21032019 - PDP, Atiku in post-election trauma, depression — APC

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24— Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2019 Lawy wyer ers s set agenda for 9 th Assembly By June this year or thereabout, the 9 th National Assembly would be constituted to take charge of the business of enacting laws and reviewing existing ones. With the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, APC, maintaining clear dominance in the number of lawmakers in both chambers of the National Assembly, Nigerians are hopeful that more transformative bills will translate into laws in the next four years. In this edition, By Innocent Anaba and Henry Ojelu th 08152060944 Vanguard Law and Human Rights, sought the views of lawyers on which specific laws or sections of the constitution that need to be amended. Those who share their views are activist and lawyer, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN; Professor Ernest Ojukwu, SAN; Dr. Igbinedion Simeon, Sub-dean, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Executive Director, Access to Justice, Joseph Otteh; Executive Director, Cadrell Advocacy Centre, Evans Ufeli and President, Voters Awareness Initiative, Wale Ogunade. Priority should be on bill to devolve power to states — Agbakoba, SAN Agbakoba said: “The first item of business should be a bill for an enactment to devolve powers to the states from the Federal Government and the next most important is to legislate for autonomy of local governments and third is to pass a special bill on economic recovery with major emphasis on banking regulation to fix interest rates in single digits and finally, a bill to create a national credit guarantee administration to support private sector borrowing backed by government guarantees. Attention should be on bills that will reduce bottleneck to justice delivery —Ojukwu, SAN Professor Ojukwu in his reaction said: “I dream of the Nigerian 9th National Assembly that will focus on its mandate and deliver laws that will help turn around Nigeria’s development and good governance free from a culture of corruption. I specifically look forward to constitutional amendments and laws that will reduce by 90 per cent, disputes that are appealed to the Supreme Court including appeals on governorship election petitions, and constitutional amendments and laws that will reduce by 95 per cent, delays and bottlenecks in dispute settlements in our courts and laws that will facilitate greater access to justice to Nigerians especially the poor and other vulnerable groups. “I hope to see the National Assembly deal with reforms that will facilitate a proactive fight against corruption like a law that will transfer the burden of justifying unusual enrichment to the citizen. I need to see amendments to our electoral laws that will enhance a culture of democracy. I need to see the National Assembly members act in less selfish manner as our political representatives and show by practice that we can trust them by enacting examples of open, transparent, accountable and responsive governance in the management of the affairs of the National Assembly and its finances and funds under its *Agbakoba, SAN *Ojukwu, SAN *Igbinedion *Otteh control.” Federal character principle should be made enforceable — Dr. Igbinedion Dr. Igbinedion in his reaction said: “The National Assembly should commit itself to a policy of transparency in connection with its salaries and allowances in collaboration with Revenue Mobilisation & Fisacal Allocation Commission. They should enact a law on Electronic voting & electronic transmission of election results. This could drastically reduce rigging and electoral violence. “ They should also promulgate law on mandatory investigation and prosecution of high profile corruption offenders irrespective of their status or association. This is aimed to address the incidence of one-sided anti-corruption fight. “They should also enact the federal character principle into enforceable law. This will undo the current trend where crass nepotism has trumped federal character in appointments. Finally, the lawmakers should also consider the enactment of social Investment Programme to specifically benefit or empower persons who have undergone skills acquisition training, so that there would be no room for outright distribution of cash under the guise of social investment. Abuse of electoral system will continue if Electoral Act is not amended — Otteh Otteh believes that the electoral act should be given utmost attention. He said: “There are several areas where the National Assembly can help improve governance, beginning from reviewing the process that brought many of them in as lawmakers. That could be a good point of departure. If we do not strengthen the integrity of our electoral system, we will see an escalated level of abuse of the system in future elections. Nigeria needs new electoral laws that will provide not just improved balloting procedures, but nondiscriminatory and mandatory enforcement of criminal laws governing the conduct of elections and tampering with election results. We should ensure that those who participate in perverting the electoral system must be kept away from the system for a very, very long time as a deterrent. “Also, political office is too materially alluring and attractive in a way that is unsustainable for an economy like ours; access Nigeria needs new electoral laws that provide not just improved balloting procedures, but nondiscriminatory and mandatory enforcement of criminal laws governing the conduct of elections to the lavish dividends of political office may be the real driver for the blindsiding competition for political office, not a true desire for people-oriented service. Therefore, the National Assembly should completely reform the remuneration system of political office, beginning with theirs, reducing its opportunism in a way that will significantly reduce the incentives to see political office as a do or die affair. “There are yet other major challenges that are too many for any brief narrative: we must find ways to make our Constitution more meaningful for our people. The constitutional amendment process must continue until the Constitution truly becomes a peoples’ charter – guaranteeing popular access to the benefits of our commonwealth and patrimony. We want to see amendments that say the State must use its resources to cater to the health, housing and feeding of our people, of our elderly, of the unemployed, of the children, so that State resources are not used in servicing extravagant pension payments to ex- Governors who are now serving Senators and are receiving much more than they need. We want to see our out-of-school children back to the classrooms, so we can produce citizens who can lead productive lives, notwithstanding that their parents are too poor or uneducated themselves to send them to school. Let the 9th National Assembly pass laws that offer this opportunity and hope to the Nigerian people.” Focus should be on economic recovery bills — Ufeli Ufeli said: “I expect the 9th Assembly upon inauguration, to first revisit the Constitutional Amendment Bill with a view to restructuring the federal system of government as currently constituted. Devolution of powers is one conversation that the incoming 9th Assembly should concentrate on so that the administration of states and the economics can reflect the principles of federalism. “Again, chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution which defines the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policies must be made justiceable so that the socioeconomic right of Nigerians can be guaranteed. The constitution should be amended so the socioeconomic rights of Nigerians as drawn in the 1999 Constitution as amended, can in truth and indeed, guarantee the security and welfare of the people as the primary purpose of government. “The Petroleum Industry Bill needs to be passed fully. Having split the Bill into four parts, a full passage of that Bill is required to enable the efficient administration of the petroleum sector which constitutes about 15 per cent of our GDP in Nigeria. “In my view, the 9th Assembly must look graphically into the economy and its growth rate, then make and pass sensitive legislations that will help to revive the economy which currently borders on recession.” Non-justiceable sections of the constitution should be amended —Ogunade Ogunade said: “First, I Continues on page 25 C M Y K
Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2019 —25 ICT Law: Net-neutrality provisions of draft Internet industry code of practice a commentary By Chukwuyere Izuogu Net-neutrality, the foundation of an open internet seems to be a very topical telecommunications policy issue for several national governments. In the European Union, EU, the European Commission, EC, in April 2019 will present to the European Parliament, its report of a study aimed at collecting information about the implementation of the netneutrality provisions of Regulation (EU)2015/2120 (the EU Regulation) across the EU. In the US, the Federal Communications Commission, FCC, rolled back the Open Internet Order of 2015 which imposed net-neutrality requirements on internet access service providers, IASPs and instead enacted the Restoring Internet Freedom Order 2018 which, inter alia imposed disclosure of network management practices on IASPs to ensure that they abide by open internet principles by reducing their incentives and ability to violate those principles. Lawyers set agenda for 9 th Assembly Continued from Page 24 want the National Assembly to take a deep look into the electoral act. They should look into the electoral reform panels and pick issues that have been thoroughly dealt with by those panels. If you look at issues of voters education, use of military, thuggery, transmission of result, etc. they should critically look at the relevance of some political parties that failed to show their presence even at the local level. “They should also look at bills that have to do with promotion of the welfare of citizens. Banks must be directed through specific bills, to give attention to farmers, artisans, young entrepreneurs and industries that are involved in the Net-neutrality as a rule requires that IASPs do not discriminate in their treatment of content (or traffic)that they transmit. The policy justification for this nodiscrimination rule is that the internet is a dumb network and any traffic passing through an IASP’s network should be treated on a first-come, firstserved basis due to the open architectural nature of the internet. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Communications Commission (the Commission) appears to be in support of net-neutrality and has accordingly responded by releasing a Draft Internet Industry Code of Practice (the Draft Code) that requires IASPs to comply with netneutrality requirements once enacted. This commentary provides an analysis of the net-neutrality provisions of the Draft Code and is an excerpt of author’s forth-coming article tentatively titled: A Practical Assessment of Competition Regulation as a Viable Option for Protecting Net-Neutrality in Nigeria. *Ogunade production of consumables. “I also want the new National Assembly members to look into the issue of security, education and i n f r a s t r u c t u r e *Chukwuyere Izuogu The Draft Code The Draft Code was released by the Commission in 2017 and has the following objectives: protect the right of internet users to an open internet; provide clear guidelines to IASPs on the use of traffic management practices; outline the *Ufeli development. I want to believe that if these issues that I have pointed out, are taken into consideration, then definitely, we will have a better Nigeria in the next four years. Section 2 prescribes measures designed to guarantee the rights of an end-user to an open internet...an enduser’s right to have unrestricted and non-discriminatory access to lawful content, applications or services obligations of IASPs in relation to the protection of consumers’ personal data; outline the obligations of IASPs in the handling of offensive and potentially harmful content, and the protection of minors and vulnerable audiences online; ensure adequate safeguards are put in place by IASPs against unsolicited internet communications; and establish best practices for internet governance in Nigeria, in line with emerging issues and global trends. Since its release in 2017, the Draft Code has undergone several revisions in conjunction with stakeholders. Scope of the Draft Code The Code will apply to IASPs and Internet Access Services within Nigeria. The Draft Code in Section 1.4 defines an IASP to be “Any entity licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission, engaged in the provision of an Internet Access Service, irrespective of the network technology or terminal equipment used, or the licence held,” while Internet Access Services is defined as “A publicly available electronic communications service, irrespective of the network technology or terminal equipment used, that provides access to data communications to or from Network Termination Points with IP addresses that are assigned through delegation from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.” Under the Draft Code, netneutrality is deemed protected in Sections 2 – 3, of which a commentary is given below. Right of Consumers to Open Internet Access Section 2 prescribes measures designed to guarantee the rights of an end-user to an open internet, in particular an end-user’s right to have unrestricted and nondiscriminatory access to lawful content, applications or services via his internet access services is expressly stated in this section. In accordance with this provision, the enduser is free to send and receive information and content online and use the appropriate terminal device of his choice without restriction from an IASP. This section also prescribes transparency obligations for IASPs when they engage in traffic management practices necessary for the efficient operation of the network. Transparency Section 3.1seeks to impose specific transparency obligation on IASPs with respect to the performance, technical and commercial terms of its internet access service in a manner that is “sufficient for consumers and third-parties to make informed choices” regarding their uses of such services. Not only does this provision specify disclosure to consumers/endusers, it also requires that information disclosure be made to third-party Content Application Providers, CAPs who may require such technical information in seeking to create content on the open internet. This disclosure is required to be made in a clear, comprehensible and comprehensive manner in all service agreements with the IASP and on the IASP’s website. Finally, this section sets out the minimum information that must be disclosed by an IASP where it engages in any network management practices. EDITORIAL Innocent Anaba ( Head) Ikechukwu Nnochiri Contributors: Henry Ojelu, Onozure Dania C M Y K
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21032019 - PDP, Atiku in post-election trauma, depression — APC

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