INEC to test smartcard readers in 12 states

                                  Resident Electoral Commissioner, Lagos State, Mr. Akin Orebiyi

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that smartcard readers would be tested in 12 states chosen from across the six geo-political zones of the country to assess their efficiency ahead of the general elections.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos State, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday.

According to the INEC boss, Lagos and Ekiti states have been chosen for the exercise in the South-West which would feature voters presenting their Permanent Voter Cards for accreditation and verification.

Orebiyi explained that the exercise would enable the electoral body to identify challenges that may rear its head on the election days with a view to correcting them.

Falana takes over suit seeking Mbu’s removal

                                                                                        Mr. Femi Falana

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday ordered the service of court papers on the Police Service Commission in Abuja in a suit seeking declaration that an Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, is unfit to remain a police officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The ex parte application for leave of court to serve the PSC outside of jurisdiction was brought before Justice Ibrahim Buba by a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN).

Falana had on Thursday appeared in court and announced appearance as counsel representing the plaintiff, a lawyer, Mr. Tope Alabi, who filed the case.

Alabi is urging the court to compel the Inspector General of Police; the Police Service Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately declare Mbu’s office with the Force vacant over alleged abuse of power.

Nigeria needs ‘do tanks’ not think tanks –Obasanjo

                                                                   Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday said Nigeria’s   peculiar   challenges   required leaders with requisite experience to tackle them.

He told guests inside the auditorium of his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, during the celebration of his 78th birthday and 2015 annual summit, that there were too many ‘think-tanks’ in the country instead of ‘do-tanks.’

The former President, who looked resplendent in a white flowing agbada,   therefore prayed to “ God to give us leaders that occasion like this deserves.”

He said that West African countries and Britain were worried about developments in Nigeria.

Reiterating his commitment to the country, Obasanjo said each time he travelled to these countries, he was usually inundated with enquiries about Nigeria’s security, political and socio-economic challenges.

Chibok girls alive – Jonathan

                                                                        President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed confidence that the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in their hostel   in Chibok, Borno State last year are still alive.

Jonathan, who also said that his chance of winning the March 28 presidential poll was slimmer than in 2011, based his position on the fact that terrorists would naturally   display the corpses of the girls if they had been killed.

He spoke while featuring on Kakaaki, a breakfast programme on a private television station, African Independent Television.

Fayose more desperate than Jonathan– Fayemi

                                                                                 Fayemi and Fayose

During an interview monitored on Adaba 88.9 FM, a former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, spoke on an audio tape about how the June 21, 2014 governorship election was purportedly rigged in the state. JOSIAH OLUWOLE monitored the interview

Recently, an audio file was released detailing how the Ekiti 2014 governorship election was rigged. Why did you go ahead to congratulate Fayose on June 22 with this information at your disposal?

I am glad we have come to this point in Ekiti. Even those who were deluded into believing that the voters in Ekiti voted against our party are beginning to see the comprehensive grand plan. You raised a pertinent question and I would like to answer that question. Yes, I was very careful in the couching of my statement. I said if this is the will of the Ekiti people… The qualifier there is the word ‘if’. If it is the will of the Ekiti people then I accept, but the second paragraph went into great detail, stating all of what you heard, the harassment, the arrest, the intimidation and the grand plan from Abuja, I spoke about all that.