Happenings

There is widespread discontentment across Nigeria, against the postponement of the Presidential, National Assembly, Governorship and the  State Houses of Assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) .

Nigerians are fully convinced that there is a lot of foul play, regardless of the reasons put forward by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

Interestingly, the Minister of State for Aviation,  Sirika Hadi insisted that the INEC Chairman's claim that bad weather contributed to the postponement of the general elections, was a lie, while stressing that airports across the country were directed to remain open round the clock.

Before the eventual postponement, Nigerians were subjected to funny treatment by INEC staff, in their bid to register and  collect their Permanent Voters Cards(PVC) in several parts of the country.

Sadly, a large population of Nigerians are yet to collect their PVCs , just as INEC  has refused to make public the total number of PVCs that have been collected by prospective voters nationwide.

Of note, is the fact that Prof. Yakubu has admitted that the Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC) for the Niger East Senatorial District of Niger state,  Mohammed  Sani Musa, was a registered contractor with the commission.

Musa's company, Activate Technologies, is responsible for the supply of the machines that INEC used to print the PVCs.

Even though Prof. Yakubu asserted that all is well, this is far from the truth, considering unfolding events that has made it very glaring that the electoral process has been compromised.

Of great worry, is that fact that the INEC headquarters has recalled all the Smart Card Readers(SCR) from all its state offices in the country. Why ?

  This is the reality of the present time.

The electoral process had long been designed to suit the wishes of the ''POWERS THAT BE''  and the postponement was just a face saving strategy.

Most members of the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) recruited as Ad hoc staff by the electoral umpire, had earlier on influenced their NYSC postings to choice states, while a negligible number of those who were lucky to be recruited by INEC, were stranded on the day of the postponed elections.

They had no accommodation, the commission did not release their allowances and most of them were unable to locate the polling units they were posted to.

In the Oyo state office of INEC, a day before the postponed  general elections, Journalists and Observers were sighted  in business centres making frantic efforts to laminate their passport photographs on the  papers, officials of INEC gave  to them as accreditation.

Sadly, these papers might have got into the hands of individuals who have perfected same for an unknown agenda, although the commission received adequate funds to  facilitate a convincing accreditation exercise for Journalists and Observers.

A Lagos Lawyer argued that it was illegal for the Acting Inspector General to restrict the movement of people and vehicles during elections.

The action of the Acting Inspector General might have made the electorate to lose confidence in the system.

Also disturbing, is the issue of the head of the electoral body donning the face cap with the logo and colours of the ruling party in a Television documentary.

Top politicians, speaking incognito, argue that the letter the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami wrote to the commission, requesting for the postponement of elections  in Zamafara state and the lingering crisis in the ruling party's Rivers state chapter, contributed to the sudden decision of the umpire to shift the date of the general elections.

Indeed, the decision of the commission to resort to postponement is a demonstration of the high level of incompetence of those who call the shots in the commission.

With several lapses still waiting in the wings to pop up and the pretense of the commission that it would correct  the situation within one week , it is doubtful if one week would be enough for the commission to address the several shortcomings, man-made or designed, to enable Nigerians elect a new generation of leaders that would steer the troubled ship of governance for the next four years.

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President Julius Bio of Sierra Leone  has declared that those found guilty of rape and defilement of minors would  be jailed for life.

"With immediate effect, sexual penetration of minors is punishable by life imprisonment."

The Judicial Service Commssion(JSC) in Zimbabwe has dismissed allegations that the Judiciary has been compromised.

The Commission made this known through a statement issued by its Acting Secretary, Mr. Walter Chikwana.

"The allegations that the Judiciary is acting under capture of an external force remain unfounded, baseless and unsubstantiated.

"In the meeting held on 22 January 2019, the Chief Justice gave the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) his assurance that no directive or instruction was given by himself or the JSC to magistrates to dispose of cases before them in a particular manner. He maintains this position,"Mr. Chikwana stated.

The Acting Secretary insisted that the Judcial Officers werw abobe board in the discharge of their duties, saying ''The accusation that magistrates countrywide were acting under some form of directive or instructions to influence their decisions is extremely consequential.The Judiciary cannot take it lightly. All courts in the country and all judicial agents within those courts, must never be interfered with in the dispensation of justice. The Constitution demands it''.

"The Chief Justice reminds all and sundry that all judicial officers are required by Section 164(1) of the Constitution to dispense justice expeditiously.

"In doing so, all due process must be followed and rights of accused persons respected," reads the statement.

"The Zimbabwean courts are not, by undertaking expeditious trials, reinventing the wheel. Such trials are common phenomenon across the world in cases involving violence.

"For instance, in England after the 2011 riots, more than 3 000 people were arrested with 1 500 being arraigned before the courts.

"Their trials were fast-tracked. Courts were in session 24 hours until the cases were completed.

"Even juveniles caught up in the riots underwent trial.

"The Chief Justice maintains his position that where suspects are arrested and brought to court, they are entitled to a speedy trial.

"Fast-track trials must, in fact, be the norm, and not a curious exception." Mr. Chikwana concluded.

President Peter Mutharika of Malawi has condemned all forms of violent acts against women.

According to the President who made his position known during a tour of some constituencies in Lilongwe said ''I would like to take this opportunity to condemn various acts of violence against women. It is high time everyone understood that women deserve respect and protection against violence.'''

"As such, everyone should strive to put to an end all forms of gender based violence. Our existence depends on them and it is unfortunate to see some people abusing women. Whether it is your girlfriend, your wife or your mother; this must stop,"

  The Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) in Oyo state, Mr. Mutiu Agboke h has assured the electorate that the Commission would not act in anyway that would compromise the Permanent Voters Cards(PVC) still in its custody.

Mr. Agboke gave this assurance on Tuesday during a Media Briefing at the Commission's office in Ibadan, Nigeria.

''There is no pressure that would make me to compromise your results, there is no pressure that would make me compromise your Permanent Voters Cards. Nobody has put gun in my ears, I am not going to sell your PVCs. Nothing will happen to your PVCs. We are going to harmonize the PVCs and those not collected would be put in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria'', he stated.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner also dislosed that the commission was taking the issue of security before, during and after the elections seriously, saying'' the commission is leaving no stone unturned in the area of security of both men and electoral materials on the day of election''.

''That is why the Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security(ICCES), chaired by the Commissioner of Police and co-Chaired by me has been meeting regularly to identify grey  areas and flashpoints in the state in collaboration with respective Electoral officers. Security is to be beefed up at both state and local government offices of INEC, inorder to forestall any security threats during election periods'', Mr. Agoke concluded.

The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC)      

The All Workers Convergence(ACW) has declared that workers would no longer respect the Federal Government even if it eventually approves the new national minimum wage.

The AWC  made this disclosure through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze in a chat with Federationews2day.

''Even if the Federal Government eventually approves a new national minimum wage today, government has lost the respect of Nigerian workers. It is a big shame that up till this moment government has not been able to pay the Nigerian workers what is due to them, rather our so called government has been systematically, delaying the process''.

''From one episode of drama to another episode, all has been equal to zero and the Nigerian workers are the ones paying the price. Quite unfortunate, government cannot redeem its image, workers' impression of government, is that of a callous monster, who cares less about fairness and justice, but rather a government that believes that workers must suffer before they get what rightly belongs to them''.

''In conclusion, our government is shooting itself in the leg, with the unfolding drama of the new national minimum wage. Government has been able to make the Nigerian workers know who their real enemy is and this has made workers to  increase their level of consciousness'', Comrade Emelieze asserted.

​The Committee to Protect  Journalists(CPJ) has called on the Government of Cameroon to immediately  release two journalists  arrested by security agents while covering an event organized by the opposition.

According to CPJ "Théodore Tchopa and David Eyengue Nzima are journalists who were arrested for simply covering a newsworthy event, and must be freed immediately without condition.  Cameroonian authorities should stop trying to intimidate and censor journalists who have a duty to keep citizens informed about the political and economic situation."

''CPJ's calls and text messages to the offices of Cameroon's deputy justice minister, Jean De Dieu Momo, and the newly appointed communications minister, René Sadi, went unanswered. The police's national communications chief, Joyce Ndjem, said she does not give comment over the phone and CPJ should come to her office''.

''Cameroon was the third worst jailer of journalists in Africa, after Egypt and Eritrea respectively, with at least seven journalists behind bars for their work as of December 1, 2018, according to CPJ's annual prison census'', CPJ stated.