Political Briefs
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AMINU Tambuwal, speaker, House of Representatives, wants the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to contest election in 2015. Tambuwal’s form for the party ticket was said to have been purchased by his supporters in the House of Representatives on Thursday, November 13. The supporters reportedly collected the form from Osita Izunaso, national organising secretary of the party, at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, about 5:00 pm and thereafter headed for the residence of the speaker to present the form to him.
Imam Imam, special adviser on media to the speaker, confirmed that some members of the House had purchased the form for the speaker. “Earlier today, some friends and political associates of the speaker notified him that they have bought presidential nomination forms for him,” Imam said.
Tambuwal on Friday, November 14, confirmed that he had joined the presidential race. The speaker had previously announced that he was going to contest for governorship ticket of his Sokoto State. If he eventually joins the race, it means that he would have to slug it out with the likes of Muhammadu Buhari, retired general and a three-time presidential candidate; Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president; Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State; Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Sam Nda-Isaiah, publisher of Leadership newspaper.
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Jega Warns Politicians Ahead of 2015 Elections
ATTAHIRU Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, wants all politicians preparing to take part in the next elections to adhere to relevant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, their own constitution and INEC’s guidelines in their own interest. Jega, made the call at a meeting with representatives of political parties, at the commission’s headquarters, on Thursday, November 13.
The INEC chairman called on political parties to respect and abide by the code of conduct which they signed and ensure that their aspirants and nominated candidates were fully compliant with the relevant provisions of the law. He also implored all stakeholders in the electoral process to work with the INEC in its bid to sanitise the political atmosphere, saying, “we must all ensure peaceful, civil and decent conduct by aspirants and candidates as we prepare for free, fair, credible and peaceful elections in February 2015.”
Jega used the opportunity to re-affirm that the commission’s decision to create additional polling units, which has been suspended until after the 2015 general elections, saying it was well intentioned. “It was done with the sole objective of improving the electoral process by decongesting over populated polling units and making it easier for registered voters to discharge their civic duties.”
Jega was optimistic that with the decision to suspend the creation of the additional polling units after the 2015 general election, “all energies will now be re-directed and re-channelled positively towards having a free, fair, and peaceful election in 2015.”
Earlier, Abdulkadir Salam, deputy chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, who represented the chairman, advised INEC to critically examine opinions in order for the commission not to be accused of bias in its activities. He also urged the leadership of the commission to “work with all Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, to find proper ways of addressing issues arising from the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVCs.” He said if the situation was not well managed, it would be misconstrued as a game-plan by the INEC to disenfranchise some eligible voters.
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Military, Civilian JTF, Hunters Retake Mubi, Vintim From Boko Haram
RESIDENTS of Mubi, second largest town in Adamawa State, took a celebratory march with singing and dancing across some major streets of the town on Thursday, November 13, following the recapture of the town from Boko Haram insurgents. The town was liberated by a combined team of the Nigerian military, local hunters and the Civilian Joint Task Force, CJTF, which collaborated to flush out Boko Haram terrorists who had captured the town two weeks ago.
Vintim, the hometown of Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, chief of Defence Staff, CDS, was also liberated in the battle spearheaded by the combined teams which fought hard to uproot the terrorists who had taken over five local government areas in Adamawa State. Mubi residents, who poured out into the streets, said they were excited that their town had been liberated from the insurgents, who were killed and chased out by the military and members of the civilian JTF. The residents also disclosed that all the flags hoisted by the insurgents had been uprooted and replaced with Nigerian flags, adding that even the palace of the emir, which was converted to the spiritual headquarters of the insurgents, was liberated.
Confirming the recapture of Mubi, Governor Bala James Ngilari of Adamawa State, who spoke in Yola, on Thursday, November 11, said: “The insurgents have been flushed out of Mubi and are on the run.” Ngilari said the success recorded in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents was the handiwork of God, adding: “God is in this business of security in Adamawa State. You know in the last one week or so, the government decided to work with the vigilante group ‘Yan Baka’, local hunters and civilian JTF. We have been working hand in hand with them.”
One of the residents from Mubi, Musa Bello, said that most of the local hunters and the civilian JTF were mobilised from Gombe, Kano, Bauchi and Borno states by some top politicians in Adamawa State following fears that the state might be taken over by the insurgents, if nothing was done to dislodge them.
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Why US Refuses To Sell Arms to Nigeria – US
THE United States said it had refused to sell cobra helicopters to Nigeria because of its concern that about the ability of the Nigerian military to use and maintain them. Jen Psaki, spokeswoman of the US State Department, said on Wednesday, November 12. The cobra is a combat aircraft with the ability to climb at the rate of 8.2metres per second. It is equipped with a 20 mm M197 3-barrelled Gatling cannon in the A/A49E-7 turret (750 rounds ammo capacity).
Psaki, who was responding to questions from journalists on the allegations by Adebowale Adefuye, Nigerian ambassador to the US, that the US declined to sell lethal arms that would have helped Nigeria to win its war against Boko Haram insurgents, said there were ongoing concerns about the Nigerian military’s protection of civilians when conducting military operations, adding that these had been discussed with the Nigerian authorities. “Nigeria has purchased helicopters that originated in countries other than the US and nothing in our decision prevents Nigeria from obtaining weapons and equipment from other sources,” Psaki said.
Explaining, she said: “Earlier this year, we denied the transfer of some cobra attack helicopters to Nigeria due to concerns about Nigeria’s ability to use and maintain this type of helicopter in its effort against Boko Haram and ongoing concerns about the Nigerian military’s protection of civilians when conducting military operations. We shared those concerns with Nigeria before this decision and subsequent to it. We’ll continue to look for ways to deepen our cooperation with Nigeria to help it acquire the systems and skills needed to restore peace and security. But obviously, we’ve provided a great deal of assistance over the past several months.”
She assured the Nigerian government that the US was ready to help train and improve the effectiveness of the Nigerian military.
Adefuye had also told members of the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, November 10, that Washington was not doing enough to assist Nigeria in combating the Boko Haram insurgency in North-East zone of the country. “The U.S. government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time on the basis of the allegations that Nigeria’s defence forces have been violating human rights of Boko Haram suspects when captured or arrested.
“We find it difficult to understand how and why, in spite of the U.S. presence in Nigeria, with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly,” the ambassador said.
— Nov. 24, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
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