In its efforts to prevent cheats from taking advantage of unsuspecting customers, the Osun State government has introduced scale and weight standard for use in markets across the state. In the circumstances, Governor Rauf Aregbesola formally launched the scales and weight instruments and officially outlawed the old practice of transacting business using plastic bowls such as kongo, denge, kobiowu, dana and tin, among others that often results in several complaints and frictions among the buyers and sellers in most markets across the state.
In their stead, the state government introduced standard gauge and weight measurement through the use of scales for transaction of businesses. The new method was aimed at eliminating problems associated with the old measuring practices.
Deliberate alteration of measures; not measured fully to standard by trimming the head, melting and layering the plastic bowls and other containers with candles to reduce container size; deliberate distortion of bottles to reduce their content capacity and unhygienic conditions of the bottles, tins and others used for measuring liquid items are some of the causes of frequent friction among buyers and sellers in most markets.
While launching the standardised weights and measuring scales known as Osunwon Omoluabi at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Governor Rauf Aregbesola said fair and honest trade rest on the use of accurate weights and measures.
Aregbesola said: “No business can be conducted satisfactorily unless each person is sure the other person is fair and honest.”
He further stated that the scheme would eliminate cheating and other malpractices that have become the hallmark of doing business in most markets.
The governor maintained that the use of standardised scales in markets across the state will engender a chain of economic benefits, adding that dealers in weighing scales would experience business expansion as the programme will ensure increase in the demand of their products.
Aregbesola said the move was to make the state the preferred destination for commercial activities in the sub-region, reiterating that his administration would not relent in its efforts to increase economic activities.
He said: ”In the quest to be competitive and make more profit, which is greed, traders devise varying means of short-changing buyers. Measures are deliberately reduced through cutting, filling with candles and wax, and sleight of hand. Scales are tilted fraudulently while husks, chaffs, barks and other rubbish are included in goods sold, with the intention of reducing the actual value of what the buyers take home.
“One of the tragedies of this immoral practice is that foreigners began to distrust our export because, for instance, cocoa graders put top grades at the top of the sack, leaving poor quality at the bottom, and in the process, collect money for the top grade. Those who are in the business can tell you what loss they suffered because foreigners distrusted their products and classified all cocoa coming from our land as inferior, irrespective of the grade.”
The Governor maintained that the introduction of standardised weights and measures was a Federal Government’s law being replicated in the state.
He explained that weights and measures constitute item 63 on the Exclusive Legislatives List of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That is, only the Federal Government can legislate on weights and measures in the country.
The various laws made in this respect include Weights and Measures Act CAP W3LFN, 2004, Pre-Shipment Inspection of Export Act CAP P25 LFN, 2004; Weights and Measures Standardisation of Indigenous Measures Regulations, 1992 and the Weights and Measures Fees Regulations.
“The legislations are geared toward ensuring that products are not under-dispensed at markets, factories, oil and gas stations and crude oil depot in Nigeria,” he said.
The Coordinator of the scheme, Mr. Ismaila Adekunle Jayeoba-Alagbada, who is the former Commissioner for Industries, Commerce, Co-operatives and Empowerment, hinted that the standardised weighing scale across markets in the state became necessary in order to mitigate challenges noticeable in commercial transactions.
Jayeoba-Alagbada said in order to eradicate cheating in the process of exchange of commercial goods and checkmate other challenges of market forces, government decided to formally introduce the standardised weighing scales.
He stated that training workshops had already been conducted in the markets all over the state on the effective use of the scales.
He stated that the Ministry of Industries, Commerce, Co-operatives and Empowerment is saddled with the responsibility of monitoring the day-to-day administration of the programme.
He said: “I need to emphasise that market men and women had been fully mobilised to key into this emerging commercial revolution. Both the leadership and the followership of the associations of market women and men had agreed, not only to comply with the right use of the scales and measures but also to continuously carry out peer reviews with a view to ensuring flawless implementation of the standardised weighing scales and measures programme. I want to place it on record that, but for the grace of God and the dogged determination of Mr. Governor, this launch, and indeed the entire standardised scales and measures programme would have been a mirage.”
He revealed that 178 OYES cadets have been trained under the train-the-trainer programme on the use, maintenance and repairs of the new measuring scales. The OYES cadet would also man some control posts in all the markets to serve both as repair and challenge-mitigating centres.
Speaking on the new scale, the President-General of Osun State Market Women Association, Alhaja Awawu Asindemade, said the standardised scale became necessary due to imbalance in measurement and fraud in commercial activities.
Asindemade said the kongo measurement introduced to the market in the old Oyo State became the standard measurement in Osun State when it was created. According to her, the old measurement was gradually subjected to abuse and fraud to the extent that individual seller used his or her yardstick for measurement, thus the need to re-standardise and unify it.
She, however, warned that the introduction of the standard scale should not translate to increase in prices of commodity in the markets.
“It is in a bid to correct the anomaly in measurement and scale that the Osun State government introduced the standardised weighing scales in markets so as to forestall fraud and cheating in measurements. As we embrace this innovation, I call on market men and women to co-operate with government to make this a success. Besides, introduction of the weight and measurement does not and should not lead to increase in price of commodities in our markets.”
The state government, however, subsidised the new measuring scales for the traders. For instance, from the supplier in Lagos, a 150kg platform is sold for N38, 500, but the state government is selling it at N28, 500. The prices of the scales are: 150kg (table) N8, 500, 20kg N2, 500, 10kg 2,500, while 5kg is N2, 000.
Tag: Business
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Osunwon Omoluabi: End to business fraud in Osun
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Handling critical 5Ps of export business success -Part 5: Payment
The purpose of a business is to solve problems and, thereby, create value while the goal of a business is to make a profit. This, therefore, makes this last factor very critical to the success of any export business. The payment factor in this series focuses on how to source for funds from banks to pay for products or raw materials procured from the local suppliers and how to get payment for the exported goods from the buyers abroad.
The business plan of a new exporter should answer the following questions about payment, both to local supplier and the receipt of inflow from the buyers abroad. These questions include the following: What are the payment methods available in export trade? Where is the place of valid export contract in export financing? When is ordinary letter of credit not reliable as a payment security? Who are those that are eligible to access export finance products? Why are some payment methods not attractive to banks and is there a way to make them acceptable? Which instrument can give banks comfort when financing local supply? How can an exporter mitigate the risk of non-payment?
The first question states that, what are the payment methods available in export trade? This is a very crucial question that is also grossly misunderstood by many exporters and sometimes bankers. The payment methods in an export trade transaction include Open Account (Cash against documents); Bill for Collection, Letter of Credit, Advance Payment and recently, a new one was developed called the Bank Payment Obligations.
Under open account transactions, the exporter ships the goods and sends documents directly to the buyer who then clears the goods and pay the exporter at a later date like 60 days or 90 days after shipment. Bill for collection is another payment method and it involves the transmission of documents through both buyer and seller’s banks and collection of payment through the same channel.
The banks do not have obligations to pay in this arrangement. The importer can pay at the sight of document or at a later. If the importer fails the pay, the exporter will be at a loss. Letter of credit will be treated under the third question. Advance payment is the most secured method for the exporter because Payment is made before shipment is done. A bank payment obligation is not yet in operation in Nigeria. It is a technologically driven payment method that combines the simplicity of Open Account and the security of Letter of Credit.
The next question states that, where is the place of valid export contract in export financing? A bank needs to see and review the export contract before financing an export transaction. This is because the contract forms the premise for the loan request. It helps the banker to know when the preparation for the production and sourcing of products for shipment should commence. It helps the bank to monitor the planning of the shipment with the shipping line. It shows the bank what, where, when, who and how the payment on shipment will be made. It informs the financiers the agreed price of sales for the goods. It also helps the banker to know how best to package the loan facility. Through the contract, the bank is also able to know the liabilities and responsibilities of the exporters. It helps the banker to envisage the likely challenges of the transaction and put in place the mitigants.
The third question is very pivotal and it states that, when is ordinary letter of credit not reliable as a payment security? First of all let me define letter of credit. This is the undertaken of the buyer’s bank (issuing bank) to the exporter to make payment when the shipment is made and all the documents that complies with the terms of the letter of credit are presented.
However, if the letter of credit is coming from a bank in a jurisdiction that is facing a sovereign risk (political and economic risk) or if the issuing bank ranking by rating agencies is very low, then an exporter might need another bank in another country to give an additional undertaken. This concept is called confirmed letter of credit. So, an ordinary letter of credit is the unconfirmed letter of credit. Even though it has the force of a bank’s undertaken to pay however, it becomes unreliable for payment when the issuing bank is exposed to sovereign risks.
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SME operators seek improved ease of doing business
The Federal Government has been called upon to ease key rules on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail sector to attract foreign firms as the government moves to boost economic growth.
The President, Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON), Dr Femi Egbesola, who made the call, said taking this measure would attract FDI in multi-brand retail of food and food products.
The presence of multi-national food retailers, he said, would provide an assured market to farmers and small enterprises to sell food and food products, adding that about 20 per cent of the fruits and vegetables produced in the country are processed, and FDI is expected to help increase that.
He urged the government to remove major stumbling blocks and encourage foreign retailers to enter into the local market.
While acknowledging that the move will increase competition and quality, Egbesola warned that a situation where the multi-nationals squeeze out the nation’s smaller and poorer traders and drive down prices paid to local farmers should be discouraged.
He urged the government to make it mandatory for foreign supermarkets to source 30 per cent of their products from small Nigerian firms.
He called for more foreign investments to better utilise food produced in the country, help farmers realise better prices and create back-end infrastructure.
He urged the government to encourage the processing of farm produce through the creation of food and cold chain infrastructure.
Egbesola called development of small and medium scale processing clusters close to the growing areas of the specific farm produce.
He wants farmers to get better remuneration of their produce and the government is paying much attention for creating the desired infrastructure for processing, preservation and storage.
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‘Customer experience key to business success’
Etisalat Nigeria has reiterated its commitment to quality customer experience. It said it is also committed to continuous development of innovative products and services in its effort to offer customers on its network more value for money.
Its Director, Brands and Experience, Elvis Ogiemwanye, gave the assurance during the Abuja leg of its regional Customer Forum, an interactive gathering that enables the telco to have direct engagement with customers to exchange ideas, discuss areas of improvement as well as provide feedback on the services of the company.
Ogiemwanye said the forum is a feedback platform that enables the telco to improve its operations and develop more innovative products and services. He added that the forum demonstrates the value the firm places on its customers and commitment to excellent customer experience.
“We place a lot of value on our customers, because our customers remain at the heart of our business. That is why we hold this forum in different regions to engage with our customers, get their feedback on our products and services and improve on them based on the feedback we have gathered. Through this customer forum we are able to identify things we are doing right and the areas we should improve on,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, its Director, Customer Service, Plato Syrimis, said the revamped easy-to-use self-help mobile application, EasyMobile App is one of the most recent innovative solutions that the company introduced as a result of feedback from Etisalat customers.
One of the customers present at the event, Dotun Oyebanji, commended the telco for providing subscribers across Nigeria with good network coverage and excellent customer service.
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‘I sold my car to start my businesses’
Continuing in the family tradition of entrepreneurship, the National Secretary, Association of Micro Entrepreneurs of Nigeria (AMEN), Frederick Nwokeleme, says the constant challenges of business ownership should propel an entrepreneur to be more innovative, with a greater mindset to succeed. DANIEL ESSIET reports.
A graduate of Federal Polytechnic, Oko in Anambra State, Frederick Nwokeleme, is the founder of Jubilant Family Industries Limited- a Lagos based manufacturer of personal and body care products.
The business, which started in 2010 with less than N20,000, is today worth N20 million in assets and turnover. From the factory of this firm comes shea butter cream, fythol herbal soap and herbal liquid bath and toilet cleaner.
The success story of Nwokeleme depicts the resilience of a focused and passion-driven entrepreneur. Convinced of his belief in the business, Nwokeleme said he had to sell his car to raise funds to start the new business. Today, there are 15 people on the payroll of the firm across its two outlets in Ikorodu and at the Industrial Development Centre (IDC), Aba,Abia State.
Nwokeleme, who is also the National Secretary of the Association of Micro Entrepreneurs of Nigeria (AMEN), cut his entrepreneurial teeth while selling cement for his father. After saving enough money, he left for school.
When he graduated, he worked in an auditing firm for a while, before taking up teaching appointment in a private institution as a teacher.
While teaching, he had what could be described as ‘entrepreneurial seizure’. Under pressure, he decided he was quitting to start a business producing and packaging household and body care products.
To start the business and grow it fast, he knew he would need a significant amount of startup capital.
He had no choice but to sell his car to enable him to actualise his dream. With the proceeds, he bought his first materials to produce. Though it was challenging, he was convinced the idea was a winning one.
He was aware that he would have many competitors and for this reason he decided to adopt a low-cost strategy at the very beginning. He sought funding advice from a few different sources, but the best source of advice came from friends who have gone through the same ups and downs when trying to raise start-up finance.
He kept a tight rein on his costs and built in a contingency plan in case he was faced with unexpected costs.
He started producing in his office and was marketing the product one-on-one to his friends and in the shops. The products sold like hot cake. His big risk 10 years ago has paid off. He now drives a better car.
With tenacity, luck and drive, he has been able to create a successful production company in Ikorodu, Lagos State. Today, Nwokeleme’s entrepreneurial flair is not in question, neither his business acumen.
His crowning achievement would be conquering the market by providing products with a high quality and responding to the customer needs.
He is open-minded; ready to face variety of challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities. Nwokeleme is looking for ways to create growth and value, drive value from the right transactions and where to compete. At the moment, most of his efforts are focused on bringing his products to as many people as possible. He intends to expand the range, creating more products.
Three of his outstanding characteristics as an entrepreneur are fast working, paying attention to details and treating customers well.
But he is angry at the exploitation of young entrepreneurs who are desperate to borrow money to finance their businesses at all cost.
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Dangote, others seek change in perception on doing business in Africa
• ‘The continent has best RoI, long term growth potential’
Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote and other seasoned industrialists have sought a change in perception about doing business on the continent.
They took exception to the gloomy pictures painted about doing business in Africa.
Dangote and members of a McKinsey Private Breakfast discussion Panel agreed that Africa’s long-term growth potential should be a subject of emphasis to gradually change the perception. They also agreed that since Africa offers the best returns on investment on any venture, it is indeed the best place to invest in the world.
Other business leaders who joined Dangote to review the McKinsey report titled: “Lions on the Move 2.0: The Continuing Progress of Africa’s Economies”, include CEO, Global McKinsey, Dominic Barton; Executive Chairman of Mara Sokoni, Ashish Thakkar; Vice-President for Africa, the World Bank, Makhtar Diop; and General Executive-Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Carlos Lopez.
Dangote emphasized that there are positive events and stories on Africa but “we have to get rid of perception risk. The fragility of perception drives away investors. We need to change the mind set because good things are happening in Africa. Sometimes the old and existing investors paint a gloomy picture of doing business in Africa to avoid competition and scare away potential investors. You have to act big and bold.”
He said, for instance, that the cement segment of his Group’s businesses has invested over $4 billion in the continent and that the returns are quite good. “We are bullish about investing in Nigeria, devaluation or no devaluation,” Dangote said.
In response to how African entrepreneurs can have wider access to finance, Dangote advised that there should be a robust policy that encourages banks especially locally owned ones to finance local entrepreneurs.
He pointed out that 90 per cent of Nigerian banks are owned locally and that perhaps correlates with why Nigeria has the highest number of entrepreneurs in Africa. He, however, said one of the biggest challenges to investing in Africa is lack of credible data to work with. While encouraging that Africans should stand up and tell their stories, he expressed optimism that his group, in the next five years, will be the first African company to feature on Fortune 500 list of companies.
Barton spoke about the fact that Africa could boast of young population and good talent poll which would aid her industrial efforts. He called for collaboration between the private sector and government to enhance the capacity building of the young population and build efficient tax system.
The CEO of Global McKinsey also posited that the democratic dividends occasioned by the stable governance should be harnessed to strengthen quality education for the young population.
Also, Thakkar harped on the development of e-commerce as the emerging market and that young entrepreneurs should be inspired and mentored to keep on track.
The McKinsey report expressed belief in Africa’s long-term growth prospects which it described as being very strong but powered by four factors. It gave the factors as the working age population, which will be world’s largest by 2034 at 1.1billon with stable jobs now growing faster than the labour force.
The second factor, the report indicated, is that Africa has continued to urbanize rapidly: “Another 190 million moving to urban regions by 2025 and urban areas have 2.5x higher productivity than rural areas”
The third propeller factor is the “technology creating opportunities to leapfrog in key sectors e.g. financial services, education and retail/wholesale”
The last factor for long term growth in Africa is the level of infrastructure investment, which the report claimed had risen to 30 per cent over the last five years. The infrastructure investment stood at $80b in 2015, or 3.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), up from 3.2 per cent in 2010.
The World Economic Forum on Africa in Rwanda focused on connecting Africa’s digital transformation. Convening under the theme, ”Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation,” the discussion in Kigali came after the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters in January.
The Forum is seeking to identify priorities and actions for Africa’s leaders as they look to build economies resilient to today’s challenges and able to flourish in the increasingly digital, convergent marketplaces of tomorrow.
Participating in the discussions in Kigali are over 1,200 leaders from government, business, civil society, academia, media and the arts.
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‘Africa’s business prospects positive’
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Africa Business Agenda for 2016 released on Tuesday in Kigali, Rwanda, showed that, in spite of Africa’s economic challenges, business prospects remained positive.
This is contained in a statement issued by PwC. The statement said Africa’s Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are leveraging on technology and innovations in order to stimulate growth in a challenging global business environment.
It stated that: “the African Business Agenda compiles results from 260 CEOs and includes insights from business and public sector leaders from 18 African countries. “CEOs in Africa are scaling-up their efforts to innovate and find new ways to do business on the continent in a move to stimulate growth in a challenging and uncertain global business environment,” the statement said.
The statement quoted PwC’s CEO Africa’s Hein Boegman as saying that “the global financial and economic crisis has revealed Africa’s vulnerability to a number of external economic shocks. Notwithstanding a multitude of challenges, many of which are cyclical, we remain confident that Africa’s prospects remain positive.”
It said just over a quarter of CEOs in Africa believed that global growth would improve in the next 12 months.
It said African CEOs were less optimistic about global prospects a year ago, with 66 per cent of CEOs (Global: 73 per cent) thinking the economy would not improve in the next 12 months, while 92 per cent (Global: 73 per cent) were extremely concerned about exchange rate volatility.
“Africa is a complex and diverse continent requiring layers of insight. Growth in Africa is taking place in individual markets and geographic regions, within industry sectors and influenced by demographic changes.
“Notwithstanding the difficulties and challenges that lie ahead, many organisations in Africa have learnt to adapt and be agile to respond and overcome many of these challenges in order to achieve their organisational goals,’’ the statement added.
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How govt will grow MSMEs, create friendly business environment
The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has prioritised support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the Minister, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, has said.
He said because MSMEs constituted over 60 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), his ministry was determined to support the sector to make it thrive.
According to him, the support entails training, capacity building and ultimately, financing.
Enelamah said this at the weekend while delivering the keynote address at the Fourth Great Place to Work Awards in Lagos.
He said the ministry “will also seek to proactively attract investment both local and international.”
H reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment at creating jobs and boosting productivity by fostering an enabling environment that supports the private sector and other stakeholders in creating jobs for the teeming population.
Enelamah said: “This enabling environment would include consistent policies that would engender trust and help people plan their businesses better; corporate infrastructure and physical infrastructure such as power, roads, and rail etc. And of course, other infrastructure, which deals with institutions, rule of law, policies that you can rely on to build your businesses.”
He also said the ministry’s commitment to creating an enabling environment involves progressively making it easier for businesses to operate.
“We do not believe that the tag or the saying that Nigeria is a difficult place to do business, which is something we talk about quite often, is a good one,” he said.
The Minister explained that his ministry will do this by implementing policies that remove the bottlenecks and roadblocks that make business hard or slow in Nigeria or unfriendly.
“We want to create a friendly business environment. And I believe it can be done by a collective effort,” he said.
Enelamah noted that having served in the private sector, one of the things that has become obvious is that creating a friendly business environment has to be a partnership of all the major stakeholders.
He further said to boost productivity, his ministry plans to introduce sector policies that encourage local manufacturing and production of goods.
“Our people are resourceful. When Nigerians go abroad they do very well. There must be something we can do better in our environment and that is something we are committed at doing,” he said.
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LCCI to celebrate core values in business
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has concluded plans to honour excellence and ethical business practices at the Commerce & Industry awards slated for Lagos.
LCCI Director-General Muda Yusuf said the objective of the annual awards was to recognise, celebrate and promote private and public institutions who have exhibited the core values of best business practices.
He said it was also for those who have impacted positively on the society through innovations, business sustainability and positive growth.
“LCCI Commerce and Industry Awards prides itself as a highly credible platform where winners emerge through a painstaking selection process from hundreds of entries supported by robust research and market intelligence,” Yusuf explained.
Some of the awards to be won at the event include award for excellence in diverse sectors of the economy such as banking, pension, insurance, hotel, hospitality, power and energy.
Others are healthcare, manufacturing, construction, automobiles, aviation, pharmaceuticals, education, media and broadcasting among others.
Yusuf also revealed that the chamber will be celebrating deserving corporate organisations and public institutions that have made remarkable contribution to the development of commerce and industry, and the economy at large.
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Unfinished business of electoral reform
Seventeen years after the restoration of civil rule, free and fair election has been elusive. LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the factors militating against violence-free and credible poll.
Against the backdrop of the electoral violence experienced in recent elections, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malam Abubakar Malami, has unveiled a plan by the Buhari administration to carry out comprehensive reforms, which will empower the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deal with the perpetrators of electoral violence.
Malami’s disclosure came as the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, lamented the inability of the commission to bring to book the perpetrators in Bayelsa and Rivers re-run. To curb electoral violence in future polls, he said the agency will review the electoral law and introduce punitive measures for politicians found culpable of electoral malfeasance. Those found guilty may be banned from seeking elective office. Also, the Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal will be set up to try offenders.
The views expressed by both the AGF and the INEC boss point to the fact that the electoral law is far from being perfect. Analysts believe that the failure of the past regimes to fully implement the recommendations of the Electoral Review Committee (ERC) headed by Justice Muhammed Uwais (rtd) is responsible for the electoral shortcomings. According to them, the challenges have been exhaustively addressed by the Uwais Committee. For instance, the recommendation on the establishment of an Election Offences Commission to try electoral offenders was thrown out. Also, the recommendation that all election-related legal battles should be disposed off before the swearing-in of the winner was set aside. According to observers, the full implementation of the report would restore the integrity of the ballot box.
Justice Uwais had observed that, instead of the full implementation of the recommendations, the Federal Government opted to “pick and choose.” The jurist lamented that the recommendations were sacrificed on the altar of political interests. He said: “As we know, the bill that was produced by the National Assembly reflected some of the views of the Electoral Reform Committee, but not all the recommendations. As far as the Electoral Review Committee was concerned, the recommendations were intended to be in tandem with one another”.
Many stakeholders have blamed the shortcomings in the electoral law on the failure of the previous governments to accept all the recommendations. According to them, the panel made far-reaching recommendations on issues that have constituted obstacles to credible elections. They advised the government to revisit the report and re-present them to the National Assembly for approval.
A legal luminary, Malam Yusuf Ali (SAN), did not objected to electoral law review. but, he was against the creation of tribunal or special court to try election offenders. He said: “There is no need to set up special court for the trial of election offenders; the existing court can take care of it. There are provisions for electoral offences in the statute book; what we lack is the enforcement of such laws.
“nobody has been taken to court for election offences; there must be the will power to arrest, investigate, and arraign the suspects for trial. The INEC should collaborate with the security agencies and ensure offenders are arrested and brought to book. It should create a special department to prosecute election offenders. It should be empowered to handle election offences not by creating special courts.
“I don’t support the proliferation of courts because of the financial burden. If government goes ahead to set up the special court, it will have to approve budget for the overhead cost, which is an additional cost at a time the government is complaining of a lean purse. What is important is that all of us should agree that our laws must be enforced”.
The Convener of National Coalition for Electoral Reforms (CODER), Mr Ayo Opadokun, called for the full implementation of the Uwais report. According to him, the non-implementation of the recommendations has been counter-productive. He said the Jonathan administration frittered away the opportunity created by the panel to make the INEC independent of the executive. The pro-democracy activist explained that the panel had recommended that the position of the INEC Chairman should be advertised and those interested should apply to the National Judicial Commission (NJC), which will recommend three of the applicants to the National Council of State. The Council will then pick one of them and send the name to the Senate for approval.
He noted that, of all the recommendations made by the committee, “the one that the INEC should be self-accounting or should be on the consolidated revenue is the only that has been accepted by the government at the centre. The other recommendations have been jettisoned”.
Opadokun added: “There is also the recommendation that there should be an Electoral Offence Commission that will have the power to prosecute offenders, either at the federal or state level. Its rejection has aided the rigging of elections by the previous government that reviewed the report. Besides, Uwais recommended that nobody should be allowed to assume office if his/her election is being challenged, until all judicial interventions have been concluded. That also was not taken”.
The President of Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTAS), Mashood Erubami, commended the move to amend the Electoral Act. According to him, the reform will lay a solid foundation for sustainable, free, fair and peaceful elections. He said “the review is necessary to disentangle free and peaceful elections from the sway of politicians who want to continue to use flawed elections to defend and preserve their status quo opportunism”.
Erubami added: “It is imperative for the government and the INEC to be seriously committed to comprehensive electoral reform so that future elections will not degenerate further than the experiences in Kogi, Bayelsa, Abia, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers. It is now auspicious time to re-present the appropriate sections of the Uwais electoral report, which are yet to be given its required full attention for consideration. The Uwais report requires administrative and constitutional treatment which was not given to it before and after 2011 elections.
“Apart from this, there are other specific areas that must be reviewed, especially areas that are obstacles to the the operational efficiency by the INEC and areas that have not allowed elections that are free from fair, and reforms that will strengthen the security and technological aspects of the election especially in relation with voters registration; judiciary and the judicial process, electoral malpractices/prosecution, political parties and internal democracy, death of candidate during election, politics of re-election and term of office, residency and indigeneship”.
Constitutional lawyer Akin Badejo lamented that the country wasted the opportunity of having a robust electoral law that can withstand the test of the time by dumping the Uwais Report into the archives. He said: “To me I don’t think we should embark on another electoral review exercise now. Rather, the Federal Government should retrieve the Uwais Report and adopt all the recommendations therein. Sending new proposals to the National Assembly is a waste of time because nothing will come out of it.”
According to him, the Uwais Report was watered down by the Aondoakaa Panel. Badejo added: “For instance, contrary to the Uwais recommendation that the appointment of the INEC chairman be advertised and coordinated by the National Judicial Commission (NJC), which will forward the name of the nominee to the Senate for ratification, the Aondoakaa Panel recommended that the INEC chairman should continue to be appointed, based on the recommendation of the President and confirmation by the National Assembly.
“The advantage of settling electoral dispute before the swearing-in of the winner is that it would not allow either the President or the governor to use his office to manipulate electoral process.”
However, the review Committee did not disagree with the committee that produced the white paper on independent candidacy. But, the Aondoakaa Panel introduced a clause, which compels independent candidates to deposit certain amount of money to be determined by theINEC and which will be refunded, if they win specified percentage of the votes cast”.
Erubami called for the establishment of an election crime commission for the prosecution of election offenders. To him, the INEC must be empowered to prosecute political parties when they spend beyond and above the minimum amount allowed to be spent on campaigns. “It is the availability of unlimited funds for political campaigns that has helped the recruitment of thugs, arming hoodlums to endanger the electoral process.
“Electoral law against violence must be stringent to protect election against impunity, beyond the usual shifting office of the Inspector-General of Police to the state where election is taking place, if we still have to report the incidence of unchecked violence and election malpractices.
“The new electoral reform must discourage political elites and checkmate hoodlums from conducting elections at gun point and turning election into warfare, the electorate should begin to see election as a means through which preferred candidates are chosen and a tool for changing government and not for the killing and maiming of the electorate”.
Opadokun said the electoral act review must provide solutions to the unfortunate incident that happened during the last Kogi governorship election where the leading candidate died before the conclusion of the election. He said such development was not envisaged by the Uwais Committee.
The way out, according to Opadokun, is that Nigerians must stand up and insist on the Uwais Report. He said: “It is only by insisting on the Uwais report that Nigeria can hope to make her elections credible and meet international best practices. Any election in this country outside the recommendations of the Uwais Report is just a facade.”