The Independent National Electoral Commission in Anambra State, has raised concerns about 132,623 Permanent Voter Cards which are yet to be claimed in the 21 local government areas of the state.
The Resident electoral commissioner, Queen Agwu, stated this on Wednesday at the INEC headquarters in Awka, Anambra State.
She added that the commission would open its offices on Saturdays and Sundays, urging voters who have not collected their PVCs to go and pick their PVCs, while the new batch of PVCs from the recent voter registration exercise was still being expected.
She said the commission has equally relocated six local government areas collation centres in the state over insecurity. Agwu listed the local government areas where the relocation of collation centres took place as Ihiala, Nnewi South, Onitsha North, Orumba North, Awka North and Awka South.
The REC said the collation of PVCs had been extended to Saturdays and Sundays in Anambra State, adding that they needed enough security to carry out their function.
Agwu assured that 2023 general elections would be free, fair and credible, not only in Anambra State, but the entire country.
The figures at each of the 21 local government areas not collated as announced by INEC, were as follows: Ayamelum -1,960, Dunukofia -6,222, Idemili South -4’589.
Others were,l Anaocha -885, Orumba South -6,656, Onithsa South -12,274, Idemili North -16,256, Aguata -12675, Njikoka -7,009, Ogbaru -10,755 and Anambra East -7,717;
Nnewi South -1,841, Awka North -1,153, Anambra West -1,387, Orumba North -2,393, Oyi -7,982, Onitsha North -9,990, Ihiala -4,058, Nnewi North -8,700, Ekwusigo -3,350 and Awka South -4,971.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission; ICPC has confirmed the detention of Nigerian Pop star, D’Banj, real name Oladipo Oyebanjo, over allegations of fraud associated with the N-Power programme.
The spokesperson for the anti-graft agency, Azuka Ogugua, in a statement, noted that investigation was ongoing into the matter.
The N-Power was a scheme established by the regime of the President, President Muhammadu Buhari on June 8, 2016, to address youth unemployment and help increase social development.
Ogugua said, “In line with its mandate, the commission received numerous petitions on the diversion of N-Power funds running into billions of naira following the approval and release of such funds to the beneficiaries by the Federal Government.
“Many N-Power beneficiaries had complained over the non-receipt of the monthly funds in spite of payment by the government.”
Ogugua noted that about 10 persons had been invited by the ICPC over the last few months in connection with the fraud and granted administrative bail.
She said several invitations to Oyebanjo to appear before a team of investigators were ignored.
“Mr Oyebanjo turned himself in and was taken into custody at the ICPC headquarters on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, and is currently assisting investigators to unravel the circumstances of the fraud allegations by the petitioners.
“The investigation will be all-encompassing and extended to other collaborators of the fraud and the banks where the beneficiaries’ accounts are domiciled,” Ogugua added.
The artiste’s lawyer, Maryam Musa, in a statement, described reports of his arrest as “misconceived, malicious and prejudicial to the justice system.”
The statement read in part, “D’banj has no such contractual or incidental relationship whatsoever with any group or persons within or outside government in relation to the disbursement, operation, access or control of the operation of any government fund through an agency or its subsidiaries.
“D’banj has encouraged the commission to carry out its investigation thoroughly to ensure that characters attempting to bring him into such ridiculous activities are brought to book.
“The general public is advised to resist the urge to buy into media sensationalism which is unsurprising but regardless harmful to the course of the truth which D’banj has willingly set himself on by honouring the ICPC’s summons.
“We retain the hope that the thoroughness of the ICPC will in no time exonerate D’banj of all and every allegation levelled against his person…”
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, on Wednesday, said it reported the sharp practices perpetrated by some payment service providers of its N-Power programme.
The ministry also said it never announced anyone as an ambassador of the National Social Investment Programme, which had the N-Power scheme as one of its arms.
Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Sani Gwarzo, said, “We are aware that certain persons have consequently been invited for interrogation as part of the ongoing investigations. In the meantime, we have carried out thorough reinforcement of our systems to eliminate all anomalies and prevent similar occurrences in the future.”
The newly formed Congress of University Academics has berated the Federal Government, especially the Ministry of Labour and Employment, over the non-payment of its members’ withheld salaries “even when the government knew that the union did not call for strike action and its members were not involved in the strike action that lasted for eight months and which shut down the university system nationwide.”
CONUA, in a statement on Tuesday, signed by its National President, Secretary and Publicity Secretary, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, Dr Henry Oripeloye and Dr Ernest Nwoke, respectively, said it was wrong for the FG to lump CONUA with members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities who went on eight months strike between February and October, 2022.
The new union of lecturers thereby viewed to sue FG for withholding its members’ salaries.
The statement reads in parts, “CONUA formally made its non-involvement in the strike known to the Federal Government in a letter addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, in April 2022.
“In the letter, we made it clear that because CONUA constituted a separate and independent union in the university system, our members did not call for any strike. This was followed by a Press Conference in Abuja on August 19, 2022 at which it was categorically stated that CONUA was not part of any ongoing strike, and that the “No Work No Pay” principle ought not to apply to members of the union.
“CONUA’s expectation is that, due to the express and categorical declaration, the government would seamlessly release our members’ outstanding salaries when it resumed the payment of salaries to all university staff in October 2022. But to our dismay, CONUA members were also paid pro-rata salaries in complete disregard to the fact that we were indeed shut out of duties by the strike.
“Subsequently, we wrote to the Accountant-General of the Federatıon and the Ministry of Labour and Employment reminding them that it was an error to lump our members with those that declared and embarked on strike action. It was yet another shock for the outstanding backlog of salaries not to have been paid to our members along with the November 2022 salary.”
CONUA said the non-payment of “our withheld salaries” contravenes Section 43 (1b) of the Trade Disputes Act CAP. T8, which stated that “where any employer locks out his workers, the workers shall be entitled to wages and any other applicable remunerations for the period of the lock-out and the period of the lock-out shall not prejudicially affect any rights of the workers being rights dependent on the continuity of period of employment.”
“This provision is consistent with global best practices,” it added.
