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Electoral Act: National Assembly Bent On Aiding Electoral Fraud – HURIWA

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National Assembly Transmits Reworked Electoral Bill To Buhari

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has described as unconstitutional the illegal decision by the nation’s lawmakers to make mode of transmission of election subject to the National Communications Commission and the National Assembly’s approval because it contradicts section 78 of the Constitution.

HURIWA quoted Section 78 as stating: “The registration of voters and the conduct of elections shall be subject to the direction and supervision of Independent National Electoral Commission.”

HURIWA wondered why legislators in the National Assembly suffered from temporary amnesia and intellectual poverty by failing to remember that they lack the power to make a legislation that is at variance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

The rights group said that decision is null, void and of no consequence in law and in practice.

It dismissed the failure of the National Assembly to pass the legislation authorizing both electronic voting and transmission of results electronically as the handiwork of electoral merchants whose intention is to perpetuate the electoral robberies that have characterized most previously conducted elections in Nigeria.

The rights group said the crooked amendments amount to a breach of international benchmark on transparent,  credible and accountable election even going by the protocols adopted by ECOWAS Heads of States because the process leading to the amendments lacked the buy-in of the prospective voters and all political stakeholders.

READ ALSO: Reps Pass Conditional Electronic Transmission Of Poll Results, 3% Oil Host Communities Fund

According to HURIWA, the National Assembly members are so shameless to even admit publicly that telecommunication services lack network coverages in some constituencies of Nigeria even after two decades of the advent of the GSM Services.

“This is a show of shame which goes to show that for over two decades the National Assembly failed to make the NCC and Ministry of Communication to be accountable and transparent even with the humongous revenues that the nation ought to have made from licensing of multiple telecom providers since over two decades. What happens to the billions released for upgrade of telecom infrastructure over the last two decades?”

“We think there is a game plan by the President retired military General Mohammadu Buhari and his political party the All Progressives Congress to self-perpetuate or to rig the 2023 election to plant a political surrogate to the current president so as to cover his back to stop any kind of adversarial legal aid criminal investigations of their misrule”.

The National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Director Miss Zainab Yusuf in the statement averred that HURIWA believes that the rejection of electronic transmission of results that was done by the National Assembly is for a criminal purpose and intent because the party has never won a clean, free, fair and peaceful elections since 2015 till date.

HURIWA said the office of the president, that of NCC and the Senate and Federal House of Representatives are colluding to ensure that there is no accountability and transparency in the 2023 poll.

It dismissed the statement on the issue of electronic transmission of election results by the National Communications Commission as an act of illegal intrusion into the jurisdiction of conduct of elections that is exclusively the preserve of the INEC.

“HURIWA finds the statement by the Nigerian Communications Commission that barely fifty per cent of the nation’s 119,000 polling units have network coverage as a conspiracy of election racketeering gangsters. We totally condemn the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Maska Ubale, who stated this while fielding questions from lawmakers in the House of Representatives. We read that he says based on a 2018 report, 49.7 per cent of polling units in Nigeria are without network. Responding to one of the lawmakers’ questions, Maska Ubale said Nigcomsat is not under the purview of the NCC.

“He said the fifty percent has 2G and 3G network and 49.7 per cent with no network has only 2G. He also revealed that the 4G can work only where there is 3G network. These affirmations from NCC are politically motivated and are part of a well- coordinated scheme by the All Progressives Congress and President Muhammadu Buhari to manipulate the 2023 election. Nigerians must wake up and denounce these plots to actualize electoral brigandage and vandalism by the All-Progressives Congress come 2023”.

HURIWA told the National  Assembly that their decision on the electronic transmission of results of elections which is against the popular will of the majority of Nigerians directly offends the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (A/SP1/12/01) which the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) endorsed as follows:

“MINDFUL of the ECOWAS Treaty signed in Cotonou on 24th July 1993 , notably its Article 58; MINDFUL of the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security signed in Lomé on 10 the December 1999; The following shall be declared as constitutional principles shared by all Member States:

READ ALSO: The Ties that Bind: Love, Tolerance, And Communal Life In Abdul Rasheed Na’Allah’s Baba Omokewu
a)”Separation of powers – the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary.
Empowerment and strengthening of parliaments and guarantee of parliamentary immunity.
Independence of the Judiciary: Judges shall be independent in the discharge of their duties.

“The freedom of the members of the Bar shall be guaranteed; without prejudice to their penal or disciplinary responsibility in the event of contempt of court or breaches of the common law.

“b) Every accession to power must be made through free, fair and transparent elections.

“c) Zero tolerance for power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means.

“d) Popular participation in decision-making, strict adherence to democratic principles and decentralization of power at all levels of governance.

“e) The armed forces must be apolitical and must be under the command of a legally constituted political authority; no serving member of the armed forces may seek to run for elective political.

“f) Secularism and neutrality of the State in all matters relating to religion; freedom for each individual to practise, within the limits of existing laws, the religion of his/her choice everywhere on the national territory. The secularism shall extend to all parts of the State, but shall not deprive the State of the right to regulate, with due respect to human rights, the different religions practiced on the national territory or to intervene when law and order break down as a result of any religious activity.

“g) The State and all its institutions belong to all the citizens; therefore none of their decisions and actions shall involve any form of discrimination, be it on an ethnic, racial, religion or regional basis.

“h) The rights set out in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other international instruments shall be guaranteed in each of the ECOWAS Member States; each individual or organization shall be free to have recourse to the common or civil law courts, a court of special jurisdiction, or any other national institution established within the framework of an international instrument on Human Rights, to ensure the protection of his/her rights. In the absence of a court of special jurisdiction, the present Supplementary Protocol shall be regarded as giving the necessary powers to common or civil law judicial bodies.

“i) Political parties shall be formed and shall have the right to carry out their activities freely, within the limits of the law. Their formation and activities shall not be based on ethnic, religious, regional or racial considerations. They shall participate freely and without hindrance or discrimination in any electoral process. The freedom of the opposition shall be guaranteed. Each Member State may adopt a system for financing political parties, in accordance with criteria set under the law.

“j) The freedom of association and the right to meet and organize peaceful demonstrations shall also be guaranteed.

“k) The freedom of the press shall be guaranteed.

“l) All former Heads of State shall enjoy a special status including freedom of movement. They shall enjoy special benefits compatible to their status as former Heads of State.

“1. No substantial modification shall be made to the electoral laws in the last six (6) months before the elections, except with the consent of a majority of Political actors.

“2. All the elections shall be organized on the dates or at periods fixed by the Constitution or the electoral laws.

“3. Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that women have equal rights with men to vote and be voted for in elections, to participate in the formulation of government policies and the implementation thereof and to hold public offices and perform public functions at all levels of governance.”

HURIWA has therefore threatened to mobilize Nigerians for a national protests if the National Assembly fails to rescind its unconstitutional decision within seven days.

 

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BREAKING: Fire Guts Supreme Court

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A wing of the Supreme Court on fire on Monday morning.

A section of the Supreme Court complex in Abuja, was gutted by fire on Monday morning.

It was learnt that the fire, which started around 7am, caused panic among staff members of the court who scampered to safety.

Though no human casualty was recorded, however, it was not clear whether sensitive documents and files were destroyed by the early morning fire at the court situated at the Three-Arm-Zone, Abuja.

It was learnt that the fire might have been caused by electrical malfunction in one of the offices within the administrative wing of the court.

The source confirmed that three offices, including that of Justice Mohammed Saulawa, was touched by the fire before it was eventually put off.

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Abiodun Pays Tribute To Alaperu’s Late Wife, Harps On Enduring Legacies

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Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has extolled the exemplary virtues of the late wife of the Alaperu of Iperu, Olori Kehinde Idowu Basibo-Odoru, describing her as a strong pillar for her husband and a unifying factor for the entire royal family while alive.

The late queen was born on April 23, 1962, and passed on at the age of 61 on 27th July 2023. Her funeral and thanksgiving service was held on Friday at the St. James Anglican Church, Iperu.

The governor, in his remarks, expressed his heartfelt condolences to the royal father, Alaiyeluwa, Oba Adeleke Idowu-Basibo, and the people of the town over the loss, as he prayed for necessary fortitude to carry on in her absence.

He recounted the enviable attributes of the late Olori while alive as bold, lovely and supportive; with passion to help those around her, adding that she would be sorely missed by her immediate family, the entire town of Iperu and Ogun State in general.

“On behalf of the government and the good people of Ogun State, I want to express my heartfelt condolences to my brother, the Alaperu of Iperu, Oba Adeleke Idowu-Basibo, on the passing of his adorable wife.

“The late Olori was a friend and reliable companion to her husband till death. She was also a doting mother to her children. We are going to sorely miss her; may the good Lord repose her soul,” Abiodun said.

The governor counselled the congregation on the need to be fair to all in all ways while alive, to leave worthy legacies after death as exemplified by the late Queen.

He continued: “Life is a journey; we all have our exit points. We have no power over that, it is inevitable. What is important is what we do while we are here, what type of tribute would be written about you when you are no more.”

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BREAKING: Govt Increases Salaries Of University Lecturers, Others

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Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamma

In a bid to improve the lot of tertiary education, the Federal Government has increased the salaries of the lecturers and non-academic staff in the nation’s public universities.

The increase was approved by the National Salaries, Wages and Income Commission.

This includes payment of a newly approved percentage increment in salaries for academic and non-academic staff of all Federal Government’s tertiary institutions in the country.

This is as the percentage increment for junior staff of tertiary institutions was raised from 23.5% which was reviewed last year to 25%. Our correspondent gathered that the arrears of the increment from January 2023 will also be paid.

Though nothing was said about the withheld salaries of the academics and non-academics who embarked on strike in 2022, it was learnt that the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, earlier wrote the Chairman of the NSIWC, Ekpo Nta, to demand the status of the collective.

According to sources within the Ministry of Education, the decision of the minister to write the NSIWC might not be unconnected from visitations by some of the academic unions and intervention by some pressure groups.

When asked if polytechnic lecturers were aware of the new development, the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Dr. Anderson Ezeibe, said that the union heard of the news and were looking forward to the implementation.

“Definitely, we heard of it and we are looking forward to it. There will be 25% increment for junior lecturers while chief lecturers and professors will benefit from 35% increment,” he said.

The National Vice-President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Chris Piwuna, disclosed that such a letter would be addressed to the management of universities and not ASUU.

A letter by the Chief Executive Officer/Chairman of the NSIWC, Eyo Nta, which was addressed to the Minister of Education on September 14,2023 shortly before his departure to the United Nations General Assembly in New York
tagged ‘RE: Implementation of the 35% and 23.5% salary increment for staff of tertiary institutions,’ reads: “I refer to your letter No. FME/IS/UNI/ASUU/C.I/IT?/90 dated 8th September 2023 in respect of the above-subject. Find attached the circulars pertaining to the four salary structures in the Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education for your information (attached).

“The 23.5% earlier reflected in our letter SWC/S/04/S.149/I/59 of 28 July 2022 and stated in paragraph 2 of your letter, has been increased to 25% which accounted for the increased cost implications. This Commission is really pleased with the success your informal discussions have achieved. We shall endeavour to support all your efforts aimed at repositioning the Education Sector. Please accept the assurances of my warm regards.”

Consequently, the commission proceeded to issue a circular also dated September 14, 2023 and addressed to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation among others informing them of the implementation of the newly reviewed salaries.

The circular reads: “ The Presidential Committee on Salaries at its 13th meeting having taken into consideration the various stages of collective bargaining in various sectors, and specifically engagements between the Federal Ministry of Education and Tertiary Institutions-based Unions, and consequent upon the Federal Government’s approval, as well as 2023 budgetary provisions, approval is hereby conveyed for the revision of the Consolidated Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Salary Structure for academic staff of Federal Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, with effect from 1st January 2023.”

Also, a letter from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation dated September 21, 2023 which was made available to our correspondent on Friday in Abuja confirmed the increment.

The letter which was signed on behalf of the Director, Human Resource of the office, Ajanaku F.O reads, “I am directed to inform you that the Presidential Committee on Salaries at it’s 13th meeting having taken into consideration the different stages of collective bargaining in various sectors and specifically engagements between the Federal Ministry of Education and Tertiary Institutions-based Unions and consequently the Federal Government’s approval, is hereby conveyed as revised for the following:-

“Consolidated Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Salary Structure for Academic Staff of Federal Polytechnics and Colleges of Education with effect from 1st January, 2023.

“Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure II for non-Academic Staff of Federal Universities, with effect from 1st January, 2023.

“Consolidated Tertiary Education Institutions Salary Structure for non – Academic Staff of Federal Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, with effect from 1st January, 2023.

“Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure II (CONUASS II) for Academic Staff of Federal University with effect from 1st January, 2023.”

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