Constitutional crisis; violence tarnish NLC election

A major constitutional crisis marred the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) election yesterday, as members’ political leaning truncated the 11th delegates’ conference, which was expected to have produced new officers.

The situation may have been fanned by the general elections coming up later in March. While the power of incumbency rests with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party is not unmindful of former president of the NLC and Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, who is a member of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

Unconfirmed report in Abuja said yesterday that there had been meetings between some power blocks in the NLC with the PDP and APC, as both sought to get labour’s backing in the forthcoming election and were not leaving anything to chance in the race to get their preferred candidates into office.

Sign of trouble began when the National President of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Najeem Yasin, was cleared by the delegates’ conference to contest as a deputy president. The Credentials Committee headed by the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nasir Fagge, and Secretary, Emma Ugboaja, had earlier disqualified Yasin on the ground of improper filling of nomination form.

This clearance also opened the door for the President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG), Igwe Achese, who stepped down for the General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Joe Ajaero. The withdrawal was seen as a violation of the constitution but was allowed because of the earlier waiver granted Yasin. Igwe was therefore cleared to contest for deputy president.

CBN under pressure to devalue the naira

Recent developments in the foreign exchange market are putting the Central Bank of Nigeria under intense pressure to further devalue the naira.

The currency has been experiencing free fall since November 25, 2014 when the CBN Monetary Policy Committee devalued it by eight per cent from 155 to 168 against the United States dollar.

Following Saturday’s announcement of the postponement of the general elections by six weeks, the naira on Monday plunged from 188 to 200 against the dollar.

The Bankers’ Committee gave the hint of further devaluation on Thursday just as the nation’s External Reserves dropped by $1bn in 12 days.

The committee, which comprises the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, the deputy governors, chief executive officers of Deposit Money Banks and other stakeholders, said the managers of the economy, including the CBN, were currently seeking a new level to devalue the already battered currency.

Members of the committee met for over three hours in Lagos to review developments in the banking sector and the economy, among other issues.

The meeting, which was chaired by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, later appointed the Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Segun Agbaje; Managing Director, FCMB, Ladi Balogun; Managing Director, CitiBank Nigeria, Omar Hafeez; and Director, Banking Supervision, CBN, Tokunbo Martins, to brief the press on some of its deliberations.

Picture Speaks...Ramsey and family

Ramsey Nouah is married to Emelia Philips-Nouah. The couple have two sons and a daughter, named as Quincy Camil Nouah, Desiree Nouah.

Wenger airs his view on the win

Arsène Wenger spoke to the media following Tuesday night's 2-1 win against Leicester City. This is what he had to say:

on it being close towards the end…
Yes, towards the end but it is always like that when it’s 2-1. I feel that we were in control for the first half but when we were in control they had one or two good chances on the counter-attack. In the second half we lost our cohesion, our technical superiority and Leicester was always dangerous going forward. They are very quick in transition from defence into attack. At 2-1 we became a bit nervous but overall what was important for us was to get the three points.
on feeling the effects of the north London derby…
Yes it was a bit in their head, especially in the second half in the legs. Tottenham lost in the last minute as well. It was a very intense game on Saturday and three days later, it’s not easy.

On Alexis and Wilshere – A. Wenger

Arsène Wenger has revealed the latest team news ahead of Tuesday night's game against Leicester City.
 
“Alexis will be back in the group and we don’t have any injuries from Saturday. Everybody else looked fine yesterday,” he said.
He’s our best goal scorer and one of our hardest-working players in the team. Physically I think we suffered a little bit on some occasions on Saturday and it’s good to have him back.





 
On Jack Wilshere…
 
He’s back in full training this week. I don’t know exactly [how long until he returns], we have to monitor him on a daily basis and see how he develops.

Statement on the Timetable for 2015 General Elections

STATEMENT ON THE TIMETABLE FOR 2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS BY THE CHAIRMAN, INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC), PROFESSOR ATTAHIRU M. JEGA, AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON FEBRUARY 07th, 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Introduction

We invited you here today to make known the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the timetable for the 2015 general elections. Let me state from the outset that the Commission’s position was reached after carefully weighing the suggestions from briefings held with different stakeholders in the electoral process.

The conduct of elections in a country like Nigeria is invariably a collective venture that involves not just the Election Management Body (EMB), but also a diverse range of stakeholders, notably security agencies, political parties and their candidates, voters, as well as interest groups, such as the civil society organizations and the media. To guarantee successful conduct of elections, there are things that are wholly the responsibility of the EMB. But there are other things critical for the success of elections, which fall outside the control of the EMB. 

In other words, while INEC must work hard to perfect its systems and processes for conducting elections, and take responsibility for any imperfections thereof, whatever the Commission does may not by itself be sufficient to guarantee the success of elections. There are a number of issues in the preparation and conduct of an election, the most critical of which is security, which is not under the control of INEC. 

Brian Williams 'temporarily' steps down

US NBC anchor, Brian Williams has said he is temporarily taking himself off air, days after apologising for wrongly saying he came under fire in Iraq.

Williams said it had become "painfully apparent" that he was too much a part of the news. He repeatedly told a story about being shot down in a helicopter in Iraq but veterans disputed his account.

Williams, the most-watched network anchor in the US, blamed the "fog of memory" for the lapse.