Most Rev. Jonas-Benson Okoye, the Auxiliary Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Awka said on Saturday that the Nov. 6 governorship election in Anambra must hold.
He said he took the position because the alternative was to have a Constitutional crisis in the state.
“Many are trying to frustrate preparations for the election; this is a sign that if we don’t vote, they will destroy us and our faith.
“We can’t get justice or freedom by sitting at home; the only thing to do to save the situation is to come out next Saturday with your Permanent Voter Cards to vote for the right candidate,’’ he said.
Okoye made his views known when he spoke at the funeral Mass for Chief Julius Odinigwe, a staunch member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church Enugu-Ukwu in Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
He called on eligible members of the church and people of Anambra to go out and cast their votes on Election Day.
The bishop said his message to further awaken the people on the need to ensure the governorship election held became necessary to avert the Constitutional crisis that could follow the disruption of the exercise.
He admonished voters to choose a candidate that would save the people and not entertain fears to cast their votes.
Okoye, described late Odinigwe as a man who spent his life expanding the Christian faith.
He empathised with his family and prayed to God for eternal repose of his soul.
In the Requiem Mass sermon, Rev. Fr. Chidi Ozumba from SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church Nise, Anambra, reminded the congregation of the inevitability of death for all mortals, and tasked every individual to renew their relationship with God.
Odinigwe who died at the age of 81 years was retired civil servant, a devout Catholic and major contributor to the socio-economic development of Enugu-Ukwu, his community.
He was survived by Mrs Maria Odinigwe, his widow, sons, daughters and grandchildren.
Prominent pro-democracy and Civil Rights Advocacy Group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has carpeted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for lying that it never invaded the Maitama home of the Supreme Court of Nigeria Justice Mrs. Mary Odili for over 5 hours.
The Rights group said telling lie about the exercise in which EFCC participated as disclosed by report from the Chief magistrate court makes the EFCC a tool for political WITCH-HUNT. HURIWA also condemns the federal ministry of justice for cooking up lies which deceived the Chief magistrate in Abuja to issue a search warrant at the home of the reverred jurist of the highest court in the land. HURIWA wonders why this federal government has continued to embarass, harass, intimidate and torture justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria by using armed security forces to invade their privacy with the aim of getting them to become afraid and to do the bidding of the executive arm of government.
In a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) condemns the raid on the premises of the Supreme Court’s Justice Mrs. Mary Odili whose husband, former Rivers State’s governor Mr. Peter Odili belonged to the main opposition political party- Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and who had only just defeated the Nigerian Immigration Service in the competent court of law and retrieved his international travelling document which was seized at the International Airport Abuja.
Reacting to the news of the siege at the home of Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili the Rights group said it was unfortunate that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has become a full blown dictatorship going by the patterns of horrendous attacks of persons perceived as not pliable or amenable to be used as instruments of vendetta and political witch hunt.
The Rights group said Mrs. Mary Odili may have been targeted not just for being the wife of a prominent elder of the main opposition political party of the Peoples Democratic Party but most likely because of her consistency in giving sound, qualitative, merit and law based judgments at the Supreme Court of Nigeria particularly in some cases that the ruling All Progressive Congress may have vested interest.
“We think the military invasion was aimed at harassing her into playing the role of the good puppet of the President because the officials of the Federal government are aware of her pedigree and her reputation as a no nonsense judge who renders judgement based on facts, evidence and the laws “, HURIWA affirmed.
Besides, HURIWA condemns the federal government for authorising the raid and the dangerous siege at the home of the reverred jurist of the highest court in the land going by the disclosure made by the Chief magistrate in Abuja to the effect that the Justice ministry in Abuja lied to obtain a search warrant which the armed agencies relied upon to collectively invade the home of the Supreme Court Justice in Maitama Abuja and interrupted the free flow of traffic of hundreds of Nigerians.
Citing media report, HURIWA recalled that a Chief Magistrates’ Court had revoked a search warrant granted to the Joint Panel Recovery unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice to search the home of Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili.
HURIWA recalled that the panel, which comprises the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Police Force and the Ministry of Justice, had obtained a search warrant from the magistrates’ court after a so called whistleblower, Aliyu Umar, claimed to have observed illegal activities going on at No. 9, Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja.
Umar’s affidavit dated October 13, 2021, read in part, “I have observed some illegal activities going on in those houses within Abuja are illegal and hereby report the said matter to the law enforcement agency. “I hereby state that all information provided by me to the EFCC is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.” in a second affidavit deposed to by a senior police officer, CSP Lawrence Ajodo, the panel applied to the chief magistrate in Abuja seeking a search warrant to search the house.
HURIWA recalled that the Chief Magistrate, Emmanuel Iyanna, who subsequently approved the search warrant on October 29, 2021 later revoked it claiming that the Applicants for the search warrants deceived him into issuing the search warrants going by what he termed misrepresentation.
Similarly, HURIWA condemned the EFCC who through its spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said, in a statement, that the commission had no hand in the matter and advised members of the public to disregard any news to the contrary.
The statement read in part, “The attention the EFCC has been drawn to claims in a section of the media that operatives of the commission today, October 29, 2021 stormed the Maitama, Abuja home of a Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mary Odili, purportedly to execute a search.
“The commission, by this statement, wishes to inform the public that the report is false as it did not carry out any operation at the home of Justice Odili. If there was any such operation as claimed by the media, it was not carried out by the EFCC. The commission enjoins the public to discountenance the report.”
HURIWA has therefore called on the EFCC to apologise publicly to Nigerians for lying that it never participated in the raid because the information made available to the Nigerian public from the Chief magistrate shows otherwise that the EFCC was in the team of armed security invaders of the home of Justice Mary Odili.
HURIWA is therefore demanding that strong sanctions are slammed on the individuals who lied under oath to obtain by trick the search warrant that the armed team relied on to invade the premises of the Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria just as the Rights group said if the Federal government fails to charge for perjury the persons who got the search warrant on the basis of falsehood, it will then become notorious that we now have a bunch of persons in the Federal Government who are not only professional liars but are persons who are totally unfit to occupy any position of responsibility in the twenty first century Nigeria.
Foremost pro-democracy and Not-for-profit organisation-Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria-HURIWA has described as illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic the shabby impeachment of the Honorable Speaker of the Plateau state House of Assembly, Honorable Ayuba Abok by 8 out of the 24 members of the Assembly. The Group said the early morning show of shameless in Jos Plateau State can be equated to a sham marriage which in law is null and void. HURIWA said the removal of the speaker who had championed the need for the Ethnic Christians who are the bonafide owners of Plateau State to be protected from persisted Fulani terrorists and genocides, shows that the Plateau State Governor Mr. Simon Lanlong is a puppet of the Sokoto caliphate.
In a statement jointly signed by its National coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and National media affairs officer, Miss Zainab Yusuf, the group said the impeachment exercise that took place at the Plateau Assembly complex on Thursday morning is a mere display of political witch hunt against the speaker who has been very effective in checkmating the failures of the Governor Simon Lalong led administration in the state. Besides the Rights group said allowing the kangaroo impeachment to stand will portray Plateau State’s political class as people with medieval mindsets who lack the genuine interests of their people at heart just as the Rights group asked the Speaker deposed illegally to rush to the Court of competent jurisdiction to get the charade overturned or alternatively he can run a parallel state house of Assembly representing the majority of the State’s constituencies.
The Human rights crusader further alleged that the impeachment is not unconnected with the recent ultimatum given to the governor by the hitherto vibrant and pro-people Parliament following incessant killings of helpless and defenseless citizens in the state with Bassa local government being the worst hit.
HURIWA said since it has become very obvious that the governor has failed to address the issues of insecurity in the state and the only option left for him to survive inevitable impeachment is to illegally orchestrate a sham impeachment of the speaker of the Assembly.
The group, making reference to a publication by the News Agency of Nigeria where it was alleged that the 8 members gained access to the assemble chamber at 6am to carry out their illegality condemned the act and called on the Plateau Assembly to reverse the impeachment and follow democratically allowed procedures. The Rights group said the National Assembly can as well take over the control of the parliamentary activities for Plateau State if the illegal impeachment is not overturned on time.
HURIWA also berated the militarization of the assembly complex, saying it is against the tenet of democracy to militarize a constitutional democratic assembly just as HURIWA said the action of the minority is in conflict with Section 92(c) of the Constitution specifying that a speaker can only be removed from office by a resolution of House of Assembly by the votes of not less than two-third majority of the members of the House. “Are these politicians in Jos so mathematically incapable of knowing that 8 is not the two third majority in a House of 24 legislators?”
The Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Nuhu Abok, has been impeached by eight members of the legislative arm of the government.
The member representing Pengana Constituency, Yakubu Sanda, was named as the new Speaker.
He was removed in the early hours of Thursday by the lawmakers from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who were escorted into the chambers amidst tight security.
Members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were, however, prevented from entering the Assembly complex.
Today makes it exactly 3 years that the AGOM ADARA, Late HRH Maiwada Raphael Galadima, a first class traditional ruler from Southern Kaduna was assassinated by Terrorists. Till date, his killers are yet to be prosecuted by the failed and incapacitated government of Nigeria.
The late AGOM was known to be the most vibrant Traditional ruler in Southern Kaduna of his time. He seriously encouraged and promoted the unity of the Southern Kaduna and Middlebelt people. He urged all Southern Kaduna Traditional leaders to abandon the Turban attires adopted from Core northerners by Middlebelt Traditional leaders. He stood on the idea for our people to go back to our ancestral Traditional attires. The Sokoto caliphate of course was not happy with that.
His memories will continue to remain fresh in our hearts. His legacy we will continue to uphold and he will always remain our HERO.
Undoubtedly, Nigerians are in moments of anxicety and national outrage, no thanks to the unprecedented anarchy, chaos and doom caused by insecurity.
Incidentally, in these moments of insecurity even institutions whose function has a lot of bearing on the smooth and steady running of the entire civil service are challenged by cocktails of externally generated speculative tails of fear, anxiety and apprehension.
The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF); the administrative head of the treasury of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, perhaps one of the most prominent public offices in the Nigerian Civil Service has been having a fair share of cocktails of lies, half-truths and speculations and these are springing seeds of doubts, tension in the minds and hearts of Nigerians.
For purposefulness, the simple description of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) as the agency of government responsible for accounting of receipts and expenditures of the Federal Government may appear too simple and incomplete for those who know the enormity of the work daily carried out by the agency.
Established under the Civil Service re-organization Decree No. 43 of 1988, this important agency is headed by the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), who is appointed by the President for a tenure of four years, serves as the Chief accounting officer for the receipts and payments of account of the Federal Government.
A more roboust description will say the OAGF is mandated to collate, present and publish statutory financial statements required by the Minister of Finance, manage Federal Government investments, maintain and operate the accounts of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, Department Fund, Contingencies Fund and other public funds; and provide cash backing for the operation of the Federal Government.
It is equally saddled with the conduct of routine and in-depth inspection of the books of accounts of Federal Ministries and Extra-ministerial Departments to ensure compliance with rules, regulations, policies, and internal audit guides, investigation of cases of fraud, loss of funds, assets and store items and other financial malpractices in ministries and extra-ministerial departments.
The office is also to provide financial regulations and issue Treasury Circulars to Federal Ministries/Extra-Ministerial Departments to ensure that there are adequate accounting systems in public funds and for the coordination of the collection and disbursement of the public funds and for the coordination of accounting systems
The office also monitors government revenue and account for same, issues officially approved forms bearing Treasury Numbers for use in all Federal Ministries to ensure uniformity, formulate the accounting policies of the Federal Government, services government loans and manages public debts.
The good news here is that the OAGF is currently headed by the tested and trusted leadership of Ahmed Idris; a Nigerian financial accountant who in the recent history of the Nigerian political journey has been adjudged the only AGF who has through his professional expertise championed some reforms in the process of revenue collection, management and disbursement of public funds, by the institutionalizing a practical model which succeeded in blocking leakages, enhances transparency, accountability and openness in Government financial dealings, which includes Single Treasury Account, IPPS, and many more.
However, this writer has been following with keen interest the hot air balloon created in some selected and selfish media platforms in concert with some shadow political forces to deliberately create political smokescreen designed to spark unnecessary confusion and distraction on the person of the Accountant General of the Federation.
Remarkably, in the midst of these orchestrated campaigns of calumny, Alhaji. Ahmed Idris, who several pundits has described as a cool headed, calculated and compassionate gentleman has maintained his calmness and has refused to be distracted. His silence over some of these issues goes a long way to buttress the fact that the accusations are baseless; since “Silence” they say, “is best answer to fools”.
Also, it is a well-known fact that the President has the vantage position of getting intelligence feed on to him. That the Accountant General of the Federation hasn’t been fired for this long shows the allegations to the President are tissues of lies.
Perhaps, highlighting these rumors and half-truths against the person of Ahmed Idris will be to make them weighty, nevertheless, an analysis of a few will help set the records straight on this misleading campaign.
A good case in point was the report on accusations by one Professor Lawan Abubakar of ASUU, Bauchi branch, against the AGF. According to a social media report credited to solacebase.com (www.solacebase.com) dated 19th November, 2020, Prof. Abubakar singled out the person of Alhaji Ahmed Idris for vilification in connection with the then protracted negotiations that existed between the Federal Government and ASUU.
It was reported that Prof. Abubakar’s accusations included that the Accountant General insisted on the enrolment of University staff on IPPIS only because he will gain N16, 000 per each lecturer so enrolled. He further alleged that Alhaji Idris owns multi billion Naira Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange. He also bought Sokoto Hotel in Kano which he demolished to build a mall.
Under normal circumstances, one will find it extremely difficult to believe that such wild allegations could emanate from a University Professor. This is because Scholars are known for research, analysis, making references to their sources of information and for deductive reasoning, particularly on issues worthy of their attention and public comments.
For instance the allegation that the Accountant General of the Federation receives financial benefit to the tune of N16, 000 on the enrolment of each staff into IPPIS clearly portrays misunderstanding of IPPIS administration.
IPPIS is an Information Communication Technology (ICT) driven programme initiated by the Federal Government of Nigeria to improve the storage of personnel records and administration of payroll for Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The IPPIS department in the OAGF operates strictly in accordance with extant rules, regulations and government directives. The staff of the department are professional civil servants drawn from across the country; they are not employees of the AGF. Moreover, the Federal Government does not release cash to the OAGF for payment of salaries and wages of the staff of federal MDAs captured under the IPPIS. Salary payments and other financial transactions are carried out electronically.
On the alleged acquisition of properties worth billions of Naira citing Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange, and Sokoto Hotel, while this writer is not holding a brief for the AGF on the matter, he believes that as a high ranking civil servant who steadily progressed to the peak of his career in the service, Alh. Idris ought to be very conversant with the public service rules, financial regulations and such other guidelines provided for the official and personal conduct of serving federal public officers.
Research reveals that Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange is a limited liability company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria. This, therefore, does not require spurious allegations aimed at damaging the image of any person over ownership of the property. The records of ownership, value, etc of the company could have easily been cross checked with the Commission.
Any interested person could have equally followed the procedures laid down by the Kano state government for tracing ownership of landed properties through relevant establishments such as the state Ministries/Agencies responsible for lands, housing and urban development. Findings would have availed access to proof of ownership of the property (by Ahmed Idris, if his claims were correct), date of purchase, actual cost and even the approved building plan and architectural designs for the said proposed mall.
These are simple and harmless steps expected to have been taken in order to obtain accurate facts and evidences before going to the press.
Again, after a careful examination of all the arguments bandied on the media, notably on his retention as the AGF by President Muhammdu Buhari after attaining the age of 60 on November 25, 2020, unlike the apologists of the hasty campaign to forcefully boot him out through the back-door, Alhaji Idris had relied on the provisions of the constitution, which makes both the appointment and renewal of the tenured appointment of AGF a prerogative of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Report has it that the AGF had on October 2, 2020, written to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, seeking clarification on his status ahead of November 25, 2020, when he would clock 60 years old.
The letter titled “Re, Renewal of Appointment as Accountant-General of the Federation”, reads in part:” I most respectfully inform the Secretary to the Government of the Federation that I will be Sixty (60) years of age on 25th of November 2020, while my length of service will be Seventeen (17) years.
“In the light of the foregoing, I wish to most obediently seek for SGF’s guidance and clarification accordingly.”
It is common knowledge that the AGF is currently serving as a political appointment and not a civil servant that should retire at the age of 60. It logically follows, that his appointment in 2015 was projected as a civil servant who served within the age bracket of a mandatory retirement age of 60 years, and enjoyed the tenure within the mainstream civil service guidelines supervised under the office of the Head of Civil Service.
His re-appointment for a second term on June 25, 2019, was predicated under Section 9(1),(2), (3) of the 1999 Construction where the President is empowered to appoint any person into any position of authority regardless of the age bracket, and therefore prompted the second appointment through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Beyond this, Section 171 of the Constitution empowers the president to exercise discretion in appointing persons into some extra-ministerial offices. The same constitution spelt out the offices in the category, to which the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation fell.
The Constitution, the supreme law of the land, is the grand norm, all other laws rose from it and any law that is in conflict with the provisions of the constitution doesn’t stand, it’s struck down.
When it was clear that Mr. President had exercised his powers under Section 171 of 1999 Constitution as amended in reappointing Mr. Ahmed Idris with effect from June 25, 2019 for another tenure of four years which by terms of appointment elapse June 2023, political opportunists resorted to campaigns of calumny aimed at tarnishing the image of the AGF.
The question begging for an answer is this: what is the underlying agenda of this broad daylight sinister efforts to malign an appointee who has been passionate about his responsibility, to the excitement of The Presidency, which (in the first place) has the prerogative of appointing, removing him; reappointing him or replacing him out rightly?
It is not surprising then that the effort these political jobbers are making to destroy the image of Mr. Idris Ahmed is a lost battle and their sponsors are chasing shadows and leaving the substance. If they are not out for cheap recognition or hiding behind a questionable campaign of calumny to secure the AGF’s office for their kinsmen, they are against the AGF presumably under the guise that he wants to be governor in his state of origin.
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation is a sensitive position that deals with financial issues the President feels he can work with Alhaji Ahmed Idris. This is because he is not working for himself, but for the nation and has to get the best of hands, trusted persons.
That Mr. Idris has been kept in Office in the midst of these rumours and half-truths is a testament that he is doing a good work and the President having realized that these are plots meant for distractions wants to continue with him.
*Miss. Onwughalu, Project Director at the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA), Abuja.
Soldiers arrested most of the members of Sudan’s cabinet and a large number of pro-government party leaders on Monday in an apparent military coup, three political sources said.
The information ministry said “joint military forces” had arrested civilian members of the Sovereign Council and members of the government and had taken them to an undisclosed location.
There was no immediate comment from the military. Sudanese state TV broadcast as normal.
A Reuters witness saw joint forces from the military and from the powerful, paramilitary Rapid Support Forces stationed in the streets in Khartoum.
Sudan has been on edge since a failed coup plot last month unleashed bitter recriminations between military and civilian groups meant to be sharing power following the 2019 ouster of former leader Omar al-Bashir. read more
Bashir was toppled and jailed after months of street protests. A political transition agreed after his ouster has seen Sudan emerge from its isolation under three decades of rule by Bashir and was meant to lead to elections by the end of 2023.
The Reuters witness said military and paramilitary forces deployed across the capital, Khartoum, restricting civilians’ movements, as protesters carrying the national flag burnt tires in different parts of the city.
The information ministry said on its Facebook page that a number of ministers and civilian members of the ruling Sovereign Council were arrested.
Khartoum airport was shut and international flights were suspended, according to Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel.
Citing unidentified sources, Saudi-owned, Dubai-based Al Hadath said Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok had been placed under house arrest, and that unidentified military forces arrested four cabinet ministers, one civilian member of the Sovereign Council, and several state governors and party leaders.
Family sources told Reuters that military forces had stormed the house of Hamdok’s media adviser and arrested him.
Reuters witnesses said internet services appeared to be down in Khartoum.
The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), a main activist coalition in the uprising against Bashir, called on supporters to mobilise after what it called the arrest of cabinet members.
“We urge the masses to go out on the streets and occupy them, close all roads with barricades, stage a general labour strike, and not to cooperate with the putschists and use civil disobedience to confront them,” the group said in a statement on Facebook.
As tensions built this month, a coalition of rebel groups and political parties aligned themselves with the military and called on it to dissolve the civilian government, staging a sit-in outside the presidential palace.
Last week, several cabinet ministers took part in big protests in several parts of Khartoum and other cities against the prospect of military rule.
The military head of the Sovereign Council has previously asserted his commitment to the transition.
Civil rights advocacy group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has appealed for the umpteenth time to President Muhammadu Buhari and the governors of the Igbo speaking States to take immediate action to forestall the massive BLOODBATH that may be unleashed should the Federal Government carry out its threats to carry out military action against groups standing in the way of the Anambra governorship election in less than two weeks away.
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) in a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, said it was worried by the fact that up until now there are no signs that the political leaders of the South East including the Governors, National and state parliamentarians, traditional hierarchy, and cultural leaders have not activated dialogues mechanisms to mount effective pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to opt for peaceful negotiations and stop his hardline and kinetic postures against members of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
HURIWA lamented that the governors of the South East rather than being resolute ad committed towards finding lasting solutions in the uproar between the Proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and the Federal government of President Muhammadu Buhari are behaving like giraffes by hiding their heads in the sands whilst Igboland is set ablaze. The Rights group regretted that the governors are not bothered about possible conflicts that may mar the Anambra governorship election but are deeply concerned about how to grab political power by all means by winning the Anambra governorship seat by hook or crook.
HURIWA expressed consternation that since July that the leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob) was allegedly kidnapped by the Nigerian government from Kenya and brought back to Nigeria to continue his trial for alleged treasonable felony for his role in championing the campaign for self determination in the South East of Nigeria, the elected leaders of the Igbo speaking nationality have yet to concretely convinced the President to unban the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob) and remove the erroneous tag of being a terrorist group slammed on the self proclaimed unarmed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra.
The Rights group said instead of opting for peaceful negotiations and the adoption of non kinetic steps by the federal government to douse the rising tension created by the detention of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the Federal government and the South East governors have largely adopted bellicose and confrontational military strategies to confront a situation that could have been resolved through peaceful and constructive means.
The Rights group said the recent moves by the federal government to Militarise Anambra state with the elections barely few days away and the threat to call out the people of the South East of Nigeria on a week-long sit-at-home protests made by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra is an unambiguous signal that the election in Anambra State would be characterised by BLOODBATH which is what the Rights group is asking all and sundry to avert.
HURIWA recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered a massive deployment of security agents in Anambra State to ensure peaceful conduct of the November 6 governorship election in the state.
The National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, disclosed this to journalists after a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) at the State House, Abuja on Thursday just as he stated as follows: “Now the problem here is that in as much as the government wants to conduct peaceful elections, there are non-state actors who have been heating up the polity, who have made all kinds of attempts to stymie orderly elections for next month.
The president has directed that under no circumstances will anything be allowed to stop the elections from taking place successfully. The people have a right to vote, they have a right to select their leader, and no group or individual will be allowed to stimulate anarchy and chaos leading to murderous activities.
“The president has made it very clear that the armed forces, security agencies and law enforcement agencies must make sure that the elections take place, if it means overwhelming the entire environment with the presence of security agencies.”
HURIWA further recalled that the police had on 14 October announced it would deploy 34,587 personnel to Anambra to ensure peace during the poll even as earlier the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, had hinted that the federal government was considering imposing a state of emergency in the state to ensure peaceful conduct of the poll.
HURIWA recalled too that the Indigenous People of Biafra had declared a one week sit-at-home protest across the South-East states starting from November 5, the eve of the governorship election in Anambra State. IPOB’s Media and Public Secretary, Emma Powerful, in a statement on Saturday in Awka, the Anambra State capital, said the protest was aimed at prevailing on the Federal Government to release its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. The group vowed that the protest would go on as planned if Kanu was not released before November 4.
Reacting against these warlike backdrops occasioned by the different threats from the President, his security Chiefs and then the Proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra not to allow the election in Anambra take place if its leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is still being kept in the dungeons of the Department of State Services up until the date of the Anambra governorship election, the Rights group has raised alarm of an impending genocide.
The HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has decried what it calls the CLOUDS OF UNCERTAINTY AND WAR that has beclouded the horizons in the South East of Nigeria and is therefore asking President Muhammadu Buhari to be a Statesman and not proceed to precipitate a genocide and BLOODBATH which is the consequence of his Presidential directive to the heads of the Armed Forces.
HURIWA said members of the Armed Forces have in the recent times violated the fundamental human rights of the citizens during their previous internal military actions and have killed many innocent citizens without the killers ever been brought to justice. HURIWA said there is no guarantee that the armed forces that are now being given direct order to deploy and employ kinetic means to ensure that Anambra state governornorship election happen, won’t employ the use of extralegal killings of citizens.
The Rights group wonders why despite all the appeals from peace loving groups in the organised civil society community and the traditional institutions in the South East of Nigeria advocating peaceful resolutions of all the contending issues between the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration, it would seem President Muhammadu Buhari has opted for only one option which is to deploy the full force of the armed forces to the South East of Nigeria. HURIWA has also appealed to the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra to avoid situations that will eventually throw the South East Region into avoidable and preventable war even as the Rights group warned against any plan to frustrate the holding of the Anambra governorship election.
The Rights group maintained that now that the President has given specific directive to the Armed Forces not to allow any group to disrupt the Anambra governorship election and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra has now ordered Civil peaceful protest of a sit-at-home order which as we have come to see it unfold have in the past led to many deaths and arson in the South East of Nigeria, it is certain that there would be BLOODBATH should the members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra physically attempts to prevent voters from reaching the polling stations in the Anambra state gubernatorial poll.
The People Democratic Party has clinched the Saturday Zangon Kataf local government area election in Kaduna state, defeating the All Progressives Congress by a wide merging.
Declaring the results in Zonkwa, the Returning officer, Professor Nuhu Lawrence declared the PDP Candidate, Francis Sani Zimbo as the winner having scored a total votes of 28,771 as against the APC candidate, John Hassan who scored a total votes of 19,509. The PDP also clinched majority of the wards in the local government.
It would be recalled that the Zangon Kataf local government elections were postponed twice before yesterday’s elections with the Kaduna state electoral commission citing security challenges in the area as reason for the postponement.
Yesterday’s elections were said to be free, fair and credible according to observers.
The United States has said the Nigerian government is expected to deploy the Super Tucano aircraft only in the northern part of the country where Boko Haram terrorists have engaged in a decade-long insurgency, killing thousands and displacing millions.
According to Punch, the US Principal Deputy National Security Advisor, Jonathan Finer, at an event attended by the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said the terms of the agreement during the sale of the 12 Tucano aircraft were explicit.
Reacting to a question on whether the Tucano fighter planes might be deployed against secessionists in the South-East, Finer said the planes were an important platform for security, particularly in the North, expressing pleasure over the conclusion of the deal.
Finer said, “We are pleased to deepen our security cooperation with the Nigerian government. I think we made it very clear our expectations about this platform where it would be used and in the right way and we are always raising concerns when we have them and that it’s true with all our security partners around the world.
“This is an important platform for security, particularly in the North and we are pleased the transaction is finally concluded.”
The Federal Government had proscribed the Indigenous People of Biafra in the South-East and despite public outcry, designated the agitation group as terrorists, fuelling fears that the Super Tucano might be deployed to harass the residents.
On Wednesday, it had also been reported that the military had not been able to deploy the Tucano planes to crush the bandits in the North-West because the agreement signed with the United States was that the aircraft, bought from the US, would be deployed against terrorists and not bandits.
This implies that the fighter planes have only been deployed to fight Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East.
It was gathered that the complaints by the service chiefs led to the recent recommendation to by the Senate and the House of Representatives that bandits should be designated as terrorists, so the planes could be deployed against the bandits.
The Federal Government had ordered 12 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft to aid its war against Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East. The aircraft were said to have cost $423million.
On July 22, 2021, the Nigerian Air Force said in a statement by its spokesperson, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, that the first batch of six of the Tucano aircraft arrived at Kano at about 12:34pm.
Also, on October 18, 2021, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the remaining six had been received and had been deployed to the North-East.
