₦airaland Forum

[size=18pt]Ebonyi Lawmakers Adopt Jonathan As Consensus Candidate[/size]

Written by Clement Oko Nnachi, Abakaliki Saturday, 23 October 2010



THE Ebonyi State House of Assembly has passed a resolution endorsing and adopting President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole and consensus Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2011 presidential election.

Accordingly, the lawmakers have urged all PDP delegates from the state in the forthcoming presidential primaries to vote for President Jonathan/Vice-President Namadi Sambo ticket.

Moving the motion on the floor of the House, the member, representing Onicha East Constituency of the state, Hon Odefa Obasi Odefa, chronicled the achievements recorded by the president within the short span of the administration to include the rejuvenation  of the economy, availability of petroleum products, reforms of the electoral system and security, among others.

Seconding the motion, the leader of the House, Honourable Emmanuel Nwobo, representing Ezza North west constituency, hailed President Jonathan, stressing that Nigerians should give him the opportunity to prove his mettle.

All the members present at the legislative chamber supported both the intent and prayer of the motion when the speaker, Honourable Augustine Nwankwagu, put the motion to vote.

Sequel to the adoption of the motion, the clerk of the House was directed by the Speaker to do a memorandum on the said motion to the executive arm, informing them of the resolutions of the House, and copy same to the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party.


http://tribune.com.ng/sat/index.php/news/2358-ebonyi-lawmakers-adopt-jonathan-as-consensus-candidate.html

[size=18pt]INEC May Instal CCTV Cameras In Polling Booths[/size]



Written by Oluwole Ige, Calabar Saturday, 23 October 2010

If plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] to install Close Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) ahead of 2011 polls in all polling units are anything to go by, then ballot boxes snatchers and election riggers may find it hard to perpetrate their acts.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Cross River State, Mr. Mike Igini, said that the electoral umpire had fine-tuned arrangements to instal CCTV cameras in polling booths across the nation for effective monitoring of voting proceedings.

Addressing the leaders of political parties in Calabar, Cross River State, during a zonal consultative meeting, the INEC boss said that the measure was aimed at ensuring that anybody who engaged in sabotaging the conduct of credible election would not only be exposed, but also made to face the law.

According to him, “official cameras, which will record all the activities of voters, party agents, INEC supervisors, poll orderlies, security agents and other actions around the polling units and centres, will be installed very soon.”

Igini, however, expressed concern that the major challenge as regards the implementation was funds needed for the purchase of the CCTV cameras.

Besides, he disclosed that policemen, saddled with the responsibility of providing effective security at the polling units, would have their names and tag numbers displayed with a view to tracking them in case of any act of misconduct.

Igini also hinted that INEC was collaborating with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) as adhoc staff for the 2011 elections, stressing that “we are giving NYSC conditions which will be binding on corps members.”

Some political parties leaders, particularly the opposition at the meeting, complained over the poor security arrangements at the polling units and centres, accusing the police of failing to checkmate the incidence of thuggery and ballot snatching during elections.

The Cross River State chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Dr. Theo Onyuku and his Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) counterpart, Mr. Sunday Michael, tasked INEC to beef up security at polling units and ensure that people’s votes counted in 2011 elections.


http://tribune.com.ng/sat/index.php/news/2361-inec-may-instal-cctv-cameras-in-polling-booths.html

[size=18pt]Angry youths stone Gov Sylva[/size]
From FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa
Saturday, October 23, 2010

https://www.sunnewsonline.com/images/Sylva.gif


Angry youths yesterday showed their displeasure with Bayelsa State governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, when they booed him while he was reading a welcome address during the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the state. Also, they pelted the governor with stones, drink cans and sachet water.

Trouble started when Sylva mounted the stage to address the gathering. No sooner had he started talking than the crowd began chanting: “You must go, You must go.”

The youths, who were wearing T-shirts with pictures of President Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, Sylva and his deputy, Mr. Werinipre Seibarugu fully embossed on them rained stones, empty soft drink cans, sachet water and empty bottles of water at Sylva.

The mood of the youths, who had danced excitedly when Jonathan arrived the stadium, venue of the event, changed immediately the Master of Ceremonies invited Sylva to the podium to make his speech.
Hardly had Sylva started his speech when shouts of ‘Sylva Go’ drowned his voice.

Security agents tried to calm the youths but they were more incensed by this. Efforts by Minister of Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe, Inspector- General of Police, Hafiz Ringim and the Commander of the Joint Military Task Force, General Charles Osa Omoriege, to contain them proved futile, as they became wild in their protests.

Undeterred by their noise, Sylva continued with his speech, an action, which irked the youths, the more. They, therefore, resorted to hurling stones, sachet water and shoes at the governor, in an effort to force him out of the podium.
Sylva’s security aides had formed a ring around him, as he continued to make his speech. After he finished his speech, he was escorted back to the VIP, where President Jonathan embraced him.

Reacting to this, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) said it was a pointer that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has failed the people of the state.
Chairman of the party in the state, Mr. Miriki Ebikibina, who described the incident as sad and unfortunate, explained that the reaction of the people was borne out of the fact that they have been impoverished by the PDP government in the state.

Commissioner for Information, Mr. Nathan Egba, on his part, accused enemies of the Sylva government of being the masterminds of the youths’ action.
Egba said politicians, who are no longer comfortable with the rising profile of Sylva, perfected the plans to ridicule Bayelsa State during the president’s visit.
According to him, the government was aware of plans by some unnamed people to disrupt the president visit because they had vowed to destroy the government of Sylva.

Egba said Nigerians should be aware that the behaviour displayed by the youths is not associated with the Ijaw, as the people are noted for their calm conduct anywhere they find themselves.
Among those present at the stadium were wife of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, governors of Cross Rivers, Delta, Rivers, Abia, and Imo states, ministers, National Assembly members, traditional rulers and eminent Ijaw citizens.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2010/oct/23/newsbreak-23-10-2010-001.htm

[size=18pt]Presidential poll: ACN, APGA may field Ribadu[/size]
By Niyi Odebode and Fidelis Soriwei, Abuja
Saturday, 23 Oct 2010

[img]http://www.punchng.com/images/October/Saturday/pix201010234273165.jpg [/img]


The All Progressives Grand and the Action Congress of Nigeria have commenced talks aimed at mobilising progressives to support the presidential ambition of the former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

Investigations by SATURDAY PUNCH showed that the two parties were favourably disposed to fielding Ribadu as their presidential candidate in 2011.

It was learnt that a new group, the Patriotic Electoral Alliance of Nigeria, consisting of 46 political parties, had set up a committee that would produce the criteria for picking a joint presidential candidate.

SATURDAY PUNCH learnt that during a meeting held at the Labour Party headquarters, in Abuja on Thursday, the parties directed the committee headed by the chairman of Congress of Nigeria Political Parties, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, to submit its report on Oct. 28.

The coalition, which was formed on Thursday, consists of APGA, ACN, Labour Party and Congress for Progressive Change.

But the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, confirmed to one of our correspondents on the telephone that the party had commenced talks with Ribadu.

He said that although the talks had not been concluded, if they were fruitful, Ribadu would be the presidential candidate of the ACN and APGA.

“We want all progressives to come together during the 2011 elections. The talks have not been concluded, but they have started,” he said.

The National Publicity Secretary of the CNPP, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, in an interview with one of correspondents, said that the 46 parties in the coalition were determined to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party, which has been ruling at the centre since 1999.

“If the strength of your party is in Lagos, we will advise everybody who is a member of the coalition to file behind your party to contest an election so that the voting will go that way,” he said.

According to him, the new group was formed by the Coalition of New Nigeria led by Charles Nwodo and the Patriotic leadership Forum headed by Prof. Pat Utomi.

He said, “The steering committee headed by (Alhaji Balarabe) Musa comprises members of the CNN and the PLF. The steering committee is to harmonise the structure and come up with a checklist.”

Okechukwu explained that the central objective of the new group was to dislodge the PDP from the centre.

He said opposition parties were not divided on the choice of either Ribadu or the presidential aspirant of the CPC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

He said, “It (picking a presidential candidate) is not our headache because we have reasoned that every human being has his own ambition. But we are trying to build a checklist or a template for these people who are interested in becoming president. The person must have the highest chances of defeating the PDP.”

Okechukwu added that the steering committee set up by the group would come up with criteria for picking a presidential candidate on Oct. 28.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010234273920

[size=18pt]Fake flood victims invade relief camp[/size]
By Bosede Olusola-Obasa
Saturday, 23 Oct 2010

https://www.punchng.com/images/October/Saturday/pix20101023250039.jpg


Fake flood victims may have made an incursion into the resettlement camp for Lagos flood victims, denying the authentic victims access to available facilities, the Camp Commandant, Mr. Wewe Adeboye, has said

Adeboye told SATURDAY PUNCH during a fact-finding visit on Friday to the relief camp located in Agbowa, that he had received reports about some gatecrashers, who had nothing to do with the displacement caused by the overflow of the Oyan Dam.

He said that the reports were being investigated to sieve the wheat from the chaff and further open the facilities to those who needed them.

He said his team was working with the community development associations and the officials of the local governments of the affected areas to fish out the gatecrashers.

Adeboye said, “I can tell you that there are people in this camp, who were here for eight months in 2007 when a similar situation came up in the state and are back here this year. From our finding, they are here because they know that the state government will render some financial assistance at the end of the day to help them resettle on their own.

“That was what happened in 2007 and I can assure you that we know them, having stayed with them for eight months in this camp. Besides, we have their pictures, names and other data.”

He said that he could not admit any more persons into the camp until a contrary directive was given.

He said, “That is what we have been told to do for now to avoid overcrowding with its consequences. Already, the plumbing work is suffering because the camp was ideally built to conveniently accommodate 500 people. If the need arises, we can convert our event hall for people to use, but that is how far we can go right now.”

According to statistics made available at the camp, there are 1,003 people currently residing there. The victims comprise 206 men; 278 women and 519 children. There are also 50 officials of the ministry working there.

Adeboye said that the children of school age were 205 (primary school level); 47 in junior secondary school and 48 in senior secondary school. He said that the secondary school pupils had been enrolled into the Lagos State Model College, Agbowa; while the primary school pupils were admitted into Baptist Primary School and Methodist Primary School in the same vicinity.

He said that he could not say for how long the people would remain in the camp. “That is for the chief coordinator in person of Gov. Babatunde Fashola to decide.”

He, however, said that the state’s ministry of women affairs and poverty alleviation had concluded plans to give skill acquisition to interested ones among the victims to keep them engaged.

Asked how prepared they were should any of the pregnant women go into labour, the head of the consulting team, who preferred not to be named, said all was set, especially with the mobile hospital located at a walking distance from the camp.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010234335489

[size=18pt]Okah bail suffers setback[/size]
By Agency reporter
Saturday, 23 Oct 2010



Henry Okah’s bid to view the evidence used by the prosecution to link him to the twin bomb blasts in Abuja that left 14 people dead and 66 injured on Oct. 1 was dealt a blow by the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Handing down judgement, magistrate Hein Louw only granted Okah’s defence team access to the hard drives of computers and cell phones confiscated from his home during an Oct. 2 raid.

“I order that a mirror copy image of computer hard drives, cell phone hard drives and memories be made available to the applicant in no later than three working days,” Louw said.

He refused to give the defence permission to access information underpinning the state’s latest revelation in Okah’s bail application.

“In due course the defence will have opportunity to access such information,” Louw ordered.

In evidence presented to the court on Thursday, the prosecution alleged that the 45-year-old former marine engineer had been in contact with the people who coordinated the Oct. 1 car bombings in Abuja.

“Prior to the detonation of the two improvised explosive devices on Oct. 1 in Abuja, two vehicles, namely a Honda and a Mazda 626, were purchased in Lagos on the instruction of the accused, by persons complicit in the crime,” state prosecutor Shaun Abrahams said.

Reading from an affidavit compiled by investigating officer, Lt.-Col. Graeme Zeeman, Abrahams said Okah had been in contact with Chima Orlu, one of two men wanted in connection with the bombings.

While in South Africa, Okah had allegedly instructed his co-conspirators to drive the cars to where the attacks would be launched.

The two cars were loaded with dynamite and parked on a road near a prominent hotel in Abuja, where Independence Day celebrations were taking place.

An SMS Orlu allegedly sent which read: “Done, tell them to leave,” was forwarded to Okah on the day of the attacks.

In a responding affidavit, Okah denied his involvement in the attacks and asked the court to grant him permission to view the evidence.

“Put your money where your mouth is. Show us the evidence,” Okah’s lawyer Rudi Krause said before the ruling by Louw.

“What Zeeman is saying is a lie.”

However, Abrahams said granting Okah access to the information would put the defence in a position to influence Zeeman‘s investigation.

“If he has access to people we have here, he can find out who they have been contacting,” Abrahams told the court in opposing the application.

Okah’s phoning television station Al Jazeera while he was in a Johannesburg prison, meant he could contact anyone.

He said the state would give Okah access to information found on his hard drive and a copy of records from his cell phone. He maintained that the police investigation was only 22-days-old and that letting Okah’s lawyers “peek over the shoulders of investigating authorities” would prejudice their case.

Okah’s close ties to some senior officials in the Nigerian government also placed him in a position to interfere with the investigation being conducted in his home country and in South Africa.

Okah faces charges of engaging in terrorist activities, conspiracy to do so, and delivering, placing and detonating an explosive device.

Okah has denied involvement in the bombings and also denied that he was a senior member of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta.

The fact that in one of her letters to the media, his wife, Azuka Okah referred to him as the leader of MEND was used as circumstantial evidence that he was indeed a leader of the rebel group.

“I think she did it for clarity, because a lot of the media refer to me as a leader of MEND,” Okah said in his defence.

Using the alias, Jomo Gbomo, Okah allegedly sent emails to media and the West African country, warning about the attacks.

Security operatives arrested Henry’s brother, Charles, last Sunday in his Lagos home. He has been arraigned in Abuja along eight others in connection with the blasts.

Henry had testified during his bail application, but failed to answer questions relating to a list of high calibre weapons, including anti-tank land mines, machine guns and air missiles found in one of his diaries.

The state alleged that Okah had intended to buy the listed weapons as they matched those found in a quotation. He dismissed this, saying the list was merely notes he had written while reading warfare books - ”for intellectual purposes.”


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010234544939

[size=18pt]Boko Haram posters flood Borno[/size]
By Agency reporter
Saturday, 23 Oct 2010
 


Boko Haram, the Muslim sect carrying out killings in the northern parts of the country, has issued new threats, this time invoking al-Qaeda’s North African branch, the Associated Press reported on Friday.

Posters by the Boko Haram sect appeared at key intersections in the city of Maiduguri this week, bearing the name of Imam Abubakar Shekau, the group’s de facto leader. The two top corners of the posters bore a symbol of an opened Koran, flanked on each side by Kalashnikov assault rifles and a flag in the middle – mirroring the logo of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

The message warned the public against assisting the police or going near soldiers guarding the town at night. The message also acknowledged a recent reward offered for information leading to the arrest of suspected sect members.

“Any Muslim that goes against the establishment of Sharia (law) will be attacked and killed,” the message read.

Boko Haram – which means ‘Western education is sacrilege’ in Hausa – has campaigned for the implementation of strict Sharia law. A dozen states across Nigeria’s north already have Sharia law in place, though the area remains under the control of secular state governments.

The poster said it was from Shekau on behalf of “The Group of the People of Sunnah, Call and Jihad.”

Police officers began removing the signs late on Wednesday.

“These publications and messages on Boko Haram activities are seditious and could jeopardise our investigations into the four-month serial attacks and killings in the state,” Borno State police commissioner Mohammed Abubakar said on Thursday.

Authorities did not immediately comment on the use of the logos on the posters. Though the al-Qaeda branch has distributed messages by Boko Haram before, it is unclear whether the two groups have any operational links. The two groups also come from two different ethnic groups in northern Nigeria.

Boko Haram sect members rioted and attacked police stations and private homes in July 2009, sparking a violent police and military crackdown. In total, 700 people died.

The sect largely went underground after the attack, though rumours began to spread two months ago that the group was rearming. Last September, Boko Haram members attacked a federal prison in Bauchi, freeing about 750 inmates – including imprisoned sect followers.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010234564075

googles:
Oh I do remember that case tho I was much younger then so I cant remember her name but she was sentenced cos she committed adultery or sommin

I hope it works for this lady,IMO the senator angle will worsen her case.because this man can influence this matter with his nonsense power. Any NGO

dat wants to take up the matter might be nipped in the bud. All these men in power have a way of sweeping things under the carpet o

A senator of nigeria can't stand the wrath of international women legal organizations, and many other international human rights organization especially now that nigeria is and the center of trouble internationally right now.It makes the case that much critical. Remember the heat that insecure brute senator yerima, who ran to egypt to get an 11 year old girl for marriage got for his actions.

tpia@:
^^so what does it mean in portuguese.

lagos means lagoon or lake.

Read this babe :


Meaning of the word "Biafra" and location of Biafra

Little is known about the literal meaning of the word Biafra. It is not part of the Igbo language. It is unclear whether the origin of the word Biafra has any relationship to "Bia", the Igbo word for "Come". The word Biafra most likely derives from the subgroup Biafar or Biafada[30] of the Tenda ethnic group who reside primarily in Guinea-Bissau.[31] Manuel Álvares (1526–1583), a Portuguese Jesuit Educator, in his work "Ethiopia Minor and a geographical account of the Province of Sierra Leone", writes about the "Biafar heathen" in chapter 13 of the same book.[32] The word Biafar thus appears to have been a common word in the Portuguese language back in the 16th century.
Historical maps of Biafra

Early modern maps of Africa from the 15th–19th centuries, drawn by European cartographers from accounts written by explorers and travellers, reveal some interesting information about Biafra:

   1. The original word used by the European travellers was not Biafra but Biafara,[33][34] Biafar[35] and sometimes also Biafares.[36]
   2. The exact original region of Biafra is not restricted to Eastern Nigeria alone. According to the maps, the European travelers used the word Biafara to describe the entire region east of River Niger going down to the Mount Cameroon region, thus including Cameroon and a large area around Gabon. The word Biafara also appears on maps from the 18th century in the area around Gambia.[37]

stillwater:
Is the judge a muslim?

Is this a rhetorical question?

googles:
Like seriously? All these mallams sef, But now that she was denied a fair hearing and her case dismissed,I wonder wat the homefront will be like  

she will be treated like trash by her nuclear and extended family for daring to challenge their decision. Wat a poor young lady  

We can only pray that this gets international coverage and this lady is freed. There was a case similar to this where a woman was sentence to death by stoning by this northern pseaudo-judicial system. The news got big international attention and the lady was saved and I believe she now lives overseas. I will search online for the site of the people that helped that lady and post this link. The good thing is that he's a senator so the pressure will be applied even harder.

udezue:
Chyz, I'm with u.

If they have their own judicial system and laws and dont adhere to the Federal laws of the nation, it literally means they have their own country.Which makes it seem as though they are just here to eat with nigerians. Something like a Trinidad and Tobago but a way lower grade.

Kobojunkie:
I don't know what in the world you are on about  . . . I am not crazy . . if anyone does not like that I have an opinion on this(even if it is a laugh), make him go die! lol I am not in mood to comment much on other people's take on this tonight.

Yes baby go die for you.

Kobojunkie:
Genius Grant?[size=14pt] ROFLMAO[/size]!!!

Kobo you know ur crazy right?

You may want to go on the states website im sure they have one.

Its quite crystal clear that she does not want to be married to that fool so why must her case of divorce be dismissed? The bastards are allowed to illegally have their own legal system but we Igbos arent allowed to raise our Biafra flag and promote it? This country needs to break up.The same judges continue to free boko harem members as well.

I heard that he left his diary there. It is pink and president Jonathan is trying to exploit him with it.GJ can be such an a.sshole at times.

Abagworo:
I posted the history of agbotaens hometown of Owa but know not the reason it was deleted.Is the moderator trying to cover the truth.The Igbos say "anaghi eji aka ekpuchi afo ime".

The same thing happened to me.Go into the complaint section and read my comments. Obviously the guy has sent something to the admin because our constant revealing of the truth.I'm sure its on his mind everyday and he's feeling ashamed.LOL.

ijaw_girl:
Portharcourt is so overrated!

Why do u say that?