NIGERIA BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PERIOD, 12 – 14 APRIL 2011

8/6/2019 NIGERIA BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PERIOD, 12 14 APRIL 2011

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INEC disagree with Poll Observers said 38 persons perish for NASS election, as INEC confirms arrest of

Governor Suswams ADC, 136 others: No fewer than 38 persons lost their lives while several others were

wounded during the conduct of the National Assembly elections last weekend according to report released by

the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday, April 13. This is against the report by

the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Election Observer Mission in Nigeria who said over 100 persons lost

their lives as a result of violence and bombing incidents which took place in the wake of the National Assembly

polls last Saturday. the Also, INEC in the report, confirmed the arrest of not fewer than 136 persons including

the Police detail to the Benue state Governor, Gabriel Suswam, DSP Olu Power, four soldiers and three INEC adhoc staff. Out of the 38 who lost their lives, 19 were killed in Borno in various circumstances while 61 out of

the 136 arrested were in Abuja. According to the report, the 38 persons, who lost their lives, include 13 who

died in the bomb blast at INEC office in Suleja, Niger state and six others including two police men, who died in

another bomb blast at a polling unit in Borno state. Also, the dead included three police officers, one Federal

Road Safety Commission (FRSC) official, PDP local government chairman and four others, who were killed in

Borno state.

INEC Chairman and RECs in crucial meeting: Top officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission

(INEC) including National Commissioners, Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the 36 states of the

federation and departmental heads will today hold a crucial closed door meeting to perfect plans that will

ensure a hitch free Presidential election on Saturday. INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega had earlier

announced that the commission will leave nothing to chance in the election which has drawn a lot of interest

and anxiety among Nigerians and in the international community. The officials are expected to use the

meeting to review the conduct of last Saturdays National Assembly election and to adopt practical measures

to tackle some of the problems observed.

Ahead of Presidential poll, Jega orders update of voter register: Ahead of the Presidential election on

Saturday, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has

ordered an update of the voter register to accommodate all those whose names were missing in the register

used for the National Assembly elections last week. The commission has also opened investigations into the

crisis that is rocking Anambra state over the winner of Anambra Central senatorial elections contested by

former Information Minister, Professor Dora Akunyili (APGA) and former Anambra state governor, Chris Ngige

(ACN). The commission has also opened investigation into the alleged diversion of ballot materials by servingSenator Heineken Lokpobiri (Balyelsa South) as well as other cases of electoral malpractices during the last

Saturday parliamentary poll.

PDP disowns Bayelsa Senator over alleged electoral fraud: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday

disowned the Senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial district, who was accused of forcefully diverting

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials and electoral materials to his residence with the

aim of manipulating the recently concluded National Assembly election in his favour. PDP acting National

Chairman Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, while fielding questions at a press briefing at the partys headquarters

yesterday stated that the PDP would not shield any of its members that engages in criminality.

Polls Observers said 100 Persons Die During National Assembly: In its report on the election, which waspresented to newsmen in Abuja Monday, April 11 the Institute said though there were a number of

irregularities during the election, the magnitude was not enough to smear the credibility of the process.

Presenting the report, leader of the NDI delegation and former Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Joe Clark Clark,

said the delegation joined Nigerians and other members of the international community in condemning the

violence during the election process, noting that the violent incidents were regrettable.

ACN Leader, Tinubu flown to Abuja in presidential jet: A mild drama ensued at the Presidential Lounge of the

Murtala Muhammed Airport last night when the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, arrived


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in a two-car convoy and after waiting a few minutes, boarded a Presidential jet obviously sent from Abuja to

ferry him to the capital city. He was accompanied by some aides. The planes registration number is 5N FGU.

Curious reporters could not extract any word from the Action Congress of Nigeria chieftain. Speculations had

however been rife since last weekends visit to Lagos by President Goodluck Jonathan, during which he

reportedly met with Tinubu that the President may have begun courting Tinubu ahead of Saturdays

presidential election.

Nigeria opposition fails to strike election pact: Nigeria's two main opposition parties have failed to reach aneleventh-hour alliance to unseat President Goodluck Jonathan, leaving them divided ahead of elections in

three days time. Officials from the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria

(ACN) held hours of talks late into Tuesday night and again on Wednesday on the possibility of fielding a single

candidate against Jonathan. Options under discussion had included former anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu,

the ACN presidential candidate, stepping down and supporting the candidacy of former military ruler

Muhammadu Buhari of the CPC, opposition sources said. Last Saturday's parliamentary polls, in which the ACN

gained seats but the CPC perform less strongly than expected in some areas, further complicated the chances

of an opposition pact.

Security Men stop protest as Opposition rejects National Assembly elections

1. Security operatives on Wednesday aborted a planned protest by the Rivers State chapter of the ActionCongress of Nigeria (ACN) and invited its National Treasurer, Kenneth Kobani, for questioning. Aggrieved

members of the party had gone to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to

protest over the results of last Saturdays National Assembly election results, which the party said were

fraught with irregularities. However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which won all the 13 House of

Representatives and three senatorial seats, has described the election as free and fair. The ACN members

were dispersed by security operatives guarding INEC office along Aba Road, Port Harcourt.

2. In Oyo State, former Governor Lam Adesina declared that the ACN in the state would go before theelection petition tribunal to contest the results of Oyo North Senatorial District and three other

constituencies won by the PDP.

3. The coalition of opposition political parties in Ebonyi State has called for the outright cancellation of theApril 9, 2011 National Assembly election in the state, citing gross irregularities, including alleged diversionof polling materials by the PDP to private homes, use of military and police personnel to intimidate and

browbeat voters.

NIGERIA STOCK EXCAHNGE

Mobius Buys Nigeria's Bank Stocks as Election Violence Sinks Valuations:Clashes in the run-up to Nigerias

elections that killed at least 100 people and the governments bailout of banks have made the nations stocks

so cheap that Mark Mobius, Standard Bank Plc and Renaissance Capital say its time to buy. Nigerias shares

tumbled 11 percent from this years peak in January, reducing the MSCI Nigeria Index to its lowest valuation

compared with the MSCI Frontier Markets Index since December 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Bank shares trade 30 percent below the average for lenders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa relative toassets, according to data from Renaissance Capital.

ECONOMY

Economy sinks on heavy overheads, bloated recurrent expenditure as Anya asks FG to prune MDAs,

legislatures allowance: Nigerias high expenditure pattern, especially recurrent and overheads, is adversely

affecting its developmental growth. An Expenditure Review Committee, set up last year by government,
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headed by Professor Anya O. Anya submitted its report last week with a clarion call to government to cut its

coat to size. Professor Anya O. Anya, renowned professor of economics could not hide his discontent for

government spiraling recurrent expenditure level. He chaired the expenditure review committee, inaugurated

last year by the Federal Government in the wake of huge government recurrent expenditure position.

Basically, Anyas committee is to assess re current expenditure level of government and come up with

measures and strategies for a review.

ECA rises to $6.9b as Federal Government, States, and Local Governments share N424.6bn : The AccountantGeneral of the Federations office on Monday, April 11 hinted that the nations Excess Crude Account (ECA) has

strengthened to $6.9 billion from about $2 billion as at the end of last year. This amount excludes the $1 billion

set aside for Sovereign Wealth Fund and the development soothes rising concerns that government has

embarked on a spending spree of its earnings, refusing to save its excess even in the face of current high oil

prices. At the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja where the three

federating units shared N424.578 billion as March allocation, Babayo Shehu, Director of Funds at the AGF

office said that about $1 billion was transferred to the dollar component of the Account this month while N70

billion went into the domestic part. The FAAC shared N424.578 billion out of the N615.061 billion total gross

revenue received for the month of March and was lower than N721.684 billion collected for the month of

February. However of the N424.578 billion that was actually shared by three federating units, N357.933 billion

was the statutory revenue which was N0.124 billion lower than February amount. There was no Exchange gain

because the prevailing exchange rate of N149.71 per dollar is lower than the N150 set as benchmark. Out of

the Statutory Revenue Allocation of N357.933 billion, the Federal Government received N168.842 billion

(about 52.68 per cent); States, N85.639 billion (about 26.72 per cent) and Local Government Councils, N66.024

billion (20.60 per cent).

CBN Wants Exchange Rate to Remain Within 3% Band: Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi , on Tuesday April 12 said the countrys official exchange rate will remain within the

band of three percent above or below N150 per dollar even if demand for forex grows amid elections.

Bloomberg quoted Sanusi to have stated that the + or 3 three per cent band is wide enough to guard against

flexibility. The CBN had sold a total of $250 million at Mondays auction at the Wholesale Dutch Auction

System (WDAS), less than the $351 million demanded by the 22 banks that participated in the auction.

Investors concern over the recent surge of election and sectarian violence had triggered increased domesticdemand for foreign currency and that had weakened the Naira, which reached an 18-month low to the dollar

in inter-bank trading on March 17. The official exchange rate is currently at the mid -point of the band

targeted by the apex bank, and will be driven by considerations of sustainable trends and not short term

pressure, Sanusi said. Foreign-currency reserves had climbed 8 percent this year to $35 billion on April 7,

according to figures from the CBN.

Nigeria Attracts 10% of Sub-Saharan Equity Issuance in the Q1: Despite the lull and bearish trend the Nigerian

capital market witnessed in the first quarter (Q1) of 2011, the market accounted for 10 pe cent of the equity

issuance in the sub-Saharan Africa in Q1. Equity market issuance for the quarter stood at $1.9 billion, which is a

leap of 179 per cent above the $680 million in the corresponding period of 2010.Out of the $1.9 billion,

Nigerian market accounted for $196 million, while South Africa led with 58 per cent. Mauritius occupied thesecond position with 29 per cent. An analysis of the issuance showed that convertible bonds were the most

issue type this year with $1.4 billion, which is more than 70 per cent of the activity.

POWER

NERC to Partner Agencies on Power Equipment: In a bid to ensure a regulatory framework that would

increase local content in equipment production for power sector, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory


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Commission (NERC) has agreed to work in partnership with Power Equipment and Electrical Machinery

Development (PEEMAD), Okene, Kogi State.

BANKING

Savannah Bank re-opened:Savannah Bank Plc has opened a contact office in Abuja where inquiries about it

can be made, the Executive Director Patricia Nwobodo said on Tuesday, 12 th April in Abuja. The bank has also

mobilized consultants to develop strategies towards opening its branches and commencing banking operationsacross the country, Nwobodo said. She spoke through Sunny Igwe Okoro. Savannah Banks license was revoked

by CBN on February 12, 2002 on the grounds of unethical practices and inability to meet its financial

obligations. A Federal High Court in Abuja had in a judgment delivered on October 20, 2006, upheld the action

of the CBN. However, the Court of Appeal on February 5, 2009 ordered the CBN to restore the license of the

bank. The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) had returned the banks branches to it that it can re-

value its assets and commence operations.

NATIONAL NEWS

18 people lost their lives in an auto crash along Kaduna/Abuja Expressway: 18 persons were killed when a

Kaduna bound commercial 18-seater bus rammed into a broken down trailer in the early hours of Tuesday in

front of Government Girls College, Sabon Wuse. The heavy duty truck broke down on the highway some days

ago and the people expected Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to take it off the road but they did not.

That angered the youths within the neighboring villages who took rampage on the FRSC and Police outpost

there setting them on fire and vehicles belonging to various offenders. The irate youths who said they had told

the FRSC officials about the danger of not removing the truck from the highway went on rampage and burnt

down the truck, a police special operations vehicle (Operation Zuma), and a Peugeot 406 sedan belonging to

the Area Commander of the Police in Suleja, Mr. Mohammed Lemu. The police vehicles had stormed the scene

of the crash for rescue operations.

Buhari weeps for Nigeria, ends campaign: Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, 13th April shed his hard man

image and broke down in tears at the end of his campaign in Abuja, a surprise take for someone who launchedthe War Against Indiscipline (WAI) three decades ago and who, up to now, does not flinch in the face of

daunting tasks. He lost his voice and wept for Nigeria in the middle of a speech announcing his last run for

President, if he fails to make it on Saturday on the platform of his new Congress for Progressive Change (CPC),

which would be the third time. Buhari would be 71 in 2015 when the next election will hold. Tears ran down

the cheeks of the former military Head of State at a point when he was dedicating his life to ending the

suffering of all the people of Nigeria. This campaign is the third and last one for me; after it, I will not present

myself again for election into the office of the President, he declared at the International Conference Centre

in Abuja.

Documents

NIGERIA BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PERIOD, 12 – 14 APRIL 2011