Daily Watch – Tampered bids cost FG key AIDS funding, INEC sued over incomplete CVR

Bashir Bulabuduwaye, a senior Boko Haram member has reportedly surrendered to the Nigerian army alongside his family members in Banki, Bama Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State. According to Zagazola Makama, a publication focused on the Lake Chad region, Bulabuduwaye was Boko Haram’s chief executioner who “killed at least 1,000 people who were captured and sentenced to death by the group,” according to the report. Bulabuduwaye reportedly formed a camp in Kote village of Banki, where he was hiding with other fighters. He was said to have surrendered due to sustained offensives launched by troops of operation Hadin Kai and the difficulty to access food and other logistics. “He also feared battlefield elimination by ISWAP,“ a source was quoted. Earlier in an interview with The Cable, Christopher Musa, Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, had said Boko Haram leaders are surrendering because they want to live a normal life. In the Northwest, the Zamfara Police Command arrested a notorious bandit, Umar Namaro during a surveillance patrol. Also arrested was a notorious six-man syndicate of informants who collaborate with bandits to terrorise the people of Gusau, Kaura-Namoda, Tsafe and Bungudu LGAs. Command spokesperson Mohammed Shehu said this while parading the suspects at the police headquarters in Gusau on Saturday. He said they were arrested by the police Tactical Operatives during intelligence-led operations conducted in some criminal hideouts in Gusau and Tsafe LGAs respectively.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has suspended procurement in the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), following a discovery that bids for a contract worth $12 million for the upgrade of warehouses in 13 states were allegedly tampered with by unidentified NACA officials. Various audits by the international financing and partnership organisation had also raised red flags on the opaque procurement processes and financial discrepancies in NACA. Already, a five-member team from the Fund is currently reviewing the agency’s procurement process. The review, which is part of the Fund’s mission, started on 4 September and will end by 30 September. The Punch reported on Saturday that the health programmes being managed by NACA under the Global Fund would now be taken over by the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme. The paper added that the suspension of procurement might lead to the withdrawal of ₦401.2 billion ($573,174,655.02) unspent grant if the issues were not speedily resolved.

24 Nigerians have filed a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for failing to give them and seven million Nigerians adequate time and opportunity to complete their voter registration after they have carried out their registration online. The plaintiffs want to “complete the registration process so that they can obtain their permanent voter cards (PVCs), and exercise their right to vote.” In the suit filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the plaintiffs are seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to re-activate its continuous voters’ registration exercise to allow the plaintiffs to complete their registration and collect their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).” The plaintiffs are also seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to provide adequate facilities and deploy personnel to the registration units of the plaintiffs to enable them complete their registration and collect their PVCs.” In a supportive affidavit, the plaintiffs argued that, “We have completed the online registration exercise. Denying us the time and opportunity to complete the registration for our PVCs would impair our right to vote, and deny us a voice in the 2023 elections.” The suit filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by lawyers to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Kolawole Oluwadare and Ms Adelanke Aremo, read in part: “Closing the gates on eligible Nigerians cannot preserve trust in the electoral process.” No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

Tunisia expects to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, in the coming weeks on a loan of between $2 billion and $4 billion over three years, the central bank governor said on Sunday. Tunisia, which is suffering its worst financial crisis, is seeking to secure an IMF loan to save public finances from collapse. “The size is still under negotiation and I think it will be between $2 billion and $4 billion, we hope to reach a staff level deal in coming weeks,” Marouan Abassi told Reuters. The government and the powerful Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) last week signed a deal to boost public sector wages by 5%, a step that may ease social tensions. But they did not announce any further agreement on reforms needed for an IMF bailout. Abassi said the wage deal was an important step for negotiations with the IMF and will give a clear view of wages’ weight in GDP in coming years. Fitch Ratings said on Friday that Tunisia’s wage agreement raises the likelihood of an IMF deal. Abassi said the possible deal will open doors for bilateral financing, including with Japan and Gulf countries. “We have advanced talks with Saudi Arabia about bilateral financing,” he added. The IMF has signalled it will not move forward with a bailout sought by Tunis unless the government brings on board the UGTT, which says it has more than a million members and has previously shut down the economy in strikes.