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Showing posts from October, 2010

National Assembly, stop toying with anti money laundering and anti terrorism bills

The reluctance of the Nigerian parliamentarians to pass the anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorism (AT) bills is worrisome. Although, if history will be our guide, it rings true to the character of Nigeria’s members of the national assembly to hold anti-corruption bills in disdain. Similar fate as befalling the AML Bill has been the lot of Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill, Whistle Blowers Bill and several other bills aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in government. Background to the Bill President Goodluck Jonathan had written twice this year to appeal to the Senators and House of Reps members to pass the bill, all to no avail. News report has it that the new anti-money laundering bill was meant to replace the 2004 version of same bill which was said to lack the relevant provisions that will make it fully compliant with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task force (FATF), established by the G7 Summit held in Paris in 1989. Nigeria, at its last meeti

Issues in Election Petitions in Nigeria

Two incidents in our polity warrant a critical review of the election procedures in Nigeria. The first is the Court of Appeal judgement in Ilorin on Friday, 15 October 2010. After 42 months spanning 3 and a half years, the appellate court declared that Dr John Olukayode Fayemi of the Action Congress of Nigeria and not Engr. Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party won the 14 April 2007 and 25 April / 5 May 2009 re-run gubernatorial elections. The second reason for us to take holistic look at our election procedures is the on-going alteration of the First amendment to 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as well as the Electoral Act 2010. Before delving into the main issues in this piece, a little update is germane. Hitherto, legal framework in Nigeria does not have time limit on election petitions (particularly since the Supreme Court ruling in Paul Unongo v Aper Aku and others, (1983) 2 SCNLR 332) neither does it recognise inauguration of candidates after disposal of petitions against the