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Tag: registered

  • We’ve registered 9.7 million new voters, says INEC chairman

    •U.S., UK funding of election in Nigeria to hit $60m

    THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it registered 9.7 million new voters between April 27, 2017 and June 14.

    INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu stated this yesterday at the INEC Youth Votes Count Campus Outreach at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

    The event was organised in collaboration with the European Union (EU) in commemoration of Europe Day 2018 and the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES).

    Mahmood, who delivered the keynote address, launched an INEC voter registration centre at the university as well as the Voter Education Volunteer Programme (UNILAG) chapter.

    He said: “From the 27th of April last year till 14th of June this year, we registered 9.7 million new voters in Nigeria. The majority of them are young people. So, you have the power to change. There cannot be proper elections conducted in this country without young people…”

    He said the antidote to security challenges at polling centres is active participation by the electorate.

    According to Mahmood, “nobody will take a gun where they know they will be challenged, but when people abandon polling units, it becomes easier for merchants of violence to disrupt the process.”

    The event was also attended by Head of EU delegation to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Ambassador Ketil Karlsen; Project Coordinator, ECES, Rudolf Elbling; and Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Lagos State, Sam Olumekun.

    Nollywood actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, actor/comedians Bright Okpocha, alias Basketmouth, Ayo Makun (alias AY), Helen Paul (alias Tatafo) led a panel of discussants at the event.

    Karlsen urged the youth to take advantage of their numerical strength and own the electoral system in Nigeria.

    He added: “What I would really like to assemble is the strongest partnership ever between the European Union and Nigeria and strongest partnership ever between the European Union and the youth of Nigeria.”

    Jalade-Ekeinde said: “The point is not whether or not the candidate of your choice wins but the point is to put the numbers behind them to give them the needed confidence to try again. Come 2019, we should be ready to waste our votes even if it is just to make a point and disrupt the status.”

    Basketmouth, AY and Tatafo urged young adults to go beyond merely complaining but get their Permanent Voter Cards and exercise their franchise either by contesting for office or voting.

    UNILAG Vice Chancellor Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe urged the students to seize the opportunity provided by the event to “participate in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise” and collect their permanent voter cards.

    “This voter education campaign for students of tertiary institutions must be applauded,” Ogundipe added.

    It was learnt yesterday that the United States (U.S.) and United Kingdom (UK) funding of election activities in Nigeria since 2014 will soon hit $60 million.

    UK recently pledged additional $7.3 million, which bring to $26 million the total support for the country. The U.S. has supported Nigeria with $34 million within the said period.

    The latest pledge, according to a statement by Mr. Joe Abuku, Press and Public Affairs Officer, British High Commission, is contained in the amended Memorandum of Understanding to extend joint funding to support Nigeria’s electoral process through 2020.

    The statement reads: “On June 22, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) amended a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to extend their joint funding arrangements to support Nigeria’s electoral processes through 2020 with an increased DFID contribution.

    “The additional £5.5 million (US $7.3 million) pledged by the UK brings DFID’s contribution to the joint funding arrangements since 2014 to $26 million, augmenting the $34 million provided by USAID since that time, bringing the total funding support for free, fair, transparent, and peaceful Nigerian elections through this joint mechanism to $60 million over six years.

    The amendment update was signed at the U.S. Embassy by USAID Mission Director Stephen M. Haykin and DFID Governance and Social Development Team Leader Oliver Blake.

     

     

     

  • Nigeria records 1,300 registered victims in EU countries

    Nigeria account for 1,300 of the 22,000 registered victims of human trafficking in member states of European Union (EU), says the Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Richard Young.

    Young spoke yesterday at the EU Anti-Trafficking Day in collaboration with NAPTIP and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with the theme ‘Education as a Critical Tool to Prevent Human Trafficking.’

    Stressing that trafficking in persons is modern form of slavery, he said: “We have to remind ourselves always what trafficking is. It is the slavery of modern times, and it is always hard to know the numbers of people who are affected by the scourge.

    “One place to look at is the statistics produced by the EU in terms of the number of people that are registered in Europe as victims of trafficking.

    “And the last report that was reported by us in 2015 noted that there were 22,000 registered victims in Europe, of which 15,000 of them were EU citizens.

    “I think I should let you know that about 1,300 were Nigerians.

    “And indeed they were the largest registered number in Europe, so it brings you close to home.”

    He said some member states had set in motion legislations that would ensure that traffickers are punished accordingly.

    As at today, he said, 10 member states have criminalised all forms of exploitation while three have outlawed all forms of sexual exploitation.

    Besides, he said, 14 have limited and selective criminalisation for the use of services of the victims of trafficking.

    He also revealed that EU planned to carry out €10 million (N450 million) projects in Nigeria to combat trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.

    He noted: “And we will have the €10 million project in Nigeria by combating and reducing irregular migrations that occurs, inter alia, through trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM)”.

    “This project will focus on policy, protection, prevention of trafficking, prosecution and partnership.

    “So our goal and objectives is to change those numbers and change those statics by identifying, protecting and assisting victims of trafficking.”

    Speaking at the event, the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Mrs. Julie Okah-Donli, said the agency has so far rescued 12,000 trafficked victims.

    Okah-Donli said 60 per cent of the trafficked victims are female.

    She also noted that 328 traffickers have been prosecuted since the inception of NAPTIP in 2003.

    Okah-Donli, who was represented by Mr. Abdulrahman Shuaib, Director Legal and Prosecution, said: “For the purpose of spreading the fight and eradicating the menace, students from different parts of Abuja have written essays to commemorate the day. This is to put the drive and consciousness on children to embrace and actively participate in the crusade in their various schools.

    “We appreciate all the interventions of our partners and commend the tireless efforts of our partners, including the Federal Ministry of Information; Women and Youths Development; Employment, Labour and Productivity and others.”

  • 16 clubs register for FA Cup in Enugu

    The Secretary of Enugu State Football Association, Francis Ugwu, on Tuesday in Enugu said only 16 clubs registered for the 2017 edition of the state’s Football Association (FA) Cup competition.

    Ugwu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the competition will therefore have no group stage as a result of the number of participating clubs.

    “There will be no room for group stage matches. The competition will start from the round of 16, which is a knockout stage,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that the competition, which has Rangers International FC of Enugu as its defending champions, is billed to hold from Thursday till May 1.

    Ugwu said Purple Krown FC will take on El-Nahag FC in the first match of the competition by 2 p.m..

    “The second match of the day will be between the Flying Angels and Star Plus from 4 p.m.’’

    The FA Secretary said Rangers would begin the defense of their title against Independence Layout FC on April 11 by 4 p.m.

    He said the round of 16 matches would be completed by April 11, while the quarter-final matches would hold between April 12 and April 13.

    “The semi-finals will be played on April 21, while the third-place and final matches will take place on May 1 by 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.,’’ Ugwu said.

    He disclosed that all the competition’s matches would be played at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu.

    Ugwu however acknowledged that the competition’s match fixtures were amenable to changes.

    “This because some unavoidable circumstance may lead to changes in dates and times after consideration.’’

    He urged the participating clubs to play according to the rules and regulations guiding the competition as defaulters would be punished accordingly.

  • $15m: Patience Jonathan’s group not registered, SERAP tells court

    $15m: Patience Jonathan’s group not registered, SERAP tells court

    A Rights group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has urged the Federal High Court to “dismiss” a suit by former first lady Mrs. Dame Patience Jonathan’ with substantial cost.”

    Mrs. Jonathan and her group, Union of Niger Delta Youth Organisation for Equity, Justice and Good Governance, had accused SERAP in a suit dated October 6 of “using online, print and electronic media to publish to the public unfounded and malicious allegations that she stole $15 million (U.S.) and ought to be prosecuted.”

    But SERAP, in a preliminary objection dated October 27 and signed by its executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, stated that “Patience Jonathan’s claims cannot be maintained because they are brought on her behalf by a group that is unknown to law.

    “Mrs. Jonathan’s group is not a registered organisation envisaged by law. This very point calls into question the legal capacity to file this suit against SERAP, and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain her suit.”

    When the case came up for hearing before Justice C.M.A Olatoregun on Friday, SERAP was represented by its lawyer Babatunde Ogala, former chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly’s Committee on Judiciary.

    SERAP’s preliminary objections read in part: “Since the process of court has not been used bona fide and properly, it is unnecessary to consider whether or not there is a genuine case on the merits. An abuse of court process is not the specie of sins called an irregularity. It is a much more fundamental vice which is deserving of the punishment of dismissal.”

  • Registered SIM cards will be restored, says NCC

    Registered SIM cards will be restored, says NCC

    Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM) cards deactivated by operators would be restored, if the owners had them properly registered, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said.

    Many affected subscribers have inundated the regulator with questions, seeking clarification as to the status of their phone numbers. The NCC has however stressed that only those subscribers who register their SIM cards properly will have them reactivated.

    In a statement yesterday, NCC Director of Communication, Tony Ojobo, said the clarification became necessary following the deluge of enquiries at the Commission some of which alluded to the impression that their SIM cards have been withdrawn permanently. “This is not the situation,” Ojobo, said, adding that the deactivation exercise and decision was a result of a meeting with the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Department of State Service (DSS), the NCC and operators “after which the operators were given one-week to deactivate those unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards.”

    He said the operators were “specifically told that those subscribers whose lines were not registered and have not made any effort to register them, should be communicated before deactivation, pointing out that the deactivation of these SIM cards was in line with that meeting. “Subscribers who fail to register properly will have their lines deactivated, but those who comply will have them reactivated,” Ojobo said.

    He explained that proper registration means “a subscriber’s facial pictures, properly captured, biometrics/finger prints, valid means of identification and address, among others,” adding that these are part of the security measures to check incessant cases of crimes with the use of mobile phones.

    “People hide under anonymity to commit crimes because their lines are not registered, but all that has to change as the network operators have been told what to do,” he said.

    As he put it, “the ultimatum to deactivate unregistered SIM card expired on Tuesday this week. But enquires as to the status of the SIM cards necessitated this statement,” adding that operators were told among others to ensure compliance of all registration with the Data Dictionary, Technical Specifications on Finger prints and facial images and the business rules agreed by all stakeholder.

  • Registered voters to endorse state creation

    Only registered voters will approve any request for the creation of a new state, according to a Bill for an Act to further alter the constitution and other matters connected therewith 2014.

    The bill, which contained amended sections of the constitution, was adopted by the National Assembly on Wednesday, awaiting the President’s assent.

    Before the amendment, only those in the area requesting states voted without distinguishing the demographic details of people that should participate in a referendum.

    The new alteration now simplifies the relevant section by requiring that only registered voters could vote in a referendum to endorse or reject the request for a state.

    The new provision was endorsed by 28 states, including Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Plateau and Rivers.

    States that rejected the provision included Ekiti, Katsina, Kwara, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

    Section 8 (1)(b) of “An Act of the National Assembly for the purpose of creating a new state” says that “a proposal for the creation of the state is thereafter approved in a referendum by at least two-thirds majority of the people of the area where the demand for creation of the state originated.”

    Section 8 (1) (c) says: “The result of the referendum is then approved by a simple majority of all the states of the Federation supported by a simple majority of members of the Houses of Assembly.”

    While Section 8(1) (d) says: “The proposal is approved by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of members of each House of the National Assembly.”

    The amended version, however, states 8(1) (b) “ a proposal for the creation of the state is thereafter approved in a referendum by at least two-thirds majority of the registered voters of the local government council in the area voting at the referendum where the demand for creation of the state originated.

    Section 8(1) c of the amended version says: “The result of the referendum is then approved by a resolution of the state Houses of Assembly of not less than two-thirds majority of all the states of the federation.”

    Also, section 8 (1) d of the amended version says “the approved proposal is passed by a resolution of not less than two-thirds majority of members of each House of the National Assembly.”

  • ‘3.2m Southeast youths registered for APC’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has registered over three million youths in the Southeast.

    Rising from a meeting of the Southeast interim youth leaders convened by the Deputy National Youth Leader, Chief Uzo Igbonwa, in Awka, APC said the success was achieved despite hiccups.

    Those at the meeting were Mr. Austin Chukwukere from Imo State, Okolo Louis (Jr.) from Enugu; Anyaegbu Augustine, from Abia; Ebang Ibiam Thompson, from Ebonyi; and Obidike Joseph, from Anambra.

    They said: “We, the Southeast interim youth leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC), after reviewing the registration, congratulate the party nationwide for a successful exercise.

    “We urge our leaders at the national level to leave our party’s register open for more youths eager of joining the party.”

    The body hailed Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha; former Anambra State Governor, Senator Chris Ngige; former Abia State Governor, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; Senator Osita Izunaso and other party chieftains in the Southeast, who contributed to the success of the exercise.

  • Why INEC registered All Progressives Congress

    Why INEC registered All Progressives Congress

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) registered the All Progressives Congress (APC) based on four factors, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    The four factors are: •substantial compliance with Section 222 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 78 of the Electoral Act by merger parties; •absence of any injunction restraining INEC from registering the party; •the commission’s stand to be courageous and take a definite position; and •the need to open up the electoral space for a free and fair contest.

    According to sources, despite the fact that a department tried to delay the registration of the APC on technical ground of a subsisting court process, INEC decided to be courageous.

    It was gathered that INEC discovered that if it had not acted within the law, APC would have been automatically registered within 30 days of the submission of its application.

    A National Commissioner, who spoke in confidence, said: “We subjected the application for merger of the parties to Section 222 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 78 of the Electoral Act.

    “The field report confirmed that the ACN, the ANPP and the CPC met all the requirements to merge. So, we have no cause to deny them this right. There were no fault lines; they kept to the guidelines. Denying them registration could overheat the system as if INEC is being stereotyped by some forces.”

    Responding to a question, the commissioner said APC’s registration was not subjudice to the ongoing court action by a group laying claim to the acronym.

    The source said: “One, there is no injunction restraining INEC from registering All Progressives Congress. Although some officers cited ongoing court action by All Peoples Congress, we got legal advice that we should stick to the provision of the Electoral Act.

    “Section 78 of the Electoral Act says: ‘A political association that meets the conditions stipulated in the Constitution and this Act shall be registered by the Commission as a political party within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application, and if after the 30 days such association is not registered by the Commission unless the Commission informs the association to the contrary it shall be deemed to have been registered.

    “What it means is that since we have no objection to the merger of the three parties to form APC, they will stand registered automatically after 30 days whether we make a pronouncement or not.

    “Instead of allowing APC to emerge by default, we decided to be courageous in registering the merger party. INEC does not want to be seen as cowardly at all.

    “The court hearing the application of the pseudo group had adjourned till September or October and there is no way INEC can wait till then to determine the fate of the All Progressives Congress. If we had waited, we will be violating the Electoral Act and there will be no legal basis for registering the new merger party again.”

    The commissioner also added: “The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, and his team opted to widen the electoral space to promote a free and fair process or contest.

    “I think with this decision, Nigerians can have more choice. It is part of the mandate of INEC to make the electoral process transparent.”

  • 32,000 vehicles registered in first quarter

    32,000 vehicles registered in first quarter

    The FCT Administration has registered 32,479 vehicles in the first quarter of this year.

    Minister Bala Mohammed stated the figure in Abuja, explaining that the new vehicles were registered through the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS).

    He said 3,937 vehicles were impounded for various traffic offences during the period under review.

    The FCT Administration impounded a total of 2,149 commercial motorcycles (Okada) between January and March .

    Mohammed said: “The FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services also impounded 37 unpainted taxis in and around the Federal Capital City, Abuja”.

    Mohammed said 42 illegal motor parks were closed down around the Federal Capital City and warned that the exercise would be a continuous one until the city is rid of illegal parks as well as the touts operating in them.

    He specifically advised those still illegally operating commercial motorcycles within the city to desist from doing so,stressing stressing that the long arm of the law would soon catch up with them.

    Praising the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services for achieving this feat, the minister assured the residents of the territory that his administration would not rest, until all traffic bottlenecks confronting the city are cleared.

    Mohammed, therefore, solicited the understanding of all residents to enable his administration actualise the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

     

  • APC: INEC has not registered new party –Jega

    APC: INEC has not registered new party –Jega

    • Says commission will follow the rules
    • Dismisses electronic voting for 2015

     

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega said yesterday that the commission will adhere strictly to the rules in processing the applications for the registration of the All Progressive Congress and the African Peoples Congress.

    Both parties are keen on having the acronym APC.

    The All Progressive Congress is a fusion of the ACN, CPC and ANPP. It has accused the other APC of working for the ruling PDP with a view to thwarting the merger of the three parties.

    Professor Jega, speaking on a Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, Hausa programme Hanu Dayawa yesterday said “we have not even got to that stage (registration) now.”

    He said: “This issue has generated a lot of controversy in the last few weeks, but the truth is that no political party wrote to notify us that it was planning to merge with some other political parties until about five days or so ago.

    “Therefore, it is not true that we were notified. The issue became serious when one group came out to seek registration and I guess that was what made them to write and notify us. But that is not the issue. The main issue is that there are guidelines for registered political parties which want to merge to become a new party. There are also guidelines for individuals or groups who want to form a political party for registration.

    “The guidelines for registering a new political party are different from those for registered political parties wishing to merge. For registered political parties that want to merge, they must have agreed to merge and each of the political parties in the merger must hold a convention and agree to withdraw its registration as a political party to become part of the new party to be formed through the merger.

    “After their conventions, they are expected to write and request INEC to withdraw their former registration and say they want to join a new party. In spite of all the controversy, none of these political parties wishing to merge has held its convention.

    “We only read in the newspapers that they have the intention of merging and nobody wrote us until about five or six days ago. If anybody wants to register a political party, you are expected to tell INEC of your intention by saying that you want to register a party with so and so name and you want to know the procedure for doing so.

    “Only one group came. The group asked one lawyer to write INEC saying they want to form a political party with a particular name and they want to know the rules and procedures for registration as a political party.

    “If the other group had done so, we would have replied and told them the rules and the procedure they are supposed to follow to be registered. So, the issue of whether we have collected the name of this other group and whether we have agreed to register it does not even arise because we just replied to their letter by telling them the procedure.

    “While this was going on, some people started making noise saying that they wanted to merge with so, so name. Some of them were even saying that we have registered the other group with that name. It is not done like that.

    “People are just making noise over the name which is in the market while we have not even got to that stage. While all these noise was going on, another group came up seeking registration with the same acronym.

    “We have rules and guidelines for all this and we are determined to follow the rules to avoid any confusion. But we have not reached the stage where we can say a group has been registered with so, so name. So all this noise is just part of our politics in Nigeria.

    “After we explained this to them, they wrote back insisting that they should follow the guidelines. But we have not screened them yet because the procedure is step by step. Except INEC comes out to announce that it has registered so and so party, all this bickering is unnecessary.

    “If you want to register a company, before the company is registered, you will have to apply for a name which the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will take some time to search. We don’t operate like this in INEC, but because of this controversy, we have learnt a lesson. I think at the end of the day, we will also adopt the same system to avoid this problem.”

    Prof. Jega also dismissed the possibility of using electronic voting system for the 2015 general election saying “the constitution has prohibited electronic voting. We have never said we will conduct electronic voting. What we said we will do is to use technology to improve on the registration of voters and improve on the electoral process”.

    He added that the commission is doing its best to ensure that the 2015 elections will be more credible than that of 2011, adding that “we have been working hard towards this. We have reviewed the past and we are looking at what we can do to improve on our performances.

    “Our challenges are an accumulation of problems over the years and we came within eight months and there was no how we could have overcome the rot that happened for over 20 years back. But we did our best without fear or favour. We have been transparent.

    “I can swear that I have been transparent and truthful. I have never tolerated unholy attitude that came to my knowledge. If there too much destruction, it takes time to repair and make things work and for people to appreciate the repairs. We have been tying.”