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Tag: ECOWAS protocol

  • Electoral Bill: Obasanjo signed ECOWAS Protocol, says Enang

    With the revelation by the Presidency that former President Olusegun Obasanjo signed the ECOWAS Protocol, which bans any West African country from making substantial amendments to its electoral laws less than six months to its general elections, the row over the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2018 is set to grow.

    The Presidency insisted yesterday that besides the reasons given by President Muhammadu Buhari for not signing the Bill, it will  also stick to the ECOWAS Protocol in not signing the document.

    There were indications last night that the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were reaching out to the party’s caucuses in the National Assembly to resist any plot to override the President’s veto.

    The position of the Presidency was made known in an exclusive chat with The Nation in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Sen. Ita Enang.

    Enang said contrary to the claims of those opposed to Buhari’s veto, “the President has no hidden agenda in refusing to assent to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2018”.

    He said: “Besides the patriotic reasons given by the President in withholding his assent in the letter sent to the National Assembly, the ECOWAS Protocol prevents Nigeria from amending its Electoral Act less than six months to its general election.

    “The ECOWS Protocol was signed by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on December 21, 2001 with about 14  other presidents and Heads of government in ECOWAS nations. Under the PDP administration led by ex-President Obasanjo, the Protocol was signed by 15 countries.

    “The law says no substantial amendment should be made to the electoral laws of member countries less than six months to the date of the election, unless all the political parties/ actors agreed to it.

    “Already, some parties have gone to court, seeking a declaration to stop the President from signing the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2018 into law. There is no unanimity of opinion by the parties and actors.

    “Therefore, we  are bound by that Protocol. And President Buhari, as the current chairman of ECOWAS, will not take any action to violate the Protocol. He should show example.”

    Responding to a question, Enang said: “As far as the Presidency is concerned, there is no hidden agenda; it is about putting national interest  above any other consideration.

    “If you follow the events in Guinea Bissau, or one other country, the President brought in electoral laws two months to the election and there has been tension.”

    Asked to be specific on the next step by the Presidency, Enang said: “The President has declined his assent, but he will sign if the National Assembly indicates that the effective date for the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2018 will be after the 2019 polls. The President does not want to cause a crisis.”

    He dismissed the allegations  by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) that the Buhari administration was out to rig the 2019 poll by withholding assent to the bill.

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    Enang said the PDP administration put 2010 Electoral Act, which was amended in 2014, in place and he could not understand why the main opposition party was complaining about its own laws.

    He said: “The allegation of rigging was just invented by PDP. Is it not the same law that was used for 2015 poll? Was the poll rigged?

    “”And even the amendment they are talking about, it only says ‘the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shall deploy electronic voting and card and such other means’.

    “They should go and prepare for elections under the 2010 Electoral Act as amended in 2014. This was the same law the PDP used in conducting elections which the APC won in 2015.

    “They should also examine that since Buhari came into office, the same Electoral Act was used to conduct governorship elections in Bayelsa, Anambra, Edo, Ondo and Osun states. They all used card readers. These elections were won by APGA, PDP and APC respectively. Why are they complaining about the Electoral Act?”

  • ECOWAS protocol bars Buhari from signing Electoral Bill, says Ovie Omo-Agege

    President Muhammadu Buhari would have been in breach of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance if he had signed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill , according to  Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central).

    Omo-Agege told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Article 2 of the protocol forbids member countries from making ‘substantial modification’ to their electoral laws less than six months to elections “except with the consent of a majority of political actors.”

    The senator argued with the elections less than three months away, signing the bill would violate the ECOWAS instrument.

    The presidential and National Assembly elections are slated for Feb. 16, 2019 while those for governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are scheduled for March 2.

    ”I have yet to see the president’s letter to the Senate, but this bill means so much to Mr President. On a good day he would want to sign it,” Omo-Agege said.

    He added: “However, without even seeing the reasons he has advanced so far, I am aware of the challenges posed by the ECOWAS protocol.

    “I don’t know if that is part of the reasons he has advanced, but with the bill coming two months or thereabout before the election, assenting to it will breach the protocol.”

    Buhari did not mention the ECOWAS instrument as part of his reasons for declining assent to the bill for the fourth time.

    The president’s latest decision came in a letter dated Dec. 6, 2018 and addressed to both chambers of the National Assembly.

    He said signing the amendment bill with elections close by could “create some uncertainty about the legislation to govern the process”.

    “Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the elections may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process.”

    Buhari asked the National Assembly to specifically state in the bill that the amended Electoral Act would come into effect after the 2019 general elections.

    Reacting to the development, Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi, who represents Delta North on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the reasons given by the president were “untenable”.

    His words: “It is not a good reason for him not to sign the bill because the Senate worked with INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) in preparing that bill.

    “If INEC felt otherwise, they would have advised us when we were working on it.

    “You are aware of the controversy that this issue of amendment of the act has generated, with people accusing the Senate of not wanting to amend the act.

    “We amended it, but he declined assent the first, second and third time; he made certain observations, which we agreed with.”

     

     

     

     

  • Buhari to host ECOWAS conference on farmers/herders clashes 

    President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to declare open on April 26 a conference of the member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on farmers/herdsmen clashes across the country.

    This was disclosed by the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    Stressing that the meeting was initially planned for last February, he said that it was part of efforts by the ECOWAS and some other African countries towards finding permanent solutions to the persistent farmers-herdsmen clashes in Nigeria and beyond.

    He said “This is why, for instance, we initiated the conference that is to come up between April 26 and 29 under the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services, zeroing particularly on the protocol on the movement of trans-humans which was signed in 1978 but yet to be implemented.

    “I had meetings with President ECOWAS Commission, the one that left, and we agreed to have this conference sometime last month. But because there were leaving and new set of management was coming in it was shifted to toward the end of this month.

    “So, the whole idea is to look at this issue of movements across borders. So, this month on April 26, God willing, we are going to have this conference and Mr President has graciously agreed to open the conference,’’ he said

    The conference which would also attract participants from the Central African Republic, Chad, Cameroon, Morocco and Mauritania, he said, would explore the relationship between the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, and trans-border criminal activities.

    He said “Zeroing particularly on the protocol of trans-humans which was signed in 1978 and we are yet to implement them. I had meeting with the president ECOWAS commission, the one that left and we agreed to have this conference sometimes last month but they were leaving, and the new set of management coming in, it was shifted to towards the end of this month.

    “The whole idea is to look at this issue of movement across borders. The protocol provided for instance, that any of such movement, of trans-human should be received at the reception center by the host country and there international trans-human certificate are supposed to guide them. And not only that, they should also go along with international health certificates for the cattle they are going with.

    “So, if somebody comes in with 10 cattle for instance, and if he is going out with 20, you have to ask him questions because of the issue of cattle rustling. We will also be able to know that the animals he is bringing do not carry disease. We also want to be sure that they obey the laws of the country to the latter.

    “And the issue of carrying of arms because it is a no go area, we have zero tolerance to that because it is not part of the protocol. So, these are the issues that will be discussed at a high level ministerial conference which involves all ministers responsible for internal security and agriculture in all these countries, the fifteen ECOWAS countries plus some of these countries in Central Africa, particular, Chad, Cameroun and Central African Republic. And also, it will involve Mauritania and Morocco. Mr. President has graciously agreed to open the conference on 26th, so it is of great concern to us,” he said

    On threats by Shiites to continue attacks in Abuja, he said “Well, I’m not sure of where that alert is coming from. You know that these days, you have to be very mindful of these things in the social media. It is like I saw one yesterday saying that there is going to be nuclear attack in the United Kingdom and this was broadcast by the BBC, and it is fake.

    “So, you have to be very careful with that. But I want to reassure you that law and order exist within the society and the FCT minister is very aware and is on top of it because of what happened recently. The commissioner of police is aware and is part of it.

    “About some people attacking or not, I think is something that we have to be cautious of where such information is coming from. If there is anything like that, you will get it from official sources. As at now, there is nothing like that because the police is handling that. You must have listened to the news last night and this morning, the commissioner of police FCT came out to speak and he assured all residents of FCT of security of lives and property,” he stated.

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  • Stop abusing ECOWAS protocol, importers, agents told

    Importers and clearing agents at land borders have been urged to stop abusing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) to boost revenue and facilitate trade.

    World Cargo Investment Managing Director Adesope Aderoju, who spoke with The Nation at Seme Border,  said ETLS was introduced by ECOWAS to facilitate the integration of trade and commerce among member states.

    He said the scheme was set up to eliminate barriers and promote free trade, adding that it allows goods manufactured in member-states to move freely without payment of import/export duties within the region.

    “The scheme has been subjected to unbridled abuse, especially by some unscrupulous importers and Asian businessmen. These unscrupulous people bring in goods from China and other Asian countries, ship them into the sub-region and land such goods in ports of neighbouring countries such as Benin Republic, Ivory Coast, Ghana and even lately Liberia. They subsequently change the labels on these goods and smuggle them through the land borders into the country,”he said.

    The implications of this, according to a source, are grave. The source said apart from the loss of huge government revenue, goods that find their way into the market in this manner gain unfair competitive price advantage over locally made products.

    Apart from ETLS abuse, which is mostly perpetrated through the land borders, many importers also disregard the country’s import policy by bringing in various goods, including those banned by the government through seaports.

     

  • Nigeria will implement ECOWAS protocol, Oyeyemi assures

    Nigeria will implement ECOWAS protocol, Oyeyemi assures

    The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, who is also the chairman of the national committee on the implementation of the ECOWAS policy on axle load control, has assured that Nigeria will work for the implementation of the policy.

    Nigeria, he maintained, will also implement the policy in other members of the West African sub-region.

    A statement by FRSC’s Head, Media Relations and Strategy, Bisi Kazeem, said Oyeyemi spoke during a stakeholders’ meeting on the implementation of the axle load control at the FRSC Headquarters Abuja.

    The Corps Marshal said: “Nigeria is one of the signatories to the ECOWAS protocol on the implementation of the policy on axle load control.

    “We must therefore make concerted efforts to ensure that the policy is effectively enforced in the country.”

    He lamented West African roads are being negatively affected by the menace of overloading, which hampers effective road safety campaigns.

    The situation, he said, requires the support of all stakeholders to be tackled.

    “It is our collective responsibility to rise up to these challenges to protect not only the life span of the vehicles plying the roads but the durability of the roads which are threatened by such negative practices,” Oyeyemi stressed.

     

     

  • FG to encourage implementation of ECOWAS protocol

    FG to encourage implementation of ECOWAS protocol

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has introduced a programme to enlighten Nigerians on the implementation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol on free movement.

    Minister of Foreign Affairs II, Dr. Nuruddeen Muhammad, said the programme was to mobilise Nigerians to take advantage of the various protocols to empower themselves.

    The minister said this on Thursday in Birnin Kebbi in a message to the North West zonal workshop on “Understanding the relevance of ECOWAS protocol on free movement of persons, goods and services to national development.”

    “The ministry would serve as a focal point and appraise implementation of protocol on free movement for Nigerians to explore it for empowerment,” he said in a message to the workshop delivered by Alhaji Yakubu Kalakala.

    According to him, the protocol on free movement of persons and services as well as trade liberalisation is principally to serve as bedrock for the development of the sub region.

    “The abuse arising from disregard to ECOWAS protocol had wide range of economic and security implications on Nigeria in view of activities of terrorists and economic saboteurs, “ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the minister as saying at the forum.

    He said the ministry would raise awareness on human security issues that included climate change, trafficking in persons and proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

    The ECOWAS Head of Free Movement, Mr. Tony Elumelu, commended the ministry for the programme, which he said was of considerable benefits to member countries.

    He urged participants to proffer modalities for the development of ECOWAS countries and identify impediments to free movement of persons, goods and services in the sub region.