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Mail Mirror
Friday, December 14, 2012
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
INEC and delist of political parties
T Olabode George and his award
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ome Nigerians have lost sense of decency and are so rubbishing the image of the nation in the mud and discounting its moral values. If not, how can anybody or group give the disgraced former National Deputy Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George, an award as carried on page 13 of the yesterday edition of your newspaper? Where is this All Africa Students Union and how did the students get the money to pay for a hall in Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos? I hope somebody is not in great frenzy for political rehabilitation and is therefore, throwing money around for that purpose. Africa Leadership Award my foot. Wonders shall never end.
he chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, caught the imagination of Nigerians in the 1990s through his robust activism when he was the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). He was a thorn in the flesh of the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida. He effectively combined with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to give IBB a tough fight over issues of national importance.
Getting this current plum job of the Chairman of INEC is like icing the cake of a lifelong struggle of a change agent. Since President Goodluck Jonathan brought him in to manage the nation’s electoral affairs and processes, he has been in the eye of the storm. So far, he has discharged his duties commendably well until now. He has made a questionable call in his delisting of 28 political parties; the National Conscience Party has temporarily escaped the hammer because it preemptively actioned the move in the
law court. Why would Jega concern himself with such mundane issue like the number of political parties in the country when even first year students of political science would tell him that Nigeria as a liberal democracy is wont to accommodate as many political parties that seek registration? Getting over 50 political parties on the ballot papers could be the only cause for concern. But this could be managed. The issue of the nation’s unabridged multiparty system was settled in 2002 when the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi took the
then INEC chairman, Dr. Abel Guobadia, to court for attempting to circumscribe the party registration process of the country. The Supreme Court, in its unambiguous ruling, declared that INEC had no such power to deny any intending political party registration. Moreover, Nigerians were enriched in their jurisprudence knowledge when the apex court made a distinction between ‘register with’ and ‘register by’. Political parties are to be registered with INEC and not registered by INEC, we were told! Jega should seek legal
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Check the sharp practices at relief camps
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Tunde Idrisu, Ibadan, Oyo State
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ay, can anybody make any more meaning of the cause Boko Haram is championing? I have come to the conclusion that the militant Islamic sect appears distracted from whatever cause it has set to pursue. Or how do we explain the raid on Government Girls Secondary School, Bama, Borno State in the wee hours of Wednesday, which had five female students slaughtered and three others wounded? I had thought Kwara State
Comrade John Adams Benin City, Edo State
Whose interest do the Reps serve?
Monday Akpan Lagos
he stories of some officials diverting and even selling relief items donated by governments and public spirited agencies is to say the least disheartening. The Federal Government should immediately investigate this inhuman act with a view to identifying and punishing those involved. Nigerian should learn to be their brothers’ keepers and not turn to wolves and shylocks against their fellow human beings, especially in their times of distress. Anyone found to have in any way colluded in diverting the relief items should be severely dealt with.
opinions on the issue and stop acting vacuously. The more the political parties, the merrier would be the electoral actions. What I do not subscribe to is for the state to give subvention to political parties. The proliferation of political parties in the country was due to the subvention they were entitled to. Now that this has stopped, the unserious parties will die naturally. Jega has gained nothing by this current exercise; he has only exposed himself to legal assaults.
SURVIVAL INSTINCT: A child beggar counting money accrued from the day’s begging.
Arrest of Lamido son
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read the news of the arrest of the son of Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Aminu, on page 12 of yesterday edition of your esteemed newspaper with delight. According to the story, Aminu, who was on his way to Cairo, Egypt,
through the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, only declared $10, 000 at the counter, but that a further check on him brought out additional $40, 000 he was hiding. Money laundering is the name of the game and it is big man business,
A cause gone awry
was immune to what is going on until I read that some misguided youths in Ilorin Wednesday went to Living Faith Church and torched it after plundering it. The state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has accused the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Profes-
sor Isha’q Oloyede, of complicity. This is a very grave allegation. The security agencies should step in, do a thorough investigation and bring the culprits to book. We should not allow this to fester beyond a point we can no more control. The time has come for all northern Islamic leaders to
Letters to the Editor
any small man caught is a mere courier. Though the age of Aminu is not disclosed, it is easy to fathom how he got the money. And so the stir his arrest was said to have caused in Dutse, Jigawa State capital, is only a feigned surprise, they know what they are doing. This might not be the first time he had emspeak out against this evil, which has no support in the Quran. I see the ongoing insurgency as a senseless development lacking purpose and direction. Something should give to give us northerners back our sense of decency and justice. Enough is enough. Amina Sanni Idah, Kogi State
PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI
barked upon this sinister business. Kudos to the EFCC. Aminu should be prosecuted as promised. When the big men and their children or associates destroy the economy through these unpatriotic activities, it is the poor people that suffer most. Let the anti-corruption agency pursue with the same vigour all the high profile cases of heists in its files. I hope President Goodluck Jonathan will now know why Nigeria will still maintain her unenviable position as one of the world’s most corrupt nations. The press will only report events as they unfold. Samson Udoh Abuja
ederal lawmakers, but if you wish to psyche them up, say ‘distinguished Senators’ or ‘Honourable Reps’. It is all charade or windowing dressing. Many of the federal lawmakers are simply put, very petty. The House of Representatives, in particular, is populated by mean characters. I used to have a lot of respect for Speaker Aminu Tambunwal until he allowed the House under his charge to embark on this anti Arunmah Oteh vendetta. Putting the issue in perspective, the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s offence is exposing the chicaneries that go behind the scene in the National Assembly. She exposed corruption, which was never faulted. If the House is fighting a personal war with Oteh, why should the Senate join in the fight? My advice to the upper chamber is to stay clear of this mess. The persecution of Oteh only enhances her status. Many Nigerians think she is doing a good job in SEC. No amount of persecution can change that mindset. Ms Agnes Obi Onitsha, Anambra State
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