₦airaland Forum

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has detained Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, for alleged fraud and failing to explain how he came to own 22 properties in Nigeria, the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

It was learnt that Ekweremadu honoured the invitation of the EFCC around 9 am on Tuesday but was still in custody as of 9 pm.

A top source at the EFCC told our correspondent that the lawmaker had many questions to answer.

“He came in around 9 am and he is still in our custody. He will be released once we have enough information,” the source said.

When contacted around 9 pm, the Spokesman for the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that Ekweremadu honoured the commission’s invitation on Tuesday. He, however, could not say if the senator was still in custody as of the time of filing this report by 9.30pm.

It was learnt that the Deputy Senate President was under investigation for allegedly owning about 22 properties some of which he failed to declare in his Asset Declaration Form at the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The Federal Government had in March sought an interim order of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to temporarily seize 22 prime properties/assets of Ekweremadu located in London, Dubai, Florida, and Abuja, that were not declared before the CCB.

The motion ex-parte filed by Festus Keyamo (SAN) on behalf of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property was brought before the court pursuant to Section 330 of The Administration Of Criminal Justice Act, 2015; Section 8 Of The Recovery Of Public Property (Special Provisions) Act and Section 44 (2)(K) of the 1999 Constitution.

In an affidavit deposed to in support of the motion ex-parte by Yohanna Shankuk, a litigation clerk in Festus Keyamo Chambers, he stated that from 1999 till date, Ekweremadu had been a public officer and had not earned anything outside his salaries and allowances as a public officer.

He, therefore, wondered where the lawmaker got the money to acquire such properties.

The undeclared assets were identified as: 11 Evans Enwerem Street, Apo Legislative Quarters, Apo, Abuja; Plot 2633 Kyami, Abuja; Housing Estate; Plot 1106 CRD, Cadastral Zone 07-07, Lugbe, Abuja; Plot 2782, Asokoro Extension, Abuja; houses at Citi Park Estate, Gwagwalada, Abuja and Plot 1474, Cadastral Zone BD6, Mabushi, Abuja.

Other properties allegedly undeclared by the senator include Congress Court, Abuja; Flat 1, Block D25, Athletics Street, (24th Street), Games Village, Abuja; and Plot 66, 64 Crescent, Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja.

Properties allegedly owned by Ekweremadu abroad include: Flat 4, Varsity Court, Harmer Street, WIH 4NW, London; 52, Ayleston Avenue, NW6 7AB, London; Room 1903, The Address Hotel, Downtown Dubai; The Address Boulevard, 3901, Dubai; two Flats of Burij Side Boulevard (the signature), Dubai and Emirate Gardens Apartment No. EGG1/1/114, Dubai.

Others are Emirate Gardens Apartment No. EGG1/115, Dubai; apartment DFB/12/B 1204, Park Towers, Dubai; Flat 3604, MAG214, Dubai; Villa No 148, Maeen 1, The Lakes Emirates Hills, Dubai; 4507 Stella Street, Bellavida Estate Kissime, Florida, United States; 2747 Club Cortile Circle, Kissime, Florida, US and 2763 Club Cortile Circle, Kissime, Florida, US.

However, the Peoples Democratic Party had decried the alleged harassment of Ekweremadu, opposition leaders, and voices of dissent, by the Federal Government.

The party accused the government of misusing the anti-graft and security agencies close to the 2019 general elections, stressing that such posed a grave threat to the nation’s democracy.

Reacting to what it described as Senator Ekweremadu’s witch-hunt by the EFCC on Tuesday, the party called on the international community to rein in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration before it became too late.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbodiyan, in Abuja on Tuesday, the party said, “Just a few days after the EFCC and over 200 policemen practically held Senator Ekweremadu hostage to prevent the defection of the All Progressives Congress senators to the PDP, the EFCC has continued to harass Senator Ike Ekweremadu to cover its shame.

“We wish to remind Nigerians and the international community that this is only the newest in the series of attempts to destroy the senator politically in the run-up to the 2019 general elections.

“It is of grave concern to us that while corruption and corrupt persons abound in the APC, the EFCC prefers to chase after innocent members of the opposition.

“While the likes of Babachir Lawal, Abba Kyari, Ayo Oke, Kemi Adeosun, Abdulrasheed Maina and his accomplices, Okoi Obono-Obla, and scores of others in the ruling APC, with corruption and fraud-related charges, walk free, the anti-graft agencies have continued in its reckless desperation to harass and dent leaders of the opposition in the name of an anti-corruption war that Nigerians and the world have come to see for what it is- persecution of the opposition.

“We warn the Buhari-led administration to desist from this act of highhandedness and witch-hunt of the opposition so as not to torpedo our democracy.

“The panicky APC government cannot be allowed to destroy opposition leaders just a few months to the general elections in the name of fighting corruption.”

President Muhammadu Buhari is the new chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).


Buhari on Tuesday replaced the Togolese president, Faire Gnassigbe. He was named as the chairman at the end of the commission's meeting in Togo today.


In a telephone interview, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu confirmed the emergence of the President, saying "He did not ask for it, they just gave it to him.”

Details later...

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

PDP, rAPC Warn against Derailment of Democracy

Reacting to the impeachment move, the PDP deplored the alleged role of the APC, saying the removal bid was a misadventure that was dead on arrival.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) strongly condemned the alleged promotion of illegality by the APC using the security apparatus.

He also said the party deplored the action of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) whose intention it said was to harass and destabilise the Benue State administration and to trigger crisis that would be used as an excuse to declare state of emergency in the state.

“The NWC condemns in its entirety the purported sitting of eight APC members including the impeached and suspended Speaker; (in a 30-member House) wherein they illegally claimed to have served an impeachment notice on Ortom.

“PDP also condemns the use of the EFCC and DSS to harass and intimidate officials of the Benue State government,” the party said.

On its part, rAPC said it was shocking to note that despite all the illegalities being perpetrated in Benue State, Buhari had not deemed it fit and proper to respond and condemn the outright illegalities.

A statement by the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said the action of the president suggested that he had been the “Chief promoter” of undemocratic illegalities that had consistently undermined the nation’s democratic engagements in the last three years.

“It is astounding to note that despite all the infractions in the political process; the polity is consciously charged to ridicule us and make us a laughing stock in the comity of nations before the very eyes of a president who preaches anti-corruption,” it said.

Saraki, Dogara, Atiku, Others Condemn Action

Similarly, the Senate President Saraki and Speaker Dogara described the impeachment move as “a desecration of the legislative sanctity”.

In a statement jointly signed by their aides in charge of media, Saraki and Dogara also called on President Buhari to call the police to order and stop them being used to achieve political purposes.

They said: “We have monitored closely the development in Benue State in which the impeached Speaker, Terkimbi Ikyange, led seven other members to serve impeachment notice on Ortom, while the 22 other members who constitute more than two-third majority have been prevented from having access to the chamber.

“We believe this is illegality and does not conform to parliamentary procedure on impeachment.

“We also note with surprise the role of the police in this undemocratic event in which the minority is seeking to impeach a governor against the position of the majority. We believe it is the sacred institution of the legislature that is being desecrated and rubbished in all these negative developments.”

Former Vice-President Atiku, Turaki and Makarfi condemned the impeachment move.

Atiku said the proceedings were unconstitutional and must be aborted.

According to him, any attempt to disregard the rule of law and constitution in the impeachment of a governor is a recipe for anarchy and officially sanctioned lawlessness.

Atiku regretted that for a state facing security challenges like Benue, the introduction of lawlessness in the impeachment process could only complicate an already bad situation.

He urged the police to remain politically neutral and avoid aiding lawlessness, adding that partisanship could professionally destroy the image of police.

Turaki expressed apprehension about the survival of democracy in Nigeria, considering the manner in which it was being held at gunpoint by the Buhari administration without remorse.

Makarfi called on Nigerians to, within lawful means, stand up to the brazen attempt to stifle the democratic space by APC, a party, he said, was the biggest beneficiary of defections that had become jittery and clearly uncomfortable at the prospect of getting a dose of its own medicine.

Olanipekun: It’s an Aberration

A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said it was an aberration for eight lawmakers to attempt to impeach a state governor in an assembly that has 30 members.

He advised the lawmakers to immediately withdraw the notice of impeachment purportedly served on Ortom in the interest of the country’s democracy.

The senior lawyer appealed to lawmakers to carefully read the judgments of the Supreme Court on the impeachment of Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo State, Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Peter Obi of Anambra State, after which, they would know that their exercise is in futility.

He said: “The action portends grave danger to democracy. They want to unnecessarily heat up the polity. I will advice them to withdraw it.

“My advice to them is that they should carefully read the respected decisions of the Supreme Court on the impeachment of Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo State, Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Peter Obi of Anambra State, which is very detailed and outlines how to remove a governor. These decisions are all unanimous.”

Another senior lawyer, Mr. Godwin Obla (SAN), said the eight lawmakers were embarking on a shameful expedition.

He contended that apart from the fact that their number did not meet the constitutional quorum required to remove a governor, their action and conduct fell short of the conditions required by the constitution.

The crisis rocking the Benue State House of Assembly Monday took a new dimension as the impeached Speaker, Terkimbi Ikyange, and seven other members regained control of the assembly with the aid of the police and commenced impeachment proceedings against Governor Samuel Ortom.

The governor, however, dismissed the exercise as an unconstitutional act, saying the 1999 Constitution as amended did not contemplate a situation where eight of 30 members of the state legislature would initiate the impeachment of the governor.

Ortom received support from a legion of politicians Monday who warned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) not to derail democracy in the country and asked the party to rein in its members who are behind the ongoing drama in Benue State.

Politicians who rose to the occasion Monday included Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, who issued a joint statement; former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his fellow presidential aspirants on the platform of the PDP, Mr. Taminu Turaki and Senator Ahmed Makarfi.

The PDP and its ally, the reformed All Progressives Congress (rAPC), also took turns to upbraid the APC even as the ruling party was mum on the development as its National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, pleaded with THISDAY to give him time to study the situation.

“We are still studying the situation and as soon as we get the full report of what transpired, we will make the position of the party known,” he said.

The leadership of the APC seemed to have avoided any discussion about the incident in Benue State.

At the meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party held Monday, THISDAY gathered that the matter was not discussed.

Efforts to get the national chairman to speak on the issue failed as journalists were told that the meeting had issued a statement on resolutions reached, which was on the dissolution of the Kwara State executive of the party.

The police that were variously accused by Ortom and 22 members of the state House of Assembly loyal to him, of complicity in the proceedings that lead to the passage of the notice of impeachment, also kept quiet Monday, dodging THISDAY’s enquiry about their alleged role in the drama.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benue State Command, Moses Yamu, told THISDAY Monday that he could not speak as he was still making inquiries and would get back to the newspaper.

He responded after several calls and text messages, saying: “In a meeting now, will get back to you soon.” He had not at press time.

Ortom had defected from the APC to PDP last week, setting off a chain of hostile verbal exchanges between him and the National Chairman of the APC, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole.

Ikyange, who led Monday’s move in the House, had been impeached as the speaker weeks back, but was reportedly helped to convene the meeting with seven of the other lawmakers by a battery of policemen.

THISDAY gathered that as early as 5a.m., over 300 youths, nine vehicles belonging to the state livestock guards and state vigilante service with their officials blocked the entrance to the House of Assembly Complex in Makurdi, the state capital.

Subsequently, police personnel from the state command and Abuja reportedly arrived and dispersed the crowd with teargas.

It was gathered that this enabled the eight lawmakers to gain full control of the assembly complex to commence the impeachment proceedings against the governor.

While briefing journalists after their sitting, Ikyange said 12 members of the assembly reconvened for legislative duty.

He said a motion was moved for the impeachment of the governor for corruption and gross misconduct.

He added that a letter had been transmitted to the state Chief Judge and the governor to give reasons for their action.

Ikyange insisted that he remained the speaker of the assembly together with other members of his leadership, pointing out that anybody parading himself or herself as the speaker or member of the leadership was only impersonating and should not be taken seriously.

The former speaker and the other seven members also suspended the 15 others who had earlier impeached and suspended him.

According to Ikyange, the governor has a question to answer over the fraudulent deduction of N50 million each month for over three years from the 23 local government areas of the state, amounting to N33 billion.

He also accused the governor of embezzling N22 billion security votes in three years, among others.

Ikyange disclosed that 15 members who participated in the impeachment proceedings against him were suspended for six months.

However, in yet another twist, the other 22 members of the assembly who were earlier denied access to the chamber, swiftly moved over to the Government House, Makurdi where they held their own sitting.

The new Speaker, Hon. Titus Uba, drew the attention of Nigerians to what transpired at the assembly.

He said the police and other security operatives refused 22 of them access to the assembly while the eight others were protected into the chamber.

The assembly’s spokesman, Hon. Paul Biam, said a state High Court judge had barred Ikyange from parading himself as speaker and was also suspended for six months.

He said the former speaker had no business at the assembly, adding that he was an illegal speaker.

According to Biam, the police were ordered by the court last Friday to vacate the assembly complex but he said they refused and were acting Ikyange’s script.

He added that the assembly had further suspended the seven members that went to the chamber with Ikyange for six months.

In his reaction to the planned impeachment against him, Ortom said the APC and the presidency were bent on truncating democratic process in the state.

He condemned the role of security agencies in the state assembly dispute.

He added that the police and security agencies took side by allowing the impeached speaker to gain access to the assembly while the new speaker and other members were prevented.

He said the attempts being made to impeach him was as a result of his stand for the people of the state over herdsmen activities.

He accused Senator George Akume, the Director General of Department of Security Service (DSS) and the Inspector General of Police of being behind the plot.

Ortom also denied the charges against him.

SadiqBabaSani:
Ipob has bribed Blomberg, Any buhari supporter who doesn't smell d coffee is dead alrdy

The Reformed-All Progressives Congress (R-APC) says it is shocking that President Muhammadu Buhari has not deemed it fit to condemn the “illegal” attempt to impeach Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state.

Eight lawmakers of the state house of assembly commenced impeachment proceeding against the governor on Monday, while some 22 others were reportedly blocked from attending plenary by the police.

Reacting to this Kazeem Afegbua, spokesman of the R-APC, said Buhari’s silence suggests he is the “chief promoter of undemocratic illegalities that have consistently undermined our democratic engagements in the last three years”.

He alleged that there is an attempt to force down the “bitter pills” of Buhari’s second term agenda down the throat of Nigerians.

“On the one hand, the APC party leadership declared that they aren’t losing sleep over our members activities ostensibly to present a fake personae but it has consistently mounted pressure on our members to capitulate under the influence of mouth-watering promises,” he said.

“Now that our member Governor Ortom has given the APC red card, and deservedly so, heaven has been let loose and President Buhari has maintained a conspiratorial silence and deliberately feigning ignorance over the democratic gangsterism that has dominated Benue assembly at present.”

The group said the Monday incident and similar ones in Benue show Nigeria’s democracy is “seriously under threat” by those trying to “armtwist the Benue people against their will.”

According to the statement, “this desperation is getting too much and it must be arrested forthwith without equivocation before this democracy is reduced to a mindless rubble.”

“We cannot afford to feign ignorance over this heinous crime against humanity under an atmosphere of threat, tension and harassment that has assumed the second nature of this government,” the group added.

“It is becoming petty that this government has descended to a level of irredeemable dictatorship and outright desperation in the name of forcing the bitter pills of second term down the throat of Nigerians.

“We cannot continue to pretend that all is well when our country is gradually descending to the abyss of maximum rulership orchestrated by the president’s foot soldiers.

“We are therefore raising alarm that this democracy must be saved from the indecent grip of APC agents of suppression and oppression under the clear supervision of the president.”

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum has stated that President Muhammdu Buhari should be held responsible for any chaos in Benue State.

The group called the attention of the international community to alleged anarchy by the Buhari-led Federal Government in Benue State.

The Middle Belt group in a statement jointly signed by Yinka Odumakin South West, Senator Bassey Henshaw South South, Prof Chigozie Ogbu South East and Dr Isuwa Dogo, Middle Belt said the ongoing unrest in the state had the backing of the federal government.

The statement reads in full.

It has been reported that a ruthless and desperate plot was hatched this morning which involved drafting policemen from Abuja and neighbouring states to force the majority 22 members of the State Assembly out of the Assembly complex to pave way for the impeached Speaker,Hon Terkimbi Ikyange and six others to sit.

The gangsteric operations which was said to have been led by Benue State AC OPS,Emmanuel Adesina saw the minority members sitting without the mace and the clerk of the Assembly, suspending the majority 22 members and serving impeachment notice on Governor Ortom.

It is shameful that President Buhari who realised after about four months that his Inspector General of Police did not obey his directive to go and secure lives in Benue State and has done nothing to him is so eager to deploy policemen to the State to enforce illegality for political calculations.

We are worried that till date the President and his security team have yet to bring anybody to book for the killing of hundreds of people in Benue. They have only been putting pressure on the governor to suspend the anti-open grazing law and cede land for imperialistic and land -grabbing notion of ranches.

It is equally embarrassing that a supposed democratic government would resort to thuggish tactics where political engagement is needed.

This is a throwback to full blown dictatorship and the dark days of putting human beings in crate.

We want to let President Buhari know in advance that he will be held responsible for any breakdown of law and and order in Benue and any possible loss of lives .

We call on the international community to pay particular attention to the on-going subversion of the democratic process in Benue by the Buhari government.

We stand in solidarity with the people of Benue at this dark moment as evil walks on four legs across their state.

They must not flinch or surrender as this shall come to pass.

Tolexander:
Flooding is a common occurrence during the raining season everywhere and there are peculiar human factors causing the flood in every place where it had occur.

South West has its own, and that is dumping of refuse along the water channel.

Every zone I've been to in Nigeria, South East seems to show less concern to drainage when building their house, most especially Abia State that I worked in. And still considering the high soil erodibility of the soil in the east which is a great contributor to erosion and later flooding.

I'm not trying to be tribalistic here, or political zone interested.

Tolexander:
Those places you mentioned are Shorelines with altitude close to the Mean Sea Level. So you expect incessant flooding in those places.

Tolexander:
A big problem in the South East.

They will build fine and correct house, but to do drainage na problem

The Presidency has urged the National Assembly to suspend the ongoing recess and attend to requests by President Muhammadu Buhari pending before the legislature.

The National Assembly was billed to proceed on holiday on Thursday but the lawmakers went on recess on Tuesday in protest against the alleged clampdown on President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

One of such requests is the one asking the lawmakers to vire funds in the 2018 Appropriation Act to fund the supplementary budgets of the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies for the conduct of the 2019 general elections.

Buhari had recently presented a N228bn supplementary budget to the National Assembly, asking the legislature to re-allocate part of the N578bn voted to the projects inserted by the lawmakers into the 2018 Appropriation Act.

Buhari said INEC and security agencies needed N242bn for the 2019 general elections. He asked that N164bn be vired to fund the polls while the balance of N78bn would be covered by the 2019 budget.

The President also said N64bn be taken from the same source back to the critical projects whose allocations were cut by the lawmakers.

The lawmakers had introduced 6,403 projects into the budget amounting to N578bn.

On Thursday, the Presidency pleaded with the lawmakers to reconvene and approve Buhari’s requests in the interest of the country.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters ( Senate), Senator Ita Enang, warned that delaying the approvals would frustrate some organs of the government.

Enang said, “The executive – President and ministers – will keep working with the legislature with respect due their offices and persons, and keep working with them as legislators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who make laws for the executive to execute irrespective of their individual political decisions while leaving all options open for conciliation.

“We will be praying the legislature – the leadership and membership – to consider that there are many matters of very urgent nature which are pending before the legislature and unless (they are) considered, the functioning of certain institutions of the government will be hampered.

“If you recall, a lot of the funding for the 2018 budget was budgeted to come from some external sources. The request for approval to raise funds from these external sources is before the legislature and unless (it is) considered, it may hamper the level of implementation. Again, before the legislature proceeded on vacation, Mr President also laid before them the request for virement, this also will be affected.”

Enang also mentioned the $496m for which Buhari sought legislative approval to procure 12 Super Tucano aircraft from the United States. The order will be delivered in 2020.

The money is part of the $1bn security spending approved by the National Economic Council on December 14, 2017.

The President had made the request in April but the lawmakers criticised him for allowing withdrawal of the fund from the Excess Crude Account in anticipation of National Assembly’s approval.

Enang said, “Mr President had earlier on laid the request for the application of some security funds for the purchase of Tucano jets to fight insurgency that is still pending.

“There are also the budgets (of Federal Government departments, agencies and parastatals) which are pending. You remember the President laid before the National Assembly sometime in November last year, the 2018 budget; it was the budget of the Federal Government. The budgets of the Federal Government’s corporations have not yet been passed.”

The presidential aide stated that the budgets included provisions for employment and capital spending which could affect the running and functioning of the economy.

“The executive is very law-abiding and will not do a thing which the law requires the legislature to do: to approve first before it is done, unless it is done. We will be praying the legislature to consider the emergency implications of this and decide to come out of this (recess) and consider this within the period of the vacation.

“We accept that some exigencies might have caused the abridgement of the time within which they were to proceed on vacation. We will be working with them to ensure that we have few of these considered and passed within a time that it will still be reasonable to attain the purpose of the economy,” Enang added.

But the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, could not be reached to react to the demand from the Presidency.

Calls made to him after Enang’s briefing were not picked.

We won’t suspend recess but polls budget’ll be top priority in Sept – Reps

However, the House of Representatives, in its response, said the National Assembly operated on a calendar, which it must follow through.

The spokesman for the House, Mr Abdulrazak Namdas, reminded Enang that “being a veteran of the legislature,” the presidential aide was better placed to know that the National Assembly went on annual recess between July and September.”

He added, “It is not like the National Assembly was adjourned for some days that he will be asking us to reconvene. The legislature is on an annual recess and he knows that this is about the calendar.”

However, Namdas assured Enang that none of the President’s requests would suffer any setback.

“As soon as we return in September, the President’s requests will receive immediate attention. They will be the top priorities of the House. So, there is really nothing to worry about,” he added.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday urged Nigerians to resist the tendency of blaming leaders only for the country’s state of affairs.

The Nigerian leader, who has lately been criticised for his alleged shoddy handling of the nation’s affairs, said the change that was desired in the country “starts with individuals.”

Buhari said this in an address he delivered at the graduation of Senior Course 40 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State.

A copy of the speech was made available to journalists in Abuja by the Presidency.

Buhari said, “The change we desire in Nigeria actually starts with us as individuals. In Nigeria, there is the tendency to lay the blame for the state of affairs in the country on the doorsteps of the leaders alone.

“Yes, leaders have a major role to play in providing direction and the enabling environment. However, the citizens’ role also is vital in attaining meaningful transformation of any society.”

The President assured Nigerians of his administration’s effort to return the country to the path of peace and prosperity.

He recalled that at the inception of his administration, he made three key promises to Nigerians -to address the various security challenges facing the country, reposition the economy and fight corruption.

On security challenges which he said abounded in all countries of the world, Buhari said he was certain that with the consistent efforts of security agencies, the challenges would be considerably minimised.



He told the graduating officers to realise that the nation had invested a lot in their training, hence the country expected the best from them in terms of commitment to their duties and fatherland.

“The highest standard of competence and professionalism is expected of you considering the level of training you have received through this course.

“Go out there and make your honest contributions to the discharge of the constitutional responsibilities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and be good ambassadors of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College,” the President said.

Buhari noted that the numerous security challenges facing the world today were trans-border in nature, involving actors in different sub-regions and regions.

The West African sub-region and indeed the African continent, he said, were not immune to the negative impacts of globalisation.

Buhari said to effectively combat the prevalent security threats, there was the need for African countries to continue to work together at all levels including operational and tactical levels.

He recalled that the armed forces of Nigeria, Cameroun, Niger Republic and Chad are in a multinational operation to combat Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin region.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Tekzyflex:
Yellow and black! It's alright

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, was conspicuously absent as lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) met with the party leadership.

Mr Dogara is expected to defect to the opposition PDP and on Tuesday presided over the House sitting where 36 representatives defected from the APC.

The APC caucus of the House was led to the meeting by the Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Mr Gbajabiamila expressed optimism that lawmakers who defected from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) on Tuesday will soon return.

He also asked the APC to “appreciate” its lawmakers and ensure the first time members of the House from the party get return tickets.

Mr Gbajabiamila was reacting to the defection of 15 senators and 36 members of the House of Representatives. Majority of the defectors joined the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The APC leader said this during a meeting held on Thursday between national chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, and APC House of Representatives members to address the crisis rocking the ruling party.

Mr Gbajabiamila said the meeting was called to appreciate the members who have refused to jump ship like their colleagues.

He also said, contrary to speculations, the APC still commands the majority in terms of numerical strength in the house.

He advised the party leadership to ensure that it consolidates its hold by ”keeping the remaining lawmakers close.”

“It is a time to consolidate and make sure we stay in touch with our members and keep them close, continue to appreciate them, continue to fight for these members, A lot of them are first-timers. If you want this country to progress, we cannot continue to turn members around.

First-timers, who have acquired experience to become ranking members and have represented the party at the grassroots level, they should be taken into serious consideration and I think they deserve second terms,” he said.

He said members should ensure that they have the party’s ideology entrenched in their hearts.

“We have our party ideology but we must begin to develop that ideology to the point that it is entrenched in the hearts and minds of every progressive member of the party. I believe it is the lack of the entrenchment of this ideology that allows people to cross from one party to another,” he said.

He also revealed that the party had a new member from Ekiti State, Olamide Oni, who was joining from the Social Democratic party (SDP).

Meanwhile, Mr Oshiomhole in his reaction at the session said the party was working hard at ensuring that it produces only seasoned lawmakers that would fly the party’s flag at all times.

“Somebody asked me, are we countering the PDP by offering automatic tickets? I said did we offer anybody departure ticket? If we did not, then how does the issue of return ticket arise? For me, I am tired. We just need to ensure a legislature that adds value, which is at home with the people; a legislature that is of value to the party. The party will do all it can to retain such.

“Our party must consciously work to produce seasoned senators. We will get there. If it took them (other nations) 100 years to get there, we don’t have to take 50 years to get there. I want to assure you that it can’t be argued that experience can be discarded.”

Many pundits have linked the difficulty in getting return tickets in the ruling party as perhaps one of the reasons why some of the lawmakers may have defected.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, Mr Gbajabiamila said the meeting went well. He also said those members that left will return.

“We believe some of them will soon come back. The euphoria is over now and they are beginning to see and feel remorse. You know of senators that have retraced their steps and we believe there would be members that would retrace their steps.

“Sometimes, an idea might look good to you but when you ‘practicalise’ it, in this case make that move, you realise that sometimes you have remorse,” he said.

A lawmaker, Abdulmumin Jibrin, said the APC caucus in the house is united and will continue to work as one.

When asked if the caucus is satisfied with the efforts of the party to resolve the crisis, he said: “I think is an ongoing process. It is not an event, it’s a continuous process. Even in most advanced democracies, it happens. I don’t think I saw any sad face today, the sad faces have gone but they can come back and still be happier.”

When asked if the national chairman, who has been confrontational in his remarks on the defections was on the same page with the caucus, the lawmaker affirmed this.

“I think you got it wrong. You can reconcile and drain the swamp. Consolidation is after you have drained the swamp. The swamp was drained yesterday so we are now consolidating on the remainder so there is no discrepancy at all. We are all on the same page.”

He also spoke on why he believes Speaker Yakubu Dogara, who is expected to leave the APC, was not at the meeting.

“He is aware but perhaps he has other engagements; because it was a meeting fixed in the last few hours. And for somebody like the speaker, you should know he has a lot of engagements. The deputy speaker is aware also. I am here standing in for him.”

Lalsticlala, Mynd44

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has said that after an initial slowdown, due to circumstances beyond its control, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has eventually hit the performance mode, delivering on its programmes.

Speaking on ARISE TV, a THISDAY Newspapers sister broadcast network monitored in Abuja, Fashola explained that with the ministers and other senior officials of the government settling into their offices, they had become more equipped to increase the pace of performance at their duty posts.

Comparing them to a football team, Fashola said they needed time to understand the business of governance and what was expected of them. He, however, said that as soon as they found their rhythm, they have now become unstoppable and committed to live by their electoral promises to Nigerians.

“I know how much team work required to evolve a plan. We are ready to make that explanation and defense. Ministers of government, heads of agencies are not different from a football team, they are a team in government, and some of them are just coming in, they’ve never worked in government before. They’ve never worked at federal level before,” said Fashola, in response to questions thrown at him during the feisty interview.

He further stated: “It requires time for everybody to understand what everybody feels and consult, because if you don’t have that team rolling, government is a very slow burning but deliberate fire.

“We were going to bring change, but anybody who doesn’t know that government is a very slow but deliberate fire and that because of its size, it is a behemoth that takes some time to start and when it gathers momentum, it is unstoppable.

“We have momentum, we are unstoppable, we will deliver on what we have committed to do, and the signs are in the right direction.”

Fashola equally made excuses for Buhari’s delayed appointment of ministers and officials into his cabinet, stating: “If you have run government as I have, you will look at what the president set out to do – he wanted to reduce the number of ministers – you cannot reduce what you don’t know.

“If you want to reduce 42 ministries, you meet with the ministries and that is 42 days, about one and half months done. During that period, he was travelling, trying to contain the crisis in the northeast, meeting with presidents on a regional basis.

“After meeting and taking a brief, you have to reconstitute into 24, after that you have to consult each of the states. He wanted 24 and he said so, you have to balance national interests otherwise, he would have all sorts of accusations.

“The screening took a couple of weeks, and if you factor all of that, you will fairly account for about four months that is reasonably defensible but that is not the point.”

He further took time to defend the government he serves in claiming the policy decisions it took within the first months of being in charge could not be blamed for the huge job losses the country recorded then.

However, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) at that time, put the number of unemployed Nigerians as at the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2016 at 11.55 million, up from 11.19 million in Q3 2016 and 8.08 million in Q4 2015.

The NBS data equally noted that between October 2015 and September 2016, about 3.67 million Nigerians were out of jobs, Fashola, nevertheless insinuated the government could not be largely held responsible for such job losses.

He said in this regards: “I don’t pretend that things cannot be better. It doesn’t mean that jobs are not created but that they are not created at the rate at which we are producing graduates into the market and every capital markets such as ours, there are unemployment figures going up and down.

“Not all of them can be attributed, they are simply attributable to the number of people who are entering the job market from universities for example, number of people who are graduating from skills centres, who have skills but the jobs are not coming that fast.

“What we need to do is to ramp up what we are doing, increase the budget size; expand infrastructure needs; mining and agriculture.”

Asked why it took the government more than two years to come up with an economic roadmap, and if that delay was not responsible for the unsteady economic situation the country found itself, the minister said it normally took governments and countries a lot of time to come up with comprehensive economic plans.

“The growth plan has to go through the parliament and that doesn’t happen overnight. People had been laid off before we came, construction companies were laying off people before we came. It was a matter of time before it happened.

“At the time this government came in, the oil prices had drastically tumbled, and that is 90 per cent of Nigeria’s earning. Agriculture hadn’t kicked in, tax hadn’t. The point to then make is that of your major source of revenue had gone and you have states who could not pay salaries. No president comes in with cash, and you see all of the processes it takes,” he explained.

Speaking on how the government had managed the country’s infrastructure sector – road, works, housing, and electricity — which he is charged with, the minister claimed they had done well but said the country would need to steadily invest about N1 trillion annually to upgrade its electricity and transport infrastructure to a point they would be able to provide comfort for investments and economic growth.

“It is important to decide whether you want to see angels or devils. Roads are bad, we haven’t finished fixing them but I can say confidently that in every states of this country there is one road project or the other, I have been around them, there has been progress.

“People vote for a government for many reasons and people who voted for roads will tell you that unlike before, there has been some visible deployment of the nation’s resources to critical road networks. Of course those roads are very extensive and long roads, they get built some in two or four years, 500 kilometres, 320 kilometers of four, five, six, and in some cases 10 lanes, and that is man-hour by man-hour.

“As far as power is concerned, I think those who consume the product will tell you contrary to the intro, their circumstances have somewhat improved. Is it going to be a silver bullet? No! There is no big bang theory to solving a nations problems but I think that if you look at the nation’s growth recovery and economic plan, there are not enough platform to engage rudimentary focused debates in elections and I am happy you have created such a platform, and hope you will use it to inform and educate voters,” he said.

According to him, “The journey that we have undertaken to make Nigeria’s business environment competitive will be massively assisted if my ministry and transport ministry were getting nothing less than a trillion naira over the next few years.

“It is not enough because we met contracts in the region of about two trillion that had paid only about N500 billion and everybody is asking for one new road or the other.

“So, we need to continue and that is why the government has adopted some innovative solutions like expansion of the tax credit scheme; the Sukuk and lately approval by the president that some of the projects in the budget should be funded by funds from crimes and also green bonds that we have done to fund power projects in universities. No nation has enough money to spend anyway. It is making hard and sensible choices.”

He equally said he was confident Buhari would be lauded for his stewardship to Nigerians when he perhaps finished his term in 2023, adding: “When I was governor, nobody gave me the impression that they love me. They held my feet to fire until the finish line. The point I am making is that perhaps when President Buhari ultimately finishes in 2023, all of the Nigerian people will come round in full circle to say this really was a good steward.”

For the second time, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has written to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, in response to his invitation to appear for an interrogation over the allegations made against him by armed robbery suspects who attacked banks in Offa, Kwara State.

The police had in June invited Saraki for questioning over the bank robberies in Offa on April 5, but the Senate President responded to the invitation in writing.

The IG, in a letter dated July 23 and addressed to the Senate President, again asked Saraki to report to the police on Tuesday at 8 am to provide further clarification on his relationship with the five leaders of the robbery gang.

Idris, in his latest letter, insisted that the gang leaders claimed they were political thugs to Saraki, adding that “the Senate President supplies arms and money to the thugs; that everyone in Kwara Central fears them because of their guns and ability to kill anybody without hesitation.”

The Senate President, however, did not honour the invitation. He had escaped the siege laid to his Maitama, Abuja residence by the operatives of the Department of State Services and men of the Nigeria Police.

Asked on Wednesday if Saraki would answer the summons by the police, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, said his boss had responded to the police in writing.

Olaniyonu also said Saraki had answered all the questions raised by the police in his letter to the IG.

He added that Saraki’s letter was written and dispatched to the police on Tuesday, stressing that its receipt was duly acknowledged.

Olaniyonu further stated that after answering all the questions raised by the police in his letter, he did not believe that there was any further need for Saraki to go to the police personally.

“He has written a letter to them and the letter has taken care of the purpose of the invitation. He sent the letter to them yesterday (Tuesday). The letter addressed the issues raised in the invitation letter,” Olaniyonu said.



The police spokesman, Moshood Jimoh, could not be reached for comment on Saraki’s letter as he did not respond to several phone calls. He had yet to reply a text message as of the time of filing this report.

Also, it was learnt that the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had written the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission requesting another date to appear before the commission.

It was learnt that Ekweremadu sent the letter to the EFCC on Wednesday.

A senior EFCC official told our correspondent that the senator noted that he wasn’t given ample time to honour the invitation and would, therefore, need more time.

The EFCC official said, “We received a letter from Senator Ekweremadu requesting another date to appear before us. We will respond to him in due course.”

Officials of the anti-graft agency accompanied by scores of policemen had on Tuesday laid siege to the Deputy Senate President’s home on Jim Nwobodo’s home, Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja.

The EFCC operatives had attempted to arrest Ekweremadu barely hours after inviting him.

In a letter signed by the Director of Operations of the EFCC, Mohammed Abba, with a reference number, ‘CR.3000/EFCC/DOPS/Vol.49/40 dated July 24, 2018, the commission asked the Deputy Senate President to immediately make himself available for questioning.

In the letter titled, ‘Case of Conspiracy, Abuse of Office and Money Laundering’, the anti-graft agency said the request was made pursuant to Section 38(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes (Establishment) Act, 2004.

The letter read in part, “The commission is investigating the above-mentioned case in which your name featured prominently and the need to obtain certain clarifications from you became imperative.

“In view of the above, you are kindly requested to report and interview by the undersigned at 5 Fomela Street off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent Wuse 2, Abuja on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, at 10 am prompt.”

Ekweremadu could not be reached to confirm or deny his response to the EFCC. His Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu, was contacted via telephone on Wednesday afternoon but he asked for more time to reach out to his boss. When he was called again at 7:45 pm, he said his boss was not home.

Anichukwu had yet to reply, as of the time of filing this report, to the text message sent to him telling him about the information from the EFCC source.

In a related development, Ekweremadu has given more details on the siege to his Abuja residence by the operatives of the EFCC.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu, on Wednesday, quoted Ekweremadu as explaining the situation on Tuesday when the leaders and members of the Senate and the Peoples Democratic Party visited him after the security agents had left.

The Deputy Senate President said the security agents left at about 12:20 pm after spending about six and a half hours.

Ekweremadu said, “We anticipated that a number of our colleagues in the All Progressives Congress would defect and join the Peoples Democratic Party. In anticipation of that, the APC leadership had tried to stop them. When that didn’t happen, the first thing they did was to invite President of the Senate (Bukola Saraki) to come to the police this (Tuesday) morning. They believe that once the President of the Senate goes to the police, I would be the one to preside and probably give effect to the letter of defection.

“In anticipation of that, the police, the EFCC and other security agencies came together — about 200 of them — to stop me from going to the National Assembly. They said I should come to the EFCC to give an explanation over the things I was accused of. I agreed to follow them even though there was no prior invitation, but they were not eager to let me go to answer the invitation.

“The plan was to stop me and the President of the Senate from going to the National Assembly. Unfortunately for them, the President of the Senate was already at the Senate to preside over the plenary session.”

Meanwhile, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State on Tuesday night separately met with Saraki and Ekweremadu. While he visited the Deputy Senate President at his residence, the governor met with the Senate President at his office.

Speaking to journalists at the National Assembly, Fayose said the defections from the APC were for Nigerians and not the PDP. He said the defectors had taken a “path of honour.”

Two of the 14 senators who dumped the APC on Tuesday had denied joining the PDP. While Senator Monsurat Sunmonu (Oyo-Central) said she defected to the ADC, Senator Lanre Tejuoso (Ogun-Central) said he had yet to join another party.

Abuja – Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday said contrary to insinuations that the mass defection of All Progressives Congress, APC, members to the opposition would feature prominently in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, no such thing came up for deliberation at the meeting.

Recall that 15 senators and 37 members of the House of Representatives defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday, prompting diverse reactions from Nigerians.

According to Mohammed, the President had already responded on the development and his position was agreeable to those of them in the party.

He said, “No, it was not discussed at FEC and secondly Mr President has already given our position which is that this is a democracy, people are free to make choices.”

On the rift between the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, the minister assured that it would be resolved.

Mohammed was answering questions from State House Correspondents at the end of the Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Oshiomhole and Ngige have been at loggerheads over the minister’s failure to inaugurate the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, with the APC chairman threatening to expel Ngige from the party and ensuring his exit from the federal cabinet.

“What happened between the minister and party chairman will be resolved,” he said.

Mohammed also said it was difficult for him to comment further on the rift because of the need to confirm the authenticity of statements credited to the two parties.

According to him, “Two weeks ago, we inaugurated a campaign against fake news and that is one of the most dangerous phenomena we have today.

“We don’t know who said what and until we know and the ministers confirmed these statements credited to them, it is a difficult time to comment.

“I can assure you that if there is any problem between the Party Chairman and any of our ministers, it will be resolved.”

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who spoke on fake news, denied some statements credited to him in the social media alleging that he attacked the National Chairman of the party.

He said, “I saw on social media this afternoon where they said I said the chairman is a bad luck.

“I never said so. I have never said such a thing. They quoted me that I was attacking the chairman,” Amaechi said.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

The Yoruba Self-Determination Advancement Forum has described restructuring as the only lifeline for Nigeria’s survival, threatening that the Yoruba will break away from the nation if there is no urgent move to restructure the country.

The coalition, which comprises over 60 Yoruba self-determination platforms, said on Tuesday that restructuring would be its negotiating tool to support any presidential candidate in next year’s general elections.

It said it was open to negotiation with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; a former Central Bank of Nigeria Deputy Governor, Kingsley Moghalu, or any other presidential candidate who has strong commitment to restructure the country.

YOSEDAF, who said it had been deceived in the past, said this time any such candidate who approached it must sign an agreement with the Yoruba to restructure the country before he could get the support of the South-West.

The coalition addressed the press in Lagos on Tuesday.

In a statement jointly signed by its Convener, Evangelist ‘Kunle Adesokan, and Secretary, Kola Are, YOSEDAF disapproved of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, saying things had worsened since his assumption of office three years ago.

The coalition accused the All Progressives Congress of reneging on its promise to restructure the country, noting that “instead of restructuring, expansionist agenda, under the guise of cattle business with land-grabbing as the ultimate goal, has torpedoed the fragile unity of the country more than ever before.”

It said with the situation on the ground, the Yoruba were seriously contemplating “the likelihood of exiting Nigeria.”

“Indeed, that route is no longer a foreclosed option in the light of prevailing circumstances in the country since the injustice of June 12 was perpetrated,” it said.



“Our desire is that political participation would be based on restructuring and genuine federalism. In the last 19 years, however, our elite have either watered down our democratic ideals or consciously abandoned them. Those who rode to power on the back of such popular quests are today the greatest apologists of one Nigeria, at all costs – even at the expense of the Yoruba people. They really do not care if marauding herdsmen unleash terror on their people, insofar as they are in control of the government in the South-West. Such arrant nonsense cannot be allowed to continue,” the coalition said.

The Public Relations Officer of YOSEDAF, Francis Abayomi, said despite that Atiku was being accused of corruption, if he could guarantee the coalition of his readiness to restructure the country, YOSEDAF would support him.

The coalition secretary, Are, stressed that the proposed restructuring must guarantee maximum autonomy for the Yoruba.

He added, “You will come and sit down with us; we will negotiate and have an agreement. If it is a thief, (someone) that people have said is a thief, go and try him. If he is an armed robber, go and try him. If he is somebody without a certificate, charge him. Whether it is Moghalu, if he is able to guarantee that restructuring, let him come and negotiate with us and sign.”

Also speaking, the Leader of the Yoruba Liberation Group, George Akinola, said the Buhari administration had not benefited the Yoruba in any way.

“Tinubu led the entire Yoruba into the APC and into the present government without negotiating the Yoruba position by saying if the Yoruba support you, this is what we are going to get at the end of the day. Now, we have a government in power, we have a Vice-President that is Yoruba but we have nothing. What can we say we have gained?” he queried.