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Edo NAWOJ Election: ‘SSCE Holder Not Qualify To Contest’, Members Insist

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…Say Attendance Sheet Being Manipulated To Disqualify Some Contestants

National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Edo State council, Wednesday, said members who do not have the minmum qualification of Ordinary National Diploma (OND) as enshrined in the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) constitution are not qualify to contest in the forthcoming election.

They also raised an alarm that some well connected persons are planning to use attendance register of the Association’s past congresses to disqualify some qualified contestants, saying, “the attendance they are presenting in this NUWOJ election is even photocopy and this photocopy rigister is even not complete.

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The aggrieved members who protested around the premises of Nigeria Union Journalists, with placards containing inscriptions as: ‘Edo NAWOJIANS say no to compromised caretaker committee’, ‘Edo NAWOJIANS say no to manipulated attendance register’, ‘Edo NAWOJIANS call on Edo NUJ and NUJ national to help save Edo NAWOJ from redicule and shame through professional and effective sanitisation’, etc, vowed that illegality and injustice would not be allowed in the forthcoming NAWOJ election.

Speaking through Joy Musa, they said the attendance rigister being emphasised as cretaria for contesting the election was not complete, saying photocopy was presented rather than the original copy which according to them is more reliable and authentic.

She said most of the congresses held in the past dispensation was on ground of emergency, and that members were informed less than 24 hours, stressing that the immediate past secretary then failed to perform her duty.

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“We know the importance of attendance in NAWOJ and NUJ. But we’ve come to understand that the attendance they are presenting in this NUWOJ election is photocopy and not original, and this photocopy attendance they are presenting to us is not complete -they are presenting photocopy because the original is missing.

“Even the apologies members rendered on Inability to attend such emergency congresses was not there because most of the congresses we had in the last three years were emergency. And the notices of these emergency congresses came less than 24 hours. Such notices were not pasted on the state Council’s board.

“You are aware it is the notice board we use in dissemination of information including announcement of congress, but unfortunately we’ve never used it in the past three years in NAWOJ because the secretary then failed to perform her duty and and they want to use this attendance to disqualify some qualified members, this is what we will not accept”, she added.

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She disclosed that when the aspirants met with the Caretaker Committee, it was discovered that the attendance register being emphasised on does not have date, stressing that NECO certificate has no place in the practice of journalism.

“We say no to injustice! Apart from that, one of the contestants in the forthcoming election does not have result, she only presented NECO certificate. When she wanted to contest three years ago, she went to bring IIJ admission letter, she contested, now after three years, she want to contest so she went to Open University to bring admission letter from there, another admission letter, and you want to tell me she is qualified?

“She never wrote a single exam at IIJ. Now, we have heard that she has written petition to Abuja that she has written all her exams and that she is waiting for her result and convocation, is that allowed in anywhere? Illegality will not be allowed in Edo NAWOJ. If that is allowed, I can go to Emaguero college to bring primary 5 pupil to contest the secretary position of Edo NAWOJ.

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“We don’t want someone who does not have first degree, ND, HND but ‘certificate less’ to come and lead us in Edo NAWOJ. We will not allow it; it is an abberation. Manipulation of attendance to suit certain persons will not be allowed in this election. Somebody who do not have result, coming from the back door to contest election will not be allowed. What is right should be done by the NUJ, we are seeking for justice”, she requested

Members of the Edo NAWOJ on protest today in Benin City

Also buttressing Musa’s point, Amina Ebor, called on Edo NUJ and NUJ national body to salvage Edo NAWOJ from quackery, stressing that the NUJ constitution is there as guide and should not be slaughtered on the alter of illegality and favouritism.

Responding on behalf of Edo State NUJ, Secretary of the Council, Mr. Titus Akhigbe, assured the members that all their complaints would be attended to by leadership of the Union.

He noted that to this effect, the election slated for Friday has been shifted untill all lingering issues have been resolved.

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Edo: Need For Waste Management Policy Takes Centre Stage As ERA/FoEN Convenes Stakeholders’ Workshop

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In an effort to addressing poor waste management and attaining zero waste in Edo State, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) on Thursday in Benin convened a workshop for stakeholders.

The enlightenment and sensitisation programme held at Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State was themed: ‘Our Waste and Burden on the Environment.’

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In his opening remarks, the Executive Director, ERA/FoEN, Barrister Chima Williams, said the workshop, anchored on ‘zero waste’, was necessary due to the porousity of waste management in the state.

A cross of participants at the workshop.

READ ALSO: Demand For Liability, Payments For Carbon Debts – ERA/FoEN Tells African Govts

Williams, who was represented by Babawale Obayanju, Programme Officer, Media and Communication in the organisation, noted ERA/FoEN was not just concerned about attaining zero waste in the state but the need for government to put policy controlling waste in the state.

According to him, managing waste was a culture that all need to imbibe for a clean and healthy environment.

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He said as an environmental advocate, ERA/FoEN had developed a seven year zero waste plan that could help the state overcome the environmental challenge.

The executive director regretted that the state did not leverage on the potentials in waste recycling to make fortune for the state and the people.

Plastics generation, he said, was becoming extremely high in the state and would soon begin to negatively impact the ecosystem.

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“It is a fact that plastics do not degrade, but it photogrades, the substance which is found in the seas, impose hazard on the fish.

“We may not feel the effect now, but we will soon begin to see it because we all eat fish,” he said.

In his speech, Mr Kessingston Osifo, Chairman Oredo Local Government Area of Edo, described zero waste as a great initiative that all should embrace.

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A cross section of participants at the workshop.

READ ALSO: ERA/FoEN Pushes For Zero Waste Environment

The problem of waste generation, he said, had become a major challenge facing the council as a result of indiscriminate dumping of refuse in unauthorised places.

Also in her goodwill message, Mrs Blessing Ehigiator, Head of Department, Environment in the local government area urged the participants to adhere to the principle of Rs in environment, which include Rethink, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle among others.

Ehigiator, however, sought the support of non-state actors on environment in the area of equipment just as she noted that waste management was always capital intensive.

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Edo Election Tribunal Receives 13 Petitions

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The Edo Election Petitions Tribunal says it has received 13 petitions from aggrieved parties and candidates in the just-concluded National Assembly and State Assembly elections.

The Tribunal Secretary, Mr Muazu Sanusi, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Benin.

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Sanusi said that the petitions were filed within the 21-day period allowed by law.

READ ALSO: APC Suspends SGF Boss Mustapha Indefinitely, SWC Kicks

He said that the petitions were filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, All Progressives Congress and Labour Party as well as their candidates.

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He said,  “As at today, the tribunal has received a total of 13 petitions.

“Out of the 13 petitions, three are on senatorial election, 10 were received with regard to House of Representatives election.

“One petition is, however, emanating from the conduct of the state House of Assembly election, and the results were announced on March 21, 2023.”

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The secretary said that the petitions were expected to be filed on or before 21 days after declaration of results.

READ ALSO: FEC Approves N454bn For Kano-Niger Republic Rail, Others

Sanusi said that the time within which to file petitions as regards the House of Representatives and Senatorial polls had lapsed.

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The secretary said, however, that the tribunal was still expecting petitions from aggrieved candidates and parties in the Edo House of Assembly election.

Sanusi could not say exactly when the tribunal would begin sitting.

According to him, it will start sitting when processes have been exchanged among the petitioners and the respondents.

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[BREAKING] Alleged Incitement: Keyamo Petitions DSS, Demands Peter Obi’s Arrest

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Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo SAN has petitioned the State Security Services SSS, demanding the arrest and prosecution for “incitement and treasonable felony”, the Labour Party LP Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates, Messrs Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed respectively for comments he described as incendiary and capable of causing rebellion.

In the petition addressed to the Director General State Services DGSS and dated March 23, the minister who is the Chief Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress APC Presidential Campaign Council PCC said in a post-election period such as this, there is a need to soothe frayed nerves, lower the temperature and begin the healing process.

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“The President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu issued a statement to this effect a few days ago. However, it appears the President and Vice-Presidential Candidates of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed are not prepared to toe this conciliatory path for the sake of peace and national cohesion, whilst exercising their rights to pursue duly laid down constitutional means of addressing their grievances”, he stated.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Anti-Tinubu Protesters Ground Abuja, Demand Interim Govt, Fresh Polls

Keyamo noted that since the declaration of the Presidential election results, the duo have been hopping from one media house to the other making incendiary comments and claims about the declaration of the President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.

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According to him, “These comments and claims are made, not just within the boundaries of exercising their rights to freedom of speech and the freedom to air their grievances publicly, but they have since crossed the line to call for the outright truncation of democracy by insisting on the adoption of other processes outside the contemplation of our Constitution.

“In some cases, their privies have even called for the establishment of an Interim Government.

“The latest of such are the comments made by Datti Baba-Ahmed on behalf of himself and Mr. Peter Obi on Channels TV on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, wherein he threatened that if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023, it would ‘signal the end of democracy’. Posing as an accuser, a judge and a jury all by himself, he unilaterally declared the duly elected President-elect as ‘unconstitutional’ and, in a subliminal manner, threatened mayhem if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023.

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READ ALSO: BREAKING: Ike Ekweremadu, Wife, Daughter Found Guilty Of Organ Trafficking

“I also have it on good authority that Mr. Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have camped some youths in a popular hotel in Abuja with the sole aim of instructing them to push out inciting messages everyday on social media in order to cause panic and fear within the federation and to incite people to riot and social unrest.

“It is noteworthy that Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have submitted Elections Petitions to the courts for adjudication, but their conducts and utterances amount to a subversion of the processes they have instituted in court and a subversion of our Constitution and the laid-down processes for addressing disputes and grievances. These conduct and utterances are a build-up to something more sinister and it is important you rein them in now!

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“In the circumstance, I submit this petition in my personal capacity as a patriotic Nigerian to invite/arrest, interrogate and after investigation, if necessary, charge both individuals to court for their conduct which amounts to incitement and treasonable felony”.

 

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