The Police have arrested seven suspects including serving and dismissed Soldiers for the alleged attack on a bullion van that lead to the death of four policemen in Ebonyi State.
The bullion van was attacked on July 29 on its way to Enugu State.
The suspects were arrested by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
Recovered from the suspects were explosives, one GPMG,six riffles , 51 AK 47 magazines, 1,620 ammunition, two vehicles, breaking instruments and charms.
A police source said: “Sequel to the attack on a Bullion van in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on 29th July 2020, by bank robbers which led to the death of four police officers, leaving others injured. During serious Manhunt by IRT Detectives with technical Intelligence support from TIU arrested Alfred Robinson , 45 , Ijaw by tribe in Delta State on August 1 , and recovered arms and ammunition from him.”
The police source continued that during intensive follow, six more gangmembers were arrested by IRT Detectives within 24 hours .
He gave the names of the gangmembers as:
Sunday (aka Sunny)03NA/53/088, SGT Ayeni Samuel , 43, a serving Soldier , currently attached to Command Day Secondary School Nigeria Army Cantonment , Ikeja , Lagos ;03NA / 53 CPL Emeka Harrison, 33 , a dismissed Soldier , who until his dismissal was attached to 7 Division Garrison Maidugri , Borno State , Emeka Illo , 37, the sponsor of the gang , Abuchi Elijah ( aka Chime ) , 27 , an informant and Ibaniforio Ekene ,38.
“Recovered from the six suspected hoodlums arrested on August 2, who came from various axis of the south- south / south east with intent to perfect a planned intended bank robbery in Asaba this week include :- a Lexus 350 SUV, with number plate, AGL 267 FN; containing the following items :136 rounds of K2 ammunition ,Five K2 Magazines ,12 locally made bombs ,One KPT POWER tOOL 230MM Angle Grinder ,two hammer ,one cutter and assorted charms .
The suspects upon interrogation confessed to the Bullion Van robbery in Ebonyi State where four policemen were killed with many other armed robberies/kidnappings across the South east and south South. The suspects also confessed that four out of the rifles recovered belongs to the policemen they killed during the robbery in.The suspects are assisting the police with information on how to arrest other gang members who are on the run”.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice has told a Federal High Court in Abuja that the president has discretionary powers to forward names of an appointed judge of the FCT High Court to the Senate for confirmation.
This is contained in a counter affidavit filed by the AGF’s office in a suit by an Abuja-based lawyer, Deji Ekengba Esq challenging the president’s decision to forward 11 candidates appointed as FCT High Court judges to the Senate on July 7, which he said is a contravention of Section 256(2) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999.
The AGF in the counter affidavit argues that “the action of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in forwarding the names of 11 nominees for appointment as judges of the High Court of the FCT to the Senate for screening and confirmation, is an exercise of his executive discretion.”
The AGF, therefore, asked the court to dismiss the suit because the lawyer has no locus standi to institute it.
At the resumed hearing counsel to the AGF, Simiola Babalola informed the court that the office has filed a counter-affidavit and was ready for hearing.
But lawyers to the Senate and Senate President, Ugochukwu Isiguzo Esq; and National Judicial Council (NJC), Abdullahi Hassan informed the court that they have filed memoranda of conditional appearance, while counsel to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Thomas Ojo Esq said his law firm has just been briefed and would need time to respond.
Consequently, Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned the suit to August 12 for hearing.
Ogun State government has made a U-turn, making COVID-19 tests free for all returning SS3 boarding students.
Governor Dapo Abiodun, on Monday, ordered the stepping down of the COVID-19 test as a mandatory requirement for returning students in the exit classes, and equally directed that the government laboratories carry out tests for all returning SS3 boarding students at no cost.
Those that have paid for tests will be refunded.
Governor Abiodun, who gave the directives while reacting to the protest embarked on by parents of final year students in private secondary schools in the state, following COVID-19test levy of N25,000 urged private school owners to exercise their duty of care to their pupils.
According to the governor, “the admittance of students into boarding house in private secondary schools will be at the discretion of the management and the Parents Teachers Association, PTA, of such private schools.”
Governor Abiodun, in a statement, said: “Ogun State government recommends that students who do not have to stay in the boarding house should attend school from home, especially those with underlying health conditions”.
“I have also directed the provision of face masks to all students in both private and public schools”.
“The inconvenience and confusion experienced yesterday is highly regrettable and my sincere apologies to the parents and students so affected”.
“The quality and standard of education and well being of our children are issues that are very dear to my heart”.
“The State has been very apprehensive about the issue of school opening even for exit students. Data from other countries, where schools have resumed show that community transmission in school environments is a major concern. Even countries with stronger health care facilities than ours are being very cautious”.
“In line with the Federal Ministry of Education recommendation and WASSCE timetable, we decided to open our schools on the 4thAugust 2020 for SS3 students only. We put in place guidelines that would ensure that our students resume in a safe environment”.
“In our pre-opening engagements with stakeholders, opening of boarding houses was discussed. Our State has one of the largest population of boarding students in the country, coming from all over the Country. After consultations with health professionals, we concluded that testing the children for COVID-19 before admittance will reduce the risk of community transmission. This is to reassure parents and even teachers of the safety of everybody concerned”.
“The State planned and provided testing, free of charge, for boarding students in our public schools and allowed for the management and parents of private schools to make their arrangements to get COVID tests”.
“The two Ogun State run laboratories have a capacity for about 500 tests a day and conduct free tests for traced contacts or symptomatic patients. To meet the additional demand for the expected number of boarding students, the statement from the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology listed some private test centers which set up sampling points in some of our Health facilities”.
“These private laboratories have been accredited by NCDC and Lagos State Government for walk-in tests and charge N50,400 per test but I understand that the Ministries of Health and Education negotiated this to N25,000 for boarding students in private schools that may wish to use them. There is no financial benefit to the State Government”.
“The health of our children remains our utmost priority, however in view of the total number of boarding students to be tested (5,340private and 500 public), and bearing in mind the limitation of our installed testing capacity of 500 tests per day, it may not be feasible for all boarding students to get tested and get their results prior to resumption or even exams which commence on 17th August 2020”.
I appreciate the cooperation, support, resilience and understanding of all the people of Ogun State towards flattening the curve of COVID-19 in Ogun State. It is my prayer that this phase will end soonest.”
The Minister Of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq has said N523,273,800 was expended on school feeding programme during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The minister, who stated this at the Presidential Taskforce briefing on COVID-19 on Monday, said “In recent days, there have been rumours and innuendos and speculations around one of our key interventions; the Home Grown School Feeding Programme which was modified and implemented in three states following a March 29th Presidential directive.
It is critical at this juncture to provide details that will help puncture the tissue of lies being peddled in the public space.
The provision of Take-Home rations under the modified Home Grown School Feeding Programme was not a SOLE initiative of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
” The ministry in obeying the Presidential directive went into consultations with state governments through the State Governor’s Forum following which it was resolved that Take Home Rations remained the most viable option for feeding children during the lock down.
So, it was a joint resolution of the ministry and the state governments to give out Take Home Rations and the stakeholders also resolved that we would start with the FCT, Lagos and Ogun states as pilot cases.”
She further explained that “Each take home ration is valued at N4,200 and that figure was not arrived at without proper consultation. It was not invented.
“According to statistics from the NBS and CBN, a typical household in Nigeria has 5.6 to 6 members in its household, with 3 to 4 regarded as dependent and so each household is assumed to have 3 children.
“Now based on the original design of the Home Grown School Feeding Programme long before it was domiciled in the ministry, every child on the programme receives a meal a day. The meal costs N70 per child. When you take 20 school days per month it means a child eats food worth N1,400 per month. Three children would then eat food worth N4,200 per month. That was how we arrived at the cost of the Take Home Ration.
” The agreement was that the federal government will provide the funding while the states would implement and to ensure transparency in the process we partnered with the World Food Programme (WFP) as Technical Partners while we invited the EFCC, CCB, ICPC, DSS and a host of NGOs to monitor the process. TrackaNG monitored and gave daily updates validating the programme.
” In the FCT 29,609 households were impacted; Lagos recorded 37,589 households while Ogun state was 60,391 households making a total of 124,589 households impacted between May 14, 2020 and July 6, 2020.
” If 14,589 households received take home rations valued at N4,200 the total figure will be N523,273,800.
Air Peace has sacked over 70 pilots across its fleet types as the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a huge toll on its operations.
The airline said it had to take the “painful but rightful” decision in the face of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations and financial health.
It said the job erasure for pilots amongst it over 3000 staff became imperative because it could not afford to continue fulfill its financial obligations without carrying out restructuring of its entire operations to survive the times.null
Besides, the carrier said the painful decision was to keep its operations afloat after it carried out a raft of measures including cut of zero to 40 per cent in the salaries of staff.
In a statement in Lagos on Monday, the airline management said such move was critical to sustain its operations and survive the times.
The statement reads: “This decision is inevitable under the circumstances we find ourselves. In order to protect the continuity of majority of the existing jobs and the possibility of creating new ones in future, the survival of the airline is of paramount importance. When everything comes back to normal those pilots affected today will have a place to come back to in future if they so wish.
“Anything short of what we have done may lead to the collapse of an airline as could be seen in some places worldwide during this period.
“Therefore, we decided to review the salaries being paid to all staff. The new salaries reflect zero to 40 per cent cut of the former salary depending on the salary grades of every staff.
Even after the cuts, it was obvious for us to be able to sustain our operations and survive the times, some jobs must inevitably have to go.”
The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) on Sunday presented Certificates of Return to the new president Olumide Akpata, and other newly officials of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
The presentation took place on Sunday, 2nd day of August, 2020 at the NBA National Secretariat, Abuja in anticipation of the forthcoming inauguration to hold come 27th August.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of ECNBA, Mr. Tawo E. Tawo, SAN in his opening remarks restated that over 29,000 Lawyers were verified voters and noted that the election result was declared barely few hours after the conclusion of the process at about 11 PM on 30th day of July, 2020.
However, the Chairman expressed concerns over the disunity in the Bar. Besides, he charged all members to embrace unity noting that a house divided against itself is bound to fall.
The essence of NBA elections or the essence of every election is service. And if the purpose is service, why should there be ill-will and disaffection? Let us try as much as possible to be united. Let me warn that the house divided against itself cannot stand and shall fall.
“All these perceived divisions must stop. Within the NBA there are many sub-divisions. One day we may find the association of non-car owners among lawyers. Let us retrace our steps.” He said.
In addition, he charged the newly elected officials to ensure that they work for the upliftment of the Bar.
“Let us work together for the betterment of the NBA.” He said.
In another development, the NBA outgoing General Secretary, Mr. Jonathan Taidi, Esq., who represented the President, Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN remarked that the election was a very transparent process and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to copy from the concluded NBA elections.
According to him, when elections can be monitored electronically, it would reduce the attendant litigations that come after the process in Nigeria.
“I want them (INEC) to take the positive statements from this election and deliver them to Nigeria.
“The situation whereby as you are voting, you see your votes count as we saw in the NBA election will reduce post-election litigation.
“NBA is able to speak very loud that it is time. We have shown that we can conduct a free and fair election in this country.
In a recent trending viral video, a very young boy child, under interrogation from a female voice said to be his mum, is seen crying profusely and pleading with his interrogator to “calm down and rest a little .The young boy sobs hard further and pleads “ I want you to be calming down …I am sorry ma ,momasebe mo.I promise you this is my last chance” etc, etc. At a stage in the video, the young child even asks : “Mummy are you videoing me? What are you doing mummy? “
It has been reported that the viral video inspired the Lagos State Governor in his Sallah message to the state, urging Lagosians to ‘calm down’ as they enjoy the coming holiday, stressing on the need to be moderate in the celebrations and observe prescribed protocols toward defeating the deadly coronavirus (see vanguardngr.com of 31/7/2020). It has further been reported that the young lad star of the video is set to meet the Governor and has gotten an ambassadorial deal(see iBrandTV).
No doubt, the positive recognition and acknowledgement of the said video by the said Governor has automatically granted the young lad and his interrogator, said to be his mum, fame and overnight celebrity status, which they never may have bargained for in the first place. Such is life! The end justifies the means.
Interestingly , social media has been swashed with several differing views on the viral video especially on the appropriateness of same. Whereas some have taken the video on its face value and not beyond the pun that may have been intended by it, others ,mostly categorized as “oyinbo parents” have come down hard on the video deploring the subjection of the young boy to apparent agony and humiliation. Some doubt the motive behind the video, claiming it was an acting episode. Some have also questioned the rational of the video while others have justified same, classifying same as mere theatrics and exemplified dramatization. This piece will not justify any of the differing views, as there can never be a uniformity of perception and or interpretation of the said viral video.
However, lest the positive affirmation of the video by the Governor sends a wrong signal to undiscerning parents who may now be tempted to copy same, it is important that certain aspects of the applicable law be examined in order not to run foul of the law. This succinct piece is a non-pedantic and cursory examination of some aspects of the law vis a vis the aforesaid viral video.
Section 10 of the Child Right Law of Lagos State establishes the right to dignity of the child and states in subsection 10(1)(b)&(c) as follows:
Every child is entitled to respect and the dignity of person and accordingly a child shall not be
(a)Subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
(b)Subjected to attacks upon the child honour or reputation;
Section 18 of the said law specifies the responsibilities of a child and includes the duty of a child, subject to the age and ability of the child and such other limitation as contained in the law ,to respect parents, superiors and elders at all times and assist them in case of need. Section 19 of the law enjoins Parents, amongst others, to provide the necessary guidance to secure a child observance of his responsibilities set out in the law.
The issue as to whether Parents or Legal Guardians, amongst others, can in the guise of enforcing Section 19 of the said law subject the child to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or to attacks upon the child’s honour or reputation is a very mootable one. Recording and dissemination of such acts in social media, irrespective of the mensrea, even makes it more debatable.
Although there is no clear-cut penalty for the breach of Section 10 of the Child Right Law, it would appear that the said Section may be enforced under Section 35(application of criminal law provisions) and Section 196(legal rights of a child) of the said law as well as under Section 46 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
Whatever be the case, the paramount interest of the child reigns supreme in all circumstances. The guiding principle and the primary consideration regarding every action undertaken by any individual, public or private body, institution, court of law, administrative or legislative authority, concerning a child, is the “best interest of the child”. See Section 1 of the Child’s Right Law of Lagos 2015.
In essence, the simple question you must always ask before any video of a child is recorded and disseminated online is: “how would such an action serve the best interest of the child? “.
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN has responded to each of the material allegations raised in the petition by Dele Adesina (SAN), one of the presidential candidates in the just concluded elections of NBA.
This is contained in a memo to NBA past presidents and Trustees made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL)
Adesina had petitioned the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) describing the election as “sham” and sought the cancelation of same
After responding to each allegation, Usoro urged both the winners and losers of the elections to join hands in “healing the wounds and bruises that may have been occasioned by the Elections campaigns and results”
Read the memo below:
To: NBA Past Presidents & Trustees
NBA 2020 NATIONAL OFFICERS’ ELECTION – PETITION BY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MR. JULIUS OLADELE ADESINA, SAN
1. Introduction
1.1 I am sure, like me, you had received your copy of the letter dated 30 July 2020 that was addressed to the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (“ECNBA”) by the past General Secretary and Presidential Candidate in the justconcluded Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA”) 2020 National Officers’ Election. The letter is essentially a “petition against the management of the electoral process” in respect of the National Officers’ Election and calls on the ECNBA “to cancel this sham Election”.
1.2 I believe that I owe you a duty, as Past Presidents and Trustees of our noble Association, a duty to timeously respond to the allegations in Mr. Adesina’s letter, within the limits of my knowledge, and to set the records straight, without prejudice to the fuller response that the ECNBA may eventually send to the NBA and which I will share with you. In responding to Mr. Adesina’s letter, I will segment his allegations into 6 broad areas i.e. the Voters’ List; Disenfranchisement of Members; security of NBA Membership Portal; Members who could not vote; Undeliverable Messages; Election Platform.
2. Mr. Adesina’s Specific Allegations
2.1 Voters’ List
2.1.1 Mr. Adesina complains in his letter that the Verified Voters’ List that was published by the ECNBA on 29 July 2020 “contained grave errors of omission and commission including but not limited to the following:
i. “Names of purported Lawyers without Branches ascribed to them from Serial Number 25171 to 29635;
ii. “Names of Lawyers under the subheading ‘International Diaspora’ from Serial Number 12182 to 12268 . . .
iii. “Inflation of the List of some Branches. For instance, Obollo-Afor Branch on the Final List for Verification had only 39 names on the List from Serial Number 30424 to 30462. Strangely, this increased to 662 on the Verified List;
iv. “Deletion of Names of Members removed from the Final List;
v. “Many Members (sic) names found their way to Branches other than their own Branch (sic)”.
2.1.2 It is correct, as Mr. Adesina points out in his letter, that he spoke with me on these issues just before the commencement of voting but after the ECNBA had issued its Statement No. 19 which clarified the issues in regard to those glitches in the Verified Voters’ List and assured members in very lucid terms thus:
“The ECNBA received complaints of members being placed in branches other than their own. This situation is regretted but arose because members in the course of verification did not fully update information on their current branches and or sex and consequently were assigned the default positions (place holder) on the verification platform.
“Members are advised to proceed to vote and disregard any such branches and or sex assigned to them as these do not bear on eligibility, convenience or result of the election.
Members may wish to update their details on the membership portal of the NBA after the elections. In respect of omitted names, please see the ECNBA previous statements, more particularly ECNBA Statement No. 018.” (Emphasis by ECNBA)
2.1.3 To reinforce the explanations in the ECNBA Statement No. 19, I further explained to Mr. Adesina that (a) all the names in the Verified Voters’ List were drawn from the Final Voters’ List that was published by the ECNBA on 01 July 2020 and that no new names were added; (b) all the names in the Verified Voters’ List are lawyers and had paid their Bar Practicing Fees and Branch Dues and had therefore met the eligibility qualification to vote in the Elections; and (c) the Elections would be determined, not on the basis of NBA branches but based on universal suffrage of the members which is the voting system enshrined in the Nigerian Bar Association Constitution, 2015 (as amended) and we should therefore not be fixated on the electronic glitches that assigned wrong branches to members. I stand by those explanations that I gave to Mr. Adesina and of course the fuller explanations that are contained in the ECNBA Statement No. 19.
2.2 Disenfranchisement of Members
2.2.1 Mr. Adesina claims that there were “several cases of reported disenfranchisement by members whose names were not on the list. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria who contacted the helpline . . . to lodge his complaint was told that it is because he did not have his SAN’s number. Query! Is SAN’s number a requirement”. These complaints are closely tied to the earlier complaint in regard to the Verified Voters’ List and were addressed in the preceding paragraphs of this communication and in the ECNBA’s Statement No. 019.
2.2.2 In specific regard to “members whose names were not on the” Verified Voters’ List, the ECNBA, in its Statement No. 019, had referred members on this issue to “the ECNBA previous statements, more particularly ECNBA Statement No. 018”. I would very respectfully request Mr. Adesina to read again those earlier ECNBA Statements and if, thereafter, there are any specific cases that he wishes to further clarify, he could raise those cases or better still, direct those members to directly raise those issues with the ECNBA.
2.2.3 If, for example, Mr. Adesina had been forthcoming, in his letter, with the details of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria that he illustratively mentioned in the letter, it would have been possible for the ECNBA to verify exactly what the issues might have been and provide answers to Mr. Adesina’s queries. Suffice to state that there were 29,636 verified voters for the 2020 NBA National Officers Election – a number that is far higher than the numbers we had in 2016 and 2018 for the NBA National Officers’ Elections that were held in those years. In my humble opinion, that is an advancement that we should all be proud of and should build on in succeeding Elections.
2.3 Security of NBA Membership Portal
2.3.1 Mr. Adesina also claims in the letter that “issues were . . . raised on the security of the NBA Membership Portal”. It is not quite clear from Mr. Adesina’s letter what “issues” these were. I believe the relevant question to ask in regard to the security of the NBA Membership Portal is whether any member’s security was breached or compromised howsoever vis-à-vis the 2020 NBA National Officers’ Election. Prior to the Elections, I had read some non-specific allegations in that regard by a candidate and had requested for specific instance of any such breach to enable investigation by the NBA. Up till date, I have not received any such specific complaint, and none has been made in regard to the 2020 Elections. The NBA however remains open to investigate any such complaint if any is presented by Mr. Adesina or any other person.
2.4 Members who could not Vote
2.4.1 Mr. Adesina claims in his letter that “very many members, particularly from the Branches in the West, like Ibadan and Ado-Ekiti, did not receive the link to vote and some of those who received the link could not vote. The same protest came from several Branches in the North, like Gombe, Katsina, Birnin-Kebbi, Yobe, and Kaduna . . . The same complaint was lodged vehemently by members of NBA Enugu Branch”. I would separate the complaint about members who “did not receive the link to vote” from the complaint about “those who received the link (but) could not vote” and address the latter in this section while addressing the former in the “Undeliverable Notices” Section below.
2.4.2 It is strange that Mr. Adesina claims that there were members “who received the link” but “could not vote”. The overwhelming evidence that I received and also read on social media was to the effect that the voting process was “seamless” and very easy for our members. I have so far not received any report from any member claiming that he or she had challenges in voting on the basis of the unique link that were sent to members from and by the Election Platform server. In any case, the ECNBA Statement No. 18 that was referenced in the Committee’s Statement No. 19 afore-referenced provided a helpline for members – 0700 5555 2020 – and I am hoping that those members who may have experienced voting challenges after receiving their unique links had contacted that helpline for assistance.
2.4.3 Just before leaving this point, it perhaps bears mentioning that 18,256 ballots were cast in these Elections – i.e. 62% of the Verified Voters. That was by far higher than the number of ballots that were cast in the last 2 (two) NBA National Officers’ Elections since universal suffrage was introduced in 2015. Again, that is a feat which, in my very humble opinion, we should all exult and revel in. It reflects an incremental achievement which succeeding Elections can and should build on.
2.5 “Undeliverable Notices”
2.5.1 As we mentioned in the preceding Section, Mr. Adesina, in his letter complained of members who “did not receive the link to vote” and, in support, he referred to the “undeliverable notices” information that showed on the election monitor dashboard which all our members had access to throughout the duration of the ballot. That dashboard showed that, at the close of ballot at 11pm on Thursday, 30 July 2020, there were “15234 notices undeliverable”. This issue of undeliverable notices was fully and explicitly addressed by the ECNBA in its Statement No. 20 which, for ease of reference, I attach hereto.
2.5.2 Mr. Adesina, in his letter, mistakes the number of undeliverable notices for the number of persons who did not receive notices. That is incorrect. As the ECNBA pointed out in its Statement No. 20, the number of those notices represented the aggregate of the undeliverable notices that were sent to each Verified Voter through the two notification channels – sms and e-mails. It also represents the aggregate number of blasts of such notices to each of the affected Verified Voter. In the ECNBA Statement No. 20, it was stated that there was a minimum of 5 blasts of those notices to each of the affected Verified Voters as at the time of issuing the Statement.
2.5.3 To further break it down and solely illustratively, if Paul Usoro, SAN was one of those Verified Voters whose notices were undeliverable, it means that he had, in the aggregate, 10 undeliverable notices made up of 5 sms and 5 e-mails – and this is based on the minimum 5 notices which the ECNBA, as at the time of issuing its Statement No. 20, indicated had been sent to each of the affected Verified Voters. That number – i.e. 10 undeliverable notices – formed part of the declared “15234 notices undeliverable”; that number did not therefore or howsoever represent the number of persons whose notices were not delivered as erroneously represented by Mr. Adesina.
2.5.4 Meanwhile, I thought that the more inspiring and reassuring aspect of the ECNBA Statement No. 20 was the chronicle of efforts by the Committee to resolve the undeliverable notices issue. Apart from detailing the probable causes of the “undeliverable notices” and providing solutions for those whose DND functionality may have been activated in their mobile phones, the ECNBA further stated thus:
“The ECNBA can confirm at the last check that at least 1,886 individuals of the Undeliverable Notices displayed on the live monitoring platform have since voted, because they got the message through one of the two channels used – Email or SMS. The committee also confirms that messages have been sent using local networks to up to 8,000 numbers with active DND advising them to deactivate same.”
2.5.5 The ECNBA Statement No. 20 afore quoted was released at about 9am on Thursday, 30 July 2020. By 2pm of that day and after the several sms blasts to affected Verified Voters whose DND on their mobile phones were activated, the number of those whose notices were previously undeliverable but were now able to vote had climbed from 1,886 to 6,500; that number was displayed on the live monitoring platform which is still accessible – go.nigerianbar.org.ng/Results. That, in my respectful view, was quite commendable and showed an overarching commitment by the ECNBA to deliver on its mandate.
2.6 Election Platform
2.6.1 Mr. Adesina claims, in his letter “that the System used for this Election was said to have been registered the very day the Election was to start, and MoU was signed on that same day. This was done all alone by the President of the NBA. There was no opportunity to interrogate the System before the commencement of the Election in order to determine its vulnerability, security and capacity. The inability to deliver 14,000 notices to prospective voters 13 hours after the commencement of the Election is not only evidence of lack of capacity on the part of the System but also a clear disenfranchisement of these prospective voters”.
2.6.2 I have already addressed the issue of undeliverable notices in the preceding Section of this communication and I respectfully urge Mr. Adesina to read again the ECNBA Statement No. 20 and also the explanations in the preceding paragraphs hereof. Then would he realize and understand that the inability to deliver those notices was not attributable howsoever to the Election Platform; it had everything to do with the NBA’s poor database (which, in point of fact, has been much improved under the present NBA administration) and the activation of DND in some of our members’ mobile phones.
2.6.3 In regard to the allegations relating to the procurement of the Election Platform, these are all incorrect, to the best of my knowledge. No MoU was signed on the Election Day in regard to the Election Platform. It is not quite clear what Mr. Adesina intends by his assertion that “the System . . . was . . . registered the very day the Election was to start”. As far as I know, the Election Platform, ElectionBuddy, belongs to a foreign company who has provided service such as we had for the NBA 2020 Elections in the past 12 years. Mr. Adesina, with the greatest respect, got his facts in regard to the Election Platform completely wrong. In any case, I would have thought that the more material issue should be whether the Election Platform provided satisfactory service to our members for the Elections. The evidence I have answers that question overwhelmingly in the positive. Mr. Adesina’s letter incidentally did not assert to the contrary. Regardless, the NBA remains open to address any specific queries that Mr. Adesina or any other may have in regard to the Election Platform.
3. Integrity of the Ballot
3.1 One issue – and the most critical– that was not addressed in Mr. Adesina’s letter was the integrity of the ballot for and throughout the Elections. Perhaps I should first comment on the refreshing and complete transparency of the ballot. That is one feature that no one could dispute or quibble over. We were all election monitors, right from the first ballot to the last, using our various devices. It was possible for all our members to track the votes as they were cast. Another unique feature of the Elections was the unique link that was sent to each Verified Voter for him or her to access the platform and cast his/her ballot. That link was unique to the receiver and non-transferable; it was also not possible to use a single link and vote more than once.
3.2 The link was delivered to members both by e-mail and sms and this was to ensure that Verified Voters all received the notification. Upon accessing the Election portal, the unique identifier that enabled voting by members was the Supreme Court Number of each Verified Voter. In effect, even if Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN’s unique link for accessing the Election Portal were to fall into the wrong hands, such wrong hands could not have cast the ballot, using that link except he or they also had Mr. Usoro’s SCN. These were all security measures that were put in place by the ECNBA to ensure the integrity of the ballot and I have not received any report from anyone whomsoever suggesting that these security measures were compromised or breached howsoever.
4. Conclusion
4.1 On a final note, My Dear Presidents and Trustees, permit me to mention that I had consistently committed to a free, fair, credible, transparent and unimpeachable ballot for our members in the 2020 National Officers’ Elections, right from my election in 2018. I had also expressly informed each of the Presidential Candidates during my interactions with them that I would not rig the Election for any candidate neither would the ECNBA. The ECNBA were sworn to the same ideals as I was and I feel very comfortable holding my hand to my chest and declaring that we – the ECNBA and the NBA National Officers – lived up to those ideals in the conduct of the 2020 NBA National Officers’ Elections. I affirm solemnly and, in all conviction, that it was the transparent ballot which we all witnessed and nothing else that produced the winners of the Elections.
4.2 Now that the Elections are gone and past, I would, with the greatest respect, urge all our members, including the erstwhile contestants – both the winners and the losers – to join hands in healing the wounds and bruises that may have been occasioned by the Elections campaigns and results. It is inevitable that, in contests of this nature, there would be such wounds and bruises; we must however not allow them to fester and become open sores and flashpoints for divisions amongst us. That healing process is the most urgent and pressing assignment that we have, and I intend in the coming days to reach out to all the erstwhile contestants in that regard, notably, the Presidential candidates. I solicit your support and assistance, my dear Presidents and Trustees, in that task. There is much work to be done by all of us in the elevation of our Bar and we need to heal fast and then turn our attention, as a united Bar, to those tasks.
4.3 I thank you all for the patience in reading through this communication and wish you a restful weekend and the best of August 2020, the month of our commemorative 60th Annual General Conference which, for the first time, would be held virtually. I hope to see you all at the Conference. Meanwhile, please, stay safe and be well.
The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama has declared support for the stand of Christian Association of Nigeria that the people of Southern Kaduna should embark on self defence if the government failed to stop killings in the area.
The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has recently warned that the predominantly Christian people of Southern Kaduna may result to self defence if the carnage in the area continue.
Answering questions on incessant killings in Southern Kaduna and if he would support CAN’s position of self-defence, Kaigama, told journalists at an Interactive Session in Abuja on Friday that
self-defence was in line with Catholic theology.
According to him, one who is attacked by an aggressor has a right to defend himself or herself.
“We are not supporting any killing but people could defend themselves if an aggressor to wants to kill the person.’’
He, however, said nothing would justify killing because it is against the command of God, expressing dissatisfaction over the high level of killing in the country.
“Killing human beings is criminal and it is a grievous sin. It is totally ungodly and it so sad the way we kill in this country, it does not portray the country in good light.
“I am sad that the killings have not stopped and I am not sure that enough is being done at all levels to bring these killings to a comprehensive stop,’’ the Archbishop said.
Kaigama also said the Church’s offer of its 425 health facilities to the Federal Government to support efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic is still valid.
The Archbishop said some representatives of Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), recently had an online meeting with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to get an update on the offer.
Mr Boss Mustapha, Chairman of Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), had in May announced CBCN’s offer at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 briefing.
The offer was a response to the Federal Government’s concern over the unavailability of adequate bed spaces to accommodate all COVID-19 patients in the country.
Kaigama told the journalists that the Bishops had a Zoom conference with Osinbajo four days ago, where they reminded the government that the offer was to minimise the problem of health care during this pandemic.
“We made it clear that they could equip the facilities, train our personnel so that they will be attentive to the need of people suffering from COVID-19.
“I want to say that the offer is still valid but I am not sure there is good use being made of our facilities that we have offered.
“They even identified a few facilities in Abuja, Kaduna and somewhere else, they said they were going to collaborate with us but so far, not much has happened,’’ he said.
Reacting to the state of education system, Kaigama suggested that a state of emergency be declared on the education sector.
“Certainly, that is what I am asking for.
“There has to be total overhauling of the educational system.
“We must give serious consideration to future of our young ones and we cannot emphasise any better that the government should consider education as fundamental to progress, to alleviating all social problems.
“Without good education that is holistic and that can shape the mind to be positive and to contribute selflessly to the good of society, we will have a wide population of young people who have no values.
“There should be drastic revolution and fundamental overhauling of the educational system in the country.’’
Similarly, the Archbishop called for reforms in anti-corruption agencies, especially EFCC and ICPC, to enable them perform optimally.
“We must find a way of addressing corruption; if these institutions are not serving Nigerians well, there should be a change if they are not fulfilling their mandate.
“The bodies should do their work with every objectivity and integrity. They should close their eyes and watch out for criminals in the society.
“They should follow anybody in respective of party, tribe or religion. If they are doing this, nobody will have any issue with the bodies.
“They need to be objective, sincere and they need to be God fearing; anyone employed to work in this organisations should fear God,’’ he said.
Kaigama, who recently celebrated his 39th anniversary as a Catholic Priest, said that his most memorable day on earth was the day he became a Catholic Priest.
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