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OCCEN, Kano CSOs launch situation room for 2023 election

Ahead of 2023 general elections, Organization for Community Civic Engagement (OCCEN) in collaboration with Kano Civil Society Forum (KCSF) have inaugurated Civil Society Situation Room.
KANO FOCUS reports that the Executive Director of OCCEN, Comrade Abdulrazak Alkali who is a co-convener of the inauguration ceremony said the idea for establishing the state elections situation room is to ensure prompt responses to possible challenges and threats before, during and after the 2023 general elections.

Comrade Abdulrazak Alkali
He said, similar effort was made during the last local government election in Kano and had yielded positive results, which prompted the formation of the situation room for the forthcoming election.
Alkali who is the convener of the programme stated that, Kano situation room is a replica of National Situation Room, set up to strengthen electoral processes in Kano State.

He called on Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to develop mechanism for checkmating vote buying by politicians and pledged to organise periodic meetings with INEC and other stakeholders on electoral processes as the need arise.
In his address the President of Kano Civil society Forum, Amb. Ibrahim Waiya said, the Situation Room model, by contrast, ”provides a platform for rapid and timely response.”

Amb Ibrahim Waiya
Waiya who doubles as co-convener of the programme said it is designed to ensure that beyond observation, civil society is able to play a greater role in crisis management, early warning and constructive engagement of the process to ensure a credible election.
”The Election Situation Room shall have the following representatives stakeholders groups and organizations as members: Police, DSS, INEC, National Human Right Commission, EFCC, Media, Civil Society, IPAC, Hisbah, NOA, Civil Defence, Military, Traditional Institution among others.

Dignitaries at the event
“The essence of the Situation Room, is to tactically maximize the access for information gathering and provide a unified platform for analysis and intervention by the concerned authorities proactively,” he explained.
He added that “The Kano Civil Society Forum (KCSF), is the key umbrella body of Civil Society Organizations in Kano State, associating under a common platform with the aim of achieving human rights protection and promotion, promotion of democracy, good governance, Anti-corruption
“Transparency and accountable Governance, health, peace, justice and sustainable development in the State and Nigeria at large.

Representatives of media
”Kano Civil Society Forum (KCSF) the umbrella body of over 100 Civil Society organizations operating in Kano State, has as part of its continuous interventions and advocacy for best Democratic practices is in partnership with Organization for Community Civic Engagement (OCCEN) with support from National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Washington D.C organizing today’ s event to launch and inaugurate the establishment of the Kano State Civil Society Election Situation Room,” Waiya said.
The featured presentation from representatives of Independently National Electoral Commission (INEC), Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Representative of EFCC
Highlights of the event include questions and answers session on how to strengthen electoral processes in Kano State.

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Kano Governor-elect pledges to reintroduce Kwankwasiyya free education, healthcare schemes

Aminu Abdullahi
The Kano State Governor-elect, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, has reaffirmed his government’s readiness to fix quickly the problems with the provision of potable water, basic education and good healthcare which are fundamental duties of a responsive government.
KANO FOCUS reports that the Spokesperson to the Governor-elect, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa revealed this in a statement issued on Friday.
Dawakintofa said, “despite huge tax payers’ money the outgoing administration claimed to have committed to the provision of basic water, Kano households strive in the twenty-first century to access safe drinking water in the State endowed with functional dams and resources to provide basic amenities.”
In his acceptance speech, the Governor-elect reassured Kano people that beyond fixing basic water supply, the incoming government will uphold the Kwankwasiyya philosophy with a wider scope of free education at primary and secondary levels involving provision of school uniform, learning materials, meals, conducive environment, paying SSCE fees for the students, training and motivation for the teachers to impart good quality education.

The incoming administration, which he said will be an off-shot of Kwankwaso administration, will be committed to free maternal and child healthcare programmes just as plans are underway for the upgrading of local health facilities across the 44 Local Government Areas of Kano State.
To bridge the human capital gap in the various public institutions, Engr. Abba administration will rebirth Kwankwasiyya scholarship scheme for tertiary education and terminal degrees in special areas such as medicine, science and engineering in foreign countries.
It is a resolution that the incoming government will complete abandoned projects and continue with laudable populist policies of Kwankwasiyya administrations just as youth empowerment and enabling environment for MSMES and entrepreneurship to flourish will be provided as enshrined in the Campaign Blueprint.

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TMG, CISLAC, CSOs dismiss report calling for review of Kano Governorship Election

Aminu Abdullahi
The Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, CISLAC and the Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room have distanced themselves from call seeking for the review of the Kano Gubernatorial Election.

KANO FOCUS reports that Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Chairman TMG on Saturday told journalists at a news conference in Kano the group which identified itself as Accredited INEC Elections Observers are “fake, faceless and politically sponsored”.
Rafsanjani who was flanked by the Convener, Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room, Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya lamented that the spread of the fictitious and malicious group at a time when Nigeria is having it’s political space heated up is not only worrisome, but also has the potential to further over heat the polity.
Mr. Rafsanjani, warned that “as genuine Transition Monitoring Group and Civil Society Groups are left without options but to take necessary legal actions against these faceless Group using their names to championed a Criminal minded, Politically Motivated and sponsored missions.”
Rafsanjani, warned that, “as Champions of Democracy, we will not allow smear-campaigners and people with politically motivated reasons drag credible Civil Society Organizations in Kano State and indeed in Nigeria at large into political wars with political parties”.
The CISLAC boss said “TMG, CISLAC and the Kano Civil Society Forum have done incredible Work towards electoral reforms in Nigeria, since 1998, TMG has Championed the Democratic path in Nigeria as the foremost elections Observation group with the widest membership across the Nation”.
He noted, “we will never interfere with the conduct of elections or seek to interfere with the Judicial processes leading up to a Redress of grievances resulting from the elections”.
For that the TMG called on public to disregard in totality the reports making round and using the names of credible organizations and called for the review of Governorship Elections in Kano.

Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya
Also in his speech, the Convener, Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room, Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya, urged the Media to filter credible Civil Society Groups from faceless, politically motivated sponsored groups who hide under the names of credible organizations to concoct fake stories that suits their narratives.

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Nigeria recorded 3.9m cyberattacks before, during, after governorship elections

Mukhtar Yahaya Usman
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim aww Pantami has drawn the attention of the digital economy stakeholders and the general public to the ministry’s activities before, during, and after the 2023 gubernatorial and states’ houses of assembly elections.
KANO FOCUS reports that Pantami said the committee, which he inaugurated to monitor Nigeria’s cyberspace, recorded a total of 3,834,244 attacks, originating from both within and outside Nigeria, before, during and after the gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections across the country.
According to a statement released yesterday by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and signed by the Senior Technical Assistant (Research and Development) to the Minister, Dr. Femi Adelusi, the daily breakdown of the attacks showed that on Friday 17th March, 2023, there were 1,046,896 cyberattacks; On Saturday 18th March, 2023, there were 1,481,847 Cyberattacks; On Sunday 19th March, 2023, there were 327,718 Cyberattacks and on Monday 20th March, 2023, there were 977,783 Cyberattacks.
The statement further stated that activities on the Nigerian cyberspace during the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections, we’re much lower than those during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

“This is neither surprising nor unexpected as, Nigeria being Africa’s largest democracy, the Presidential and National Assembly elections are bound to attract much attention of everyone, including cyberthreat actors than during the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections.
“The Minister is confident that the implementation of some recommendations as well as measures taken to fortify our cyber defence mechanisms might have helped in this,” the statement further said.
Pantami reiterated that the attainments would not have been possible without the continued support of President Muhammadu Buhari, in particular, and the administration in general, towards ensuring Nigeria’s successful transition into the digital economy.
“The digital economy sector has enjoyed Mr President’s unprecedented support and it is highly appreciated,” Pantami said.
Based on the Minister’s directives, the committee provided close oversight on the activities of the cybersecurity Centres, from Friday 17th March, 2023 to Monday 20th March, 2023.
During this period and as previously reported, a series of hacking attempts were recorded, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), email and Internet Protocol Spoofing (IPS) attacks, SSH Login Attempts, Brute force Injection attempts, Path Traversal, Detection Evasion, and Forceful Browsing, the statement further explained.
