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NEMA partners stakehokders to mitigate electoral violence
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it is partnering with relevant stakeholders to mitigate electoral violence in forth the coming general elections.
The agency’s Director-General, Alhaji Mustapha Ahmed, stated this at a stakeholder’s workshop on “Awareness, Preparedness and mitigation of electoral violence in Nigerian elections’’ organised by the agency on Wednesday in Jos.
He said that the partnership was imperative considering the prevalence of electoral violence during elections period in the country.
Ahmed who was represented by North- Central Zonal Coordinator, Mr Eugene Nyelong, said that such violence must be curtailed to allow genuine democracy to thrive.
“Our overall objective is to ensure that every eligible citizen exercise his/her franchise peacefully at forthcoming general elections,” he said.
He, however, said that there was the need for all stakeholders to put all hands-on deck to mitigate the recurrence of electoral violence’s in our electoral system.
“Based on the principles of early warning approach to disaster risk management, effective sensitisation is an important tool.
“There is no gain saying that the success or otherwise of the 2023 general elections do not only rest on the INEC but on every Nigerian,’’ he said.
Ahmed further stated that although political consciousness of the people has risen, it would be a serious risk to be off alert.
“We have to use every opportunity to sensitise, discourage violent activities and encourage peaceful, transparent and credible polls,” he said.
In his speech, the Director-General, Plateau Peace Building Agency, Mr Joseph Lengmang, said that the workshop would significantly reduce the scale of electoral violence in the country, especially in Plateau.
Lengmang said that advocacy, sensitisation and engagement of stakeholders would no doubt mitigate electoral violence.
“If the electoral process is transparent, people will have confidence in the electoral process and there will less violence.
“Anybody who is dissatisfied should follow the legal window to address the perceived injustice instead of taking laws into their hands,” he said.
The INEC Head of Voter Education in Plateau, Mr Michael Otokpa, said that the commission had adopted some methodologies strategies to prevent and manage electoral violence.
According to him, such strategies include regular stakeholders’ meetings, interactive sections, workshops and direct contact dialogue with security agencies.
“Also, INEC has identified principal political actors as well as the leadership of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) that represents all the registered political parties for regular interaction,” he said.
He assured the participants that INEC would continue to sensitise the people to electoral processes.
The American International School of Abuja has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to provide “authentic banking details” for the refund of fees paid for the children of Yahaya Bello, immediate-past governor of Kogi state.
Bello allegedly paid $720,000 in advance as fees for five of his children from the coffers of the Kogi State Government.
The children are in Grade Levels 2 to 8 at the school.
On April 17, EFCC operatives laid siege on Bello’s residence in Abuja in an attempt to arrest him over an alleged N80.2 billion fraud.
While the operatives were at the house, Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi, arrived at the property and reportedly whisked Bello away.
In a letter addressed to the Lagos Zonal Commander of the EFCC, the school said the sum of $845,852 has been paid in tuition “since the 7th of September 2021 to date.”
AISA said the sum to be refunded is $760,910 because it had deducted educational services already rendered.
“Please forward to us an official written request, with the authentic banking details of the EFCC, for the refund of the above-mentioned funds as previously indicated as part of your investigation into the alleged money laundering activities by the Bello family,” the letter reads.
It added, “Since the 7th September 2021 to date, $845,852.84 in tuition and other fees have been deposited into our bank account.
“We have calculated the net amount to be transferred and refunded to the State, after deducting the educational services rendered as $760,910.84.
“No further additional fees are expected in respect of tuition as the students’ fees have now been settled until they graduate from ASIA.”
The school said it would draw the attention of the anti-graft agency if there were any further deposits by the Bello family.
In a statement signed by Greg Hughes, AISA also said “Ali Bello contacted the school on Friday 13 August 2021 requesting to pay the family school fees in advance until the students graduate from High School”.
The Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, had earlier revealed that the former governor transferred $720,000 from the government’s coffers to a bureau de change before leaving office to pay in advance for his child’s school fee.
Olukoyede revealed this during an interview with journalists on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said, “A sitting governor, because he knows he is going, moved money directly from government to bureau de change, used it to pay the child’s school fee in advance, $720,000 in advance, in anticipation that he was going to leave the Government House.
“In a poor state like Kogi, and you want me to close my eyes to that under the guise of ‘I’m being used.’ Being used by who at this stage of my life?”
The Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Sonny Echono, has faulted claims that he was in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Echono said this while reacting to the anti-corruption agency’s claim that the education fund’s boss was in its custody.
“The executive secretary of TETFund is here with us. He has been invited for questioning. He is still in custody. He was invited yesterday.” Bakare said.
“He was invited on Thursday. He has not been released. He’s still with us. Investigation is still ongoing,” the ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare, told TheCable on Friday, explaining that Echono was invited on Thursday.
But debunking the claims, Echono said he was in his office contrary to the ICPC’s claim.
“I wasn’t detained by the ICPC. I’m currently in my office. One of our directors was invited by the ICPC to tender documents. But the official has since been released,” Echono also told TheCable.
The platform on April 18, 2024, reported how TETfund awarded two contracts to Fides Et Ratio Academy and Pole Global Marketing within two months at the cost of N3.8 billion respectively without the approval of the federal executive council, which is required for the contract size.
The contract was to provide capacity-building courses and learning management systems to about 2 million students across higher institutions in the country.
In a rejoinder, TETFund said it did not award N7.6 billion contracts to two companies without due process.
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