Politics
Assembly Invites TUC, NLC, Others Over Employment
Notwithstanding the Rivers State Golden Jubilee celebrations that have ostensibly taken its toll on the activities of the State House of Assembly, the House engaged itself in various events last week.
Last Wednesday, the House, at its only plenary in the week, summoned Halliburton Energy Services over discrimination against Rivers indigenes working in the company.
The resolution of the House followed a motion by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Martin Amaewhule and the lawmaker representing Obio/Akpor Constituency II, Hon. Michael Chinda.
The House later invited the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the State Attorney General.
Announcing the resolution of the House, the Assembly speaker, Rt Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani said the House decided to invite the unions and the Attorney General for a holistic and broader investigation into the working conditions of staff in the employ of companies operating in the State.
Presenting the motion, Hon. Amaewhule sought the condemnation of the systematic discrimination against Rivers indigenes in the company. He also wants the Assembly to invite the management of the company on the vexed issue of constitutional breach and discrimination against Rivers indigenes working in the company.
Also at the plenary session, the member representing Port Harcourt Constituency I, Hon.Smart Adoki presented a petition from the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) host communities in the constituency, urging the Assembly to stop the Company from operating in their areas, if the company refuses to employ indigenes of the State.
The lawmaker representing Ahaoda West Constituency, Hon. Okpokiri Nwanaka Okpokiri also presented a petition seeking the intervention of the Assembly in the face-off between the company and the host communities in the area.
According to him, NAOC has, over the years, neglected all the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the communities and the company.
The Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani after consultation committed the two petitions to the House Committees on Energy and Employment, and directed that their reports be submitted at the next sitting.
The House resolved to embark on oversight visits to project sites to appraise Governor Nyesom Wike’s performance so far.
The resolution followed the motion sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Marshal Umom and 30 other members of the House.
Last Tuesday, the chairman, House Committee on Environment, Hon. Christian Ahiakwo led members of the committee on a visit to the office of the secretary to the State Government (SSG) to officially inform the State Government on the Environmental Summit slated for June, 2017.
The SSG represented by the Permanent Secretary in the office, Dr George Nwaeke, pledged government’s full support to the summit.
Same Tuesday, the majority leader of the House played host to the Nigerian Institute of Building, Rivers State Chapter.
The Majority Leader, Hon. Martin Amaewhule called for the introduction of building technology to the tertiary institution’s curriculum.
He said its introduction would reduce to the barest minimum, unemployment and youth restiveness in the country.
The chairman of the institute, Moses Ugheoke had decried the absence of the course in the tertiary institutions.
Enoch Epelle
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”