The Senate on Tuesday named Senator Philip Tenimu Aduda (FCT) as the new Minority Leader.
Senator Chukwuka Utazi was also named the Senate Minority Whip.
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, announced the appointments while reading two separate letters signed by the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Samuel Anyanwu.
The seat of the Minority Leader became vacant following the defection of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) from the PDP.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission from ending voter registration on June 30, 2022.
Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon (Court 10) on Monday granted an order of interim injunction following the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project.
SERAP and 185 concerned Nigerians had early this month filed the lawsuit against INEC asking the court to “declare unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards the failure of the electoral body to extend the deadline for voter registration to allow eligible Nigerians to exercise their rights.”
In the suit, SERAP had asked the court for “an order restraining INEC, its agents, privies, assigns, or any other person(s) claiming through it from discontinuing the continuous voters’ registration exercise from the 30th June 2022 or any other date pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”
The suit is adjourned to 29th June, 2022 for the hearing of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction.
The suit followed the decision by INEC to extend the deadline for the conduct of primaries by political parties by six days, from June 3 to June 9. But the commission failed to also extend the online pre-registration which ended May 30 2022 and the Continuous Voter Registration ending June 30, 2022.
In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1034/2022 filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos, and transferred to Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to determine “whether the failure of INEC to extend the deadline for voter registration is not a violation of Nigerian Constitution, 1999 [as amended], the Electoral Act, and international standards.”
SERAP is asking the court for “a declaration that the failure of INEC to extend the deadline for voter registration is a violation of eligible Nigerians’ rights to participate freely in their own government, equality and equal protection.”
SERAP also asked the court for “an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to extend voter registration by a minimum of three months and take effective measures to ensure that eligible Nigerians are able to register to exercise their right to vote in the 2023 general elections.”
The suit read in part, “Enforcing unrealistic voter registration deadline while extending the deadline for party primaries would deny and abridge the constitutional and international human rights of eligible voters.
“INEC mandates ought to be exercised in a fair, just and non-discriminatory manner. The extension of voter registration would ensure that Nigerian voters are treated equally and fairly. The future of Nigeria’s democracy depends on it.
“Voters are also critical stakeholders in the electoral process. Treating all eligible Nigerian voters fairly would advance the people’s right to vote and to participate in their own government.
“INEC must not only be independent and impartial in the exercise of its constitutional and statutory responsibilities, but must also be seen to be independent and impartial.
“Extending the voter registration exercise would also bolster voter confidence in the electoral process.
“One of the people’s most sacred rights is the right to vote. The commission has a constitutional and statutory responsibility to ensure the effective exercise of the right of all eligible voters to participate in their own government.
“Extending the deadline for party primaries without providing adequate time and opportunity for eligible voters to register and participate in the 2023 general elections would amount to an unfair and discriminatory treatment of Nigerian voters, and violate other human rights.
“Extending the voter registration deadline would provide more time for eligible voters, including young people, the elderly, people living with disability, as well as those resident in states facing security challenges and living in IDP camps to participate in the 2023 elections.
“Extending the deadline for voter registration would be entirely consistent with constitutional and international standards, and the Electoral Act. Any such extension would also not impact negatively on INEC’s election calendar and activities.
“The public perception of the independence and impartiality of INEC is essential for building public confidence in the electoral process, and ensuring the credibility and legitimacy of the 2023 elections.
“Where Nigerians have doubts about the independence and impartiality of INEC, they are more likely to have less confidence in the electoral process thereby undermining democracy.
“Extending the deadline for voter registration would also be justified, given reports of challenges in the voter registration exercise, especially for young people, the elderly, persons living with disabilities, and those resident in states facing security challenges and living in internally displaced persons camps”.
Nelson Chukwuezugo, Abuja
Ever wondered how the current ASUU Strike has crippled the nation’s academic activities in our tertiary institutions.
It’s been four months since the academic staff union of universities embarked on another strike on the 14th of February 2022, ever since then, a lot of Undergraduates have been idle with nothing profitable to do.
Many students are now searching for profitable businesses they can engage in to make money while they wait for the federal government to settle the grievances of the academic union.
A lot of business opportunities are available for students to engage in, however, some are either too costly to begin or require specialized skill.
After a lot of research, I have found five businesses Undergraduates can begin with little capital and no special skill. These businesses can make you money in a short while.
1) Mini Importation: Mini importation is the process of buying of a specific product in small to medium quantity, at a cheap price with the aim of selling at a profit.
There are many websites where one can import cheap products from; They include: www.amazon.com, www.alibaba.com, www.1688.com etc
As a mini importer, it is your job to import a highly sought after product sell them to people at a profit.
2) Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate Marketing is a business model that involves selling another persons product a receiving a commission.
It is the job of an affiliate marketer to find business persons with products to sell and help them to advertise and sell those products. The more you sell, the more commission you receive.
Also, affiliate marketing can be done online with platforms like clickbank, jumia, expertnaire etc
3) Rabbit Farming: Meat is consumed in large quantities on a daily basis in Nigeria. It is therefore no surprise that rabbit Farming is a profitable business.
Baby rabbits are easy to source and do not take time to grow. When fed properly, meat rabbits take about 10 weeks to reach a sellable weigh of 5 pounds.
A student can therefore begin to rear rabbits and when they mature, they can be sold in the market at a huge profits.
4) Laundry Business: There are lots of artisans and professionals who are too busy to wash their clothes. They are always happy to outsource their washing to others as it would save them a lot of time and stress.
The student who is idle at home can therefore offer laundry services to those individuals at a fee.
The good thing about this business is that it can be done anywhere and does not require much skill. One just has to know how to properly wash clothes and safeguard the clothes till they dry.
A lot of money can be made from this business depending on how many customers you have. There are some laundromat that charge as much as 500 naira per cloth. The student can charge lower and still be profitable.
5) Popcorn Business: Pop corn can be dubbed Nigerians favorite snack. Demand is high and it is consumed by people of all ages.
The main requirements for starting a popcorn business are: popcorn machine, electricity supply, good location and packaging.
Once you can get these resources, then you are guaranteed to make lots of profits daily.
Also, you can engage in home delivery of the popcorn. This is will surely increase the revenue gotten from the business.
Since the end of the asuu strike is not in sight, the Undergraduates can engage in the businesses above to make money on the side while they continue to wait.
Kenny Folarin, Abuja
The Executive Director, Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyewu has expressed concern over the subjective section (Part F) of the Amended Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020, of Section 8(1)(C)which gives the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the powers to investigate the affairs of incorporated trustees and allows the government through the CAC to threaten the affairs and activities of civil society organisations.
Abiodun while speaking in Abuja on Thursday at a strategic meeting on the provision of “Part F” of the Amended Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 noted that there are so many subjective sections to the CAMA and this means that the CAC can at anytime step in as long as politically exposed people are not happy with the activities of civil society organizations.
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Abiodun noted that civil society are duty bound to collectively think about these issues and challenge them headlong.
According to the Act, Section 839, which vests the CAC with the powers to suspend the trustees of an association and appoint interim managers to run its affairs under the Commission’s supervision, “This is a flagrant attempt by the government to stifle the voices of civil society organisations”. Abiodun posited.
Read Also: Over 6,000 Nigerians Killed in Mass Atrocities – Global Rights
Meanwhile, she advised that as the 2023 elections approaches, civil society must begin to ask political aspirants questions on what will become of the shrinking civic space and who will build a society where the voices of the society can be heard rather than surpressd.
Meanwhile, Professor of Practice in International Human Rights, Chidi Odinkalu stated that there has been a concerted, consistent and deliberate effort by the government to incapacitate civil society, render it so incapable that they do not become a force and alternative to political voices.
Explaining, Chidi said “So if we are in a situation where the political opposition is weak, the citizens are mostly popularized and improvised and therefore there concern is more about what they eat and the civil space of an active organized civic sector is itself endangered, organized labour is discredited and bereft of money, what we have is an authoritarian state”.
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He opined that civil society needs to be more conscious, more up-to-date and articulate a national agenda that is neither partisan nor parochial.
“The first thing that we need to do is to create a Nigerian Civil Society identity that transcends all these polarities and make us to confront the dangers that civil society faces because for me, we have got to recognize the issue that matters to our people.
“We have got to retrace our steps and do the job of advocating for a better society, involves personal credibility, institution credibility, connected to ideal if we want a Nigeria that can be trusted”. He added.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Biodun Oyebanji, the winner of the Ekiti State governorship election.
The Returning Officer for the election, Prof Kayode Adebowale, who is the Vice Chancellor, the University of Ibadan, announced the results.
Adebowale said, “Oyebanji, having scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner and returned elected as the governor-elect of Ekiti State”
The APC scored 187,057 votes to defeat its closest rival, the SDP, which garnered 82,211 votes, the PDP, which got 67,457 votes and 13 other parties which participated in Saturday’s governorship election.
Out of the 360,753 votes cast, the total valid votes in the election were 351,865.
While the agent of SDP, Owoseeni Ajayi, did not sign the forms for the votes cast, the agent of the ADP, said, “Instead of having polling centres, what we have in Ekiti are vote-buying centres”.
Meanwhile, our correspondents who monitored the exercise across the state reported that in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, residents trooped to the streets to celebrate the victory in the dead of the night. At the Government House in the Oke Ayoba area of the town, other APC governors, led by the state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, monitored the exercise.
Similarly, in Ikogosi-Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government Area, where Oyebanji hails from, residents also began celebrating the victory of their kinsman at the poll.
Also in Ikere-Ekiti, where Oyebanji’s running mate, Mrs Monitade Afuye, hails from, residents also began celebration as the results were announced by the respective local government Returning Officers.
In different parts of the state also, some members of the ruling party celebrated the victory, describing it as well-deserved.
Observers revealed that prior to the announcement of the results at the collation centre, all the results from the 16 local government areas had been uploaded on the Result Viewing Portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission, known as IReV.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has warned politicians, especially those seeking political offices and their supporters not to set the country on fire with their utterances and actions.
It also warned political thugs and miscreants planning to cause havoc during the 2023 general elections to have a rethink or have themselves to blame.
This is as it has disclosed that several personnel of the armed forces apprehended for conspiring with kidnappers, bandits, terrorists and other criminals elements to jeopardise military operations, were facing court martial in different military formations across the country.
Chief of Defence Staff(CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, stated this at the Defence Headquarters bi-weekly media briefing, saying the military would not fold its hands and watch miscreants, political thugs and unpatriotic politicians set the country on fire during the 2023 polls.
Irabor, who joined the Director, Defence Media Operations, Major Gen Benard Onyeuko at the briefing on updates of military operations conducted across the country in Abuja, advised those contesting for positions and appointments to conduct themselves peacefully as men and women of honour.
He said there would be no position to aspire for if the country was set on fire. He said any political thug caught before,during and after the electioneering processes would be severely dealt with.
The CDS appealed for peace to reign as the nation goes into another major election.
On conspiracy by some military personnel with kidnappers, bandits, terrorists and other criminals elements to jeopardise military operations, the CDS said the accused personnel would be made to face the full wrath of law for being internal saboteurs within the military.
He, however, refused to disclose the number of officers undergoing court martial.
Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has emerged as the running mate to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
Mr. Okowa’s nomination was announced and confirmed by Atiku himself on Thursday at an unveiling event of his running mate held in Abuja.
Atiku while speaking on his choice said his Vice President must fulfill the qualities to be president and one that could complement him as a President.
He added that he should symbolize the quality to unite Nigeria, who is not afraid to speak and give advice on governance in the country.
He also added that his running mate must understand what he described as the depth of rots in the Nigerian system, with understanding of critical needs of economic growth.
Following the announcement, Okowa will thereafter be screened by a committee already setup for that purpose.
Recall that Wike, who has been the foreman in the radar of the PDP heavyweights was speculated to be selected as the vice presidential candidate of the main opposition party, was rumoured to have been selected as Atiku’s running mate.
But the party, yesterday (Wednesday), dismissed reports that its Selection Committee has settled for the Rivers State governor as the party’s vice-presidential candidate.
A coalition of pro-democracy and civil society groups, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to settle for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr. Boss Mustapha, as the party’s vice presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given political parties up to Friday, June 17, 2022 to submit names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates to the commission.
In a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, the coalition made up of the Peoples Alliance for Indigenous Rights (PAIR); Civil Society Action for National Inclusion (CSANI), and Society for Equity and Gender Advocacy (SEGA), said Mr. Mustapha stands out among all others under consideration.
“Mr. Boss Mustapha is near-impeccable, reliable, trustworthy and without controversy or any baggage to underwhelmed the APC project to retain power in 2023. As a Northern Christian, the SGF will be bringing to bear the required balance, assuage the fears of the Christian population and an assurance that the interest of the North will be protected,” the coalition said.
In the statement jointly signed by Isa Pai, Chukwudi Emmanuel and Fola Akin, they noted that “over the years, Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has demonstrated dexterity in his duties, commitment and loyalty to the ideals of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“As the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha demonstrated that in times of national (global) emergency what is required is one individual who can lead, organize, direct, be focused, calm and reassuring. It is no small measure that he brilliantly coordinated the Covid-19 task team that performed creditably.”
The coalition, therefore, appealed to “President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC leadership to demonstrate, as they have always done, that in the march to greatness and Next Level, no section will be left behind more so for those who have kept faith with the administration.
“As the clock ticks to the final minutes for the choice of a Vice Presidential candidate, Mr. Boss Mustapha stands taller than any being considered at the moment in terms of his unblemished record, exemplary service to the administration and country, direction of purpose, geo-political and religious balance and inclusion.”
An Ondo State High Court has sentenced three out of four suspected killers of the 58-year-old daughter of the national leader of the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political group, Mrs Funke Olakunrin, to death by hanging.
The Ondo Attorney General arraigned Mohammed Usman, Osagie Lawal and Adamu Adamu in 2019 for the murder of Olakunrin.
They were charged with four counts including felony to wit murder, murder, kidnapping.
Delivering judgment, Justice William Olamide, discharged and acquitted the fourth defendant, Abubakar, who was charged with aiding and abetting the crime.
Justice Olamide held that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The judge delivered the judgment after listening to submissions by the prosecution and defence counsel and adopted the final written addresses.
Mr Charles Titiloye appeared for the prosecution while Mr Obafemi Bawa appeared for the defence.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that they were first arraigned in an Akure Magistrates’ Court, which ordered their remand in Owo Correctional Centre.
NAN reports that the convict then had no representation in court but pleaded not guilty to all the charge.
The Ondo State Attorney-General, Kola Olawoye, who represented the state, declared that the state government was ready to take over the case.
He urged the court to rely on the statement deposed by an official of FSARs, Akeem Ogunjobi, who prayed that the suspects should be remanded at the Correctional Centre in Owo because Akure Correctional facility was over stretched.
He also pleaded with the court to allow the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to conduct COVID-19 test on the defendants before moving them to the Correctional Centre.
According to him, the test was necessary because of the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the globe.
He said the health status of the four accused persons must be ascertained in order not to infect other inmates at the facility.
Magistrate Victoria Bob-Manuel, in her ruling, granted the prayers of the prosecuting counsel and remanded the accused at Owo Correctional facility. She also ordered that their samples must be tested before being remanded at the centre.
Bob-Manuel, however, disclosed that the court lacks the jurisdiction to try the defendants but adjourned the case to June 3, for the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution. (NAN)
The Ondo State Government has canceled this year’s June 12 celebration earlier slated for Sunday 12th June, 2022.
This is consequent upon the terror attack on innocent worshipers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, on Sunday 5th June, 2022.
The cancelation is to enable the entire people of Ondo State mourn their loved ones who lost their lives in the horrific attack.
Recall that the Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu,SAN, had directed that all flags in the state be flown at half -mast for seven days in honour of the victims of the terror attack.
Signed:
Richard Olatunde
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State.
June 11, 2022.
