Military Says Nigeria Will Be Safe For Elections

Military Says Nigeria Will Be Safe For Elections


The Nigerian military has given the assurance that it is committed to securing the country in time for the new dates of the general elections.

This is coming from the Director Of Defense Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, in an interview with the Voice of America.

Maj. Gen. Olukolade is optimistic that this goal is achievable, given the increased regional cooperation that Nigeria is receiving at the moment.

“We have committed ourselves to working to ensure that we achieve the result of making the whole place secured and every effort is being made towards that end in the sense that we are improving our fire power, and improving on collaboration with other forces.

“What should interest you is what is now different about it. For the period we have said it has passed through different stages.

“You will recall that when the State of Emergency was initially declared, we were able to curtail them and they simply left our shores and went elsewhere to improve on their mischief.

Rescheduled elections ’ll paralyse economy for 6 months

Rescheduled elections ’ll paralyse economy for 6 months


naira-nigeriaTOP finance and economic experts have raised concern over the economic implications of Nigeria’s rescheduled elections and turn of political events, saying the postponement has worsened existing tension in the business environment and will keep economy in coma for the first half of 2015. An economist and Managing Director, Head – Africa Macro Global Research at Standard Chartered

How Nigerian Security Force Foiled Boko Haram Attack, Intercepted 19 High Calibre Bombs in Adamawa

How Nigerian Security Force Foiled Boko Haram Attack, Intercepted 19 High Calibre Bombs in Adamawa


Adamawa State Police Command has uncovered 19 high calibre bombs in a bush near Yola, the state capital.

 

The State Commissioner of Police, Gabriel Adaji, who disclosed this at a media briefing at the weekend, said the bombs were busted in Hong local government area of the state, stressing that Boko Haram gunmen were planning to use them for attacks on the state.

Maintaining that the weapons were ready to be used when they were intercepted, as they were at 90 percent completion and only needed to be connected to batteries, Adaji said it is believed that the insurgents wanted to use the bombs to disrupt the forthcoming elections.

He disclosed that the interception was made possible based on intelligence report that some suspected suicide bombers were apprehended by soldiers in Yola, and that some of the insurgents were still at large within the town.

According to Adaji, “This made us to beam our searchlight on the some spots. Something that would have caused a hell of sorrows to the state was averted. One of the bombs is capable of bringing down a 10 storey building.”

Maintaining that the insurgents were planning to bomb Jimeta, the Police Commissioner said if the insurgents had t succeeded in their plan, several people would have been killed and properties destroyed.

He disclosed further that the insurgents wanted to blow up strategic structures including the more than one kilometre River Benue Bridge linking the state capital with Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola and Mubi area.

“The bombs have been detonated by the anti-bomb squad of the state police command, the feat has averted a major calamity because some of the bombs were capable of destroying a ten storey building” Adaji said, adding that the smallest among the bombs can completely destroy structures within 200 metre radius and they were on the verge of being moved to where they were to be deployed when they were intercepted.

Adaji urged the people of the state to be vigilant and report any suspicious character to the nearest security outfit.

Military forces shift in election dates

Military forces shift in election dates


The nation’s military es­tablishment has forced the postponement of the general elections slated for February 14 and 28, cit­ing its inability to guaran­tee security nationwide.

Chairman of the Inde­pendent National Elec­toral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said at a press conference last night that the elections will now hold on March 28 and April 11 based on a re­quest for a six-week post­ponement by the military high command.

Jega, who spoke after a series of marathon “con­sultative” meetings with several stakeholders in the electoral process, ex­plained that the military leadership had indicated that troops would have to concentrate on fighting Boko Haram insurgents in the North East and would not be available for security duties during the elections at the earlier scheduled dates.

He however said that while the Commission was prepared, the post­ponement will allow for more time to perfects ar­rangements for the polls.

Reports indicated that about 20 of INEC’s States Resident Electoral Com­missioners, RECs, were opposed to the postpone­ment of the lections but their hands were tied.

According to the elec­tion timetable, which was designed over a year ago, the Presidential, Senato­rial and House of Repre­sentatives elections were to hold February 14 while the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections were fixed for February 28.

Civil society groups re­acted angrily to the post­ponement and demanded the resignation of the Chief of Defence Staff and heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Police for failure to live up to their constitutional re­sponsibilities of protect­ing lives and property at all times.

Before the announce­ment, INEC had met separately with repre­sentatives of the nation’s 28 political parties, all the states Resident Elec­toral Commissioners, RECs, and 25 civil society groups.

As the moves to post­pone the polls gained trac­tion last week, at least 12 parties including the main opposition party, the All Progressives Con­gress, APC, and 25 CSOs had rejected the idea while 17 parties were in favour, citing the hitches being experienced with the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards PVCs.

Three days before yes­terday’s announcement meeting, 16 parties had called for a shift in the elections. They were the United Democratic Party, UDP; the Citizen Peoples Party, CPP; the Peoples Party of Nigeria, PPN; the Action Alliance, AA; the Peoples Democratic Con­gress, PDC; the Labour Party, LP; Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN; Alliance for Democracy, AD; New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, and the Indepen­dent Democrat, ID.

Others were the Ad­vanced Congress of Dem­ocrats, ACD; Allied Con­gress Party of Nigeria, ACPN; Fresh Democratic Party, FDP; National Con­science Party, NCP; All Progressives Grand Alli­ance, APGA; and Progres­sives Peoples Alliance, PPA.

Twenty four hours lat­er, 10 others rejected the call.

The parties are the Peoples Democratic Move­ment, PDM; African Peo­ples Alliance, APA; Kowa Party; Mega Progressives Peoples Party, MPPP; So­cial Democratic Party, SDP; African Democratic Congress, ADC; Hope Democratic Party, HDP; Democratic Peoples Party, DPP; United Progressives Party, UPP; Accord Party, AP.

Participants said yes­terday’s meetings was not exactly “consultative” as Jega merely informed the stakeholders that all secu­rity agencies in the coun­try had written to him to announce their non-avail­ability for the general elections as they will be in the three north eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa battling terror­ists.

While the national chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mua­zu, was earlier quoted as saying that going ahead with the elections would have led to the disenfran­chisement of about 34 per cent of registered voters, spokesman of the party’s presidential campaign organisation, Femi Fani- Kayode denied reports ac­cusing the party of subtly pushing for a shift in the dates of the elections.

The PDP-controlled Federal Government had however been using secu­rity agencies, through the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, to ad­vocate a postponement of the elections.

However, Sunday Mir­ror checks revealed that ex­cept where the federation is at war, the law does not provide for a blanket shift of all elections across the whole federation.

Section 26(1) of the Elec­toral Act 2010 (amended) states that: “Where a date has been appointed for the holding of an election, and there is reason to believe that a serious breach of the peace is likely to oc­cur if the election is pro­ceeded with on that date or it is impossible to conduct the elections as a result of natural disasters or other emergencies, the commis­sion may postpone the elec­tion and shall in respect of the area, or areas con­cerned, appoint another date for the holding of the postponed election pro­vided that such reason for the postponement is cogent and verifiable.”

Consequently, a group of over 60 Civil Society Or­ganizations, CSOs, under the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room have urged Nigerians to stand up in defence of democracy, say­ing it was absurd for the military to be dictating to INEC.

The group stated its po­sition in a joint statement after meeting with Jega and the Commission’s 12 National Commissioners.

At the meeting, Prof. Jega, said that he had re­ceived a letter from the security services advis­ing that he postponed the general elections on the grounds that the security agencies were engaged in a renewed battle against in­surgency in the North-East that would require their full concentration.

In the said letter, the mil­itary reportedly demanded a rescheduling of elections by “at least six weeks in the first instance”.

The implication is that if the war is not won with­in six weeks, the elections could be further shifted.

The Federal Govern­ment had since 2009 fought the Boko Haram insur­gents without winning, and political analysts are worried that a war that could not be won within six years may not also be won in six weeks.

The Situation Room said it conveyed to INEC its disappointment with the letter from the secu­rity agencies pointing out that this amounted to the military’s abdication of its constitutional duties to provide security to citizens and to the Commission to enable it conduct elections and appeared contrived to truncate the democratic process in Nigeria.

“Situation Room is fur­ther worried that the mili­tary’s position also aims to blackmail and arm-twist the Election Management Body away from its consti­tutional guaranteed func­tion of conducting elec­tions.

“Situation Room also condemns this advisory by security agents that they cannot guarantee the se­curity of citizens, election officials and materials dur­ing the election”, the group stated.

It also called for the res­ignation of military chiefs and security heads includ­ing the Police on account of their inability to exer­cise their constitutional re­sponsibility to secure lives and property at all times including during the elec­tions.

The Situation Room also calls on Nigerians to be vigilant and be ready to protect this hard won de­mocracy.

The Situation Room is made up of CSOs working in support of credible and transparent elections in Nigeria and includes such groups as Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, PLAC, CLEEN Foundation, Ac­tion Aid Nigeria, Centre for Democracy and Devel­opment, CDD, Enough is Enough Nigeria and Wan­gonet

Others include: Part­ners for Electoral Reform and Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Ad­vancement, YIAGA, Devel­opment Dynamics, Human Rights Monitor, Election Monitor, Reclaim Naija, Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and several others.

In the letter sent to INEC by security forc­es, military operations against the insurgents have been slated to begin on February 14.

As a precursor to the op­erations, military delega­tions of Nigeria and Chad had on Friday concluded a bilateral meeting to re­view the progress of the ongoing counter terror­ism campaign being con­ducted in the Lake Chad Basin area.

The forum noted the recent successes in the various fronts of the op­erations and resolved on additional measures to sustain the momentum of the campaign.

They also resolved to enhance established struc­tures for the coordination and logistics of the com­bined operations towards a speedy defeat of terror in the region.

Countries in the Lake Chad Basin had also recon­stituted its Multi-National Joint Taskforce to soon begin operations to rein in the terrorists.

109 Boko Haram fighters dead' after first attack on Niger

109 Boko Haram fighters dead' after first attack on Niger


Niamey (AFP) - Boko Haram launched its first major attack in Niger on Friday, triggering a forceful response from regional troops who claimed to have killed more than a hundred of the Islamists.
The clashes in Bosso and Diffa, along the border with Nigeria, marked yet another expansion of violence attributed to Boko Haram, but it seemed to have come at a heavy cost.

Niger's defence minister reported that 109 of the Islamists were killed, along with four soldiers and a civilian. Seventeen other troops were wounded.

Chadian forces, who have taken a lead role in battling Boko Haram in recent days, fought alongside Niger troops on Friday. Its commander in Niger, General Yaya Daoud, was also wounded with a gunshot to the stomach, a security source said.

Niger Defence Minister Mahamadou Karidjo said calm had been restored to both areas.

The clashes in Niger came as regional efforts intensified to battle Boko Haram, which has waged a six-year insurgency centred in northeastern Nigeria, where the Islamists have seized swathes of territory.

Niger announced Thursday that on Monday it would ask its parliament to approve sending troops to Nigeria to fight the militants alongside Chadian and Cameroon soldiers.
The United States said it condemned the attack in the "strongest possible terms" and pledged support for regional forces.
"This unchecked killing must stop," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. "We continue to provide support to governments in the region, including through intelligence sharing and are increasing our support for these efforts."

Local radio reports said Friday's fighting in Bosso broke out in the morning and resulted in heavy clashes.

"We could hear the sound of weapons all around the town, often very near our windows. There was the noise of heavy weapons and of light arms, making our houses shake," one resident told AFP.

Chadian forces have been stationed in Bosso since Monday, a humanitarian worker said, adding that Boko Haram "took the municipality" for a time before being "driven back to Nigeria".

However, a local leader said only that Niger's troops fought back the raid, while the Chadians were stationed at a distance.
A resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said soldiers from Chad and Niger "were all over the streets" of Bosso.

"It was like a race across the town," one resident said. "As the fighting drew near, we heard cries of 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Greater). We heard an aircraft fly over the town.

"We even saw smoke coming up from the town hall and the prefect's office, where heavy gunfire was heard," he added in the Hausa language, asking not to be named. "It's quiet now, but we're staying home."

Boko Haram Plans to Use Female Suicide Bombers During Elections

Boko Haram Plans to Use Female Suicide Bombers During Elections


The Federal Government said it had uncovered plans by some unscrupulous Nigerians to hijack and hand over Permanent Voter Cards to female suicide bombers to cause havoc in the February elections.

Mike Omeri, the Coordinator of the National Information Centre, who disclosed this on Thursday while giving update on the security situation in the country, therefore, called on the people to remain vigilant.

Omeri said: “Recent intelligence reports indicate that some unscrupulous Nigerians have perfected plans to surreptitiously collect, BUY or steal the PVCs of female voters.

“They will then hand over same to female suicide bombers and create access for them into polling centres where they will detonate bombs and kill unsuspecting voters.

“By this information, therefore, Nigerians, especially female voters, are warned to remain vigilant and also jealously guard and preserve their PVCs.

“This is to avoid the possibility of their PVCs being lost to these bad elements who will put them to untoward use.”

On the fight against insurgency, Omeri attributed the recent successes recorded by troops in the North East to the “country-to-country” bilateral agreements entered into by Nigeria with its neighbours.

He also attributed the successes to the enhanced coordination of operations by the Nigerian troops.

The coordinator said that the modalities for the operation of the 7,500 African Union-backed multinational force to tackle the Boko Haram sect was being worked out at a summit in Cameroon on Thursday.

“In addition, the Chadian Chief of Defence Staff is currently in Nigeria to consolidate discussions on trans-border operations with his Nigerian counterpart,” he said.

PDP, Ohanaeze, Balarabe Musa Accuse INEC, APC

PDP, Ohanaeze, Balarabe Musa Accuse INEC, APC


The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ohanaeze Ndigbo and a former governor of one of the northern state have accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to disenfranchise non-indigenes.

PDP in a statement issued on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, revealed that more facts have come to the light that the INEC and APC plan to deny non-indigenes in APC-controlled states of their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) ahead of the polls this month.

PDP, however, described the development as a crime against the electoral process, noting that the party has taken delivery of overwhelming evidence from residents in APC states due to its alarm on Wednesday that non-indigenes who form the bulk of PDP supporters in Lagos were being denied their PVCs.

The party stated that apart from Lagos State, the same development is allegedly being perpetrated in other APC-controlled states including Kano.

Meanwhile, the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos, Fabian Onwughalu, at a joint press briefing attended by Igbo town and community leaders in parts of the state, disclosed that on request, INEC officials issued in bulk to Yoruba community leaders the PVCs of those they could reach but refused to grant Igbo community leaders similar consideration.

Also, a political interest organisation, Credible Alternative Alliance (CAA), led by former Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, also alleged that INEC was distributing PVCs to favour areas believed to be the strongholds of the APC presidential candidate, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd)
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