Edo guber: Factors that helped Oshiomhole to win.

Written by Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

The declaration of re-elected Governor of Edo, Adams Oshiomhole did not come to many Nigerians and in particular his admirers by surprise. In fact, some of them expected it, though many of them were gripped by a level of trepidation. However, with the build-up of political events few days before the election, the trepidations began to wane especially as more and more political big wigs showed body languages in support of the governor in addition to the swelling army of foot soldiers including market women, students and workers queuing behind him.

True to some political permutation, Oshiomhole humiliated the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gen. Charles Ehigie Airhiavbere (rtd) as he raked in 477, 478 leaving Airhiavbere struggling behind with 144, 235 votes to place second. 

Since the announcement of the results, Oshiomhole supporters are opining that the victory has confirmed the governor’s control and the supremacy of his party in the state.

 Several factors have been adduced for Oshiomhole’s victory. These include power of incumbency, reward for hard work, overwhelming popularity, instrument of propaganda, mass revolt against the PDP resulting in sympathy vote for Oshiomhole’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) among others. 

This is in addition to Oshiomhole’s ability to handle the controversy surrounding the clamour for him to drop his deputy, Pius Odubu in the 2012 governorship election to settle political scores. 

Analysts believe that Oshiomhole was able to harness heavy voted due to the efforts of his administrations towards massive development projects in the state. It is believed that the on-going projects initiated by the administration led the people to support Oshiomhole believing that his continuous stay would guarantee their completions.

 After the first two years in office as governor, Oshiomhole realised that he does not need to go through the learning curve again after providing the needed strategy to support the deposition of the leadership of the PDP led State House of Assembly who were atavistic over ascendancy to power as a threat and dictatorial. 

However, the change they were never prepared for occurred in February 2010 when the former Speaker, Barr. Zakawanu Garuba of the PDP was impeached thereby paving the way for the ACN to consolidate on the victory it secured from the Appeal Court rulings which either nullified the elections of some PDP members wrongly declared by the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) or ordering for a re-run election which came in favour of ACN.

 Also, the alleged inability for the state leadership of PDP to settle the internal crises in the party due to alleged selfish interest to satisfy certain individuals also pave a way for ACN to have upper hand as it weakened the PDP and its candidates ahead of the election.

 In what appears as to be a deliberate attempt to unsettle the “seen and unseen forces” working against his re-election, Oshiomhole’s handlers stood against moves by INEC to embark on continuous voter registration exercise, which many of them felt would not be in the best interest of the ACN.

 Consequently, a day before the process kicked off, Oshiomhole’s supporters joined him to hit the street in a protest march to INEC headquarters in Benin where he spoke against describing it as a PDP agenda and ploy to manipulate the election. Oshiomhole had in the protest march assured that he would not allow such.

He recalled that in Adamawa, Kebbi, Kogi and Cross River states where INEC had conducted gubernatorial elections, the commission had either suspended the exercise arising from the alleged acrimony or controversial grounds or register at designated local government headquarters. His assertion was melted with accusation and counter accusations by PDP.

 Oshiomhole’s pedigree has also earned him the support of workers and labour unions as well as those of the ordinary people, many of who came out in great numbers  for the election despite the rains to give the PDP a bloody nose.

 The PDP sunk further when many people in the state linked the candidate to the waning apron string of godfathers, who critics believe were no longer calling the shot in the state. The PDP candidate, they felt relied heavily on such big wigs and the people appeared to had decided to throw do away with them and the party.

 However, shortly after the announcement of his victory on Sunday, Oshiomhole admitted that the PDP candidate raised the stakes ahead of the polls. This is especially connected with use of ethnic politics which made him become closer to the traditional institution for spiritual help.

 Instead of subtracting from Oshiomhole, it added to his political fortunes. This is because the voting pattern in all the 192 wards which were in favour of ACN appears unidirectional and it defied all form of ethnic and political colouration. Probably, this will be the first time in the history of the state the people voted across primordial sentiment.

 Apart from being a reputable driver of the party, Oshiomhole excelled, unlike PDP, which was seen as lacking in an enigmatic character as leader in the state, who could be used as a rallying point for development and execution of political strategies.

 Also, it is believed that this is the factor that enabled the governor, who is set for another four years in office to penetrate the PDP ranks as the members sought endlessly for a figure to rally around as many of them were said not to accept the leadership imposed on them.

 Political observers see the emergence of Oshiomhole in his first and second coming as watersheds in the political history of the state as it demystified the legacy of key political godfathers in the state especially Chief Tony Anenih, who has been known as Mr. Fix-it based on his famed ability to help impose leaders on the state in favour of his party, the PDP since the return of democracy in 1999.

In the general elections held in April last year, Anenih led the PDP to prove that he was a force to reckon with when the Party won all the seats in the Senatorial District except in the House of Assembly seat in Esan South which was won by the ACN.

 His fame started falling like a paper castle when Oshiomhole won in the Appeal Court leading to the removal of the then PDP governor Oserheimen Osunbor. 

It has also been argued that the PDP candidate, Airhiavbere, who is seen as a green horn in Nigerian politics would not have scored up to 100, 000 votes, but for the sympathy he cultivated from the people of Edo South Senatorial District whose votes accounted for over 51 percent of those he got.

 The fallout of the grooming that followed the PDP primaries on February 25 held in favour of Charles Airhiavbere has been seen as many as one of the factors that dealt a fatal blow on the PDP. This is because virtually all the people who worked for the party never got the support of the delegates who gave their support for the highest bidder.  

The aggrieved aspirants, who lost including the former governor of the state, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere who had then just defected from PDP to ACN, Mathew Iduroriyeklemwen and Barr. Kenneth Imasuagbon insisted the lacking of fair play which many said further exposed the alleged lack of internal democracy in the PDP. 

In fact, some of the aspirants including Prof. Osubor openly canvassed support for Oshiomhole’s re-elected during the campaign visit of the later to the hometown of the former at Iruekpen, Esan West local Government area of the state.  

Since his declaration as winner, Oshiomhole has been receiving series of congratulatory messages from Nigerians and institutions including President Goodluck Jonathan and other highly placed persons within the PDP. 

It is hoped that the governor will reciprocate by giving the people purposeful leadership in the next four years.

2015: Is the ACN/CPC alliance potent portion to checkmate PDP political stranglehold?

Written by Lawrence Olaoye

Pointing out that the nation’s political firmament is getting more sophisticated and that people are beginning to demand good governance in return for their votes is stating the obvious. The outcome of the Edo state governorship election, where the incumbent Action Congress of Nigeria governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, roundly defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate, Major General Charles Airhiavbere, speaks volumes on the general perception of the PDP.

Similarly, feelers from Ondo state where the PDP has fielded its former National Legal Adviser, Olusola Oke, as its candidate in the governorship polls scheduled to hold in the next three months are not really in favour of the party. This is because majority of the voters in the state would rather want the continuation of what they call ‘good governance’ than have the status quo return to the state, analysts have said.

The political sophistication and the uncommon awareness among the people across the country must obviously be a source of concern to the ruling party. President Goodluck Jonathan at the recent National Executive Council (NEC) of the party held in Abuja expressed frustration at the dwindling electoral fortunes of the party following the loss of Edo to the opposition when he blamed the failure of his party to win most elections in the country on unresolved internal crises in most states of the federation. 

Obviously speaking against the background of the party’s loss of Edo state governorship election to the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Jonathan said PDP members are the ones voting the opposition into offices in states where it lost elections. To stem the spate of losses to the opposition, the President said the party would have to formally adopt the amended constitution of the party in order to make all its recommended organs work in order to reduce friction and tension within the PDP. 

But he noted that the present republic would have collapsed but for the existence of the PDP which he said was being criticized for its robustness. According to him, the PDP provides the necessary political pedestal that stabilizes the nation’s polity. 

He said “We believe that if we do not have a party as robust as the PDP, probably, the republic would have collapsed. This is because we witnessed what happened in the first republic. Because we witnessed what happened in the first republic and we know the circumstances that led to the collapse of the first republic, second republic. 

“We know what is happening in other African countries. If the ruling party over intimidates and over imposes, using the weight of the Federal Government and the citizens’ revolts, it weakens the political system and creates confusion and instability. 

“But the PDP, even though we control the Federal Government, we operate a system that even the opposition, even fly higher than us. They abuse us more, but we allow it. And it is the PDP that is handling the affairs of the country; that is stabilizing the democracy in the country.” 

Equally expressing frustration with the PDP, a governorship aspirant under the platform of the party in Adamawa state, Dr. Umar Ardo has said that the PDP National Executive Council (NEC) held recently has failed to address the real challenges facing the party. Ardo said the party’s leadership left out the issue of justice and reconciliation of members only to dwell on frivolities.

According to him, the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has failed in his first outing by losing Edo state to the opposition in the recently conducted governorship polls in the state.

The much brandished robustness of the party, political watchers observed, may soon be punctured if the PDP to adjust its ways by ensuring internal democracy, justice, discipline and good governance. The most potent threat to PDP stranglehold on the nation’s politics is the ongoing moves by the major opposition parties to form an alliance that may have a lethal effect on the party’s influence.

Already, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) have gone far in their alliance talks. The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has also indicated interest in joining the alliance with a view to giving the ruling party a run for its money by 2015. Senator Ayoade Adeseun (ACN, Oyo) while commenting on the political situation in the country said the PDP will not find it easy retaining the Presidency by 2015.

According to him, “The alliance negotiations have gone far and people are tired of the PDP government; they desire change and this is the change that we intend to provide by 2015. This PDP government is directionless, clueless; our people are hungry and they are being daily impoverished. Surely we can’t continue like this, we need a change.”

Adeseun disclosed that barring unforeseen political circumstances, the plan by the ACN/CPC parley is to present Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.) as the Presidential candidate of the union while Senator Ahmed Tinubu would become his running mate. The Senator said all arrangements for the merger scheduled to be consummated by the end of this year have been made.

Optimistic that the opposition would win the 2015 Presidential election, Adeseun said President Jonathan has rubbished the image of the PDP by destroying institutions in the country. He added that the President has refused to implement the budget passed by the National Assembly thereby plunging the nation into the abyss of under-development. He said the nation is facing the challenge of insecurity and unemployment today because the President has refused to release funds to the ministry, departments and agencies (MDAs) for capital budgets thereby causing misery among the populace.

Political scientists who took time to study political developments in the country have pointed out that there are indications that the ruling party would find 2015 tough should the ACN/CPC/ANPP merger work. Basing their observation on the outcome of the Edo governorship election, they posit that the PDP style may fail it by 2015. According to them, the politics of god-fatherism failed the party in Edo and it would continue to fail until the party realizes that good governance is the key to winning elections.

Segun Adewale, a political commentator in his analysis of Edo election said “There was no way the PDP would have won election in Edo and even in the South Westerns states. This is because the party failed to deliver the dividends of democracy when in control. For instance Lucky Igbinedion’s tenure was a disaster for the party in the state. His tenure was characterized by corruption and he was even convicted. How then do you think people would turn around and trade certainty for uncertainties?

“Don’t forget, the same leaders who foisted Igbinedion with his poor performances on the state for eight unbroken years were the same people still sponsoring this Airhiavbere. 

Commenting on the effect of the merger of the opposition on the ruling PDP at the 2015 general elections, Adewale said “The same scenario that you find in Edo may play out at the national level. This is because the PDP government is seriously under-performing. The basic role of the government at all levels is to provide security and an enabling environment for the people to go about their normal businesses. But what do you find? Insecurity everywhere!

“If the merger talks between the three major opposition parties succeed, I see a situation whereby the PDP would find it difficult to retain the presidency and some states of the federation. Every body seems to be tired of the government that has failed to deliver on its promises,” he said.

INEC’s dilemma over party deregistration.

Recently, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) threatened to deregister 46 more parties in addition to seven already deregistered and this move has attracted public reactions. In this piece, Ikechukwu Okaforadi writes on the dilemma facing the electoral umpire at the face of the provisions in the 2010 Electoral Act.   

After deregistering seven political parties in December for failing to win a seat at any level of government, INEC recently threatened to deregister 46 other nonperforming parties. This is based on the claims by the Commission they unviable because they failed to equally produce an elected member for any of the public offices.   

The seven political parties earlier deregistered are: Democratic Alternative, National Democratic Council, National Action Council, Masses Movement of Nigeria, Nigerian Peoples Congress, Nigerian Elements Progressive Party and National Unity Party. 

Those recently threatened with deregistration by INEC include Action Alliance (AA), Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), African Democratic Congress (ADC), African Liberation Party (ALP), African Political System (APS), African Renaissance Party (ARP), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Better Nigeria Progressive Party (BNPP), Change Advocacy Party (CAP), Citizens Popular Party (CPP), Community Party of Nigeria (CPN), Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Democratic Alternative (DA), Democratic Front for Peoples Federation (DFPF) and Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA), to mention just few.

Aligning with this move by INEC, many political observers have opined that Nigeria’s democracy will only be meaningful if the opposition parties are tremendously trimmed to engender a more robust opposition politics. These opinions came on the background of existing 63 political parties that participated in the 2011 elections, most of which did not field candidates during elections. 

Analysts have equally decried the apparent lack of ideology in the Nigerian political system. This is precisely the fact since majority of the manifestoes presented by these 63 parties before they were registered as parties were almost the same, with only mere linguistic differences. 

 There had been suggestions coming from various quarters that INEC should stop funding parties so that those that lack feasibility will either fade out naturally or go into coalition/merger, so as to become strong enough to win elective positions. 

In addition, most of the stronger opposition parties, including the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), have condemned the proliferation of political parties, pointing out that most of them merely serve as tools in the hand of the ruling party for dividing and ruling opposition politics in Nigeria’s democratic context. 

According to the CPC Secretary, Buba Galadima and Chairman of ACN, FCT chapter, Mr Faruk Osuma, since the INEC decision to deregister non-performing parties  is in line with the 2010 Electoral Act, and was not done with bias, people should not see it as a witch hunt.   

Some other political parties and organisations like the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), hold a contrary view. They argue that the parties should be allowed to exist side by side with the bigger opposition parties since multi party system has always been the joy of democracy. 

They argue that deregistration will only shrink the opposition space and clog the development of Nigeria’s democracy. These sympathizers and promoters of smaller parties have argued that the move by INEC to deregister any party contravenes the 1999 constitution which provides freedom to form and belong to associations; political or otherwise. 

Topmost in their points is that political parties in other democratically advanced climes have never existed solely for winning elections. They insist that most parties in Germany and Britain; even the big ones, do not field candidates in elections but exist for various political, economic reasons and as pressure groups to the ruling party. 

As it is today, fund is a necessary ingredient which drives politics in Nigeria. On the basis of this, most observers have expressed worry over the financial status of most of these small parties. While a lot of them suffer from paucity of funds, a good number depend solely on the grants from the INEC for survival. 

Against this background, analysts have posited that Chairmen of these small parties use them as a means of livelihood, in addition to ‘a negotiation ground for positions or for other incentives’, other than to really win an elective position. 

It would be recalled that the above scenario played out in the build up to the 2011 general elections, where about 44 political parties, most of which did not field a candidates, unanimously adopted President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as their Presidential candidate. 

After the elections, some of them began to push for all inclusive government that will extend Ministerial and Special Advisers and Special Assistants positions to them. They claimed that because they adopted the candidature of President Jonathan and campaigned for him at the grassroots, they should therefore be compensated with appointments. 

These small political platforms, in reaction to the threat by INEC, had counter-threatened to sue INEC over its decision which they unanimously insisted that it negates the provisions of the 1999 constitution on basic human rights, freedom of association and freedom to form political groups for the purposes of election. 

To underscore their seriousness in pursuing what they refer to as their inalienable human rights, some of the parties in this category, in June this year, instituted a case in the Federal High Court, Abuja against INEC for a breach of their basic human rights. 

It would be recalled that after 1999 elections contested by PDP, All Peoples Party (APP) now ANPP, Alliance for Democracy (AD) now ACN, many politicians seeking political relevance began to form political parties to enable them participate in the future elections. But by the time INEC released the guidelines for the registration of parties, according to the 2002 Electoral Act, these politicians were disappointed as they alleged that the guidelines were stifling. 

Some of the parties who could not meet the INEC’s registration requirements then instituted a suit against the commission. The suit progressed from Federal High Court and eventually to the Supreme Court then headed by Justice Mohammadu Uwais. 

On November 8, 2002, Justice Uwais, in a lead judgment, held, among others, that the INEC’s powers to issue the guidelines contravened the 1999 Constitution and therefore pronounced the guidelines invalid. This judgment opened the democratic space, leading to 28 political parties contesting the 2003 elections. 

In the same vein, as to what transpired in 2002, these current 46 parties, including the 7 earlier deregistered, had already gone to court hoping to replicate what transpired in 2002. This move has put INEC in a critical condition, particularly as it cries over insufficient funds to implement its policies and project, not to talk of meeting up with the subventions which the 2006 Electoral Act mandated it to give to political parties.   

To aggravate the situation of INEC, the Chairman, Attahiru Jega, shortly after assuming office, pointedly said that his administration will only stick to the decision of the court. This statement  points to his readiness to uphold the rule of law, as being championed by President Goodluck Jonathan. 

On one hand, party deregistration by INEC is justified by the Act of the National Assembly as contained in the 2010 Electoral Act, which has given a new guideline. Though this new rule comes from a statutory body empowered for such purpose, the role of the Judiciary in reshaping such actions by INEC cannot be underestimated. 

While the decision of INEC is in consonance with the 2010 Electoral Act, the Judiciary may decide otherwise.  This has put the electoral umpire in dilemma as to whether to stick to the powers given to it by the legislature through the 2010 Electoral Act or adhere to the decision of the Judiciary as the Chairman has always promised. 

Though the case is still at the Federal High Court, there are several factors without prejudice, which indicate that the affected parties might win the case against INEC. This is particularly considering the fact that a competent court and the apex court in the country, headed by a reputable Justice had earlier taken a judgment that favoured the affected parties.   

In addition to this, Nigeria is signatory to various international treaties which seek to uphold freedom of association and speech, therefore, proscription of small political bodies would be viewed as a contravention to these treaties, and by extension, a threat to basic human rights in Nigeria.

Assessing One Year of Omobola Johnson.

Mrs. Omobola Johnson

It has been one year that Mrs. Omobola Johnson took the mantle of leadership at ministry of communications technology. Emma Okonji and Amaka Eze examine how far she has gone in achieving her mandate

Before the Federal Government’s  pronouncement on the creation of the ministry of communications technology in July 2011, industry experts were having mixed feelings on the new ministry that was to come. Firstly, they were happy because the   new ministry would become a reality,  after several years of agitation for the separation of Communications Technology from Information and National Orientation, which was the case before the creation.

However,  they were not too sure if government was going to appoint someone with core Information Technology (IT) background as minister of the new ministry, even after the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, assured them of government’s determination to appoint a core IT person to sit at the helms of affairs of the new ministry. In fact, there  was suspense in the air as to who becomes the minister of the new ministry, until  Omobola Johnson was named. Her appointment did not take people by surprise, probably because she came from a core IT background, having graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Manchester and a Master’s Degree in Digital Electronics from King’s College, London. Before her appointment, she was the Country Director of Accenture Nigeria.

However, she was determined to achieve results and to surmount the herculean tasks before her as the first minster of Communications Technology to facilitate the transformation of Nigeria into a digital economy.
She saw her position as challenging, but quickly realised that as a minister, she must put things in their proper shapes and move Nigeria to be at par with technologically developed nations.      

Johnson’s Strategies

Shortly after the appointment, Johnson was determined to achieve results, a situation that propelled her into putting in motion, a number of initiatives in line with the ministry’s mandate in order to fast track the development of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

She set in motion, the harmonisation of  ICT policies by creating a committee headed by Prof. Raymond Akwule of the Digital Bridge Institute in Abuja, to collate and study all the various sector policies, with a mandate to build them into a single broad-based policy that will address all sections of the ICT sector. The policy document is expected to be the bedrock of ICT development in the country.

In a bid to ensure quality of service within the telecoms industry, Johnson, within one year, also took proactive steps to tackle the challenges militating against service quality delivery in the country. In collaboration with the Ministry of Works, her ministry was able to come up with new ‘Right of Way’ guidelines that will ensure good service quality delivery within the industry. The ministry is also collaborating with the Ministry of Environment to provide guidelines that will address the deployment of base stations required for wireless data and voice transmission.

The ministry is in the process of facilitating the build-out of a robust, ubiquitous and cost-effective broadband network aimed at increasing broadband penetration within the country. These guidelines will facilitate the accelerated roll-out of a broadband infrastructure that includes a connected national backbone, regional rings, metro rings and fibre to the cabinet that should increase broadband penetration from 6 per cent to about 20 per cent by 2015.
Within one year, the ministry has championed the drive to ensure the migration of all governments Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to the .ng domain. According to the ministry, “till date registered email accounts in government have hit 69,000.”

The ministry is in the process of developing a national internet-based portal that will facilitate easy access to government information through publish and inform websites and by December 2014, where every single federal government MDAs will have a functioning published  and inform websites domiciled on the portal.
The ministry is also focused on increasing domestic value added in the ICT industry. It is currently working on local content guidelines that will be issued in the fourth quarter of 2012, which will result in an increase in domestic value-added to the ICT industry.

The ministry said it was working to ensure that made/assembled in Nigerian brands were more favourably positioned to achieve the national objectives of job creation, domestic value-added and growth in the ICT industry.

Public Assessment

Although Johnson’s strategies and score card in achieving her mandate within one year seem good on the surface, some analysts and  critics have said there were more proactive steps she could have taken to achieve quicker and better results. Judging from her one year activities in office, they  have picked holes in some areas of her administration like the harmonised ICT policy, bandwidth penetration, service quality and the planned ICT incubation centres for country.

For instance, shortly after the release of the Draft National Information and Communications Technology Policy by the Ministry of Communications Technology on January, 9, 2012, which seeks to harmonise the policies of all sections of the ICT industry, Nigerians reacted to the lopsided composition of the committee, faulting the ministers judgment on the selection of members on the committee, which they said, did not represent the interests of all sectors of the ICT industry.

Apart from perceived faulty composition of committee’s  membership, ICT stakeholders equally faulted the committees’ work on content development, complaining that the contents generated in the daft ICT policy, had no set goals to achieve its mandates, and that there were no projections of achievable objectives for specific periods, from the generated contents.
  
Even when there was a public outcry for the re-composition of the committee, the minister said what was contained in the draft policy was not the final document, and promised to put into consideration, the complaints of Nigerians concerning the draft policy document. Five months after the first consultative forum on draft ICT policy, the final document is yet to be released by the ministry, despite promises that it would soon be released.

Broadband Penetration

Chief Executive Officer of MainOne Cable Company, Mrs. Funke Opeke, who lamented low broadband penetration in spite of the landing of several submarine cables in the country, blamed the situation on lack of a national backbone infrastructure that should take charge of distribution of broadband services from the shores of the country, to the hinterlands. Although part of the minister’s strategies was the build out of a robust, ubiquitous and cost -effective broadband network aimed at increasing broadband penetration within the country, Opeke  is of the view that the delay by government to build a national backbone, would continue to slow down fast broadband and internet penetration in the country.

Poor Service Quality

Despite the ministers strategy on ‘Right of Way’ in addressing poor service quality in the country, Mr. David Agbaje, a subscriber to MTN, Globacom and Etisalat, blamed  her  for delay in coming up with a solution that will address poor service quality in the country. He, however, hailed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the recent sanction it imposed on MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat for failure of their networks to meet the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set up by NCC, as a better punitive measure to address poor service quality in the country. He called on the minister to be more proactive in ensuring that Nigerians get the best of telecoms services from operators.

Commendation for Johnson
President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, however, commended the Minister for her courage to organise a national stakeholders’ meeting in less than one year in office, providing opportunity for stakeholders to contribute to issues of national interest. According to him, since 1999, no minister before her had summoned such courage. He also commended her for considering a national and harmonised ICT policy for Nigeria, and for being proactive in mediating in the face-off between the National Environmental Standard Regulatory and Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and the NCC over mast regulation in the country.

“Her timely intervention must be commended. She  assumed office with lots of challenges, being a new ministry, and I think she is living up to our expectations,” Ogunbanjo said.   
He however encouraged the minister to do more for Nigerians.


Fact File

•        The Ministry of Communications was created in July 2011
•        Omobola Johnson became the first Minister of the ministry
•        Draft ICT Policy was released January 2012
•        Setting up of the policy committee was lopsided
•        Low bandwidth penetration blamed on lack of national backbone infrastructure
•        Minister encouraged to do more for Nigerians

Edo/Delta: Linked by history separated by development

 by EMMANUEL ADDEH.

EMMANUEL ADDEH writes that with a higher revenue base than that of Edo, Delta State has no reason to remain in its present state, while Edo is gradually becoming a haven

 Historically, Edo and Delta states, South-South Nigeria, were intertwined politically, economically and culturally before the military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida separated the two states in 1991.

With that singular action by the military, both states, hitherto known as Bendel State, were left to pursue their own separate destinies.

In fact, the common ancestry of the two states had earlier been affirmed on May 27, 1967, when the then Lt.-Col. Yakubu Gowon divided Nigeria into 12 states. The present Edo and Delta states made up the Bendel State from the Midwestern Region.

Twenty-one years after, it would seem that both states have found their paths. However, while Edo State appears to have a clear direction, Delta is still wobbly in terms of development.

For many, the inability of Delta State to judiciously appropriate the huge resources accruing to it, its failure to plug all financial drain pipes in government and the civil service, and its apparent incapacity to significantly affect the lives of its people positively, have combined to stunt the progress of the oil-rich state.

In terms of resources, especially financial, the two states do not seem to be on the same pedestal as most of the oil wells, and by extension oil revenue, fell into Delta’s territory during the creation of the two states.

As opposed to Delta State’s 2012 budget as passed, which stands at N437.2bn with N180.8bn as recurrent expenditure, while capital vote is N256.3bn, Edo has a 2012 Appropriation Act of N150bn with a capital expenditure of N86.417bn and recurrent expenditure pegged at N64.548bn.

The revenue and expenditure trend has been the same for both states for many years. However, a visit to both states would show a clear difference in terms of government’s conscious effort to revamp infrastructure and ensure sanity in governance.

Against the backwardness, which the Peoples Democratic Party’s Lucky Igbinedion, ex-governor of Edo State, returned the state after what many critics have called the years of misrule (1999 and 2007), the state, especially Benin, now looks like a place where public utilities function; where there is sanity on the roads, where traffic lights work and are obeyed and where one can drive around without fear of a vehicle breakdown due to bad roads.

Though the Action Congress of Nigeria-led government critics believe that the governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, has concentrated most of his projects in Benin City, the state capital, and Edo North, where he comes from, most residents of the state say it is a good starting point.

Little wonder then that the people of the state defied all odds penultimate week and trooped out in their thousands to vote for progress and sustained development.

Pundits believe that what is needed in Delta State is a committed leader, a peoples’ man, who will clear the seed of rot planted by the James Ibori Administration and watered by the current PDP government in the state.

Interestingly, many Deltans still believe that demonised as Ibori and his administration might be, he started and completed many lofty projects in the state, many of which if they were built on, would have set the state on the path of growth and progress.

But even more important is the thinking of the Edo people that the current government in place is owned by them as against the seeming alienation of the “leaders” from the led in Delta State.

Just  taking  road infrastructure alone, a visit to Edo State would show that the government has completed the Gani Fawehinmi Layout comprising six roads, walkways and street lights; Oba Market Road and Stadium Road.

 A few other projects, which are fast turning the once rustic city into a modern one, are the Sakponba Road, 2nd West Road, Akpakpava Road, Sapele Road (a dual-carriage way) and Airport Road (another dual-carriage way). These roads are complete with covered drains, walkways and street lights.

Outside Benin, the Isua-Uzenema Road, it was learnt, has been completed with side drains; while the Igueben-Udo Road, Igueben-Ewohinmi-Ewatto-Ohordua Road; the Amedokhian-Ugboha Road; the Irrua-usugbenu-Ugbegun-Ujogba Road among many others, are all ongoing.

But in contrast, as important as Warri is to the survival of Delta State, being the commercial capital of the state, it is like an abandoned city: chaotic, lawless, jungle-like, flooded, with deteriorating infrastructure littering the entire landscape.

Ironically, a chunk of the state’s Internally-Generated Revenue, which has leapt from N1.2bn to N4.2bn this year, is spawned in Warri.

The Delta State Government says its major focus is to pay less attention to oil as a form of revenue and give more consideration to tourism as a major revenue earner for the government, yet the state remains one of the most crime-prone states in the country with kidnappers and robbers having a field day. Even as small as Asaba, the state capital is, issues as basic as flooding and a functional waste disposal system are still a big challenge.

The argument has always been that the state should concentrate on its areas of comparative advantage and discard its white elephants, which many believe currently dominate most of the purported projects in the state.

One of those who believe in this line of thought is the Democratic Peoples Party chairman in the state, Chief Tony Ezeagwu.

Ezeagwu believes that there is no basis for comparison between the two states. He said, “There is no way you can compare the two states because there is nothing to write home about for anybody visiting Delta.

“It is like insulting the people of Edo State, given the amount of resources we have in Delta. In Edo, the tunnels are well laid out, while in Delta, the government is covering drainages that do not exist in the first place.

“It will take a government after this one a lot of resources to excavate the ones the present government is covering because they are too shallow and cannot allow water through. That’s why we have so much flooding in Delta State.”

However, the governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who has received serious flaks for non-performance, believes he is “building for the future.” He says if more money is made available to the state, he will transform it.

He admits that though he is aware of the expectations of the people of the state, his strategy for moving the state beyond its dependence on oil would not bear fruits in the short term, adding that future generations would look back and thank him.

After five years as governor of the state and less than three years to go, Uduaghan adds, “The risk of a building phase of development is the pressure of managing high public expectation. The public demand on government to finalise project delivery before acceptable timeframe is enormous and sometimes unrealistic. I fear that is the burden we have to bear as we strive to bring desired transformation to our people.

“I do not regret that we began this journey; I am rather pleased we had the confidence and willpower to even begin it at all. Future generations will, I am sure, look to this moment and salute our courage.”

But the belief of most residents of the state is that only the living in the short term stand to benefit from projects meant for the long term, if they ever come to fruition.

The governor, they say, can start by fixing a few of the dilapidated roads that have become a source of angst to residents, restore order to the chaotic life, especially in Warri, where everyone is law unto themselves, create a handful of jobs by revamping the dead publicly owned companies and tackle insecurity.

He could also map out a functional strategy to deal with the mounting refuse in major parts of the state, confront the consistent flooding in the state and give the people some level of hope that the government is collectively theirs. This, it is believed is not rocket science. All he needs to do is to take a cue from the neighbouring Edo State.

A tale of the broom, umbrella and Iroko.

 by SUNDAY ABORISADE.

Political activities are taking an interesting shape in Ondo State following the release of the Oct. 20 governorship election timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission, reports SUNDAY ABORISADE

 The declaration on Wednesday, five days after the Independent National Electoral Commission lifted the ban on political activities in Ondo State, by Governor Olusegun Mimiko to seek a second term in office, has opened the door for aggressive campaigns for the Oct.20 governorship election.

The vibrant opposition mounted against Mimiko and his Labour Party by the Action Congress of Nigeria in the last one year and the party’s aggressive membership mobilisation drive, seem to have engineered the people’s interest in the politics of the state.

There has, however, been a lull in political activities in the last one month as the voice of the opposition appears to be silent and almost fizzled out allegedly due to the endorsement of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu as the governorship candidate by ACN national leaders.

The development led to massive defection of its governorship aspirants to either the LP or the Peoples Democratic Party because they argued that the process that was adopted in picking Akeredolu was not democratic.

As at the last count, prominent leaders of the party like Dr. Olu Agunloye, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, Chief Jamiu Ekungba, Mr. Saka Lawal, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, and Dr. Olaiya Oni had either openly joined other political parties or vowed never to work for Akeredolu.

For instance, Abayomi, in an interview, vowed to remain in the party and campaign against the process that produced Akeredolu while seeking justice.

He said, “I think I had given everything to the party and it is in my view that it is rather sad that after standing by the party, building it to its enviable status in the state, I could simply be thrown out.

“I am a friend of Akeredolu and Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu), the issue is about standard. It is about the ideals of government. It is about the rights and sovereignty of the people. It is about the honour and character of my people.

“Our party that portrays itself as leading political civilisation in terms of electoral order, democracy now harbours within itself, dictatorship of an oligarchy, disregarding and disrespecting the rights of the people.”

Also, the Legacy Campaign Group and Sunshine Liberation Forum on Tuesday pulled out of the ACN. While the LCG joined the PDP, the SLF leadership moved to the LP. The president of the LCG, Mr. Femi Ikoyi, said the members were ready to fuse with the PDP at the ward and local government levels.

Ikoyi said they decided to leave the ACN because the party was “in disarray following the choice of Mr. (Oluwarotimi) Akeredolu as its governorship candidate.”

He said the fortune of the PDP had increased with the choice of Chief Olusola Oke as its governorship candidate.

He said all the three groups that formed the ACN had pulled out and that each of the groups was stronger than any of the aspirants under the umbrella of party.

He said, “Legacy is an assemblage of grass roots canvassers with membership cutting across 230 wards. The voter card is our identity. We will mobilise traders, farmers, women, youths, artisans and the entire electorate to join the PDP.”

The PDP had resolved to pick its former National Legal Adviser, Oke, as its governorship candidate in the state, but whether prominent leaders of the party in the state will show serious commitment to the Oke project is another issue.

Just as it was the case in the ACN, our correspondent learnt that the other nine PDP governorship aspirants, who were advised to step down for Oke, had not been compensated and that the development had negatively affected their enthusiasm in the project.

At the moment, the voice of the opposition in the state is not loud enough to challenge the soaring popularity of the LP.

The most vocal group within the ACN, the SLF, which was consistently attacking the LP programmes and policies, had not only gone to sleep but had also dumped the party and joined the PDP.

Meanwhile, the popularity of the LP seems to be soaring by the day since the various unions in the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, which include artisans, drivers’ unions, the civil service, market men and women and other professional bodies like teachers, had adopted Mimiko as their governorship candidate and had pledged to mobilise support for him.

The profile of Mimiko also soared on Wednesday when Agunloye, Senator Remi Okunrinboye and scores of other politicians defected to the LP during the governor’s official declaration to renew his mandate for the second time.

The defectors said they were convinced that the LP government under Mimiko was capable of bringing about good governance that would enhance social and economic transformation of the state.

Agunloye, who was a governorship aspirant of the ACN in the state, said he decided to join the LP because Mimiko had exhibited commitment and seriousness towards the development of the state.

He said, “The issue is about Ondo State. We are all working towards making it a model and envy of other states. The road to development is the Labour Party.

“I thought I could achieve my intention for the state through other platforms, but I had realised that my dream for our sunshine state is achievable within the Labour Party because it is not a party of deceit.

“A true Omoluabi would not like to be cheated and will not cheat any one. I am for development and the party that can bring about true development to the state is the LP,” he added.

The governor identified five major reasons for his desire to contest for a second term in office under the umbrella of the LP.

Mimiko told a huge crowd of politicians and residents of the state at the Democracy Park in the heart of Akure that he hoped to complete all ongoing projects embarked upon by his administration if given another chance.

He stressed the need to initiate new programmes directed at enhancing the quality of life of the people by sustaining his job creation initiative for the youths, among others.

But the treasurer of the ACN in the state, Mr. Ade Adetimehin, said there was no big deal in politicians defecting to other parties as the trend had just started.

He said, “Any politician that dumps his party for another either does so based on principle or his political ideology, or does so out of selfishness interest and greed.

“I can assure you that Agunloye will still come back to our party before the election. ACN will win the forthcoming election because we are the true progressive politicians with a solid ideology that has not been contaminated.”

 Adetimehin said the fact that a large number of residents attended the declaration rally of Mimiko did not mean that they will vote for him.

“Wait till when the ACN will organise its rally before you can compare the crowd,” he said.

Also, the Director of Publicity of the PDP, Mr. Ayodele Fadaka, said the number of respected politicians defecting to the party was higher than the figure of those dumping it.

He said the defection of Okunrinboye, a respected elder statesman to the LP, would not affect the fortunes of the PDP in his Owo country home or anywhere in the state.

He said, “I am confident that we will win the election with or without Okunrinboye or any other person that decides to leave our party because of a pot of soup.

“Real politicians like Dr. Olaiya Oni and Mr. Saka Lawal have been joining our party in the last one month since we had perfectly resolved our internal crisis and picked Olusola Oke as our candidate,” he added.

He said the fact that none of the aspirants who contested against Oke had left the party showed that they were happy with the governorship candidate and would work towards his success.

Keen watchers of political developments in the state are of the view that if the INEC and the security operatives would approach the forthcoming election in the state by improving on their performances at the just concluded Edo State governorship poll, the best and most popular candidate would emerge. However, some analysts believe that performance, integrity and closeness to the grass roots, which must cut across the three senatorial districts, among others, will go a long way in determining who wins the election.

Bureaucracy, insecurity threaten N1tn FEC contracts.

 By Bosede Olusola-Obasa, Sunday Aborisade, Akure; Success Nwogu, Ilorin; and David Attah, Kaduna.

Most of the capital projects awarded by the Federal Executive Council this year may fail to meet their completion deadlines despite President Goodluck Jonathan’s wish for the contrary.
Investigations by SATURDAY PUNCH have shown that about four months into the expected period of completion, many of the contracts have yet to commence due to bureaucracy, non-release of funds and insecurity in the country.
Going by SATURDAY PUNCH’s week-on-week computations, FEC has awarded contracts amounting to N1tn from January to July 25. This includes the N371bn contracts awarded on July 19 to complete some projects under the ministries of transport, power and the FCT.
Visits to some of the project sites showed that implementation has yet to commence. A study of the contract documents however showed that many of them had implementation duration ranging between 90 days and 24 months.
Apart from the Ministry of the Niger Delta, which got a chunk of the contracts, it was found that security, electricity, roads and education also got significant attention in keeping with the Federal Government’s N4.8trn budget for 2012.
The Senate had reportedly questioned the legality of contracts awarded by the FEC last February, just as the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu, expressed concern about abandoned projects, scarcity of funds, contract abuses by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, in a document released in Abuja last week, FEC has awarded a total of N927bn contracts in the past 10 months.
Research, however, showed the following in 2012: January contract award was N27.23bn; February N16.62bn, April N74.47bn, and May N30.40bn.
SATURDAY PUNCH found that on March 14, FEC approved N8bn for the construction of five additional power substations to address the problem in the national power grid; a cardinal point in Jonathan’s agenda.
After the FEC meeting that Wednesday, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said the projects would be located at Kwoi in Kaduna State, Nnenwi in Enugu State, Egbe in Kogi, Ose in Ondo and Gagarawa in Jigawa.
He said execution of the projects would improve the transmission capacity, quality of electricity supply and service delivery nationwide.
But four months after, reports from two of the locations showed that work has yet to commence with no indications that it may soon take off.
In Kogi State, it was found that construction work at the power substation at Egbe, one of the five substations approved by FEC in March, has yet to commence due to bureaucracy affecting the timely release of funds.
Except for the clearing of the proposed site, there was no other visible evidence that work was on course. But the state government had provided the land and Certificate of Occupancy for the project site.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Kogi State Deputy Governor, Mr. Mike Abu, corroborated this finding on the telephone when he said the state government had provided land.
He said the commencement of the work may have been delayed due to bureaucracy and non- release of funds.
Still on the power substations contract, report from Ondo State was not different as one of our correspondents reported that not so much may be expected until December this year.
The Station Manager of the Independent Power Plant in Omotoso town in Ondo State, Mr. Sam Iteskiri, told one of our correspondents on Tuesday that the equipment needed to execute the project at the plant were still being expected.
He, however, said that the plant had already delivered 80mw of electricity with the completion of three units on load at the station and hoped that the substation would deliver 300mw before the end of the year.
He said, “We are seriously working to meet up with our target. We will complete the entire plant on or before the end of December this year when all the equipment we are expecting would have arrived and been installed.”
On March 28, the FEC approved N27bn as 50 per cent subsidy for the supply of fertiliser to rural farmers in 2012.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adeshina, said same day that a pilot scheme had already been done in 12 states with varying degrees of success of not less than 60 per cent, depending on the mobile phone networks in the areas, while a back-up of paper vouchers would be used as supplement for the areas with inadequate telephone network for the system operations.
Among the contracts approved by FEC on April 4 was N1.2bn contract for the channelling of Asa River and its tributaries, which run through Ilorin metropolis in Kwara.
The Minister of Environment, Hadiza Ibrahim-Mailafia, had said that the contract was awarded to address the perennial problem of flooding in Ilorin, to avert further destruction of lives and property.
Ibrahim-Mailafia said the contract would forestall a recurrence of the 2007 and 2008 floods in the area, which displaced many schools, mosques and churches, forcing the government to establish temporary shelters for victims.
And even though the rainy season is here, and the project is expected to be completed within 12 months, SATURDAY PUNCH found that work has yet to commence there.
The dredging, recommended by the Department of Erosion, Flood and Coastal Zones Management of the ministry, was awarded to Messrs Ambico Sendirian Nigeria Ltd, but the funds to execute the contract would be secured from the Ecological Fund, according to the minister.
Meanwhile, the dredging of the Asa River, Kwara State had not yet commenced, three months into the period of completion.
An investigation by one  of our correspondents, who went round some of the affected areas in Ilorin on Tuesday, confirmed that work has yet to commence.
After the approval in April, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment, Dr. Bukola Saraki, had hoped that work would commence on the project in a short time.
An email message sent to Saraki through one of his Special Assistants on Media, Bankimole Omisore, on Sunday, for clarification on why work has yet to start, was not replied at the time of filing this report. Calls made to his cell-phone indicated that he could not be reached.
Another media aide to Saraki, Mr. Akintoba Fatogun, did not pick his calls when one of our correspondents called.
The Asa River runs from the Oke Ogun side of Oyo State through Asa Local Government, Ilorin to the River Niger.
Another power-related contract approved by FEC on April 25 is a N90.7bn award for strategic gas supply for power generation plants in the country.
He was quoted as saying, “Inadequate gas supply has been one of the reasons for recent downturn in power generation. The Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Ministry of Power have been working on this for a while. Today, the petroleum resources ministry brought a memo to council seeking the immediate construction of the strategic gas pipeline from Obiaku/Obrikom in Rivers State to Oben in Edo State.”
Maku said Lot 1 of the contract was awarded to Nestoil Nigeria Ltd. at the cost of N19.25bn with the addition of $19.20m component, while Lot 2 was awarded to Oil Serve Nigeria Ltd. for the sum N29.52bn with an $83.92m component.
He said FEC directed that the execution of the contract should be delivered in 24 months.
Same day, FEC ratified a contract of N2.9bn for the development of the National College of Petroleum Studies in Kaduna, established to train middle level officers and some key management staff in the petroleum industry.
Meanwhile, report from one of our correspondents showed that construction work had long started at all the units of the project sites. This implied that the approvals are being done in phases.
On May 2, 2012, FEC approved N8.2bn for the construction of Inland Waterway Port at Jamata near Lokoja, and dredging of a channel along the Orashi River.
Maku said the amount was expected to finance the reclamation works along the River Niger.
A breakdown of the project showed that N4.1bn would be spent on the construction of the Inland River Port, Jamata; N2bn would go into the dredging of a channel along the Orashi River from Oguta Lake in Imo to Degema in Rivers; N2.1bn for dredging and reclamation works at selected sites along the River Niger, which would be carried out at Patani and Aseomoku in Delta; Ilushi in Edo, as well as Okun and Kelebe in Kogi.
He said when completed, the project would make the (River) Niger commercially viable and useful to the economy, while it would create 90 professional and non-professional job opportunities for Nigerians during its execution.
On May 9, FEC awarded a N3.1bn contract to Messrs. Kobus NavalDesign/Portplus Ltd., for the procurement of new Aluminium High Speed Boats with back-up spare parts and training of crew members for the Nigeria Customs Service marine operations. It was to be delivered within nine months.
On the same day, it awarded a contract of N4.2bn for the rehabilitation of Owerri-Umuahia Road sections I, II & III in Imo/Abia states to Messrs. Zerock Construction Nigeria Ltd. It was to be completed within 24 months.
It also awarded N1.3bn for the construction of two bridges along Auchi Polytechnic Ekperi-Agenebode Road in Edo State to Messrs. Niger Construction Ltd. and it was to be completed in 12 months.
Also, on May 30, FEC approved N2.71bn for the construction of Nkporo-Abriba-Ohafia Road in Abia State to be executed by Messrs Dutum Construction (Nigeria) Ltd. within 18 months; it awarded N2.21bn for the rehabilitation of Ada Okere-Ukoni-Amedokhian Road in Edo State to Messrs ARC Marine & Civil Contractors Ltd. It was to be completed in 14 months.
FEC also approved a N9.8bn contract for the establishment of Information Communications Technology centres in educational institutions across the country; under the portfolio of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund.
Maku said the institutions to benefit from the project were picked from a list given to the PTDF by the Federal Ministry of Education, adding that it also approved N267m for consultancy services for the development of a 25-year national ports master plan.
In June, FEC approved a number of contracts. Specifically, on June 3, it awarded $11.41m contract for the major overhaul and restoration of Plant Unit GT17 at Ughellli Power Plc to Messrs Sematech/MJB Ltd., payable at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of payment plus N90.6m for customs duty, port charges, security, community issues and logistics. The 90-day completion period will lapse in late August or early September.
On June 27, FEC approved the purchase of six security boats to tackle piracy, oil theft in the nation’s waterways.
Maku said three of the boats designed for the security of vessels and ships within ports’ jurisdiction would be operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority in conjunction with the Nigerian Navy.
The contract for the three boats for the security of vessels and ships was awarded at the cost of $19.7m (about N2.9bn).
 “The purchase of these boats will empower the Navy and the Nigerian Ports Authority to guarantee safety of vessels that come into our waterways, particularly in the Lagos area. The ministry also brought a proposal to buy additional boats for inner waterway security.
“Looking at the memoranda that were submitted and the importance of these boats to secure both the inner waterways and coastal areas, the Federal Executive Council gave the go-ahead to the Ministry of Transport to purchase the boats to reinforce our maritime security,” he said.
It awarded N8.3bn to reclaim Abam-Nnuju-Igbiri-Oba-Okujagu-Ama waterfront in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State, areas surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean had been threatened by erosion from surrounding coastal water. The completion period was 24 months.
On June 19, FEC approved N371bn for contracts to implement projects for the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Power and the Federal Capital Territory, including the implementation of the Lagos-Ibadan railway modernisation project.
Maku could not be reached for comments. Calls placed to his cell-phone were unanswered, while he didn’t reply text messages sent to his device.
Similarly, Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, could not be reached. Though Abati acknowledged receiving a text on the issue, he said he was in a meeting.