14032019 -Rowdy session in Senate over elections

46—Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019
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ASSESSMENT:From left: National Commissioners, Independent National
Electoral Commission, Prof. Anthonia Okoosi-Simbine; Ahmed Tijani and
Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola, during the accredited observers assessment on
the just concluded 2019 General Election in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga
Olamikan.
Rowdy session in
Senate over elections
Continues from Page 5
of the lawmakers in their
various legislative
inputs is that if electoral
matters were not
properly resolved now,
the situation portended
danger for the nation’s
democracy.
This followed a motion
under matters of urgent
national importance
promoted by Sunday
Karimi Steve, (PDP,
Kogi), wherein he drew
attention to the critical
issues of inconclusive
elections in six different
states of the North.
Vanguard recalls that
INEC, citing different
reasons ranging from
cancelled votes and
inability to conduct
election in some local
governments and polling
units in Kano, Sokoto,
Benue, Bauchi,
Adamawa and Plateau
respectively, declared
governorship elections
in those states
inconclusive.
While leading the
debate, Karimi, citing
the situation in the
affected states, warned of
impending danger
should the rescheduled
supplementary elections
be manipulated in
favour of the ruling
party.
“This issue is very
important to all of us.
The spate of
inconclusive elections in
Nigeria is becoming
worrisome. And we see
a situation where INEC
has different rules for
similar situations.
“If you add all the
cancelled votes in all the
states in the country
during the presidential
election, the candidate of
the APC shouldn’t have
been declared winner as
the number of cancelled
votes should have
necessitated a
declaration of the
election as inconclusive.
“But when it came to
governorship elections,
Naira up to N360.29/$ in
I&E window
By Elizabeth Adegbesan
Despite a 66 percent decline in the volume of
dollars traded, the naira yesterday appreciated
to N360.29 per dollar in the Investors and Exporters
(I&E) window.
Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative
exchange rate for the window dropped to N360.29
per dollar from N360.44 per dollar on Tuesday
translating to 15 kobo appreciation of the naira.
The volume of dollars traded on the window
dropped by 66 percent to $60.94 million from $180.69
million traded on Tuesday.
Similarly, the naira yesterday appreciated by 20
kobo in the parallel market yesterday.
According to naijabdcs.com, the live exchange rate
platform of the Association of Bureaux De Change
Operators (ABCON), the parallel market exchange
dropped to N358 per dollar from N358.2 per dollar
on Tuesday translating to 20 kobo appreciation of
the naira.
they are mostly
inconclusive in states
where the opposition
was clearly in the lead.
And why should INEC’s
guideline be made to
supersede the
constitution?” Karimi
queried.
In his contribution,
Aliyu Sani Madaki (PDP,
Kano), said: “What
happened during the last
election was that things
were done without
recourse to the laws.
INEC acted in manners
that showed bias. Where
PDP was leading, they
declared
it
inconclusive.’’
Madaki warned of dire
consequences to the
nation should Kano
election be manipulated
to favour the APC whose
candidate is trailing with
tens of thousands of
votes.
Dan Achibong (PDP,
Akwa Ibom), noted that
“this problem has
occurred and what we
should be bothered about
is how do we correct it”?
“In my state, we had
elections and there were
similar issues, but the
state resident electoral
commissioner stood his
ground by going through
each result and
comparing them with the
number of registered and
accredited voters in the
registers and card
readers and he declared
the results.”
He called for a holistic
amendment to the
Electoral Act and the
constitution to guarantee
true independence of
INEC.
The House Leader,
Femi Gbajabiamila
(APC, Lagos), reminded
his colleagues of the
manner their arguments
missed the point about
inconclusive elections.
He said while members
seemed to be on the
same page on the issue,
the approach to solving
the problem fell short of
legislative intervention
that it required.
“I want to make it
abundantly clear that
everybody in this House
is on the same page on
this issue of inconclusive
elections. However, the
difference is the manner
we seek for the solution.
“I have listened to the
debate and a lot of us
seem to misinterpret the
position of the law and
we do not have the
powers to interpret the
laws. While we agree
that inconclusiveness
should be something of
the past, the question is
how do we move forward
in a manner that reduces
the powers of INEC to set
guidelines that
encourages these kinds
of situations.
The stand of
the law
“Inconclusive election
didn’t start today. We
remember the issue in
Kogi State in 2015, and
our colleague Faleke is
here. He went all the
way to the Supreme
Court, which ruled that
INEC was in order as it
has the powers to
conduct and regulate
elections.
“So there is a Supreme
Court ruling on this
matter. The only way we
can reverse the Supreme
Court ruling is to amend
the provisions of our
constitution that allows
INEC to set guidelines
outside the Electoral Act
and the constitution.
“But until that is done,
we can’t be here and
take a political approach,
then we must take the
legislative approach by
amending the laws to
limit the powers of INEC
from setting guidelines
that are outside the
Electoral Act and the
constitution. It could be
one or two lines or
paragraphs, but it can
make the difference.”
Abdulrazak Namdas
(APC, Adamawa)
blamed the political class
for the situation, saying
though lawmakers
agreed that INEC had
powers to run an
election, the issue of
manipulation and
rigging by politicians
should be looked into.
He called for a change
of attitudes by
politicians whose
desperation led to issues
of inconclusive
elections, adding that
the clause that allows
INEC to set guidelines
should also be looked at.
The House, following
an amendment to the
prayers, resolved to set
up an adhoc committee
to look into the issue of
inconclusive elections
and report back to it.
Amnesty office denies allegations of looting, vandalism
By Prince Okafor
LAGOS—The office
of the Special
Adviser to the President
on Niger Delta and
Coordinator, Amnesty
Programme, yesterday
dismissed reports of
looting of starter packs
and vandalism of
property at its training
facility in Bayelsa State.
Murphy Ganagana,
Media aide to the
Special Adviser to the
President on Niger Delta
and Coordinator,
Amnesty Programme,
Prof. Charles Dokubo,
who issued the refutal in
a statement, described
the report as not only
nonsensical, false,
preposterous,
mischievous, wicked, but
also a calculated attempt
to smear Dokubo’s hardearned
reputation.
The statement read:
“The attention of the
Office of the Special
Adviser to the President
on Niger Delta and
Coordinator, Amnesty
Programme, has been
drawn to some
mischievous reports in
some print and online
news portals on the
circumstances
surrounding the recent
invasion of Presidential
Amnesty Programme
Vocational Training
Centre in Kaiama,
Kolokuma/Opokuma
Local Government Area
of Bayelsa State.
“The malicious and
false reports which
followed a stagemanaged
protest hired
by their sponsors to
achieve a predetermined
goal, had
alleged that the Special
Adviser to the President
on Niger Delta and
Coordinator, Amnesty
Programme, Prof.
Charles Dokubo,
orchestrated the looting
of items meant for
empowerment of
residents of communities
impacted during the
Niger Delta crises to
cover up fraud at the
Amnesty Office.
“The hired protesters
also reportedly alleged
that no action was taken
by Prof. Dokubo
throughout a five day
period that the looting of
starter pack items and
vandalism of property at
the training facility
lasted.
“We wish to state
emphatically that these
allegations are not only
nonsensical, entirely
false, preposterous,
mischievous and wicked,
but a calculated attempt
to smear the hardearned
reputation of
Prof. Dokubo, a descent
and incorruptible scholar
of international repute
who has, within one year
in office, given hope to
the Niger Delta People
through fresh initiatives
that would reposition the
Amnesty Programme to
its original mandate.
“It is on record that the
invasion and looting of
items at the Kaiama
training facility occurred
in the presence of
security personnel
including the police and
the military deployed in
the centre, but they were
simply overwhelmed by
the numerical strength of
the massive invaders.
“The incident was also
immediately reported at
the Divisional Police
Headquarters at Kaiama,
and later at the Bayelsa
State police command
headquarters in
Yenagoa. Complaint on
the incident by an official
of the Amnesty Office
was properly
documented by the
Bayelsa police in its
crime diary.
“The police had
promptly launched an
intensive investigation
on the incident and have
some suspects in
custody. None of the
suspects arrested in
connection to the looting
of items and vandalism
of the facility, has linked
any official of the
Amnesty Office to the
crime.
“We urge enemies of
the Niger Delta,
particularly ambitious
politicians eyeing Prof.
Dokubo’s office to desist
from smear campaigns
and other ignoble acts
capable of portraying the
Niger Delta people in
bad light.
‘’Sponsoring illmotivated
protests aimed
at causing mischief and
splashing muddied
water on Dokubo, a
patriot and committed
Niger Deltan will do no
one any good.
“ P r e s i d e n t
Muhammadu Buhari is
committed and
determined to turn
around the sad narrative
of the Niger Delta
through
the
instrumentality of the
Amnesty Programme.
‘’We should all support
his effort by playing
progressive roles to
compliment Prof. Dokubo
in moving the Amnesty
Programme to the next
level."