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FACT CHECK: Did ‘Kano underage voting’ happen in Kenya as claimed by INEC?

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FACT CHECK: Did ‘Kano underage voting’ happen in Kenya as claimed by INEC?

By Kingsley OBIEJESI.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has exonerated the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission from allegations of gross underage voting in the last local government election in the state.

Abubakar Nahuce, Chairman of a special panel set up by Mahmood Yakubu, INEC National Chairman, to probe the allegations, made this known while briefing newsmen on Friday.

Nahuce said there was no concrete evidence to prove that the pictures of underage voters making the rounds on the Internet were from the Kano LG elections.

He said that some of the pictures were from the recently held Kenya presidential elections.

The Kano LG election was won by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in all the 44 council areas in the state.

“From the interaction with civil society organisations and media, no evidence of underage voting has been presented,” Nahuche said.

“We have discussed with you media men, but none of you said he saw any underage voter in the line on election day.

“All what we saw were from social media and they are not verifiable… some of them are not even from Nigeria, some are from Kenya elections but people are attributing them to Nigeria.”

Earlier, Mohmmed Garba, Kano State Commissioner of Information, had claimed the pictures were taken during the 2015 general election.

FACT

In one of the videos posted online and seen by ICIR, the children were seen chattering gaily as they queued up to vote and the cameramen who spoke in Hausa could be heard chanting APC.

Checks by ICIR showed that no political party with the acronym APC exists in Kenya. The closest are AP for Agano Party; ARC for Alliance for Real Change and APK for Alliance Party of Kenya.

So it would be out of place for voters to be chanting APC in Kenya.

Secondly, the children in the video spoke Hausa; and of the many languages spoken in Kenya, chief of which is Swahili, Hausa is not one. The Hausa ethnic group is found mostly in West Africa.

CONCLUSION

INEC must acknowledge the seriousness of underage voting. To continue denying it will do no one no good.

The video above was shot during an election that held in Nigeria, whether it was during the recent Kano LG polls or the 2015 general election is another matter entirely.

Lai Olurode, a Professor and former INEC Commissioner, admitted during a recent interview with Punch that there were places in Nigeria where INEC personnel were being compelled, sometimes even threatened, to register underage voters.

“There are certain areas of this country where even if they know the person is a kid, they will insist that the child must vote,” Olurode said.

“I had to run for my life at one of the election centres in a part of the country because these people said children must vote or there would be no election at all. It was that bad.”

INEC’s first reaction to the latest claims of underage voting was was to deny responsibility, saying it had no legal powers over state electoral commission. It was cheery news, therefore, that Yakubu made an about-face and ordered a probe into the allegation.

However, INEC probe panel’s dismissal of the reports as mere hearsay not backed with evidence leaves a lot to be desired.

Did Buhari promise to revitalise 10,000 PHCs, as denied by Adewole?

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Did Buhari promise to revitalise 10,000 PHCs, as denied by Adewole?

On Sunday, Isaac Adewole, Minister of Health, said the Federal Government never promised to revitalise 10,000 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the country.

While saying this on Sunday, he explained that what the FG said was that it would love to see about 10,000 PHCs revitalised — not that it would undertake the project itself.

“It’s not FG that is revitalising, what we said is that we want to see 10,000 PHCs revitalised in Nigeria. Because if 10,000 is done, it will cover about 100 million people and we did this to stimulate the governors and many of them have taken it up,” Adewole had said.

He added: “PHCs are not under us, they are under LGAs. Why we made PHC a focus is that we just have to take care of it. But normally, PHC is not the responsibility of the FG.”

But is it true that the Federal Government never said it would revive 10,000 PHCs?

INAUGURATION OF KUCHINGORO MODEL PHC

On January 10, 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off of what he described as one of the cardinal programmes of his administration – revitalization of PHCs — with the inauguration of a “Model” PHC at Kuchingoro, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

“We shall focus more on the people living in the rural areas and the vulnerable population in our society, such as women, children under five years of age and the elderly in collaboration with national and international partners,” Buhari said at the time.

“Our vision is to revitalize 10,000 Primary Health Care Facilities in Nigeria using a phased approach. The first phase of this approach is what we are flagging off today. It will signal the revitalization of the first 109 Primary Health Care facilities across the 36 states and the FCT.”

CONCLUSION

While Adewole’s claim that primary health care is the responsibility of local governments is true, the same cannot be said of his claim that FG did not promise to revitalise 10,000 PHCs.

President Buhari did so promise.

Also, during the interview, Adewole said that over 3,000 PHCs had been revitalised nationwide by the Federal Government, state governments, and international partners, including the World Bank, European Union, and the British Government.

However, these claims cannot be true, since a series of investigations by the ICIR on the state of PHCs across the states of the federation show that many of them are still in decay. Some that were renovated are not in use and have been overgrown by bushes.

Journalists, supported by ICIR, toured the six geo-political zones of the country, from the North Central, to the North West, South East, to the South South and South West. The reports remain the same: abandoned PHCs scattered all over with citizens groaning under the pains of ill-health.

FACT CHECK: Is INEC really handicapped to curb underage voting in LG poll?

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FACT CHECK: Is INEC really handicapped to curb underage voting in LG poll?

By Kingsley OBIEJESI.

Following the reports of massive underage voting in the just held Kano State local government election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it had “no legal control or responsibility whatsoever” over State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs).

INEC reacted to the scandal by saying it could not be held “directly or vicariously liable for an exercise outside our legal purview”.

“The attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been drawn to videos and pictures purportedly showing some underage thumb printing ballot papers in a recent election. These images have been circulating online since Saturday,” it said in a statement by Oluwole Osaze Uzzi, its Director of Voter Education and Publicity.

“The Commission wishes to inform the public that the images do not relate in any way to any election organised, conducted or superintended by INEC.

“As far as the Commission can ascertain, they relate to a Local Government election conducted at the weekend, and over which we have no legal control or responsibility whatsoever…

“It should be pointed out here that Local Government elections are exclusively the constitutional responsibility of the respective State Electoral Commissions, who are in no way under the control or supervision of INEC.”

On Friday, however, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC National Chairman, said the commission had formed a panel to investigate the reports so the anomaly would be corrected.

The nomenclature ‘State Independent Electoral Commissions’ seems to suggest that INEC, as the national electoral body, cannot in any way exercise influence over the electoral bodies of the various states of the federation, since they are all independent bodies. But is that really the case?

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION PROVIDES

The 1999 constitution, as amended, provides that SIECs shall have power “to organise, undertake and supervise all elections to local government councils within the state”, and that INEC shall have power “to organise, undertake and supervise all elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President, the Governor and Deputy Governor of a State, and to the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each State of the Federation”.

Also, that same section of the constitution, among other things, empowers INEC to “carry out such other functions as may be conferred upon it by an Act of the National Assembly”.

Now, the Independent National Electoral Commission Establishment Act states the functions of INEC thus: “To organise, conduct and supervise the elections into the office of chairmen and vice-chairmen of local government councils and area councils, membership of the local government councils and area councils, office of Governor and Deputy Governor, membership of the Houses of Assembly of the States, the office of President and Vice President and membership of the Senate and House of Representatives as may be specified in any enactment or law”.

CONCLUSION

Since INEC is empowered by its establishment Act to conduct local government council elections, and the constitution also empowers INEC to carry out any functions conferred on it by an Act of the National assembly, it can be argued, therefore, that INEC does have the power to conduct or at least supervise the various SIECs during LG elections.

FACT CHECK: Jonathan or Buhari, who launched the first made-in-Nigeria drone?

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FACT CHECK: Jonathan or Buhari, who launched the first made-in-Nigeria drone?

By Kingsley OBIEJESI.

On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari launched what the Nigerian Air Force described as the first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), popularly known as drone, that was completely manufactured in the country.

“The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), in its resolve to promote innovation and enhance its Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, today, 15 February 2018, inducted its first indigenous operational Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) nicknamed, Tsaigumi,” read a statement issued by Olatokunbo Adesanya, NAF’s Director of information.

But ‘Tsaigumi’ is not the first made-in-Nigeria drone to be launched by NAF, and this is according to the same NAF. However, it could be the first that becomes operational.

In December 2013, then President Goodluck Jonathan also launched a UAV (named Gulma), which Nigerians were told was the first of its kind to be built in-country.

During that ceremony, Jonathan praised the Nigerian Air Force to the high heavens, describing the achievement as “historic”.

“Considering the potential impact of its benefit and versatility, I cannot but say how proud I am of the men and women of our Armed Forces,” Jonathan said at the time.

“Apart from their commitment to the protection of our sovereignty, they are helping to keep our nation ahead in military science and technology and to keep their civilian counterparts on their toes.

“Today, as we stand in appreciation of the gallant men and women of our Air Force, we are reminded that hard work and diligence can break many barriers.”

Also speaking at the event, Alex Badeh, then Chief of Air Force, said the drone could be useful to media practitioners, and urged the government to sustain the tempo of development by ensuring adequate funding for technology-based initiatives.

“The GULMA, as a qualitative, timely and reliable source of information, could serve as a powerful tool for media practitioners. To sustain the current tempo of development, the NAF would require the assistance of government in infrastructure and human capacity development,” Badeh had said.

Thursday’s statement by NAF, however, claimed that the Gulma UAV launched by Jonathan was a “prototype”, unlike the Tsaigumi UAV, which is “a much more advanced and operationalized version”.

The explanation corroborated an earlier statement issued by Yusuf Anas, a NAF spokesperson, in May 2014, which noted that ‘Gulma’ was only a prototype and could not  be operational.

“The Nigerian Air Force unmanned aerial vehicle ‘Gulma’ is yet to be deployed for operational uses. Meanwhile, training of the NAF UAV operators is currently ongoing,” the statement read.

Later on Thursday evening, the Presidency, on its official tweeter handle, clarified that the drone launched by Buhari, is the first “OPERATIONAL” made-in-Nigeria UAV.

CONCLUSION

A NAF engineer demonstrating how the ‘Amebo’ UAV works. Photo credit: www.beegeagle.wordpress.com

Before the ‘Gulma’ UAV, there was a drone named ‘Amebo’, also built by the Nigerian Air Force in 2012, but that too, according to NAF, was a prototype and did not become operational.

Apparently, if or when ‘Tsaigumi’ becomes operational, it will be the first made-in-Nigeria drone to so become.

FACT CHECK: Does Adeosun have the powers to suspend the SEC DG?

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FACT CHECK: Does Adeosun have the powers to suspend the SEC DG?

Mounir Gwarzo, the suspended Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Tuesday insisted that Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance, has no power to remove him from office.

Gwarzo stated this during the House of Representatives hearing into the circumstances leading to his suspension.

“On whether the Minister can suspend me from office, the answer is no,” Gwarzo said when Tajudeen Yusuf, Chairman of the probe panel, gave him the opportunity to make his final comments.

However, Adeosun maintains that she, as the Minister of Finance, has powers to suspend Gwarzo, adding that she would be making recommendations to President Muhammadu Buhari based on the matter.

“Mr Mounir is not removed, he has been suspended and he is not the first DG of SEC to be suspended. In the absence of a board, the Minister does have powers to suspend,” Adeosun said.

WHAT THE INVESTMENTS AND SECURITIES ACT SAYS

A screen-grab of the relevant section of the Investment and Securities Act 2007

Section 8 (1) of the Investments and Securities Act 2007 provides how a Director General or any member of the SEC board could be removed: “A member of the Board shall cease to hold office if he (a) becomes of unsound mind; (b) becomes bankrupt or makes a compromise with creditors; (c) is convicted of a felony or any offence involving dishonesty; (d) is guilty of serious misconduct in relation to his duties; or (e) is a person who has a professional qualification, and is disqualified or suspended (other than at his own request) from practicing his profession in any part of Nigeria by the order of any competent authority made in respect of him personally.

“The President may at any time and upon the recommendation of the Minister remove a person to whom subsection (1) of this section applies: Provided no full-time member of the Board of the Commission shall be removed from office without the approval of the Senate.”

The Investments and Securities Act 2007, however, is silent on whether a Minister can suspend a serving SEC DG, pending investigation. In fact the Act did not make any provision for the suspension of a serving DG or commissioner.

On Adeosun’s remarks that “in the absence of a board, the Minister does have powers to suspend”, nothing in the Act supports this.

WHAT THE PUBLIC SERVICE RULES SAYS

A screen-grab of the relevant sections of the Public Service Rules

During Tuesday’s investigative hearing at the National Assembly, Gwarzo pointed out that the letter of suspension issued to him stated as follows: “This suspension is in line with the Public Service Rule 03405 and public service rule 03406 pending the conclusion of the investigation.”

He, however claimed that “this public service rule that she quoted does not exist in the Public Service Rule. Her intention is to make reference to 030405 rather than 03405. That 030405 does not give the Honourable Minister the power to suspend the DG of SEC”.

Gwarzo

ICIR found Gwarzo’s claim to be true. There are no rules 03405 and 03406 in the Public Service Rules, and rules 030405 and 030406 do not confer on the minister the express authority to suspend a DG.

According to Rule 030304 of the PSR, “(a) It shall be the duty of every officer to report any case of misconduct that comes to his/her notice to an officer superior to the officer involved.

(b)  When an officer’s misconduct is brought to the notice of his/her superior officer, it shall be the duty of               that superior officer to report it to the Permanent Secretary/Head of Extra Ministerial Office without                   delay. If he/she considers it necessary that the officer should be interdicted, such recommendations                 shall be made in the report.

(c) On receiving the report, the Permanent Secretary/Head of Extra Ministerial Office shall take action in               accordance with Rule 030302-030306 as appropriate and, if necessary, shall interdict the officer.

(d)  At the appropriate point in the investigation, the officer may be suspended in accordance with Rule                  030405.”

Rule 030405 states: “(a) An officer who is under interdiction or suspension shall notify his/her Permanent Secretary/Head of Extra Ministerial Office of his/her intention to leave his/her station. He/she shall however not leave the country without the specific approval of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

(b) An officer under interdiction is also responsible for keeping his/her Ministry/Extra-Ministerial office                      informed of the address at which instructions to him/her can be delivered.

(c) If he/she fails to comply with the instructions delivered to him/her at such address within seven                         days of such delivery, he/she will be regarded as absent from duty without leave.”

Rule 030406: Suspension should not be used as a synonym for interdiction. It shall apply where a prima
facie case, the nature of which is serious, has been established against an officer and it is considered
necessary in the public interest that he/she should forthwith be prohibited from carrying on his duties.
Pending investigation into the misconduct, the Federal Civil Service Commission or the Permanent
Secretary/Head of Extra Ministerial Office (if within his/her delegated powers) shall forthwith suspend
him/her from the exercise of the powers and functions of his/her office and from the enjoyment of
his/her emolument.

Gwarzo also argued that the Public Service Rules cannot be used to suspend him since SEC has its own separate rules and regulations, as contained in the Investments and Securities Act. He quoted PSR 160103 to support his claims.

“If you look at the Public Service Rule, which is 160103, it clearly states that, for an institution that already has their own policies, they should be guided by that. My letter of appointment clearly states that my appointment will be governed by the provisions of the Investment and Securities Act. So, the question is, what instrument did the honourable Minister use or rely on in my suspension?” Gwarzo said.

Now, PSR 160103 states: “Parastatals are to retain and improve existing rules, procedures and practices in their establishments and ensure that there are no deviations from the general principles contained in the Public Service Rules. For example variations in probationary periods and maturity periods for promotion only reflect organizational peculiarities and not inconsistencies with the Public Service Rules. However in the absence of internal rules and regulations on any matter, the relevant provisions of the Public Service Rules shall apply.”

CONCLUSION

Going by the above rules, and by Adeosun’s narrative during the hearing, a prima facie case was established against Gwarzo after it was proven (through documents from the Corporate Affairs Commission as well as bank mandates) that he remained a director and shareholder in two separate companies while still DG of SEC. One of the companies, Outbound investments, had, in fact, transacted business with SEC by supplying diesel to the organisation.

Adeosun had also stated that a thorough investigation into the matter could not be carried out with Gwarzo still at the helm of affairs, and that there were information (not supported by evidence, though) that he was already moving documents away from his office, hence the need for him to be suspended.

It is also safe to say that since the Securities and Investments Act (cited above) is not clear on the suspension of the SEC DG, the ministry of finance was right to have relied on the Public Service Rules to suspend Gwarzo.

However, it appears Gwarzo has a valid point since his letter of suspension was signed by Kemi Adeosun, not the Federal Civil Service Commission or the Permanent Secretary of the finance ministry.

FACT CHECK: Did Jonathan, as president, ‘take education seriously’, as he claimed in Malaysia? Well…

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FACT CHECK: Did Jonathan, as president, ‘take education seriously’, as he claimed in Malaysia? Well…

By Kingsley OBIEJESI.

On Friday, Goodluck Jonathan, former President, told a gathering in Malaysia that the education sector in Nigeria recorded significant improvement during his time in office.

Jonathan said this while presenting a paper at the International Summit on Peace, organised by the Junior Chambers International (JCI).

He said that his administration’s special attention to education was based on his belief that it was the only way to achieve sustainable peace and development in Nigeria.

JONATHAN’S WORDS

“My administration took education seriously because I saw education as the weapon with which we could break the bond between illiteracy and crime levels,” he said.

“Throughout the time I was in office, education enjoyed the highest sectoral allocation in the nation’s budget.

“This was why we were able to scale up our education programmes, especially at the tertiary level, where there was an obvious need to address the challenge of insufficient spaces for our youths.

“We built 12 additional conventional universities and two more specialised institutions, including one maritime university and a police university.

“With that, we expanded the opportunities to educate our youth in relevant fields, and produce the manpower needs of our economy.

“I am a firm believer in education, and just as I had said elsewhere, any nation that does not spend its wealth in educating its youth will eventually spend that wealth to fight insecurity.”

FACTS

Indeed, the Jonathan administration approved the creation of 12 new federal universities in states that, before then, had no federal university. They include Kogi (Lokoja), Nasarawa (Lafia), Gombe (Kashere), Taraba (Wukari), Jigawa (Dutse) and Katsina (Dutsin-ma).

Others are in Ebonyi (Ndufu-Alike), Bayelsa (Otuoke), Ekiti (Oye Ekiti), Yobe (Gashua), Kebbi (Birnin Kebbi) and Zamfara (Gusau).

It is also true that Jonathan commissioned Nigeria’s first Maritime university, located in Okerenkoko community in Warri, Delta State, in 2014.

Also, the Jonathan-administration upgraded the Nigerian Police Academy in Kano to a degree-awarding institution in March 2015.

It is arguable, however, whether the creation of these new universities translated into “significant improvements” for the education sector.

For instance, the Maritime University in Warri has remained a source of controversy, with Rotimi Amaechi, now Minister of Transportation, threatening that the federal government could abandon the project, and branding it “a waste of resources”.

Most of the newly-created federal universities, like almost all government-owned institutions, lack adequate funding and infrastructure to run optimally.

ASUU STRIKES UNDER JONATHAN

According to Isaac Obasi,a professor at the University of Abuja, the Nigerian university system recorded a total 14 months of industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) during Jonathan’s five-year presidency.

They are as follows: five months in 2010, shortly after Jonathan was sworn in to succeed late President Musa Yar’Adua; three months in 2011 and six months in 2013.

It must be said that the problem was not specifically caused by Jonathan, but, well, they took place under his watch.

JONATHAN’S BUDGETARY ALLOCATION TO EDUCATION

The budgetary allocation to the ministry of education in 2010 — when Jonathan was Yar’Adua’s deputy — was N295 billion. However, the amount increased considerably to N356.4 billion in 2011, Jonathan’s first full year on the job. And it kept increasing subsequently: N400.1 billion in 2012; N432.6 billion in 2013, N495.2 billion in 2014 before dropping slightly to N483.1 billion in 2015.

Under Muhammadu Buhari, it dropped to N367.73 bn (6.01 percent) in 2016 and N448.01bn (approximately 6 percent) in 2017.

Spreadsheet of the Budget Allocation to some MDAs from 2010 to 2015. Data from www.budgetoffice.gov.ng

CONCLUSION

Jonathan was right to state that the education sector received the highest budgetary allocation during his presidency, even though the allocations fell way short of the 26 percent recommendation by the United Nations.

However, just like successive administrations, the increase in the budgetary allocations to the education sector under Jonathan, did not directly translate to a “significant improvement” in the sector.

Many Nigerian students, mostly children of the rich, continued to flock out of the country in search of better education in Europe and America and even neighbouring Ghana.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommends that every country set aside at least 26 percent of its total budget to enable nations pay proper attention to rising education demands.

FACT CHECK: Does a Nigerian legislator earn more than the US president, as claimed by Sagay?

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FACT CHECK: Does a Nigerian legislator earn more than the US president, as claimed by Sagay?

By Kingsley OBIEJESI.

At a public lecture in Lagos, earlier in the week, Itse Sagay, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), accused legislators of earning way higher than the US President.

SAGAY’S CLAIMS

“While the United States President earns $400,000 per annum, a Nigerian senator earns over $1.7 million,” he said.

The vocal professor of law said that though the basic salary of a lawmaker is about N2.4m per month, they earn many funny allowances adding up to N29.5m per month and N3.2bn per annum.

Sagay said the legislative arm of government poses the greatest challenge to the anti-corruption campaign of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

SENATE’S REPLY

Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, described Sagay’s comments as false and borne out of sheer ignorance.

“Sagay has been one of the few divisive elements in the Buhari administration who believe their relevance is enhanced only when they create constant tension between the legislature and the executive while also setting members of the executives against each other,” Abdullahi stated.

“Let us make it clear that our salaries and allowances are open books and the details can be taken from the RMFAC by any interested party.”

THE FACTS

When the ICIR checked the website of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the column for ‘Remuneration Package’ read “Empty section. Edit page to add content here.”

This indicates that there was no information on the remuneration of public officers on the site as of Saturday, when it was last checked.

However, a report by Premium Times in August 2015 detailed how much each senator and member of the House of Representatives earns on monthly and annual basis at the time.

This includes their basic salaries and numerous regular allowances. However, legislators are also paid some other allowances such as estacodes and duty tour allowances.

“The earning of each of the 360 members of the House of Representatives is estimated at N18.26 million, (while) each of the 109 senators earns a bit higher, pocketing N19.66 million each a year,” the report said.

“Additionally, each senator collects N1.01 million a year for his or her domestic staff, while each member of the House of Representatives collects N1 million for the same purpose.”

All the allowances put together, “the 360 members of the House of Representatives gulp N6.58 billion from the nation’s treasury in annual salaries and allowances, while the 109 Senators cost the nation N2.14 billion in similar emoluments.

“Cumulatively, the country shells out a hefty N8.72 billion every year in salaries and allowances to lawmakers in the two chambers of the National Assembly.”

However, the analyses of the lawmakers’ pay did not include “the illegal but hefty quarterly allowances lawmakers pay themselves” in the name of “office running cost”.

“It is unclear how much it is now. In 2009, it was N192million per senator per quarter while their House of Representatives counterparts received N140 million per quarter,” the report added.

Courtesy: Premium Times

Similarly, a 2016 report by the Economic intelligence magazine, “Senators and Members of the House of Representatives received a total of N6.78 billion as their official salaries and allowances in one year”.

“The remuneration packages include annual salaries, accommodation, vehicle maintenance and fuel, Personal Assistants, House maintenance, domestic staff, entertainment and utilities allowances, constituency allowance, annual Leave, hardship allowance, wardrobe, newspapers and responsibility allowances.”

CONCLUSION

While the official earnings of each lawmaker is not as high as the N3.2 billion quoted by Sagay, the opaqueness that has characterised the remuneration of lawmakers over the years has made it difficult, if not impossible, to state with clarity how much they actually take home monthly, quarterly or annually.

For instance, in April this year, Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, released his  six months payslips in reply to a challenge by Nasir El-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State, who had dared him to make his earnings public.

The published payslips, which ranged from October to March 2016, showed that he earned a minimum of N206,577 and a maximum of N346, 577 within the six months.

But Abdulmumin Jibrin, the suspended former House Committee Chairman on Appropriation, countered Dogara’s claims, saying that if what the Speaker published was true, then he earned more than Dogara, which was impossible.

This only buttresses the fact that there is little or no transparency with regards to what Nigerian lawmakers earn and this does not augur well for the anti-corruption campaign.

FACT CHECK: Are education parastatals over-populated by Muslims as alleged by CAN President?

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FACT CHECK: Are education parastatals over-populated by Muslims as alleged by CAN President?

By Kingsley OBIEJESI.

Last week, the Christian Association for Nigeria (CAN) alleged that out of all the parastatals in the ministry of education, only four are headed by Christians.

Samson Ayokunle, the CAN President, made the allegation when criticising some of the topics added to the new syllabus of Christian Religious Studies (CRS).

“To say the least, that is a misleading statement from a Minister who is not only trying to Islamise the ministry with all the appointments he has made but denying the reality of discrimination policy under his watch,” Ayokunle had said.

“A situation where 13 of their heads are Muslims while the remaining four are Christians is an ill-wind that would blow no one any good.”

17 PARASTATALS — IS THAT TRUE?

Ayokunle’s statement implied that there are 17 parastatals/agencies in the ministry of education. This isn’t true.

According to the website of the ministry of education (www.education.gov.ng), there are 21 parastatals, but these include the West African Examination Council (WAEC), which is a sub-regional body and is not under the direct control of the ministry. The chairman is  Evelyn S. Kandakai, a Liberian.

So if one excludes WAEC, then there are 20 parastatals on the list.

However, the list of newly appointed heads of education parastatals, released in August 2016, featured the Nomadic Education Commission and the National Institute for Nigerian Languages, both of which were not listed as parastatals on the website of the education ministry. These two take the number of education ministry parastatals to 22.

ANSWER: No, there are at least 22 parastatals in the education ministry.

13 MUSLIMS, 4 CHRISTIANS — IS THIS TRUE?

Interfaith

Here is a table containing the parastatals in the ministry and the religion of their heads

S/N PARASTATAL HEAD RELIGION
1 National University Commission (NUC) Abubakar A Rasheed Muslim
2 Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria Josiah Olusegun Ajiboye Christian
3 JAMB Ishaq Oloyede Muslim
4 National Board for Technical Education Masa’udu A. Kazaure Muslim
5 Tertiary Education Trust Fund Abdullahi B. Baffa Muslim
6 National Business and Technical Examination Board Ifeoma Isiugo-Abanihe Christian
7 National Commission for Colleges of Education Bappa Aliyu Muhammadu Muslim
8 National Examination Council Charles Uwakwe Christian
9 National Institute for Education Planning and Administration Lilian Salami – Christian
10 National Library of Nigeria Lanre Aina – Christian
11 National Mathematical Centre Stephen Ejugwu Onah – Christian
12 Universal Basic Education Hameed Bobboye Muslim
13 National Open University Adamu Uba Abdalla Muslim
14 National Teachers’ Institute Garba Dahuwa Azare Muslim
15 National Educational Research and Development Council Ismail Junaidu Muslim
16 Librarian Registration Council of Nigeria Michael Afolabi – Christian
17 Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria Vincent Asor  Christian
18 National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education of Nigeria Abba Aladu Muslim
19 Nigeria Arabic Language Village Muhammad Mu’az – Muslim
20 Nigeria French Language village Rauf Adebisi – Muslim
21 National commission for nomadic education Bashir Usman – Muslim
22 National of institute of Nigerian Languages Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche – Christian


ANSWER: From the the table, it is clear that the ratio of Muslims to Christians in the leadership of education parastatals is not 13: 4. Instead, it is 13:9. Therefore, CAN President Ayokunle was WRONG when he said “a situation where 13 of their heads are Muslims while the remaining four are Christians is an ill-wind that would blow no one any good”.

FACT CHECK: Has Buhari removed CRS from secondary school curriculum?

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FACT CHECK: Has Buhari removed CRS from secondary school curriculum?

By Kingsley OBIEJESI.

Discussions about the “removal” of Christian Religious Studies (CRS) from Nigeria’s secondary school curriculum have been ongoing since June 14 when a delegation of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) paid a courtesy call on Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House.

During the visit, Samson Ayokunle, the CAN president, pointed out that whereas the new curriculum stipulates that CRS – also referred to as Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) – will no longer exist as a subject on its own, Islamic/Arabic Studies and French have been introduced.

Ayokunle told Osinbajo that the curriculum had earlier been dropped by the ministry of education after CAN raised objections. He however expressed surprise that the same curriculum had resurfaced.

“This curriculum is the brain-child of Nigerian Educational Research Council, an agency of the Federal Ministry of Education. To us in CAN, its introduction is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good for so many reasons,” he had said.

THE GENESIS

Ismail Junaidu, Executive Secretary, NERDC
Junaidu, Executive Secretary of NERDC

The curriculum, which has now assumed national importance all of a sudden, actually took effect from the beginning of 2015 as announced by Ismail Junaidu, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), a parastatal of the federal ministry of education.

This means that it was drafted and approved by the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

The education ministry explained that a new curriculum was introduced to prune down the number of subjects offered by primary and secondary school students in accordance with international best practices.

Among other things, a new subject called Religion and National Values (RNV) was introduced in the new curriculum, comprising Christian Religious Studies (CRS) and Islamic Religious Studies (IRS), Civic Education, Social Studies, and Security Education.

All these used to be separate subjects on their own, except Security Education, which was newly introduced as a result of the challenges of the Boko Haram insurgency.

SO, WHAT IS THE MATTER?

Harmless and innovative as the idea may sound, religious leaders from both the Christian and Muslim divides think it is a bad idea to merge CRS and IRS.

They feel both should remain separate entities as they have always been and let children be taught the religion of their parents instead of forcing a Muslim child, for instance, to take CRS lessons or vice versa.

Nicholas Okoh, Primate of the Anglican Church in Nigeria
Okoh, Primate of the Anglican Church

According to Nicholas Okoh, Primate of the Anglican Church in Nigeria, the ministry of education has no right to merge both subjects into one. “We recognize our differences, but we call for unity … Let Muslims be Muslims and Christians be Christians,” the clergy man was quoted as saying in May.

This was strongly supported by Ralph Madura, a priest and the secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), who said that that the so-called merger “would create confusion”.

“Every right-thinking person knows that religion is a very sensitive issue in this country,” he added.

Lakin Akintola of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), the new curriculum reduces the role of religion in national development.

According to him, by merging the study of the two biggest religions in the country, FG is simply telling the kids that religion does not matter.

“If the Federal Government educates Nigerians without a special place for religion,” he warns, “it will only succeed in producing clever devils.”

FACT

A screen grab from the NERDC website. Courtesy: @jagbros
A screen grab from the NERDC website. Courtesy: @jagbros

According to the new curriculum as published on the website of NERDC, the subjects to be offered by students include: English, Mathematics, Nigerian Languages, Basic Science and Technology (BST), Religion and National Values (RNV), Cultural and Creative Arts, CCA, and Arabic.

Under RNV it is stated as follows:

  1. Listed components will serve as themes in the Religion and National Values Curriculum
  2. Contents are planned for all children to take Social Studies, Civic Education and Security Education themes
  3. Separate classes should be run for CRS theme and IS theme
  4. Consumer Education, Disaster Risk Reduction Education and Peace and Conflict Resolution curricula are infused into the Civic Education, Social Studies and Security Education Themes.
  5. Create enabling environment for the subject in all schools

Also in the curriculum, Arabic was marked as “optional”.

Also, Junaidu had explained, on many occasions, the so-called merging of CRS and IRS.

He blamed the unnecessary fuss over the issue on the “ignorant and greedy publishers” of the text books for the subjects.

“In all, we have not changed the contents; the contents are intact,” he said.

“I wouldn’t like to use the word merged, because when you use the word, merging, it would look like you are taking them (both CRS and IRS) as one,

“As far as the listing is concerned, they are standing as distinct courses, but merged under one subject listing.

“In each of these, we made provisions for periods to be set aside for teaching CRS, we have periods set aside for IRS, and we have periods set aside for teaching Social Studies.

“When we developed the curriculum, we also developed the teachers’ guide; and each of these teachers’ guide is separate.”

BOTTOM LINE

File: John Onaiyekan, Catholic cardinal and Ustaz Muhammad, Muslim Imam, march in solidarity with the Bring back our Girls group in Abuja
File: John Onaiyekan, Catholic cardinal and Ustaz Muhammad, Muslim Imam, march in solidarity with the Bring back our Girls group in Abuja

Religion is no doubt a very delicate issue in Nigeria, much more delicate than even tribal sentiments, hence caution should be applied when dealing with such issues.

Criticism of the new curriculum by Christian and Muslim leaders suggests that adequate consultation was not carried out during the formulation of the policy.

Nigerians remain divided on whether the new curriculum should be reviewed again to reflect some important subjects – history for instance – that were surreptitiously expunged years ago.

Some say the teaching of core religion should be left for the churches and the mosques but many feel a better approach ought to have been adopted by the government before announcing the new curriculum.

And as the brouhaha continues, the words of Wole Soyinka, the noble laureate, came readily to mind, that “If we do not tame religion in Nigeria, religion will kill us.”

CONCLUSION

Has Buhari removed Christian Religious Studies (CRS) from the curriculum, as currently being bandied about on social media?

The answer is NO. What is in place is a course comprising both Christian and Islamic themes with the teaching of national values.

FACT CHECK: No ‘satanic’ topic like ‘Is Jesus the Son of God’ in new curriculum, as claimed by CAN

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FACT CHECK: No ‘satanic’ topic like ‘Is Jesus the Son of God’ in new curriculum, as claimed by CAN

Roughly one month ago, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said one of the reasons the revised curriculum of primary and secondary schools cannot stand is that it contains satanic topics, such as ‘Is Jesus the son of God?’

While condemning the new curriculum, developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and already in effect since January 2015, Samson Ayokunle, President of CAN, had said: “If the new curriculum is treating the two religious subjects separately as being claimed, why do we have a satanic topic in the Civic Education like ‘IS JESUS THE SON OF GOD?’”

He described the merging of CRS and IRS as themes under one umbrella topic of ‘Religious and National Values (RNV) as an “obnoxious, divisive and ungodly time bomb”.

This was just one of numerous statements by leaders of the two leading religious groups on the alleged “merging” of Christian Religious Studies (CRS) and Islamic Religious Studies (IRS) in the curriculum.

However, the ICIR has obtained the RNV syllabus from one of the secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and after carefully studying it, it could not find any trace of such topic.

It was also discovered that students are not compelled to offer both CRS and IRS, as claimed by both Christian and Islamic leaders.

RELIGIOUS AND NATIONAL VALUES

bible quran

RNV is made up of the following: CRS/IRS, Social Studies, Civic Education and Security Education.

According to the curriculum, the aims and objectives of the subject are, among others, to: “inculcate the spiritual, moral, social, political and intellectual role of Muslims.

“Assess the students’ acquisition of knowledge in practical application of Islamic teachings in daily life.

“Inculcate in the students satisfactory intellectual capacity to benefit constructively from post-basic education in Christian Religious Studies

“Foster progressive and continuous development of Christ-like character.

And “develop Nigerian Youths into responsible citizens”.

The subject consists of Papers 1 and 2; Paper 1 being CRS or IRS.

An instruction on the paper read: “Candidates who registered for CRS should answer questions on CRS only while candidates who registered for IRS should answer questions on IRS only”.

Both CRS and IRS have a total of 60 marks and they are divided thus:

CRS: Old Testament 30, New Testament 30 = 60

IRS: Qur’an 15; Hadith 15, Fiqh 10, Tarikh 10, Tawheed 5, Tadhib 5 = 60

Paper 2 is made up of Social Studies, Civic Education and Security Education. It also has a total of 60 marks divided thus: Social Studies – 30, Civic Education -20 and Security Education – 10 = 60.

CRS TOPICS

Topics under CRS are distributed thus:

1 Creation Story
2 Marriage
3 Disobedience
4 Call to Repentance
5 Call to Obedience
6 Call to Service
7 Relationship in the family
8 Relationship in School
9 Relationship in the Church and community
10 The Birth of Jesus
11 Jesus and His Family
12 The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus
13 Call of the Disciples
14 Sermon on the Mount
15 Some Parables of Jesus
16 The Passion of Christ
17 The Death and Burial of Jesus Christ
18 The Resurrection and Appearance of Jesus
19 The Promise of the Holy Spirit
20 Fellowship in the Early Church
21 Persecution of the Early Believers
22 The Ministry of Peter
23 The Ministry if Apostle Paul
24 Paul’s first Missionary Journey
25 Unity Among Christians
26 Christian living

Each topic has different contents but the question: “Is Jesus the Son of God?” did not feature anywhere in the curriculum.

IRS TOPICS

Topics under IRS are distributed thus:

1 Sura Al-Naba’i
2 Sura Al-Naba’I (Meaning)
3 Meaning of Hadith
4 The Collection of Hadith
5 The Pillars of Islam
6 Attributes of Allah
7 Taharah (Purification and its kinds)
8 Performance of al-Wudu
9 Al Tayammum (Sand ablution)
10 Bief History of Birth of the Prophet (SAW)
11 The Prophet (SAW): His youthood and marriage to Khadijah
12 Relationship between Muslim and non-Muslim
13 Surah Al-Jinn (Reading)

There are also contents under each topic.

RECOMMENDED TEXT BOOKS

CRS

Again, contrary to claims by some people that CRS and IRS are combined in the same RNV textbook, the syllabus, as seen by the ICIR clearly recommended separate textbooks by different publishers for CRS .

There was no column for recommended text books for IRS.

ANYTHING WRONG WITH THIS SYLLABUS

House or Reps

Going by the issues that gave rise to the development of a new curriculum in the first place, such as reducing the number of subjects offered by students, and also given the enormous research that went into the development of the new curriculum, one may agree that the introduction of RNV is a good development.

Leaders of the two major religions in the country have all called for the unbundling of the CRS and IRS under one parent subject called RNV. They want the subjects returned as distinct and separate courses, just the way they had been over the years.

On July 11, the House of Representatives gave them their wish, passing a resolution directing the Ministry of Education to revert to status quo and remove both CRS and IRS from the RNV.

“The new curriculum is in conflict with certain provisions of the Nigerian constitution,” it said.

“Section 10 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 makes Nigeria a secular state and therefore religion should be separated from national values.”

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