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Court Grants Prisoners Right To Vote
A Federal High Court sitting in Benin, the Edo State capital, has ruled that inmates of all prisons across Nigeria have the right to vote in all elections conducted in the country.
Ruling Tuesday, in a suit filed by Victor Emenuwe, Onome Inaye, Kabiru Abu, Osagie Iyekepolor, Modugu Odion (for and on behalf of inmates of Nigeria Prisons) against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Prisons Service, the court presided over by Justice Mohammed Lima compelled the defendants to ensure that the applicants (being the prisoners) are not disenfranchised.
The plaintiffs had in an amended Originating Summons, prayed the court to determine “whether having regards to the provisions of section 25 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended in 2011, and section 12 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010, the plaintiffs are not entitled to be registered as voters by the first Defendants.”
Other reliefs sought by the plaintiffs were that the court should determine whether having regard to the provisions of Section 77 (2) ?of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and Section 12 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010, the plaintiffs are not entitled to cast their votes at any election; and whether the failure of the first defendant to make registration and voting provisions for the inmates in the custody of the 2nd Defendant does not constitute an infringement on their rights as citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as enshrined in section 14 (1) (2) (a) (b), section 17 (2) (a), section 24 (b), (c), section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Article 13 (1) and Article 20 (1) of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.
Justice Lima in his ruling held that “any act by the first Defendant to deny inmates the right to vote is unconstitutional, illegal, irregular, unlawful, null and void and of no effect whatsoever; that the Defendants do not have the constitutional right to deny the claimants their voting rights; that being an inmate is not an offence that impedes their registration and voting right under section 24 of the Electoral Act; and that? the exclusion of inmates in elections conducted in Nigeria is illegal, ultra vires and null and void.”
The judge further gave an order of mandatory injunction directing the first Defendant to update and include in the National register of voters names of citizens in the custody of second defendant and an order of mandatory injunction tasking INEC and the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Prisons Service to include the plaintiffs as well as make the environment comfortable for them to exercise their franchise.
Reacting to the judgment, Counsel to the plaintiffs, Barrister Aigbokhan, hailed the ruling, stressing that erosion of inmates’ rights to vote creates dangerously fragile environment for overall human rights in the light of 365 days of human right that is the theme of human right in 2014.
“The judgment is a wedge on the slippery slope of creating second class citizens in Nigeria,” he said.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.