY PROF MIKE OZEKHOME, SAN

0809 889 8888 SMS ONLY

CSOs and the Media in Promoting Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria (Part 4) The Nigerian State began as a colonial imposition on a wide range of polities, that still exist within Nigeria’s current boundaries. This makes it, in many ways, a nation of nations to date. Several decades of irresponsible military rule, even after the exit of the colonialists, has left the country as deeply divided as it was, prior to independence.

Military leaders and their civilian allies exploited ethnic differences to prolong their stay in power, and to capture the vast oil revenues that had been centralised under State control since the 1970s. As the mismanaged economy rose - divided with oil prices in the 1980s, the handful of elite with access to the State grew fabulously rich, while the number of Nigerians living in poverty rose shockingly from a quarter of the population in the 1970s to three-quarters of the population in the 1990s. The elite - known as the ‘Big Men”- have massive networks of clients dependent upon them for channels to State Largesse.

Introduction n the last part of this intervention, we dealt with the following sub-topics: Good governance differs from country to country; Major good governance indicators and Good governance needs strong followership (having commenced same). In this part, we shall further explore the following themes: Good governance needs strong followership; Some CSOs in Nigeria; Typologies of Nigerian CSOs; Questions raised by CSOs; Proliferation and Roles of CSOs; NGOs and the role of CSOs. Please read on.

I

Good Governance Needs Strong Followership (Civil Society Organisations) (Continues) Members of the political community should see good governance as a collective effort, where they must play their part. Citizens can set up Non-governmental organisations, to address or assist government in tackling some perceived problems of the polity. Civil societies like religious organisations, organised labour, academic unions, student organisations, should be strengthened and help in defending the autonomy of private interest. The civil society and non-governmental organisations, community based organisations, market associations, professional associations should be able to collaborate and mobilise the citizens to stand against democratic abuses, obnoxious laws and policies; roguery in positions of power, election rigging etc. The end will be the massive withdrawal of support, in form of mass action, strikes, demonstration etc, until government purges itself of toga of enslavement and maltreatment of the people.

In the same vein, it follows that any government that cannot command the followership of its citizens, is already heading to the precipice. If it degenerates to the level of exceeding its powers, and becomes purposeless and infringes on natural rights of the people, it should be dissolved, because the essence of instating governance has been defeated.

Choosing credible leaders, is the greatest duty followers must perform. It is incumbent on them, to elect and enthrone their leader. They should not tolerate poor leadership. They should assess their leaders based on veritable values of honesty, integrity, accountability, probity etc. The people should not mortgage their conscience, by taking bribes from the leaders before they elect them.

They must note that any leader who wants to buy the people is evil, and will eventually shortchange them. The people should elicit nothing short of sound accountable leadership. Good governance posits also that there must be absence of corruption, so as to preserve the integrity of democracy.

The absence of bribery, graft and corruption in general, spurs growth, development and foreign investment.

Some Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria Acronyms and Abbreviations ASUU - Academic Staff Union of Universities CAN - Christian Association of Nigeria CBO - Community Based Organisation CLO - Civil Liberties Organisation CSO - Civil Society Organisation DG Democracy and Governance CEDPA- Centre for Development and Population Activities ENABLE - Creating an Enabling Environment for Women’s Effective Participation FOIACT - Freedom of Information Act FOM WAN - Federation of Muslim Woman’s Association of Nigeria ILO - International Labour Organisation INEC - Independent National Electoral Commission LAW GROUP - International Human Rights Law Group MAN - Manufacturers Association of Nigeria NACCIMA - National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry Mines and Agriculture.

NCWS - National Council of Women’s Societies NLC - Nigerian Labour Congress NGO - Non-Government Organisation NSCIA - Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs PACE - Partnership for Advocacy and Civil Empowerment PROSPECT - Promoting Stakeholder Participation in Economic Transition TMG - Transition Monitoring Group UDD - Universal Defenders of Democracy Typologies of Nigerian Civil Society Organisations 1. Professional Associations 2. Labour and Trade Unions 3. Philanthropic Organisations 4. Religious or Faith-based Organisations 5. Development NGOs r 4FSWJDF %FMJWFSZ 0SHBOJTBUJPO r 3FTFBSDI 3FTPVSDF 4VQQPSU $FOUSFT 6. Foundations &UIOJD .JMJUJBT 7BOHVBSET 8. Networks: r 6NCSFMMBT r *TTVF ESJWFO /FUXPSLT )FBMUI &EVDBUJPO r 3FHJPOBM /FUXPSLT r 8PNBO T /FUXPSLT 9. Private Sector 10. Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) r $PNNVOJUZ %FWFMPQNFOU "TTPDJBUJPOT $%"T r 5PXO 6OJPOT r 3FMJHJPVT "TTPDJBUJPO r /FJHICPVSIPPE "TTPDJBUJPOT BOE 7JHJMBODF Groups r 4PDJBM $MVCT BOE "HF (SBEF "TTPDJBUJPOT r 5SBEF (VJMET r .BSLFU 8PNFO "TTPDJBUJPOT r :PVUI 0SHBOJTBUJPOT Questions Raised by CSOs Support for civil society’s role in building democracy in Nigeria, thus, raises three fundamental questions:

“The political elite has long recognised both the promise and problems of civil society; and since the 1960s, they have used a combination of repression and cooptation, to bring the most powerful and representative of these groups into the orbit of the State”

1. How can civil society’s meta-role in restoring the interest of the public on the priority agenda of the political elite, be strengthened?

2. How can the centrifugal forces among civil society groups be best managed, so that coalitions advocating priority public issues can be maintained?

3. How does the structural division within civil society between interest based organisations and the NGOs, impact USAID strategy for assisting civil society’s role in building democracy in Nigeria.

Proliferation and Roles of CSOs in Nigeria After decades of struggling with military rule, Nigerian Civil Society has emerged as a vibrant, battle-hardened force for change JO UIF /BUJPO T ZPVOH EFNPDSBDZ :FU DJWJM society in Nigeria developed in relation to the beleaguered State. Thus, the diversity and many complexities that characterise Nigerian politics are reflected in its dynamic civil society, including the contradictions that result in seeking to build a democracy out of a polity that is not a single coherent nation.

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Closely related to, but different from CSOs, are Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

NGOs are non-governmental organisations which are founded voluntarily by citizens, who have the zeal to work for the welfare of the citizens. They are generally formed independent of the government; non-profit making, and very active in humanitarian and social causes.

They also include clubs and associations, that provide services to their members and the larger society. They have high degree of public trust, which makes them useful stakeholders for the concerns of society. Some NGOs have been known to be lobby groups for corporations, e.g, the World Economic Forum. But, they are distinct from International and inter-government organisations (IOs), in that the latter group is more directly involved with sovereign States and their governments.

Examples of NGOs are: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Salvation Army, Emergency Nutrition Network, Health link, Health Net TPO, CARE (fighting against global poverty) and Global Humanitarian Assistance.

Other examples are: INGO – An international NGO such as Oxfam; ENGO – An environmental NGO like Greenpeace; RINGO – A religious international NGO such as Catholic Relief Services; CSO – A Civil Society Organisation like Amnesty International.

The Nigerian State

Nigerian Politics Nigerian politics is primarily a game of “Big Men” seeking to recoup their election investments and to expand their access to State resources, it often has little to do with improving the lot of the vast majority of Nigerians. The great promises of civil society for democratic development in Nigeria therefore, is that the sector as a whole, has the potential to reverse this growing political distance between the powerful elite and the largely disenfranchised masses. Civil society’s strength is in preserving a plurality of aggregated interest, to balance those of the elite and to check the elite’s excesses on specific issues on occasion. The latter role, however, depends upon a unanimity among civil society groups that is difficult to forge, and even harder to maintain beyond the political moment.

The Role of CSOs The political elite has long recognised both the promise and problems of civil society; and since the 1960s, they have used a combination of repression and cooptation, to bring the most powerful and representative of these groups into the orbit of the State. Trade unions, for instance, bear heavy State regulation, and are partially dependent upon the State for funds. Nonetheless, unions and other great associations like the Bar Association fought military rule throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and suffered as a result.

As these massive Civil Society groups were hobbled by military interference, many Nigerian activists turned to a new type of organisation that began to proliferate in the late 1980s, the NGO. It is important to remember that, NGOs are a non sub-category of CSOs. NGOs at first, were often small and structured undemocratically in that their executives were not elected by the members of the organisation, PS CZ UIF QPQVMBUJPO UIFZ TPVHIU UP TFSWF :FU NGOs offered services and skills to replace those abandoned by the receding State, and provided a critical platform for dissent against the military that international donors could readily recognise and support.

Civil Society organisations balance the strength and influence of the State; they are supposed to protect citizens from abuses of State power. They play the role of monitor and watchdog. They embody the rights of citizens to freedom of expression and association, and they are channels of popular participation in governance. Moreover, the end of military rule in 1999 opened the political space and provoked a civil renaissance. The older, massive, interest based associations like trade unions and professional associations have rebuilt their structures, and reasserted their former dominance of the political scene. Meanwhile, NGOs have proliferated across the country, and many have begun the process of democratising their own structure and developing mechanisms of representation and accountability.

Civil Society has the potential to reverse the growing political distance, between the powerful elite and the largely disenfranchised masses.

However, CSOs are not of one mind on issues, nor do they speak with one voice. CSOs represent issues from nearly all sides, and speak with a cacophony of interests and demands that overlap, DPNQMFUF BOE PS DPOUSBEJDU POF BOPUIFS *O UIJT context, can CSOs bring the government to reflect citizens’ interest? (To be continued).

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

VII

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

My Brief by SKB STEPHEN KOLA-BALOGUN

stephenkolabalogun@yahoo.com

Overview Raila Odinga & Another v Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) & Others [2017] KESC 31 KLR n 1st September, 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya handed down a decision annulling the Kenyan Presidential election, by a vote of four Judges to two. The court determined that there were significant failures in the transmission of results from polling stations to constituency tallying centres and the national tallying centre, which jeopardised the election's integrity. The court also found that, IEBC didn’t follow constitutional and statutory provisions for election administration. The court ordered that a new Presidential election be held within 60 days, in accordance with the Constitution.

This was seen as a historic and decisive victory, for African democracy. In practical terms, it also meant that Kenyans were to have a another (second) presidential election within 60 days. This was undoubtedly quite expensive in terms of money and time, but, perhaps, worth it for a clear and decisive declaration that democracy in Kenya was not only working, but maturing. The ruling of the Supreme Court underscored what IEBC, international observers and some international press wanted to write off as mere irregularities, but were in actual fact, significant procedural failures that undermined the core of Kenyan democracy.

The discontent and criticism of the election, was never about winning or losing. It was about having a winner who was worthy of the title “democratically elected”, and the Supreme Court found that IEBC simply did not deliver on basic democratic principles of transparency and rule of law, that should ordinarily guide any election.

Fundamentally, this ruling was also about reminding IEBC that it couldn’t pick and choose which parts of the Constitution it wanted to obey. The ruling reflected glaring errors that, on one hand, IEBC argued were not enough to alter the outcome of the election, but, on the other, critics argued, compromised the integrity of the whole process.

For instance, IEBC conceded that they did not use the biometric electronic transmission system that they were required to use; and instead, relied on text messages and photographs of manually filled forms as sources of information. The process of tallying was also problematic, because IEBC seemed to ignore much of the law regulating it. The Commission’s Lawyers also argued that the forms used for reporting results from the different regions would be available in time for the announcement of the results on 11th August, 2017; yet, as late as 14th August, IEBC was still asking the opposition to be patient while it tried to make the forms available to them for verification.

A number of the forms provided by IEBC also didn’t have serial numbers or bar codes, and some were simply lined paper with numbers scrawled on them. Although Lawyers for IEBC conceded these irregularities, they equally argued they were not significant enough to have affected the whole outcome; but, unfortunately, in court, the Chief Justice pushed back asking “If some of the forms have bar codes, then shouldn’t all of the forms have bar codes?” It was based on all the above reasons, that the Kenyan Supreme Court nullified the Presidential election under Article 140(2) (a) of Kenya’s Redraft Constitution of 2010.

O

Nigeria’s 2023 General Elections One could easily be forgiven for believing that the Kenyan experience was déjà vu here in Nigeria, and that our National elections last month were simply a rehash of the same playbook script that characterised the Kenyan elections five years ago, in that the situation, facts and allegations of irregularities on the part of our Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appear to be virtually the same as that of the IEBC, but with a fundamental difference. The position of the law here in Nigeria as spelled out in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2022, is not on the same footing as that of Kenya. It appears the Federal Government and the National Assembly conscious of the historic and landmark decision of the Kenyan Supreme Court, may have instead, taken precautions to insulate themselves from the Kenyan experience by whittling down the effects of the Electoral Act 2022, thereby ensuring that our courts and tribunals would be incapable of ever giving such a ground-breaking decision as that of the Kenyan Supreme Court.

Let us now look at, and analyse some of the various examples as to why this may indeed, be the case.

Instituting Presidential Election Petitions Directly at the Supreme Court

The Odinga Standard: Guidelines to Adopt in Preparing Election Petitions In Kenya, petitions relating to their Presidential elections are heard directly by the Kenyan Supreme Court; but, under our Electoral Act here in Nigeria, Presidential election petitions have to first be instituted and heard at an election tribunal, which for Presidential election petitions is the Court of Appeal. It can only be filed at the Supreme Court, upon the filling of an appeal after Court of Appeal has adjudicated upon the petition. Does this procedure serve any real or useful purpose? I don’t think so, because all Presidential election petitions ultimately end up at the Supreme Court anyway, so why not Institute the petition there in the first place, and save much valuable time and expense?

In Odinga & Anor v IEBC & Ors (Supra), the Kenyan Presidential election was held on the 8th of August, 2017, and the hearing of the Presidential Petition commenced as early as the 18th of August, 2017. The hearing concluded on the 29th of August, 2017, and the Kenyan Supreme Court handed down its decision on the 1st of September, 2017.

The hearing of the Petition was heard timeously, in that it took less than two weeks. During this short period, the Kenyan Supreme Court was able to hear oral arguments from all the parties between 26th August and 29th August. A decision was given within three days of the conclusion of hearing.

Surely, this is the sort of standard and time frame we need to set for ourselves here in Nigeria.

The present time frame of 180 days to hear and determine election petitions under our Electoral Act, assuming we consider the Court of Appeal an election tribunal, or 60 days if it’s not classed as such or for appeals, is unduly long. It defeats the long standing principle first established in Ashby v White (1703) 92 ER 126 to the effect that, the Courts don’t want to be unduly engaged in matters of Parliament. The Courts recognised the fundamental privileges and independence of Parliament, as far back as the 1700s.

Does the 1999 Constitution Specifically State that Elections Should be Free and Fair?

The Kenyan Supreme Court found that IEBC failed to comply with constitutional and statutory provisions on conducting elections, such as using biometric technology for voter identification; transmitting provisional results electronically; publishing scanned images of result forms online; and verifying final results using original forms. The court held that these failures violated Article 81(e) of the Kenya (Redraft) Constitution of 2010, which requires elections to be free, fair, transparent, verifiable, accountable, accurate, secure, efficient, and credible. The court also

“On what basis can you therefore, overturn a Presidential Election here in Nigeria, with such a vague and subjective benchmark? If our Constitution had similar provisions to those of Kenya cited above, then a Presidential Petitioner would at least, stand a realistic chance of overturning a Presidential election, if the court considers that there were substantial irregularities"

held that these failures affected Article 86(a) of the 2010 (Redraft) Constitution, which equally stipulates that elections are to be simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable and transparent.

The court noted that it was not necessary for it to determine whether there was any hacking or manipulation of IEBC’s servers or result forms by any party, as alleged by the opposition. The court was of the view that it was not necessary for it to determine whether the incumbent President at the time, Uhuru Kenyatta, engaged in any electoral malpractices, as was being alleged. It was sufficient to annul the Presidential election for the breaching the above constitutional provisions.

Significantly, there is no equivalent provision under the 1999 Constitution, other than vague and indirect references to such under the non-justiciable provisions of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy. This perhaps, best explains why our Lawyers spend months trying to establish incidences of manipulation and malpractices in our general elections. The Presidential election petitions of both Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, are laced with these unproven allegations. INEC is always joined as a Defendant in Election Petition cases, but the same INEC equally wants to justify before the tribunal or court that it conducted credible elections.

How ironic !! In short INEC is usually the equivalent of a hostile witness! How then can a Petitioner succeed, if they are dependent on INEC to produce such evidence, as often seems the case. Even the Electoral Act 2022, merely mentions the need to show substantial compliance with the election. On what basis can you therefore, overturn a Presidential Election here in Nigeria, with such a vague and subjective benchmark? If our Constitution had similar provisions to those of Kenya cited above, then a Presidential Petitioner would at least stand a realistic chance of overturning a Presidential election, if the court considers that there were substantial irregularities.

The Bimodal Verification Accreditation System (BVAS) Another essential difference in Nigeria’s electoral laws when compared to Kenya, is that the use of BVAS was not made compulsory under the Electoral Act 2022, or so it seems. Section 50(2) of the said Act provides as follows: “Subject to section 63 of this Act voting at an election and transmission of results under this Act shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission” Furthermore , Section 60(5) provides: “The presiding officer shall transfer the results including total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot in a manner as prescribed by the Commission” INEC through what is at best subsidiary legislation, has introduced regulations and guidelines most of which are contained in its manual, but this does not contradict the above provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, because if INEC determines the procedure as provided under the Electoral Act, it stands to reason that it can vary its own guidelines since it has the power to determine its own procedure. As the Petitioners themselves state in their Petitions, INEC merely gave assurances; whereas, in Kenya, the biometric electronic transmission system was

backed by the force of primary legislation, and could equally be tied to the 2010 Kenya Constitution with regard to election administration. Is this an oversight by our lawmakers, or perhaps, deliberate? Your guess is as good as mine.

Bar Codes As the Chief Justice of Kenya queried if some of the ballot papers have bar codes, shouldn’t all of them have bar codes? Under the Electoral Act 2022, this is once again left to the discretion of the returning officer, thereby leaving scope for the possibility of malpractice or manipulation.

Section 63 (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 provides; “If the returning officer is satisfied that a ballot paper which does not bear the official mark was from a book of ballot papers which was furnished to the presiding officer of the polling unit in which the vote was cast for use at the election in question, he or she shall, notwithstanding the absence of the official mark, count that ballot paper.”

Conclusion There are in fact, four avenues via which courts can be involved in electoral matters: (1) judicial review for constitutional validity; (2) criminal jurisdiction over electoral offences; (3) a disputed return petition; (4) judicial review of electoral administration.

The first issue under our laws as with Kenya, at least, in so far as it relates to Presidential election petitions, is that they should ideally be instituted at the Supreme Court. The second issue is not common, but it relates to criminal jurisdiction which should begin at the High Court level. The third is already provided for under our Electoral Act, and all disputed petitions begin at specially constituted tribunals, other than the Presidential election petition which begins at the Court of Appeal. The fourth category which is the power to grant injunctions or declarations to proactively ensure compliance with electoral administration, is perhaps, a bit more technical; but, as noted in Odinga & Anor v IEBC & Ors (Supra) the Kenyan Supreme Court was able to craft its own issues for determination as follows: (i) Whether the 2017 Presidential Election was conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Constitution and the law relating to elections. (ii) Whether there were irregularities and illegalities committed in the conduct of the 2017 Presidential Election. iii) If there were irregularities and illegalities, what was their impact, if any, on the integrity of the election? (iv) What consequential orders, declarations and reliefs should this court grant, if any?

This approach enabled the Kenyan Supreme Court reach a definitive and decisive decision on the Presidential election petition, within a relatively short period of time.

The Presidential election petition, was virtually treated like a judicial review application. A Constitutional amendment would be necessary here in Nigeria, for us to be able to get anywhere near the Odinga standard; but, as as already noted, if the National Assembly have their own agenda, it becomes a near impossibility. Realistically, it can only be achieved by redrafting our Constitution.

Significantly, Kenya has already had three redrafts of their Constitution, the most recent being in 2010 and approved by about 67% of the population in a referendum.

In Nigeria we are yet to have a redraft, and instead, remain stuck with the occasional amendments; but, to whose benefit, I wonder?

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Alhaji Femi Okunnu, CON, SAN

‘Land Use Act: A Failure in Legislative Drafting’ At 90, Alhaji Lateef Olufemi Okunnu, CON, SAN can be described as a privileged nonagenarian. With a sharp retentive memory, undiminished intellect and an uncanny recall of critical events of national import, the Learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing in the General Yakubu Gowon administration, went down memory lane in a rare and interesting interview with Onikepo Braithwaite and Jude Igbanoi, reminiscing about politics of the old days, how, once upon a time, Nigerian politics was devoid of ethnicity and religious biases; that they must not be allowed to divide us now. He also spoke about his expansionary Road Programme as Works Commissioner, and the origins and failings of the Land Use Act 1978, amongst other things

C

ongratulations on your 90th birthday Learned Silk Sir. You are one of the privileged Nigerians to be called to the Bar in England at the time, February 1960 to be precise. Which of the Inns of Court were you called to? What was the difference between them? Kindly, give us a brief overview of your life and career I was born in Lagos on 19th February, 1933. I attended Ansar-Ud Deen Primary School, Alakoro (1938-1947) and King’s College Lagos (1948-1953).

I was employed as a Clerk at Posts and Telegraphs (June 1953- September 1953), and

at King’s College as Technical Officer (October 1953 - February 1956) where I taught Civics (Forms 1-3), English Language and History in the lower classes.

I attended University College London in the second year, having obtained intermediate LL.B as an external student in Lagos in June, 1955. I attained my LL.B degree from London University in 1958.

I was a member of Gray’s Inn, London, and the most prestigious of the four Inns of Court. The other three are Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Lincoln’s Inn. The different between them? There

“In the 1940’s….ethnicity was unknown in Nigerian politics….The two candidates were: Mr Samuel Akinsanya …. supported by Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Ernest Ikoli, one of whose supports was, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. That was Nigeria…. with Zik in support of an Ijebu man, and Chief Awolowo….in support of Ernest Ikoli from Brass!”

were very few foreign students at Gray’s Inn. More non-British people were Inner Temple and Middle Temple. Lincoln Inn was for “every other”, especially those who did not attend any University to obtain a Bar degree.

At the end of the day we all “sit” for the same Bar Examination to be called to the English Bar. I was called to the English Bar at the Gray’s Inn on the 9th February, 1960.

I was enrolled as a Legal Practitioner of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. And I was admitted to the Inner Bar as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria on 20th July, 1992.

Your tenure as Federal Commissioner of Works saw the construction of the iconic Lagos-Ore-Benin Expressway, and it has stood the test of time of over four decades.

How did you achieve this feat back then? Are you satisfied with the infrastructural development of Nigeria over the years, or do you think successive governments should have done better?

Your second question deals with Road Programme.

When I was appointed Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing in May 1967, there were less than 7,000 miles of Federal Roads. I left over 20,000 miles at the end of my tenure

in December, 1974.

I met two North-South roads in 1967: (i) Lagos – Ibadan – Jebba – Kaduna – Zaria – Kano (ii) Port Harcourt – Enugu – Otukpo – Makurdi – Jos. When I left office in December 1974, I had added the following: (iii) Warri – Benin – Auchi – Koton Karfe – Abuja. (iv) Calabar – Yola – Maiduguri There were also West – East Roads: (v) Shagamu – Ore – Benin, to link up with Asaba – Onitsha – Enugu – Ogoja (vi) Ilorin – Omuaran – Lokoja I had the cooperation of the Ministries of Finance and of Economic Development, and the support of the Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.

I left Government in 1974 with part of my Road Programme newly completed, some like Lagos – Shagamu – Ibadan with construction on-going, some with construction soon to commence.

All that was left for Muritala/Obasanjo Government to do, was to complete the on-going and the new projects.

President Shagari’s administration was largely to see to the maintenance of the Federal roads, in the same way as the Buhari – Idiagbon Government. The rot started with Babangida Administration, and continued with Abacha’s and Obasanjo’s Government. Yar’Adua Government was

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‘Land Use Act: A Failure in Legislative Drafting’ short lived, and the rot continued with Jonathan’s administration. This is what Mr Tunde Fashola, SAN, has been trying to do, to carry out the back log of the rot.

Lagos – Ibadan Expressway is a good example of the neglect of our road network for about 38 years.

In your days, you were Deputy Legal Adviser of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), politics was basically without bitterness or violence in the Second Republic. Today, especially in the recently concluded elections, we saw a lot violence, ethnic and religious based prejudice. What do you think is responsible for this? The alleged reference to Lagos as being ‘No Man’s Land’ also didn’t go down well with many, and contributed to the bitterness.

As a Lagosian yourself, kindly, give us a brief history of Lagos. What is your advice to present day politicians?

How can harmony be restored amongst Nigerians?

In the 1940’s, when I was in primary school (1938-1945 war years), ethnicity was unknown in Nigerian politics. Lagos was the centre of politics. Let us go back to emergence of political parties in Nigeria.

With the introduction of Clifford Constitution in 1922 which was for the Colony of Lagos and the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, Herbert Macaulay founded the Democratic Party. The first Constitution in Nigeria, made provision for election of three members from Lagos and one from Calabar.

The Democratic Party swept the polls.

Dr. C. C. Adeniyi Jones was one of the three elected members.

In 1932, a group of Nigerian intellectuals founded the Nigerian Youth Movement.

They included Professor Eyo Ita (founding father); Dr John Churchill Vaughan; Sir Kofo Abayomi (President); Ernest Ikoli, first Nigerian Editor of the Daily Times; Mr Samuel Akinsanya, the General Secretary (later the Odemo of Ishara). Others who joined later included Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik) (1937), Obafemi Awolowo, H. O. Davies and Samuel Akintola.

When Sir Kofo Abayomi was awarded a scholarship to pursue a post graduate course in Ophthalmology in the United Kingdom, that created a vacancy in the Legislative Council. The two candidates were: Mr Samuel Akinsanya (Vice President of NYM), supported by Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Ernest Ikoli, one of whose supports was, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. That was Nigeria in the 2nd World War years, with Zik in support of an Ijebu man, and Chief Awolowo from Ikene next door to Ishara, in support of Ernest Ikoli from Brass!

The first ethnic Union according to his autobiography was the Ibibio Union. And, its main purpose was to generate funds to award scholarships to young Ibibios to study abroad. And, Sir Udo Udoma was the first Ibibio youth to enjoy the generosity.

The next ethnic union to surface in Nigeria, was Igbo State Union which encouraged Igbo young men to meet on Sundays for self-help and advancement in life. That started in the late 1940s in Lagos. gb Òmò Oduduwa was founded in London, by Dr Oni Akerele and Chief Obafemi Awolowo after the war, and the Nigerian branch was established in Lagos in 1947/1948. Its main achievement was to set up a scholarship scheme, to purse their education at the University Coillege, Ibadan Dr Azikiwe was the first Ibo speaking Nigerian to school educated, whilst the first Ibo speaking Nigerian was Sir Leo Mbanefo who was called to the Bar in

Alhaji Femi Okunnu, CON, SAN

the 1940s, the first Nigerians from the colony of Lagos were called to the Bar in later. What Zik did was to encourage young Nigerians to go to the United States for further studies. Two of those students were Lagosians of note - his life long friend who later became his Press Secretary, Mr A.K. Disu, and Professor Babs Fafunwa. Others who blazed the trail included several Ibo speaking Nigerians, like Professor Mbadiwe, Prince Orizu, Daily Service and Dr Ikediani.

On the political scene, following the disagreement snd successor to Dr Kofo Abayomi, Zik left NYM for the Democratic Party of Herbert Macauley. In 1944, the newly established National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC) entered an alliance with the Democratic Party.

The emergent Labour movement led

by Michael Imoudu after the general strike of 1945, entered into alliance with Democratic Party.

Following the death of Herbert Macauley in 1947, Zik assumed the leadership of Democratic Party/ NCNC alliance. The battle line was drawn between the Democratic Party/ NCNC alliance and NYM. In support of the Demos was Zik’s West African Pilot founded in 1937, and in support of NYM was the Daily Service.

From the declaration of victory of Democratic Party/NCNC alliance at the election in 1947 under the Richards Constitution which Zik, Prince Adeleke Adedoyin and Dr Ibiyinka Olorun-Nimbe won, ‘Demo loni Eko’ rent the air till the imprisonment of Awolowo. The Democratic Party, NCNC alliance won all the elections in Lagos to the Legislative Council, Western House of Assembly and the House of representatives until Awo was jailed in 1963.

Ethnicity played little or no part in the politics of Lagos in those years, and religion was not an issue whatsoever.

I have spoken about the forma-

“As long as the results announced at the States’ level certified by political party agents were the same with the results announced at the national collation centre, the fact that the conveyor of the results was manual and not electronic, is not fatal”

tion of ethnic groups in Nigeria, in the 1940s. From my observations as a young political activist, attending political rallies at Glover Memorial Hall, Bombata Field or Isal Gangan Square, the newly inaugurated Igbo State Union and gb Òmò Oduduwa had very little impact during elections under Arthur Richards Constitution (1946 to 1950), Macpherson Constitution (1950-1954), Littleton Constitution (1954- 1960) or even 1963, either in Lagos City or in Western region. As I said earlier, “Demo lo l’Eko”. In spite of the impact of Action Group’s manifesto of free health, free education, elections between the NCNC and Action Group in the West were “toe to toe”. NCNC had a larger following than Action group, in Ibadan Province, Oyo Province, Ondo Province, Benin Province, and even in Abeokuta Province.

I say little about “carpet crossing” Religion played no role whatsoever in politics, until this last 2023 elections. Chief Awolowo’s running mate in the 1978 Presidential election was Mr Philip Umeadi, my course-mate at the Faculty of Law, University College, London (1956- 1959). Philip was born in Onitsha, but a Lagos boy; and in the 1992 botched presidential election, the winning party candidate and running mate were Muslims, Chief MKO abiola and Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe.

But, last year, the leadership of some of the new generation Churches openly declared its opposition to the MuslimMuslim ticket of APC, and canvassed against it. I hope that, Nigeria will never witness that again.

I come from a background where Muslim and Christian children went to primary and secondary school together, played in the streets and field together, celebrated Eid el Fitr, Easter and Christmas together, and sometimes, inter- married. I speak for Lagos, Kano, Zaria, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Enugu, Ibadan, where in the case of our parents on transfer in the public service to the Northern States, speak fluently at school.

Religion and ethnicity should not divide us as Nigerians, and we must be proud to call ourselves and behave as Nigerians.

The clear answer to Lagos being a no man’s land, is “Gedegbe l’Eko wa”. That slogan won elections by the Democratic/ NCNC elections until the 1966 coup.

Lagos as the first of the British Colonies in modern day Nigeria, and Lagos as Lagos State today.

During the 1978 Presidential elections, the motto of one of the parties (I believe it was that of Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim), was “politics without bitterness”.

Violence as we witnessed recently, is a new phenomenon. The life of any Nigerian, is not worth being sacrificed

for politics.

How would you rate the performance of INEC in the 2023 elections? With their failure to upload the results of the Presidential election before they announced them, many people have adjudged the elections and INEC’s performance as being way below par, especially the aspect of not transmission the election results electronically in real time. Do you agree with this negative assessment of INEC? The performance of INEC was fair. In spite of the challenges of INEC to convey the election result electronically successfully, the overall performance is more than average.

As long as the results announced at the States’ level certified by political party agents were the same with the results announced at the national collation centre, the fact that the conveyor of the results was manual and not electronic, is not fatal. There is however, room for improvement.

Many believe that the Land Use Act 1978 (LUA) has failed to meet most of the goals it set out to achieve. That there are contradictions, for example, all the land in a State is vested in the Governor of each State, yet, the Federal Government also lays claim to lands within a State; also the issue of the waterways. That for instance, in Lagos, if anything the LUA stands as a deterrent to economic development instead of promoting it, and its implementation has been poor with many abuses and delays in processes caused by Government Officials. What is your view on this? What steps do you think should be taken to make the LUA work better?

The Land Use Act cannot work. The origin of LUA, it started in our time. Ministry of Finance complained about the huge sum of money they paid for compensation for land compulsorily acquired for public purposes.

So, how could we bring that down? I started to draft a Bill, because the Ministry of Justice refused to draft one for me. They felt that we wanted to disturb the compensation regime, that they would pay landowners on compulsory acquisition. My Bill is still in the Laws of 1978 or so. Obasanjo took over from me as Commissioner, Ministry of Works, for six months before the coup.

He came to my house one day, and said Gowon told him I had a draft Decree. He asked for it and I gave him a copy which he published it later. I had a scale of fees that would be paid, and provision for a five-yearly review of what would be paid.

That led to the LUA which took effect in March 1978 or thereabout.

LUA has its foundation from the Penal Code in the North. The title to every inch of land in the Northern region, was vested in the Government; there were no private holdings, in the whole of the Northern region cont'd on page X

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COVER ‘Land Use Act: A Failure in Legislative Drafting’ cont'd from page IX

(Land Tenure Law). If you wanted land in the North, you would apply to Government and they would issue you a certificate of occupancy. More or less, the LUA is a replica of that system. Like in Lagos, there were individual and family holdings. There were Land Certificates that gave freehold titles forever and ever, there were 999 years leases and land belonging to chieftaincy families and ordinary landowning families. So what LUA tried to do was to nationalise land in the Southern States; there was no problem in the North. How do you do that? Some Judges took the view that no, the State did not own the land; so landowners must be given compensation.

The Land Use Act 1978 (LUA) is a failure in Legislative drafting, and it’s a failure in the legislation itself. It nationalises land holding throughout Nigeria, as this was already in practice in the former Northern region of the country. In so doing, it vests title of land in every State in the Governor of the State, and destroys the customary land holdings in the former Western region, Eastern region and in Lagos. For example, it destroyed freehold titles in Lagos as it was known in England. It destroyed all customary holdings or communal holdings, as they were known generally in the Southern States of the country.

Section 49 of the LUA makes an exception to Federal State land in a State. As the Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing (May 1967 to December 1974) vested with control of Federal State lands, my understanding of Federal State lands today, are all land held by the Army, Navy, Air Alhaji Femi Okunnu, CON, SAN Force, Police, Federal Prisons and Customs, as well as all Federal parastatals like Nigeria election, I go to court to see how the Airways, Airports, Seaports, Nigeria Railway, result can be reversed. We abuse the Nigeria Television Authority and the like. judicial system with so many election Abuja Federal Territory, is under the full petitions, even though we cannot win control of the Federal Government. the election.

Section 48 of the LUA deals with registraThe answer is not by creating any tion of titles, which is completely under special court for election petitions. the full control of the State. Buildings We must find ways and means, of or quarters as in Lagos, belong to State curbing these frivolous allegations.

Governments. The management of land All election petitions must also be in each State is entirely a matter for each determined, before the President or State Government. Issuance of certificate Governor or members of the National of occupancy, is also a matter for each Assembly or State Houses of Assembly State Government. are sworn in Delay in issuing of certificates of ocLearned Silk Sir, what are your cupancy for upward of five to ten years, views on the 1999 Constitution is as a result of failure of management and restructuring of Nigeria to by the State Government and serves as reflect true Federalism? Do you deterrent to economic development. think it would make a difference?

The LUA is only protected by the ConstituHaving lived through Nigeria’s tion - it is not part of the Constitution. different Constitutions, would Although it claims to be an Act of the you say the 1963 Constitution National Assembly, it cannot be amended is better than what we have by the National Assembly because it relates today? Some have criticised the to Land. Under Section 4 (7) (a) of the Presidential system we are presConstitution, 1979 and 1999, land is a ently operating, saying it is too residual power. It is not on the Exclusive bogus and expensive, and that we Legislative list. Therefore, only the House should return to the Parliamentary of Assembly of a State “can” legislate on system, or have only one House land. Therein lies the conundrum. as our National Assembly. Kindly, In the past few election circles, the share your views on this Nigerian legal system has been clogged I have been involved either as with so many election petitions and a student agitator or member of large number of Judges are appointed constitutional reviews since 1956. into these Tribunal, leaving the State Between 1956 and 1959, as a student Judiciaries short of Judges, the resultant agitator. The 1963 Constitution is a effect being that cases get delayed and carbon copy of 1960 Independence are a standstill for many months, in a Constitution. The difference is the judicial system which is already slow. inclusion of Mid-Western region, and Some have suggested the setting up of the the substitution of President for a constitutional court or special court Governor-General to show that Nigeria to tackle election matters strictly. What is now a Republic and no longer a is your view on this? dominion of Great Britain.

Nigerians have penchant for litigation.

Gowon’s government operated If I do not like how you look, I go to court. within the 1963 Constitution, judging If I don’t like how you smile or yawn, I go by my experience. Residual functions to court. When I know that I have lost an

“Nigerians have penchant for litigation. If I do not like how you look, I go to court.

If I don’t like how you smile or yawn, I go to court. When I know that I have lost an election, I go to court to see how the result can be reversed”

like “land” and “housing” were left entirely for the States. On housing, my only role was to transform the Nigerian Building Society into Federal Mortgage Bank.

The twelve States were left to manage and control primary and secondary education (with exception of Kings and Queens College, and Federal Government Colleges).

Public health was left entirely in the hands of the States - so was agriculture, and all matters not in the Exclusive Legislative list. They were left for State Governments to pursue and execute since 1954 when Federalism was established as our system of government.

Even the Judiciary was left intact, as it was in the 1963 Constitution. Appointments of the Chief Judge and all the Judges of the region, was left entirely in the hands of each Regional Government. Salaries of Judges were responsibilities of each Regional Government. As with appointment, the discipline of Judges was also left entirely in the hands of each State Government.

Unfortunately, over the past few years, Federal governments have stolen the functions of Regional/State governments under the 1963 Constitution. They have virtually reduced Nigeria to a Unitary system of government, with some federal features.

With regard to the system of government best suited for Nigeria, the 49 member Constitution Drafting Committee of 1975 recommended the Presidential system of government, in order to avoid concentration of power in the hands of one man. The late General Murtala Muhammed, charged us to look into that problem. People generally do not realise that the Prime Minister of Great Britain for example, concentrates Executive powers and Presidential powers in his hands.

As the Prime Minister is the Head of government, and he is the leader of the majority party in Parliament, that is an awful lot of concentration of power in one hand. In America, the President is the head of the Executive only.

The problem with Nigeria is that, the Presidency, over the years, has taken over State functions, regardless of the Constitution.

The women and youths have never really had adequate representation in governance in Nigeria. How do we ensure inclusivity for them. For instance, Kwara State pioneered a gender inclusivity law in which there cannot be more than 65% of one sex in the cabinet. What are your views on this?

At age 27, I forced almost singlehandedly, the Balewa Government to abrogate the

Defence pact which all our political leaders had signed with Great Britain before our independence to station a Force in Kano; and two or three years later, I denounced in “News talk” on Radio Nigeria, a detention bill being promoted by the Prime Minister to detain any Nigerian without trial. That 15minute talk show on Radio Nigeria, I believe in 1964, was the newspaper headline for weeks. That, with due respect, was youth activism. My, “no pact, no base” agitation at under 30 years of age, and denunciation of detention without trial at age 31, answer my position about youth activism.

When the Nigerian Youth Congress along with a rainbow umbrella of Nigeria Labour under Wahab Goodluck and S.U Bassey alongside Ibadan University Students Union, led by Dapo Falase , carried out a mammoth demonstration in front of the National Assembly in front of Tafawa Balewa Square against the CIA killing of Patrice Lumumba, Ibadan female students and women in Lagos were part and parcel of that demonstration.

I read about that Aba women’s demonstration in 1929, and I was old enough to follow the activism of Mrs Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. That explains my position, about the place of the women and our youth in governance.

How would you rate the outgoing Buhari administration vis-à-vis its 2015 main campaign promises - fighting insecurity and corruption, and revamping Nigeria’s economy? What do you expect from the incoming administration?

Before the currency crisis, I could have given Buhari 60%. But, now, with the currency problems not settled, I would give him 40%. A day not long ago, all I had was N3,500 cash. My wife demanded money to buy foodstuffs in the market, I told her to take what she wanted out of the N3,500. She returned N1,500 to me. I have been living with little or no .cash in my wallet, since the change of currency.

And, look at how he handled the interim order of then Supreme court?. He picked and chose what part of the order he will obey, and which part he ignored. It was Lord Denning, the greatest English Jurist in the last two centuries, who once said, and I quote “however high you may be, the law is above you”.

For the President to pick and choose which part of the order of the highest court of our land he will obey and disobey, what message does he send to the common man?

Thank you Sir.

11.4.2023

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IMAGES

T H I S D AY ˾ DAY APRIL 11, 2023

Photo Editor Abiodun Ajala Email abiodun.ajala@thisdaylive.com

L-R: Director and Producer of the movie, ‘Gangs of Lagos’, Jade Osiberu; Head of Originals, Africa and Middle East, Prime Video, Ned Mitchell; and Head, Originals, Nigeria, Prime Video, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, at a press conference to unveil the ‘Gangs of Lagos’ movie, held in Lagos…recently

L-R: Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu; Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Maryam Katagum; and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja...recently PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI

L-R: Proto-Presbyter, Methodist Church of Trinity, Tinubu, Lagos, The Very Revd Jonathan Bamidele Osin; Prelate Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence Dr. Oliver Aba Ali; Bishop, Trinity Church Council, Lagos, Rt. Rev. Dr. Omotayo Oladipo Babalola; and Reverend in-training, Comfort Uzo-Chinonye, during the 2023 Easter Sunday Church Service at Methodist Trinity Church, Tinubu Lagos...recently PHOTOS: KOLAWOLE ALLI

Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke (left) presenting a trophy to the captain of the victorious Osun United Football Club, Mr. Abimbola Mojeed (right), after the final match of the 2023 Osun State Federation Cup between Osun United and Igbajo United, held at the Township Stadium in Osogbo…recently

L-R: Senior Manager, Social Impact Strategy, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability, Africa Operating Unit, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Uche Ogbonna; Director, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe; Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, University of Ibadan, Prof. Ezekiel Ayoola; President, Statewide Waste and Environmental Education Project (SWEEP) Foundation, Obuesi Phillips; and Dean of Students’ Affairs, University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adekeye Abiona, during the Green Campus Project launch held at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, Oyo State…recently

L-R: Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Oladayo Amao; and other dignitaries during the ‘Turning of the Sod’ for the Air Force Base at the Ekiti State Agro Allied International Airport…recently

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TUESDAY, ͹͹˜ ͺ͸ͺͻ ˾ T H I S D AY

THE ALTERNATIVE

with RenoOmokri

The Résumé Of An Obidient

R

ecently, some persons accused me of supporting Bola Tinubu, by reason of my not acquiescing to the claim that Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed won the February 25, 2023 election.

And they did not stop there. They have spread tales about Tinubu paying me in order to turn against Peter Obi. But when was I ever for Peter Obi's Presidential ambition?

Yes, I do admit that I once promoted him for consideration as a running mate to Waziri Atiku Abubakar, beginning from 2017, because I was instructed to do so by a former leader whose voice is to me, like the voice of an angel. But ever since he left our party, I have left him alone.

But let me say that Peter Obi was not defeated by Bola Tinubu, or the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), or by rigging. He was defeated by his Obidients. No matter what you say about Buhari, at least he can control his followers. Nigerians in their own wisdom felt it was unwise to confer power on a man who cannot control his followers! Will you give a car to a man who cannot even control a bicycle?

Of course not.

I turned against him. It was never about him. It was about the low cultured, uncivilised, barbaric horde, who seized control of his movement. I can forgive you for coming after me. But when you come after my baby daughter, only God can give me the grace to forgive you! And Obidients did it to uncountable people.

And you think power will ever gravitate towards you guys? Apart from insults, what other political strategy do you have? We will see how you can insult your way to power.

Look at Wole Soyinka. Exactly the same thing has happened to him as with me. The man is now facing Obi because of his Obidients. They just go about the world making enemies for Peter Obi. By now, Peter Obi must be aware that the worst thing to happen to him are Obidients!

I mean, not only do I find the allegation of frolicking with Tinubu bizarre, I also think it is unreasonable for anybody to say that a candidate who came third with almost a million votes behind the supposed second place candidate actually won the election.

In what upside-down world would that even make sense?

Besides, I doubt if anybody alive, with the exception of his children and a handful of individuals, has more tenaciously supported Waziri Atiku Abubakar's candidacy, and still does, as myself.

I believe that the elections were not credible and encouraged Waziri Atiku to head to court. I also embarked on peaceful protests against the results of the Presidential election at Nigeria's High Commission in London, and at Nigeria's embassy in New York.

So, where does anybody come off seeing a pro-Tinubu tendency in me?

Sadly, those making this false allegation against me (or perhaps they even believe it), are Obidients.

And it is not too surprising.

Not everything is about money guys. Not everyone is motivated by money.

And permit me to say here that a culture where money, rather than respect, is the cornerstone, is a low culture that may prosper materially, but will never

Peter Obi prosper spiritually or politically. And for those making the allegation, please note that I have principles. I am not from a culture where a child can open his mouth and call his own father "a nobody".

What is money? Something that we will all leave on Earth. That is how you rate a life? Do you know why a Bini man will fight you physically if you dare insult the Omo N'Oba N'Edo Uku Akpolokpolo? Because they view him not as a king, but as their father. That is why for over a thousand years, their culture has stood. Firm!

Until a culture has been recalibrated to stop revolving around money, and to gravitate towards respect, it will always be under the control of higher cultures that are built on respect. Just look at pre-colonial and post-colonial Nigeria. Not much has changed in terms of power structure!

Because those making this fallacious argument about me worship money, they also feel that everybody is motivated by money like them. Listen to me carefully: Bola Tinubu is known to be associated with drog (deliberate spelling to avoid you know what). If he is on fire, I will not urinate on him. No amount of money and/or post will make me support him. I will protest and support the Peoples Democratic Party’s petition against his victory with my money and energy.

However, as far as I am concerned, if the Supreme Court does not overturn his victory, which I pray they do, I will recognise and accept him as my President on May 29, 2023, and torment him if he toes the path of Buhari.

For 500 years, my lineage has never been poor.

And I am not about to be the weak link that will bring poverty into my pedigree. My actions are the result of my principles.

The sad part of this is that Wole Soyinka was actually sympathetic to the Obidient movement. His words and actions left no one in doubt, and he himself has come out to say as much in one of his latest statements.

Yet, even that was not enough to shroud him from the insult brigade. If Obidients can do that to Soyinka, after his moral support to their movement, what hope is there for the Woke activists, entertainers and journalists now romancing them for likes and retweets?

On Twitter, I released a Thursday, October 9, 1969 front page of the Daily Times of Nigeria, which headline celebrated the release of Wole Soyinka after 22 months’ imprisonment by the Gowon regime for advocating for Biafra.

Over 50 years later, the children of those he fought for are insulting him with the vilest insults known to man, because he cautioned Datti Baba-Ahmed against

making treasonable statements. How sad!

At a time when nobody wanted to speak for Biafra, this man spoke for her. Even if they do not have respect for his age (he is 88), at least they could have gratitude for his sacrifices on their parents’ behalf.

Of course, not all Obidients are from the area once known as Biafra. But an extremely large proportion of them are. Who knows tomorrow? They may once again be in need of a friend from outside their zone in the future. Don't let that future would-be helper look back at this saga and hesitate to help them when they need it most.

But having observed how they treated Professor Soyinka, I was inspired to write the resume, or the Curriculum Vitae of the average Obidient. Here goes: Name Obidients: Main Characteristics: With few exceptions (and I apologise to those exceptions) we tend to be people who have no sense of gratitude, or accommodation for others. We are completely oblivious to the offences we cause others, yet highly hyper aware of what we feel are assumed offences towards us.

We believe that humility is stupidity, and restraint is weakness. We have little or no emotional intelligence, and are completely devoid of empathy.

We only understand aggressiveness and have no sense of honesty, and we will twist past events to make ourselves victims of circumstances where we were the openers of the Pandora's Box. We have absolutely no decorum, and are uncouth and nasty. We do not possess any feedback mechanism to see that our strategy is not working. Like zombies, we only know one way!

We have no persuasive ability or recourse to diplomacy. If you don't agree with us, you are mad, and stupid, and senseless. If you agree with us 99.9% of the time and only disagree with us 0.01% of the time, the same applies to you. We are Obidients and we are better than you!

Objectives: Though we came third in the election, we actually won. And if you do not believe we won, you are also mad, and stupid, and senseless.

Reno’s Nuggets The Forbes list of the richest people on Earth can also be described as a list of people who failed or never took examinations. Examinations are a test of memory. You did not fail that examination. That examination failed you.

It tested your memory, not your abilities. So, don’t let failing it make you think you are dumb. If you test a fish on its ability to fly, it will always fail that exam. You are not dumb! Albert Einstein failed his university entrance examination. Google it. Yet, he is rated one of the most intelligent men who ever lived. That you failed an exam does not mean you are dull. The true test of intelligence is succeeding in life, not succeeding in exams.

NEWS

Osinbajo: Ajibola Was My Mentor, Served Nigeria with Integrity Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) has said that the late former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN) was a role model and a mentor as well as a man of uncommon integrity who served Nigeria selflessly.

Osinbajo who spoke at the interment of the late elder statesman in Abeokuta, was accompanied by his wife, Dolapo and was received

by Ajibola's first son, Segun, at the premises of the Islamic Mission for Africa - an institution established by the former World Court Judge and where he was also interred.

The vice president joined dignitaries at the event, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba as well as the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, according to a statement from his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande.

The vice president also met with the wife of the departed elder statesman, Alhaja Amatulaye Ajibola and their children, expressing his condolences and offering prayers.

On what he would remember the late Ajibola for, the vice president described him as a man of integrity who had a deep commitment to the unity and progress of Nigeria.

He added that the former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom was “an excellent role model.”

“He was a man who believed that the worth of a person is what he is able to give back to society and he demonstrated it throughout his own life. So, I think it is a life that ought to be celebrated and it is a life that is an example to us all,“ Osinbajo said.

“Something he demonstrated while I worked with him was a belief in this nation, a belief in our country as a united nation.

But more importantly, is that one could serve in the public domain with integrity and with altruism.

He demonstrated this all his life.

“First, he did not accept to be paid a salary when he was Attorney-General. At some point in his life, he told me that he wanted to establish a university, which turned out to be the Crescent University and that he was going to sell everything that he owned to establish that university.

“I recall that he sold all the houses that he owned and several other things to be able to establish Crescent University. This place where we stand is also a place he established for primary education

The late Bola Ajibola

and secondary education,” the vice president said.

Earlier during a special prayer session, the Osinbajo spoke about his personal feelings and interaction with the late elder statesman.

“I am sad that he is gone. As Segun the first son said, I am actually 'his first son.' It is really a great honour to have known him and to have been mentored by him.

“It was when I worked for him that I gained the knowledge and experience that eventually helped me when I became AttorneyGeneral in Lagos State.

“I used to tell my former Attorney General colleagues back then that none of them had the sort of experience and exposure I had because I learnt so much from Bola Ajibola for five years before I became Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State,” he added.

While emphasising the significance of Ajibola's contributions while alive, he said: "We can’t talk about him briefly; we would have to keep going on and on. I’m thankful that I knew him. He was not only known in Nigeria but internationally.

“He was an International Arbitrator even before he became Attorney General of the Federation and then later a World Court Judge.

Even being a World Court Judge doesn’t come through appointment but rather through election by the United Nations.

“We are thankful to God for all his achievements during his lifetime.

We pray for his wife, the children, all of us, that we will be comforted and that all of us will live long," Osinbajo noted.

XIV

T H I S D AY ˾ DAY APRIL 11, 2023

FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email: chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 07010510430

Obi Cubana Lights Up UNN’s Golden Convocation Ogheneuvede Ohwovoriole reports how Chief Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana, lit up activities at the recent 50th Convocation ceremony of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka

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he announcement by the master of the ceremony of the presence of Chief Obinna Iyiegbu popularly known as Obi Cubana, at the 50th convocation ceremony of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, received thundering ovation from the students at the hall. And for nearly 10 minutes, the MC struggled to reestablish normalcy to the hall.

An alumnus of UNN, who graduated from the university in 1998 - with Second Class Upper Division in Political Science, Obi Cubana was invited by the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Charles Igwe, as the ‘’Commencement Speaker’’ of the epoch-making 50th (golden) convocation ceremony of the institution to inspire and motivate graduates and undergraduates of the university.

Accompanied by many of his business associates and friends to the ceremony, Iyiegbu, while speaking, said he was happy to be invited to ‘’inspire and motivate graduates and undergraduates’’ of his alma mater, which made him what he is today in the global business community. ‘’I feel truly honoured to be invited by this great institution, the University of Nigeria, my beloved alma mater, as the commencement speaker of this epoch-making 50th convocation ceremony of our institution. ‘’Great Lions and Lionesses, I am most delighted to be here with you at your graduation and I celebrate with you as you hit this milestone. ‘’The Chairman of the Senate Ceremonials Committee, Professor Bennett Nwanguma, told me he conducted an opinion poll and came to the conclusion that you would be happy to have me speak at your convocation. And I am very happy to do so’’, he said.

Obi Cubaan, who had been using various platforms, including the social media, to inspire many young Nigerians across the world, said he decided to be at the ceremony in person to challenge, inspire and motivate the graduates, as they leave the four walls of the institution and begin a new phase in their life’s journey.

In his speech titled ‘’Success Is A Progress’’, he encouraged the students to confront their future with courage and determination - just like the ‘’Lions and Lionesses’’ that they are.

Hear the multi-billionaire, ‘’First of all, your convocation is a special one because it is the 50th or golden Convocation of the University of Nigeria. Congratulations. ‘’Not too long ago - in 1998 - to be precise - I sat in this same hall for my own convocation.

Like you all, it was a proud day for me and my family. Like you all, my graduation was the end of one struggle and the beginning of yet another. ‘’So, as I celebrated my graduation, my mind wandered about - just like yours is doing today.

I was worried about what lay ahead for me: How soon will I get a job? Will I ever get my dream job? What will I do if I do not get a good job? How soon will I stop depending on my parents for support?’’

Admitting that by 1999, things were not as bad as they are today, he stated that the problem of graduate unemployment was already here with the country, saying like students, there was a nagging feeling of helplessness, but he made sure he did not feel hopeless. ‘’As I left the convocation hall, my mind was made up to give my best shot to whatever the future offered. I was simply determined to make the best out of a challenging situation’’, he added.

Sharing his story, Obi Cubana explained that it was not all about success; but also about failures and how he got up each time he failed. He described his story as ‘’challenges and disappointments’’, and how he refused to be discouraged by them. ‘’Remember, not too long ago, your ultimate ambition was to get admitted into the prestigious UNN. Today, you are all proud graduates of different disciplines in Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, Science, Engineering, Medicine, etc. ‘’So, the first thing I want to tell you today is that your success journey has already started with the successful completion of your programmes.

So, please accept my congratulations again. ‘’I can also tell you for free that getting educated is about the biggest preparation anyone could make for the future - you can go and verify this’’, the Commencement Speaker told the excited

L-R: The Vice-chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Charles Igwue and Chief Obinna Iyiegbu at the 50th Convention ground in UNN

Chief Obinna Iyiegbu addressing students of UNN at the Cubana village students.

The Oba-born business mogul explained further how he wanted to be successful but he knew that real and enduring success would not come easy, adding that his dear parents thought him quite early in life that success is a process and not an event.

He added, ‘’As I experienced life, I realized they were right. I have come to see success as a journey and like most journeys, you have to take it one step at a time. And to get to your destination, you must be going in the right direction. ‘’And if you ever realize that you have missed your way, what do you do? You must change your direction.

Like all journeys, there will be obstacles, bumps and challenges to overcome.

Also, remember that no two journeys are the same. In other words, every individual’s journey is different and unique.’’

He advised the students not to be despair and be deterred when their friends make it to the top ahead of them, saying they may have taken a different vehicle or route. ‘’Instead, you must stay focused, making steady progress and believing in yourself and in your ability to also get there.

‘’And should you get there before the others, remember to stay humble, and to always spare a thought and lend a climb-up ladder for those who are not as fortunate. Do not boast or gloat about your success. Instead, you should try to help others find their way to the top’’, he counseled the students.

Narrating his journey in life, he said that after his graduation, the mandatory National Youth Service program took him to Abuja, where he served at the National Assembly as his place of primary assignment. He had very high hopes about being retained at the National Assembly or being offered a job at any other agency of the Federal Government, but this did not happen.

As he stayed unemployed for a period of time, Obi Cubana said he tried his hands on a couple of things during this period, in an attempt to make ends meet. ‘’Considering the very high cost of living in Abuja, being unemployed can be a nightmare.

I was disappointed by my inability to get a job, but I was not discouraged. ‘’I had ageing parents and younger ones whom I wanted to support so badly - just like you all do. Instead of being broken, I stayed focused and determined to make a success of life. ‘’I was looking for opportunities and openings that I could explore. Just like changing direction when you meet a roadblock in your journey to success. Thus, I opted to become self - employed. In 2001, I teamed up with a childhood friend to create my first business in

People often ask me one question: what are the secrets of your success? And I always have a simple answer: hard work, focus, determination, integrity, and that special grace which only God almighty can give. I have also benefited from the goodwill and advice of some great friends. And if you want to be successful - just like me - you must make these your watchwords

the form of a relaxation garden in one of the districts of Abuja’’, he explained.

Just when he thought he was about to break even, Obi Cubana explained that his premises were pulled down by the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory. ’This was a major setback, as I found myself back to square one. Like I told you, there will be disappointments and setbacks in your journey to the top. Again, I was disappointed, but I wasn’t discouraged. ‘’Following the forced closure of my first business outfit, I picked myself up, learned my lessons, dusted myself up and moved on.

After this setback, I was stronger, wiser and more experienced. I also had made some new friends, who were to prove helpful and valuable in the years ahead. ’More importantly, I had also found a niche for myself in the entertainment industry. Thus, in 2006 I teamed up with some friends to establish another business and this marked my formal entry into the entertainment and hospitality industry’’, he said.

With loud ovation from students interrupting speech at every minute, he stated joyfully that three years later, in 2009, he established the Cubana Group of businesses and today, the Cubana Group is now a ‘’globally recognized brand’’, synonymous with luxury and pleasure in the world of entertainment, hospitality and real estate as well as manufacturing and distribution of a range of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), which includes alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages.

He added, ‘’People often ask me one question: what are the secrets of your success? And I always have a simple answer: hard work, focus, determination, integrity, and that special grace which only God almighty can give. ‘’I have also benefited from the goodwill and advice of some great friends. And if you want to be successful - just like me - you must make these your watchwords. I encourage you to also make friends and build bridges. Trust me, if you adopt these principles the sky will be your limit.’’

Obi Cubana concluded his speech by making some donations as his ‘’humble contribution’’ to the development of his Alma Mater: The Cubana Prize for the best graduating student of the University - N1 million; the Cubana prize for the best graduating student of the Department of Political Science - N1 million; and the Cubana prize for the best graduating student in each of the 17 faculties of the University - N500, 000.00.

He also promised to build a Cubana Experience Centre at the Nsukka campus of the University to create opportunities for training and employment for students, saying all the profit generated at the Centre would be donated to the University of Nigeria.

He later hosted the students at the temporary site of the Cubana Village, within the campus, with many gifts as takeaway.

Earlier at the graduation ceremony, the ViceChancellor said that 246 graduates bagged first-class degrees in the university’s 50th convocation ceremony.

He urged all the graduates to live up to expectations in all they do as the country was in dire need of truly educated men and women.

“In this UNN 50th convocation, a total of 14,308 will receive bachelor’s degrees from the university.

“As an alumnus of this university, I urge you to live up to expectations by being good ambassadors of the UNN and good citizens of the country,” he said.

Igwe advised the graduates not to allow the prevailing socio-economic conditions in the country, especially unemployment, to diminish the value of their graduation.

“As you leave the university to face the real world, do not allow the prevailing socio-economic conditions in the country to diminish the value of your graduation.

“With focus, integrity, hard work and absolute trust in God, you will rule the world with the knowledge you have acquired as lions and lionesses,” he said.

The VC said all the graduating students were unique and special because they were the golden graduates of the university’s 50th Convocation.

XV

T H I S D AY ˾ DAY APRIL 11, 2023

FEATURES

Seplat Energy: Supporting Poverty Reduction through Youth Empowerment To support poverty reduction through youth empowerment, Seplat Energy PLC's partnership with non-for-profit organisation like the Conversation for Change, C4C, through Seplat Global Entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme continuously lives up to its billing. Oluchi Chibuzor reports that the entrepreneurship programme is aimed at developing participants’ leadership skills, social entrepreneurship, and business management abilities, through customised and targeted capacity building workshops. In addition, the beneficiaries’ ability to action their ideas is supported through equipment funding and mentoring

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he youths are the leaders of tomorrow.

Based on this popular saying, every responsible government needs to develop great policies that are focused on development to show that it is making an effort to guarantee a brighter tomorrow for the young populace.

Irresponsible youths can cause havoc in the society and rather than watch these youths become a problem to the society, political officials and a lot of corporate bodies have taken it upon themselves to fund empowerment programmes which would help to provide jobs for them.

Young people no doubt are tomorrow’s leaders and they come with their own set of futuristic and developmental ideas, which is why organisations would rather work with them for greater impact at the grassroots level.

Many international organisations agree that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals without the participation of today's youth is impossible. If the youths are educated on how to use their skills properly to improve themselves and the society, they will play significant roles in sustainable development.

To achieve this, their entrepreneurial skills as against white collar jobs, must be nurtured and developed to make the right and desired impact on the economy. Only under peaceful conditions, in a civilised and cooperative society, can young people's expectations be realised.

Young people are known for overflowing with innovative ideas. They succeed in life when suitably guided and properly motivated, and as we all know, the success of one Nigerian youth is the success of the entire country.

In today's world, characterised by a high rate of unemployment and poverty, especially among the young populaces, structured youth empowerment option enables beneficiaries to be job creators instead of job seekers, thereby creating wealth in the society.

The success of a Nation can be measured by how successful the youths of the Nation are. The importance of empowering the youths cannot be over-emphasised. A lot more organisations have revved up engagement with empowerment programmes and this is one giant leap towards poverty alleviation.

A society with empowered youths is a strong society, one that will create a legacy of wealth.

A fallout of empowerment includes but is not limited to crime reduction, a peaceful and economically growing society, among other benefits. Life expectancy is increased, there is reduced frustrations in the land and the standard of living is greatly enhanced.

This is why organisations like Seplat Energy PLC, have taken it upon themselves to further push the agenda of youth empowerment, by joining a non-for-profit organisation like the C4C to support the empowerment of Nigeria’s young population in a programme tagged Seplat Global Entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme.

Seplat Energy Plc, a leading Nigerian energy company listed on the Nigerian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange and thriving in the Nigerian oil and gas sector has again made another great step towards alleviating poverty through youth empowerment. A move that is set to leave a long-lasting mark in improving quality of life and creating an avenue to inspire and provide as many young people as possible with the skills required for becoming successful social entrepreneurs.

In partnership with Conversation for Change (C4C), a number of Fellows have graduated from the duo’s entrepreneurship programme since 2019. C4C is a non-profit organisation with a major objective of empowering young people to participate more effectively in all relevant areas of development.

Efforts are focused on young people aged 18-40, in the belief that they are ready to embark on

Supporting youths the Seplat way being valuable and creative members of their society and therefore are most in need of the inspiration, empowerment, guidance and support to do so.

The Seplat Energy JV supports Entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme, which aims at developing participants’ leadership skills, social entrepreneurship, and business management abilities, through customised and targeted capacity building workshops. In addition, the beneficiaries’ ability to action their ideas is supported through equipment funding and mentoring.

On April 3, 2023 the company held a special event to celebrate the past beneficiaries (Fellows) of the programme, which began in 2019. It also used the occasion to reaffirm the company’s commitment with another N16.5 million funding in seed money to the Programmes partners, Conversation for Change (C4C).

In her opening remarks, the Director of External Affairs & Sustainability, Seplat Energy, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, noted that through the Seplat JV/ C4C partnership, the company has successfully trained and supported three batches of fellows, comprising about 55 young entrepreneurs, who are thriving, creating value and boosting Nigeria’s economy.

“Each beneficiary has shown resilience, creativity and innovation through the duration of the yearly programme and has now become our proof that we could truly make Nigeria better by investing in the youth population,” she said.

“They have become our proof of concept that we can truly make Nigeria better by investing in the youth; one young person (or more) at a time,’’ Nwachuku said.

She added that the trainees were

engaged from the selection process to intensive face-to-face training on key management aspects of business and participation in internship trainings.

The trainings are conducted by credible companies in the beneficiaries’ area of vocation and support provided for each of their businesses.

“Seplat Energy’s Corporate Social Responsibility over the last 11 years had been hinged on health, education, infrastructure and economic empowerment.

“We believe that the greatest route to economic growth in Nigeria is through economic empowerment of particularly the youth, women and the underserved,’’ she stressed A Lecture themed: ‘Unleashing Nigeria’s untapped Potential through Entrepreneurship and Sustainability’ was delivered to the Fellows to commemorate the auspicious occasion. The well-received Lecture by Ms. Arunma Oteh, a former Independent Non-Executive Director of Seplat Energy Plc, and Scholar at Said Business School, University of Oxford, was to build more capacity and further equip the entrepreneurs.

Ms. Oteh commended Seplat Energy JV and its partner, C4C, for their strong commitment to youth empowerment in Nigeria, stating that their activities have helped reduce unemployment and ameliorate the poverty level and have also contributed to economic growth and prosperity in the country. She further asserted that: “Seplat Energy’s approach to sustainability has put the company on a very high pedestal amongst its peers, thus making the company a reference point in Nigeria and internationally.”

Oteh said also that Nigeria needed to surmount challenges faced by SMES, which included unfavourable business environment, poor access to credit and epileptic power supply.

“We need to sort out power, because enterprises suffer more and the cost of doing business in Nigeria is higher than the cost of doing business in other countries.

“As an entrepreneur in Nigeria you have to provide your own electricity, water, and logistics,’’ she said.

Also present at the event was Bello Rabiu, an

The Seplat Energy JV supports Entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme, which aims at developing participants’ leadership skills, social entrepreneurship, and business management abilities, through customised and targeted capacity building workshops. In addition, the beneficiaries’ ability to action their ideas is supported through equipment funding and mentoring

Independent Non-Executive Director and member of the Sustainability Committee of the Seplat Energy Board, who restated the company’s continuous commitment to encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship in Nigeria. He noted that youth entrepreneurs are major change catalysts in any economy and all hands must be on deck in the quest to empower them and, therefore, reduce unemployment in Nigeria.

Since 2019, Seplat Energy and C4C have collaborated, to ensure that the lives of young Nigerians are improved by supporting them to start and sustain their business enterprises. From the selection process to the intensive face-to-face training on key management aspects of business, participation in internship trainings with credible companies in various areas of vocation and the support provided to each of their businesses, these activities of the fellowship programme have produced innovative and well equipped young social entrepreneurs, ready to take on the world of business and succeed.

The President of C4C, Dr Kechi Ogbuagu affirms that with the collaboration of Seplat Energy and her Partners, the goal of supporting youth entrepreneurs in Nigeria has received a huge boost, thus aiding a better future for the country.

The President and Founder of C4C further noted that the programme had produced 75 fellows with 85 per cent success rate Seplat Energy’s has notable social programmes anchored on the pillars of Health, Education, Infrastructural Development and Economic Empowerment and geared towards supporting the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme supports SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth and fulfils the company’s drive towards galvanizing an entrepreneurship movement amongst many more young people in Nigeria to boost economic growth.

The event witnessed an impressive exhibition of various products made by the young entrepreneurs, whose small-scale enterprises include but not limited to upcycling of waste, agribusiness, beauty and skincare, among others.

Seplat and C4C not only provides funds for the empowered youths but they also ensure continuous support on an ongoing basis from an Entrepreneurship Resource/Support Centre, Monitoring and Evaluation to track success of start-ups, Periodic workshops/trainings tailored to their emerging needs.

With the successful launch of over 60 businesses in a variety of business fields, the development of a growing network of entrepreneurs, the efficiency of the in-person intensive workshops, and the inclusion of internship and mentorship, this methodology has been put to the test and proven to be reliable.

XVI

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY APRIL 11, 2023

PROPERTY & ENVIRONMENT Ecotutu Installs Off-grid Cooling System at Mile 12 Market Lagos Bennett Oghifo

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cotutu, a Nigerian firm, has launched a solar-powered cold room system designed to preserve livestock, fruits and vegetables at the Mile 12 International Market in Lagos.

According to the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ecotutu, Babajide Oluwase, the solar-powered cold room is one of several interesting things the firm intends to do at the market that will include provision of cold storage services, logistics for traders, farmers, as well as aggregators, ensuring they are able to get the value of their produce.

Oluwase said the off-grid cooling system has a capacity of 20 tons and is divided into two segments. The protein (livestock) and fruits and vegetables. The section for fruits and vegetables takes up to 300 crates of 25kg.

He said they plan to install the cold storage system in 20 other locations, in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo states and in the North, adding that the system encourages food production and storage, imbues confidence in farmers and helps to secure the food system in Nigeria.

The co-Founder, and CMO, Ecotutu, Michael Akinsete stated that their intervention is to plug the waste gap at the production point, including at the farm gate.

Akinsete said, “Ecotutu’s mission is to democratise access to affordable and reliable cold storage solutions in Africa.

“Nigerian farmers, aggregators, and retailers

manage up to 23 million metric tons of fresh fruits and other vegetables worth $4 billion annually, yet the country loses between 35 and 45 percent of these due to postharvest issues during storage and distribution,” Akinsete said.

He noted that post-harvest losses remain a major challenge confronting the Nigerian agricultural sector for so long.

According to him, Ecotutu provides a solution to post-harvest losses through its flagship ‘pay-asyou-chill’ model by offering cooling and logistics services, and facilitating marketplace opportunities for retailers and wholesalers, without the need for the high upfront costs.

He stated that the cooling facility helps extend the shelf life of perishable produce from two to 21 days and reduces post-harvest loss by 85 percent.

“Each unit of Ecotutu’s solution eliminates food waste and preserves the economic value of food, enabling farmers to take a more significant share of their harvest to market.

And more importantly, it boosts the confidence of the value chain players to remain in the food business.”

The Public Affairs Officer, U.S

L-R: Deputy Consul General of the Netherlands Consulate in Lagos, Leonie Van der Stijl; Chairman, Mile12 International Fruits and Vegetables Market, Alhaji Shehu Jubril; Head of Marketing at Ecotutu, Michael Akinsete; Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya; CEO of Ecotutu, Babajide Oluwase; Public Affairs Officer at the US Consulate Lagos, Joseph Kruzich; and Group Head, Retail Banking at Zenith Bank, Mr Lanre Oladimeji, during the launch of cold storage infrastructure at Mile 12 Market in Lagos… recently

Consolate, Joseph Kruzich said the solarpowered cold storage facility would bring great benefits to the farmers and traders in the area that take their products to the cold room, partiularly their perishable products, because of round-the-clock protection.

Kruzich acknowledged that Babajide is a Mandela Washington Fellow of 2022, stat-

ing that the Fellowship is a U.S. sponsored programme.

He congratulated Babajide for bringing back what he learned in the U.S to the Mile 12 market.

Ecotutu is the 2022 winner of Zenith Bank Hackathon and it won the Orange Corners Programme of the Netherlands.

Mixta Africa Provides Affordable Housing in Lagos New Town Fadekemi Ajakaiye

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he Country Manager of Mixta Nigeria, Mrs. Shade Hughes, has confirmed that Lagos New Town, the new district created by the developers, has a home to suit every class, from reasonably low priced homes at Beechwood Park to luxury homes in the Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Estate.

She made this disclosure at the weekend in Lagos when the infrastructure developers hosted existing residents, agents and prospective buyers clients to a fun family event which gave them the chance to inspect some of their already built houses and those who are still under construction at their different estates within the Lagos New Town area.

The Country Manager confirmed that for the affordable homes range, Mixta offers different unit types ranging from semi-detached, bungalow, one bedroom, two bedrooms to three bedrooms. She said the houses are very affordable to every Nigerians who want an exclusive cozy, serene and secure environment.

According to her, these homes are spread

Mrs. Hughes (Middle) with her team at Mixta Africa, during Beachwood’s Interactive session held in Lagos… recently

across 2 major estates - Marula Park and Beechwood Park. The event celebration allowed them to showcase their products to their prospective buyers, agents and to appreciate the residents who had

already moved in.

“I can tell you that our products start from as low as N14 million. We also make it easy for those who cannot pay once, they can buy through a mortgage and spread the remaining money over up to 15 years. We brought about

five financial institutions. The banks are on ground to support those who cannot pay once.

We are not a finance company, but we are partnering with them and introducing them to our customers. A lot of people like the products but they don’t know how to access them.

“We have active security personnel on ground.

I believe those who came to the estate can attest to our security apparatus when they were coming into the estate. We have a 24 hour patrol team. We have a reputable security company working with us. We also have a stable power supply and playing ground for the children and other amenities in place,” she said.

The Head of Sales and Business Development of Mixta Nigeria, Mrs. Andre Cameron-Cole, said as a responsible company they came to speak and show the residents, clients and agents the level of work they have done in their various estates within Beechwood.

“We want our customers and those who are already living in the estate to see how much investment we have put into Adiva, Marula Park and Lakowe Lakes all within Lagos New Town.”

Rolad Properties Debuts Wealth Summit United Kingdom Fadekemi Ajakaiye

L

eading Real Estate Company, Rolad Properties and Allied Services Limited has taken its impact beyond the shores of Africa into the United Kingdom.The recently rebranded company held the first edition of its impact conference in London, tagged Rolad Wealth Summit (UK Edition) with the theme CREATING SUSTAINABLE WEALTH THROUGH REAL ESTATE. The summit, aimed at influencing Africans in the diaspora and urging them to create and sustain wealth by investing in Real Estate back in their home countries, had accomplished corporate giants like the Founder, Nigerian Global Business Forum; Afolabi Andu, CEO, Fifth Gear Plus; Niyi Adesanya and Founder/CEO Rolad Properties and Allied Services Limited as its Speakers. In his speech, the Founder/CEO, Rolad Properties and Allied Services Limited, Dotun Oloyede emphasised the importance of having solid investments back at home. He noted that apart from having a place to stay when they visit, Real estate in Nigeria has the potential to offer high returns on investment, especially in urban areas where demand for housing is high. While stressing that property

CEO, Rolad Properties and Allied Services Limited, Dotun Oloyede

values have been increasing steadily over the years, he states that rental income from property can provide a steady stream of passive income that would cater to the needs of family

back at home, rather than sending money from abroad.He added that with the current exchange rates, Nigerians living abroad can take advantage of the favourable exchange rates to invest in real estate in Nigeria. This means

they can get more for their money than they would if they were to invest in real estate in their host country.In his keynote address, Afolabi Andu lamented the challenges of inadequate infrastructure; poor regulatory environment and lack of access to financing that have plagued the Nigerian real estate sector, despite its growth and potential. He went ahead to commend Rolad Properties for diligently contributing its quota to solving the housing deficit in Nigeria while calling on other firms to take a cue from this and not make everything about the money.

While reiterating the importance of owning a piece of the fatherland, Niyi Adesanya stated that it is not about prosperity, but it is about posterity, which means building wealth not just for oneself but for generations to come.

This, he noted, is the whole concept of wealth.

Rolad Properties and Allied Services Limited has over the years prided itself as a company that serves excellence and quality on the golden tray of affordability. This is evident in Idera De Estate, the 1000-unit, self-sufficient and luxurious estate the company is building in the heart of Mowe, Ogun state as well as First Fountain Court, an affordable, energy-efficient, state-of-the-art smart homes project in the Abijo GRA area of Lekki, Lagos.

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023

23

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

REPO

A T

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Email oriarehu.eromosele@thisdaylive.com

08056356325

A P R I L

S & P INDEX

1 0 , 2 0 2 3

S & P INDEX

EXCHANGE RATE

OPR

11.25%

CALL

10.25%

INDEX LEVEL

613.31%

1/4 TO DATE

-0.85%

N416.86/ 1 US DOLLAR*

OVERNIGHT

11.50%

1-MONTH

9.56%

1-DAY

0.16%

YEAR TO DATE

7.64%

*AS AT LAST FRIDAY

3-MONTH

10.52%

MONTH-TO-DATE

0.44%

Discos’ Illiquidity, Others May Constrain Implementation of NERC-ordered Bilateral Contracts with Gencos

Peter Uzoho The non-buoyancy of many of the Distribution Companies (Discos) and the perceived opacity of the project details may pose serious challenge in the implementation of the bilateral power contracts, which the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has instructed some Discos to activate with Generation Companies (Gencos), THISDAY has learnt.

NERC had in a letter sent to three Discos namely: Eko, Ikeja, and Abuja, instructed them to commence implementation of the bilateral power contracts with Gencos

with effect from March 31, 2023.

Eko and Abuja Discos have confirmed the NERC’s instruction, saying they were working towards commencing full implementation this year as instructed by the regulator.

Managing Director of Eko Disco, Dr Tinuade Sanda, was the first to reveal the proposed bilateral contracts during an exclusive interview with THISDAY. “I know that the regulator has been talking about Eko, Ikeja, Abuja Discos being the excellent Discos to start full bilateral. What it means is that we are looking to implement bilateral before the end of this year.

When this commences, we will be

dealing directly with the Gencos and that is when the real change will start in the power sector.

“So, I will buy the energy that I want, I pay for the energy I want, there is gas commitment for the energy that I want to buy. And at the same time, I know that the regulator is trying to be careful in ensuring that they are able to balance the grid, they are able to balance every other interest because everybody in Nigeria is also important, they are all entitled to receive power,” Sanda disclosed.

Also confirming the instruction by the regulator to commence the bilateral contract with Gencos, Chief

Marketing Officer, Abuja Disco, Mr. Donald Etim, said: “Regarding your inquiry yesterday, I can confirm that our utility company Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) is one of the distribution companies instructed by the industry regulator, NERC, to commence processes to enter into bilateral contracts with generating companies. Consequently, we as a responsible organisation have been engaging with the regulator with a view to complying with this directive.”

This bilateral power contract is coming after the failure of the Partial Activation exercise superintended

by NERC and the Nigerian Bulk

Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), with the target that at least 5000 megawatts (mw) of power was generated, paid for 100 per cent and successfully delivered to consumers on a daily basis with effect from July 1, 2022.

But Gencos attributed the collapse of the partial activation to the imposition of the contract and its terms on them, as well as the lack of key contractual details in the agreement document handed to them by the regulator.

While bilateral contracts may be a boost for the market, however, the indebtedness and poor financial positions of most of the Discos in

Nigeria, coupled with alleged lack of detailed plan that shows how Discos will pay for energy bought, agreed sanctions for default by a party amongst other necessary factors have been identified as major concerns that may affect the success of the bilateral regime being promoted by NERC. Of the 11 Discos that emerged during the privatisation exercise that took place in 2013, nine had been declared almost bankrupt by the Minister of Power, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu, with the exception of Eko, Ikeja, and Enugu Discos, which he Continued on page 24

NCAN: Nigeria Can Earn over $2.7bn Annually from Cashew Production Gilbert Ekugbe The President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Mr. Joseph Ajanaku, has stated that Nigeria could earn over $2.7 billion on annual basis by increasing its production capacity to about 1 million metric tonnes per year.

Ajanuka who stated this during a telephone interview with THISDAY said Nigeria’s current production, which stands at about 350,000 metric tonnes is a far cry from what the

country is capable of producing.

He maintained that cashew could be grown in over 80 out of 109 senatorial districts in the country.

In his words: “What was exported as raw cashew nut, we discovered that we are producing close to 350,000 metric tonnes of cashew and if we are able to increase production to 1 million metric tonnes of cashew and export them raw, we will be earning over $2.7 billion.”

He, however, stated that the association is pushing for a national

policy that would attract and encourage both local and foreign investors into the cashew industry.

“We are trying to bring in everybody into the sector to boost production, marketing, processing and we are working with service providers. We are working towards having a sector that is attractive and investment-driven,” he said.

He advised the federal government to give cashew farmers the same privilege being given to rice farmers under the Anchor

FOOD

Borrow Programme (ABP), stressing that cashew farmers are currently hindered by inadequate funding to would boost cashew production in the country.

“We have the competitive and comparative advantage to grow cashew in Nigeria. We want government to come in as see how they can help us boost production, because your priority is boosting production and after production, we will talk about adding value to cashew,” he added.

COMMODITIES

NAME OF COMMODITY

SIZE

STATE

PRICE

NAME OF COMMODITY

RICE

100KG

ABUJA

N35,000 – N45,000

SORGHUM

50KG

OYO

N35,000 – N45,000

50KG

PLATEAU (JOS)

N32,500 – N42,000

50KG

KWARA

N24,000–N27,000

50KG

LAGOS

N35,000 – N45,000

50KG

RIVERS

N36,500 – N46,500

50KG

SOKOTO

50KG

EDO

PRICE

Citing other challenges mitigating cashew production, Ajanaku also said that the cashless policy is affecting cocoa farmers’ production as most of them are largely illiterates and do not have bank accounts.

“The recent challenge we are encountering is the cashless policy, because the people we are dealing with majorly are illiterates and many of them live in the rural areas and will travel long distances to visit their banks. Many of these

farmers deal with cash.

“We are also looking at ways we can boost production in the sector, because there is likelihood that the processing arm of the sector is going to grow.

“Nigeria is a rich country and many people are looking for businesses to invest in, but we have also seen that investors are coming into the cashew processing aspect alone because they feel is the best part to invest in,” he added.

T O D AY

STATE

PRICE

NAME OF COMMODITY

SIZE

STATE

PRICE

100KG JIGAWA

N30,000

BEANS

MAIDU GURI

N22,000 – N30,000

100KG

BENUE

N32,000

50KG BAG

100KG

N32,000

100KG LAGOS

N36,000

KADUNA

50KG

ENUGU

N24,000

100KG

KANO

N35,000

50KG

LAGOS

N26,000

100KG

DELTA

N36,000

N60,000 – N70,000

100KG

DELTA

N35,000

N17,000–N20,000

100KG

ABIA

N36,000

100KG

ABIA

N35,700

SIZE

24

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS FOOD

NAME OF COMMODITY

PALM OIL

COMMODITIES

SIZE

STATE

PRICE

NAME OF COMMODITY

SIZE

LOCATION

PRICE

100KG KANO

N20,500

ONIONS

100KG

IBADAN

N60,000

MAIZE

100KG

OYO

N10,000

N24,000 – N35,000

100KG BENUE

N27,000

100KG KANO

N30,000

100KG ENUGU

N16,500

100KG BENUE

N65,000

100KG DELTA

100KG LAGOS

N32,000

N14,000

25CL IBADAN N22,000 — N35,000

100KG PLATEAU

N45,000

100KG

ABIA

N11,000

PRICE

25CL LAGOS N20,000-N35000 25CL

PH

STATE

GROUNDNUT

T O D AY

PRICE

STATE

SIZE

PRICE

NAME OF COMMODITY

SIZE

NAME OF COMMODITY

25CL

IMO

N24,000 – N36,500

100KG DELTA

N34,000

100KG DELTA

N50,000

50KG

LAGOS

N9,000

25CL

EDO

N20,000 – N35,000

100KG

ABIA

N27,000

100KG LAGOS

N60,000

100KG KANO

N9,400

100KG ENUGU

N23 000

100KG ENUGU

N45,000

50KG

N6,000

25CL ABUJA N25,500 – N35,000

BENUE

Nigeria Returns to Coal Exploration Despite 2060 Carbon Emissions Pledge Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Despite its net-zero carbon emissions pledge by 2060, the federal government has signalled the return of coal mining in the country, with the putting up for sale of five coal blocks in Enugu.

In an invitation for expressions of interest for the public bidding of five coal blocks, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) stated that the coal fields were currently being held by the Nigerian Coal Corporation (NCC) on behalf of the federal government.

The BPE therefore called for a public bid of the five blocks by prospective investors, listing them as the Amasiodo coal block, Onyeama Coal Block, Okpara Coal Biock, Inyi Coal Block and the AgwasiAzagba Coal Block.

Almost defunct before now, the

NCC was established in 1950 and it is 100 per cent owned by the federal government. The headquarters is located in Enugu.

But the new development appears to contradict Nigeria’s pledge for cleaner sources of fuel. In November 2021, at the COP26 Leaders’ Summit,

Nigerians Accuse Shell of Causing Delay in Oil Spill Lawsuits in London Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Shell Plc is attempting to shield itself from scrutiny over pollution in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta, lawyers representing more than 13,000 Nigerians have argued at a London’s High Court, allegations which the company strongly denied.

Thousands of members of the Bille and Ogale communities

are suing Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Development Petroleum Development (SPDC) over oil spills, Reuters reported.

Shell denies any liability and argues that parts of the cases were brought too late.

It also says the majority of the spills were caused by illegal third-party interference, such as pipeline sabotage and oil theft.

The company is asking the

High Court to set an initial trial in early 2024 to decide whether parts of the case were brought too late and whether SPDC is liable for oil spills caused by third-party interference.

Shell says two further trials could then take place to determine allegations against its subsidiary and Shell’s alleged liability as its parent company.

Shell’s proposal is “advanced as a device to shield (Shell) from

scrutiny”, Richard Hermer, a lawyer representing the claimants, said in court filings.

The case, parts of which began back in 2015, has already been to the UK’s Supreme Court, which ruled in 2021 that there was an arguable case that Shell owed the claimants a duty of care.

Hermer said allowing Shell’s application could put off a final decision on the lawsuits until 2029.

Mojec’s Renewable Subsidiary Signs $100m Clean Energy Deal with Real Estate Firm Peter Uzoho Virtuitis Solaris, a renewable energy subsidiary of Mojec International, has signed a deal with LandWey Investment Limited, a Nigerian real estate firm to develop the Isimi Lagos Solar Farm.

The Isimi Lagos Solar Farm is a renewable energy project aimed at promoting sustainable development and reducing the carbon footprint in Nigeria.

Speaking during the deal signing ceremony in Lagos, Group Chief Executive Officer of Mojec International, Ms. Chantelle Abdul, said the project would cost about $100 million.

According to the partners, the Isimi Lagos Solar Farm would be a 50 megawatts (MW) solar photovoltaic power plant, with

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Deputy Business Editor Chinedu Eze Comms/e-Business Editor Emma Okonji Asst. Editor, Money Market Nume Ekeghe Senior Correspondent Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents Emmanuel Addeh (Energy) KayodeTokede(CapitalMarkets) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Reporters Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT) Peter Uzoho (Energy) Ugo Aliogo (Development)

the potential to scale to 100mw and located in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

It was learnt that the project would use renewable energy sources, including the power of the sun, to abundantly generate clean energy for businesses and households in Lagos, reducing

dependence on fossil fuels and promoting sustainable development.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LandWey Investment Limited, Mr. Olawale Ayilara, said: “We are excited to partner with Virtuitis Solaris – Mojec International to develop the Isimi

Lagos Solar Farm. This project aligns with our commitment to sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint in Nigeria.

It also reinforces our vision of creating sustainable and inclusive communities that provide quality living and working spaces for Nigerians.”

Petroleum Ministry Seeks Stronger Ties with NIPSS on Knowledge Exchange Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) have pledged to collaborate in pursuit of stronger ties to ensure effective knowledge exchange between the two organisations.

Speaking when a group of participants of the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 45, 2023 of NIPSS, Jos, on a study tour visited the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Gabriel Aduda, also posited that with more funding NIPPS can only become

stronger.

In his address to the participants at the event in Abuja, Aduda said with the many recipients of the Member of the National Institute (MNI) and reports that NIPPS has churned out, the institute was crucial and strategic to the development of Nigeria, especially in the areas of governance and leadership.

“What you are doing at the institute is extremely important.

We are hoping that you’ll be further strengthened and financed such that you will be able to do better than you are already doing,” he opined.

A statement by the Director

of Information in the ministry, Enefaa Bob-Manuel , explained that Aduda stressed the need for a nexus between reports from the institute and consideration and adoption of the reports by government.

In a presentation Aduda acquainted the participants with the overview and dynamics of the Nigerian oil and gas industry, beginning with the discovery of oil in 1956. He touched on the various sectors of the industry, including the Upstream, Midstream and Downstream with a corresponding explanation of the activities of every one of the sectors.

DISCOS’ ILLIQUIDITY, OTHERS MAY CONSTRAIN IMPLEMENTATION OF NERC-ORDERED BILATERAL CONTRACTS WITH GENCOS said were making profits, while others were losing.

Aliyu raised the alarm mid December 2022 while speaking at the 11th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023) in Abuja.

He revealed that the situation had forced the federal government to mandate banks to find serious investors interested in buying its 60 per cent equity in the Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Benin, Ibadan and Port Harcourt Discos.

An official of one of the Gencos, who didn’t want his name in print,

confirmed to THISDAY in a chat, that the bankruptcy of the Discos and the failure of NERC to provide a detailed implementation plan, which should have emerged from a stakeholder consultation, would pose a major challenge in the implementation of the bilateral contracting process.

He also faulted the lack of clarity in the mechanism for the actualisation of the process, attributing it to the absence of stakeholder consultation on a major step as the bilateral exercise that would involve Discos and Gencos.

“You need to find out from NERC what this entails. We need to know the processes. The truth is, as a regulator, you don’t just issue a directive without taking a 360 degrees view no matter how good intentioned that plan is.

“Now, what you can see is the fact that there is no stakeholder consultation on a major step such as this. How do we transition to bilateral with 11 bankrupt Discos? Has their situation changed? What changed them?. Please ask NERC for the steps, “the source said.

President Muhammadu Buhari in Glasgow, Scotland, pledged that Nigeria would cut its emissions to net zero by 2060.

He argued that greater effort should be channelled towards assisting developing nations to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitments through the pledges made by the developed countries to provide at least $100 billion yearly. ‘‘I do not think anyone in Nigeria needs persuading of the need for urgent action on the environment. Desertification in the North, floods in the centre, pollution and erosion on the coast are enough evidence. ‘‘For Nigeria, climate change is not about the perils of tomorrow but

what is happening today. Nigeria is committed to net zero by 2060,’’ the president said, although Nigeria still remains a severely energy-poor nation.

But the BPE in the document advertising the fields for sale, recalled that the federal government had the exclusive rights to mine coal in Nigeria until 1999, when it established a policy and legislation that deregulated mineral exploration and exploitation.

This, it said, opened the sector to private industry participation and resulted in entering into joint ventures on an equity participation basis. It added that the federal government is currently divesting from all of its operating interests in the sector.

Russia Announces Slashing Oil Production by 700,000 Bpd in March Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Russia says it slashed oil production by 700,000 barrels a day in March, far more than originally planned, according to Bloomberg.

That is a bigger reduction than the 500,000 barrels a day that the country pledged to cut originally.

The reduced output comes as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pledged production curbs of 1.1 million barrels a day starting in May. However, Bloomberg said the data sows doubt over how much oil Russia actually produced, as it didn’t align with the country’s seaborne exports and domestic refinery supplies.

In February, Russia announced plans to cut 500,000 barrels a day of its crude oil production throughout March, in retaliation to Western sanctions and energy

price caps over its invasion of Ukraine.

After already extending the reduction to June, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that the output cuts would be continued to the end of the year.

On the back of his comments — as well as news that OPEC+ would also be cutting its oil output by 1.1 million barrels a day — oil markets rallied, indicating the potential for crude prices to return to $100 a barrel this year.

The collective reduction in the commodity’s supply may also cause future volatility and force Western nations to reassess the $60 price cap on Russian oil.

OPEC nations pursued the cutbacks following a momentary drop in oil prices during March’s banking turmoil and fears of a recession that could hurt energy demand.

Rainoil Boosts Petroleum Products Supply in Benin with Mega Filling Station Peter Uzoho Rainoil Limited, a major petroleum products marketer in Nigeria, has opened a mega filling station in Azagba community, Benin City, the Edo State capital.

The downstream player said the mega filling station which occupies about 5000 square metres of space is expected to offer pleasing service delivery to motorists along the Benin bypass.

According to the Group Managing Director of Rainoil, Dr Gabriel Ogbechie, the company has been in existence for the past 26 years and has made a tremendous impact in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Ogbechie said that Rainoil is the only company in Nigeria that owns tank farms in three of the four key locations where products are

brought in and distributed across the country.

He said that customers that would use the new station would have access to the same quality of service available at any Rainoil station.

According to him, Rainoil owns three depots of 50 million storage capacity each in Oghara, Delta State, Calabar, Cross Rivers State and Ijegun, Lagos State.

“We are also heavily involved in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and we own an 8,000 metric tonnes of LPG in our facility also located in Ijegun in Lagos State.

“We have a fleet of more than 260 trucks with which we distribute our products across the country and as of today, we own more than 165 filling stations spread across the country,” Ogbechie said.

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023

25

BUSINESSWORLD

AGRICULTURE

Mitigating Barriers to Agric Trade, Investments The agricultural sector is being hindered by myriads of challenges that have deprived it from reaching its full potentials. Gilbert Ekugbe writes

T

he agricultural sector is not immune from the environmental and sociocultural challenges facing other sectors of the Nigerian economy. For instance, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Nigerian agricultural sector dropped to $59.17 million in the first six months of 2022, which is the lowest in five years.

It has also been identified that insecurity has remained one of the top challenges hindering local and foreign investors from investing in the country’s agricultural sector.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the $59.17 million capital that was imported into the agricultural sector in the half-year of 2022, represented a decline of 74.9 per cent from $235.87 million that was recorded during the same period in 2018.

The statistics body stated that in the first three months of 2022, foreign investments in the country’s agricultural sector stood at $1.76 million, a 98.7 per cent decline from $130.90 million in the same period of 2018.

INSECURITY Insecurity still remained a major stumbling block to agriculture investments. Many investors are now shying away from investing in the agriculture space as a result of the worsening security challenges in the country. The spate of insecurity is a major risk that cannot be shoved aside when making investment decisions. No investor in the world would put his or her hard earned resources into an investment he or she is not certain of a Return on Investment (RoI) The effect is that many farmers have abandoned their farms out of fear of either being kidnapped or killed. Stakeholders have continued to call on political gladiators to find lasting solutions to the hydra-headed security challenges hindering investments into Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

Definitely, the resultant effect would mean increase in food prices as evident in Nigeria. Many impoverished Nigerians have continued to go to bed hungry due to the dwindling disposable income to afford food items hence, the urgent need to improve the nation’s security apparatus is not out of place in the federal government’s quest to attain food security.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, told THISDAY in a telephone interview that the biggest component of agriculture is crop farming, pointing out that in locations where these activities are being carried out, there have been a lot of insecurity issues hindering the activities of both peasant or commercial farmers, players in backward integration space.

According to him, operating in these regions has been extremely difficult because of insecurity.

Yusuf said: “Insecurity is the biggest constraints to investment in agriculture. If you look at our growth, you will see that the agricultural sector is still struggling even though it is not contracting, but it posted just about 2.0 per cent to GDP growth in Q3 of 2022.”

Similarly, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), has said that poor budgetary allocations to the sector from the national budget has been hindering the removal of some of the structural bottlenecks that have been stunting the growth of the sector and depriving it from leveraging on private investments.

The FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, Mr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel, said at a dialogue session organised by the FAO and the Government of Ghana, in collaboration with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in Ghana that “engaging in commercial agriculture is a business in itself. Evidence indicates that returns on investments in agriculture could be even higher than in many other sectors.”

Only recently, the African Development Bank (AfDB) stated that Africa’s push for food sovereignty and resilience would depend on investments and partnerships. The bank explained that with the removal of barriers to agricultural development and aided with new investments, Africa’s agricultural output could increase from $280 billion per year to $1 trillion by 2030.

“This is the time to invest in Africa’s future.

The continent has more than 60 per cent of the world’s remaining arable land, and millions of Africans are productive in the agriculture sector,” the President of the AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said.

RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION The lackluster attitude of many Nigerian youths towards farming has also deterred investment inflow into the sector. Many youths are abounding agriculture and moving to the urban areas in search of white collar jobs. This has left farming in the hands of the ageing population in the country.

Studies have shown that youths are not interested in farming due to Nigeria’s inability to embrace mechanised farming processes. However, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) stated that the goal of its tractorisation programme in the agricultural sector is to encourage mechanised farming, boost food and nutrition security while also creating more jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in the country in the agricultural sector.

Although the tractorisation scheme is meant to attract youths into the agricultural space, whether it achieve this goal or not would depend on the effectiveness of its implementation.

“We also need more technology in agriculture because virtually almost all the sectors are driven by technology, but unfortunately for us we still depend on hoes and cutlasses, but we must do a lot more in that regard. If we use more technology, it will attract many youths in the sector,” Yusuf advised.

Inputs, machinery Cost, climate change The cost of farm input is also a big factor hindering the flow of investment into the sector. Equipment such as tractors, harvesters and the likes are still being imported as well as agro chemicals which has made many farmers to abandon their farms since they have little or nothing to go by.

Nigeria’s heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture has made most of the lands in the county lose their fertility due to climate change where arable lands are no longer as fertile as they used to hindering farmers’ productivity levels to meet Nigeria’s food demands.

A recent study by nature, climate change has reduced global agriculture productivity by 21 per cent since 1961. At the same time, food systems represent a third of total greenhouse gas emissions and are a major contributor to biodiversity loss.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said that agriculture is

extremely vulnerable to climate change.

It stated that higher temperatures would reduce yields of desirable crops and encourage weed and pest proliferation.

“Changes in precipitation patterns increase the likelihood of short-run crop failures and long-run production declines.

Although there will be gains in some crops in some regions of the world, the overall impacts of climate change on agriculture are expected to be negative, threatening global food security,” the IFPRI warned.

The institute added that populations in the developing world, which are already vulnerable and food insecure, are likely to be the most seriously affected, pointing out that in 2005, nearly half of the economically active population in developing countries representing 2.5 billion people- relied on agriculture for its livelihood.

STAKEHOLDERS’ RECOMMENDATION The CPPE’s boss stated the need for Nigeria to tackle the issue of insecurity.

He pointed out that large scale farming required large expanse of land, which is available in the north where insecurity is thriving.

In his words: “Insecurity in these regions is extremely high. We need to address the issue of agricultural input and machinery.

We need to waive import duty on them so that they do not pay duties at all. We also need to subsidise these farm equipment and other agricultural inputs like pesticides and herbicides.”

He added: “We also need to support our research institutes because most of them are wasting away. They are not being properly funded and not playing the role they should. We must also invest largely in irrigation facilities and not continue to rely on rain-fed agriculture because it is not sustainable. We should be able to farm all year round. The farmers cannot make these investments, but the federal government’s responsibility so that the farmers can key into it.

“There is also the need to combat the challenge of desertification, climate change, flooding because it is affecting a lot of agricultural location while also strengthening the agric value chain because agric is not just about farming.

All sets of the value chain needs to be strengthened so that the entire value chain will be uplifted.”

The National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) said that the roles of the private and public sectors should be complimentary. The public sector should be providing the enabling

environment that would enable the private sector investments to grow sustainably.

“It should be understood that the private sector investments actually are the engine room of growth whereas the public sector’s effectiveness is sustained by sustainable investments by the private sector because these generate jobs to cater for the teeming youth requiring such opportunities,” he said.

He stressed that sustainable investments in agriculture are the fastest way to get people out of poverty in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

To sustain these investments, he said that economic managers must be focused on implementing laudable policies through government officials that were appointed on merit. This would enable Nigeria to attain sustainable investments in agriculture and thereby attain reasonable level of food sufficiency and the much desired food security.

“To harness Nigeria’s potential in Agroindustrial investment there must be sustainable public sector incentives and consistent policies as well as focused implementation of time tested programs designed to promote sustained private sector participation,” he advised.

The AFAN boss canvassed for the promotion of access to credit, science and technology, enabling laws governing trade and investment as well as good investment policies in order to harness private sector participation needed to make meaningful development in agriculture.

“Patience and perseverance are keys to any successful sustainable Agro-industrial investment so Nigeria should incentivize private sector investments generally,” he said.

On his part, the Former Executive Director, Lake Chad Research Institute, Maiduguri and Borno States, Dr. Oluwasina Olabanji, said that a paradigm shift toward a private sector led agro business is needed for Nigeria to attain food security.

“To develop the private sector as a key enabler of sustainable agricultural revolution and industralisation, investment in agricultural extension systems by reviving the moriboud Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) and adequate support to National Agricultural Research System (NARS).”

He called on the private sector to contribute their quota in capital investment, particularly in the face of dwindling public resources and serve as service providers by investing in agricultural inputs (seed, fertilizer, agro chemicals), mechanisation (tractor, seed planter, threshers, combine harvester), value addition (processing, utilisation and marketing).

“Finally, the private sector should invest in commodity exchange. If these roles are properly implemented in Nigeria, no doubt, food and nutrition security is assured and the nation will be a net exporter of food to African countries,” he averred.

26

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

FOREIGN DESK

COMPILED BY BAYO AKINLOYE

At Least 19 Casualties in Pakistan Bomb Blast Authorities in southwestern Pakistan said Monday that a powerful bomb blast struck a police vehicle, killing at least four people and injuring 15 others.

The bombing occurred on a busy road in central Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. The dead included two police personnel and two civilians, with hospital officials fearing the death toll could rise.

Waseem Baig, a spokesman for the city’s main hospital, confirmed the casualties to VOA by phone, saying several among those wounded “are in critical condition.”

A senior provincial police officer told local media the explosives were planted in a motorcycle.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the bombing as a terrorist attack, his office said.

The outlawed Baluchistan or Baluch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the bombing. Pakistan, the United States and Britain have designated the BLA as a global terrorist organization. Baluch insurgents routinely stage attacks against security forces in Baluchistan.

Militants linked to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban and Islamic State are also active in the sparsely populated region.

Monday’s attack comes just days after authorities announced a top Baluch separatist leader was in custody.

A military statement on Friday identified him as Gulzar Imam, also known as Shambay, saying his arrest was a “serious blow” to the Baluch insurgency in the natural resources-rich province.

Public Outrage Forces Dalai Lama to Apologise After Kissing Boy Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama apologised Monday after a video showing him kissing a child on the lips triggered criticism.

A statement posted on his official website said the 87-year-old leader regretted the incident and wished to “apologise to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused.”

The incident occurred at a public gathering in February at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamsala, where the exiled leader lives. He was taking questions from the audience when the boy asked if he could hug him.

The Dalai Lama invited the boy up toward the platform he was seated on. In the video, he gestured to his cheek, after which the child kissed him before giving him a hug.

The Dalai Lama then asked the boy to kiss him on the lips and stuck out his tongue. “And suck my tongue,” the Dalai Lama can be heard saying as the boy sticks out his own tongue and leans in, prompting laughter from the audience.

The footage triggered a backlash online with social media users condemning his behaviour as inappropriate and disturbing.

“His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras,” the statement from the Dalai Lama said.

The Dalai Lama has made the hillside town of Dharmsala his headquarters since fleeing from Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

India considers Tibet to be part of China, though it hosts Tibetan exiles.

Taiwan Watches Third Day of Chinese Military Exercises Taiwan said Monday it is closely monitoring as China carried out a third day of military exercises.

Taiwan’s military said China sent dozens of warplanes and 11 warships toward Taiwan as part of the drills that began Saturday.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said China’s military was simulating sealing off Taiwan and simulating strikes against important targets on the island.

Japan’s defense ministry said Monday the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong conducted air operations in waters close to Japan’s Okinawan islands on Sunday.

Also Monday, the United States said its guided-missile destroyer USS Milius passed near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The disputed islands are claimed entirely by China and partly by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

“This freedom of navigation operation upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea,” the US Navy said in a statement China’s maneuvers around Taiwan come in response to Taiwan’s president meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other members of Congress in California last week.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen denounced the drills, saying Taiwan will continue to work with the United States and other democracies as the island faces “continued authoritarian expansionism” from China.

US Navy Conducts Mission in Contested South China Sea A US warship sailed near a chain of islands Monday

The suspected lone shooter was also dead.

The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the country this year, comes just two weeks after a former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, about 160 mile (260km) to the south.

Police arrived as gunshots were still being fired inside the Old National Bank and exchanged fire with the shooter, Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said at a news conference. It wasn’t clear whether the shooter was killed himself or was shot by officers.

“We believe this is a lone gunman involved in this that did have a connection to the bank.

We’re trying to establish what that connection was to the business, but it appears he was a previous employee,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said that at least eight people were being treated at hospitals for wounds, including two police officers, one of whom was in critical condition.

An emotional Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said he lost friends in the shooting in a building on East Main Street not far from the Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park. claimed by China, the Philippines, as well as other nations and Taiwan, while China held its third day of military exercises around self-governed Taiwan.

The US Navy said the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted a freedom of navigation operation near Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, a group of dozens of islands between Vietnam and the Philippines, to uphold the “lawful uses of the sea.”

“USS Milius demonstrated that Mischief Reef, a low-tide elevation in it its natural state, is not entitled to a territorial sea under international law,” the Navy said.

The Navy routinely sails near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea to protest what it calls China’s “excessive maritime claims.”

China has created thousands of hectares of artificial islands atop reefs in the Spratlys and claimed Monday that the United States was “illegally trespassing.”

China claimed every feature in the South China Sea to restrict navigation and stop the lawful commercial activity of vessels from the Philippines and Vietnam.

China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam all claim the Spratlys as part of their territory.

“The United States upholds freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle. As long as some countries continue to claim and assert limits on rights that exceed their authority under international law, the United States will continue to defend the rights and freedoms of the sea guaranteed to all. No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms,” the navy said in a statement.

The operation occurred as China sent nearly a dozen warships and 70 fighter jets toward Taiwan on Monday in a third day of military drills since Taiwan’s president met with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles last week.

Taiwan’s government said it responded to China’s moves by readying its navy and land-based missile defenses.

Belarus Requests Security Guarantee from Russia Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday his country needs security guarantees from Russia, according to state broadcaster BelTA. The comments came as Lukashenko hosted Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

According to BelTA, Lukashenko cited his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, saying the two leaders discussed the need for Russia to protect Belarus “as its own territory” if there were “aggression” toward Belarus.

Putin drew criticism last month when he announced Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Russian forces also used Belarus as a staging area to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than one year ago, after the two allies insisted they were holding only military drills with no plan for an attack on Ukraine.

Two Ukraine provinces — Kharkiv in the northeast and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast — were hit by Russian missiles, rockets and artillery fire over the weekend, the Ukrainian military reported Sunday.

Oleksandr Prokudin, Kherson region governor, said Russian warplanes struck two communities late Sunday, but he said there were no immediate reports of casualties, according to The Associated Press.

Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the shelling in Kupiansk, a town formerly held by

Russian forces before Ukraine took control last September, killed two men Sunday.

Greece Moves to Ban Neo-Nazi Party From Polls Greek lawmakers are set to vote on urgent legislation introduced by the government in Athens to ban neo-Nazi parties from competing in upcoming national elections in May. The move comes after an imprisoned neo-Nazi set up – from behind bars - a political party that is gaining popular support ahead of the polls.

Greek Justice Minister Makis Voridis submitted the legislation to parliament, billing it as unprecedented and part of the government’s drive to protect democracy in the birthplace of democracy.

With this bill, he said, it is the first time in history that Greek members of parliament are asking the entire bench of the Supreme Court to weigh the credentials of a party and its members to compete in elections.

The move comes just weeks after Greek lawmakers voted to ban Ilias Kasidiaris, a leading member of the now defunct Golden Dawn party, from competing in the May 21 polls.

Kasidiaris is among 60 neo-Nazi members and politicians serving stiff sentences for targeting migrants, homosexuals, and left-wing political activists at the height of Golden Dawn’s activities from 2012 to 2019.

His imprisonment has not stopped him from being vocal. From prison, he has set up a political party called The Greeks - and a YouTube channel with over 120,000 followers.

Despite efforts by lawmakers and the ruling conservative party to ban him from running in the May polls, Kasidiaris has in recent days stepped down, naming instead a former Supreme Court prosecutor with a clean criminal record to lead the party in the upcoming elections.

With disaffection growing among Greeks for the country’s ruling conservatives and mainstream political parties, polls show Kasidiaris’ party has substantial voter support – about three percent – enough to win entry to the Greek parliament.

For ruling conservatives facing plummeting polls, Kasidiari’s party poses a serious threat to their re-election.

China Criticises Indian Minister’s Visit to Arunachal Pradesh China firmly opposes a visit by India’s home minister to Arunachal Pradesh and views his activities in the area as violating Beijing’s territorial sovereignty, a foreign ministry spokesperson told a news briefing on Monday.

China has renamed some places in what India regards as its eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as part of its territory.

“Zangnan is China’s territory,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response to a question on the visit by Indian Home Minister Amit Shah.

“The Indian official’s visit to Zangnan violates China’s territorial sovereignty, and is not conducive to the peace and tranquility of the border situation.”

China and India have had several skirmishes over the disputed border and clashes in mountainous regions in recent years have seriously strained ties.

Four Killed in US Bank Shooting, Eight Wounded A shooting Monday at a bank in downtown Louisville killed at least four people and wounded at least eight others, police said.

Ahead of Biden-Yoon Meeting, US Accused of Spying on South Korea South Korea’s government on Monday scrambled to contain the political and diplomatic fallout after US media reported that the United States – the country’s longtime ally – spied on senior South Korean security officials.

The allegations surfaced Sunday, when The New York Times published details from a leaked US memo allegedly describing discussions within South Korea’s presidential office about whether to provide weapons to Ukraine.

The memo was part of a larger batch of secret US military and intelligence documents that have mysteriously appeared on social media – creating headaches and national security vulnerabilities for Washington and many of its allies.

Though the South Korea-focused intelligence report appeared to reveal little if any surprising or damaging information, it was reportedly based at least in part on so-called “signals intelligence,” suggesting Washington was spying on one of its most important allies.

The situation is awkward for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has aligned his country more closely with the United States and is preparing for a rare state visit to the White House later this month.

In a statement, South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party condemned the incident as a “clear infringement” on South Korea’s sovereignty and demanded a “clear confirmation” from the United States that such activities will not happen again.

The statement accused Yoon of overseeing lax security policies, blaming him for moving the South Korean presidential office to a location directly next to a US military base.

At a background briefing Monday, a South Korean presidential official pushed back on that criticism, warning unspecified “forces” against trying “to shake the alliance by exaggerating or distorting this case.”

The South Korean official said the details of the report remain unconfirmed, adding that some of the other leaked documents – for example, those about the war in Ukraine – appear to have been manipulated.

Renewed Chemical Attacks Target Female Students in Iran As schools in Iran reopen after the new year holiday, female students are again being targeted by chemical attacks.

It is not immediately clear who is responsible for the poisonings, but some Iranians suspect that their own government is the likely culprit.

The attacks have targeted schools across the country and students are poisoned by unknown substances that spread through the buildings, according to media reports. Some of the victims have been admitted to hospitals with shortness of breath and other respiratory symptoms.

The poisonings began shortly after the start of a protest movement in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in custody after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for failing to wear her hijab properly.

Itan’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for those responsible for the poisonings to be identified and punished.

27

TUESDAY, ͹͹˜ ͺ͸ͺͻ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

VIRTUAL INAUGURATION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS...

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki (middle, 3rd row), during a virtual inauguration of the Board of Directors for the Edo State Skills Development Agency.

Tambuwal Petitions INEC over Listing of Concluded Polling Units for Supplementary Election Chuks Okocha in Abuja Sokoto State Governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Sokoto South Senatorial district, Aminu Tambuwal, has sent a strongly-worded petition to the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, over the listing of polling units, where elections had been concluded and results declared for the April 15, 2023 supplementary elections.

In a petition to INEC written on his behalf by his lawyer, Mr. S.I. Ameh SAN, Tambuwal stated that, "Consequent upon the Commission’s publication of the areas slated for the April 15th 2023 rerun across the country, our Client’s attention was drawn to certain Polling Units under his Senatorial District, where elections were successfully conducted, concluded and results validly announced and collated in Forms EC8B (1).

“To our Client’s surprise and chagrin, some of the Polling Units in question where Elections were duly concluded have now suddenly resurfaced as part of the places listed for the said proposed Rerun.

"We have for the purposes of verification, your urgent attention and intervention compiled the list of the affected Polling Units and urge you to delist the said Polling

Units from the list of Polling Units where a rerun Election will take place on the 15th day of April, 2023 in view of the fact that elections cannot be conducted twice in a Polling Unit, which had no issues.

Attached are the various Forms EC8B (1) properly highlighted, and an itemized summary of the affected Polling Units, for ease of reference.

"We do hope that these obvious irregularities are cured, especially having brought them to your notice and attention promptly and within time," the petition states.

A source close to the governor told THISDAY that, they strongly believed the listing of the concluded polling units is the latest in the well-laid and orchestrated plan against the governor.

He alleged that the February 25, 2023 Sokoto South Senatorial Election was the target of internal and external forces bent on extracting a pound of flesh from Tambuwal.

“Tambuwal was leading comfortably and was awaiting his formal declaration. All of a sudden, violence erupted in some polling units, giving the compromised Resident Electoral Commissioner and field officers the excuse to declare the election inconclusive.

“In their haste and determination to complete their evil design, they still included polling units, where

elections have been concluded in the list for supplementary elections.

“It is expected that INEC will take a critical look at the list for

supplementary elections in Sokoto South Senatorial Zone, clean it up and without delay release the authentic list.

“INEC is also expected to identify their officers involved in this electoral fraud. Meting out exemplary punishment to them will

Adeleke's Government is Deceptive, Vindictive, Acrimonious, Says APC Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, cautioned Governor Ademola Adeleke to discontinue injection of deception, duplicity, divisive sentiment and acrimony into the governance of the state.

Adeleke, in his Easter message, promised the state government workers the implementation of the cash backing of the promotions done by former Governor Gboyega Oyetola after he had verifiably failed to effect same to form part of the last March salaries.

“Since Adeleke and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), succeeded in making use of maximum force by the militia wing of the PDP to win the presidential, national assembly and house of assembly elections across the state, the governor has been feigning acceptability and popularity of

himself and his party,” the party said.

Adeleke had paid two of the 30 months inherited generational half salaries of the state senior staff constituting 25 per cent of the government workforce.

The state caretaker committee chairman of the PDP, Dr Akindele Adekunle, had falsely stated that Adeleke had offset all the inherited accumulated half salaries when the contrary was the case.

But in his response, the Osun State acting chairman of the APC, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement issued by the party's Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, in Osogbo, said the bane of the PDP in the state has been talking much but doing little or absolutely nothing.

Lawal disclosed that the needless politicisation of everything that the government of Adeleke does has become deafening, disheartening

and obviously irritating to the discerning minds in the society.

"It is on record that as a government, Oyetola's administration also paid arrears of half salaries. The

Two lawyers, Oladotun Hassan and Myson Nejo, engaged in a shouting match with members of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions at the last meeting of the panel over a petition they went to the parliament to defend.

The legal practitioners were at the committee to defend a petition they wrote against the Executive Director of Nexim bank, Stella Okotete and urged the Senate panel to probe the woman's qualification for the job.

Trouble, however, started when the Chairman of the Ethics panel, Senator Ayo Akinyelure,appeared to be defending the embattled ED

of Nexim Bank.

Controversies had trailed Okotete's appointment as the ED of the bank. There were series of protest in Abuja before the end of her tenure in 2022 with the protesters demanding her removal.

The protesters alleged that Okotete was not qualified to hold the office because she was an hairdresser.

Thus, Hassan and Nejo, in their petition to the Senate, called for a reversal of Okotete’s appointment stating that she was not qualified to hold such a position.

“Given her lack of educational academic prerequisites and 18 years of banking service years of experience, non-professional technocratic competence and ongoing massive corruption at the Nexim bank,

hence our clarion calls for her immediate replacement,” part of the petition read.

When Hassan and Nejo appeared before the panel they were told by Akinyelure that the Nexim bank ED sent a text message to the panel that she would not be available to attend the meeting as she was currently out of the country.

Akinyelure further explained to them that since the case was already in court, the Senate might not be able to formally hear the petition against her.

"The case is already in court but the reason I didn’t discharge the case is that I am not sure if that’s why she is here or not. She told me that she is on medical leave abroad. I magnanimously allowed

that the case be heard. Let us wait till she comes and we would and we would hear from both parties,” he said.

The lawyers threw caution to the winds and flared up when, Akinyelure started making a case for the Executive Director of Nexim Bank, saying, “The President is free to appoint whoever he wishes into whatever position. This appointment is that of a development bank that doesn’t require certificates.”

His arguments and positions didn’t sit well with the petitioners as they blew hot and accused the senator of bias and lack of transparency.

Nejo said, “We don’t see the reason for coming here, because you have already taken sides, defending

only difference is that we never played dirty politics with it as we concentrated on contributory pensioners at the state and local government levels,” he said.

Kidnapped Nasarawa Ex-deputy Governor, Gye-Wado, Released Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia Former Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Prof Onje Gye-Wado, who was kidnapped last week, has been freed by his abductors after allegedly collecting about N4 million ransom.

Gye-Wado, a professor of law, was kidnapped Thursday night in his country home of Rinza, near Wamba, the headquarters of Wamba Local Government Area of the state.

Drama as Senate Panel, Lawyers Clash Over Nexim Bank ED's Qualifications Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

help break the cycle of impunity and restore the confidence of the people in the electoral process,” he concluded.

the woman. If you say that the case is already in court, then you don’t need to say all of this. If the Senate has done its job by monitoring things and the Central Bank of Nigeria did things rightly, there will be no need to be writing a petition.

"Things are not going in the proper manner and we have gone the extra mile to petition and the Senator is defending the woman. I am no longer interested in bringing this case before you.

What we have heard from you shows that you will not go to give us a fair hearing because you are even telling us that the president is free to appoint whoever he pleases to appoint without the need for any certificate.”

Earlier, family source revealed that the former deputy governor's kidnappers placed a ransom of N70 million, but the family bargained from N2 to N3.5 million, and finally the family had to top it close to N4 million before he was released.

"They collected the ransom near Mada Hills Secondary School in Akwanga, with N200 recharge card.

Then he was released near Angwan Chiyawa, close to those hills between Akwanga and Nasarawa Eggon," the family source added.

It was gathered that Gye-Wado was taken back to the Palace of the paramount ruler of Wamba (Oriye Rindre), Justice Lawal Musa Nagogo (rtd), upon his release. The Nasarawa State Police Command confirmed his release.

The command's Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel, who confirmed Gye-Wado's release, said the former deputy governor regained his freedom at about 9:00pm on Sunday, and has since been reunited with his family.

But Nansel said no arrest was made yet, even as he added that the police were not aware of any ransom paid before the release of the former deputy governor.

Gye-Wado was deputy governor between 1999 and 2003 during the administration of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the current National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

28

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NEWS

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION EVALUATION EXERCISE FOR BENIN PORT...

L-R (front row): Member, Benin Port Project, Mrs. Onoise Onaghinon; official of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Engr. Ayoola Awosemusi; official of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Abidemi Emmanuel; official of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Mr. Wanka Ahamad; chairman, Benin Port Project, Engr. Greg Ogbeifun; official of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Barr. Maryam Muazu; member, Benin Port Project, Dr. Joe Aigboduwa, and Barr. Love Ikah, during Request for Qualification (RFQ) Evaluation Exercise for the Benin Port Project, in Abuja.

Edo Senator Blames Governors as Part of Nigeria’s Problem Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The senator representing Edo South senatorial district in the National Assembly, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, yesterday, blamed governors in the country for their over bearing attitude towards governance, saying it formed part of Nigeria’s problems.

Urhoghide, who stated this in a chart with journalists in Benin City, claimed that the governors wanted to be everywhere in the affairs of the country.

"They want to control the

President, the National Assembly, State Assembly and the Local Government Councils," he declared, adding that if they understood their role in governance, they would have known that development is multi-faceted.

According to him, "I believe they don't understand their roles in democracy. If there is any parameters to judge what they have done in the states, very few governors will pass. The development of a state is multi-dimensional.

"It is not just the number of roads

you tar that determines whether you have done well or not. What about the human capital development?

What about the different sectors of our economic life and the lives of our people? The man that you are building roads or bridges for, how have you developed him so that he can fend for himself and his family? You must develop the man in totality.

"To know the quality of development in the states, let's go to the state assembly to know how accountable they are. The

National Assembly can still talk to the President, but how many members of the state assembly can raise their voices to the governors.

The governors are stepping beyond their boundaries."

On the incoming 10th national assembly, Urhoghide, said the next assembly would suffer loss of institutional memory, as many members with wealth of experience and knowledge in lawmaking will not return, having lost their re-election bids in their various states.

TCN: EXISTING POWER EQUIPMENT HAVE CAPACITY TO DELIVER UP TO 17000MW OF ELECTRICITY TO NIGERIANS companies (Discos) as it receives.

At its peak, Nigeria’s power sector is only able to generate just about 15 per cent of the total projected national daily requirement of 28,880MW. Despite the various financial interventions by the federal government since the privatisation exercise in 2013, only a paltry average of 4,500MW is actually generated every day.

According to the market operator, the demand for energy determines what transmission can evacuate, hence, the inability to deliver up to the 17,000mw installed grid capacity of the power equipment.

He explained, "Let me start by telling you that installed grid capacity is in the neighbourhood of 16,000 to 17,000 megawatts – if you look at all the equipment that will convey power from generation to distribution.

"But given the scenario we have in Nigeria that most of the generators are not generating to full capacity and some other intrinsic factors, we see it that the energy that is consumed is not demanded or wanted, wanted in the sense that it’s not backed up by effective money.

"Now, what it means is that the Transmission Company of Nigeria can wheel whatever is in the grid, ranging from 8,000mw downwards.

But the question is, does the Nigerian populace demand 8,000mw?

"That’s the big question. So, the demand determines what transmission can evacuate because energy is not stored in the wire, it is consumed as it is even generated.

"Therefore, the demand determines what enters the wire. It is a simultaneous process that as you generate, the consumption takes place, evacuation takes place. So if the demand is low

or consumption is low, you don’t expect the transmission company to evacuate more than what the demand is or the consumption is."

Insisting that the TCN was averagely on 8,000MW capacity delivery if it was available to be evacuated through the grid, Eje said the question many Nigerians should ask was, how many people in the villages paid for electricity.

He maintained, "It is easier to say we need light, and remember that the generators that generate this light are mostly private generators.

Electricity is no longer a social good that must be consumed without payment."

Eje pointed out that Gencos were faced with the challenge of buying gas to enable them generate energy, adding that it is difficult to get gas now.

He said the gas companies insisted on Gencos paying for gas before it was released to them.

“If the generators are not paid, if the distribution companies are not also paid for the energy they distribute, how can they make light available?" he wondered.

Eje said there was enough electricity capacity in Nigeria to go round for now, saying given Nigeria's level of industrialisation, about 70 or 75 per cent of energy generated is consumed by domestic users.

He said that told a lot about the level of industrialisation in Nigeria, where just about 25 or 30 per cent of energy produced was taken by few industries, unlike what obtains in industrialised nations.

He explained, "In industrialised nations, the opposite is the case, where 25 to 30 per cent of total generation is taken by domestic users and then, about 70 or 75 per cent

taken by industries. If industries are at that level, it means there will be less unemployment, there will be job opportunities and people will also have disposable income to pay for the electricity."

Eje, however, highlighted options available to states in the new power industry regime, where states now have powers to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in their areas as contained in the recent amendment made to Paragraph 14, Part II, Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said everybody had welcomed the new development that states should generate, transmit and distribute if that was the only way to make energy available to every nook and cranny of the country.

Eje said the federal government had taken a step in the right direction, pointing out that the power given to states to own electricity assets, generate, transmit and distribute electricity had been there.

With the existing transmission lines owned by the federation, and the generators and distributors virtually owned by private companies, Eje stated that the best the states could do was to generate energy and put into the grid.

According to him, "With a kind of investment made by the states, they would now generate and their energy would enter into the grid and it will be treated like any other generator in the grid network. So, it becomes a commercial venture for them.

"Of course, they can now say, 20 per cent of what I am generating should be consumed within my own environment, in other words, if it is going to shoulder the responsibility

of paying the tariff.

"But if they see it as a business concern, all they need to do is that their energy generated should be accounted for by the market operator, at the end of the day."

He said it would be a different ballgame if the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) was to be an off-taker for the states.

On the other hand, if NBET was not off-taking them, Eje explained that the states would then look for customers who would consume the energy they generated at commercial rate.

The market operator added, "If they generate and transmit, they would pay evacuation charge, like any other generator does, and it enters into the grid, and if they have an off-taker, the off-taker is the person that will pay them and resell.

And if they don’t have off-taker, it means they will do marketing by themselves and then find users and follow it up from there."

"Let me say this, parliament all over the world is driven by knowledge because it is a repository of knowledge and you get better in the business of lawmaking and other legislative activities the more you stay there. Whether in parliamentary or presidential system.

“It is driven by experience. That is why the number of time you come in there, ranks you. Whatever laws made for good governance in the land is from the parliament. It

is not cooked overnight. It is there you have the true representatives of the people.

"Unfortunately, If you keep taking people out of the National Assembly and keep feeding in new people. What happens to Institutional Memory? The way we did it yesterday will be lost.

Nobody will ensure continuity.

Nobody can say we did it like this yesterday. This is the result we got, let's do it differently today.”

‘N’West Should Be Compensated for Giving APC Highest Votes’ Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja A coalition, the All Progressives Congress Integrity Caucus (AIC), has said the North-west deserved to be compensated with the position of the 10th Senate President, having given the highest votes to the party in the presidential election, for justice and fairness.

Spokesman of the Coalition, Hon Musa Dutse, while addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja said the group has uncovered plots to engage in massive propaganda to demarket the North West Zone from the Senate Presidency race.

The coalition noted that there was a desperate attempt by opposition parties to take over Kano and the entire North-west zone from the APC. Dutse said part of a grand design was to campaign against zoning the position of Senate President to the region, expand membership

and ultimately take over Kano and the entire region in 2027.

"The North-west gave the highest votes to our party in the presidential election and that justice and fairness demands that the zone be compensated for the feat. Instead, they are busy mischievously plotting against the APC in order to take over the zone in 2027. We must resist them, we must not allow them to succeed in their desperate plans,” he said.

The coalition maintained that North-west must not be pushed aside in the race, rather the zone should be compensated for being the highest voting block.

It, therefore, re-stated its full support for the candidature of Senator Barau Jibrin for the presidency of the 10th Senate, adding that he has the requisite competence, cognate experience, capacity and above all, is the highest ranking senator among the senators in the zone.

Buni Seeks Prayers for Successful Power Transition Michael Olugbode in Damaturu Yobe State Governor, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, has called on Nigerians to use the Easter occasion to pray for a successful and peaceful transition of power as Nigeria prepares for change of leadership.

Buni stated this in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful to mark the Easter occassion.

He said, “It is very impor-

tant to internalise the values of love and sacrifice as reflected in the teachings of the Easter at this period of our national life. The good lessons of love and sacrifice should be used to promote peace and unity for the prosperity of the country and Nigerians.

“It is, therefore, a great opportunity for us as a Nation to take advantage of this period to pray for our country," calling on religious and community leaders to always preach peace

and peaceful coexistence.

“We can only practice our religions and achieve prosperity, when we have peace. Some few years back, we could not go to mosques and churches in Yobe State due to security challenge, but today we glorify God for the peace we now enjoy across the state. We should therefore guard it jealously and avoid anything that could tamper with peace and security in Yobe State and Nigeria."

TUESDAY APRIL11, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

29

NEWS

INGENIUM CONCEPTS CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING…

L-R: Digital Marketer, Ingenium Concepts, Stanley Ezenwankwo; Corporate Communications Lead, Motunrayo Adeyemi; Head, Admin and Accounts, Ibebuogu Elizabeth; Managing Director/CEO, Jennifer Orode; Graphics Designer, Boluwatife Osuolale; Copywriter, Ayomide Arowobusoye, and Strategy and Project Officer, Chijoke Emem, at the just the first Cohort of the Ingenium X United States National Customer Service Association free customer service training held in Lagos…recently

Assembly Leadership: ‘Contestants Bribing Party Leaders to Thwart Zoning’ Adedayo Akinwale inAbuja

the disturbing reports from House of Representatives members-elect that one aspirant for the position of Speaker from North-east apart from bribing members-elect with huge amounts of money, was also offering jeeps to members-elect if they would commit to electing him as the Speaker.

He said this has reduced the contest for the leadership of 10th National Assembly to Cash-andCarry.

He lamented that the unfolding developments around the contest for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly was quite worrisome.

The party chieftain noted that apart from the clear disregard for national unity and outright disrespect for Nigerians, especially

Enugu Governor-elect Expresses Sadness over Tragic Road Accident

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, has expressed satisfaction with his style of administration, saying his tenure records landmark achievement in air, land and sea opening the state for local and international investment.

The governor spoke

The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Vice Chairman, North-West, Dr. Salihu Lukman has alleged that there are speculations that some contestants for leadership positions of the 10th Assembly are bribing party leaders with huge amounts of money to stop the party from zoning positions.

Lukman, in a statement issued yesterday said there were also

Gideon Arinze inEnugu

The governor-elect of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has expressed sadness over the fatal accident that claimed 15 lives at Ituku, along the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway on Saturday, the eve of Easter.

In a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday by the Head of Mbah Media Office, Dan Nwomeh, the governor also condoled with the families of the deceased and prayed for the peaceful repose of the souls of the departed.

“I received with a deep sense of loss the news of the fatal accident that claimed 15 lives at the Ituku axis of the Enugu–Port Harcourt expressway on the eve of Easter.

My heart bleeds at this gruesome

development and indeed goes out to the families and friends, who lost their loved ones.”

Describing the incident as a heavy and collective loss to the state, the governor-elect called on all road users to be more mindful of road rules and regulations for the safety of all.

“It is a collective loss to us as a people and I urge all to pray the Almighty God to grant the affected families and friends the fortitude to bear the tragic losses,” he said.

“Let us also join them in prayers for the peaceful repose of the souls of their loved ones”.

While saluting the efforts of law enforcement agents in the state, he called for stricter enforcement of the rules and regulations to minimise such unfortunate incidents, especially during festive seasons.

The Christ Ambassadors’ Fellowship (CAF), a division of the Christ Miracle Church Mission (CMCM), has introduced the Christ Ambassador’s Education Endowment Fund (CAEEF) aimed at improving education for children from elementary school to higher education.

Speaking during the launching ceremony in Lagos, Chairman of CAF Ambassador Kunle Filani, said that given the country’s current economic challenges, such an intervention was required to enable educated and purposeful children to make the most of their gifts.

The education endowment, according to Filani is only intended to assist some selected number of the Church’s underprivileged members.

“The education endowment is solely meant to support our Father

in the Lord’s philanthropic gesture by the full sponsorship of some carefully selected indigent and gifted children of CMCM. As members of CAF, we are committed to the development of both the spiritual and physical activities of the Church,” he said.

The keynote speaker and a legal practitioner, Olatunde Adejuyigbe (SAN) who spoke on ‘The Spiritual and Metaphysical Benefits of Philanthropy ‘, urged Nigerians to forgo their luxurious lifestyles in favour of helping the poor.

According to the senior advocate, it is not philanthropy to steal from the treasury and then give to people.

He said: “The things that are meant to be for the children of this great nation have gone into private hands and we celebrate them. The thing with God is that He looks into your heart. An offering is a spiritual sacrifice.

security and well-being of Nigeria nor are they in any way disturbed about factors that could erode the electoral viability of APC. Lukman stressed that these are aspiring candidates for these positions –two of them Muslims from North-west aspiring for the

position of Senate President and one of them from North-east aspiring for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, who are desperately mobilising support in unethical manner without any regard or respect to the party and its leadership.

A’Ibom Gov Recommends His Style of Administration to Successor

Okon Bassey in Uyo

yesterday in a broadcast to mark the Easter celebration in the State and further praised himself for installing a successor.

“As I get ready to take a bow in the next month , I am eminently proud and assured that I will be leaving this State better than I met her, and in the capable, tested and steady

hands of the Governor-Elect, Pastor Umo Eno, who, I believe will further carry the torch of peace, development, growth and unity of our dear people,” he said.

“We campaigned on the three drivers of growth and progress, namely: Land, Air and Sea. Undoubtedly, we have delivered highly commendable

results in these areas,” he added.

In the election that produced his successor, Governor Emmanuel noted that the State voted for “the continuation of all that we have started and achieved in the last almost eight years. You voted for the furtherance of peace, for growth, for development and for our unity.”

NAPTIP, Others Seek Media Partnership to Curb Human Trafficking The National Agency for the Journalists organised by Devatop Nwanwenne urged journalists Nwanwenne also called on Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has sought the partnership of journalists to curb human trafficking and expose perpetrators of the act.

Zonal Commander, NAPTIP, Mr Nduka Nwanwenne, gave the advice yesterday at a two-day training on Countering Trafficking In Persons For

Centre for African Development in Asaba.

Devatop is a non-profit organisation with focus on combating human trafficking, gender-based violence, providing educational support to vulnerable children and empowering women and youths.

to join hands with their reportage to make sure that human trafficking was curbed.

“The media must display professionalism and have the moral duty to report the truth.

They have a duty to publish facts that you know of, not speculation or fake to suit your purpose,” he said.

the media to brainstorm on how best to curb the menace of trafficking in persons.

The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Delta State, Mr Isaiah Bozimo, said that the media had an important role to play in exposing activities of human traffickers.

Former AGF, Bayo Ojo, Unilorin VC Pay Tributes to Bola Ajibola WaleIgbintadeandHammed ShittuinIlorin

former Attorney General of the Church Launches Education AFederation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo and the Vice Empowerment Programme Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Yusuf Ebiti andYetunde Bello

the persons of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Sen. Kashim Shettima, being the president-elect and vice-presidentelect respectively, some of the aspiring candidates for the positions of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives are neither concerned about the

Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, yesterday paid glowing tributes to

the former Judge of International Court of Justice, Hague, Netherlands, late Prince Bola Ajibola, describing him as an accomplished jurist, arbitrator and educator.

Chief Bayo Ojo in his condolence message, said the late jurist would be greatly missed, adding that his death was a big loss to the legal

profession, the education sector, and Nigeria as a whole.

He described Prince Ajibola as a superb patriot, a totally committed public servant, a detribalised Nigerian.

He noted that the outstanding lawyer and eminent Jurist used his God given knowledge, intellect and

talent to advocate for justice, fairness and equity in all his undertakings within and outside Nigeria.

According to the former AGF, the late Ajibola also contributed to the development of Nigeria’s educational sector as founder of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Bauchi APC Stakeholders Write Tinubu, Accuse Adamu, Others of Sabotage AdedayoAkinwaleinAbuja The crisis rocking theAll Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi state deepened yesterday as party stakeholders under the aegis of Concerned APC Youth Progressive Movement accused the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, a

former Deputy Governor of our State, Hon Nura Soro and the party Chairman, Babayo Misau for sabotage and anti-party activities.

The Ward Executive Council in Kukadi/Gundari, Misau Local Government Area of Bauchi State had last week expelled Misau from the party for alleged anti-party

activities.

But the group in a letter dated March 2, signed by its National Co-ordinator, Abdulahi Dauda and addressed to the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, alleged that the aforementioned party leaders in the state betrayed Tinubu’s trust and the aspirations of APC governorship

candidate in the state, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (rtd) The group, therefore, urged Tinubu to ensure that the party takes actions against those involved in sabotaging the party during the last elections to encourage loyal party members to remain loyal to the party at all times.

‘President-elect is Committed to Addressing Nigeria’s Challenges’ A former President of All Nigerian American Congress (ANAC), Ambassador,Amina Temitope Ajayi, has said that the President-elect- Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is committed to address the myriads of challenges confronting the country.

Ajayi, who is known as Mama

Diaspora, stated this while speaking to journalists yesterday, stressing that Tinubu has a great passion for the development and unity of Nigeria.

She has therefore, called for reconciliation among all Nigerians, appealing regardless of political and religious

persuasion and tribal origins, all should embrace the incoming administration of Tinubu.

Ajayi, said the presidentelect has a great interest in the development of the youths and welfare of all Nigerians, adding that all Nigerians should embrace the coming administration.

She stated that Nigerian youths have great talents and are digitally savvy such that if they are given opportunities in national governance, they would unleash great developmental energies that will transform Nigeria from its present challenges to become a cynosure in the comity of nations.

30

TUESDAY APRIL 11, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

R-JOLAD PLUS LAUNCHES NEW FACILITY...

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, AFYA Care, Tosin Runsewe; Director, R-Jolad, Mrs. Tinu Oladipo; founder, Dr. Funsho Oladipo; Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi; Chairman, R-Jolad Hospital, Babajide Ogundare; Chairman, AFYAcare, Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, and Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, at the official launch of the new R-Jolad Plus facility in Lagos... yesterday ETOP UKUTT

Police Neutralise Suspected Kidnapper, Rescue Two Victims in Adamawa Police in Adamawa, in collaboration with hunters, neutralised a suspected kidnapper and rescued two victims in Toungo Local Government Area of the state on Sunday.

Police spokesman, SP Suleiman Nguroje, stated in Yola yesterday that it was one of the successes of the police’s collaborative strategies to end kidnapping, robbery, cattle

rustling, and unlawful possession of firearms.

“One kidnapper was neutralised when he and his gang arrived at a spot to receive N2 million ransom demanded from relatives of the kidnapped victims.

“The suspected kidnappers sighted our men around the area and engaged them in a

Indian Prime Minister, Modi, Advocates Conservation of Big Cats Michael Olugbode in Abuja with agency report The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has advocated for the conservation of the big cats in order to prevent their extinction.

The Prime Minister, in a mega international event held last Sunday at Mysuru, Karnataka, to commemorate 50 years of ‘Project Tiger’, made the call for their conservation.

Modi, while launching the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) for conservation of seven big cats namely: Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah,

Jaguar and Puma, harbouring in the planet, noted that India has a long-standing experience on the tiger agenda and conservation of other big cats like lion, snow leopard, leopard, and now the translocation of the Cheetah to bring an extinct big cat back to its natural habitat.

According to a report from one of Indian major newspapers, IBCA will focus on protection and conservation of seven major big cats of the world such as tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar, and cheetah, in collaboration with countries harbouring these species.

gun duel so as to escape arrest.

“One of them was neutralised while others escaped with bullet wounds,’’ he stated.

Nguroje added that the two victims, Suleiman Abdullahi (23), and Ruwa Buba (11), residents of

Mayo Sumsum Village in Toungo Local Government Area, were rescued unhurt.

He stated also that Commissioner of Police in Adamawa, Mr Afolabi Babatola, commended operatives of Toungo

Divisional Police Office and the hunters for their gallantry.

Babatola directed the joint operations team to track down fleeing members of the kidnap gang to ensure that they did not re-group anywhere in the state.

The police commissioner charged residents to always inform the police of the whereabouts of criminals, especially those found with bullet wounds,’’ Nguroje stated.

Election Monitors Petition Buhari, Accuses Police Minister of Poll Manipulation in Sokoto The Network for Domestic Election Monitors (NDEM), Sokoto State chapter, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari accusing the Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, of allegedly abusing his office and ensuring the manipulation of the February and March general election, through police deployment and arrest of

opposition agents.

It cited the absence of police personnel at polling units during the Presidential and National Assembly elections, leading to hijack of the process by thugs, and harassment and detention of opposition leaders by the police.

In a petition dated April 6, 2023, signed by the NDEM representative in Sokoto, Prof

Sani Abubakar Yar Sakke, and addressed to President Buhari, the group alleged that Dingyadi used his office to ensure “the conspicuous absence of the Police from polling units during the elections which resulted in unprecedented political violence and thuggery never seen in the state.

The petition, which was copied

the Chief Justice of Nigeria, INEC chairman, National Security Adviser, Inspector General of Police and Chief of Army Staff, among others, said: “We recall times without number your pronouncements directing the security services to steer clear of partisan politics and avoid being used by any person or group of persons for political purposes.”

ICA Lauded for Establishing Nigeria’s Chapter in Uniport BlessingIbungeinPortHarcourt The Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (Uniport), Prof Owunari Georgewill, has commended the leadership of the International Communication Association (ICA) for the inauguration of the Nigeria Chapter of the group in the institution.

Georgewill, who made the commendation in his remarks at the inauguration held in Uniport, said the establishment of ICA in Nigeria was apt in light of the rapidly changing world where global interconnectedness and technological advancements have reshaped the landscape of higher education.

He said ICA would bolster the responsibility of the University to prepare its students for “this ever- changing world” by providing them with the knowledge, skills and experiences they need to succeed both as individuals and professionals.

The VC thanked the ICA for the interest and choice of the University as the host for the ICA Regional

Hub which, according to the him, “reflected the University of Port Harcourt culture of excellence in character and learning.”

He said the programme has motivated the institution continued commitment to creating a vibrant and creative community where different perspectives and ideas are embraced and celebrated.

Angry mob yesterday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, lynched a suspected internet fraudster, identified as Olorunfemi Tope, who alleged killed two people in accident.

The accident involved a Toyota car, suspected to be owned by the

who rammed into about five commercial motorcycles carrying different passengers at different spots along Ijo-Mimo, through Sunday bus stop, off Ijoka road in Akure.

THISDAY gathered that the victims died on the spot while six others sustained series of injuries.

It was gathered that the driver of

any injury, was trying to escape from the scene before he was caught by some youths and was beaten into coma, and stoned to death while his vehicle was also set on fire by the angry mob.

Meanwhile, some of the injured persons were rescued and taken to the University of Medical Sciences

Akure annex, while the lifeless bodies were taken to the morgue.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mrs. Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, confirmed the development but clarified that no one can confirm if the young man in question is an internet fraudster.

Firm Unveils Website for Angry Mob Lynches Alleged Fraudster for Killing Two in Ondo Digital Legal Resources FidelisDavidinAkure 35-year-old alleged internet fraudster, the Toyota car, who did not sustain Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH), LegalDigitalNg.com, a new website designed to provide legal resources to the legal community in Nigeria, has officially launched. The website offers a subscription-based model for access to its comprehensive library of digital judgements, legal documents, automation tools, law practice management tools, and materials for lawyers, and study guides for law students.

It also offers free resources for non-subscribers.

According to the founders of the site, LegalDigitalNg.com stands out from other digital platforms

with its competitive pricing, offering more for less through its community knowledge sharing, process automators, personalised diaries, and study companions for law school students. It is a one-stop resource for Nigerian law practitioners, researchers, and students.

“Our mission is to make legal resources easily accessible and available on demand for the Nigerian legal community and we have assembled a team of technology and legal research experts to deliver on our mission,” they said.

Omo-Agege Congratulates Senator-elect, Dafinone, at 61 Omon-JuliusOnabuinAsaba Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, has charged the Senator-elect for Delta State Central senatorial district, Ede Dafinone, to brace up for the task of good representation as a national legislator.

Omo-Agege, who is the state governorship candidate of the All

Progressives Congress (APC) and two-term senator for Delta Central, gave the charge in a statement issued yesterday to felicitate with Dafinone on his 61st birthday anniversary.

Dafinone, the candidate of the APC, was declared winner of the Delta Central senatorial election held on February 25, 2023, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Court Restrains Buhari, Defence Minister, Ministry from Acquiring Maitama Property Alex Enumah in Abuja A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has halted the federal government from trespassing, acquiring and or taking over some plots of land located at the highbrow Maitama Extension, popularly known as

Maitama Aliero.

Justice U. P. Kekemeke of the FCT High Court in Maitama issued the order while delivering ruling in a motion on notice brought by the trustees of the Association of Plot Owners, Maitama Extension (APOMEX, Maitama Aliero) and 11 others

against the federal government.

In the suit marked: FCT/ HC/CV/318/2022, the president Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; Ministry of Defence; Minister of Defence; Minister Federal Capital Territory, and Federal Capital Development Authority are 1st to 6th defendants

respectively.

In the ruling delivered on March 27, the Judge held that: “An order of interlocutory injunction is hereby granted restraining the 1st, 3rd and 4th defendants whether by themselves, agents...from further entry and/or otherwise committing further acts

Police Order Arrest of Officers Who Assaulted Man in Rivers Blessing Ibunge in PortHarcourt The Rivers State Police Command has ordered the arrest of its personnel captured in social media assaulting a commuter at Elibrade junction in Emohua Local Government Area of the state.

In a statement issued yesterday

by the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Grace IringeKoko, the Commissioner of Police, Okon Effiong, ordered for the immediate arrest of the officers.

According to the Iringe-Koko, the state Commissioner of Police has assured the public that the police officers would be investigated in line with the

law and made to face appropriate punishment.

Iringe-Koko said: “Following the identification of the policemen shown in a viral video harassing and assaulting an unidentified man at a Elibrade junction in Emohua, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, OKon O. Effiong, has ordered the

immediate arrest of the officers identified.

“As a defender of human rights, the CP assures members of the public that the police officers will be investigated in line with extant rules underlying the conduct of police personnel; and appropriate sanctions meted out accordingly.

31

TUESDAY, ͹͹˜ ͺ͸ͺͻ ˾ T H I S D AY

TUESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Dare: One of Buhari Presidency Legacies is Rehabilitations of Sports Facilities Duro Ikhazuagbe

Manchester City Boss, Pep Guardiola (centre) and his two marksmen Erling Haaland (right) and Kevin De Bruyne (left) waiting for Bayern Munich’s visit to Etihad for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter final this evening

Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Sunday Dare, has stressed that one of the legacies the outgoing government of President Muhammadu Buhari will be remembered for is the the huge efforts on rehabilitation and maintenance of sporting facilities in Nigeria.

Dare insisted at the weekend in Lagos during a short visit to the National Stadium, Surulere that the turn-around of sporting facilities in the last eight years of the Buhari regime has been outstanding despite the challenges of COVID-19 which brought the world to a standstill for about one and a half years.

“Tremendous progress has been made because Mr. President encouraged PublicPrivate Partnership and he also endorsed the 10-year Football Masterplan which is gradually being implemented.

“The Adopt-A-Pitch initiative brought back the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja which was abandoned for 13 years.

It was Alhaji Aliko Dangote who assisted us. The National Stadium is under rehabilitation and the N400m Chief Adebutu Kessington assisted us with could only handle three of the problem areas, yet 80 per cent

of the job has been done.

“FG spent over N300m on Obafemi Awolowo Stadium while the Games Village in Surulere, Lagos is also receiving attention currently.

“We needed N21billion to fix it and so what we got (N400m) was about four per cent of the money we need. The Sports Ministry supported the sponsor with over N200million. There were 17 problem areas to be tackled and COVID-19 affected the fortunes of some companies we expected to assist us.

Standard time for a stadium before major renovations is 30 years. Surulere National Stadium is 51 years old. It was abandoned for 18 years. We are asking for N21b, which is $43m,” observed the minister.

Sports Ministry sources revealed that the average global estimate for stadium renovations range between $400m and $678m. For example, the Wembley Stadium was built at a cost of £798 million (£1.27 billion today, Real Madrid Stadium renovations cost $700m while the renovation of a 12,000 capacity stadium in Maldives will cost $25m.

The Abuja National Stadium costs about $360m 20 years ago and only recently Julius Berger brought a bill of N1.2billion for the yearly maintenance which the FG could not fund.

Guardiola Facing His Nemesis as Man City Battle Bayern in Q’final Dabiri-Erewa Applauds The real business end of the UEFA Champions League starts today with the final eight going head-tohead in the quarter-final first legs.

And expectedly, Pep Guardiola goes back to face his old club for the first time since leaving Bayern Munich for Manchester City in 2016.

He was expecting to face a Julian Nagelsmann team again

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (having beaten his Hoffenheim twice in 2018-19), but the German side recently sacked him and appointed Thomas Tuchel - a name Guardiola is even more familiar with.

The managers have met 10 times before during a decade-long

rivalry with Guardiola winning six and Tuchel three - those successes all coming in a six-week spell between 17 April and 29 May 2021.

That run - which included Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final and Champions League final wins over City - led to a feeling that Tuchel had the edge on Guardiola. In that final Guardiola famously did not play a defensive midfielder

Super Falcons to Go All Out against New Zealand to Make a Point The Super Falcons will seek victory over World Cup co-hosts New Zealand in Turkey today to prove that their recent wins over Costa Rica and Haiti were no flukes, says team Captain, Onome Ebi. Goals by Esther Okoronkwo and Asisat Oshoala steered the nine-time African champions past Haiti in Antalya on Thursday, for a second consecutive win on the road. This came after the 1-0 defeat of Costa Rica at the Revelation Cup Tournament in Mexico, the goal also coming off the boot of Esther Okoronkwo.

“We have to maintain the form that we have attained over the past two matches,” Ebi told NFF official website moments after the team’s last training session at the Emir Sports Complex on Sunday.

“It is important for us to keep up the momentum, to keep winning and know that we can always overwhelm our opponents.

The spirit is back and we are determined to sustain it.”

Today’s clash against New Zealand will take place at the Mardan Sports Complex in Antalya, as from 4pmTurkish time (2pmNigeria time).

Ebi, who has played in five FIFA World Cup finals (USA 2003, China

2007, Germany 2011, Canada 2015 and France 2019) will be making her sixth appearance at football’s top table for women when the Falcons take on co-hosts Australia, Canada and Republic of Ireland in Melbourne and Brisbane this

summer.

“We suffered a poor patch for some months but we are happy to start winning again. The hard job is to sustain the winning streak and we’re ready to do that hard work.”

in a tactical gamble that failed.

But City beat Tuchel's Chelsea twice in the Premier League last season, and with four wins and a draw in Germany, including the 2016 DFB-Pokal final, Guardiola actually has the much better record.

Guardiola has had a mixed time against his old clubs. He has faced Barcelona four times since leaving - twice with City and twice with Bayern. He won two of those, but the other matches were 3-0 and 4-0 defeats.

from the fans.

“In line with our pronouncements on the process for selecting teams to participate in the Super 8 tournament, we are pleased to inform the Nigerian football community and stakeholders that voting which commenced on Monday 10th April will end on Friday 12th May. “We urge all football fans to take advantage of this new era in Nigeria’s club football history by voting their preferred club, either through the Naija Super 8 website, the mobile site, or via the MyDStv and MyGOtv apps.

MyDStv and MyGOtv App voting are open to active DStv and GOtv subscribers with eligible packages in selected countries.

“Like we have previously reiterated, this tournament intends to

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has commended Nigerian born New Zealand mixed martial artist, Israel Adesanya for his emphatic knockout win over his staunch opponent, Alex Pereira.

The NIDCOM boss, in a statement on Monday signed

by Gabriel Odu of the Media, Public Relations and Protocol

Unit of the Commission, said she believes that Adesanya's victory came through due to his determination, focus and resilience to succeed,” in the Nigerian spirit.

The Nigerian Stylebender win came after he was beaten thrice in previous bouts with the Brazilian, Alex Pereira.

Israel Adesanya reclaimed the Ultimate Fighting Championship title 287 at the FTX Arena, Miami, Florida on Sunday morning.

TODAY @8pm Benfica v Inter Milan Man City v B’Munich

WEDNESDAY AC Milan v Napoli Real Madrid v Chelsea

NAIJA SUPER 8: Clubs Excited as Voting Opens Naija Super 8, the recently unveiled football tournament for Nigerian clubs, has kicked off fan voting process for the Nigerian football clubs to participate in the playoffs, scheduled to hold in Uyo, this July.

The voting which commenced on Monday, April 10 and will close on Friday, May 12, has elicited excitement by football clubs shortlisted to participate in the tournament.

Speaking on the commencement of the voting, Managing Director, Flykite Productions, Jenkins Alumona, acknowledged the excitement and commitment shown by the shortlisted football clubs, and urged each of the clubs to embark on innovative fan engagement initiatives that will enable them garner votes

Adesanya’s Victory over Pereira

reignite fan interest in the Nigerian local football league. As such, we believe that it is imperative that the fans be enabled to participate in the team selection process of the tournament because football without the fans is nothing.”

Alumona also assured all stakeholders that the votes, collated by internationally recognized audit firm, Deloitte, will be credible.

“We can assure all stakeholders of the highest standard of transparency devoid of any form of malpractice as the voting process will be managed and audited by Deloitte, the same company which handles the voting process for Big Brother Naija”, he said.

The Naija Super 8 tournament is a Flykite Production sponsored

by DStv, MTN, SuperSport, GOtv and Moniepoint.

Heineken Pumps up Excitement as UCL ‘Cheers to All Fans’ Tour Begins in Owerri The excitement of the UEFA Champions League football is reaching fever pitch as the quarter-final matches take centre stage starting today.

Heineken, the premium beer brand from the stable of Nigerian Breweries PLC is adding to the excitement with its "Cheers to all fans" campaign.

Starting in Owerri, the tour will kick off with Chelsea and Real Madrid's second-leg quarter-final match at Stamford Bridge on April 18.

Although the atmosphere in London has been anything but exciting lately, it is guaranteed to be a fulfilled and action-packed night at the Chillis bar on Tuesday, April 18 when the "Cheers to all fans" tour begins in Owerri.

Champions League nights with Heineken have always been electrifying and much more is expected this term with the extended “Cheers to all fans" campaign which more than anything else reiterates fans' inclusivity without

female stereotypes.

Bants, beer, top-notch music from star artists, jokes, quiz competitions as well as plenty of prizes are some of the guaranteed attractions for every Champions League night with Heineken.

“Football is a beautiful game to be enjoyed by all. We at Heineken are passionate about giving our loyal customers and fans alike the best possible viewing experience “Our strategic intent is to improve the viewing experience for all fans irrespective of gender, clubs supported, banter, and game's outcome we embrace and celebrate with you,” Portfolio Manager – Premium Lager, Sampson Oloche stated.

While Owerri is taking the shine in the quarter-final, attention will shift to Warri and Abuja for the second-leg semi-final games billed for May 16 and 17.

A befitting climax is in the offing when the final of this year’s Champions League will be enjoyed in Lagos by fans.

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

TR

UT H

& RE A S O

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Price: N250

MISSILE

Doctors to National Assembly

“We received with a rude shock the news of a bill purporting to make it mandatory for fresh medical graduates to provide services to Nigeria for up to five years before receiving a full registration and licence to practise. This proposal is such that they would not be able to leave the country until after five years post qualification. It is even more worrisome that the bill has passed through the second reading.

We hereby convey our total rejection of the bill and pray that it should be thrown out completely“ --Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), opposing the proposed toxic bill.

TUESDAY WITH REUBENABATI abati1990@gmail.com

“OBIdients,”Soyinka, Chimamanda And The Climate Of Fear

T

he “Obidients” – supporters of the mission and vision of Mr. Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party in Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential election had it coming. And now they are getting their “comeuppance” served in flagellating doses, from Professor Wole Soyinka, grandmaster in the art of dissent, debate and reasoning who has all it takes to sustain an intellectual fight in the public arena. In two high-profile television interviews in recent weeks Channels TV and Arise News, and two published commentaries: “Media Responsibility” and “Fascism on Course”, Professor Wole Soyinka has reacted robustly to what he describes as a predilection for fascism on the part of the “Obidients.” Fascism also means dictatorship, tyranny, autocracy, intolerance, the unwillingness to entertain the other view, the tendency to assume that one’s opinion is supreme and superior and that other human beings do not matter. Remember Hitler.

Think Italy’s Benito Mussolini. Fascists simply want to have their way no matter what others think or suggest.

The catalyst for President Wole Soyinka’s intervention was an interview on Channels TV by the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the course of which he said that it would be unconstitutional to swear in the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29, 2023, and that doing so would “signal the end of democracy.” Soyinka upbraided Datti Baba-Ahmed for saying uncomplimentary things about the Nigerian judiciary in a subsequent interview with Channels TV and cautioned against the resort to the use of words that smack of fascism. Indeed, he pointed out that he had advised Peter Obi that if he lost the election, it would be partly because of those persons called “Obidients”. He went further to advise Datti Ahmed to desist from “television tirade of intimidation.” I would ordinarily think that this should not have generated any drama. What Soyinka said simply is that nobody should be a judge in his own cause or dictate to the judiciary.

Every elementary student of law must have heard of the maxim: nemo judex in causa sua. Following the February 25 Presidential election which Obi and Datti Ahmed claimed they and their party, the Labour Party won, they have since gone to court to file a petition.

It amounts to contempt of court to even attempt to comment on the matter that has been handed over to the courts to determine. Besides when Datti Baba-Ahmed said it would be un-constitutional or undemocratic to swear in the President-elect on May 29, he missed the point. The current President’s tenure, after the maximum limit of two terms guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution, ends on May 29. The law does not allow him to stay a day longer. The Constitution does not provide for a vacuum either. The only legitimate concern that has been raised is the suggestion by Olisa Agbakoba SAN that election disputes should be concluded, before inauguration as is the case in other countries, especially Kenya. While there are many who would share this view, the truth is that the current system in Nigeria makes that difficult.

Agbakoba says the judiciary should be pro-active and adopt methods of arbitration and deal swiftly with constitutional and technical issues within seven days. The Nigerian judicial system is not structured to be pro-active. It works at snail speed in the best of circumstances. The courts are over-burdened. The judges are overworked and they do not have enough support systems. Lawyers are never in a hurry. In election matters, they would depend on the time limitations provided for in Section 285 (6) of the 1999 Constitution. Where we are today is an improvement in the adjudication of election matters; it used to take up to three years to resolve an election dispute.

The best that can be proposed is a further amendment of the Constitution with regard to the handling of election cases. It doesn’t require much intelligence therefore to see that a new administration would be inaugurated on May 29, and while the cases at the tribunals and courts continue, new persons would have settled into office. The real issue is that the power of incumbency would have shifted and the new persons in office would use it to their own advantage. There

Soyinka

Chimamanda

is so much tension in the land also because Nigerians do not trust the judiciary. They have seen too many cases of how the courts determined election petitions in a manner that caused confusion. In this country, a man once became a Governor of a state without going through the process. He didn’t even print posters not to talk of campaigning. In this same country, a man who did not take part in party primaries was declared a candidate and he got re-elected to the Senate. Is it not in this same country that the Supreme Court ruled that someone who came fourth in a gubernatorial election was the winner? The bigger irony is that many Nigerians now regard the judiciary as a truly Nigerian space where anything is possible beyond the facts and the law.

The sub-text of Soyinka’s intervention, as I see it, was to remind everyone of basic principles, an instruction in the values of order, justice, and the importance of institutions. Those who seek justice should not defeat the same purpose by dictating what kind of justice suits them, and insist solely on their view of the coin. Mr. Peter Obi, the LP Presidential candidate had always insisted that he has strong faith in the judicial process and he is committed to exploring every legal and constitutional means to “reclaim what he calls “his stolen mandate”. Indeed, on one occasion, Mr Obi in an interview on Arise TV tried to make a distinction between Obidients and members of the Labour Party when he pointed out that there are many Obidients who are not members of the Labour Party and that not all party members are Obidients, which I understood to mean that he, as a person does not dictate to Obidients, even if he is the rallying point for the aspirations of the group, made up mostly of young, angry Nigerians who want change, a transition away from the old political order, and who consider Peter Obi’s political philosophy a good expression of those aspirations. They galvanized momentum and passion around Peter Obi and the Labour Party in the last elections.

Professor Wole Soyinka has spoken about his preference for a third force, a fresh option which may well be represented by Peter Obi, and so you could say he is one of those persons who consider Peter Obi a possibility. His only complaint was about the intolerance and the fascism of Obidients. Any close watcher of the political scene would recall how Obidients in the lead up to the elections, took over the social media.

They deployed vitriol, abuse, intimidation, harassment.

Anyone who disagreed with them was insulted and disparaged. Opposition spokespersons soon labelled them “Obidiots”. But they were combat-ready. And it

is that same combative spirit that they have taken to Professor Wole Soyinka’s door step. The old sage has refused to be intimidated. He says “Obidients is one of the most repulsive, off-putting concoctions I ever encountered in any political arena.” He accuses them of projecting their disdain for “corrective criticism” as a badge of honour and certificate of commitment… rabid parochial minds of easy excitation, the tyranny of the ignorant, and the opportunism of time-servers… living in a world of false mythologies.” This is not flattering at all, but the Obidients asked for it.

Their response to Professor Soyinka was bound to get them such whiplash. Some of the responses on social media and elsewhere have been so discourteous and rude. In this season of reckless conduct, people hide under the anonymity that social media offers and heap abuse on persons whose shoe lace they cannot ever hope to tie. Even the more direct and open responses have been shocking. Charly Boy, “Area Fada and an Obidient,” like many others told Professor Soyinka: “You can’t be compared with Chinua Achebe”. Please what has Chinua Achebe got to do with this matter?

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), through Emmanuel Onwubiko wrote that Soyinka “should stop siding with the oppressors and tyrants.”

Could that be Onwubiko speaking for himself for it would be most strange for a body like HURIWA to accuse Soyinka of supporting tyrants when that is the same tendency that he deplores? Then of course, I saw a comment by Daniel Bwala, spokesperson of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) asking that Professor Soyinka should have a debate with Chimamanda Adichie. Bwala can claim his right to free speech, but he is at best a busy-body in this instance. Yusuf Tanko, the chief spokesperson of the Labour Party had already addressed the matter when he responded to Professor Soyinka’s invitation of Datti Baba-Ahmed to a debate. He said the Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate declines the invitation for political and cultural reasons. Before nko? It would be foolhardy for Datti Ahmed to go into a debate with a man of Soyinka’s stature. What I find surprising in all of this however, is a certain Easter message attributed to Mr. Peter Obi in which he talked about “orchestrated efforts to demarket and delegitimize the OBIdient movement.”

Is that a veiled attack on Professor Wole Soyinka? So far, Mr Obi has maintained his cool in the political arena, he should not allow himself to be hijacked by an emerging “personality cult.”

But isn’t this a sign of the times though? It is not only Obidients that are in a foul mood. The triumphant members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are

not better. They in fact have a much larger tendency for fascism that is frightening, and the real fear is that when these persons get to the corridors of power, their arrogance and imperialism would know no bounds.

While the Obidients scream on social media, the BATists, that is the supporters and spokespersons of the APC and President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu shoot from the hips on all platforms. Before and after the elections, they have been on the offensive, making it seem as if they have won a war, and must gather prisoners and shoot them down. They act based on suspicion.

They respond to every little comment. They are quick to do the dirty job on their principal’s behalf, victory has become their aphrodisiac. It does not matter to them that the February 25 Presidential election is now a matter before the election petition tribunal. They openly taunt the opposition to go to court, giving the impression that nothing unfavourable to their party and candidate would come out of there.

Their latest target is Chimamanda Adichie, the distinguished, internationally acclaimed writer, who sent a letter to President Joe Biden on the Nigerian elections, in which she condemned the Nigerian electoral process, and accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of being compromised.

The attack launched by spokespersons and supporters of the APC on Chimamanda Adichie must be quite shocking to her. She has been accused of being a tribal bigot, an Obidient, supporting a former Governor of her state, and an unpatriotic Nigerian maligning her country. And how dare she report Nigeria, a sovereign state to Joe Biden? The APC attack team has also sent letters to the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada to debunk Ms. Adichie’s reflections on the 2023 election. One commentator, Femi Fani-Kayode to be specific, dismissed her letter as a “boring epistle of dishonest garbage” – except that Adichie is incapable of writing garbage! She has also been accused of colonial mentality and sedition, with calls that she should be sued. President Biden has been advised to ignore her. Ms. Adichie wrote: “Congratulating the election’s outcome, President Biden tarnishes America’s self-proclaimed commitment to democracy. Please do not give the sheen of legitimacy to an illegitimate process. The United States should be what it says it is.” Unlike Professor Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Adichie has not responded to the backlash that she got. She obviously thinks silence is the best answer for the APC crowd.

Thus, within the same period two prominent Nigerian writers, Soyinka and Adichie being attacked for expressing views about the conduct of politics and political players in Nigeria. Both the elder and the younger writer are drawing attention to omissions that could have far-reaching implications. Their mode of intervention may differ, but in truth, they are both concerned about the health of our nation, and the character of the political class. Soyinka is a national treasure, a global humanist and one of the best thinkers of the century. Ms. Adichie is one of Nigeria’s great ambassadors on the world stage with her contributions to culture, literature and knowledge. Writers are the conscience of the nation.

Their job is to speak truth to power, shape public thought, create a current of ideas, no matter whose ox is gored. Soyinka is the elder statesman calling for restraint. Ms Adichie expresses the feelings of many of her generation who feel disappointed by the 2023 election. Critical as her piece may seem, she has not said anything that is not out there in public.

It would be wrong to assume that only persons inside Nigeria or who voted during the elections are entitled to comment on the outcome. It is not even a sin for writers or any citizens at all to hold political beliefs. What is objectionable is the growing drift towards fascism in Nigeria’s political space. It reflects a culture of intolerance that erodes the tenets of democracy and human freedom.

Beyond all the expectations about the immediate future of Nigeria, it must be possible to take our country back from the fringes of despair, hate and division to which it has been driven by the recent elections.

It must be possible again to have healthy, open and decent conversations in the public sphere. This calls for leadership, restraint, and above all wisdom.

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