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Tag: clarifies

  • Electoral body clarifies position on use of smartphone

    The Independent National Electoral Commission yesterday clarified its position on the use of phones and cameras during voting.

    The electoral body urged Nigerians to shun any attempt by any individual or group to politicise what was purely a preventive measure.

    It said there was nothing like banning the use of smartphone around the polling unit areas. The ban, it insisted that no voter would be allowed to use any recording device inside the voting cubicle.

    The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, made the declaration yesterday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.

    He was reacting to the statement credited to the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, condemning INEC’s decision to ban the use of smartphones at polling booths.

    According to Oyekanmi, Nigerians knew the challenge of vote-buying and vote-selling that characterised recent elections, a development he noted, prompted many stakeholders to call for innovative ways to tackle the problem.

    Oyeklanmi said: “In consultation with other stakeholders, the Commission came up with new measures to solve the problem, one of which is to disallow the use of smartphones and other electronic devices in the voting cubicles on Election Day.

    “In other words, INEC is not banning phones around the polling unit area, but the ban takes effect from the moment a prospective voter collects his or her ballot paper and enters into the voting cubicle to thumbprint and thereafter, drop the folded ballot paper into the ballot box.

    “After that, the voter can have access to his or her phone.”

  • Electoral Committee clarifies number of ordinary members

    Electoral Committee clarifies number of ordinary members

    Only eight ordinary members will be elected into the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Executive Board at the Elective Congress scheduled for September 4. This clarification has been issued through a notice published on the website of the NFF Electoral Committee headed by Samson Ebomhe.

    The clarification posted on August 30 sought to correct an error contained in the Electoral Guidelines and which put the number of Ordinary Member positions at nine.

    The notice read,”the NFF Electoral Committee wishes to draw the attention of delegates and candidates for the 2014 NFF Executive Committee elections to a discrepancy between Article 33(1)(h) of NFF Statutes, 2010 and Article 16(3)(d) of the Electoral Guidelines regarding the number of ordinary members of the NFF Executive Committee.

    It continued,“for the purpose of clarity, NFF Electoral Committee,hereby, states that the number of ordinary members of the NFF Executive Committee is eight, in accordance with Article 33(1)(h) NFF Statutes, 2010.This is to ensure compliance with the overriding provisions of Article 33(1) of NFF Statutes, 2010 which stipulates that the Executive Committee shall be composed of 15 persons”.

    “Accordingly,delegates and candidates are advised that the available contestable positions of ordinary members of the Executive Committee at the elections shall be eight”.

    The Electoral Committee described the mix-up in numbers as typographical error and further advised Delegates and Candidates to read Article 16 (3)(d) of the Electoral Guidelines as providing for eight ordinary members and not nine.

    Following outcries and complaints that the former electoral committee headed by Amoni Biambo, the General Assembly of the NFF on Tuesday, August 26 reconstituted the panel and named Sampson Ebomhe as head of the new seven member committee.

    FIFA had on Friday, August 29 written the NFF to quash the elections organised by the Biambo led panel and directed that persons that emerged from that election must stop by midnight of Monday to parade themselves as the Executive Committee members of the NFF. It warned that appropriate organs of the world soccer ruling body would be notified to sanction Nigeria should the illegal group not comply.

    The General also approved September 4 as date for the NFF Elective Congress and the new panel have since swung into action, setting up a website with nomination forms download platform for intending candidates to access the election forms.Today (Monday) September 4 is the cut-off date for the collection of forms.

  • Firm clarifies ownership of Omoluabi Garment

    The management of Sam and Sara Uniforms, a firm that specialises in making uniforms for schools and companies, has debunked rumours that its subsidiary, Omoluabi Garment, is owned by the Osun State governor’s wife, Mrs. Sherifat Aregbesola.

    The company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mrs. Folake Oyemade, described the rumour as “malicious falsehood capable of misinforming the public”.

    Speaking with reporters yesterday in Lagos, she said Sam and Sara Uniforms bided for the contract to provide uniforms for Osun pupils and won it.”

    Mrs Oyemade said her company was the most capable among the bidders, with the biggest factory and the lowest prices.

    She said: “After winning the contract, the government insisted that the company set up a factory in the state, so as to make indigenes the sole beneficiaries of the project.

    “We had to approach the Bank of Industry (BoI) to borrow money. The loan was collaterised by my own property. These are verifiable facts. So all these lies that Omoluabi Garment belongs to the governor’s wife is falsehood.

    “Will I borrow so much money on behalf of the governor’s wife? Will I also put my personal property on the line for the governor’s wife or anybody for that matter? The Bank of Industry is there to prove me wrong if I lie. We built the factory. The input of the state government was only to give us land.”

    On how they came about the name “Omoluabi”, Mrs Oyemade said: “The name came up because they gave us land. That is the only state equity in the business. Through this project, the government has empowered a lot of women who sell our uniform on retail, and youths who work in our factory. When we won the bid, we brought about 500 youths to our factory in Lagos for training. We got expatriates from China to train them on how to use modern equipment for garment making. The training cost us enormous money and the BoI had to give us a special fund for it. At present, our factory has provided jobs for about 3,000 Osun youths.

    “Must we suffer because some people are desperate to seize power in the state? We urge politicians to leave Sam and Sara and Omoluabi Garment out of Osun politics. We built this company from the scratch for over 20 years through the help of God. I have created jobs for more than 3,000 youths on the street. I am pained by this lies. If anybody is in doubt, such person should ask us for further clarification. And if the peddlers of this rumour are the types that aspire to leadership positions in Nigeria, then I am sorry for this nation.”

  • Firm clarifies debt status with AMCON

    Firm clarifies debt status with AMCON

    FIOGRET Limited, has clarified issues arising between its Chairman, Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru and his indebtedness to the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

    In a statement, titled, ‘AMCON Vs. FIOGRET Limited: The Facts’ the firm said the views of the Managing Director of AMCON, Mustafa Chike-Obi, arising from an interview which was published by a national daily (Not The Nation) portraying its Chairman as a “politician” debtor who has refused to pay an alleged total debt of N617 Million owed to AMCON, amounted to a misinformation.

    It explained that the alleged indebtedness, which are still being disputed, arose from contracts between Fiogret Limited and Afribank Plc (now Mainstreet Bank), Equitorial Trust Bank Limited (now Sterling Bank Plc) and Oceanic Bank International Plc (now Ecobank Plc).

    The firm said litigations arose from these contracts due to breaches by the banks, adding that its claim against the banks is above the N617million AMCON is claiming. “We emphasise that these cases went to Court before AMCON came into existence and are still in court, the statement indicated.

    The firm said it has been in negotiation with AMCON on the status of the debts, notwithstanding the fact that it is seeking legal redress.

    “ Following several negotiations with AMCON, we agreed to pay about N658 million which includes the N617 million paid by AMCON for the alleged debts and an additional N41 million as interest,” the firm said.

    It explained that AMCON asked for an initial deposit of N85 Million, “but we increased it to N200 million. And, on April 26, 2013, we paid a total sum of N189 million to AMCON, as part of the initial good faith payment which has been duly received.”

    The statement said Chike-Obi’s comment that “we and/or our Chairman refused to pay N617 million when in fact we accepted to pay N658 Million from which we have paid N189 million with a proposal to give a Bank Guarantee for the outstanding sum,” is far from accurate.