Nigeria's new parliament sworn in after April polls (AFP)

ABUJA (AFP) – Nigerian lawmakers elected in watershed polls in April were formally sworn in to parliament Monday facing the key task of enacting legislation on long-delayed oil sector reforms.

The 109 senators were the first to take the oath, followed by 360 members of the House of Representatives.

"This, indeed, is a new dawn ... for our great country," said senate president David Mark, who retained the post, becoming the first to hold the position for two successive terms.

A deputy chief whip in the last parliament, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal a northerner, was elected speaker of the house of representative, beating his rival, Mulikat Adeola-Akande, from southwest Nigeria.

The National Assembly has the responsibility for ?very critical legislation that will propel Nigeria to the world's 20 most advanced economies," Mark told the senators.

Topping the agenda of the new 469-member National Assembly will be passing legislation to overhaul Nigeria's vital oil industry.

Uncertainty over the sweeping legislation, which has been years in the making, has chilled investments in new projects in Nigeria, one of the world's largest oil producers, with energy firms unclear on what the new rules will be.

The overhaul is aimed at allowing Nigeria's government to collect more revenue from lucrative offshore projects as well as restructuring the state oil company, widely seen as corruption-ridden.

Government officials had pledged the law would be passed before the end of the last parliament.

Mark said this session of the National Assembly "has to be truly transformational in all ramifications. Our budgeting system needs a radical change."

?Nigerians complain that their democracy is too expensive," Mark said.

"We as representatives of the people must initiate legislation that will reduce the cost of governance at all levels thereby freeing resources to attend to the basic needs of the people,A? he said.

Despite the country's oil wealth, the majority of Nigerians live in poverty with basic services such as electricity and drinking water in erratic supply.

Nigerian lawmakers are meanwhile considered some of the highly paid in Africa.

The swearing-in of the new parliament took place as the outgoing speaker of the House of Representatives and powerful politician, Dimeji Bankole, was under arrest on allegations of corruption linked to house funds.

The anti-graft police arrested Bankole late Sunday fearing he was planning to flee the country ahead of questioning over alleged misappropriation of tens of millions of dollars of parliament funds.

Bankole lost his parliamentary seat in the April elections.

The polls were seen as a test of whether the Africa's most populous country was capable of holding credible elections.

While judged as the fairest election since the end of military rule in 1999, the country was hit by deadly post-vote riots which left 800 dead in the mainly Muslim north.

The election also exposed a regional and religious divide in the country of more than 150 million people.

One of the first tasks of the upper house will likely be to vet cabinet nominees expected to be submitted by President Goodluck Jonathan this week.

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Casey Anthony jury sworn in Friday

Clearwater, Florida (CNN) -- A jury was sworn in early Friday evening to decide the fate of Casey Anthony, the Florida mother accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter.

The 11-day selection process produced a jury of seven women and five men. Two are thought to be African-American, while the rest are white.

Anthony is charged with capital murder in the death of her daughter Caylee. The 25-year-old Florida woman, who could be sentenced to death if convicted on that count, is also charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and misleading law enforcement.

In addition to the 12 jurors, five people -- two females and three males -- will serve as alternates. Orange County Superior Court Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. had originally said he wanted eight alternates, but said last Monday, "We will have what we will have."

The group was chosen following a sometimes contentious hearing at the Pinellas County courthouse in Clearwater. The jury pool was chosen from that county -- and not Orange County, about 110 miles to the northwest, where the alleged crimes occurred -- because authorities hoped to draw from a jury pool that was less likely to have been swayed by the intense media coverage surrounding the case.

One of Casey Anthony's attorneys, Jose Baez, said the defense wanted more than the 10 peremptory challenges that it was allowed. He told Perry, "We do not ... we do not accept the panel as seated."

The judge overruled those objections and, prior to swearing in, both the defense and prosecution accepted the jury. Perry then detailed instructions for jurors, including that, "at no time can you speak at any detail (about) anything related to the case."

Now that they are seated, the jurors will move to Orlando, where they will be sequestered for the duration of the trial, which could last eight weeks. Perry said that -- after consulting with the new jury, which needed time to prepare for being away -- opening arguments will begin next Tuesday morning.

The jury does not include a white woman who was being questioned Friday about her opinion about the death penalty when a woman yelled out from the gallery, "She killed someone anyway!"

Later, the woman who interrupted the court proceedings -- 29-year-old Elizabeth Ann Rogers -- appeared before Perry. She apologized, said she was "mentally challenged" -- with bipolar and attention-deficit disorder -- and had dropped by the courtroom while she was in Clearwater for another legal matter involving her fiance, who is in jail.

Perry declared her in contempt of court and sentenced her to two days in the Pinellas County Jail. He noted she had the right to appeal, while Rogers asked if she could start serving her sentence immediately.

"Any act which is calculated to embarrass or hinder the court in the administration of justice is contempt," said the judge, who slammed down his pen in dismissing the potential juror because he feared she'd be swayed by the outburst.

Perry also excused a man who said that he thought Anthony was guilty based on conversations he had overheard in the jury room.

"I heard a lot of opinions about her being guilty," the man said. "She should be sent to jail. They were all negative. I didn't hear any positive."

Caylee was last reported seen in June 2008. Police began to look for her one month later, after Cindy Anthony -- Casey's mother -- made three 911 calls expressing concern over her granddaughter's disappearance.

The girl's skeletal remains were found in December of that year, in woods about one-quarter mile from the Anthony home. Prosecutors have said they plan to show Casey Anthony lied repeatedly about her daughter, contending that she used "a substance" to kill her daughter, put her body in the trunk of her car, then disposed of it.

Anthony has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Early in the jury selection process, defense attorney Ann Finnell raised a host of potential mitigating circumstances to gauge what would-be jurors might consider if they had to decide whether to sentence Anthony to death. Those circumstances included a "lack of maturity," "lack of impulse control" and "a history of sexual abuse."

InSession's Michael Christian contributed to this report.

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Ouattara sworn in as I. Coast president

Alassane Ouattara is sworn in as Ivory Coast's president at the presidential palace in Abidjan.NEW: An international delegation of mediators visited Ivory Coast this week to encourage reconciliationNEW: A military operation was launched earlier this week to eliminate resistance to OuattaraAlassane Ouattara has been sworn in as president of Ivory CoastThe country experienced a lengthy post-election crisis that claimed hundreds of lives

(CNN) -- Alassane Ouattara was sworn in Friday as president of Ivory Coast, ending a months-long political standoff.

Ouattara was sworn in by Paul Yao Ndre, the head of the country's Constitutional Council. A number of members of the government, diplomats, representatives of the armed forces, and civil society leaders, among others, were also present during the ceremony in Abidjan.

The council recently declared Ouattara the winner of the hotly disputed presidential election, ending a lengthy post-electoral crisis that claimed hundreds of lives and paralyzed the country's economy.

Ouattara follows former President Laurent Gbagbo, whose unwillingness to hand over power after the election resulted in a wave of violence.

A military operation was launched Monday by pro-Ouattara forces to crush the last pocket of resistance remaining after pro-Gbagbo militias turned down a call from Ouattara to disarm or face force.

The new violence erupted after a delegation of mediators led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan completed a two-day visit to Ivory Coast intended to encourage reconciliation and healing. Annan was joined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland.

Gbagbo remains under house arrest in the country's north.

Journalist Eric Agnero contributed to this report

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