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NIGERIA: Obasanjo orders the release of hundreds of prisoners
President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered on Monday the release of hundreds of prisoners awaiting trial for upward of 10 years.
However, those being freed do not include people accused of murder, armed robbery, rape, fraud and forgery, presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe said in a statement.
Okupe said the president viewed continued detention as lacking legal and moral justification. Obasanjo freed another 1,400 prisoners a few months ago.
IMF critic heads team of economic monitors
President Obasanjo appointed Ibrahim Ayagi on Monday to head his National Economic Intelligence Committee, a body first set up in 1994 and now reconstructed to monitor government policy.
Ayagi is well known locally as a critic of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and he opposed attempts by former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida to accept an IMF loan conditioned on market reforms.
The IMF has offered Nigeria a US $1 billion standby loan provided that it carries out reforms and slashes government spending, Reuters reported on Monday.
Canadian prime minister arrives for two-day visit
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien arrived in Abuja on Tuesday for a two-visit during which he will hold talks with President Obasanjo, a news source in Lagos told IRIN.
Chretien is due to speak to a joint session of the national assembly on Wednesday, but this is uncertain because the House of Representatives has threatened to boycott any joint sitting chaired by Senate President Evan Enwerem.
The lower house is calling for Enwerem to resign, accusing him of having lied about his age and academic qualifications while seeking election as speaker.
The news source told IRIN the presidency planned to cancel Chretien's speech to the assembly, which would be the first by a foreign leader, if the lower house maintained its boycott.
Chretien was also scheduled to inaugurate a new Canadian High Commission building in Abuja. A Canadian Embassy official in Abidjan said he would leave on Wednesday for South Africa to attend the 12-15 November Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Durban.
Christian Association to discuss the Shari'a
The imposition of Islamic law in the northern state of Zamfara will be high on the agenda of a general assembly, which the Christian Association of Nigeria will hold in Benin City on Wednesday, `The Guardian' reported, quoting church officials.
The newspaper quoted Archbishop Patrick Ekpu, chairman of the association's Edo State chapter, as saying the adoption of the Shari'a was intended to drive Nigeria into the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) "through the back door".
Ekpu has joined a growing chorus among Christians who have warned that the adoption of the Shari'a might lead to the disintegration of the country. He called on the federal attorney general to seek a court ruling to the constitutionality of Zamfara's move.
Supporters of the Shari'a have maintained that its adoption posed no threat to non-Muslims or to Nigeria's unity.
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Item: irin-english-1940
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Subscriber: afriweb@sas.upenn.edu Keyword: IRIN
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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