Category: Politics

WHEN it was first reported, I could not believe it. Why would anyone enlist Obasanjo, with his record of election infractions, to monitor the presidential poll in Ghana? What could have recommended him? Successful elections have been held in other African countries- in Sierra Leone, Liberia and the same Ghana. Why did Ghana and the international community choose to look in Obasanjo’s direction this time?

Perhaps we need to refresh the memories of those who took that decision that is a direct assault on democracy. It was Obasanjo as president, desperate to be returned to office who described the 2003 election as a do-or-die contest. As such, he regarded every weapon as fair in prosecuting the battle. In the Southwest, he deceived the governors who agreed to partner him in the reelection bid. And, characteristically, he turned his back on them after he had been elected. He kept his seat: they lost theirs.

Two, it is not too long ago that he declared that the late Lamidi Adedibu should be acknowledged as the Garrison Commander of the Oyo State front for the Peoples Democratic Party Army. Adedibu, known for his very hard tackles on the pitch and a willingness to cut down anyone regarded as standing in his way, was thus further emboldened to rule the waves in his territory. He called Obasanjo the Baba of Nigeria and they became good comrades on the battle field. To Adedibu, it was not out of place to put the sledgehammer to use in killing a fly or even a mosquito.

When it caught the fancy of the man known as the strongman of Ibadan politics, he adopted the Chris Uba style in kicking away a sitting governor. Whereas Obasanjo had put the dreaded EFCC machine to work in impeaching Joshua dariye in Plateau State, he left the task for Adedibu in Oyo State. With presidential backing, it cost very little to get a minority of the legislators to remove Governor Rashidi Ladoja. Realising that as sitting governor, it would be difficult to get two-thirds majority of the state lawmakers to do the job as spelt out in the constitution, Adedibu quarantined the few who agreed to follow baba’s dictates to execute the “coup” at D’Rovan Hotel in Ibadan as against the Agodi Parliament Building designated for carrying out all lawful business of the House of Assembly.

In Bayelsa, as it was in Plateau and Ekiti, the EFCC did the hatchet job. It did not matter to the president that the constitution is the grundnorm and must be followed to the letter. He fought whoever stood on his way. Obasanjo did not believe that anyone could disagree with him on principle. All through his tenure, he regarded leaders of the National Assembly as enemies who has to be crushed whenever they had difference in opinion. Except for Evan(s) Enwerem who he succeeded in imposing as Senate President, all others, from Chuba Okadigbo to Ken Nnamani, were treated as adversaries.

What role did Obasanjo play in promoting democracy within his party? The first indication that the man was still as much a dictator as he was when he had to step aside in 1979 came when he told the PDP leaders that he had assumed power as Leader of the Party. As such, he literally dictated who emerged national official of the party and how resolutions were reached. If anyone is in any doubt, he should read again the altercations between the former Head of State and Chief Audu Ogbeh before the man was pummeled to submission. He imposed and removed Barnabas Gemade, replaced him with Audu Ogbeh and at his pleasure, Ahmadu Alli was recruited for the job. He saw to iit that a decent and independent-minded Awoniyi did not take charge of the party. Under his watch, disaffection reigned in the party and those who could not stomach the development quit the stage. That is the man who has now been procured to monitor and report on the election in Ghana.

We could not all have forgotten what happened in Imo State in 2007. Obasanjo was convinced that Senator Ifeanyi Araraume did not deserve to be elected the state governor. As usual, he did not bother to follow the rules in denying him the PDP ticket. The Senator approached the court and proved that he had won the primary election held for the purpose. The courts granted Araraume’s prayers. Yet, Obasanjo was not satisfied; he found a way round getting the crony he had installed as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deny the Senator victory. Rather, a non-existent Progressive Peoples Alliance was announced winner of the election.

In nearby Rivers State, the same treatment was meted to Rotimi Amaechi who had won the primary. He was shoved aside because Obasanjo thought his emergence had k-leg. Like emperors in the 14th century, he felt he owed no one any explanation as he procured a Celestine Omehia to fly the PDP flag. It took a grim battle to redress the injustice.

Now, what experience is Obasanjo sharing with them in Ghana? It is on record that he conducted the worst elections in the history of Nigeria. That was the consensus by all international and domestic observers and monitors. Even the man who was imposed on Nigeria by the former dictator, the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua conceded that the process that brought him to power was flawed. Consequently, he set up the Uwais Commission which the successors-in-title to Obasanjo have failed to implement fully.

All lovers of democracy should enlist in the task of stopping Obasanjo. He is set to further dent Nigeria’s image.

Human rights crusader and Niger Delta activist, Annkio Briggs, minces no words when she talks about underdevelopment of the oil-producing region. In this interview with our Abuja Bureau Chief, Yomi Odunuga and Correspondents, Bukola Amusan and Faith Yahaya, the 60-year-old said former President Olusegun Obasanjo should face criminal trial for Odi massacre. Excerpts:

Recently, former President Olusegun Obasanjo expressed deep reservations about what he described as President Jonathan’s slow response to tackling the Boko Haram menace, noting that a more active measure, like the way he handled the Odi case, would rein in the Islamist sect. What is your take on Obasanjo’s comment?

First of all, we should not forget that former President Olusegun Obasanjo is referring to the total destruction of a whole community in Bayelsa State, which is Odi. He destroyed the whole community, not one house was left standing.

Those are not nineteen houses as he is claiming that they killed nineteen people that killed seven policemen in Odi. He alienated a whole community. We have the list on record of the names of the people that were killed in that community. Number two, Obasanjo, by his position on the matter of Boko Haram, is saying that he expects Jonathan to have moved in to destroy the community not only because Boko Haram is suspected to be there but that he should have also killed people in those communities. That is the implication of what Gen. Obasanjo has said.

When a man like Obasanjo, who is acknowledged or claimed to be a leader in this country and someone who is supposed to be respected in the international community, now says he expects a serving president in 2012 to go and kill people, to teach a lesson, to nip an issue in the bud; that is what he is saying.

This is a man that is supposed to be representing the United Nations in some African countries; he is saying that he expects Jonathan to have gone to the North and start killing people because Boko Haram people are killing people. Yes, Boko Haram are killing people and we are offended by what they are doing and they should stop it. But that does not mean Jonathan should be as barbaric and genocidal as what Obasanjo perpetrated in Odi.

You used a very strong word, genocide, to describe what happened in Odi. Are you considering taking further action on the matter?

Definitely, since he made that statement, that issue is being discussed.  And why not? We may sue him. It was human beings that were killed in Odi, it is not fishes; those are blood and flesh, human beings that were killed for no reason. The people were old, men of 90 years, 80 years old and children were killed/ Pregnant women died, women were raped in that activity that took place in Odi.

So, is it because Ijaws did not go to the court of human right or any court at all in this world that Obasanjo now has the courage to justify that genocide?  Thirteen years the Odi killings took place in 1999, the horrible incident happened to Ijaw people and 4000 of my kith and kin were killed for no just reason by the President of Nigeria at that time. Is it because we have allowed it to go that he feels he can reopen the wound and just wave it aside and refer to the destruction of a community, as nipping something in the bud. So, if he goes to war, what will he really do? Well, I take that question  back because I know what he will do, because he was in the Third Marine Commando in Rivers State.

But, quite honestly, would you say President Jonathan has been able to handle the Boko Haram insurgence the way it should be handled?

We should ask ourselves, what do we want the president to do in the case of Boko Haram? Should he go in, as Obasanjo has suggested, killing people and destroying communities or should he single-handedly identify people who are Boko Haram? We have police officers in this country, we have Inspector General of Police, we have Commissioner of Police in those areas, we have officers in the State Security Services and we have the Army. The military is still occupying the Niger Delta.

Recently they just brought gun boats into the Niger Delta, they have gone to occupy some parts of the region. So, if that is what Nigeria is about, that the military will take over at the drop of a pin, then let us have it all over Nigeria and not just one area.

Why is Obasanjo raising this issue of Boko Haram and comparing it to the barbaric act that went on in Odi? Are we saying that Jonathan should send the military in and go and kill people in the North? Is that what we are saying in this country? I think what Obasanjo did then was wrong and what he is suggesting is wrong.

Let us not forget that Sharia was brought into this country by the then Governor of Zamfara State. At that time, a state religion was not allowed by the constitution of Nigeria but Obasanjo allowed it. And Boko Haram is actually part of it because it is part of the system he allowed. Did he nip Sharia in the bud then? Why didn’t he nip Sharia in the bud? He said Sharia would go away, so why should he not say we should fold our hands and watch Boko Haram go away because he said Sharia would go away? Has Sharia gone away?  See where Nigeria is today.

But we must agree that Obasanjo was right in warning the Jonathan government against a revolution by the youth due to the rising rate of unemployment. Or do you also disagree with this?

How many jobs did Obasanjo provide in his eight years as a democratically-elected President? Can he give us a figure? He said he brought down inflation, what was it when he came? It was under him that the production of oil was brought down to an alarming rate because of his ways of handling things in the Niger Delta?

Let me say that the issue of security in Nigeria and the issue of the economy in Nigeria is based on oil and gas production. If you understand this theory, then you will know that it was during Obasanjo’s time that things began to deteriorate indefinitely in the second part of his eight years tenure. It was during his time that people like Asari Dokubo made the price of fuel to go so high and the production of oil in Nigeria started coming down.

So, if he is comparing his governance to the governance of Yar’adua/Goodluck and subsequently Jonathan/Sambo era, he is a key player. Obasanjo is a key player in the sense that he brought these people in and if he brought these people and he has issues with them, then as Nigerians, we should be asking, what went wrong, what are the issues that Obasanjo is having with them? Is itissue of loss of control on his part? What really is the problem?

What do you think really went wrong with the relationship between Jonathan and Obasanjo?

Well, Nigerians are grownups and there is what they call reading between the line and there is what I also call in this country, the PDP issue. The Peoples Democratic Party is the problem of Nigeria; it is the worst thing that has happened to this country. The reason I am saying this is that the PDP has governed this country since 1999 when Obasanjo came into power and when he left the Prison to become the President. I think that the expectations of Nigerians were dashed.

Your  people, what do they want?

We want control of the resources. It is our resources and it is on our land. It is military decree that has taken our right and our resources. We have lost everything. Even now that we have a president from Niger Delta, if you take into consideration he has been there for two and half years and we still have nothing to show for it. He is the president of Nigeria and not of Niger Delta.

Let’s talk about specifics, what do you want?

At the very minimum, we want exactly what happened when there was cocoa and when there was groundnut, timber and rubber. And I think we cannot be said to be greedy if we say we should keep 50 percent and then have the same share as it was then.

Why can’t the governors in the region spend the huge allocation they get monthly to develop the zone?

That is another story and it comes under what is called corruption and it is right in Nigeria. It is not just in the Niger Delta, it is everywhere. The Niger Delta states are the largest funders of the PDP.

We fund the PDP. Which other state is funding PDP? We fund everything that the PDP does in this country.

The President said he was not interested in Sovereign National Conference because here is no provision for it and that the National Assembly should find a way to ensure equity. Do you think amending the constitution will help in the Niger Delta?

I am not interested in the amendment of the Constitution. We do not have a constitution in Nigeria. What we have is a military decree not a constitution because it was handed over to Obasanjo when he came into office. We want a brand new constitution.

If the President says that he is not interested in Sovereign National Conference, I think he is wrong. It is not his interest we are talking about here. We are talking about what Nigerians say they are interested in.

If Nigerians say they want a Sovereign National Conference or a national dialogue, it is the responsibility of the president to say this is what my people want. Let the National Assembly tell him that it is not in the constitution and then let Nigerians who want this dialogue find a way around the constitution.

But the fact remains that Nigerians want a dialogue and we must have a dialogue. I want to say here that not only do we want a dialogue, we want a brand new constitution that we will all sit down and be part of so that we can say that this is the constitution of the people of Nigeria.

If the president also says that it is not in the constitution, is Boko Haram killing people in the constitution? Is Sharia law in the constitution? Is corruption in the constitution? Do we have looting and stealing and the way they are doing things, are they in the constitution? So, if the president says certain things are not in the constitution, we should take him up on the things that are going on in Nigeria which are unconstitutional. I believe truly that that is what Nigerians should be doing. Nigerians should take the government on, on every single thing that the government does that is unconstitutional.

What do you think should be done or included in the constitution so that the people’s interest can be protected?

I was in a meeting with certain key people, I’m not at liberty to call their names, but I can say that what we discussed was about the Sovereign National Conference. There is a demand for it. There is even another school of thought that is saying, ‘let’s even forget sitting down to talk, lets go straight to a referendum.’ There are people that are even calling for a referendum right now and really we should have a discussion from which will emerge a referendum.

That’s what the people are saying today. The people are frustrated about everything today. Now, if that is what Nigerians are asking for, who is that person kicking against it? Power belongs to us, it doesn’t belong to anybody sitting in the National Assembly anywhere or one political party that calls itself any name. No. Nigeria belongs to you and I and we should begin to take this power and turn it around and push things in the direction that will work for us.

What inspires your activist tendencies?

Justice. I grew up in the creeks of Niger Delta. I grew up fetching water in a well that was dug by my grandfather and it was polluted but I did not die. But, today, my children cannot drink from that water. It is not development. It is lack of it. I went to primary school in my community but my children cannot even spend two nights there. I grew up without government supplying me electricity but my father had generator and till today there is no electricity in my community. It is of recent that they are bringing wires and it is like that in most communities across the country.

Is there any hope for Nigeria?

There is hope. Hope and faith mean believing in something and actually working towards it. In our case, we should hope and say this is what we want and act on it. If we remain fearful and over-cautious, this is how we will go on and the things that we can afford today will not be affordable by tomorrow. This is an animal farm. Nigeria is a farm and we can be great if the right people are used.

In Abia State,  Progressive Peoples’ Alliance (PPA) has flagged off new strategies aimed at winning the 2015 governorship election, reports Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke in Umuahia

Leaders of Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) have launched intensive underground moves aimed at repositioning the party to win the 2015 governorship election.

This is even as the ruling party in the state, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has also initiated new reconciliatory strategies aimed at further consolidating its hold on the party.

It could be recalled that the party won Abia in the 2003 gubernatorial election before its candidate and present governor of the state, Chief Theodore Orji, defected to the PDP after winning the seat under PPA.

Confirming what insiders described as the successes of the underground moves, the party’s new state chairman, Prince Emeka Okafor said in Aba, last week that PPA has fully come back to take what was taken away from her through the back door and without negotiation.

Okafor said the people of the state have been crying that PPA should come back and give them purposeful leadership which he said had been lacking in the past six years.

He also alleged that it was only PPA that has the capacity to bring good governance to the people of the Abia State which it won convincingly in 2007.

The Abia PPA chairman assured that the party will give the state the right direction it has longed for all these years after winning the 2015 election.

Okafor, who was the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in the first tenure of the administration of Gov. Orji said as part of the repositioning exercise that new hands had been injected into the state executive and called on all intending new members to register at the nearest ward office.

The new executive of the party in Abia state is made up of the following, Prince Emeka Okafor, chairman; Uche Enyioko, secretary; Ogbonna Nwachukwu, financial secretary; Jones Udeogu, treasurer; Chris Aja, auditor and Nkem Nwankwo, assistant secretary.

Others include Rose Onyendilefu, woman leader; Pascal Adighije, legal adviser; elder Prince Nwokocha, organizing secretary; Oliver Obiezu, publicity secretary and Ula Eke Okarazu, vice chairman, North.

Also on the list are K.C. Ugbaja, vice chairman, central; Lazarus Obeta, vice chairman, south; Uwakwe Okoronkwo, ex- officio, South; S.A Idika, ex-officio, North and Ndubuisi Ohakalam, ex-officio, Central.

PDP’s new moves

A chieftain of the Abia state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh, who confirmed the party’s new moves also called on all former members of the party who had left the party to seek actualisation of their political ambitions in other parties to come back and help rebuild the party.

Speaking at his country home at Oboro in Ikwuano council area of the state, Ikoh said that there Abia state is a PDP state and therefore need all the capable hands to maintain their status in the political dispensation in the country.

Ikoh noted that as a PDP state it will make a lot of sense for them to retain the state and join hands with the party [PDP] which is controlling the government at the federal level to move the state and country forward, adding that it will also help them to get their share from the federal government with ease.

He however said that even as they want those who left to come back, “We are not going to admit everyone, we have to look at those who are coming back and see if they have the qualities that will help us move both the party and state forward”.

Ikoh said, “I see a political party like a Church where the door is always open for all to come in and worship, but even at the church the doors are not open to mad people, so we want party members to come back but not those who will come in to destroy our great party”.

The Abia PDP chieftain also used the forum to call for support for the administration of Governor Theodore Orji, saying that so far the governor has done well, “with the things we are seeing both in Aba and Umuahia which has never been like this before”.

He also called on the federal government to come to the aid of the state by repairing all the federal roads in the state, adding that the national assembly members from the state should also pressurise the president to help the state on federal roads repair.

Ikoh lamented the deplorable condition of the Ikot Ekpene-Umuahia which is a federal road, saying that it was affecting the economic activities, especially his form factory, but commended Governor Orji for awarding the contract to electrify his area.

Senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, believes it is easier for “a very fat cow to pass through the eye of a needle” than for a new state to be created. In this interaction with newsmen in Calabar, Ndoma-Egba, who represents the Central Senatorial District in Cross River State, explains why the call for Ogoja State remains elusive. Nicholas Kalu reports

What is your opinion on state creation and particularly on the call by your people for an Ogoja State to be created?

My personal opinion really does not matter. If you look at the procedure for state creation, it is more elaborate than the provision for even amending the constitution. Because that is one area, I think provision is made for a referendum.

The people have to say whether or not they want it. So at that point if the people have the ultimate say, my opinion is irrelevant because they still have to vote to say whether or not they want it.

That is one. Two, I have already said that it is more stringent than amending the constitution, but state creation is also part of the constitutional amendment process. For you to create a state, you require the support of at least 24 state houses of assembly. We have talked about Ogoja state.

Now there are two processes involved in state creation and constitutional amendment. The legislative process which is where I may have a say as a legislator and then there is the political process which is where you have 24 houses of assembly to support you. That process is outside me, but that is the more critical aspect of the process. How do you get 24 houses of assembly to support your request for state against their requests?

Let me give you a picture of what we have on ground. As at this morning that we were leaving Abuja, they were 57 requests for state creation. There is virtually no state that has not asked for another state. So, how are you going to convince another state that has asked for its own state to abandon its own state and support your own state? Have we put the political process in motion? So when we talk about state creation, what I read is emotion. Oh we want so and so state. You know Nigeria is a country where we breed scape goats.

I ask the question, what have we done apart from sitting in the comforts of our homes, beer parlour to say we want a state. What else have we done? Which other states have we engaged to persuade to say look, drop your own request and support ours. What steps have we taken in that regard? So at the end of the day, we have 57 states.

Nobody has come to me to say please drop your peoples’ request for Ogoja State and support ours. Just like I suspect we too have not gone anywhere to tell them please drop your own and support us.

So if we have 57 states, my logical reading without any emotion is that I don’t see how we can convince 24 states to drop their own and support ours when we also have their own requests pending. It is possible to create states, but it would be easier for a very fat cow to pass through the eye of a needle and it has nothing to do with me. It is the constitutional provision.

Should we continue to deceive our people and encourage them because it is politically convenient to say we want a state when at the end of the day, you know that nothing is being done. I ask who has ever invited me to sit down and discuss whether or not we need another state in Cross River. So what I am trying to say is that the pursuit of an Ogoja State is just on the realm of emotion, wishful thinking if you permit me.

Don’t you think more states would bring about more development in the country?

I grew up at a time when they were three regions and from there we had four regions. From there to 12 states and then 19 states. As a matter of fact, I was commissioner when we had just 19 states in the country. Let us look at our economy. As at 1965 when we had four regions that was when the economy of Nigeria was competing with Brazil, Indonesia, and those other places.

They have retained the number of regions they had. See where they are today. We have gone ahead to multiply states, see where we are. We have reached a point today, where when local governments pay salaries, it is a major achievement. It should not be an issue. I grew up at a time when county councils now called local governments were building roads.

The first tarred road in Ikom was built by the county council. They were building waterworks, schools and so on. Now we are talking about development. What development are we talking about? By the time we had four regions, they were contributing to the federal purse, today what happens. So it is something I think we should take a very sober look at. I have done an analysis. I presented a paper many years ago, and I look at what I call our development curve. When we had four regions, we were competing with the economy of the world. When we had 12 states, they could cater for themselves.

When we had 19 states, I don’t remember as commissioner for works, any abandoned project because we had money. We were not borrowing. Today we are creating more states and we are borrowing and you call it development. In what context? I think we should reflect again. I am not saying I am for or against, but let us do an important reflection on whether what we are calling development is development at all.

Special Adviser on Diaspora Matters to Governor Theodore Orji, Hon Kingsley Onyemaechi Megwara was home recently to explain the importance of his portfolio and the many awards and accolades that came the governor’s way recently at home and the Diaspora. He spoke with selected journalists.

Honourable Kingsley Onyemaechi Megwara, Special Adviser on Diaspora Matters to Governor Theodore Orji looks like a man who saw tomorrow. His early sojourn to the United States of America where he read Criminology at Georgia State University after a stint at Williams Memorial Secondary School Ohuhu Umuahia and Atlanta Metropolitan College, Atlanta Georgia prepared him for a life of self exploration and discovery.

Backstage

You would have thought Megwara would have elected to join the police force or a more investigation oriented career to unravel the complexities of man buried in the hidden recesses of the mind. Instead he turned himself into a walking question mark either floating entirely new worlds of business or offering new ideas to existing concepts. Now looking back to the many wars he joined the governor to fight, he has no regrets. After his inability to gain a ticket to contest for election to the House of Representatives, Megwara got an opportunity to run for election to the state House of Assembly under the defunct Progressive Peoples Alliance but lost to Emeka Ejiogu. Nonetheless, His Excellency Governor Theodore Orji created a platform for him to express himself as he was appointed deputy chairman of Umuahia North LGA between 2008 and 2010.

Diaspora Matters Job

Weighed against this background, the anchorman of Governor Orji’s Diaspora matters, Megwara, is eminently qualified to drive the department, which has largely situated Abia of the present dispensation as Nigeria’s next destination for investment in different portfolio baskets. Megwara muses: “The Diaspora Matters unit is His Excellency’s way of reaching out to Abia sons and daughters, who are desirous of making contact with the state government while also attempting to attract foreign investment either directly or in partnership with other Abia sons and daughters, who come home regularly to make professional inputs in the development of the state.

There is an outflow of great enthusiasm by Abians in the Diaspora to add value with their professional know how in taking the state to the next level. Most people who kept away from home because of bad governance are coming back to assist if only to add relevance to the adage that when a man of God is on the throne, the people rejoice. This is the case of His Excellency Governor Theodore Orji.” A medical mission in 2011 was led by a Californian resident Mrs Felicia Ekeke from Ukwa West LGA. Ekeke shipped in a 40 feet container full of medical equipment and drugs distributed to the 17 LGAs in Abia. Then came the office of the first Lady of Abia, Her Excellency Lady Odochi Orji, which collaborated with Abians in the USA, who with American and South African doctors carried out surgical and optical work for those with eye problems and victims of breast cancer. Megwara bubbles with enthusiasm and a sense of great expectation each time he talks of his boss and the transformation going on in Abia. He continues with his explanatory expositions: “Most of the investments projects recently attracted are in the hospitality business and skill acquisition. A skill acquisition centre was set up in Abia Polytechnic, with Mr Ukoha, an Abian based in Germany as the arrow head. Engineer Ukoha has so far confined the centre to the production of shoes, clothes, and bags. Adds Megwara: “Confidence is returning to Abia State with a renewed energy to investors. In London, an Abian, Michael Igwe, is putting together a number of investors for an investment mission to the state. Abia is no longer code red.” In the refinery sector, Megwara points to real developmental efforts as work in progress. Saudi Arabian oil company, the Akalmali Group visited Ukwa West and saw room for partnership with state government leaving Abia with all the prospects for future investment. Only recently, Shoprite was launched in a groundbreaking ceremony at the Old Garki market in Umuahia, which along with the Timber Shed are being relocated. Megwara is optimistic that this move will re-position the city with what he calls a large ambience; the interest in Abia State, he notes, situates it as a rising profile.In one of his Diaspora visits, Governor Orji was in Houston Texas and Washington DC where a Town Hall meeting offered the governor an opportunity to brief Abians with video clips on what was going on at home. Megwara flew into Los Angeles to carry out a similar assignment while referring to the Abia website that helps to expose the state’s potentials to the global investment market. Megwara then moved on to represent the governor along with the Anambra governor, at the World Igbo Congress. :”At the congress, the Governor’s Forum gave us the singular honour to sell the government,” Megwara reflects.The next important assignment was in Ghana where the governor received an award as the best governor on security matters. Security Watch Africa had gone round the country to see who is doing what in specific areas of national development. For security matters, six governors were short listed: Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Amosun, and Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State. “In my opinion this is his best award till date. Nobody can doubt Governor Orji’s achievements in security matters in Abia till date.” How about the Champion Newspapers award, which gave him the Icon of Democracy award? Megwara points to political divisions where before now brothers were fighting brothers, adding that today that is history. According to him, the state House of Assembly is occupied by 24 PDP legislators and the same applies to the House of Representatives with eight members of the state carrying a PDP ticket as well as the three senators. “It will take a while,” he adds, before the APGA or the PPA, which only exist in name take root here.” It was a busy month when the Methodist church prelate Dr Ola Makinde admitted Governor Orji as a Knight of John Wesley. Reason? “Governor Orji is not a member of the Methodist Church but has been of immense value to the church in returning missionary built schools to the churches, increasing the number of pilgrims embarking on annual pilgrimages, building a total of five churches and assisting in the building of 65 churches and has remained the backbone of the Itu Mbuzo Mental Home and the Motherless Babies Homes with increased scholarships for indigent students including those nominated by churches.” While in Ghana, Megwara went on, the governor held a Town Hall briefing after which Megwara and liaison officer Felix Azu moved over to the Republic of Benin where over 800,000 Abians mostly traders, reside. It was one moment of rejuvenation, telling investors that in spite of the enormity of infrastructure work to be executed to make Abia a 21st century commercial city. While there, the state government’s Ministry of Agriculture concluded a partnership arrangement with Songhai Farms for skill acquisition on the latest technology in cross breeding, which Rivers State took advantage of earlier. Aba, its flagship for business activities, was back and was no longer an anchor point for hoodlums. Megwara adds a soundbite: “In the next 20 or 30 years when the history of Abia is written, Governor Orji’s name would stand out,” with the milestone achievements in politics written in bold relief. The Talibans or the Abuja Group as he explains, as well as the home boys now flow on the same page. “The Abuja politicians and the home group are now together. A cohesive force of brotherhood is at work. The days of rape, kidnapping, gangsterism and armed robbery are over.”According to Megwara, Governor Orji’s argument has always been that there will be no room for investment where the security of investors and individuals is not assured. “Governor Orji insists the proper foundation for the take off of a modern state has been initiated, which is why today in Aba and Umuahia infrastructure development is paramount. In the state headquarters, a modern secretariat is as good as completed, with a first class international conference centre, which is expected to boost tourism, a strategic move and the first of its kind in the Southeast,” Megwara stresses. In the judiciary, he points to the quaint architecture of Lord Lugard, most of which are being replaced by modern architectural designs and one room colonial clinics, which have been modernised with trained doctors and nurses extending to the Amachara General Hospital and the Federal Medical Centre Umudike.

Future Blueprint

What is Megwara’s blueprint for the future? He says the next destination would be South Africa and documentation of all Abians in the Diaspora, a project he says is ongoing. He is also working on identifiable export products from the state as well as locating foreign donors that can go into partnership with the state. In Canada, he hopes to exploit the presence of the ambassador, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, a distinguished son of Abia. A Diaspora banquet is also in the mill, as an annual re-union party where issues are discussed with constructive criticism in mind.

As political interest groups initiate plans for the 2014 governorship election in Osun State, old time rivalries are poised to pose as a major threat for PPD’s success, reports Dare Odufowokan.

As the 2014 governorship election in Osun State draws nearer, there are indications that the internal crisis that has bedevilled the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is far from over, as fresh rancour may soon blow open between two leading factions within the party.

Sources within the PDP in Osun State said a former governor of the state, Senator Isiaka Adeleke and Senator Iyiola Omisore may soon be engaged in a bitter political rivalry that is likely to make nonsense of the recent peaceful resolution within the party.

At the centre of the unfolding scuffle, sources claim, is the quest for the gubernatorial ticket of the party in the 2014 governorship election. While Omisore has formally declared his intention to vie for the position, Adeleke is believed to be backing the candidature of a former Secretary to the Osun State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade.

The duo of Omisore and Akinbade had in 2011 battled for the same ticket so fiercely that the party in the state was divided down the line. The gladiators only relented after Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s re-election on the platform of the PDP was nullified and Rauf Aregbesola of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was declared governor.

The renewed rivalry between the two PDP chieftains has once again raised fear of another showdown within the party ahead of the 2014 election. What is left to be seen is how the imminent crisis will affect the plan of the PDP to recapture the state they lost to the ACN in 2010.

The Nation learnt that following his lack of diposition towards Omisore’s gubernatorial ambition, Adeleke has thrown his weight behind the aspiration of the former SSG in furtherance of his belief that it is the turn of Osun West Senatorial District to produce the governor of the state.

While Omisore is from Ile-Ife in Osun East Senatorial District, Akinbade is from Iwo in Osun West Senatorial District of the state. Aside Adeleke, it is believed that former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola is also supporting the candidature of Akinbade.

Insiders within the party said the power tussle started during the last congress of the party in the state. During the much criticised exercise, Omisore allegedly outwitted the trio of Adeleke, Oyinlola and Akinbade and succesfully pulled through the emergence of his erstwhile aide, Mr. Gani Olaoluwa, as the state chairman of the PDP.

Back then, Adeleke had accused Omisore of forging the list of delegates from Osun East Senatorial District in order to rig the party election in favour of his candidate. The Oyinlola and Adeleke camps within the party refused to accept the results of the congress until they were prevailed upon by party elders to sheath their swords.

Olaoluwa, a former Chairman of Olorunda Local Government Council Area, emerged the state chairman of the party, having defeated Honourable Kayode Idowu, a former member of the House of Representatives with 575 votes to 490 votes.

Idowu’s candidature was backed by the likes of National Vice-Chairman of the party (Sout-West), Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, a member of Board of Trustees of the party, Senator Olu Alabi, Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada, former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Kazeem Adio, Adeleke, Akinbade and Oyinlola, among others.

“Omisore drew the first blood when he allegedly rigged his preferred candidate into office as state chairman of the party by flouting directives that all factions within the party should be accomodated in the delegates lists.

While his own men were represented on the lists that came from Osun West and Central senatorial districts, he edged out other factions in Osun East and brought only the names of his supporters as delegates.

That way, Olaoluwa, his candidate, emerged winner. But for the intervention of the elders, coupled with the maturity displayed by Adeleke, Akinbade and Oyinlola, the new executive would have been rejected by members of the party. But the development introduced yet another crack into our party,” Hon. Yomi Adeyemi, a foremr PDP executive member in Boripe Local Government Area, said.

But in spite of the resolution of the matter by the elders in favour of Omisore and Olaoluwa, the other groups did not give up on their decision to stop the former deputy governor from snatching the party’s guber ticket in 2014.

Harping on the need for the PDP to field a formidable and acceptable candidate for the governorship election, the aggrieved party chieftains returned to their bases to oil their campaign machineries ahead of the party primary in the countdown to 2014.

While it is not impossible that more aspirants will join the fray as the days go by, Omisore and Akinbade are now battle ready to slug it out for the PDP ticket. And given the tension generated within the party when the archrivals dragged the same ticket in 2010, there is apprehension within the party as the showdown approaches.

Aside from the fact that he is rumoured to be enjoying the support of majority of the party elders in the state, Akinbade, who was SSG during the seven years tenure of Oyinlola, and former chairman of the party in the state, is a party man with wide network of contacts and grassroots connections within the PDP.

And if indications that former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola is working round the clock to get the national leadership of the party to support Akinbade’s candidacy is anything to go by, then the contest promises to be a tough one given Omisore’s perceived hold on the party structure within the state at present.

The former chairman of Appropriation in the Senate boasts of structures in all the 30 local government chapters of the party aside from his firm control of the state executives under Olaoluwa.

And with the renewal of the age-long political rivalry between Omisore and Adeleke, analysts are of the opinion that the PDP in Osun state may be dogged by a serious intra-party crisis in its quest to unseat the ACN from the Government Lodge in 2014.

“The party really want to dislodge the ACN get back to power, but given this looming rivalry between Omisore, a formidable force in the party and others like Adeleke, Oyinlola and Akinbade, except something give way before or immediately after the primary, the party may be too rattled and divided into splinster groups to make any serious impact during the election.

“If you consider the current rating of Governor Aregbesola and his party in the state, you will agree with me that the PDP needs to enter the 2014 race with a very united and formidable front if it intends to defeat the ruling party.

But how that will be possible after a fight of so many political elephants is left to be seen,” Rafiu Olokooba of the Centre for Democracy and Good Governance (CDGG) said.

But former Minister of Transport and a chieftain of the PDP in the state, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, is optimistic that the party is ready to make a bold dash for the governorship in 2014.

“2014 is very near, all leaders in the party have buried their differences, and our common goal is to chase the hyena that has taken over the government of the state out of power.

“The PDP in Osun State is very much alive. Those who thought the party’s popularity had waned following its ouster should now have a rethink. I commend members of the party for not wavering, despite being out of government in the state. It is their courage that makes the party thick. We will not put them to shame,” he said.

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola and federal legislators are lobbying the National Assembly to accord Lagos a special status in the proposed new constitution, reports Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU.

There are lessons that can be learned from other countries, which have moved their capitals from old capital territories to new ones. Some of these cities enjoy special status in their respective countries. That was why the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) reiterated for similar status for Lagos as a commercial nerve centre and former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) shouldering enormous national responsibilities, when President Goodluck Jonathan and Senate President David Mark recently visited the metropolis.

At the presentation of Dr. Tunji Braithwaite’s book, ‘The Jurisprudence of the Living Oracle’, Fashola passionately appealed to the President to give special recognition to the megacity, which he described as home for all Nigerians. Also, when the President visited the palace of the Lagos monarch, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, he implored the federal government to fulfill its promises to the city. “The President should not forget Lagos. We have been on this struggle for special status. Lagosians love the president. He should accord to Lagos what is due to it,” said Oba Akiolu.

The proposed constitution amendment  has raised the expectation of Lagosians. At the public hearing held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Fashola (SAN) reiterated his demand for special status. “In the enlightened interest of all, I humbly submit that Lagos State deserves a special status”, he said.

Members of the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Groups (COSEG) led by Comrade Dayo Ogunlana and Rasak Olokoba, stormed the venue, saying that Nigeria needed a new constitution, and not cosmetic amendment. The coalition also stressed that only a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) can give birth to a peoples’ constitution. “It is under this arrangement that can guarantee a situation where justice can be done and Lagos will be given a special recognition and given a special status”, said Olokoba, the group’s secretary. “It is long overdue. Lagos has not been accorded its pride of place in the country”, he added.

Senator Mark said the demand for special status for Lagos is in order. But he said that  the matter would be discussed by the National Assembly. He urged Nigerians to discuss all the issues that would shape the amendment with patriotism. He lauded Fasola’s performance as governor, saying that the feats may not necessarily be due to his membership of any political party.

From the colonial days, Lagos had played host to many people from across the protectorate. During the depression of the 1930s and 40s, many relocated to the city in search of greener pastures. At independence, the metropolis became a mini-Nigeria. Due to the influx of people from the 35 states, there is pressure on social amenities.

When the FCT was moved from Lagos to Abuja, there was a subsisting agreement that the city would not be abandoned. In fact, five cities; Enugu, Port-Harcourt, Ibadan, Kaduna and Lagos were later designated as ‘Centres of Excellence’ by Muritala Administration. The plan was to make them cities of pride by the Federal government.

However, since Lagos was derobed as political capital of Nigeria, the federal government abandoned the city. Successive governments have refused to borrow a leaf from countries which relocated their national capitals without abandoning infrastructural development of the former capitals.

Many believe that the time is ripe for Nigeria to emulate Germany, Brazil, Malaysia, Australia and Tanzania, which, after relocating their seats of government, did not stop developmental programmes targeted at the former capitals. From 1954 to 1994, the capital of Germany was Bonn. It was moved to Berlin, following the endorsement of the ‘agreement of movement, which spelt out the responsibilities of German government for the maintenance of the old capital. “We can give the example of Brazil, which moved its capital from Rio-dejainero to Brasilia. Up to now, all federal roads, buildings and other infrastructure in both cities are maintained simultaneously by the central government. This is the concept of dual cities at work”, Adebiyi said.

Malazia has also maintained two capitals. Its old capital, Kaura-Lampur, has been retained as the legislative capital, where the National Assembly operates. Its new capital, Putrajaya, which is the most computerised city in the world, is the administrative capital. In Australia, the old capital, Sidney, still enjoys special recognition. Although Campera is the new capital, most activities of government, international conferences, party conventions and meetings still hold in the former capital city. The former capital of Tanzania is Dar-es-Salam. When Dodoma became the new capital, the old capital did not suffer neglect.

Lamenting the state of federal facilities in the city, he said: “Most Trunk A roads, drainages, canals and other infrastructure, which the federal government is supposed to maintain in Lagos and other Southwest states, have been abandoned for decades”. He made references to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos-Ore Road and Lagos-Abeokuta Road, which are now death traps, urging the federal government to wake up from slumber.

Lagos State government, over the years, invested a huge amount of money on infrastructural development, especially construction of drainages, durable roads, beautification and restoration of parks to forestall the negative impact of flooding, erosion and other environmental hazards. However, the Special Adviser pointed out that “these efforts are not enough because of the ever increasing population of Lagos State and its position as the economic nerve centre of Nigeria”.

“The federal government should review its responsibilities to Lagos as the old federal capital territory and other former regional capitals; Ibadan, Enugu, Benin City, and Kaduna, which were capitals of the old Western, Eastern, Midwestern and northern Regions”, he added.

Out of the 36 items listed for deliberation, the demand for special status for Lagos got a collective senatorial endorsement by federal lawmakers. Echoing this, Mark said “former capitals of nations are normally accorded special status the world over”.

Mark’s public acknowledgement may have provided justifications for the clamour, Fashola, House of Representatives Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, and his colleagues; Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Moruf. Fatai-Akinderu, Ekundayo Bush-Alebiosu and Muniru Abiodun; have been aggressively pursuing ever before the first review of the constitution.

 Marks’s statement was applauded, although skeptics also described it as a peculiar political statement. But to demonstrate his sincerity, Mark, a retired Brigadier-General and former Communications Minister who had resided in Lagos, explained that Lagosians “are not calling for something extra-ordinary”. Like the Lagos Special Adviser, he also cited the examples of New Delhi in India, Rio in Brazil and New York in the United States.

However, the push for special status for the city state was not the only item dear to Lagosians. There were also calls for state police, and devolution of power to the second tier. To permit state police, Section 214 of 1999 Constitution should be reviewed. Also, to ensure that only the states should create and fund local government, Section 8(3) should go.

Fashola gave two cogent justifications for state police. He said policing required the service of personnel, whom he said, should know every nook and cranny of their communities and states. He also stated that the expanded scope of crime, which he believed the centralised police do not have capacity to curtail, including kidnapping and terrorism, had threatened national existence.

“I think it is in the interest of our national security. Without it, we will continue to live in fear. Without it, there is a very little achievement that we can make together or individually. It is only in an atmosphere of peace and security that we can do business and that we can move forward as a country in spite of our diversity. The Federal Government has been unable to recruit enough men to distribute across the state.

“There are state laws relating to local issues that even the federal police are not bothered about anymore because as the level of insecurity increases, the attention of the federal police moves to higher issues. A few years ago, the most important item on the agenda was armed robbery. But that agenda now includes kidnapping and terrorism. So, where is the capacity of the police to deal with issues such as rape? These include the key matters that the states can effectively deal with”, Fashola stressed.

Fashola also dwelt on the need to institutionalise a true federal system.  He said the best way “is to allow each independent state to develop at its own speed, its own resources and its own ability in a way that the prosperity of each state can become the prosperity of Nigeria”. He argued that issues like fiscal federalism and political federalism should be on the front burner.

The governor asked Nigerians demanding more states and constitutional roles for traditional rulers to ponder on the financial implications of additional state. However, he said his views were advisory.

For Mark, there is no going back on the review. He said the National Assembly had no hidden agenda, adding that its priority is to amend the military document to foster security and good grassroots governance. But at the end of the review, will Lagos get a special status?

The battle line is drawn between Kogi State Governor Idris Wada and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP elders in the state. The grouse of the party chieftains is that the governor is not a good political pilot.

According to them, the one-year-old administration lacks a sense of direction. Some of them have doubted the capacity of the former airline operator to successfully navigate the ship of state. Others have alleged incompetence and corruption. But the governor’s aides have dismissed the allegations as a tissue of lies, saying that certain people were bent on diverting Wada’s attention from his people-oriented programmes across the state.

The governor, it was learnt, can only sleep with one eye closed because of the caliber of people joining issues with him.

Senator Alex Kadiri has warned that Wada’s government was drifting. Also, Senator Mohammed Ohiare has cried out that PDP risked sudden death, if the governor is not quickly purged of his alleged excesses. Former Speaker of House of Assembly and Acting Governor Clarence Olafemi has also distanced himself from the chief executive. The former party chairman, John Odawun, Air Vice Marshall Salihu Atawodi(rtd), and former governorship aspirant Dr Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba, are aggrieved.

In their petition to President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP National Chairman Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the chieftains had harsh words for Wada. He was criticised for the underdevelopment of the state, the crisis in the State House of Assembly, the alleged looting of resources and other undemocratic practices.

Copies of the petition were sent to the Senate President, David Mark, Speaker of House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Last week, crisis broke out in Adavi local government chapter of the ruling pary, following the rejection of the choice of a commissioner from the area by aggrieved members. The commissioner had been assigned a lucrative portfolio. However, there was anxiety when Governor Wada discovered that she might have been appointed in error. Sources said the governor had appointed the commissioner, based on an allegedly forged letter from the Vice President’s Office. However, when the governor allegedly informed the number-two citizen that the letter had been honoured, he got the shock of his life as the Vice President dissociated himself from the correspondence. Adavi political leaders said the incidence clearly revealed the governor’s negligence.

Since the news broke out, the commissioner, a lawyer, was said to have been sidelined from government. Sources said she had shown remorse and begged for pardon.

To Kadiri and other stakeholders, Kogi State has now gained notoriety for unwholesome political practices, arrested development, deepening poverty and infrastructural decay.

“It is now very clear to all that Captain Idris Wada, the man who was not even a card-carrying member of our party when he was imposed on us as governorship candidate in 2011, has absolutely no clue about how to run a modern state. In nearly one year in office, Wada cannot point to one tangible project executed by his administration beside a whitewashed roundabout in front of Government House, Lokoja”, the elders said.

The elders have other grudges against the administration. They accused him of lack of crisis resolution skill. This, to them, is evident in the number of court cases against Wada. They are also irked by what they described as gross mismanagement. “Billions of Naira have accrued to the state in the past 11 months of his stewardship. He has continued the tradition of his political god father and immediate past governor of the state of squandering state resources on acquisition of personal properties with government funds”, they alleged.

It was not the first time the Kogi PDP stakeholders have beckoned on President Jonathan to wade into the Kogi PDP crisis. But they complained that the national party leader has been reluctant to steer away the governor from doom.

They faulted the governor’s policy on “partisan employment”, pointing out that, “despite the already bloated state workforce, Wada has employed 57 Special Advisers (the State House of Assembly approved only 24), 74 Senior Special Assistants, 20 commissioners and numerous special and personal assistants”. Due to the bloated bureaucracy, they said a lot is spent on salaries of political appointees, many of whom have no schedules of duty.

“Party members are disappointed that the national headquarters of the party seems to have turned a blind eye on the plight of party members in Kogi State. They are angry that some highly placed individuals in the Presidency have continued to provide underserved cover for such illegalities in the hope of reaping selfish political benefits”, they continued.

“We wish to remind Mr. President about his invitation and subsequent meeting with PDP stake stakeholders on 30th Nov 2011, two days to the Kogi gubernatorial elections, at the Presidential Villa, where you appealed to us to participate and work for the PDP, despite our serious misgivings about Captain Wada. That meeting, called at your instance, was to avert what the PDP National Secretariat, and your office, saw as a looming doom for the party in Kogi State. You discovered that the then governor had been lying to you that he was in charge of Kogi State, and that there was no cause for alarm”, they recalled.

But, in concrete terms, are the demands of the aggrieved party chieftains? In their petition, they said they wanted a drastic change. “We were ready to make a fundamental change in Kogi State because we were tired of the maladministration and looting of the last 10 years. Following your appeal, we agreed to work for the success of the party since all the damaging issues raised against Wada were said to be too late for the party to make changes. Regrettably, things have gone worse. Kogi State is now run by the clique”, they lamented.

The illegal and democratic removal of the leadership of the House of Assembly was an eyesore. Frowning at this, they said: “all parties involved should return to status quo”.

Also, they demanded that “the support and recognition given by Wada and the police and the federal authorities to the illegal leadership of the House of Assembly should be withdrawn”.

Kadiri and his group also asked the governor to obey, as a matter of urgency, the judgment of Kogi State High Court, declaring local council Caretaker Committees or Liaison Officers, illegal, null and void. “These judgments were delivered over a year ago, and the state government had not appealed”, they added.

However, government frowned at the allegation of corruption against the governor. The elders have called on the anti-graft bodies to beam their searchlights on Wada Administration. In their view, the probe is critical to the enthronement of transparency and accountability.

Also, the elders said the the report of the House of Assembly on budget appraisal, the fear of which led to the current crisis in the Assembly, must be made public.

“Mr President, Kogi State is strategically located. A crisis in the state can have repercussions elsewhere in the country, if it is not nipped in the bud. The state is also politically volatile. The recent killings in Okene and Ejule, the constant threat of extremist forces, and the presence of thousands of angry and abandoned flood victims who were forced to march in protest to Government House in Lokoja recently, have left the state very vulnerable and tensed. Mr President must not allow the state to implode. We demand that justice should be done urgently.

“We feel scandalized that the party has chosen to watch helplessly as this charade and impunity continues in Kogi State. This is not acceptable. The party, our party should not cross one river and insult the crocodile, because there are more rivers ahead for the party to cross”, they added

Professor Philip Ahire is the chairman, Benue State Independent Electoral Commission. His first major assignment would be the conduct of local government polls tomorrow. Here, he speaks on preparation for the election. UJA EMMANUEL presents his views.

People are agitating for the scrapping of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIEC), what’s your position?

Nigeria is a federation where power devolves to the federating units, leaving only very few functions at the centre. Things like elections are local matters settled at the level of states in a way that suits them. So, if you want to operate a true federation, then we should allow matters like police, local elections to be handled by the state electoral commissions. After all, there’s excellent collaboration between the state electoral commissions and the national INEC. Even in this election, we’re collaborating with the national commissioner here. He’s going to assist us with vehicles, on the distribution of materials and other logistics so that we can work together. But we have the local knowledge of the corners and routes around us and we’re in the best position to handle local situations, so I’m against it.

Some people were recently displaced by floods and communal crises, what will be their fate in the forthcoming local government elections?

The commission is considering that; we haven’t finalized but we’re considering that particularly people who woke up and found that flood had swept away everything they had. We’re considering the possibility of allowing people vote without voters’ card provided we can see their pictures and names in the voters’ register and they’ll provide cogent identification. We’re considering only those affected by disaster.

Do you have enough ad-hoc staff to conduct the election?

There’s an international non-governmental organisation on elections called International Foundation for Electoral Systems. I had worked with them in Abuja before when I was the secretary of the Uwais Reform Committee. I have invited them to help us. They came here and trained me and my commissioners on election management. They trained electoral officers, assistant electoral officers, and also trained master trainers. Those master trainers are our senior staff who will in turn go to train our ad-hoc staff. So, the training of ad-hoc staff has started in two batches. We intend to train in excess of the 11,719 ad-hoc staff needed for the election. But we’re going to train more so that those who could not turn up for the training could be replaced.

Are all the essential materials for the election ready?

Yes, the election materials can be categorized into two: sensitive and non-sensitive. Non-sensitive materials were ready a long time ago. They are the forms political parties have been coming here to collect, go and fill and return to us and the sensitive ones including register of voters which is our custody, voters’ cards, ballot papers and boxes are also ready.

Some lawyers took BESIEC to court for debts owed them; what’s the situation now?

We’ve paid them long ago. We’ve since cleared all our outstanding debts. I’ve cleared all contestants who took us to court to go and face the electorate. The few court cases remaining are people who have dragged their parties to court and only joined BESIEC. We have cleared those challenging us for not including their names. We don’t want to do election and do another re-run or bye-election. Let the people tell them whether they like them or not.