₦airaland Forum

Yet the same mamulas are holding you to ramson

See how you reason like an early man? North is not holding us to ransom, rather, they are dragging us back. What can we do? Leave our brothers to die in the desert when God purposely hooked them on our neck to help them. You guys are our storm.

[size=14pt]Lagos: Police shoot bizman over alleged bribe [/size]
By PHILIP NWOSU
Monday, August 18, 2008

A Lagos businessman has called on the police authorities to check the excesses of men of The Nigeria Police attached to the Area E-command of the force in FESTAC town, Lagos, following alleged attempt on his life by police officers attached to the command.


Identified as Alhaji Zayeed Abiola, the businessman was allegedly shot by some policemen in his business location at the Mile 2 Estate area of Lagos.

Daily Sun gathered that he was rescued by passersby who ferried him to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) where he is presently recuperating.

Alhaji Abiola was allegedly shot in the leg by some policemen following his refusal to offer them bribe.

Narrating his ordeal with the policemen, Alhaji Abiola said: “On that fateful day, an Okada man ran to me to complain that some persons were fighting with the driver of my trailer which is parked somewhere around the estate. Then I came down from my bus and quickly followed the Okadaman. On getting there I saw some drivers at the park that I cannot even recognize.”

He said that shortly after he arrived the scene, some policemen in plain clothes arrived the scene and before he could enquire from them what they wanted, they fired a shot which paralyzed his legs.

He said: “While I was trying to identify who the policemen were, some men in plain clothes emerged then they shot in the air. They made a lot of noise; they said, ‘you this baba, you don’t want to give us money. When they are making noise they are threatening us with gun, most of the people had run away.

“Then I moved closer to them, because I know I am not a criminal and asked which money they were talking about. The next thing I heard later was another gunshot, and the bullet hit me on the leg.

“I just fell down, I started crying for help. I shouted for help thinking they were armed robbers. When the disturbance had died down and they hid their car at the back of the park, about four or five of them; they came to see if I was dead and they saw I was groaning in pains, but they did not help, they only said they were coming and left me to die.”

Alhaji Zayeed named one Inspector Idioh as one of the policemen who led the attack on him, adding that the inspectors had been threatening his life for his refusal to give them money.



http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/18/502.html

Legislators get jumbo salaries
By ISAAC ANUMIHE, Abuja
Monday, August 18, 2008

Barely two weeks after the nation’s teachers called off their one-month strike called to press for better pay for members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, the country’s lawmakers have been splashed with yet another salary increase.






The increment sees their basic salary jumping by more than 100%. Unlike the teachers who had to down tools for a whole month before authorities grudgingly upped their salary by 27.5%, the lawmakers’ is said to be a routine exercise to reflect the level of inflation in the economy.

Legislators in the three tiers of government have cause to smile as the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has increased their basic salaries and allowances by more than 100 per cent.

The political, public and judicial office holders must particularly be elated as they did not have to go on strike like public school teachers did recently before winning 27.5 per cent pay rise.

The RMAFC cited inflation among other reasons for the upward review of the public officers salaries.

A document on Remuneration Packages by the RMAFC for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders in Nigeria stated that the review was a function of changes in the basic fundamentals of the Nigerian economy, external reserves, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), growth rate, rate of inflation and need for a living wage.

By the new increase which was backdated to last year, the annual basic salaries of legislators at the Federal, State and Local Government levels have gone up by more than 100 per cent thus: the basic salary of a Senator has increased from N993,697 to N2,484,242.50, while that of a member of the House of Representatives has been jerked up from previous annual salary of N794,084 to N1,985,212.50.

Similarly, a member of the State Assembly is now to earn N1,985,212.50 instead of N794,085 taken previously.

Also, the benefits and allowance for accommodation have been increased between 45 per cent and 200 per cent of their basic annual salary. The differential, the document said, was meant to address accommodation problems between less and most expensive cities in Nigeria.

Other allowances that were affected include, vehicle maintenance, which was increased from 30 per cent to 75 per cent; entertainment, from 10 per cent to 30 per cent and utility allowance from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Also increased are: personal assistant, 25 per cent, wardrobe, 25 per cent, domestic staff, 75 per cent, recess allowance, 10 per cent, newspapers, 15 per cent and constituency allowance which is graded between 15 per cent and 250 per cent for legislators at Local Government, States and Federal Government levels.

In the same vein, furniture allowance is now 300 per cent of annual salary paid once in tenure at the commencement of duty. However, the severance gratuity after their tenure in office remains at 300 per cent while motor vehicle loan is 400 per cent repayable in six years.

It would be recalled that the last increase was done in 2000.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/18/504.html

What an epileptic nation. A common judge keeping over $10M for himself. Where did he get it?

N1.4bn found in judges’ secret account - N185m contract awarded to fake firm - Judge, others face trial
Lanre Adewole, Abuja
Monday, August 18, 2008


THE alleged unspent budgetary allocation scam rocking the National Judicial Institute (NJI) has taken a new twist with the recovery of over N1.7 billion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).


While N1.4 billion was said to have been recovered from a secret account in a new generation bank, about N300 million was reportedly recovered from contractors to the institute, who allegedly inflated contracts.



The immediate past administrator of the institute, Justice Timothy Oyeyipo, was removed over the alleged scam. Justice Umaru Eri has since replaced him.



Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Femi Babafemi, confirmed the recovery, but said that he did not have the details.



Nigerian Tribune, however, gathered from a source close to the Supreme Court that a copy of the investigative report allegedly indicting Oyeyipo and three others over the alleged scam had been made available to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Kutigi, who is the chairman of the institute.



It was further learnt that Oyeyipo and others reportedly indicted by the commission had been slated for trial, with another source indicating that the finishing touches were being put to charges against them.



Oyeyipo, who until his suspension from office in May was the boss of the institute, was alleged in a petition to have diverted N400 million unspent budgetary allocation to an unknown account, but an investigation into the allegation was said to have revealed that what he was alleged to have diverted was nothing compared to the scam that he allegedly perpetrated.



Investigation into the alleged scam, according to the Nigerian Tribune source, revealed that the actual amount allegedly diverted by Oyeyipo in collaboration with three others was N1.4 billion, which was reportedly recovered from a secret account with a bank (name withheld).



It was also learnt that despite a presidential order as contained in a circular issued in October 2007 that all accounts should be closed by December 28, 2007, the NJI, under Oyeyipo’s leadership, allegedly went ahead to award phoney contracts to the tune of N185 million.



Oyeyipo’s NJI, according to the source, only declared N7 million as unspent budgetary allocation at the end of last December.



It was gathered that the alleged phoney contracts claimed to have been awarded on December 10, 2007, were actually awarded in January 2008, but back-dated to December 10 to beat the presidential directive.



The source noted that the investigative report also revealed that most of the companies that got the contracts were unregistered, while the registered contractors did not do the job paid for.



Nigerian Tribune source said that the alleged contracts were just used to divert public funds. Oyeyipo and his alleged accomplices were said to have been recently quizzed by the commission’s operatives, with useful information reportedly got from them.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/18/613.html

@ creator(Obinna , ), I join my Gbosa with the Gbosa wey other people don fire. You too much

Lol, I'll marry him for real.

Aba na-anya!
[b]paint and re-paint it real good.[/b]

Lol

I wonder why people just begin to say things they don't have understanding about. Be it a river, a pool, a bathtub, baptism in the english dictionary means to "[b]deep inside[/b]", thus water baptism is to deep inside water, which signifies the death, burial and ressurecton of Jesus christ. it is an outward declaration of the inward work of grace. the disciples of Jesus christ were baptised and they in turn began to baptise others, that had given their lives to Jesus christ.

Deep Dip!!

This shows what kind of man Dr Olusols Saraki is. How does a man allow 2 of his children to make a public mockery of the family. Maybe his past is catching up with him and his children and children's children may well suffer humiliation as a result of all the evil that the man has brought upon common citizens of Nigeria, especially Kwara indigenes

.

I mean, it can happen to anybody but what I want to know is why he kept mum on the issue of paternity. Do you know what that girl is going through now?

@ tpia

Are all the northerners illiterates, does that mean intellectuals like Prof. Jubrin Aminu, Prof. Munzali Jubrin (NUC), Prof. Salim Ahmed, Prof. B.B. Danbatta, Justice Mohammed Uwais (SAN) and a host of other technocrats and intellectuals are all illiterates?

The above named can be found in one family in the south.

1. We need state Police. We can't simply get away from it.
This will make it impossible for police from one state to come and arreast you in another state.

With the tribalism going on here, state police may not be the best because if dem catch a southerner in the north for example, he/she will be toast.

2. People must be tried in the state of their orgin or arrest.
Only the AG can issue that such person be transfered to another place for trial

Don't you know it costs money? The beaureaucracy nko? who will pay to transfer a criminal from delta state that got nabbed in Sokoto state especially when he/she has no one to pay his/her fees?

3. Nigerian abroad should be accorded better treatment. For cry-out loud, he is an ex-partriate, foreign investors.
I would rather go a country that value my right than invest in Nigeria even if its my country of birth.

Nonsense!!! Why? Are they better than Nigerians at home? He is not an expatriate, just a physician living in the US like many other Nigerian physicians living in Nigeria. He only tried to import drugs inorder to make some profit before the business went bad. Come to think of it, what if this man is guilty of the charges?

With all this, is Fasola stilling calling on 'naijas' to come home??

Why shouldn't he?

How many times will we adress this issue here? The issue at hand now is how to move the north forward or better still, how to bring them along with the south in terms of development.

Well.

She is now infamous not the hero, she tot she'd be

She is unloved and even hated, far from her love expectation

It depends on whether she planned to be a heroine or infamous. The latter might be the case.

44 countries of the world are without direct access to the sea and therefore shipping trade. Of those countries two are described as double landlocked because they are surrounded by countries that are also landlocked. They are: Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan. morpheus24 you may tend to ask your self how come many of these countries are doing just fine, and at the same countries with long costal areas are worse off.

Afghanistan Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Bhutan Bolivia Botswana Burkina Faso
Burundi Central African Republic Chad Czech Republic Ethiopia Hungary Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan
Laos Lesotho Liechtenstein Luxembourg Macedonia Malawi Mali Moldova Mongolia
Nepal Niger Paraguay Rwanda San Marino Serbia Slovakia Swaziland Switzerland Tajikistan
Turkmenistan Uganda Uzbekistan Vatican City West Bank Zambia Zimbabwe

How many of the countries listed above are fairing well except the Vatican that is a pseudo country?

As someone from the Middle-belt,if this bashing will make the North and possibly the Middle Belt to wake up then let it be.A sitiuation where pethe Oligarchy in the north and MiddleBelt hide behind Religion and Tradition respectively to enslave their citizens must stop. Let this be a wake up call for people in the North and Middle Belt to empower themselves Educationally and economically rather than just being content with what comes from the Federal coffersand generally stop being ambitionless.Start developing agro-based industries and Solid Minerals so as to develop themselves and also help diversify this Monoculture Economy.enough with the use of Religion ang tradition to blindfold their followers.Enough with the blind followership.Enough with the senseless slaughter of our southern brothers and christians in the North under the guise of Religion.Let the structure of the country be re-organized to meet the aspirations of all nigerians, so that cabal that benefits from this present arrangement does not see any oppurtunity to use divide and rule tactics.then we will have acountry that we can be proud of

.


Attaboy!!!!, Good point,

I don't know how many Yorubas have stunk in your face, but the reason I posted that link about dirty jews is to show you that these stereotypes are nothing new. Its just a matter of attaching a different label to the same old story.

where are your muslim Yoruba brothers by the way? Do they also stink, or is it only the Christian ones who smell?

Help me ask that mamula.

@Deepzone ,let me apologize to you if i have offende the yoruba's with my statement "the yoruba's tend to be arrogant' rather i should have used the statement most yoruba's are arrogant, because i am merely expressing what other tribes in Nigeria feel about your tribe ,just take a poll and see.
My point is that every tribe has its attitude and mentality that are both negative and positive i say this without any tribal prejudice. The North is Backward, and uses Religoin as an excuse for retrogresiveness,My own tribe spends too much time drinking and womanizing and are generally not interested in moving above the state they have reached,the ibos, the yorubas, the Niger Deltans all have their shortcomings and i leave that to you and the imagination of the nairalanders. only educated and exposed people knows this and refuses to stereotype himself or herselfwith the shortcomings of his tribe to identify with his or her people .But to be objective and for this forum to have any usefull outcome we must openly state he shortcomings of our tribes without being disrespectful to other peoples culture.I have not disagreed with you or Axis that the North is backward but adressing this problem by use of innuendos and disrespectful comments to other people's tribe is counterproductive and only incites hatred.please you can effect a change without being disrespectfull to other peoples tribes.So far this thread has been reduced to nothing but insults and tribal hatred.once again i have no haterd for any yoruba man ,i think have risen above tribal sentiments, i only stated what i think is a negative attitude of the yourubas , the north and my tribe inclusive.

OK; Thanks but we are not arrogant by a long short.

@deepzone

@axis

@nairaland posters

Nigeria cannot develop because we are black according to lugard!! you're black and you cannot develop because you are by nature an idiot with animal brain. Meaning you're all animals!!! CAN YOU PROVE HIM WRONG?? PROBABLY NOT!!! you're just black and have limited intellectual capacity!!!This is the problem with north, south west, south-south, south east, you people are just black, if you took all the blacks out of nigeria and put them in england and took all the whites from england and put them in nigeria, in 20 years time, england would be destroyed and nigeria would be developed and beautiful. why? BECAUSE YOU ARE BLACK!!!!!BLACK BLACK BLACK. IT is in your nature to be underdeveloped.

When did you become Lord Lugard's disciple? After the middle belters embarrassed you here? To hell with your Lord Lugard.

Pomo eater,
We need proof not just mentioning NTA you bloody liar. Please go and alleviate poverty and HIV in your family and your village that has sent you to be a beggar and cleaner in another mans country. There is poverty in all over Nigeria so go and take care of yours. If there is no poverty in Niger Delta, they would not be fighting for resource control.

As for yoruba girls, you know i would never go after fat ugly girls with pomo lips that stink. You only know how to bleach and paint your faces with no natural beauty and zero hygeine. When you speak, your mouth stinks of elubo. With all the beauties up north, you know i would definitely not go after ugly yoruba girls that jump from one bed to another.
Reminder: Please Make sure you wash your undies fo the week before you drive all the oyinbo from your city.

No wonder no Yoruba lady will agree to follow you with this your kulikuli and goro mouth. Who knows where you are hollering at them, pine pine gias(Fine Fine girls). First of all learn how to pronounce the letter F before hollering at preety hot Yoruba girls. If her name is Funke, she won't admire you if you call her Punke.

Take life easy Axis man, learn to respect the yorubas because you have a lot to learn from them. We are in the 21st century and we need to move with time and that entails moving with the group that has upped their ante in terms of academics. Cattle rearing, shoe shining, nail clipping, maiguard and polygamy will soon pass away. Who wants to hire a maiguard these days when their are infrared detectors that can keep you safe 24/7?


One question tho: why are there many homosexuals up north even with the sharia going on there? (this is an innocent question because i don't know why homosexuality is very rampant there).

To hell with your sand, South tells North

Roflmao

Why is it difficult to resolve this paternity issue ?

Well, if you recall the paternity issue clearly, when Governor Bukola Saraki did a press conference and they put in the papers that I was not his sister and that it was not Dr Olusola Saraki that gave birth to me, I challenged my father to a DNA test. The answer my father gave then was that he was not the one that spoke, that it was Bukola that spoke. So, if Bukola has problems with me or my father doubts that I am his daughter, let them come out and say it. So, it was Bukola that spoke, and since my father has not come out to say so himself, then let Bukola keep his mouth shut. If he does not like me being his step-sister, let him go and commit suicide. As far as I am concerned, my father has not spoken. Until he speaks and says publicly that Oyinkansola Aminat Saraki is not my daughter, then I will know the right step to take. So, I don’t think I owe Bukola any answer on that issue.

Why i stheir father keeping quiet over this issue? Men!!! they Bleep Bleep Bleep till they don't even know whom they bleeped again. See how two siblings dey disgrace each other for years now.

[size=14pt]Why I am against Brother Bukola – Oyinkansola Saraki[/size]

By OLAYINKA OYEBODE


The governorship candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance in Kwara State, Ms. Oyinkansola Aminat Saraki, in this interview with OLAYINKA OYEBODE, speaks on the controversy surrounding her paternity and the nine-month struggle to get her petition heard by a special elections petition tribunal as ordered by an Appeal Court.



What are you doing to ensure that a new tribunal is set up to hear your petition?

Naturally, one expected that the normal thing to do is to give everybody an equal access to justice. It is bad enough that the tribunal threw out my case without any just cause. We went to the Appeal Court and the Appeal Court on November 2, 2007 ruled that I had a case and that a new tribunal should be set up to hear my petition. So, it is baffling that months after that, nothing has been done. I am just appealing to the Nigerian people to prevail on the president of the Court of Appeal to respect the ruling and set up the new tribunal. It is sad that one has to come out to pursue justice, after a court of competent jurisdiction has made a pronuncement on the matter.

When was the last time you had any communication with the Appeal Court’s president after the court ordered the composition of a new panel to hear your petition?

My counsel and the party have written on many occasions to remind the president of the Court of Appeal on the need to act on the ruling of the Appeal Court. We are yet to get any response to any of the letters. But, they acknowledged receipt of the letters, and you can see their stamps on them. This is what gives us some concern, it is now nine months and a few days after the Appeal Court ruling.

Are you suspecting foul play?

Honestly, I don’t know why this is happening. The judiciary in this country has recently proved to be the hope of the common man by virtue of some rulings. So, one is baffled that the president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullai, will ignore the ruling of the Appeal Court which ordered that my petition should be heard by a new tribunal. It’s been nine months after the ruling and nobody is saying anything about it.

I know Governor Bukola Saraki is jittery already, and I know he could be the one working against the process. Now, the question is why is he afraid of a re-run, if he actually won the election by an overwhelming majority? One thing is certain, they can only delay justice, they cannot prevent it. The truth will come out.

What if the Appeal Court president fails to do anything after all your petition?

I will keep making noise and I won’t keep quite. I believe the Appeal Court president will be under pressure from well meaning members of the society to take the right step, by setting up the tribunal as ordered by the appeal court since November 2007. This case remains a major dent on the image of the judiciary, and the judiciary has done quite a job since the beginning of this dispensation. So, it is baffling that the president of the Appeal Court is finding it difficult to honour a simple ruling of the court. So, where lies the claims of adherence to the rule of law, when a court ruling is being ignored almost 10 months after? And what is the ruling all about? Set up a new tribunal to hear my petition. And like they say, justice delayed is justice denied. As for me, I am yet to see the much-talked about rule of law of the Federal Government at work. Or maybe I should say that I am yet to benefit from the rule of law, because my case has not been treated fairly. We will reject any tribunal that is not composed of judges of integrity. We want the case assigned to judges that are truly upright. Anything short of that, we shall reject.

What is the level of involvement of your party in this struggle to get the Appeal Court president to set up the new tribunal to hear your petition?

My party is solidly behind me. The party leadership has written to the president of the Court of Appeal, to remind him of the ruling of Justice Helen Morenikeji Ogunwunmiji of the Appeal Court, sitting in Ilorin on November 2, 2007. Our counsel, Dayo Akintayo, has also written to the Appeal Court president. We have written to the National Judicial Commission and the Chief Justice of Nigeria. In Kwara State, other opposition parties who saw the merit in our struggle have come together to also petition the NJC and CJN over the matter. It is quite painful that this could be happening in a country where the government talks about adherence to the rule of law and due process. It would appear that the government is merely paying lip service to the issue of rule of law; because I can’t see anything like the rule of law in this case. I believe posterity will judge whoever is trying to block the course of justice in this matter.

Did you ever discuss your governorship ambition with Governor Saraki, knowing that he is the incumbent?

I actually made some moves to see my brother before I started my campaigns. I spoke to him; he fixed an appointment and I went there to see him. I told him of my plan, he listened carefully, without saying a word. After that, he looked at his wristwatch and said, ‘Oh! it is three o’clock now, the last plane out of Ilorin is five o’clock. Make sure you don’t miss the flight because after that I won’t be able to guarantee your safety.’ That was what he told me. Obviously, I did not leave, but I told him he could not do anything to me. So, I have tried. But obviously when you have tried to change somebody and he is not ready to change, what do you do. You go against him.

It would appear now that you are against the political dynasty of your father. Why did you not explore the possibility of working with the governor?

There is no way I can work with them. I mean, look at Kwara, look at the Societe Generale Bank, for instance, a lot of innocent people lost their savings in that bank. Many of them trusted that bank, innocent people, petty traders, businessmen and women, and look at the way the bank went under, it went down with the people’s sweat. And you expect me to work with that same set of people? No, I fear God and I have a conscience. And I don’t want any curse upon my head. The question is what else do they want in Kwara? They have finished Kwara. When I said in Akede newspaper, the other time that my father and brother had turned Kwara into a slave camp, a lot of people were shouting. And I am not going to join them. I don’t care if they disown me. You know, it is possible for either your mother or father to disown you. I have fathers, brothers everywhere; and your father is not necessarily your biological father. So, I am not going to work with them.

Why is it difficult to resolve this paternity issue ?

Well, if you recall the paternity issue clearly, when Governor Bukola Saraki did a press conference and they put in the papers that I was not his sister and that it was not Dr Olusola Saraki that gave birth to me, I challenged my father to a DNA test. The answer my father gave then was that he was not the one that spoke, that it was Bukola that spoke. So, if Bukola has problems with me or my father doubts that I am his daughter, let them come out and say it. So, it was Bukola that spoke, and since my father has not come out to say so himself, then let Bukola keep his mouth shut. If he does not like me being his step-sister, let him go and commit suicide. As far as I am concerned, my father has not spoken. Until he speaks and says publicly that Oyinkansola Aminat Saraki is not my daughter, then I will know the right step to take. So, I don’t think I owe Bukola any answer on that issue.

What is the relationship between you and Dr. Olusola Saraki?

The relationship between me and my father is the normal relationship between father and daughter. I am based in the United Kingdom. I was raised by my mum, which usually happens when your parents are separated. So, I was raised by my mum. But he (Dr. Saraki) sent me to the United Kingdom and the evidence is there at the British High Commission; (that) in 1989, he got a visa for me to go and further my studies in the UK. So, if Bukola has a problem with me being his half-sister, that is his problem. And whether he likes it or not, I am Oyinkansola Aminat, the daughter of Dr. Olusola Saraki. And whether he likes it or not, people even say I look like my father more than him. May be that is what is killing him.

Even if you become the governor of the state, are you capable of changing the status quo?

By their fruits, we shall know them. And let me say this, I know it is not easy to go against your family and attack them as I am doing. I don’t think I will waste my time attacking the current administration, if I don’t have something better to offer the people. I have lived in the UK for years and I have seen how things are being run. Talk about infrastructure. Go to Kwara today, with all the noise, you will see many of the schools without windows and doors and whenever it starts raining, they will park all the children into one corner and the health facilities in the state are nothing to write home about. We will make changes, and as I have said, you know women are soft-hearted and we fear God more than you men, so, obviously a woman will make a difference.

Some believe that your level of preparation for the governorship seat is doubtful, because you left the country immediately after the election, only to return months after.

No, I did not travel immediately, I went straight to court.

And thereafter you travelled out?

Like they say, that a lion is keeping quiet does not mean it is afraid. I had a reason to go to the UK then to do a particular thing and I came back immediately.

Are you sure that wasn’t borne out of fear?

Fear of whom? Bukola? No, I am not afraid of him at all.

You alleged that there was a plot to assassinate you during the electioneering. Could that explain why you stylishly fled the country after the poll?

I actually left Kwara State for some time during the electioneering, because they were after me. Officials of the State Security Service were going round the party offices then looking for me, harassing party officials to disclose my address. So, I had to leave for some time, not for my safety alone but for the safety of the party members, because everybody had to leave the party office for some time.

Are you now hiding in Lagos?

Well, if you Lagosians want me here, no problem. But, like I always said, nobody can kill me, because I am not their meat.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/16/406.html

Stupid people!!! You no fit seize common Ibori's asset and e come be Yaradua wey fit fire you.

[size=14pt]EFCC seeks power to seize assets of sitting presidents, VPs, govs [/size]

By Chiawo Nwankwo


A draft bill sent to the National Assembly by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission might see public officers covered by immunity forfeiting ill-gotten assets while still in office.



https://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/17/punch/images/2.jpg
EFCC Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri








Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution grants immunity from prosecution to the President, vice-president, governors and their deputies.

But the bill seeks to make assets forfeiture retroactive under its civil forfeiture legal mechanism that will affect anybody connected with the unlawful acquisition of public or private property.

Although both the Senate and the House of Representatives are currently on annual vacation, the EFCC Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, has visited the House twice this month, apparently to lobby its leadership for an easy passage of the bill.

Before she met the Speaker, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, behind closed-doors last Thursday, she had held discussions with the former chairman of the House Committee on Financial Crimes, Drugs and Narcotics, Mr. Dave Salako, who was directed by the House leadership to receive her.

Waziri reportedly told newsmen that the creation of special courts to hasten the trial of suspects would be appreciated. Salako, who described the initiative as a welcome development, said that no legislative effort would be spared to strengthen the commission, in order to meet the challenges facing it.

The draft bill under general provisions with a sub-title- “Immunity” on option 1, spells out the measure as it affects the public officers covered by immunity. It states under options one and two, “Any grant of immunities or jurisdictional privileges will not bar the application or subsequent grant of restraint or forfeiture orders under this Act. The director (name of body/institution) will not be barred from seeking application to the High Court for a restraint, freezing or forfeiture order, and the High Court shall not be barred from exercising its powers under this Act on the grounds of jurisdictional privilege immunity.”

Explaining the application of the envisaged law, the bill states, “The Act applies to the forfeiture of any proceeds or instrumentalities of (unlawful conduct/activity) that was an (unlawful conduct/activity) at a the time the commission of the (unlawful conduct/activity) or intended commission of the unlawful conduct/activity) but was (prior to the coming into force of the Act/whether before or after the passing of this Act.”

According to the bill, application for forfeiture of asset or a restraining order can be brought before a court, “whether or not a person has been charged or convicted of an offence, and whether or not an application has been brought for a confiscation order/pecuniary penalty order/forfeiture order, after a criminal conviction.”

On requests to enforce orders of confiscation or seizure of property from abroad, the bill says that such an order will be regarded to be in force and will not be subject to further appeal at the time of filing.

It says, “The competent authority of the Federal Republic of Nigeria may cancel the registration of any order by filing a notice to that effect (if it) is satisfied that the order has ceased to have effect in the foreign state or, if applicable, has been satisfied.”

According to the bill, the civil forfeiture principle is influenced by the need to remove the profit incentive from organised crimes. Besides, public treasury looting, other organised crimes such as drug and human, fraud and economic crimes traffickers are targeted by the bill.

Our correspondent gathered that persons targeted in the bill will be required to prove that they acquired their assets legitimately. The EFCC is currently prosecuting a number of governors for alleged corruption.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/17/410.html

This people should just leave the innocent doctor alone. Bad belle is becoming a big problem in Nigeria.

US-based Nigerian expert rots in Agodi Prison
By Sam Nwaoko
Sunday, August 17, 2008

So much is locked behind the high walls of the prison yards around the country. Many of the inmates are justifiably there; many others are serving terms following awkward, jejune cases while so many others have no business being imprisoned or in prison detention. A recent visit to the Agodi Prisons in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, in the entourage of the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Michael Folorunsho Lana, afforded the Sunday Tribune an opportunity to see beyond the high incarceration walls. The visit highlighted the urgent need for an unembroidered catharsis in Nigeria’s justice delivery system.



Mr. Lana led a team of other officials of the Oyo State Ministry of Justice on a fact finding come technical assessment visit to the prison on the instruction of the governor, Chief Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala. He said the prison authorities had written to the governor for assistance over the inadequacy of facilities in the prison.



On the other hand, he said the body of attorneys general in the country, at a recent meeting, decided that members should visit the various prisons in their states to determine what are wrong and how to tackle them.



Beyond the aged and inadequate but fit physical structures seen in the prison yard, Governor Akala’s representative found that many Nigerians are needlessly undergoing emotional torture behind bars in the cold confines of Agodi Prisons. The case of United States-based Public Health expert, Dr. Timothy Agunbiade, caught special attention.



Dr Agunbiade’s tale left the commissioner, Mr. Lana and his entourage in awe and in obvious lament over the tacky justice delivery system in the country. The medical expert, who has been practicing in the United States since 1983, told Sunday Tribune that he had been in prison detention since July 3, 2008 following inexplicable orders of Justice R.N. Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, Ibadan.



According to the Ilesa, Osun State-born Agunbiade, he became a detainee after he was arrested in his home in Lagos by policemen from Ibadan, following a report by his friend that he allegedly imported fake drugs into the country. The drugs in question, Agunbuade said, were genuine and were imported legitimately by him from the United States. “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) even tested and certified the drugs to be genuine.”



He believes his travails began “when a friend of mine also based in the US felt he should have been the one importing the drugs. He threatened to ‘show me’ and I didn’t know how until policemen came from Ibadan and arrested me on allegations that I was distributing fake drugs in Oyo Sate.



“I told the policemen that the drugs had been certified by NAFDAC and were already in the market in Lagos, but they said Oyo is different from Lagos.”



However, he was arraigned on a lone count charge of distributing “for the purpose of sale of fake and (or) expired drugs in the name of “MV365 and MVS PRE-NATAL” and thereby alleged to have committed an offence contrary to Section 1 and punishable under section 3(1) (A) of Counterfeit and Fake Drug and Unwholesome Processed Food Miscellaneous (Provision) Act Cap 34, Laws of the Federation of Nigerian 2004, on the 14th of November, 2007.”



The case came before Justice Molokwu who admitted Dr Agunbiade to bail. At the next hearing date which was January 18, 2008, he said he made himself available in court “and the court accordingly ordered the prosecution to assemble their witnesses against the 26th of February, 2008 which was the date fixed for the hearing of the case.” On the hearing date, he said he also made himself available in court but the case could not proceed to trial and was adjourned to March 5, 2008.



On March 5, Dr Agunbiade was in court again, but neither the counsel for the prosecution nor any representative of the complainant was in court and this caused the case to be adjourned to March 16, by which time Justice Molokwu had been transferred. The new judge, Mrs. R.N. Ofili-Ajumogobia, adjourned the case to May 9 before the arrival of any of the parties and counsels in the matter. On May 9, the court did not sit and the registrar fixed June 19 for the case on the agreement of the parties in the case. His counsel, Bolaji Faboro, told ST that he could not make it to court on June 19 but he sent Micheal Agbolade “since I believed that it was just to take a date.”



June 19 was the first time Dr Agunbiade would appear before Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia. Then, the prosecution stated its intention to withdraw the case following its amicable resolution among the parties. Agunbiade said this drew the ire of the judge who, he said “condemned the prosecution counsel for making such an application before her.”



At the hearing of that June 19, Agunbiade claimed that the judge insisted that if the counsels failed to agree to a date that did not exceed June 24, she was going to revoke his bail.


“Both counsels in the matter then reluctantly agreed to come back for the case on June 24,” he said. He said he became worried over what he described as the open hostility of Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia towards him. On June 24, all the parties were shocked to find that the judge was not present in court despite the threats of bail revocation five days earlier.



The absence of the judge made the counsels to choose September 22, 2008 which was the agreeable date to the registrar, Faboro,who had informed them of the annual judges’ vacation.



Agunbiade said he was greatly surprised when his counsel called him late on July 2 that there was a hearing notice issued on July 1, served him (the counsel) on July 2, that the trial of his case had been fixed for July 3, the next day. The hearing notice, he observed, was served by the court clerk, and not the usual bailiff. He made it to court early against all odds on July 3 from Lagos.



In the middle of the hearing on July 3, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia stopped the cross-examination going on and without any prompting by any of the counsels, said she was tired and would like the case adjourned and she fixed July 30 for the next date. But beyond this, she revoked Dr. Agunbiade’s bail and ordered that he be remanded in Agodi Prison without adducing any reason for revoking the bail.



The puzzled lawyers could not question her and the man was thrown in jail. “Up till the time the judge decided to revoke my bail, I have not done anything to warrant the decision to cut my bail. I have therefore been tried and remanded in the prison custody by the judge when my plea has not even been taken before her,” Dr Agunbiade cried. He said this was so because the judge threatened to report the prosecution counsel to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the police authorities for daring to apply before her to take pleas since being a new judge in the case.



Efforts to get Dr Agunbaide bail so far on health grounds had been thwarted for puerile logistics reasons. Faboro told Sunday Tribune that already, even the prosecution had found that the case was that of alleged trademark infringement, which he said was a civil case, and not a criminal case for which his counsel is being detained. “I have gone to seek the case file since the judge told us that she wanted to seek advice whether she should continue with the case or not but we were told that the file had not got to them in Lagos, ” Faboro said. The file too cannot be retrieved in Ibadan, neither could the counsel get certified true copies of nor the record of proceedings nor the ruling in the case. The question now is whether the judge had taken the case file with her to her vacation.



So, while Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia is somewhere enjoying her well-deserved rest of her annual vacation, Agunbiade, a member of the New York Academy of Science that responded to the Federal Government’s call to come home and invest, is wasting away in prison detention.



Mr. Lana did not see Agunbiade’s suffering and that of many others in Agodi prisons as trivial and, accordingly, felt the obvious manipulation of justice to their detriment should be halted. He promised to look more into the matter and also do something about it. He said as much about the other prisoners who are serving terms based on trifling offences.



“Some of the prisoners were tricked into conviction and we have to look into it. Some of them are not supposed to be there, they should have been reprimanded or fined. Our justice system is not okay and something must be done fast,” Lana said.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/17/609.html

[size=14pt]Fashola’s office burgled, N4m stolen[/size]
By Nosike Ogbuenyi, 08.16.2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Alausa Oval Office of Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State was rattled Tuesday night as thieves allegedly stole their way into the usually guarded office and carted away millions of naira and documents.





The ugly incident however occurred while the governor was out of the country. He is due to return tomorrow.

Sources at Lagos State Secretariat in Ikeja put the amount stolen at about N4 million.

The money was said to have been removed by the thieves who burgled the office of the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Lanre Babalola, where it was kept.

When THISDAY called at the secretariat yesterday, it was observed that the incident was being discussed in hushed voices by stupefied workers many of whom pointed accusing fingers at insiders in the fortified office.

The discovery of the theft has thrown operatives in the governor’s office into confusion, resulting in unusual denial of access to many visitors and even some unfamiliar workers to the building.

It was reliably gathered that two security officials suspected to have carried out the criminal operation have been arrested, while the sum of N3 million was allegedly recovered from them.

It was further learnt that that the stolen money was set aside for the governor’s escorts and was kept in the custody of an officer popularly known as Golf Sally (General Commander).

“The Golf Sally is a retired police officer who worked with the former Governor Bola Tinubu. He is still in the service now because he is a good person. He is the one who normally pays the escorts but when he got to where he kept the money he could not find it. He quickly cried out. Now two people have been arrested while investigation continues,” a source said.

Efforts by THISDAY to reach the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele for his comment on the incident could not yield result as he did not answer our phone calls. When our correspondent visited the office of the Chief of Staff, Mr. Babalola, he similarly was not around. However, the Senior Special Assistant (Media) to the governor, Mr. Hakeem Bello who was contacted through phone denied knowledge of the theft.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/16/218.html

Saurday, August 16, 2008 Printer Friendly Version

[size=16pt]How UNILAG student drowned in the lagoon during baptism [/size]

By Ayodele Ale


When the General Overseer of the World Evangelism Bible Church, Pastor Samson Ayorinde arrived the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos around 6 p.m. last Saturday, after a preaching tour of the northern parts of the country, he expected to be received by his retinue of aides. That, however, was far from being the case.


https://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/16/punch/images/20.jpg

World Evangelism Bible Church









As the clergyman stood wondering what could be amiss, his telephone rang and the voice at the other end dropped a bombshell–a worker in his church at Ogudu had drowned in the lagoon at Sandfill, Ori-Oke, Lagos!

The victim, Emmanuel Olayiwola, in company with one of the pastors of the church had gone to conduct a baptism service for a female member.

“You mean, my son is under water?” Ayorinde screamed. “And what are you doing abou[/b]t it!”

Recalling the incident, a pastor in the church, Pastor George Alao, who doubles as the General Overseer’s personal assistant, said, “It was a difficult news to break, but we had no option but to break it to him, as sad as it was. I tried to explain to him that we were helpless.”

[b]At the time the news was being broken to the clergyman, Olayiwola, a technician in the church, who had just completed his second year at the University of Lagos where he was studying Sociology, had spent more than three hours under water. Efforts made by the local fishermen and divers, who were recruited from the neighbourhood, to recover Olayiwola’s body, were futile.

“The local fishermen were the people we could call on immediately and we believed they understood the terrain. But when they searched the lagoon, they could not get the boy’s body,” Alao said.

The explanations of the G.O.’s personal assistant did not pacify his boss. He ordered that the marine police be contacted immediately. By that time, however, it was already growing dark.

“They (marine police) told us that they were ready to comb the lagoon if we could provide a halogen lamp and other necessary facilities to light the environment,” said Tony Ogre, a resident pastor in the church.

A generator was hired and ferried to the bank of the river. Lights were put on, and the police marine dived into the lagoon. Around 12.30 am, the search party emerged from the lagoon with Olayiwola’s lifeless body, which was taken to his residence at No 6, Oyebola Street, Ojota, Lagos, where some medical personnel who had remained on standby in case he needed to be revived, confirmed him dead.

His corpse was then taken to to the mortuary of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

The tragic death of the 28-year-old undergraduate rattled his parents beyond words. “It is a huge loss. His parents are yet to come out of shock because he was a dutiful person,” said the family’s counsel, Mr Sola Jato. “Apart from being the family’s lawyer, I am personally affected, as my aunt, who is the mother of the deceased, is yet to come out of the shock.”

Saturday Punch gathered at the church that the tragedy occurred when a member of the church named Anita Osakwe was taken to the lagoon for baptism, preparatory to her wedding in a few days’ time.

Alao said, “From our findings, the bride to be, Anita Osakwe, is a young convert who wanted to get married. She needed a reference letter to the church where the wedding was to take place. But for anybody to be recognised as a member of the church, he or she must have been baptised by immersion.

“The lady then had to join the believers’ class, where she was expected to undergo some training that would qualify her for baptism.”

But the pastor said the church found it curious that a private baptism was arranged for Osakwe as opposed to the usual practice of conducting it in batches on a quarterly basis. “It is one of the things we still have to find out,” Alao said.

It was gathered that the pastor in charge of baptism in the church, Sanni Abraham, had sought the permission of one of the senior pastors to conduct a private baptism for Anita, but the request was rejected. However, when the senior pastor travelled out of Lagos, Abraham contacted another senior pastor who did not object to the idea.

“Pastor Abraham must have been put under pressure by the girl. We learnt that her wedding was to come up in two week’s time,” Alao remarked.

While Pastor Abraham and Anita were about going for the baptism at the lagoon around noon on the fateful day, he was said to have invited Emmanuel who was just arriving the church. “The boy was such a person who could not say no to anybody. Even as at then, he had not taken his breakfast. He was so committed to the church, especially because the church is contributing a lot to his education. Even the G.O. of the church knew him personally because he was active,” Jato said.

On getting to the bank of the Lagoon, the lady to be baptised was asked to stay at the bank while Pastor Abraham and Emmanuel were said to have gone into the water to test the depth and see where they conveniently conduct the baptism.

However, the duo had barely stepped into the water when they began to drown. The battle for life then began. But while the pastor was able to break free, Emmanuel drowned.

“As Pastor Abraham himself told us, even as at the time he got to the shore, he did not know that Emmanuel had drowned, as he was asking, ‘Where is Emmanuel?’”

Sensing that the UNILAG undergraduate might have drowned in the Lagoon, the pastor and the person to be baptised immediately put a call through to other pastors in the church to come to their aid. But their efforts were futile.

A pastor in the church said, “We informed the boy’s father about what had happened and he told us that the mother must not hear, saying that we should do our best to bring him out alive.”

The local divers and fishermen invited dived in and desperately searched for Olayiwola, but their efforts yielded no positive result.

The matter was then reported at Ogudu Police Station. When Olayiwola’s corpse was eventually found, the duo of Pastor Abraham and Anita were arrested and detained at the station.

The spokesman of the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Mr Frank Mbah, said, “The matter was reported at Ogudu Police Station. All I can say is that investigation is going on.”

Saturday Punch, however gathered that the family of the deceased had told the church that they had accepted their fate, while requesting for the body of their son. Also, Barrister Jato said the family had decided to leave everything to God, as nothing could bring the deceased back to life.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/16/403.html

Typical!! Advice them and they get mad without thinking about your humble opinion.

Sunday, August 17, 2008


[size=14pt]Stop ganging up, Karibe-Whyte warns North[/size]


Junaid Mohammed Blasts Ige, Rimi, Musa, Nwobodo

RETIRED Supreme Court Justice, Adolphus Karibe-Whyte, has cautioned the North to desist from ganging up against the rest of the country.



He said this is done through the regular gatherings of the 19 States of the region, thus "behaving as if there are no States" in the country.

The erudite jurist spoke exclusively to The Guardian during the South-South Legislative Retreat on the Constitution Review put together by the Vanguard Newspapers Limited in Port Harcourt, which he chaired.

Similarly, radical critic and leader of the Peoples Salvation Party (PSP), Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has labelled former governors Bola Ige, Abubakar Rimi, Balarabe Musa and Jim Nwobodo as non-performers and mere political rascals without bases.

Fielding questions from The Guardian in Kano, the socialist-inclined follower of the Aminu Kano brand of politics, said the quartets, who were governors in the Second Republic, bandied the "progressives" toga during their political heydays.

Karibe-Whyte spoke against the background of the lopsided nature of the Nigerian Federation and the lack of political will and patriotism to effect fundamental changes that would make it a truly federal system.

He said: "Now, you watch. The North is still behaving as if there are no States. They keep on having the northern States gathering for meetings.

"If the southern States also do the same thing, then it will be the North and the South that we will be talking about. You will not be talking about States again, when, in fact, the Constitution is talking about States."

For Mohammed, the concept of the '9 Progressive Governors' Meeting of the Second Republic had nothing to do with the plight of the common man, governance and democratic ideas.

"They (governors) just turned the word into a slogan to mean, to be a progressive is to be a rascal and to be one who only opposes for the sake of opposition," he said.

He described them as "people who could not deliver on their jobs," citing the late Chief Bola Ige as "one of the leading lights of the progressives whose record as a governor of Oyo State was disastrous."

[b]Mohammed, who commented on the life and times of Aminu Kano, as the leader of the poor (Talakawas), also has harsh words for Rimi, Musa and Nwobodo.

"The same thing applies to Balarabe Musa, who never had a base and still doesn't have a base till d[/b]ate."


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/17/20.html

Please Can the maker of this cartoon contact me, i have ideas,
NWANNE QUICK OOOO BEFORE I TRAVEL, !!!

Before you travel go where? Ijebu Ode?

She was seriously myopic, thinking she could be some sorta hero.

Is she not a celebrity in Nigeria now? Abi you sabi her before this thing?