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CSOs: No to manual transmission of election results
No fewer than 42 civil society organisations have rejected the Electoral Amendment Bill (2021) being proposed by the National Assembly. The CSOs in a statement on Sunday said the manual transmission of election results would be used to manipulate the outcome of polls. Some of the CSOs are Center for Liberty, The Electoral Hub, Yiaga Africa, Raising New Voices, Ready To Lead Africa and Speak Out Africa Initiative, Centre for Development Alternatives Research and Studies, Aspilos Foundation, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre and South-South Professional Women Association. “As everyone may be aware, the National Assembly will pass the Electoral Amendment Bill (2021) this week. Barring any last-minute changes, the bill is expected to be passed by both chambers on Thursday. “Som...
Imo council chairs petition President Buhari over ‘lopsided appointments’ in NDDC
The Oil Producing Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Imo State under the auspices of Urashi Peoples’ Congress (UPC) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse what it described as persistent lopsided appointment in the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). In an open letter addressed to the president, which was signed by the Coordinator, Mr. Reginald Uwakwe, a copy of which was made available to newsmen yesterday, the group lamented that the appointments into key positions i.e. the managing director of the NDDC, have been allegedly skewed in favour of only four states of Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa and Delta, out of the nine member states that made up the commission. It said between 2001 and 2021, the list of managing directors and their states included Dr. God...
South Africa’s Jacob Zuma mounts last-ditch legal fight against jail term
South Africa’s ex-president Jacob Zuma on Friday mounted a last-ditch legal bid to avoid prison after the country’s top court ordered him jailed for failing to appear before graft investigators. In a landmark ruling, the Constitutional Court on Tuesday handed Zuma a 15-month term for contempt after he snubbed a probe into the theft of state assets under his tenure. If the 79-year-old fails to turn himself in by Sunday, police will be given a further three days to arrest him and take him to jail to start the sentence. As the deadline loomed, Zuma pleaded on Friday that the order be “reconsidered and rescinded.” “It will not be futile,” Zuma said in papers filed to the court, “to make one last attempt to invite the Constitutional Court to relook its decision and to merely reassess whether it...
Ogun council poll: Lawyer petitions governor over APC primaries
A lawyer, Fazaz Daud, has written a petition to the governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, asking for his urgent intervention over the replacement of his client, one Osularu Olabanjo Muyiwa, who was said to have won the All Progressives Congress (APC) councillorship primaries for Ward 5, Iperu-Remo. In the petition dated June 28 and titled ‘Manipulation of Result and Unlawful Replacement of Mr. Osularu Olabanjo Muyiwa, the Winner of APC Councillorship Primaries for Ward 5, Iperu Remo, Ikenne local government with Mr. Efuwape Olaitan Muhammed, Osularu’s name was said to have been replaced with Efuwape Olaitan Muhammed, the incumbent Vice Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Ikenne Local Government. The letter, a copy made available to Daily Sun, on Tuesday, in Abeokuta, was also addressed to the...
Ogun council poll: OGSIEC cancels nomination fees for chairmanship, councillorship candidates
Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) has cancelled the nomination fee deposit for Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates in the forthcoming local government elections in the state for all political parties. OGSIEC’s Chairman, Babatunde Osibodu, made this known while fielding questions from newsmen in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Saturday. He explained that though, OGSIEC had in the guidelines released earlier, stipulated the payment of non-refundable deposit of N200,000 and N100,000 by intending candidates nominated and cleared to contest the chairmanship and councillorship elections in the LG poll, the fees have now been cancelled by the electoral body. “You will recall that we had earlier asked male Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates to make a non-refu...
Plateau council poll: PDP accuses PLASIEC of plotting to exclude party in election
File Photo The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Plateau State, has raised the alarm over plan by Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) to exclude the party from the October, 2021 Local Government Election in the state. Secretary, PDP Caretaker Committee, Plateau State, Hon. Patrick Ogbu disclosed this on Friday during a press briefing in Jos and vowed that the party will resist such attempt. He noted that the Caretaker Committee was drafted to the state following a court judgment that ordered fresh State Congress to elect officers of the party and on resumption, the committee invited PLASIEC to participate in their up coming local government party primaries but didn’t show up. “Based on the election guidelines and timetable released by PLASIEC, our great party in line wit...
Oyo council poll: Police, OYSIEC collaborate to ensure hitch-free elections
The Oyo State Police Command on Monday showed its commitment towards ensuring free and fair local government elections in the state. The Command, in its efforts to secure hitch-free before, during and after the poll, has disclosed its partnership with the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), engaged the stakeholders involved, stressing that all hands must be on deck to ensure free, fair and credible elections. The development according to a press release that was made available to pressmen in Ibadan, the State capital, stated that the Command, in conjunction with the Management of Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), today Monday 10th May 2021, played host to principal political actors and critical stakeholders in the state in readiness for the 22nd May 2021...
US Senators urge Joe Biden to impose more sanctions on Myanmar junta
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to slap more sanctions on the military junta in Myanmar, including choking revenues to a state energy company, in response to its coup and violent crackdown on protesters. Senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, and four others urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter to “explore new avenues to support the people of Burma in their ongoing struggle for democracy in the face of escalating crimes against humanity.” They want the Biden administration to stop royalties flowing from businesses including U.S. energy major Chevron to Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, or MOGE, an agency within the energy ministry, that provides financial support to mil...
President Buhari approves appointment of 18 appeal court judges
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of 18 Justices of the Court of Appeal. Newsmen reported that the 18 candidates were recommended to Mr Buhari by the National Judicial Council (NJC) for appointment in March. NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, had in a statement on March 19, said the council’s interview committee made the decision recommending the candidates for appointment at its 94th meeting which held on March 17 and 18, under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad. The president approved the recommendations in a memo by his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, and addressed to the CJN. A copy of the memo titled, ‘Re: Appointment of eighteen (18) Justices of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria’ was circulated online on Thursday. Our corr...
Strike: Minister to hold fresh meeting with governors, NBA, JUSUN, others
Labour minister, Chris Ngige, has rescheduled a fresh meeting with the leaderships of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), over the lingering strike that has crippled court activities across the country for two weeks. Representatives of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) are also expected to be at the meeting scheduled to hold in Abuja on Tuesday. Members of JUSUN had on April 6 embarked on the indefinite nationwide strike to press home their demand for judiciary’s financial autonomy. The labour minister had on Thursday announced a last-minute postponement of the meeting he was scheduled to hold with the NBA, JUSUN and other stakeholders over the lingering crisis. The abrupt postponement of the meeting infuriated the leaderships of the body ...
Apple Music pays one penny per stream
Engadget Apple Music’s payment rate for artists and labels is fundamentally a penny per stream, according to a letter from the company posted on its artist dashboard and first reported by the Wall Street Journal. That payment rate is higher than Spotify, which has a confusing variable rate scheme that basically tops out at a half-penny per stream. Announcing a penny-per-stream rate is a nice PR win for Apple Music, since it is 1. very simple and 2. Spotify hates talking about its per-stream payments, which the company insists are a misleading figure. Seriously, it just launched an entire website called Loud&Clear last month designed to help artists and fans understand how payments work, and a good chunk of it is devoted to explaining why per-stream rates are not the right thing to focu...
Ibadan polytechnic students threaten public protest over extortion, mass failure
File Photo Students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State, have threatened to publicly protest continuous extortions by lecturers as well as the recurrent mass failures typifying their examinations, saying their future was hanging in the balance. A source told newsmen that the students are from the Urban and Regional Planning Department. Through their association, the aggrieved students this week raised a petition to the school management to look into the anomalies of their lecturers and take action, otherwise they would lead a public protest. In a copy of their petition titled, “Lamentations of the Urban and Regional Planning Students,” the students decried the harsh learning conditions in the department and the resultant mass failure and extra academic years that students suffered They s...
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