The Nigerian Senate is voting on multiple constitutional amendments today most of which will attempt to reform the electoral system. A list of some of the amendments:

-political candidates must have a tertiary education certificate i.e. they are raising the already marginal educational requirement for office holders

-eliminating the constitutional clause that bars people have been indicted by a panel of inquiry from running for office


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/03/24/senate-votes-on-electoral-reforms-govs-tenure-today/

The New Ones

Acting President Jonathan has submitted the new ministerial list, and a few of the names have raised eyebrows. Aganga and Daggash made the list, being nominated alongside 16 other names. From the old 42-man council, only 7 have remained. One person in particular, Alhaji Yar'Adua, was a notable addition. Alhaji is the nephew of the current president, his late father having been the General Shehu Yar'Adua.

For more information, click here

http://allafrica.com/stories/201003180280.html

INEC geared up for 2011 Elections

Vanguard Online

Party primaries for the 2011 election are set to take place and the INEC is ready to take down any parties that refuse to abide by their guidelines. INEC is currently planning to clean up the voter's registry before the elections as well. One member issued this “based on the time-table that we have before us, it would be expected that the political parties would commence preparations for their primaries with a view to electing their candidates for next year’s election. With the proposed time-table, it is expected that the parties would commence in earnest their primaries, at least by May, this year, so that whatever litigations that may arise from the process would be dealt with before the actual elections”.

“This time”, Sunday Vanguard was told by the INEC top shot, , “we are ready to ensure that the register is rid of fictitious names and photographs that do not have any place in the document”.

Cultural Commentary

"I don talk my own finish" is a Nigerian saying which means "I'm done speaking my part". Some commenter said it in their post and I had no idea what it meant, but it is cool. This leads to another topic. Nigerian writing. Reading all these articles written by Nigerians has given me an interesting insight into the ways of the Nigerian people, or at least those that write on the Interwebs. If you just read the comments on all these news articles you can see that Nigerians communicate very differently than Americans. It seems as if the comments are written "loudly".

for example:

"WITH THE COUNTRY BEING RUN LIKE A BANANA REPUBLIC, THERE CAN NEVER BE ANY PROGRESS ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH. SOUTHERNERS HAVE TO REALIZE THAT THEY HAVE TO PULL THEMSELVES OUT OF THE MESS NOW OR RISK BEING RECOLONIZED AND ENSLAVED AGAIN. THE YOUTH FROM THE SOUTH SHOULD ACT NOW FOR THEY HAVE LOST A LOT SINCE INDEPENDENCE AND STAND TO LOSE THEIR FREEDOM TOTALLY!"

and

"hmmm...na wa. The amendment took to long to happen. What were they really waiting for? Nigeria is too small to be having these kinds of conspiracies. I'm quite bored now. If he's terminally ill then he should say it. How can there be no public image of the president for 3 months?! In this day & age where camera phones dey yanfu-yanfu; nobody could snap our guy & share on the internet? E don tire me!"




more on this later...

The Madness Surrounding the Mysterious Yar'Adua

Yar'Adua's return is stirring up a hornet's nest of political intrigue. The constitution isn't really providing any direction because for Yar'Adua to be constitutionally determined unfit for office, a team of doctors has to assess his health and submit their report to the National Assembly for debate. However, Yar'Adua's compound is being closely guarded and no one has been able to see him. Party leaders, much of his staff, and even Goodluck Jonathan have been kept out. This could be considered unconstitutional behavior and grounds for impeachment but the pundits are saying that Jonathan would not pursue this path because it would look bad in the eyes of the Nigerian people, who would see an impeachment as a power hungry president going after Yar'Adua while he is down. But even if the medical team is let in, they could declare that he is only temporarily incapacitated and then we would just have to wait until he gets better, leaving the Nigerian government "incomplete" because there is no one behind Jonathan in the succession hierarchy. But my favorite scenario is what politicians call the "Ariel Sharon". It sounds like a football play, like the "Hail Mary" or something. An "Ariel Sharon" play would mean just dropping the whole case and letting Jonathan rule for now while leaving Yar'Adua to do what he likes, and just waiting until the elections come around. Then Yar'Adua would be taken care of. I don talk my own finish.



original article