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NBC Assures On Digital Switch Over Completion

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The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) says the Digital Switch Over (DSO) project will be completed by middle of 2022 when the country will fully transit from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting.
The Acting Director-General of the commission, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, gave the assurance during an interview with newsmen in Abuja yesterday.
“With the commitment of N9.4 billion by the Federal Government and the setting up of the Ministerial Task Force by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, there will be accelerated activities toward the delivery of the project,” he said.
It would be recalled that the minister on February 23 announced the approval of the fund at the inauguration of the 14-member Ministerial Task Force to drive the DSO rollout in the remaining 31 states.
Idachaba said that with the launch of the pilot programme in Jos, Plateau in 2016, followed by Abuja and subsequently Kwara, Kaduna, Enugu and lastly Osogbo, in February 2018, the launch had now resumed in big cities.
“We are going to Lagos very soon and before the third quarter of this year, we would have covered, at least, five more states.
“The signal distributors are ready and, as we speak, they are setting up their infrastructure in Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Kano, preparatory to the roll out.
“The box manufacturers are also working to ensure the availability of boxes needed.
“There is a big ambition to achieve this national assignment and the good news is that all the component players within the ecology are ready to go.
“By the plans we have, by the middle of 2022, we would have completed the digital switch over in Nigeria,’’ he said.
Idachaba gave credit to the minister for his vision in the implementation of the DSO project, stressing that the Task Force he set up was all encompassing.
“We have as part of the members, a representative of the Minister of Finance.
“I must put on record the huge support we have enjoyed from the minister in trying to push through the idea of making available the fund approved for the roll out.
“If I get the body language well, I think there are obvious signs that money will be released on time and the usual bottlenecks will not happen this time,’’ he said.
The NBC boss said they had done a retrospective analysis of what had been done over the time and identified the gaps.
He expressed the confidence that they would have a faster and seamless roll out across states, having resolved all disputes that could lead to legal cog.
Idachaba faulted the belief in certain quarters that the country missed two deadlines – June 2015 and July 2020 – owing to poor conception, mismanagement, corruption and bad leadership.
He explained that transiting from analogue to digital broadcasting all over the world is not a tea party because it is a highly demanding, tasking endeavor.
“No country has set a date and actualised it on the first set date.
“In the UK, they had to revise their entire transition strategy after they had pumped in millions of Pound Sterling.
“Also, in the USA, they had to reset the date over and over before they eventually transited,’’ he said.
He said that there were social implications for transition including affordability and accessibility as well as political, cultural considerations and financial constraints.
Specifically, he said the challenges in Nigeria had been lack of political will and financial constraints.
Idachaba said that since Mohammed came on board as minister in 2015, he mustered the political will and got the pilot scheme running in Jos followed by other states.
Broadcasters are to vacate analogue broadcasting to digital mode of transmission.

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Lawmaker Charges Politicians On Electoral Promises

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A Lawmaker representing Lagos Mainland, Federal House of Representatives, Mr Olanrewaju Oshun, on Saturday charged politicians to fulfil their electoral promises to the masses, to continually gain their trust.
Oshun said this in an interview with The Tide’s source after casting his vote at PU 03, Ward 008, Lagos Mainland Local Government Area, for the Governorship and State House of Assembly Elections in Lagos.
According to him, Nigeria’s politics has changed to an era where electorate expect that only politicians who deliver on their mandate should be voted for.
“At this era, politicians must understand the fact that they need to fulfil their electoral promises and be close to the people.
“The masses are more conscious that it is only politicians who perform well that should earn their vote”, he said.
Oshun expressed optimism that the will of the people would prevail in the elections, having voted for their choices.
On his assessment of the election, he lauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for improving on the conduct of the election, compared to the performance of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
According to him, the INEC officials arrived early at most polling units across the state, the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) functioned effectively, while the overall process of the election was seamless.
“There is a great improvement in the conduct of the election, compared to the hitches we had at the last election.
“People have voted and made their opinion known, so it should be counted and let the best candidate win”. he said.
The lawmaker noted that the turnout for the election was impressive.
Oshun said, “one cannot say there is voter apathy as such, as reported in some quarters because people cast their votes in few minutes and left almost immediately.
The source reports that Oshun was re-elected during the Feb. 25 National Assembly Election to represent his constituency.

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ICPC Arrests Four Vote-Buyers In Sokoto, Katsina

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) arrested four vote-buyers in Sokoto and Katsina states during the just-concluded Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections last Saturday.
In its election monitoring operations across the states of the federation, officers of the anti-corruption agency encountered some vote-buyers at Kauran Miyo Primary School in Bodingo Town of Bodinga Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The Spokesperson, ICPC, Azuka Ogugua, revealed this on Saturday night in a statement obtained by The Tide source.
She noted that the Sokoto State monitoring team of the commission arrested three male vote-buyers; Mahe Bello, Musa Adamu and Mustapha Mohammed, all of Kauran Miyo Bodinga.
Ogugua said, “Mahe Bello was caught in possession of a cash sum of N38,000, two PVCs, one ATM card and an Infinix phone, while Musa Adamu had CFA228,000 in his possession which was being offered to voters. The third suspect, Mustapha Mohammed, was arrested with some PVCs in his possession”.
According to her, the ICPC monitoring team, however, came under attack while carrying out the arrest of the three vote-buyers.
This was as she noted that an officer of the commission, Rabiu Ibrahim, suffered a head injury from being hit by stones, and has been admitted into a hospital and he is in a stable condition.
She added that the three alleged vote-buyers were kept in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps before being conveyed to ICPC’s detention facility in Sokoto.
In a related development, the ICPC election monitoring team in Katsina State arrested one Tanimu Tabale for vote-buying at Tashar Yamma Polling Unit in Zango Local Government Area of the State.
Tabale, a 35-year-old man, claimed he was an observer in Makama Polling Unit but was arrested at Tashar Yamma Polling Unit with the sum of N20,000 in different denominations attempting to buy the votes and was apprehended.

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Elections: LG Chairman Lauds Officials … Says No Security Breach In Keffi

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Chairman of Keffi Local Government Area (LGA), Nasarawa State, Alhaji Muhammad Baba-Shehu, has lauded concerned officials for ensuring the absence of security breach during Saturday’s elections in the area.
Baba-Shehu gave the commendation while speaking with Newsmen shortly after the State’s Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Keffi.
Baba-shehu noted that the success recorded was as a result of the zeal and commitment of security agencies in the area.
According to him, officers of the concerned security agencies worked hard to ensure no one carried out any act that would destabilise the peace being enjoyed in the area.
“So far, as the Chief Security Officer of the area, I have not received any report of any breach in security and that is because our security personnel are up and doing.
“All the security agencies in Keffi LG did what they know best and what was expected of them. They were in every corner of the community”, he said.
Baba-Shehu who stated that the peaceful conduct of the elections in the area was commendable, and lauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for ensuring the process met Nigerians’ expectations.
“I also have to commend INEC officials because the electoral materials reached polling units in good time and the election process also started early. So, there was no complaint of delay of accreditation or voting in Keffi”, he said.

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