News

Haiti’s Future Uncertain After Brazen Slaying Of President

Published

4 years ago

July 8, 2021

An already struggling and chaotic Haiti stumbled into an uncertain future Thursday, reeling from the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse followed by a reported gunbattle in which authorities said police killed four suspects in the murder, detained two others and freed three officers being held hostage.

Officials pledged to find all those responsible for the predawn raid on Moïse’s house early Wednesday that left the president shot to death and his wife, Martine Moïse, critically wounded. She was flown to Miami for treatment.

“The pursuit of the mercenaries continues,” Léon Charles, director of Haiti’s National Police, said Wednesday night in announcing the arrests of suspects. “Their fate is fixed: They will fall in the fighting or will be arrested.”

Officials did not provide any details on the suspects, including their ages, names or nationalities, nor did they address a motive or what led police to the suspects. They said only that the attack condemned by Haiti’s main opposition parties and the international community was carried out by “a highly trained and heavily armed group” whose members spoke Spanish or English.

Prime Minister Claude Joseph assumed leadership of Haiti with help of police and the military and decreed a two-week state of siege following Moïse’s killing, which stunned a nation grappling with some of the Western Hemisphere’s highest poverty, violence and political instability.

Inflation and gang violence are spiraling upward as food and fuel becomes scarcer, while 60% of Haitian workers earn less than $2 a day. The increasingly dire situation comes as Haiti is still trying to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 following a history of dictatorship and political upheaval.

Those in Haiti and family and friends living abroad wondered what is next.

“There is this void now, and they are scared about what will happen to their loved ones,” said Marlene Bastien, executive director of Family Action Network Movement, a group that helps people in Miami’s Little Haiti community.

She said it was important for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to take a much more active role in supporting attempts at national dialogue in Haiti with the aim of holding free, fair and credible elections.

Bastien said she also wants to see participation of the extensive Haitian diaspora: “No more band-aids. The Haitian people have been crying and suffering for too long.”

Haiti had grown increasingly unstable under Moïse, who had been ruling by decree for more than a year and faced violent protests as critics accused him of trying to amass more power while the opposition demanded he step down.

According to Haiti’s constitution, Moïse should be replaced by the president of Haiti’s Supreme Court, but the chief justice died in recent days from COVID-19, leaving open the question of who might rightfully succeed to the office.

Joseph, meanwhile, was supposed to be replaced by Ariel Henry, who had been named prime minister by Moïse a day before the assassination.

Henry told The Associated Press in a brief interview that he is the prime minister, calling it an exceptional and confusing situation. In another interview with Radio Zenith, he said there was no fight between him and Joseph: “I only disagree with the fact that people have taken hasty decisions … when the moment demands a little more serenity and maturity.”

Moïse had faced large protests in recent months that turned violent as opposition leaders and their supporters rejected his plans to hold a constitutional referendum with proposals that would strengthen the presidency.

Hours after the assassination, public transportation and street vendors remained largely scarce, an unusual sight for the normally bustling streets of Port-au-Prince. Gunfire rang out intermittently across the city, a grim reminder of the growing power of gangs that displaced more than 14,700 people last month alone as they torched and ransacked homes in a fight over territory.

Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said gangs were a force to contend with and it isn’t certain Haiti’s security forces can enforce a state of siege.

“It’s a really explosive situation,” he said, adding that foreign intervention with a U.N.-type military presence is a possibility. “Whether Claude Joseph manages to stay in power is a huge question. It will be very difficult to do so if he doesn’t create a government of national unity.”

Joseph told The Associated Press that he supports an international investigation into the assassination and believes elections scheduled for later this year should be held as he promised to work with Moïse’s allies and opponents alike.

“Everything is under control,” he said.

(AP)

News

Open Letter To The Speaker, Parliament Of The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide

Published

37 minutes ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

The writer, Mr Godswill Doubra Wuruyai (Right) andHon. Gabriel Allen Tomoni

Date: 14th June 2025

To:
Rt. Hon. Gabriel Allen Tomoni
Speaker,
Parliament of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide

Dear Mr Speaker,

RE: THE STATUS OF OPTION A4 AS VOTING MECHANISM AND MATTERS ARISING

I bring you warm greetings of solidarity and unwavering commitment to the Ijaw struggle.

It has become necessary to issue this Open Letter in response to your recent communication dated 13th June 2025, titled “Clarification on Applicable Constitution Guiding Electoral Activities in Lagos Chapter”, and to set the record straight regarding the status of the Option A4 voting mechanism as duly adopted by the Convention of Ijaw Youths at the Odi Constitution Convention 2024.

Permit me to respectfully state from the outset that the matter of Option A4 is neither open to debate nor subject to discretionary legislative ratification by Parliament, the NEC, or any Zonal or Chapter organ of Council. It is a constitutional matter, having been overwhelmingly adopted at the Odi Constitution Convention 2024—the supreme legislative convention of the Ijaw Youth Council, which carries the highest constitutional authority within our organisation.

The Convention is the apex legislative authority on matters of constitutional amendment and review. By both precedent and constitutional logic, once a Constitutional Convention concludes with the majority adoption of any provision, it becomes valid and binding immediately upon adoption by Congress—the highest sovereign body of the Ijaw Youth Council. The notion of “presidential assent” is ceremonial in nature; it does not possess the force to invalidate or delay the decisions of Congress. Signing ceremonies remain symbolic, not constitutive, in effect.

It is, therefore, anomalous and potentially unconstitutional for Parliament, or any of its officers, to purport to subject the decision of Congress to further parliamentary debate, rectification, or ratification. This represents not only a fundamental misreading of the IYC’s constitutional architecture but also a dangerous precedent that could undermine the very foundation of our collective legitimacy.

Furthermore, no Zonal structure, Chapter, or stakeholders’ forum possesses the jurisdiction to review, reject, or suspend a decision reached by a duly convened Constitutional Convention. The only valid forum that can revisit the matter of Option A4—or any other constitutional provision—is another Constitutional Convention convened specifically for that purpose.

The role of Parliament as a stabilising institution within the IYC structure is to promote order, not to precipitate constitutional crises by attempting to override the sovereign will of Congress. Should Parliament insist on such actions, it risks dragging the IYC into an avoidable constitutional conflict that could jeopardise the unity of our noble Council.

The Lagos Chapter, like all other organs of Council, is bound by the supreme decisions of the Constitutional Convention and must conduct its electoral processes in strict adherence to Option A4, as adopted.

Accordingly, I call on you, as Speaker of Parliament, to respect and uphold the supremacy of Congress and its resolutions. Anything short of that amounts to an attempt to overturn the will of the Ijaw people through administrative fiat, which must be firmly resisted by all well-meaning Ijaw youths.

Let me conclude by reminding all concerned that we must not allow petty personal interests or ego-driven conflicts to derail the hard-earned democratic processes within our Council. This is not a time for power tussles, but a time for unity, maturity, and constitutional discipline.

I trust that you will act in accordance with the Constitution and in the enduring interest of the Ijaw nation.

Yours in service of the Ijaw struggle,

Mr Godswill Doubra Wuruyai
Stakeholder/Member
Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide

Cc:
Comr. Williams Ayoromiegha Junior, Clerk of Parliament
All Members of Parliament, IYC Worldwide
The President, Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide
NEC Members, Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide
All Zonal and Chapter Chairpersons, IYC
Ijaw Youth Stakeholders Nationwide

News

Reps To Quiz Edun, Cardoso Over Non-compliance With Fiscal Responsibility Act

Published

2 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

The Joint House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts and Public Assets has invited the Minister of Finance, Mr Olawale Edun, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Olayemi Cardoso, to appear before it on Monday over allegations bothering on non-compliance with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

The duo are also expected to respond to the 2021 audit queries relating to internal control weaknesses identified by the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation (oAuGF).

In a letter jointly signed by the Chairmen of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Rep. Bamidele Salam, and the Committee on Public Assets, Rep. Ademorin Kuye, the lawmakers requested the Finance Minister and the CBN Governor to provide details on the remittance of operating surplus to the Federation Account by the apex bank in line with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations.

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the Auditor General for the Federation had, in reports submitted to the joint committees, accused several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), including the CBN, of failing to remit or under-remitting their operating surpluses as required by extant financial laws and regulations over the last six years.

According to the Public Accounts Committee Chairman, “these violations have negatively impacted the liquidity of the federal government and constitute a hindrance to effective implementation of the budgets passed by parliament.”

The committees stated that both the Finance Ministry and the apex bank had been given ample opportunity to reconcile their accounts and present their positions in order to determine the degree of financial liabilities involved, hence the need for a final hearing to resolve the issues.

The committee is equally reviewing a report in the Auditor General for the Federation’s statutory report which suggests that a number of public assets, which had been fully paid for, have not been completed or put into use for many years.

“Some of these projects in Dutse, Abeokuta and other locations were awarded between 2011 and 2016 but yet to be completed according to audit reports.”

News

Again, NiMet Predicts Three-day Thunderstorms, Rain From Saturday

Published

2 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency has predicted thundery and rainy weather activities from Saturday to Monday across Nigeria.

NiMet’s weather outlook released on Friday in Abuja envisaged early morning thunderstorms on Saturday over parts of Taraba, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Adamawa states in the northern region.

According to it, thunderstorms with rains are anticipated over parts of Kebbi, Taraba, Zamfara, Borno, Kaduna, Sokoto, Gombe, and Bauchi states later in the day.

“In the North-Central region, early morning thunderstorms are expected over parts of Benue, Plateau, Niger, the Federal Capital Territory, and Nasarawa States.

“Later in the day, thunderstorms with rains are anticipated over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Nasarawa, Benue, Kwara, Kogi, and Plateau states.

“In the Southern region, cloudy atmosphere is expected with chances of morning rains over parts of Enugu, Ebonyi, Cross River, Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, and Bayelsa States,” it said.

NiMet predicted isolated thunderstorms with rains over parts of Imo, Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, Anambra, Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Edo, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, and Rivers State later in the day.

The agency anticipated prospects of morning thunderstorms on Sunday over parts of Kaduna, Kebbi, Adamawa, and Taraba States in the northern region.

It envisaged thunderstorms with rain over parts of Taraba, Adamawa, Kebbi, Kaduna, Zamfara, Gombe, and Bauchi States later in the day.

NiMet anticipated patches of clouds with sunshine intervals with prospects of early morning thunderstorms likely to affect parts of Kogi, Kwara, Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa, Benue, and the Federal Capital Territory in the North-Central region.

“Later in the day, thunderstorms with rains are anticipated over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, and Plateau states.

“In the Southern region, morning thunderstorms are expected over parts of Delta, Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River States.

“Later in the day, isolated thunderstorms with rains are anticipated over most parts of Imo, Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, Anambra, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Edo, Lagos, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Bayelsa, and Rivers State,” it said.

The agency envisaged morning thunderstorms over parts of Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Adamawa, and Taraba States in the Northern region on Monday.

NiMet predicted thunderstorms with rains over parts of Taraba, Adamawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, Gombe, Kaduna, and Bauchi States later in the day.

In the North-Central region, the agency forecast patches of clouds with sunshine intervals are expected with prospects of thunderstorms with rains over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Benue, Kogi, and Niger States.

According to NiMet, thunderstorms are expected over parts of Kwara, Plateau, Nasarawa, Niger, Benue, and Kogi States in the afternoon or evening hours.

“In the Southern region, cloudy atmosphere is expected with chances of
morning rains over parts of Ogun, Edo, Ondo, Ogun, Delta, and Bayelsa States.

“Later in the day, isolated thunderstorms with rains are anticipated over most parts of the region,” it said.

According to it, the public should take adequate precaution as strong winds may precede the rains in areas where thunderstorms are likely to occur.

NiMet urged the public to ensure that loose objects are fastened to avoid collision and avoid driving under heavy rain.

“Disconnect electrical appliances from electrical sockets. Stay away from tall trees to avoid impact from falling branches and broken trees.

“Airline operators are advised to get airport-specific weather reports (flight documentation) from NiMet for effective planning in their operations.

“Residents are advised to stay informed through weather updates from NiMet. Visit our website, www.nimet.gov.ng,” it said.

NAN