10/25/17

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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.


The Independent National Electoral Commission says it is making arrangements with the Nigeria Prisons Service to ensure that prisoners are allowed to vote in the 2019 general elections.

The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a dialogue session with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Dialogue – a coalition of over 70 civil society organisations in Nigeria.

The development comes three years after a Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, ruled that prisoners in Nigeria have the right to vote in all elections conducted in the country.

The INEC boss said the commission was looking at the possibility of creating polling units in Nigerian prisons to allow some categories of inmates to vote.

He, however, said certain categories of prisoners would not be allowed to vote depending on the nature of the crimes they committed.

 Yakubu said, “We have already engaged the Comptroller-General of Prisons and we have statistics on the number of prisoners nationwide and the number of inmates that are registered. 

We are looking at the possibility of creating polling units in the prisons and to enable some categories of prisoners to vote.

“Ghana does it but there are some categories of prisoners who by the nature of crimes committed lose the right to vote. Whatever we can do to open up the process to ensure that as much as possible Nigerians are given the opportunity to vote, will be done.”

Also speaking on the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, the INEC boss said the commission would do everything to ensure that the election is not inconclusive.

Yakubu raised the alarm over the wrongful substitution of names of governorship candidates by two political parties ahead of the governorship election.

He regretted that the high level of non-compliance to the Electoral Act by the political parties was threatening the electoral system.

Although the INEC boss declined to name the parties involved in the wrongful substitution of candidates’ names, he warned that if the act was eventually challenged in court, the whole election could be voided on that account and the nation made to bear the financial brunt of conducting a fresh election.

The Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, and Convener of Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, said the event was organised to find out the commission’s preparations for the forthcoming Anambra State governorship poll as well as other elections update.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.


Eighty-five persons in Boko Haram captivity have been rescued in the Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State after a gun battle between the insurgents and troops of the Nigerian Army attached to Operation Lafiya Dole.

Our correspondent learnt that the hostages were rescued on Tuesday in Mogola, Ngaiwa, Tongule and Warsele villages, after the gun duel left 12 Boko Haram terrorists dead.

It was gathered that the troops belonging to 3 Battalion, 22 Brigade and personnel of the Nigerian Air Force coordinated the operation, leading to the rescue of the abducted persons.

Our correspondent had yet to ascertain the identities of the hostages as of press time.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, said the troops recovered one gun truck and four suicide vests from the insurgents.

He said, “Troops in their daily clearance of the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists especially in the northern part of Borno State, launched an attack on suspected Boko Haram terrorists’ hideouts at Mogola, Ngaiwa, Tongule and Warsele villages in the Ngala LGA.

“The troops discovered and destroyed a Boko Haram terrorists’ logistics base and a workshop at Ngaiwa, an Improvised Explosive Device-making factory at Tongule and rescued 85 persons held hostage by the terrorists in the villages.

“The troops killed 11 Boko Haram terrorists, recovered one gun truck, four already prepared suicide vests, and various IED-making materials. We also got four dane guns, one Barretta pistol and 22 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.”
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Ahmed Makarfi
The Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ahmed Makarfi, has said the office of the national chairman of the party is open to all the three zones in the southern part of the country.

The three zones are South-West, South-South and South-East.

He spoke against the backdrop of rumours making the rounds that the office had been zoned to the South-West.

Makarfi gave the explanation in Abuja on Tuesday at a meeting he held with all the eight aspirants who have shown interest in the office. The meeting was held at the national headquarters of the party.

A former Governor of Oyo State, Chief Rashidi Ladoja, who just returned to the party, was at the meeting, which indicated that he would also be running for the position.

Ladoja returned to the party a few weeks ago.

 He left the PDP to join Accord Party about eight years ago.

Also at the meeting were Chief Bode George, Prof.  Tunde Adeniran, Prof.  Taoheed Adedoja, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, Prince Uche Secondus, Chief Raymond Dokpesi and Chief Gbenga Daniel.

Before the meeting went into a closed-door session, Makarfi declared that his committee did not have the power to alter the zoning arrangements that had been agreed to by the national convention of the party.

At the national convention held in Port Harcourt in 2015, the party zoned the office of the national chairman to the southern part of the country, while the presidential slot was ceded to the northern part.

Makarfi, a former governor of Kaduna State, told the aspirants that the decisions taken by the national convention of the PDP and its National Executive Committee could not be reversed by either him or the national caretaker of the party.

Makarfi said, ”We have no power beyond the convention and I want to remind all of us, the only thing the convention did was to zone two positions and as chairman or caretaker committee, you cannot go beyond that.

“The office of the national chairman is zoned to the South while that of the president is for the North. No micro zoning.”

Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting, George, who spoke on behalf of the aspirants, said they had agreed to work together in the interest of the party.

He said, “We had a very useful meeting with the NCC. We agreed that we will remain civil and educate our followers because it is a family contest. It is not a matter of life and death.

“We have agreed and you can see us now holding our hands. There is no quarrel; let the best man win.

“That is the spirit of the party; that is the spirit we are sending to the public because we want to win the minds and hearts of the public that we are better managers.”
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.


The Jos Electricity Distribution Company has sacked 150 workers, in what its management said was part of a re-organisation aimed at optimum performance.

Among those sacked across its four states of Plateau, Gombe, Bauchi and Benue were marketers, linesmen, network engineers, cable joiners and electrical fitters.

Their sack letters, signed by Abubakar Mohammed, Head, Human Resources and Support Services, simply told the workers that their services were no longer required.

The letters said that they would be paid one month’s salary in lieu of notice, and warned them against impersonating as workers of the company.

Some of the workers, however, accused the JEDC management refusing to settle their entitlements before sacking them and also alleged that they were paid half salary in September.

They also rejected management’s claims that those sacked were old and unproductive, arguing that most of them were young persons engaged “a few years ago”.

Alhaji Gidado Modibbo, JEDC Managing Director, who reacted to the allegations, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Jos that the “weeding exercise” was aimed at ridding the company of “dead woods”.

“We assess workers based on performance. Those sacked fell short of minimum expectations. Some were too old for the jobs they were handling.

“We even had Faults Men that were more than 60 years and blind. We had to ask them to go because they could not climb electric poles and were not adding any value to us,” he said.

He also rejected claims that the workers were paid half salaries in September, and explained that they received 70 percent of their wages because management had set a target and resolved to base salaries on it.

Dr Friday Elijah, JEDC Director of Communications, who also reacted, said that the main parameter used for the sack was performance.

“The performance of the workers have been generally very poor and management had always told them to sit up.

“Last month, for instance, we distributed N4 billion worth of energy but realised only N950 million. It means that many workers are not productive, hence our resolve to ask them to go.”

He said that some workers were sacked for extorting monies from consumers, while others collected money from customers but did not remit same to the company.

Elijah said that some workers were told old and could no longer add any value to the company, while others, who were inherited from the former owners, had served for close to 40 years.

The official, however, said that the company had engaged more workers than it had sacked since it took over JEDC in November 2013, “in spite of new technology that has minimised the need for manual activities”.
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