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The Electoral College Nigeria: Celebrating Two Years of Politeracy Advocation

Published

3 years ago

June 3, 2021

Eric

The Electoral College, Nigeria unlike its American counterpart is a non-governmental organization with clear targets on “Politeracy”, a term coined by the college connoting “Political literacy”, a concept that is grossly below parity in a country that is known to be the most populous black nation in the world.

Has Nigeria been haunted by its poor political decisions? Absolutely. The most glaring culprit being that many citizens perceive political events as confusing and difficult to understand. They struggle to organize and comprehend the complex and complicated political world surrounding them. At the same time, citizens find themselves in a powerful position in a democracy. In reality, there is lack of political awareness and a mystical perspective attached to governance and electoral processes.

A politically literate citizen not only comprehends the current state of governance, but also participates in an active and effective way and directs it. An individual with politeracy has the skills of understanding people’s viewpoints, realizing their effect upon her/him and responding to them in an ethical way.
The Electoral college has labored since its inception to bring to the awareness of citizens that they have a significant influence on the political decisions that they themselves submit to.

With a very simplified approach and a foremost goal to educate the citizen on politics and governance, these are a summary round up of the activities that have taken place within the college in the past year.

The Electoral College In focus in 2020

In March, the college’s advocacy for the need for politeracy caught the media’s attention and was featured on Sahara Reporters.

In April, the college launched it’s first virtual bouquet of classes for the course ‘Politeracy and Governance 101’.
In May – In Conjunction with PGI, the college launched a forum for black people In Governance across the world which was held virtually and themed ‘Connecting the Dots’.

On the wake of some actions on social media, true to the college’s mandate to provide deliverables to citizens, the college developed the social media guidelines for communication – for people in Governance, to help provide a cordial relationship between the government and people of Nigeria.

In June, the college was featured on Independent Newspaper on making a difference.

In July, we commenced registration and intake of the Second batch of Associates for training.

In August 120 students graduated from the college.

Also, the College in collaboration with We FM 106.3 Abuja rolled out the Politeracy and Governance bouquet on radio which airs every Tuesday at 8.05am

In September – the College in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden commemorated the international day of Democracy.

In October – intake and commencement of third batch of its Politeracy and Governance class with a record over 29,000 registrations and full participation of 1,710 students.

In November – The Electoral College Nigeria in conjunction with One Voice Hosted the Lagos East Senatorial debate which was well attended by candidates and the electorate.

In December, the Electoral College graduated 235 associates from its class.
With droplets of resources from friends of the college and the board, the college in 2020 and 2021 have trained over 7,000 people virtually and physically and would be working towards training over 500,000 by 2023.

This was our year in 2020, we are grateful for the support of the Board, The Regional coordinators, friends of the College and our most esteemed Associates for making this year a big step in Civic Education and rreorienting the democratic space in Nigeria.

The College has performed remarkably since its inception in 2019 despite its limited resources. The journey to Political literacy and massive political participation is far from over and there is need to capitalize on the college’s operations through extended partnerships to achieve a wider and more impactful reach.

Small steps for the Electoral College Nigeria and A big leap for Politeracy

Thank you
For God and Country

Featured

Cubana Chief Priest Arraigned, Granted N10m Bail

Published

10 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

Instagram celebrity, Pascal Okechukwu aka Cubana Chief Priest, on Wednesday, pleaded not guilty for alleged Naira abuse.

He pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The socialite was arraigned at the Federal High Court, Lagos before Justice Kehinde Ogundare on Wednesday.

The anti-graft commission filed a three-count charge against Cubana Chief Priest accused of abusing the naira at a social event, an act said to be contrary to the provisions of the Central Bank Act of 2007.

After pleading not guilty, the court granted him bail in the sum of N10million with two responsible sureties in like sum, who must be gainfully employed with the federal or state government and not less than grade level 16.

The sureties, the court emphasized, should have landed property and the document must be verified by the court.

Cubana Chief Priest is also to submit his travel passport to the custody of the court.

The bail conditions must be perfected within seven days but in the meantime he was released to his lawyer who must give an undertaken to produce him later. Failure to do so, he will be remanded in correctional facility.

The charge filed on April 4 by EFFC’s prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) alongside seven other lawyers representing the chairman of the Commission, are as follows:

Count 1: “That you, Okechukwu Pascal on 13th February, 2024, at Eko Hotel, within the jurisdiction of the court, while dancing during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007”.

Count 2: “That you Okechukwu Pascal sometime in 2020, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007”.

Count 3: “That you Okechukwu Pascal sometime in January 2024, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007”.

Meanwhile, the defendant also informed the court of his pending application to challenge the jurisdiction of the court to hear the charge.

Justice Ogundare has adjourned till May 2nd to hear the application

This is coming days after the EFCC arraigned controversial cross-dresser Idris Okuneye better known as Bobrisky on similar charges for which he was sentenced to a six-month jail term.

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EFCC Charges Cubana Chief Priest to Court over Naira Abuse

Published

1 day ago

April 16, 2024

Eric

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a three-count charge against Instagram celebrity, Pascal Okechukwu aka Cubana Chief Priest, for allegedly spraying and tampering with the Naira at a social event, in violation of the provisions of Central Bank Act of 2007.

Cubana Chief Priest will be arraigned on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, before Justice Kehinde Ogundare of the Federal High Court, Lagos.

Reports say the charge against Okechukwu was filed on April 4, 2024 by EFFC’s prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) alongside seven other lawyers representing the chairman of the Commission.

In Count 1, it was alleged, “that you, Okechukwu Pascal on 13th Feb. 2024, at Eko Hotel, within the jurisdiction of the court, while dancing during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007”.

In count 2, it was alleged, “that you Okechukwu Pascal sometime in 2020, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007”.

In Count 3, it was alleged, “that you Okechukwu Pascal sometime in January 2024, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007”.

This is coming days after the EFCC secured the conviction controversial cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye aka Bobrisky, on similar charges. He was subsequently sentenced to six months imprisonment without an option of fine.

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El-Rufai Accuses Tinubu’s Govt of Paying Trillions of Naira in Fuel Subsidy

Published

2 days ago

April 16, 2024

Eric

The immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has ignited debate on fuel subsidies, alleging that President Bola Tinubu’s government has spent trillions of Naira subsidizing petrol (PMS) since taking office in May 2023.

This revelation comes amidst ongoing discussions about fuel subsidies in Nigeria. The government previously announced a removal of fuel subsidies, leading to a rise in pump prices. However, El-Rufai suggests the effort was unsuccessful, forcing a return to subsidies at a reportedly higher cost.

The former governor spoke on Monday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital while delivering a Lead Paper at the occasion of Capacity Building Workshop on Enhancing Skills of Government Officials in Policy Implementation.

“The present administration,” El-Rufai said, “has so far spent trillions of naira for subsidy,” even exceeding pre-removal levels, ha stated.

He claimed the current price of petrol, between N600 and N750 per litre, is artificially low due to the subsidy. Without it, prices could be closer to those of diesel, which currently exceed N1,000 per litre in some areas.

“But as I also said earlier during my presentation, the removal of fuel subsidy by the present administration is another good policy by President Tinubu. I have always supported withdrawal of fuel subsidy.

“But as you can see, in the course of implementation, the government has now realized that the subsidy has to be back, because right now, we are paying a lot of money amounting to trillions of naira for subsidy even more than before, because the impact has been seen and the packages of support that will reduce the impact have not been effective in reducing the impact, and so, the federal government has to backpedal by subsidizing petrol.

“Many people don’t know this. If they want to know whether there is fuel subsidy or not, they should compare the prices of petrol and diesel per litre. This is because, under normal circumstances, petrol suppose to be more expensive than diesel. As it is, diesel is above N1000, while petrol stood at about N600 per litre. So we are still subsidizing for fuel in Nigeria,” he stated.

El-Rufai’s comments raise questions about the effectiveness and sustainability of fuel subsidies in Nigeria. The high cost highlighted by El-Rufai suggests the program may be straining government resources. It remains to be seen how the Tinubu administration will address this issue and whether they plan to revisit subsidy removal attempts.