Abubakar Audu, APC's Governorship Candidate In Kogi Election Is Dead

The gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi state, Mr. Abubakar Audu is dead. Mr. Audu died of undisclosed medical reasons shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared his victory at the elections inconclusive. Saharareporters could not determine the cause of Mr. Audu's death.Abubakar Audu

NCC says MTN, Globacom, Etisalat violate porting process time

Lagos – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Saturday said that MTN Nigeria, Globacom and Etisalat violated the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) process time obligations in the third quarter of 2015.

The commission made this known in its `2015 3Q Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Report’, obtained in Lagos.

The regulatory body said to address the increasing cases of port request rejections, it had resolved to monitor operators and take appropriate actions.

“Consequent upon the above, series of compliance checks were carried out regarding timer violations by donor operators with respect to `validation and deactivation responses’, which have timelines of two hours and an hour respectively,’’ the commission said.

It said that during the compliance check in the quarter, it was observed that there was a timer deactivation violation by Etisalat, regarding a Corporate Port request of over 63 lines belonging to Neoconde Energy Limited.

NCC said that the company had initiated a corporate port out request from Etisalat to Airtel on Aug. 7, 2015 at 9.13a.m., but was partially completed as at 1.52p.m. on the same day.

“As a result, these 63 subscribers were unable to receive calls from Etisalat’s network,’’ it noted.

The commission also said that a timer deactivation violation was noticed from MTN, regarding a Corporate Port request of over 109 lines belonging to Nigerian Breweries Plc.

According to NCC, the company initiated a corporate port out request from MTN to Glo via lead MSISDN: 07036735494 on Aug. 11, 2015 at 1.20p.m., but was partially completed as at 11.22a.m. on Aug. 14, 2015.

“As a result, these subscribers were not able to receive calls from MTN subscribers.

“In the same vein, a timer validation violation by MTN regarding four individual Port requests from MSISDNs: 08139382308, 08143810152, 08135485305 and 08162108093.

“MTN breached the timer of two hours for validation of four port requests from the NPC as stated in the MNP Business Rules,’’ it added.

The telecoms umpire said that a timer validation violation was observed from Globacom, regarding 11 individuals and one corporate Port request.

NCC said that Glo had breached the two hours allowable for validation of six port requests from the NPC, as stated in the MNP Business Rules.

It said that Globacom validated one of these port requests over nine hours after receipt from the MNP adminsitrator.

“Glo also breached the one allowable hour for the Donor to deactivate 147 Ported out lines belonging to Reckitt Ltd consistent with provisions of the MNP Business Rules.

“All the above timer violations are currently undergoing enforcement actions,’’ the commission said.

The regulatory body said that its compliance activity was consistent with Section 89 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.

It said that the section mandated the commission to monitor all significant matters relating to the performance of all licensed telecoms service providers and publish annual reports at the end of each financial year.

NCC said it had developed `Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement’ strategies to prosecute the above mandate and achieve its objective of fair competition, ethical market conduct and optimal quality of service in the Nigerian telecommunications industry.

Kogi Election Results: How the battle was won and lost

Never in the history of Kogi politics has a governorship been keener contested. It was an altercation between the power of incumbency and the change hurricane.

In March and April 2015, the opposition party, All Progressives Congress, showed a glimpse of its potency and readiness to take over the mantle of power in the confluence State.

Though many had written off the APC as a fluke and a beneficiary of the Buhari flood of followership, the 2015 governorship election may have heralded a setback to the political dominance of the state by the Peoples Democratic Party which has governed the state for 12 years.

The loss by Capt Idris Wada would go down in history as the second, after Prince Abubakar Audu lost the 2003 governorship election to Alh. Ibrahim Idris of the PDP.

Audu contested on the platform of the All Nigerian Peoples Party.

While the Victory of Audu may not have come as a surprise given the strength of the opposition party in Kogi State, not many people gave the governor-elect the slightest chance to pull through such a strong showing across the three senatorial districts of the state.

How Wada Lost the Poll
The November 21 governorship election shook the political pillars of the state. Bitter rivalry between the two leading contestants led to hate campaigns and sometimes, violence.

Workers Welfare
Top on the list of the factors that led to the fall of Wada was his inability to pay workers salaries, especially council workers and primary school teachers.

With the population multipliers of these segments of the workforce, it is practically impossible to win any election without the support of the labour community.

Though the governor explained the reasons behind the inability of Local Government Councils to pay their workers, many of the workers felt the governor was the factor behind their inability to receive salaries.

It is obvious that the instability in the global oil market has seriously affected the revenue accruing to the states.

But the failure to pay workers’ salaries virtually killed Wada’s dream for a second term.

Political Disconnection
Analysts feel the governor didn’t do enough to play the politics of stomach infrastructure. The decision of the governor to choose competence over politics may have played a role in his failure.

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Corruption: Prosecute 31 former govs, SERAP tells Attorney General

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mallam Abubakar Malami, SAN requesting him to “urgently take steps to take over and prosecute all 31 former governors suspected of official corruption while in office.”

SERAP said this action “is necessary to send a strong signal that the President Muhammadu Buhari government will not tolerate high level official corruption no matter who is involved, and to secure public confidence and trust in the office of the Attorney General.”

The letter dated 20 November 2015 and signed by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni reads in part: “This request is brought to give practical effect to the exercise of the powers of the Attorney-General under Section 174(1) (b) of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). The request is also entirely consistent with your widely publicised commitment to audit and pursue high level corruption cases and end the impunity of perpetrators in the country.”

File: A-G Abubakar Malami 

 “SERAP would like to draw your attention to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Report presented to the National Assembly in 2006 by the former Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Nuhu Ribadu. The Report, which was accepted and adopted by the National Assembly, documented the cases and indictments against 31 former governors.”

 “SERAP urges you to seek and obtain a copy of the Report from the National Assembly, and to use this as a basis to pursue prosecution of the governors. Pursuing these cases would help to enhance public confidence and trust in the office of Attorney General, as previous occupiers of the office seemed to be disinterested in prosecuting or facilitating prosecution of high level cases of official corruption.”

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Obama: World must not give in to fear of terror

US President Obama has called for resolve in the face of terrorist threats. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the United States and Russia to cooperate on terrorism while other leaders call for IS' destruction.

"It's absolutely vital for every country, every leader, to send a signal that the viciousness of a handful of killers does not stop the world from doing vital business," US President Barack Obama said on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur.

He was ending a nine-day trip to international summits in Turkey and Asia that was clouded by the Paris terrorist attacks and threats that prompted a lockdown in Brussels. The jihadi attacks in Paris resulted in the death of 130 people.

The perpetrators of the Paris attacks were not "masterminds," but rather "a bunch of killers with good social media," Obama said at the East Asia Summit in Malaysia.

The US president insisted that citizens must not succumb to fear, urging world leaders not to abandon the climate summit in Paris.

"Destroying (Islamic State) is not only a realistic goal, we're going to get it done," he told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also said IS must be destroyed at all costs.

"We must annihilate Islamic State worldwide ... and we must destroy Islamic State on its own territory," Le Drian said, speaking on Sunday morning news shows. "That's the only possible direction."

France has intensified its aerial bombing in Syria and Le Drian said French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which has been sent to help operations against IS militants in Syria, will be "operational" from Monday and "ready to act."

Ban Ki-moon calls for more cooperation

On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the United States and Russia to cooperate in rooting out terrorism. He said he counted on their support to wipe out a common enemy, adding that he would present a comprehensive plan to fight extremism and violence early next year.

"All these terrorists and ideology extremists should be defeated in the name of humanity," Ban stated during a meeting in Malaysia with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the annual East Asia Summit.

The Russian prime minister and the US president separately called on all countries to coordinate and fight "Islamic State."

Obama said it "would be helpful" if Russia directed its focus on dealing with the "Islamic State" and expressed his hope that Moscow would agree to a leadership transition in Syria that involves President Bashar al-Assad stepping down.

Russia and Iran have been Assad's strongest foreign supporters during Syria's civil war. But the United States, its Gulf allies and Turkey have insisted he should step down.