ACN recruits 5,000 volunteers in Ondo •To campaign for presidential election

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), on Monday intensified efforts to win the presidential election in Ondo State with the recruitment of 5,000 volunteers/canvassers to reach 50,000 houses across the state before Saturday’s election.

The coordinator of the Ribadu Campaign Organisation in the state, Bola Ilori, said at the training of the leaders of the canvassers in Akure that the party was poised to win the state.

According to him, the campaign organisation had already consulted the political parties that would not be fielding candidates for the presidential election in the country to support the Ribadu/Adeola ticket.

He said the result of last Saturday’s National Assembly election had shown that the ACN was a great player in the presidential game in the country.

He said, “We know that as things are now, the ACN has a good chance of emerging a major player in the presidential game and we have every opportunity if proper realignment is done. The report of the last election showed that ACN is not only popular in the South-West, it is also a party of the entire Nigeria, it has won outside of the southwest.

Police nab 3 suspected inter-state robbers

LAGOS - Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command Special Anti-Robbery Squad, have arrested three suspected members of a notorious robbery gang that operate outside the state.

However, a suspected female member of the gang earlier arrested with a bag full of arms and ammunition, denied being a member of the gang .

Rather, she claimed that the weapons was handed to her by her boyfriend, whose identity she gave simply as Charles.

The 25-year-old lady, Mary Onwuka, was arrested at Agboju park two weeks ago while trying to board a bus to Koko, Delta State, where the gang reportedly planned to carry out a robbery operation

Corps members threaten to withdraw from elections in Delta

Some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving as electoral officers in Delta State have threatened to withdraw their services in subsequent elections in the ongoing general election because of the ugly experiences they encountered during last Saturday’s National Assembly election in the state.

Those who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune recounted their experiences, saying they were harassed and humiliated during the conduct of the exercise by thugs and some political youth leaders for their resolve not to compromise and dance to their tune.

Incidentally, some of them succumbed to intimidation to save their lives by allowing the youth leaders in some wards in Uvwie Local Government Area who allegedly forced the electorate to vote for the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the area.

A female youth corps member, who preferred to be anonymous, lamented to the Nigerian Tribune that she was thoroughly beaten and her skirt torn to shreds at one of the units in the local government area for refusing to cooperate with some political leaders in the area.

”Some political leaders in the unit I served in Uvwie said I should allow them take the election materials into a room to thumb print but I refused. I insisted that the people must be allowed to vote.

Ogun Education Commissioner, 6 others docked for firearms’ possession

AN Akure Chief Magistrate Court has ordered that the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Elder Yemi Akinwoni and six others be remanded in prison custody till April 27.

Akinwoni and his team were docked for being in possession of one double barrel gun; one cut-to-size gun; two live cartridges; and four expended cartridges during the National Assembly polls.

Other items found on them included; 92 voters cards; one extra number plate with registration number Ogun: AV 897 AAB; and six wraps of Indian hemps.

Other accused persons including; Wasiri Buari, Ikuajuwajo Oluremi, 38; Salami Morufu, 43; Oluwole Oluwaseun, 26; Olorunsola Fadugba 44; and Omokuwajo Fadugba, 44; were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Siji Akinsola.

Nigerians abroad score INEC high

Nigerians living in South Africa on Sunday scored the conduct of Saturday’s National Assembly election high, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported.

General Manager, Africa, Hay Group, based in Johannesburg Mr Gbenga Odusanya said the conduct of the elections showed that the country was putting the days of election rigging behind it.

He said: “We seem to be entering a new phase and politicians will begin to come to terms with the fact that the days of rigging elections in Nigeria are being done away with.

Odusanya said INEC’s adoption of the Modified Option A4 was an indication of its determination to ensure transparency in the polls.

Anambra govt denies bribery allegation

The Anambra State Government has debunked media reports alleging that government officials attempted to bribe an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr Alex Anene to announce Professor Dora Akunyili as the winner of the Anambra Central senatorial election conducted on Saturday, April 9, 2011.

A release signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Mike Udah made it clear that the Anambra State Government under Mr Peter Obi did not offer any bribe to any person or attempted in any way to thwart the genuine efforts of INEC to conduct a free, fair, credible and violence-free election in the state.

It noted that Governor Obi is civil, peaceful, democratic and humble and has never in the course of his political journey so far committed any fraud of any sort, not even when his mandate was brazenly stolen in2003 by Dr Chris Ngige. Udah observed that the present attempts by Dr Ngige to give the impression that the State Government and APGA are striving to shortchange him did not arise and will not fly.

Suswam denies arrest of ADC

The Benue State governor, Dr Gabriel Suswam, on Sunday, said that his aide de camp (ADC), DSP Dickson Pawa, was neither arrested nor detained by security operatives in the state.

Suswam made the clarification at the Government House, Makurdi, to debunk the rumour that his ADC was arrested, interrogated and detained by military men in Katsina Ala Local Government Area of the state for carrying arms.

”At no time was my ADC arrested or detained by military men,” he said.

He told journalists while reacting to the allegation that his aide was stopped by soldiers on his way to Harga, his village, to cast his vote and when his aide explained who he was, the soldiers authorised him to embark on his journey.

The governor stressed that the allegation levelled against his aide was an extension of what the opposition knew best to do.

Reactions as Lagosians review Fashola’s 1,400-day stewardship

Last week, traders, farmers, transport operators, artisans and public servants were among those that gathered at Onikan Stadium to mark Governor Babatunde Fashola’s 1,400 days in office.

The meeting provided an avenue for participants to evaluate the performance of the Fashola-led administration and its impacts on their lives.

Also, an array of officers of the state service agencies, and voluntary associations had a colourful parade.

Mr. Kunle Hassan said he could have died of kidney ailment if the state government did not intervene in his case. He narrated how the state government sponsored his medical trip to India, where he underwent kidney transplant successfully at the cost of N5m.

Another resident, Mr. John Omokolawole, said he took advantage of Lagos State Agriculture Youth Empowerment Scheme (Agric-YES), which empowered him to eke a living after wandering about streets after graduation in 2008 because he could not get a job. “I keyed into Agric-YES. The form was even free. I was selected after the exams. Now, I am living a meaningful life.”

Ruling party's shrinking majority in parliament

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) may not enjoy the clear dominance of the National Assembly that has been its lot since 1999, going by the results so far announced for Saturday's election.

The strong showing of such opposition parties as the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) indicate that the federal legislature may no longer be able to operate as if the nation were a one party state.

The defeat of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, was the first major indication that the party has lost more ground in the Southwest. That result was followed by another high profile loss in the state, when Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello lost her senatorial seat to the ACN's candidate.

Mr Bankole, however, quickly conceded defeat and called on politicians to shun violence.

"The exercise is a good omen in our national quest to entrench democracy in our nation," he said. "For me, the race was not a life-and-death duel. Of more importance is the building, maintenance and development of our democratic institutions and processes toward true national development and greatness."

The ACN sweep

The implications are however far reaching than the fall of these two. In 2007, the ACN, then known as the Action Congress, had only representatives from Lagos State in the National Assembly. This time around however, the party is sending senators from such PDP strongholds as Oyo, where the party has won the senatorial seats in Ibadan north and Oyo central. In the former district, Abiodun Awoleye of ACN polled 30,035 votes to beat Kazeem Adeniyi of the Accord Party into second place. In Oyo central, Ayo Adeseun of the ACN polled 105,975 votes to defeat Jumoke Akinjide of the PDP.

Election Results Update

ABIA STATE

ABIA South Senatorial District - PDP - 90k

EDO

Edo Central Senatorial District
PDP- 61K votes

ACN - 49K votes

Esan South Fed. Cons.- PDP- 26K

Owan Federal Cons. ACN - 29K votes

Election Results Update

Below is a list of some of the results with the winners and approximate vote values

OGUN STATE

ADO/Odo Federal Constituency - ACN

Owode Federal Constituency - ACN 12k votes

Ogun East Senatorial District - ACN 76K votes

Abeokuta- ACN

AKWA IBOM STATE

Akwa ibom south senatorial District - PDP 383,607 votes

Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District - PDP 208,197 votes

Stay tuned for more results

Akala, PDP senator trade words over assassination plot

The lawmaker representing Oyo North at the Senate, Senator Gbenga Babalola, has petitioned the police, alleging that the state Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala and the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Ayoola Agboola, were making attempts to assassinate him.

The development signals a serious crack within the Chief Lamidi Adedibu political family as both the senator and the politicians alleged were helped into power in 2007.

In a petition to the Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, Babalola said he had been receiving sustained threat to his life by loyalists of the governor and Agboola because he is seen as a great threat to the governor’s second term ambition in his senatorial district.

Court Dismisses Igbinedion’s Suit On Seized Property

An application by the former governor of Edo state, Lucky Igbinedion, to have his property seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) released to him was on Friday dismissed by Justice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court in Lagos for lack of merit.

In the meantime, the ex- governor speaking through his lawyer, Ricky Tarfa (SAN), after the court’s verdict, vowed to appeal the ruling.

The judge, while delivering his ruling, noted that Section 13 of the Federal High Court Acts granted the anti-graft agency the power to temporarily grant injunction to freeze or attach assets suspected to have been acquired by proceeds of fraud.

According to the judge, the anti-graft agency acted within its power as sections 28 and 29 of the EFCC Act empower the commission to temporarily attach properties suspected to have been acquired through crime.

The judge also held that under section 19 of the Federal High Court Act and Section 220 of the constitution, the court has the jurisdiction under the act to make orders attaching the property, since the territorial jurisdiction of the federal High Court is nationwide and that there is only one Federal High Court in Nigeria.

WAEC Bans Candidates, Teachers Over Malpractices

Some of the 51, 876 candidates who were involved in various allegations of examination malpractice at the November/December 2010 West African Senior School Certificate Examination have been banned from writing any WAEC-organised examination for three years.

The acting chairman of the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Chief Adeniyi Falade, said this during its 51st meeting held at Excellence Hotel and Conference Centre, Ogba, Lagos.

He said, “After due consideration of the cases of examination malpractice, the committee endorsed appropriate sanctions prescribed by the rules and regulation governing the conduct of the examination.”

According to him, the committee has endorsed the cancellation of the entire results of the candidates involved in the malpractice while some of them have been barred outright from writing any of WAEC-organised examinations.

Though he could not say how many candidates were affected, he noted that many of them, including some teachers involved in the act, were sanctioned.

Police discover 100 strands of dynamite in Kaduna

The police in Kaduna yesterday uncovered plans to cause massive bombing of part of Kaduna with the discovery of over 100 strands of dynamites loaded in three sacks after one other sack exploded, killing one person, while the other is currently in hospital.

The state Police Commissioner, Haruna John, told newsmen at the St Gerard Catholic Hospital, Kaduna where one of the suspected bombers was admitted for treatment that the bombs were capable of bringing down any building in the state.

The police boss had on Thursday afternoon alerted of plots to cause violence during the National Assembly election by unknown people, saying that security agents would not tolerate any act of violence throughout the election.

However, a few hours after the police warning, a bomb was said to have exploded at Mahuta village on the outskirts of Kaduna metropolis, killing one of those carrying it, while the other was seriously injured.

INEC shifts polls to April 26 in Ekiti

The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) has bowed to the pressure mounted by the Action Congres of Nigeria (ACN), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties that there will be no election today in Ekiti State. Elections are now to hold on April 26.

All the major political parties in Ekiti State numbering 10 including　the 　ACN, PDP, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and　 the Labour Party (LP) had yesterday rejected the staggered elections.

2011 Poll: Police Nab 19 Suspected Thugs In Oyo

As a pointer to the determination of the police to prevent violence during the 2011 elections, about 14 men suspected to be hoodlums were arrested in Iwoate in Ogo Oluwa Local Government Area of Oyo. Another five were also nabbed at Iresaadu in Surulere Local Government Area by the state police command.

According to reports, the suspected hoodlums, upon interrogation, had revealed that they were from Lagos to support a House of Representatives candidate from the local government.

The arrested men were suspected to have been brought into the local government by an opposition party to disrupt today’s elections.

Orji Kalu defines Abia senatorial races

When Nigerians file out on Saturday to cast their votes in the National Assembly elections, the Abia South senatorial district would be one of the centres of attraction, as former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu flying the flag of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) battles the incumbent senator, Uche Chukwumerije of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

For Mr. Chukwumerije, it will be a test of his popularity and appreciation of his stewardship for the two-term tenure he has held the people's mandate at the senate. Isikaraka, as Mr. Chukwumerije is fondly called by his admirers, came to the limelight during the war when he served as the spin doctor for the botched Republic of Biafra. He was elected to the Senate in 2003 under the platform of the PDP and in 2007 under PPA before defecting to the PDP with the state governor, Theodore Orji. Many think the senator's candidature would be of benefit to the South East as he could be a possible candidate for senate presidency if the post is zoned to the south east.

Reception for Bode George: Falana carpets Obasanjo

LAGOS human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana has described as scandalous the statement credited to former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo that he was deceived into attending the reception in honour of Chief Olabode George, saying: “it should be discountenanced by Nigerians.”

Falana who spoke in a telephone interview with The Nation last night said even from Obasanjo’s own account, there was no evidence of misrepresentation whatsoever as the reception programme was well-publicized in the media before the D-day.

“Now former president Obasanjo got to the venue and discovered that it was not a gathering of Area Boys, but the collection of the crème dela crème of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Federal Government. Why did he not withdraw from the event when he found out that it was a celebration of criminality?” Falana queried.

Discomfited, Falana said: “Instead of resorting to bracing opportunism, there was a belated a diatribe of Chief Bode George. The ex-president should apologize to Nigerians for assaulting their moral integrity.”

Raising a poser, he said: “Why has it taken one week to discover that he was tricked to attend that programme? Is he not aware that the return of an ex-convict from prison is a sober event or did the summary by Venerable Tayo Aduloju’s sermon not strike a cord in the conscience of ex-president Obasanjo? More so, that he was the one who launched the anti-corruption crusade under which Chief Bode George was jailed?

Was President Goodluck Jonathan also tricked to send a powerful delegation to the show of shame?”

“Obasanjo should therefore be advised to tell his cock and bull story to the marine”, he stressed.

It may be recalled that George and five others were arraigned on August 8, 2008 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 163-count charge, bordering on abuse of office in the award of over N100 billion as Board Chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority without recourse to the due process.

He was later convicted in October 2009 by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja and jailed for two years alongside others on a seven-count charge of abuse of office and six months each on another 27-count charge of disobedience to constituted authority.

Having served his prison sentence and subsequently regained freedom penultimate Saturday, a committee of friends decided to hold a reception in his honour.

Minimum wage showdown!Labour insists on full implementation

Organised labour is not taking lightly its threat to frustrate next month general elections if the N18,000 new minimum wage is not paid especially by state governors, as indication emerged that labour has directed its state officials to forward to it the names of governors willing to pay the new minimum wage by the end of this month.

This directive, Sunday Vanguard gathered, is in anticipation of the harmonisation of the the Minimum Wage Bill that both the Senate and House of Representatives have passed for eventual presidential assent.

According to sources, organised labour wants to move against governors considered as anti-new minimum wage as the governors are believed to be keeping money that would assist in the implementation of the new wage for electioneering.

“The leadership of congress is not taking chances. It has directed state officials to immediately commence discussion with their state governors on the implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage. We know that the governors can pay. Some of them want us to push them before they pay. We are ready to push them and we will push them to their limits.

Many of them have kept money that would have assisted them to implement the wage for electioneering. Well, that is their own cup of tea. We know that they have to pay if they want to hold the elections. All that concerns us is that they find money to pay. We will move against all those governors ,” one of the leaders of the NLC told Sunday Vanguard at the just concluded 10th national delegates conference of the NLC in Abuja.

Already the 16 members of the newly elected leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, have reiterated the threat to frustrate attempts at going ahead with the April general elections without the implementation of the new minimum wage.