FIRS Signs MoU with UK’s HM Revenue and Customs For Collaboration On Capacity Building

By Emmanuel Daudu

A Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the United Kingdom’s His Royal Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was signed yesterday with the aim of fostering improved collaboration on capacity building between the two tax authorities.

According to a press release signed by Johannes Oluwatobi Wojuola, the Special Assistant to the Executive Chairman, FIRS
(Media & Communication) on
March 17, 2023, the two agencies signed the agreement in London, United Kingdom, and was attended by the Executive Chairman, FIRS, Mr. Muhammad Nami accompanied by some members of the FIRS Board and management, and Director at HMRC, Jon Sherman, alongside other members of the HMRC Executive Committee.

Mr. Muhammad Nami who led members of the Board and management of the FIRS noted that this collaboration was in line with two planks of his cardinal goals for the Service: building a data-centric tax authority and improving the Service’s collaboration and stakeholder relations.

“I am certain that this relationship would equip our officers with the skills of the 21st century tax man,” he stated.

“Data is the new oil. Its collection, interpretation and consequent application for tax purposes has become crucial if the Service must be ahead of the taxpayer in the times we are in.

“With increased collaboration between the Service and tax authorities the world over—which is one of the cardinal pillars of this current management—meticulous and purposeful management, as well as strategic interpretation of the information we exchange between each other has become a fundamental element of inter-tax-authority relations.

“These, among several others, form the major areas where we would be collaborating on capacity building with the HMRC.

“We must be a step ahead.” Mr. Nami noted.

The FIRS boss, who is also the President of the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA), further explained that with this collaboration, officers of the Service will be better equipped to improve tax revenue collection and in turn provide government with the much needed resources to cater for Nigerians.

Commenting further on the collaboration, David Yellowly, Head of Capacity Building at the HMRC emphasized that “the MoU between the Nigerian and UK revenue authorities would see the two countries collaborating on Capacity Building, particularly on issues surrounding Country-by-Country Reporting Standards, Transfer Pricing, Exchange of Information, Data, and Audit in the Oil and Gas industry.”

As Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Muhammad Nami has engendered numerous collaborative efforts with tax authorities domestically and across the world, in line with his agenda of improving stakeholder relations for improved tax administration.

In February this year, the FIRS signed an MoU with the Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) for collaboration on Joint Tax Audit, Exchange of Information and Capacity Building.

Nigeria, others listed in its Health Workforce Support and Safeguards 2023 List-WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) says Nigeria and 54 other countries are among nations listed in its on  Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List 2023.

The WHO said of the 55 countries, 37 are in Africa, eight are in the Western Pacific region, six are in the eastern Mediterranean region, three are in the south-east Asia region and one is in the Americas.

Some of the countries include Angola, Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Haiti, Congo, Sudan, and Papua New Guinea

The global health body stated that the countries face the most pressing health workforce challenges related to universal health coverage.

“In particular, these countries have: 1) a density of doctors, nurses and midwives below the global median (i.e., 49 per 10 000 population); and 2) a universal health coverage service coverage index below a certain threshold,” WHO said in the report released March 8.

“To account for the disruptions caused to health services by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effects on health worker mobility and migration, the threshold for the universal health coverage service coverage index for the WHO health workforce support and safeguards list 2023 has been increased from 50 (the value used for the 2020 list) to 55.”

The organisation added that with the impact of COVID-19 and widespread disruptions to health services, health workers in these countries continue to seek better-paid opportunities in wealthier nations.

According to the WHO, the affected countries have universal health coverage (UHC) service coverage index below 55 and health workforce density below the global median of 49 medical doctors, nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 people.

The WHO said the countries are vulnerable because they do not have enough health workers required to achieve the UN sustainable development goal target by 2030.

“These countries require priority support for health workforce development and health system strengthening, along with additional safeguards that limit active international recruitment,” the statement reads.

“The WHO health workforce support and safeguard list does not prohibit international recruitment, but recommends that government-to-government health worker migration agreements be informed by health labour market analysis and the adoption of measures to ensure adequate supply of health workers in the source countries; engage Ministries of Health in the negotiation and implementation of agreements; and specify the health system benefits of the arrangement to both source and destination countries.”

Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, said health workers are the backbone of every health system, and yet some of the world’s most fragile health systems do not have enough and many are losing their health workers to international migration. “WHO is working with these countries to support them to strengthen their health workforce, and we call on all countries to respect the provisions in the WHO health workforce support and safeguards list.

The list should be used to inform advocacy, policy dialogue at all levels and financing efforts in support of health workforce education and employment in these countries,” he said.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria has lost many of its doctors, leaving hospitals understaffed, and available personnel overwhelmed.

Five dead as El-Rufai’s Security Escorts Open Fire On Protesting Shi’ite Members During Procession

The Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) otherwise called “Shi’ites” has accused the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, of causing the death of five members of the group when his security details allegedly opened fire on them during a protest in Kaduna.

Many people including passers-by were said to be caught up in the melee on Thursday in Kaduna as many people sustained varying degree of injuries in the process.

In a statement signed by the Secretary of Academic Forum of the movement, Abdullahi Muhammad Musa, the group attributed the tragic incident that led to the death of their members to the inciting statement allegedly made by the governor a few days ago.

The governor was said to have incited members of his political Party in Zaria, against the movement and its leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky(H), where he told them that they must vote for his anointed candidate, Senator Uba Sani.

SaharaReporters gathered that the governor’s convoy ran into the peaceful protesters along the airport road demanding for the release of travel documents of their leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenah.

It was learnt that the combined security operatives reportedly fired both teargas canisters and live bullets at the crowd killing five persons on the spot.

One of the victims was identified as Aliyu Suleiman, an 18 years old Mechanical Engineering Student of Kaduna State Polytechnic.

The statement read, “Few days after the Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru El-Rufai, incited members of his political Party in Zaria, against the the Islamic movement in Nigeria and it leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky(H), where he told them that they must Vote his anointed candidate, Senator Uba Sani, so he may finish off what he described as the remnants of El-zakzaky’s Shiites in Zaria.

“The governor told the APC faithfuls that it’s only his successor that can fight and finish the Shiites in the state. Incidentally, less than 48 hours to the state’s Governorship election followers of the oppressed leader of the Islamic movement in Nigeria came out to protest against tyrant Buhari’s refusal to remove the illegal travelling ban on their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife to travel out for medical treatment, El-Rufai’s convoy, ran into the protesters and opened fire with live ammunition on them, killing more than five on the spot.

“These include Aliyu Suleiman, an 18 years old Mechanical Engineering Student of Kaduna State Polytechnic. Several others sustained various degrees of life threatening injuries, an unspecified number of passerby were also shot and arrested.”

Source: KPA

EFCC, NIRA Sign MoU of Collaboration on Cyber Security

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, on Thursday, March 16, 2023 reiterated the resolve of the Commission to build the capacity of its personnel to effectively combat the emerging trends in cyber security.

Bawa stated this during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, between the EFCC and the Nigerian Internet Registration Association, NIRA led by its President, Muhammed Rudman, at the EFCC Head Office, Jabi, Abuja.

According to him, the MoU would further boost the understanding of his personnel on the modern trends in cyberspace and assist the Commission’s investigations.

“We are very proud to collaborate with you because we realize that part of our mandate is collaboration. We need relevant stakeholders whether in government or private sector to achieve our mandate”.

The EFCC boss, while expressing delight over the collaboration, said that the EFCC had a well-equipped Academy to sustain the training.

“I find this MoU very appealing. I accept your collaboration and we are ready to start as soon as possible. We have a well-equipped Academy to carry out this training and I advise that the training is not only onset but also online so that many people can join, even other agencies can benefit from this using our platform, he added.

Earlier, the President, NIRA, Muhammed Rudman said that the purpose of the MoU was to strengthen collaboration between his Association and the EFCC. According to him, there was a huge gap between NIRA and law enforcement agencies, which needed to be bridged.

“We have law enforcement agencies locking up Registrars when there are cyber security issues in terms of websites based on the crimes perpetrated by end users. So, to protect our Registrars from having gaps with law enforcement, we identify EFCC as the right partner to provide capacity building to address these gaps in terms of cybersecurity awareness and general knowledge of ICT”, he said.

He added that when the MoU was fully implemented it would benefit not only the EFCC but other agencies as well.

“To be honest with you we want to kick start this project as soon as possible to give high level capacity building on the internet and how it works, to address the needs of Law Enforcement Agencies, using EFCC as an umbrella body to bridge the cybersecurity gap”, Rudman said.

Nigeria Returns to UN Peacekeeping Operations

Nigeria Returns to UN Peacekeeping Operations after years of absence as UNISFA marks one year of Reconfiguration into a Multinational Peacekeeping Force.

Today 15 March 23, the Nigerian Base Defence Company deployed into UNISFA to join the rest of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force. The induction of the Nigerian UN Peacekeepers completes the 8-contingent member troops contributing countries in UNISFA.

In his speech during the Parade held to commemorate the one year anniversary, the Acting Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Benjamin Olufemi Sawyerr stated that despite initial challenges, the Force has been able to achieve its mandate by providing protection of civilians, engage with the 2-host governments as well as the host communities to encourage dialogue, support Humanitarian Agencies to assist the people and provide support to the   two-country teams of Juba and Khartoum to implement the Programmatic Funding Activities.

He appreciated the cooperation and collaboration of the Local Administration and the Traditional  Institutions in forging peaceful dialogue that would lead to the determination of the final status of Abyei.

He commended the support of the UN Headquarters for high level visits, budgetary allocations and logistics support. He praised the AFPs, humanitarian agencies and NGOs for their support in delivering Humanitarian assistance to the communities.

General Sawyerr further praised the Military, Police and Civilian components of the Mission for working in synergy of vision. He reeled out several achievements attained by the Mission within one year and stated that the Rule of Law support strategy as well as the SOP on Detention will be strengthened to uphold the fundamental human rights of the people. He further stated that the Mission will continue to function under the UN core values of Integrity, impartiality, professionalism and respect for gender and diversity.

He acknowledged the roles being played by the Female Engagement Teams and happy that all contingents will continue to increase women participation in UN Peacekeeping. Despite the numerous achievements, the Acting Head of Mission and Force Commander stated that there are still existing challenges that must be tackled. He urged the Peacekeepers not to rest on their oars but be spurred to give their best.

He stated that Peacekeeping is a thankless job which is carried out for the purpose of global peace.

Bilateral Relations: Nigeria, China strengthens bond

By Emmanuel Daudu

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Ambassador Zubairu Dada has assured China of Nigeria’s reciprocal support at bilateral and multilateral levels.

According to Ibrahim Aliyu, SA Media HMOS in a press release on
14th-03-23, said, the minister gave the assurance when he received the visiting Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of African Affairs, Mr. Deng Li in Abuja.

Ambassador Zubairu Dada who said Nigeria and China have excellent relationship for many decades, maintained that relations between the two countries had continued to grow from strength to strength due to the total commitment of leaders of both countries.

While congratulating China for a peaceful transition, Ambassador Dada said he look forward to more dynamic relationships with the People ‘s Republic of China.

He said as Nigeria is going through the same process of transition from one civilian government to another, the country needs the support of China and indeed all other friendly nations to ensure a seamless transition.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs commended China for embarking on fifteen  developmental projects across Nigeria which he said some have already been completed while others are at the various levels of completion.

He however expressed concern over difficulties  faced by some Nigerians who wants to reside in China in the issuance of resident permits and called for urgent steps to be taken to address the problem.

While applauding China’s resolve to allow Nigerian students return to China to continue their studies,  the Minister also said the commencement of direct flights from Nigeria to China is also a welcomed development.

Earlier, the Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of Africa, Mr. Deng Li congratulated Nigeria for a peaceful conduct of Presidential and National Assembly elections.

He described Nigeria as an important strategic partner of China in Africa.

Mr. Deng Li said his country will continue to cherish Nigeria especially for its recognition and belief in one China Policy.

He urged Nigeria to always support China at the International front especially against the United States accusations of human rights violations, which he said was not true.

The top ranking diplomat appealed to the Federal Government of Nigeria to as a matter of urgency do everything possible to protect Chinese citizens and Enterprises from attacks in Nigeria.

He said China will assist Nigeria in intelligence gathering to curb terrorism and other forms of criminality in the country as he also pledge China’s resolve to continue to embark on more developmental projects across Nigeria.

INEC Calls For Improved Performance, Synergy Among Security Agencies Ahead Of Governorship, State Assembly Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called for improved performance and synergy among security agencies involved in election security, ahead of the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly election holding this weekend, 18th March 2023.

The Commission expressed appreciation to the security agencies and other members of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) for the professionalism of personnel and the generally peaceful conduct of the elections, the Presidential and National Assembly held on the 25th of February 2023, but called for more coordinated deployment plan in among ICCES members.

Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made the call at an ICCES meeting  convened at the INEC Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday to review preparations for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections holding this Saturday.

Confirming the Commission’s readiness for the election. Prof. Yakubu said “the Governorship election will hold in 28 States of the Federation. As you are aware, Governorship elections in eight States (Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun States) are held off-cycle and therefore not conducted during the General Election.” 

“However, elections will be conducted for all the 993 State constituencies nationwide. Our state offices have made available to the Nigeria Police Force, being the lead agency in election security, the delimitation details for both the Governorship and State Assembly elections, including locations of Polling Units and Collation Centres. On that basis, we expect a coordinated deployment plan in synergy with other security, intelligence, law enforcement and safety agencies,” Chairman said.

Speaking further on preparations for the Saturday election, the INEC Chairman explained that “only yesterday, the Commission held a virtual meeting with all the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in which we reviewed preparations for the State elections. In addition to election technology, logistics and a host of other issues, security was also discussed. We will present some of the issues at this meeting for further discussion and, most importantly, appropriate action.”

Commenting on the huge task before the Commission and the security agencies come Saturday, Prof. Yakubu said “the Governorship and State Assembly elections this weekend involves more constituencies than the national elections held about three weeks ago. Unlike the last elections involving 470 constituencies (1 Presidential, 109 Senatorial Districts and 360 House of Representatives seats), the State elections will involve 1,021 constituencies (28 Governorship and 993 State Assembly seats).” 

The INEC Chairman used the opportunity to urge the political actors to guard their utterances and ensure their supporters conduct themselves appropriately. In his words; “there will also be more candidates involved and more collation centres to protect. They are also local elections involving keen contests. It is therefore important for parties and candidates to speak to their agents and supporters to see the elections as a contest and not war. They should refrain from acts of violence that may mar the elections or compromise the security of our personnel, observers, the media and service providers.”

He further lauded the directive of the Inspector- General of Police (IGP) to state commands to handle all cases of electoral offences expeditiously. “We look forward to receiving the case files. We will immediately set up a legal team to handle such cases in earnest”, he said.

On his part, the National Security Adviser and Co-Chairman of ICCES, Major- General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), commended the security agencies for their role in the conduct of the February 25th Presidential and NASS elections.

He however, urged them to double their efforts to up the game of securing the electoral space for the conduct of free, fair and credible election on Saturday.

Stressing why more efforts must be invested in this Saturday’s election, the NSA explained that unlike the Presidential and NASS election, this election will be conducted in more constituencies; 28 Governorship and 993 Houses of Assembly seats.

According to Gen. Monguno, “though we do not envisage any threat or issues concerning the Saturday election that is going to be terrible or violent, we must not fold our hands and do nothing at all in case of unforeseen circumstances.”

He continued “we must make sure every Nigerian exercises his or her franchise without hinderance of any kind and we must not allow anyone to undermine the electoral process”.

WE’LL PROVIDE ALL THE DOCUMENTS YOU NEED; WE HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE – INEC CHAIRMAN ASSURES LABOUR PARTY LAWYERS

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has assured Political Parties seeking to challenge the outcome of the just concluded 2023 Presidential election in court that the Commission is willing to cooperate by making available all necessary documents requested by the parties.

Prof. Yakubu who asserted that the Commission has nothing to hide, gave the assurance when the Legal team of the Labour Party (LP) led by Dr. Levy Uzoukwu, visited the INEC headquarters in Abuja on Monday.

Addressing the LP Legal team, the INEC Chairman said “I want to assure you that the Commission will not hide any document from anybody and will make available any document that they have requested for. There are two categories of documents those that are in possession of the headquarters of INEC, we will easily make these documents available to you”.

“Specifically, the Form EC8Ds from the states and the EC8DA, which is the collation at the National Collection Centre by the Commission itself. The EC8E, the declaration, so many, a total of, I think 39 documents, this we can easily certify and give you almost immediately.”

He added that; “as for other documents that we are asking for they are at state level, so we need to work out the schedule so that we know when your team is going to which state and on which date so that we can easily facilitate not just certification of documents, but also the inspection that you requested for each of these documents.”

The INEC Chairman also spoke on the Legal teams’ request for the accreditation data for the Presidential election. He said “the other one is accreditation data from the back end. This will also be made available to you. Remember that the accreditation data covers over 176,000 polling units. We have to print them physically certify them, and give them to you, so the tall and short of what I’m saying is that you will get this document speedily.”

“They will also make arrangements and notify our Resident Electoral Commissioners of your intended visit so that these documents will be made available to you, those that are at the state level, including access to inspection of any category of materials.”

He added that; “a meeting has been scheduled with all the Resident Electoral Commissioners it is going to be a virtual meeting at 3pm, today, (Monday) which we will discuss among other issues, this matter of providing CTCs not only to the Labour Party, but to all other litigants as well.”

Explaining the purpose of their visit to Journalists after the meeting, the leader of the team and also Lead Counsel to the Labour Party, Dr. Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), said that it was a follow up to their written request and the order by the Court of Appeal issued on the 3rd of March 2023.

He said: “we are here because we have not received any electoral stocks for inspection on behalf of our clients, and as you all know, election petition is time sensitive. We have 21 days to file a petition on behalf of our clients. Out of that 21 days we probably have about 10 days to go and up till now we have not received any documents”.

“We have written to INEC requesting for documents apart from that, the Court of Appeal made an order on the March 3, to INEC to release those documents to us but we haven’t received any hence we requested for a meeting with the Chairman of the Commission.”

Dr. Uzoukwu explained further that the Prof. Yakubu graciously granted them audience within a very short notice, “and he has given us assurance, concrete assurance on record that all documents we require will be made available and if possible, some of them will be made available to us today”.

“So, we believe that that will happen, and we are leaving here rest assured that by the time we leave INEC premises at least we will leave with some documents, the rest can then come from tomorrow and so on and so forth.’, he added.

Election observers calls on INEC to cancel Abia North senatorial election

By Emmanuel Daudu

It could be recalled that the Nigerian 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections were held on the 25th of February, 2023.
A larger group of foreign and domestic observers while declaring their reports in sundry press conferences had a common tune as to how the elections weren’t credible, free, and fair, and how it falls below international standards.

Today in Abuja, at the Zoological Garden, Area 1, the Coalition of the 2023 Election Observers has called for the cancellation or rerun of the Abia North senatorial election stating that electorates didn’t exercise their political franchise in over one hundred polling units across the senatorial district, while where elections held, it was characterized with electoral violence and other malpractices.

The Head of the Coalition for Abia North 2023 Election, Rasheed Shuaib, while addressing the press alongside others from several organizations accredited by INEC to observe the 2023 general elections in the Abia North Senatorial District pointed out that its advice to INEC going by what they observed is to cancel or have a rerun of the Abia North senatorial election.
“The Abia North Senatorial District covers Arochukwu, Bende, Isuikwuato, Ohafia, and Umu Nneochi LGAs. And 11 candidates from 11 political parties vied for the senatorial seat in that election. They are:
Martins Emetu- ADC, Orji Uzor Kalu-APC, Carol Dike-okafor-APGA, Nnenna Emmanuela Nwosu-APM, Ifeanyichukwu Kingsley Adijeh- APP, Nnamdi Iro Oji- LP, Saidu Ahmed- NNPP, Chinonyerem Wogu-NRM, Mao Ohuabunwa-PDP, Uche Brown Echewie- SDP, and Ahanna Orji Igwe- YPP

“About 500 Accredited INEC Domestic Observers were deployed by The Coalition of Observers to all the 5 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Abia North Senatorial District for the February 25th General Election.
As Observers, it’s important to begin by saying that the Senatorial election that took place in Abia North on 25th February 2023 was below the standard and unacceptable electoral practice, contrary to INEC electoral Acts and guidelines, and against the wishes and expectations of the electorates/constituents.
According to the INEC Electoral Guidelines for the election, the Official opening of the polling units is by 8:30 am. But this was not the case in all the polling units visited by our field observers in the Senatorial District as there were almost general reports of the late arrival of INEC Ad-hoc Staff and electoral materials.
There was late distribution of Electoral materials to the various RAC Centers across the 5 LGAs in Abia North, especially in Arochukwu and Ohafia LGAs; where some candidates have to volunteer by releasing their vehicles to convey the INEC Materials to the various polling units.
In some instances, there were no attached law enforcement agencies that will escort the INEC Materials to the various polling units. As a result, a greater number of INEC Ad-hoc Staff could not proceed to their place of primary assignment on Election Day since the election time was almost up.

“A special case is Bende LGA, where election materials moved from the LGA headquarters early but took some time to reach most polling units, while voters were waiting. Some polling units received their election materials between the hours of 2:30 pm and 6:00 pm as reported by our field observers at the LGA.
This also led to missing or misplacement of Result Sheets in some polling units, while the voters were already in the queue ready to exercise their franchise.
Despite the late arrival of INEC Materials, the people came out en-mass in the early hours of the day to exercise their franchise. Some later went home and never came back, especially the elderly and sick ones. The youths remained till they were accredited and voted for the candidate of their choice.
The BVAS was supposed to be used to authenticate or capture the faces of the Voters in all the polling units where the elections were held, but our observers noticed that the machines were either not functioning or were not used in most of the Polling Units.

“We also observed that some INEC Officials which were originally posted to some areas were dropped and their names changed to entirely new persons as confessed by one of the Youth Corpers we interacted with.
The collation which was supposed to be done at the ward level was done at the LGA while some of the Youth Corpers disappeared with their result sheets and reappeared at the wee hours of the night with mutilated results and some never came back especially in some units in Bende LGA.

“On the election Saturday 25th February 2023 INEC returning officer after noticing some irregularities and logistic challenges announced to the observers, party agents, and others in Ohafia, after speaking with the Resident Electoral Officer in Umuahia, that there will be a rerun election on Sunday 26th February 2023 in some places in Abia North where elections didn’t hold as a result of logistics.

“We want to put it on record that there was no rerun election in those affected places. Later around 2 pm on that 26th of February, one of the officials of INEC informed us that the elections in places where elections were never held will be done on the 27th starting by 8:30 am. All the voters that turned up in their numbers were disappointed and while some were still hanging around their various polling units, information came to us that the EO and the collation Officers were about to announce the results.

“As observers, we rushed to the venue and tried to remind them of the number of voters they will disfranchise if they should go on to call the result of the unfinished election and the consequences, but it all went on deaf ears.
After every effort to appeal to them to do the needful both by the Party Agents and Security Personnel, the two collation Officers went ahead and called the result of what should have been regarded as an inconclusive election.
It took the presence of the heavy joint security officers on the ground to calm the situation before the INEC officers were squeezed out of the premises of the Presbyterian Church school in Ohafia.
We want to put on record that election didn’t hold in over 100 polling units across the Senatorial districts with over 80,000 registered voters.

“Again, the new electoral law makes it mandatory that counting and announcement of results should be made open by the presiding officer at the polling units, but this was ignored in most polling units visited at the Bende, Ohafia, Arochukwu, and Isuikwu LGAs. The Law also mandates that the results be posted in the polling units; this was also not the case in most of the Polling Units.
This action negates the transparency of the voting process across the board in most of the polling units in Abia North Senatorial District.
Also, the 2022 electoral Act provides that there should be online transmission of result sheets at the conclusion of voting through the INEC Result viewing (IRev) portal. The report we received from both CPALD Station and Roving Observers as well from other observer groups is that there is no transmission of result sheet at most of the polling units across the Abia North Senatorial District”.

While giving recommendations, he stated that INEC should as a matter of urgency helps to calm the growing agitation in these areas where elections were never held and fix a date to conduct a rerun election or cancel the elections as a result of irregularities which took place during the collation of the results which is not in line with the electoral new ACT.
“INEC should critically look into the distribution of both sensitive and non-sensitive materials ahead of the Governorship and State Assembly election. As this was a major setback in the 25th February presidential election.
There should be an adequately attached police officer that will escort both the election materials and INEC Ad-Hoc Staff as this was one of the reasons why there was no election in some of the polling units in Ohafia, Arochukwu, etc. There should be an adequate arrangement between the commission and the major transport operators on how to convey the election materials to the polling units. There should be a proper orientation to the INEC Ad-Hoc Staff not to compromise or be influenced by any political party to do their bidding. There should be proper re-training of the INEC Presiding Officers who are going to handle the BVAS. To have a hitch-free March 18th rescheduled Governorship and States Assembly elections.
“INEC should properly communicate to both the State and Non-State Actors where there is any issue that will warrant a delay in the election processes”, he added.

Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, the perfect man for the Next Senate President of 10th Senate-Francis

A Public Affairs Analyst, strong Notable  youth leader, Francis Cosmas Ezeude has said that Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu is the perfect man for the Next Senate President of 10th Senate.

According to him, when considering Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu for the position of Nigeria Senate President, some cognate reasons that may be taken into account to include:

Regional Representation/Balance of Power: The Senate is one of the key arms of government, responsible for making laws and overseeing government activities. As such, it is important that all regions of the country are represented in the leadership of the Senate. By electing a Senate President from the South-East region, lawmakers may be able to ensure that the region’s interests and concerns are adequately represented in the Senate.

Unity and Reconciliation: Nigeria has a history of ethnic and religious tensions, which have sometimes led to conflicts and divisions. Some people may argue that electing a Senate President from the South-East region could help to promote unity and reconciliation, by giving a sense of belonging and representation to the people of the region.

Experience: Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu has served as the Governor of Abia State and is currently a Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District and the Chief Whip of the House of Senate. He has also been involved in various business ventures and has experience in managing large organisations. This experience may be viewed as an asset when it comes to leading the Senate.

Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu has a wealth of experience in politics and business, which could be seen as an asset when it comes to leading the Senate. He served as the Governor of Abia State from 1999 to 2007, during which time he initiated several development projects in the state. He was also a member of the House of Representatives from 1992 to 1993 before being elected as Governor.

As a successful businessman, Orji Uzor Kalu has also shown that he has strong management skills. He is the founder of Slok Holding, a conglomerate with interests in shipping, banking, media, and other sectors. He has been able to grow the company into one of the largest in Nigeria, which could be seen as evidence of his ability to lead and manage large organisations.

Political Connection: Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party in Nigeria and the current Senate Chief Whip. As such, he  have strong connection with other members of the party, which could make it easier to garner support for his candidacy and to ultimately use this to get the attention of the government to easily approving all legislative proposals targeted at directly and indirectly affecting the lives of Nigerians positively without delay or rancours.

As a stunch member of the progressive party (APC), Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu has supported central government controlled by the APC ably lead by President Muhammadu Buhari and all other cadres of the party structures in Nigeria.

Leadership Skills: Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu has been described as a charismatic leader with excellent communication skills. These qualities could be useful when it comes to leading debates and negotiations in the Senate.

Vision: Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu has previously outlined his vision for Nigeria, including plans to improve infrastructure and create jobs. If elected as Senate President, he will able to use his position to push for policies that align with this vision.

For executing massive developmental projects for his Abia North constituents, Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu has been honoured with the “Overall Best Constituency Projects and Human Relations Award”at the 2022 Senate Press Corps award.

Support of Colleagues: Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu will have the support of most of his colleagues in the Senate, who view him as a competent and capable leader. This support could be crucial for the position of Senate President, as he may need the backing of other lawmakers to win the election.

Support for the South-East region: The South-East region of Nigeria has faced a number of challenges in recent years, including infrastructural deficits, security concerns, and economic underdevelopment. Electing Sen. Urji Uzor Kalu as Senate President from the South-East region could help to address these challenges, by ensuring that the region’s concerns are given priority in the Senate.

Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu as a former governor of Abia State and a ranking Senator with cognate experience from South -Eastern part of the country in APC remains the best option for Senate President in the 10th assembly.