8—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015
APC to Jonathan: You can’t intimidate us
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AGOS — The All Progresives Congress, APC, has said the party’s leadership and members will not be intimidated by the latest antics of the Jonathan administration to harass and intimidate the opposition, especially in the run-up to next month’s general elections. In a statement in Lagos, yesterday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the recent military siege on APC National Leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu’s residence and the Imo State Government House and the police harassment of APC’s Presidential Campaign spokesman, Garba Shehu fit perfectly into this emerging pattern. It said: "As the elections approach, we know the harassment and intimidation will be stepped up. We know our leaders, including the National Chairman Chief John Oyegun; National Leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu; Gov. Rotimi Amaechi; former Gov. Timipre Sylva; Senator Bukola Saraki and National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, are under surveillance and their phones being hacked. "We are aware that several of them, especially the National Publicity Secretary, have been marked down for arrest in the days to come. We know there are evil plots to frame some of them on trumped-up charges. We know our lives are in danger. But these and more will not deter us from continuing to act in the national interest or from seeking to effect change through the ballot box. "Yes, we are alerting Nigerians that if anything happens to us they should know where it is coming from, but for us there is no going back because we are resolute." APC thanked Nigerians for their immense and unwaring support, especially since the postponement of the elections which was aimed at dampening the enthusiasm of the citizens, and urged them not to relent. "We are glad that instead of weakening the resolve and enthusiasm of Nigerians, the Presidency-orchestated postponement has further galvanised them to be more determined not only to vote but also to defend their votes," the statement added.
NLC confab ends in chaos zAs election fails to hold over allegations of rigging By Funmi Komolafe & Victor Ahiuma-Young
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BUJA — THE 11th quadrennial delegates conference of the NLC ended in a fracas in Abuja, yesterday, as delegates upturned ballot boxes as a result of allegations that multiple ballot papers had been produced to favour a particular candidate. Trouble started at about 8.10 a.m when members of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, were voting. A delegate told Vanguard that those who voted before the union had observed this irregularity but no one raised it. When the situation, became chaotic, the police ordered everyone out of the hall. However, delegates gave no room for police to use tear gas as they all moved out of the venue en masse. Those in the hall when it became rowdy included the first general secretary of the NLC, Alhaji Aliyu Dangiwa. Outside the hall of the International Conference Centre, venue of the conference, a delegate showed to Vanguard a ballot paper for a candidate for the post of trustee which had two different serial numbers. Yesterday’s rowdy session and an abrupt end of the NLC’s conference was the first in the 37-year history of the labour centre. It was witnessed by international allies of the NLC who were invited for the conference. A number of workers spoken to attributed the crisis to failure of the leadership and the secretariat. Efforts to speak with Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar whose term technically expired at the conference were unsuccessful as neither Omar nor the General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ison Ezon, could be located at Labour House head office of the NLC. Unconfirmed sources, however said, a meeting of the elected and appointed officials under the auspices of the National Administrative Council was going on at a secret location in Abuja. Before the situation got rowdy, Wednesday, as a delegate, Ismaila Bello of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers, called the House to order and called on the
Conference in Session to dissolve the executive of Abudulwaheed Omar before the election, in line with trade union practice. This was, however, turned down by a deputy general secretary of the NLC, Emma Ugboaja who said: “We have checked our constitution and there is no such provision.” All of these coupled with the incidents of the previous day (Tuesday), such as the adoption of the financial report which was not received by
many but was adopted and the failure of the leadership to open up on the over N2.5 billion NLC/Kriston Lally failed housing project contributed to the chaos.
It’s a shame — Dangiwa
Speaking at the venue of the aborted conference, the first general secretary of the NLC, Aliyu Dangiwa, said: “It is a shame. A big shame. I feel disappointed. Whoever caused this has done the worst for the labour movement.
Whoever was responsible for this should be traced by Nigerian workers for appropriate action. He should be made to pay for this atrocity against the labour movement."
It's unacceptable —SEWUN scribe
The secretary of the Steel Workers Union of Nigeria ( SEWUN), Comrade K. Kadiri on his part said: “It is a shame. Nigeria Labour Congress, which is supposed to lead by example, has perfected rigging for a particular candidate. It is unacceptable.”
BOOK LAUNCH: From left: Innocent Chukwuma, West African Representative, Ford Foundation; Opeyemi Agbaje, CEO, Resources Trust; Abimbola Agboluaje, Managing Director, WNT Capitas; Ayo Obe, Civil Right Activist/Chair Person, Board of Trustees, Goree Institute, Senegal and Toyin Akinosho, Publisher, Africa Oil & Gas Report during the launch of a book ‘Class, Ethnicity & Democracy in Nigeria: The Failure of the First Republic’ by Prof. Larry Diamond, in Lagos.
No provision for interim govt in 1999 Constitution —FG By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor &
Ikechukwu Nnochiri
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BUJA— The Federal Government, yesterday, ruled out the institution of an Interim National Government to mid-wife the forthcoming national elections, saying the idea is totally alien to the constitution. The Attorney General of the Federation, AGF and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke in a statement made available to Vanguard cautioned the public against being led astray by suggestions to that effect which he said is not tenable under the present democratic dispensation. The statement follows arguments in the public space that an interim national government be constituted to run the country in the days leading to and after the forthcoming national elections. He said: “My attention has
been drawn to recent calls in the media by some Nigerians for the constitution of an Interim National Government to ostensibly mid-wife the 2015 general elections to usher in a new democratic government. “While I recognise and appreciate the inalienable right of Nigerians to freely express themselves and proffer solutions to perceived national challenges, I am deeply concerned that some undiscerning Nigerians are being unwittingly led to believe that a certain prescription, which is totally alien to the constitution, can be adopted as viable solution to our national challenges. “It has, therefore, become necessary to correct this misconception and refocus the citizenry on the path of constitutionalism and democratic tenets consistent with our quest for democratic consolidation in Nigeria. "For avoidance of doubt, it
is pertinent to state that the framers of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 did not envisage the constitution of Interim National Government to superintend over the affairs of government. “It is, therefore, not surprising to observe that no provision for Interim National Government was made in the constitution. “The contraption called “Interim National Government” is therefore alien to Nigeria’s constitutional framework and the arrangement should not be promoted by wellmeaning Nigerians under any guise or circumstance. "Nigerians are, therefore, enjoined to continue to rely on the constitution, which contains adequate provisions on how the democratic process can be activated to elect their leaders from time to time.”