By Precious Akutamadu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been urged to conduct all outstanding elections on March 2 to reduce cost.

Mr Precious Elekima, the Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers, made the call on Saturday in Port Harcourt in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Elekima, who spoke in Port Harcourt while reacting to INECs postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, said all elections should be conducted simultaneousl on March 2

I think that the government in reconsidering the conduct of this election should abridge the election and conduct all elections in one day.

That is the only way they could have addressed the loss arising from the postponement, he said.

Elekima said that conducting the elections in a day would make it more free, fair, credible and also incur less cost.

He called on the media, the security and the foreign observers to use the opportunity to address challenging issues before the postponement.

He said that nobody should blame President Muhammadu Buhari over the postponement of the Feb. 16 polls.

Source: NAN

With the advent of GSM in Nigeria, the market has been expanding tremendously with so many value added services coming on board. As the subscriber base grew, so also network providers.

At the onset of this telecom boom, Nigerians quickly adapted to recognising the network providers by the mobile numbers. It was easy, since we were taught that to identify a mobile network provider, simply look at the first 4 characters of the caller ID number.

This was captured with prefixes as follows:-

• MTN - 0803

• Glo - 0805

• Zain, Airtel, Econet - 0802

In fact, my first number was a Globacom line, and it started with 0805, followed by an Airtel line which was prefixed as 0802. Things have greatly changed and this telecom providers have so far expanded and the Nigerian Communications Commission gave further mobile number prefixes to the telecom providers which still retained the first allocations.

Below is a list of mobile number telecom prefixes for major telecom providers in Nigeria.

0701 ---- Airtel Nigeria
0702 ---- Smile
07025 ---- Visafone
07026 ---- Visafone
07027 ---- Multi-Links
07028 ---- Starcomms
07029 ---- Starcomms
0703 ---- MTN Nigeria
0704 ---- Visafone
0705 ---- Globacom
0706 ---- MTN Nigeria
0707 ---- ZoomMobile (formerly Reltel)
0708 ---- Airtel Nigeria
0709 ---- Multi-Links
0802 ---- Airtel Nigeria
0803 ---- MTN Nigeria
0804 ---- Ntel
0805 ---- Globacom
0806 ---- MTN Nigeria
0807 ---- Globacom
0808 ---- Airtel Nigeria
0809 ---- 9mobile
0810 ---- MTN Nigeria
0811 ---- Globacom
0812 ---- Airtel Nigeria
0813 ---- MTN Nigeria
0814 ---- MTN Nigeria
0815 ---- Globacom
0816 ---- MTN Nigeria
0817 ---- 9mobile
0818 ---- 9mobile
0819 ---- Starcomms
0909 ---- 9mobile
0908 ---- 9mobile
0902 ---- Airtel Nigeria
0903 ---- MTN Nigeria
0905 ---- Globacom
0906 ---- MTN Nigeria
0907 ---- Airtel Nigeria

So any time you get a caller id with any of the above prefixes, you should be able to identify the network provider.

Additional information can be gotten from NCC.

Aside having the legal powers to postpone elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may have taken the recent action in the interest of integrity and fairness of the elections.

Similar to what happened in 2015, INEC early on Saturday announced the shift of the Presidential and National Assembly polls to February 23 and Governorship and State Assembly elections to March 9.

Mr Kazem Gbadamosi, former Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ibadan branch, said INEC had the legal backing to postpone elections.

Gbadamosi in an interview with NAN, said the electoral Act empowered INEC to postpone elections if it envisaged any difficulty with materials or security that would affect the conduct of a free, fair and credible elections.

The problem we have in Nigeria is that people read meanings into every issue even if it was of law.

If you take the right decision, people will say it was because of this or that.

Though, I am yet to read the reason for the postponement of the election by INEC but to ordinary Nigerians the reasons may not be tenable.

We are all aware that election materials got burnt in Anambra State and 66 persons also killed in Kaduna State few days to election day, gbadamosi said.

He said if INEC suspected that there would be violence and breakdown of law and order, it would in the good interest of Nigeria not go on with the election.

Also speaking, another Ibadan based legal practitioner, Mr Adams Oladimeji, said this was not the first time INEC would be postponing elections in Nigeria as it happened in 2015 under President Goodluck Jonathans administration.

Oladimeji said INEC had the legal backing to postpone election for the good of the country and it would be wrong to condemn INEC for postponing the election.

The legal practitioner was optimistic that INEC must have some intelligent information that could lead to loss of lives that prompted them to postpone the election to avoid unnecessary crisis.

I know very well that INEC will not postponed the election if there are no good reasons for doing so.

INEC is an independent body not controlled by the federal or state government, though some people rumour it to be so but I do not believe it.

The International community is watching and I am sure INEC will not want to fail by conducting an election that will not be free and fair, Oladimeji said. (NAN)

Source: NAN

By Emmanuel Afonne

The Chairman of JOSAN Integrated Rice Mills and Farms, Chief Oliver Okeke, has commended the Anambra Government for the successful inauguration of the JOSAN Rice Mills, with about 10,000 farmers.

Okeke said on Saturday in Abuja that the resuscitation of the JOSAN Giant Mill, formerly Omor Rice Mill, meant that the country would soon bounce back as the largest rice mill in West Africa.

Okeke, who is also the Chairman of Joseph Agro Industries, commended the administration of Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra for rising to the occasion and seeing to the resuscitation of the mills located at Umumbo community.

He said that the industry had a capacity to produce 30,000 metric tons and a current expanded annual capacity of 80,000 metric tons of paddy rice input and 50,000 metric tons of milled rice.

JOSAN integrated rice mills and farms is a Private Public Partnership (PPP) scheme between Joseph Agro Industries and the Anambra Government.

JOSAN is first given the former dilapidated World Bank Rice farm in Ufuma in 2015, as a pilot test scheme, whereby JOSAN installed two new rice mills in Ufuma, built all year round irrigation facilities and engaged in a large co-sponsored out-growers scheme with IFAD-value chain.

JOSAN also won the National award as the IFAD (the agriculture and rural development agency of the United Nations) State off-taker.

The Anambra Government then handed over the giant mill at Umumbo in 2018 to JOSAN (formerly known as Omor Rice mill) for complete rehabilitation.

Successive federal and state governments since 1997, were unable to successfully rehabilitate the vandalised and abandoned giant mill. JOSAN did the technical resuscitation and all investments to this effect, Okeke said in a statement.

According to him, the inauguration of the giant mill is a testimony of the federal and state governments successful agriculture policies to bring in genuine investors into the agriculture sector.

He said: Anambra State Rice, produced by JOSAN (different from Anambra Rice), was also inaugurated at the event as a testimony to rice that is grown in Anambra, milled in Anambra and packaged in Anambra.

This will become a proudly Anambra State Rice, made in Nigeria product, to reduce the importation of rice and save foreign exchange for Nigeria.

He appreciated Umumbo community for agreeing to give them 5,000 hectares of land to develop a highly irrigated and mechanised farm which would also see JOSAN be the anchor off-taker for the Lower Anambra Irrigation Project (LAIP) in conjunction with NISRAL, IFAD, FADAMA and other development partners.

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed grave disappointment in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for at the last minute.

Buhari in a series of tweets on his twitter handle @MBuhari said that it was so disappointing that after promising day after day that it was ready for the election, the commission had to call it off at the last minute.

Buhari decried that many Nigerians had traveled to various locations across Nigeria to exercise their franchise while election observers were already on ground, only for the commission to postpone the polls.

I am deeply disappointed that despite the long notice given and our preparations both locally and internationally, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the Presidential and National Assembly elections within hours of its commencement.

I am deeply disappointed that despite the long notice given and our preparations both locally and internationally, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the Presidential and National Assembly elections within hours of its commencement.

— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) February 16, 2019

I am deeply disappointed that despite the long notice given and our preparations both locally and internationally, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the Presidential and National Assembly elections within hours of its commencement.

Many Nigerians have traveled to various locations to exercise their right to vote, and international observers are gathered.

INEC themselves have given assurances, day after day and almost hour after hour that they are in complete readiness for the elections. We and all our citizens believed them.

This administration has ensured that we do not interfere in any way with the work of INEC except to ensure that all funds were released to the commission, he said.

He cautioned INEC to ensure that all the lapses that led to the postponement were addressed before the new date so that a free, fair and credible election would be conducted.

We now urge INEC to ensure not only that materials already distributed are safe and do not get into wrong hands, but that everything is done to avoid the lapses that resulted in this unfortunate postponement, and ensure a free and fair election on the rescheduled dates.

While I reaffirm my strong commitment to the independence, neutrality of the electoral umpire

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

Financial experts on Saturday said the hasty postponement of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would create uncertainty and affect inflow of foreign investments.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos that the hasty postponement a few hours to the Presidential and National Assembly elections was not good for the economy and investors confidence.

NAN reports that INEC hours earlier, announced the shift of the Feb. 16 Presidential and National Assembly elections to Feb. 23.

The Governorship and State House of Assembly as well as FCT area council elections have also been shifted from March 2 to March 9.

INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at a press conference, attributed the postponement of all the scheduled elections to logistic and operational problems.

Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, Professor of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State said the development would create unnecessary uncertainty in the economy and affect inflow of foreign investment.

Tella said the countrys inability to stabilise election processes 20 years after would affect the way foreign investors perceived Nigeria.

He said the development would affect inflow of foreign investments, both portfolio and direct investments.

Uncertainty is the operating atmosphere in Nigeria but businesses thrive under certainty and predictable situations, Tella said.

He said the postponement would bring about extra cost for businesses and Nigerians.

Tella said business successes depended not only on macroeconomic stability but also on political stability.

Businesses that have shifted some programmes because of the elections have to start making adjustments which outcomes may not be optimal.

When INEC released its plan long ago, I thought we had arrived but this last minute botch shows that we still have a long way to go, he said.

Also speaking, Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., said the postponement of the elections showed that government and INEC were not prepared.

Omordion said the postponement a few minutes to the election day would further slow down economic activities and as well cause cautious trading in the nations bourse.

He said investors confidence as seen in the recent stock market rebound would be dampened with the development.

Omordion wondered why INEC had been feeding Nigerians with lies that they were prepared for the elections only to announce a shift when it mattered most.

Malam Garba Kurfi, the Managing Director, APT Securities and Funds Ltd., said the postponement of the elections would be a huge cost to the economy in view of the fact that schools had been closed for almost three days ahead of the elections.

Kurfi said many companies and markets had been closed due to the elections while many individuals had traveled to various destinations in order to cast their votes only for it to be postponed.

Logistics cost have been incurred by INEC; where will they get extra budget to augment the short fall.

It is clear that we are not ready to learn from the past mistakes. INEC should learn to make contingency arrangements rather than postponement.

This will not allow the rest of the world to take us as a serious nation. The Presidency should set up a committee to investigate the reason for the postponement and whoever is responsible for it should be brought to book, he said.

Mr Moses Igbrude, Publicity Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said the postponement of the presidential election on the same day of the election was unfortunate.

Igbrude said the postponement was unacceptable and should be condemned in its entirety.

He said the shift would create uncertainty and doubt on the ability of the commission to conduct free and fair polls.

Igbrude said the development would create economic waste and untold hardship to the electorate, noting that, many people had travelled to various locations to exercise their civic responsibility.

He decried the effect of economic waste the postponement would have on state governments, private businesses and foreign and local election observers.

Igbrude added that some state governments had declared work-free days while some organisations worked for a half-day in order to prepare for the elections.

This action will surely frustrate and discourage the electorate from voting. I sincerely appeal to INEC and President Muhammadu Buhari not to throw Nigeria into problem.

They should make sure that they conduct elections that will be free and acceptable to everybody, Igbrude stated.

He, however, appealed to voters to be calm and ensure they perform their civic responsibility.

Source: NAN

Nigerians in Europe has described the postponement of the 2019 general elections as sad, insensitive and a conspiracy against the Buhari administration.

They were reacting to the re-scheduled presidential and national assembly elections as well as that of the governorship and state houses of assembly.

The presidential election earlier scheduled to hold in Saturday was shifted to Feb. 23 while that of governorship would now hold on March 9 as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In telephone interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bern, they expressed disappointment over the development which they described as act of incompetence.

Mr Bayo Michael, Chairman of the Nigeria In Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) Brussels, said that the decision taken by INEC reeks of insensitivity, irresponsibility and incompetence.

In saner climes, INEC chairmans announcement would have been followed by a letter of resignation.

However, unless you are directly involved in the decision making, it can be hard to empathise with or understand the logic behind some decisions taken. he stressed.

Similarly, Mr Godwin Azu, a political Analyst in London described the postponed election as highly suspicious and unacceptable.

We in the diaspora are highly disappointed with the 11th hour development by INEC, which is greatly unprofessional of an election umpire at a highly volatile election moment to cancel an election on the day of election.

Many of our Diasporas who have travelled to join the international community and domestic observers to observe the election, I am sure, are equally shocked and disappointed on the turn of events.

The very credibility of INEC chairman and his entire team is now at stake, he has to legitimately prove his innocence and genuine honesty for making the final decision to postpone the elections on the 11th hour, Azu said.

In the same vein, Dr Rita Odey , a member of the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (CANUK) said that the move was to discourage people from performing their civic responsibility.

People travelled from Europe to Nigeria for this purpose under tight circumstances. To postpone an election on the day of voting speaks volume.

INEC had four years to plan for this election, if it couldnt deliver as we are now made to believe, it should have announced it since Feb.1 in order for people to adjust their plans.

This is a grand conspiracy against the Buhari administration. Nigerians must rise against this by turning out en mass to vote him back into office on Saturday.

Others who spoke from Spain, Germany and Italy said they were not against the postponement but the timing of the announcement.

While urging INEC to make adequate preparation ahead of the new dates slated for voting, they called on voters to be resilient and committed to their civic responsibility.

NAN gathered that a large number of Nigerians in Europe are in the country to vote and also serve as observers in the election.

Also Sen. Magnus Abe, (APC- Rivers South East) said that INEC owed Nigerians a detailed explanations on its decision to postpone the elections.

Abe said this in an interview with Newsmen in Port Harcourt while reacting to the decision of the electoral commission to shift the national polls.

Election should be free, fair and credible and it has become clear to INEC that with the logistic challenges they are facing it will be impossible to hold the elections.

I think INEC has done the right thing to postponed the elections and to enable it to prepare better.

But I believe that INEC owes Nigerians a clear explanation to why the country would have to be subjected to this kind of challenge.

The personal plans, financial fallouts of this kind of decision are going to affect things in a whole lot.

They (INEC officials) owe Nigerians a more detailed explanation about why this has to be done at this time, he said.

Source: NAN

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) have said the postponement of elections has disrupted the economy, causing colossal losses.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC shifted Saturdays presidential and National Assembly elections to Feb. 23 after a meeting, which began Friday evening, ending early on Saturday.

The governorship and house of assembly, FCT area council elections have also been shifted from March 2 to March 9.

INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu attributed the postponement of all the scheduled elections to logistic and operational challenges.

He said the postponement would afford the commission the opportunity to address the identified challenges in order to maintain the quality of Nigerias elections.

Mr Muda Yusuf, Director-General of LCCI told NAN that the postponement had caused a lot of disruption to businesses, both small and large scale enterprises.

The economy is shut down today, and that is a great loss in terms of output and revenue; and we are dealing in an economy with a large informal sector operators who depend on daily income for survival.

A lot of cost has also been incurred; cost incurred by INEC, political parties, security agencies, foreign and local observers; and these are huge costs borne by both the private and public sectors.

All these together puts a burden on the economy, he said.

Yusuf said it was unfortunate that such happened and even more disturbing that the losses could have been reduced with earlier notice to the public.

I am sure that INEC had seen some signs that this was not going to work out, rather than coming out with the information few hours to the election.

If these information had come in early yesterday, maybe the level of disruption and losses would not be these much, he said.

However, Yusuf said it was better to have the postponement and have an election that was credible, fair and transparent, urging the citizens to be patient and bear with INEC hoping that the sacrifice would be worth it eventually.

Also, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General of MAN, said the general election impacted on industrial activity as most factories shut down their operations till Monday.

All Nigerians were full of expectations and looking forward to the election and were surprised by the news of its postponement.

We know that many businesses closed early yesterday to allow people move around and travel to cast their votes in their respective locations, he said.

He, however, urged Nigerians to keep faith and perform their civic responsibilities next week.

He said irrespective of the inconvenience and disruption to industrial activities, energy and resources exerted, having a credible and smooth election was worth the sacrifice. (NAN)

Source: NAN

By Habiba Broger

A cross section of Nigerians in Europe have called for the resignation of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

They stated this on Saturday against the backdrop of the postponed presidential elections from Feb. 16 to Feb. 23.

In telephone interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bern, they expressed disappointment over the development.

The callers described the development as sad and insensitive and a conspiracy against the Buhari administration.

Mr Bayo Michael, Chairman of the Nigeria in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) Brussels, said that the decision taken by INEC reeks of insensitivity, irresponsibility and incompetence

In saner climes, his announcement would have been followed by a letter of resignation.

However, unless you are directly involved in the decision making, it can be hard to empathise with or understand the logic behind some decisions taken, he stressed.

Similarly, Mr Godwin Azu, a political analyst in London described the postponed election as highly suspicious and unacceptable.

We in the diaspora are highly disappointed with the 11th hour development by INEC.

This is greatly unprofessional of an election umpire at a highly volatile election moment to cancel an election on the day of election.

Many of our Diasporas who have travelled to join the international community and domestic observers to observe the election, Im sure are equally shocked and disappointed on the turn of events.

The very credibility of INEC chairman and his entire team is now at stake.

He has to legitimately prove his innocence and genuine honesty for making the final decision to postpone the elections on the 11th hour, Azu said.

In the same vein, Dr Rita Odey, a member of the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (CANUK) said that the move was to discourage people from performing their civic responsibility.

People travelled from Europe to Nigeria for this purpose under tight circumstances. To postpone an election on the day of voting speaks volume.

INEC had four years to plan for this election, if it couldnt deliver as we are now made to believe, it should have announced it since Feb.1, in order for people to adjust their plans.

This is a grand conspiracy against the Buhari administration.

Nigerians must rise against this by turning out en mass to vote next Saturday.

Others who spoke from Spain, Germany and Italy said they were not against the postponement but the timing of the announcement.

While urging INEC to make adequate preparations ahead of the new dates slated for voting, they called on voters to be resilient and committed to their civic responsibility.

NAN gathered that a large number from the Europe diaspora, who registered in their local constituencies, are in the country to vote and also serve as observers in the elections.

Source: NAN

The Independent National Electoral Commission has decided to shift Saturdays presidential and National Assembly elections till next week 23 February.

The governorship and house of assembly, FCT area council elections have also been shifted from 2 March to 9 March.

INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu confirmed NAN report of the shift of the presidential election, attributing the postponement of all the scheduled elections to logistic and operational problems.

He said the postponement will afford the commission the opportunity to address the identified challenges in order to maintain the quality of Nigerias elections.

Watch Professor Yakubu deliver the bombshell:

Live update: Press briefing by the Hon. Chairman INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu on elections

INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria)

The postponement of the election came after more than six hours of meeting between INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu and 12 national commissioners in Abuja.

The meeting, which began Friday evening ended early on Saturday.

Professor Yakubu said the INEC will be meeting all stakeholders at 2pm on Saturday at the International Conference Centre in Abuja to explain the commissions position.

Rotimi Oyekanmi, the chief press secretary to the INEC chairman had hinted newsmen earlier that some decisions about the election had been reached and that the decision would be communicated later.

I can confirm to you that the INEC Chairman and the 12 national commissioners are in the meeting.

Decisions have been taken and you will be addressed later, Oyekanmi said.

Presidential and National Assembly elections were scheduled to take place throughout the country today, while governorship and state assembly elections were slated for 2 March.

The national elections are expected to hold at 119,973 polling units across the country while collation of results will take place in 8,809 Registration Areas or Wards, 774 Local Government Areas and 36 States and the FCT.

It will not be the first time that the commission would postpone a scheduled general election.

In 2015, the presidential election was shifted from February 14 to March 28th, 2015; while the governorship and assembly elections scheduled for 28 February were shifted to 11 April.

Read INEC full statement:

Source: NAN