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God will console the affected. Let's work to protect our environment.

Nice.

God bless emerging Nigeria.

The following words too are mispronounced.

Data

Sachet

Courtesy

Knowledge

Tope Omogbolagun

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said he would resign if Nigeria continues to import oil by 2019.

Kachikwu said this in an interview on BBC’s programme, Hardtalk, with Stephen Sackur on Monday (today).

As part of the BBC’s Trading Fortunes season focusing on global trade, Sackur had spoken to Kachikwu.

In the 23-minute encounter, Sackur had noted that when President Muhamadu Buhari won the Nigerian presidency two years ago, it seemed like Africa’s most populous nation had turned a corner.

He said that a first ever peaceful, democratic transition brought a promise of cleaner, better governance, and major economic reform.

Then the question, “Two years on, how has it gone? Can oil-dependent Nigeria transform itself into a modern trading economy? Nigeria remains dangerously over-reliant on oil…

Kachikwu responds: “Oh, yes, clearly over-reliant, but whether that is dangerous… I look at the positive side of oil also in terms of what it’s done to a country over the years. But when the price slumps, it’s dangerous.

“But we’ll love to see a lot more diversification, a lot more efforts going into agriculture, emphasis on tourism and services…”

When reminded that despite Nigeria’s growing reputation as a rising global economic power, it has entered a recession, Kachikwu posits that the numbers are actually getting better

“When is Nigeria going to be sufficient in terms of refined petroleum?” Sackur asked, to which Kachikwu replies, “2019 is the target time.”

The minister said, “I target 2019. If I don’t achieve it, I will walk (away). I put the date and I’ll achieve it.

“I have delivered on all that I have promised when I came into office. First, I took Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and made it a profit-making organisation. This is the first time such is happening. I reshaped the organisation.

“I removed cash call deficits of over $6bn and renegotiated it. I will deliver on the refineries and I’m committed to it. I will deliver a future for oil that makes sense for Nigeria.

“I can’t pretend that we’re going to solve in one day all the problems that happened in Nigeria in the past…”

“You’re running out of time,” Sackur reminded the minister, to which Kachikwu says, “Don’t worry; I put the date, I’ll work it.”

“And if you don’t achieve it?” asks Sachur. Kachikwu replies, “I’ll walk. That’s accountability.”

He added that he had already begun the process required for him to achieve this set objective, saying, “We have been able to get them to produce 7m litres of oil versus zero. That’s not the 90 per cent template, we are now refurbishing the refineries.

“I have just signed an agreement with Agip to build refineries in Nigeria and we are focusing on multinationals…”

Kachikwu expressed regrets that Nigeria still imports crude oil, instead of exporting at this point in time.

“We ought to process rather than ship out crude; and if you look at all the efforts that I have made in the last few months, including major efforts working with investors to begin to re-shape the refineries…”

Earlier, the interview had delved into President Muhammadu Buhari’s health. Sackur asked, “What is the state of Buhari’s health: have you seen him, have you heard anything about him…?

Kachikwu responds, “Well, he is in London; he’s undergoing hospital treatment. I don’t know the details of that. I obviously wouldn’t know. But let me say this… he’s back in London, he’s continued some levels of meetings… He has a very efficient vice-president who is sitting in for him in his absence…”

The link to the interview is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p052y9w5

About 14 years after his installation, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, on Monday appeared in an Ikeja High Court in a suit challenging his emergence as the paramount ruler of Lagos, saying he is the bona fide monarch.

“I am here to justify my appointment, you cannot build something on nothing, it will be broken.

“By native law and customs and by law, I am the bona fide Oba of Lagos,” said Akiolu, who was accompanied to the court by 10 white cap chiefs.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Akiolu’s installation as the Oba of Lagos is being challenged by the duo of princes Adedoyin Adebiyi and Rasheed Modile, who are two members of the Lagos royal family.

Joined as respondents in the suit are the Lagos State governor, the Attorney-General of Lagos State, Prince Babatunde Akitoye and Chief Junaid Eko.

Both Adebiyi and Modile are claiming that Akiolu is not entitled to the throne because he is not a member of a ruling royal family by not being a direct descendant of Oba Ado, the first Oba of Lagos.

According to the claimants, only members of the Ologun Kutere and Akinsemoyin ruling houses are entitled to the throne.

They also alleged that proper customary rules and procedures were not followed when he was appointed as Oba in May 2003.

While being led in evidence by his lawyer, Mr. Adetokunbo Mumuni, Akiolu told the court the procedure he followed before being installed.

“After I made my intention known to my family that I wanted to be Oba of Lagos, I applied for the throne.

“In May 2003, the head of the kingmakers and the then Sole Administrator of Lagos Island Council called at my residence.

“At that time, I was preparing to go to the mosque and I was told that I received a letter from the state government and the State Executive Council.

“The letter accepted my nomination that I have been approved to be a worthy successor of the late Oba of Lagos.

“It will be exactly 14 years tomorrow (May 23, 2003) that my appointment was approved.

“By the grace of Almighty Allah, there is nothing like rotation in the succession to the throne of Oba of Lagos,” Akiolu said.

Before cross-examining Akiolu, lawyer to the claimants, Mr. Babatunde Fashanu (SAN), told the court that for the purpose of the trial, Akiolu should be addressed as the defendant and not as the Oba of Lagos while in court.

“I apply that all referrals to the defendant as the ”Oba of Lagos’ should be expunged from the records of this honourable court.

“Within the walls of this court room, he is a defendant; and when we step out of the court room, I will prostrate and greet him as ‘kabiyesi’ because I am like a son to him,” he said.

Akiolu also told the court that he had a prior relationship with Fashanu’s father when he was working as a lawyer during his early years of legal practice 32 years ago..

“I know your father. I used to carry files for him when we were working together.”

Fashanu’s request to expunge referrals of Akiolu as ‘Oba of Lagos’ was, however, not granted by the court.

In responding to Fashanu’s question as to whether proper customary procedure was followed when he became Oba, Akiolu said he was installed Oba according to the customs of Lagos kingmakers.

“Akiolu is a direct descendant of Oba Ologun Kutere, there is no registered declaration for the throne.

“It is the old customs and the recommendations of the Price Commission, which is over 100 years old that is still valid till today.”

Akiolu also debunked claims that Akiolu royal family was not one of the ruling houses because it was non-existent.

He said: “Despite the letter from Lagos State Government confirming my appointment as Oba and stating that I am from the Akiolu royal family, I want to make it clear that a royal family and ruling house mean the same thing.

“My appointment as the king is the first time in history that kingmakers will be unanimous in selecting an Oba of Lagos.”

Justice A. Candide-Johnson adjourned the case until June 19 for continuation of trial. (NAN)

Godwin Isenyo, Kaduna

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll, has said the practice of ‘almajirinci’ – street begging – often done by children in pursuit of Islamic education in the North has nothing to do with Islam.

Rather, the sultan noted that the practice connoted poverty and hunger.

The sultan said this while declaring open the Jema’atu Nasril Islam central council meeting and pre-Ramadan conference held at the JNI headquarters in Kaduna, on Sunday.

Abubakar, who is also, the President General of the JNI, said the practice was not Islamic.

Street begging by urchins is a major problem besetting the North with young children being used by unscrupulous politicians to wreak havoc on the society.

The sultan argued that ‘almajirinci’ was not a reflection of Islam as a religion but hunger and poverty.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘The Role of Islam in Combating Corruption in Nigeria’.

The event was an annual meeting meant to set modalities and guidelines for moon sighting and general Muslim conduct in the holy month of Ramadan.

The sultan, who noted that the issue of ‘almajirinci’ was part of the agenda of the meeting, insisted that ‘almajiri’ did not represent Islam, but hunger and poverty.”

He, therefore, called on the Muslim ‘ummah’ (community) to henceforth halt the practice.

Sultan Abubakar said, “The ‘almajiri’ system of begging is not representing Islam and must, therefore, be distinguished from Islam. Islam encourages scholarship and entrepreneurship and frowns at laziness and idleness as exemplified by itinerant ‘almajiri’.

“Therefore, an attempt must be made to stop the ‘almajiri’ system of begging among Muslim faithful.”

He also urged regional leaders, particularly, the governors to wake up to their responsibilities by ensuring the welfare of the citizens.

In Kano alone, there are over three million ‘almajirai’, according to Governor Abdullahi Danduje, who spoke at a recent function.

The governor said that after a survey, it was discovered that most of the ‘almajirai’ were from the neighbouring republics of Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

He had said, “In Kano, we undertook a survey and we found out that we have more than three million ‘almajiris’ and the ‘almajiri’ syndrome is one of the serious problems that we have in the North-West geopolitical zone.

“What we discovered from our survey is that many of these ‘almajiris’ come from Niger Republic, some from Chad, northern Cameroon and some from other states of the North-West.”

He had said, “In Kano, we undertook a survey and we found out that we have more than three million ‘almajiris’ and the ‘almajiri’ syndrome is one of the serious problems that we have in the North-West geopolitical zone.

“What we discovered from our survey is that many of these ‘almajiris’ come from Niger Republic, some from Chad, northern Cameroon and some from other states of the North-West.”

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Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Sunday, recalled how the All Progressives Congress attempted to frustrate his inauguration as the governor of the state in 2015.

Wike, who expressed gratitude to God for his second year in office, explained that the opposition party in the state had gone to various courts across the country to shop for injunctions to stop his being sworn in as governor.

He declared that God delivered the administration from the evil machinations of the APC.

The governor spoke on Sunday during the dedication and thanksgiving service to mark the second year anniversary of his administration at the Greater Evangelism World Crusade Temple, Port Harcourt.

“Everything was done to make sure that I was not sworn in. They went to an Anambra court, they went to Imo court, they went to Kano court and they went to Abuja court just to make sure that I was not sworn in.

“Just to get an order to stop me from being inaugurated as the governor of the state and God said no, I will be governor,” he stressed.

He said despite the statement made by the immediate-past governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, on May 27, 2015, that he would not get funds to pay salaries or do projects, his administration had been a success, executing projects across the state and paying salaries regularly.

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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

John Alechenu, Fidelis Soriwei and Ade Adesomoju , Abuja

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has said the Supreme Court should not hear an appeal filed by the sacked National Caretaker Committee of the party led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi.

Although, hearing in the appeal is slated to take place before the Supreme Court on Monday (today), the Sheriff-leadership of the party has asked the apex court to strike out the appeal, marked SC/133/2017.

The Makarfi-faction filed the appeal on February 27, 2017 against the February 17, 2017 judgment of the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal which sacked their caretaker committee.

But Sheriff, as the National Chairman of the party, and Prof. Wale Oladipo (as the Secretary), prayed for the striking out of the appeal in their written argument accompanying an application which they filed on March 21, 2017.

The written submission was filed on May 10, 2017, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directive made during the proceedings of May 4, 2017.

The applicants argued that having been declared illegal by the February 17, 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, Makarfi and members of the sacked committee lacked the powers to take decisions for the party, including initiating court proceedings in its name.

Sheriff and Oladipo maintained that the PDP, under the current leadership, was comfortable with the judgment of the Court of Appeal and did not intent to challenge it.

Their retinue of lawyers, led by Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who filed the court processes on their behalf, argued that since the Court of Appeal, in its February 17, 2017 judgment, declared the Sheriff-led National Working Committee as the authentic leadership organ of the PDP, the Makarfi-led committee could no longer pursue an appeal in the name of the party.

The Sheriff-led PDP leadership argued that the decision of the Makarfi committee to file an appeal in the name of the PDP without its (the party’s) authorisation was not only illegal, it violated the party’s constitution.

They cited the provisions of Chapter 5, Articles 35(1), 36(1) and 42(1) of the PDP constitution to back their position.

They stated, “The decision of the Port Harcourt division of the Court of Appeal cited above (that nullified the ‘National Convention’ of the 21/5/2016, as well as the appointment of the ‘National Caretaker Committee’) and the order made therein for status quo as of May 18, 2016, judgment of Justice Mohammad in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/1443/20l6, to be reverted to by parties, are still valid and subsisting, and as such, are not only binding on the parties and their privies, but also on the courts including the Supreme Court.

“In the circumstances, we humbly urge that these orders be given effect by recognising that only the National Executive Committee of the PDP, as represented by its National Chairman (Sheriff), National Secretary (Oladipo) and National Legal Adviser can act for the PDP to prosecute this appeal and to instruct counsel to act on behalf of the PDP.”

The Sheriff-led PDP leadership noted that it had not, by its argument, said the Makarfi Committee could not appeal the May 17 judgment of the Appeal Court, having been parties in the case from the trial court, it (the Makarfi Committee) or its members could only appeal as interested parties after first obtaining the court’s leave to so appeal.

In a counter-argument, the Makarfi committee’s group of lawyers, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), urged the court to discountenance the Sheriff leadership’s arguments and proceed to hear its appeal.

In its reply of argument, dated May 15, 2017, the Makarfi committee queried the legitimacy of the application filed by the Sheriff-leadership and argued that it was not only strange, but intended to frustrate the hearing of the main appeal.

It argued that it was wrong for Sheriff and others, who had briefed Akin Olujinmi (SAN) to represent them in the substantive appeal and had filed a respondents’ brief, in which they also made similar arguments in relation to the competence of the appeal, to go ahead to brief Fagbemi to ask the court not to hear the appeal but to strike it out.

Relying on Order 8 Rule 6 (1), (2) and (4) of the Supreme Court’s Rules, the Makarfi faction faulted the March 15, 2017 letter of the Sheriff-led NEC, applying to withdraw the appeal and the subsequent application for it to be struck out.

It argued that since the appeal was not filed by Sheriff and others, they lacked the right to apply to withdraw it.

In a response on point of law, filed by Fagbemi on May 18, the Sheriff-led NEC faulted all legal arguments by the Makarfi committee, urging the court to discountenance its contention and hold that it lacked the locus standi to file an appeal in the name of the PDP having been sacked by a subsisting judgment.

We pray God will touch the hearts of rebels —Sheriff group

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, in an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, said the party was praying that God should touch the hearts of those he described as the rebels.

Ojougboh stated, “We believe God; you know the God of justice does not lie. We believe that the Supreme Court is actually supreme and that it will do the right thing. Our prayer is that the rebels’ camp, let God touch them (rebels) to know that this PDP, we need to put it together for all so that Nigeria can get out of difficulties because Nigerians are waiting for us.

“The need for a proper opposition cannot be overemphasised with the situation we find ourselves in this country.’’

Sheriff’s supporters are being misled, says Makarfi’s faction

But a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Alhaji Abdullahi Jalo, who is a member of the Makarfi-led group, said members of the Sheriff-led PDP were being deceived.

Jalo said this in response to Ojougboh’s comments in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents on Sunday.

He stated, “As for Cairo and those on the other side – I will refrain from calling them rebels even though that is what they are – we urge them to retrace their steps and return home.

“They must know that no matter how far one goes in the wrong direction, the right thing to do is (to) retrace your steps in the right path as soon as you realise your mistake.

“I know those of them on the other side are being deceived and misled.

“Our expectation from the court is simple, justice. We expect the court to give us justice because we feel justice was not served at the Court of Appeal.”

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Russia was stripped of a relay gold medal from the 2008
Beijing Olympics on Tuesday night, after one of its female
runners tested positive for steroids in a reanalysis of her
doping samples.

Sprinter Yulia Chermoshanskaya tested positive for two
drugs — stanozolol and turinabol — and has been
retroactively disqualified and, along with her teammates,
stripped of the gold medal in the women’s 4×100-meter
relay, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said.

Chermoshanskaya was also disqualified from the 200
meters, in which she finished eighth.

Belgium stands to be upgraded to the relay gold, with
Nigeria moving up to silver and Brazil to bronze.

The IOC asked the IAAF to modify the results and consider
any further sanctions against Chermoshanskaya, who is no
longer competing.

The three other Russians runners in the relay final were
Yulia Gushchina, Alexandra Fedoriva and Evgeniya
Polyakova. Under IAAF rules, an entire relay team loses its
medals if one of the runners tests positive.

The Belgian runners in line to get gold are Olivia Borlee,
Hanna Marien, Elodie Ouedraogo and Kim Gevaert.

The United States did not make the relay final after dropping
the baton in the heats. The Jamaican and British teams
dropped the baton in the final.

The IOC said Chermoshanskaya claimed in a written
statement that she had been injured ahead of the Beijing
Games and had been receiving injections on medical advice.
The IOC said she should have declared those medications at
the time.

Turinabol and stanozolol are traditional steroids that go
back decades. Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested
positive for stanozolol at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and he
was stripped of the gold medal in the 100 meters.

Tuesday’s decision was another black eye for Russia. The
country’s track and field team was banned from the Rio de
Janeiro Olympics over allegations of state-sponsored
doping. Investigations are continuing into wider systematic
doping in Russia involving dozens of other summer and
winter Olympic sports.

Using enhanced techniques, the IOC has retested more than
1,000 doping samples from the 2008 Beijing Games and
2012 London Olympics to catch those who evaded detection
at the time. A total of 98 athletes have been caught.

The IOC stores doping samples for 10 years to allow them to
be reanalyzed when improved tests become available, which
means cheats can be caught years later. For the Beijing and
London retests, the IOC used a method that can detect use
of steroids going back weeks and months, rather than days.

Chermoshanskaya is the seventh athlete so far who has
been formally disqualified by the IOC as a result of the
Beijing and London retesting program. Ukrainian javelin
thrower Oleksandr Pyatnytsya was stripped of her silver
medal from London after she tested positive for turinabol.

Source:www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/08/17/dope-nigeria-profits-as-russia-loses-beijing-relay-gold/

.Calls for part-time legislature to cut cost of governance
Buhari, Atiku greet him

Tobi Soniyi and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, Laleye Dipo in
Minna

Celebrating his 75th birthday in Minna, the capital of Niger
State, yesterday, former military president, Gen. Ibrahim
Badamasi Babangida, protested an age-long derisive
appellation, saying he was not the evil that people ascribe to
him.

Interestingly, President Muhammadu Buhari, who
Babangida pushed out of power in 1985, paid him glowing
tributes yesterday “There is hardly any major episode in
Nigeria’s short history where your name and contribution
does not feature,” he said in a congratulatory message to his
erstwhile adversary.

Widely referred to in the media as an evil genius because of
his deft political manoeuvres in his days as military
president, Babangida said he was a trustworthy person with
an excellent background.

“I am not the evil genuis that a lot of people think I am. I
have an excellent background and by my training I am
trained to love people,” he told newsmen in Minna at a
press briefing held as part of activities to mark his 75th
birthday, which comes up today, explaining that he had
been largely misunderstood and dubbed evil genuis because
of his job.

He said: “I was bound to be misconstrued and people will
take it like that but I consider it as opinions as long as I am
not what you think I am I feel satisfied.”

Asked what he would have done differently if he had the
opportunity, the former military president said he would
have made the National Assembly a part-time business as
one of the ways to save cost.

According to him, “In 1989 we proposed that the National
Assembly should be part-time. I still believe that if I had the
opportunity I will make the National Assembly part-time. I
believe in that very strongly. It is all in an effort to cut down
the cost of governance.”

Babangida said being a military officer was more challenging
than being a military president because as the latter, he had
to seek people’s advice and discuss based on the prevailing
situation. On the contrary, he said, a military officer would
act alone and take responsibility for his decisions.

“You are the only one with the troops you are commanding.
Their hopes are on you and if you read a situation wrongly
you will put everyone in danger,” he explained.

The former military president, who fought in the Nigeria-
Biafra civil war, relived his battle-front experience, saying
the movement of the federal troops from Enugu to Umuahia
was his toughest military experience because they (the
troops) had to be physically fit to undertake the journey on
foot through the jungles and the mountains.

Babangida said it was at this front that he got injured.
He challenged young Nigerians with ambition to join the
army to be ready to face the task ahead, adding: “The youth
should expect to serve in any situation that they may be
called upon to serve. The army is a noble profession and it
is a profession that requires a lot of courage.”

Two prominent Nigerians testified to his good character in
separate goodwill messages yesterday.
Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said that
Babangida deserved accolades for his contributions to the
development of the nation.

The president said: “On behalf of myself, my family, the
government and people of Nigeria, I wish to heartily
congratulate you on the milestone of attaining 75 years.
“I equally wish to congratulate you on your service to the
country, and your commitment to oneness and indivisibility
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“There is hardly any major episode in Nigeria’s short history
where your name and contribution does not feature.
“On this special occasion, I pray that Almighty Allah grants
you many more years to see Nigeria grow and develop
beyond all of our wildest dreams.”

On his part, Atiku said one of the greatest legacies of
Babangida was two-party system which made the political
process more manageable.

Atiku, who spoke through a statement by his Head of Media,
Paul Ibe, in Abuja yesterday said Babangida reduced the
wastage of resources through the financial support the
political parties got from the country’s electoral commission.

He noted that the former military president facilitated the
development of the Federal Capital Territory, conceived by a
former Head of State, late Gen. Murtala Mohammed.
“The virtues of forgiveness and the magnanimous spirit of
the former president is one of the magnetic and endearing
features of his character. It is impossible to encounter IBB
without being moved by his humility towards people,
regardless of their social status in life,” Atiku said, adding:
“His detribalised nature and passion about Nigeria’s oneness
are virtues worthy of emulation.”

He prayed that God grants the former military president
many more years in good health so that the country could
continue to drink from his fountain of wisdom.

Source: www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/08/17/ibb-at-75-says-im-not-an-evil-genius/

.Port Harcourt court overrules Abuja over party
convention
.Orders INEC, DSS, police to enforce ruling
Electoral body assures party of participation
Tobi Soniyi, Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Alex Enumah in Abuja
and Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt
The judiciary would appear to have descended into an arena of political conflicts as two divisions of the Federal High Court engage in a fight for supremacy, delivering four
contradictory rulings within two days centering on the repeat National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holding today in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

While Justice Ibrahim Watila of the Port Harcourt Division
ruled emphatically yesterday that the party’s convention
being organised by the Ahmed Makarfi-led National
Caretaker Committee should go on, ordering the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the
Department of State Services (DSS) and the police to provide
legal cover for the exercise, Justice Okon Abang of the Abuja
Division barred the convention from holding.

The two judges had on Monday delivered contradictory
rulings with the same effect on the subject matter.

The PDP had become polarised following the 21 May, 2016
National Convention held in Port Harcourt, which sacked the
Modu Sheriff-led National Executive Committee (NEC) and
replaced it with the seven-man Makarfi National Caretaker
Committee, with a mandate to organise another convention
within 90 days.

But both camps instituted a litany of suits at the Federal
High Court, creating the prevailing situation which concerned legal authorities regretted had brought ridicule
and shame to the judiciary.

As the two divisions are of coordinate jurisdiction, the
disputants have decided to pick and choose which order
they would obey. The Makarfi committee said yesterday that
the convention would proceed today without fail as ordered
by Justice Watila, preferring to ignore the rulings of Justice

Abang that not only suspended the exercise on Monday but
ordered INEC, DSS and the police to stop it from holding.
Whilst it was unclear which of the orders the DSS and the
police would obey, INEC said yesterday that it was on
standby to give effect to the rulings of Justice Watila.

The Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity of
INEC, Mr. Nick Dazang, told journalists on telephone that
while the commission had been served the Port Harcourt
Division judgment, it was yet to be served the Abuja Division
judgment.

“As soon as it (the commission) is served the Abuja High
Court judgment, it will take a decision. In the meantime, and
following the Port Harcourt judgment, our monitoring staff
are on standby,” he said.

Justice Watila Recognises Makarfi, Revalidates Convention
Justice Watila in his ruling yesterday declared that the
National Caretaker Committee of the PDP is the executive
authority in all matters concerning the party and that today’s National Convention of the party in Port Harcourt is in line with the July 4 judgment of his court which validated the May 21, 2016 National Convention.

He, therefore, ordered INEC to monitor the convention. He
also ordered the Inspector General of Police (IG), the
Director General of DSS, the Rivers State Commissioner of
Police and the Rivers State Director of DSS to provide
security at the convention.

The decisions of the court were contained in its judgment in
suit no: FHC/PH/CS/585/2016 between Senator Ben Obi
(plaintiff) on behalf of the National Convention Planning
Committee of the PDP, and the IG, state commissioner of
police, the DSS, the state director of DSS and INEC (as
defendants).

Justice Watila noted that the July 4 judgment of his court had not been upturned by any appellate court and so was valid and subsisting.

A mild drama, however, played out in the court as the judge
was about to deliver his judgment.

A lawyer, who gave his name as T. A. Damiari, rose to get the attention of the court that he represented a party seeking to be joined in the suit.

But the judge said he had not seen any process to that effect
and would go on to deliver his judgment.
When Damiari insisted on being joined, Watila ordered the
lawyer to sit down as he would not entertain any attempt to
ridicule his court.

“Please sit down. You cannot arrest my judgment. This is not
a kangaroo court. Neither am I a politician,” Watila said.
While delivering his judgment, Watila also noted that the
defendants in the suit were appropriately served but failed
to enter appearance in the suit, adding that that would not
be an excuse for him not to rule on the application.

Watila declared that the July 4 judgment of the Federal High
Court in Port Harcourt recognised the May 21 National
Convention which produced the National Caretaker
Committee and that it had not been appealed against or set
aside, hence it behoves the court to protect that judgment.
“It is necessary for the defendants to carry out their
respective functions at the 17th August, 2016 event,” he
declared.

The court stressed that all the defendants were clearly and
without dispute bound to obey the judgment.
“This court will not shy away from protecting the sanctity of
its judgment. The court has held that the appointment of the
PDP National Caretaker Committee is valid,” he said.

He stated: “In view of the subsisting judgment of this
Honourable Court in Suit No: FHC/PH /CS /524/2016, PDP V.
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and others, the defendants cannot
lawfully interfere or prevent the plaintiff from organising/
holding the planned National Convention of the PDP to hold
in Port Harcourt on August 17th 2016.”

In granting the originating summons, Watila declared that
the defendants were duly served all the processes of the suit filed by the Secretary of the National Caretaker Committee, but chose not to contest the facts.

He stated that court records indicated that the proceedings
and order of 10th August, 2016 and the interlocutory
injunction of 15th August, 2016 were served on the defendants with proof of service.

Addressing journalists after the judgment, counsel to
Senator Obi, Dejo Lamikanra (SAN), said the ruling gave
effect to the judgment of July 4 of the Federal High Court.
Lamikanra said: “There is only one judgment with regards to
the validity of the convention which held on the 21st of May
in Port Harcourt and that judgment is the judgment of the
Federal High Court in Port Harcourt given on the 4th of July.

That judgment is final and it has completely determined
questions on the validity of the convention and the validity
of the decisions of that convention.
“A ruling or an opinion of a court of coordinate jurisdiction
which suggests anything else must be discountenanced. It is
only the Court of Appeal that can set aside the judgment of
the Federal High Court.”

Justice Abang Supports Sheriff, Bars Convention
But sitting in Abuja, Justice Abang while stopping the
convention, went ahead to threaten to deal with the
organisers of the convention if they refuse to comply with
his orders.

He said his decision and that of his colleague in Port
Harcourt were capable of ridiculing the judiciary and
laboured to extricate himself by blaming his colleague sitting in Port Harcourt.

The judge contended that the orders made by his colleague
in Port Harcourt were not capable of neutralising orders
made by him, adding that he also lacked the powers to
neutralise their orders because they are courts of coordinate jurisdiction. None is superior to the other.
Ruling on a motion of interlocutory injunction brought by
Sheriff, seeking to stop the convention by the Makarfi
Caretaker Committee, Justice Abang berated the defendants
particularly Obi for what he considered as flagrant disregard
for his court.

The judge in the restraining order stopped the PDP from
conducting the convention and restrained INEC from
supervising or monitoring the convention slated for today or any other planned date pending the determination of the
substantive matter before him.

He also restrained the party from presenting or sponsoring
any person or holding any convention that would produce a
new chairman of the party.
On Monday, the judge issued an order suspending the
convention.

He also directed the IG to enforce the order while the
plaintiff was also directed to complete form 48 and serve the parties particularly INEC.
Abang, while delivering ruling on the motion, stated that
there was need to take a decision that would ensure the
safety of life and property as well as prevent the breakdown
of law and order.

The judge held that the unfortunate situation that the court
found itself could have been avoided if the Port Harcourt
judge had drawn the attention of the chief judge to the suit
when it was filed on the 9th of August.
He stated that the Federal High Court was just one court with several divisions for administrative purposes with the
intention of delivering justice to all Nigerians and as such,
no division was superior to the other.

Abang claimed that he was first assigned the case by the
chief judge and as such had jurisdiction over the matter,
adding that the Port Harcourt division should not have
entertained jurisdiction and thereby gave orders that were
conflicting.

He said the Port Harcourt division could not make an order
neutralising the orders made by the Abuja division as a
court of coordinate jurisdiction.

Abang warned that any party that failed to comply with the
decision of the court would have itself to blame.
He also warned that nobody by his conduct should bring
himself into confrontation with the court, stressing that
nobody was above the law.

He adjourned till 7th of September, 2016 for the hearing of
the substantive matter.

Sheriff Petitions NJC to Probe Port Harcourt Division

Sheriff has called on the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN)
and the National Judicial Commission (NJC) to investigate
the activities of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt
Division before they throw the country into anarchy.
Sheriff, who expressed his frustrations at seeking justice and
stop the PDP convention he considered to be illegal, said
that he had realised that President Muhammadu Buhari was
right in his critique of the judiciary.

He alleged that as part of a ploy to frustrate his case, the
registry staff of the Port Harcourt Division ran away from
their duty post and kept his lawyers searching all over the
place to enable them file their papers.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, Sheriff
alleged that the registry staff disappeared from their duty
post when his lawyers went to file his defence.
He said he was ready to quit the stage even if it was only a
segment of the party members that did not want him but
that the process must be right.

He said that he would not recognise the national convention
being held today in Port Harcourt or anyone elected at the
event, adding that he was ready to pursue the court case
until justice was done
“I will not recognise any of these gatherings. I will pursue the rule of law until justice is done,” Sheriff said.
The July 4th judgment delivered by Justice Muhammed
Liman recognised the caretaker committee led by Makarfi as the authentic acting national chairman of the PDP and also said that the May 21 convention was legally constituted.

Convention on Course, Says Wike

Chairman of the PDP National Convention Planning
Committee and Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has
said the party’s convention slated for today is on course
despite the ruling of Justice Abang.

Addressing journalists in a pre-convention briefing
yesterday evening in Port Harcourt, Wike noted that the
Abuja court merely issued an interlocutory order after the
Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt had given a
judgment that the convention was valid.

He stated that the judgment of the Port Harcourt Division
revalidated the court’s earlier judgment of July 4 in a suit of
which ousted Sheriff who was a defendant.
“We stand by the judgment of the Federal High Court in Port
Harcourt on July 4, which has not been set aside. We are not
disobeying any court order,” Wike said.

He also said his committee was set to organise a transparent and successful national convention of the party and described fears of imposition of candidates as baseless.
“Aspirants have been screened, the venue is ready and
everything is set for the convention,” he said.

PDP Board of Trustees endorses Convention

Also yesterday, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP
declared its support for the convention.

Speaking during a solidarity visit to Wike at the Government
House, Port Harcourt, Chairman of the BoT, Wali Jubrin, said
the board members at their pre-convention meeting
endorsed the contributions of the governor to re-position
the party.

The BoT stated that the appointment of the governor as the
chairman of the National Convention Planning Committee
was commendable as it has helped to set up a worthwhile
convention.

Jubrin said all the leaders of the PDP are in Rivers State for
the convention.

Responding, Wike said that members of the PDP must make
sacrifices to ensure that the party moved forward in the
interest of the party.

Source: www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/08/17/again-judges-in-show-of-shame-over-pdp-convention/

May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace - Amen!

Invest a ford bus in me and I will give you a cheque that bears my name on a monthly basis.

Nwajeibabatunde@yahoo.com is my email address.

I will gladly reply your letter and share more ideas with you.

Thank you!

Hello,
Kindly forward the mail to me via Nwajeibabatunde@yahoo.com
Thanks In anticipation.

Having heard the leaked conversation that ensued between a Prospective Corp Member and the Director General of the National Youth Service Corp, Brigadier Sule Zakari Kazaure, I am convinced to say that the sole problem with Stream II Mobilisation is "Communication Gap".

It is not a news that Nigeria is faced with harsh economic realities and the current government is an advocacy of lean government. In lieu of the fluttering economy, let Nigerian Government either scrap the programme to award certificate of Exemption to awaiting graduates or mobilise graduates for a duration of three - six months to cut recurrent expenditure.

With all sense of honesty, there's no way a national programme that's meant to re integrate the nation after the civil war (1967-1970) is becoming a clog in our wheels of success.

The 13 billion deficit in the programme's budget can be channelled to other economic sector that will help to raise the nation bar.

Candidly speaking, the programme have lost its cause. The beauty of the programme lies in the Orientation Camp. The process that heralds it is nothing but a waste of National Resources. In a situation where Five to Six years was expended in learning a Course in higher institution and at the end, I find myself in a class teaching or probably taking a subject that is totally strange to me. How can impact positively?

For the purpose of efficiency, the programme can be merged with Ministry of Education and Other Professional Bodies to meticulously deploy graduates according to area of specialisation. With this initiative, graduates will find it worthy of its cause and ernest to be deployed.

I want to admonish the Federal Government of Nigeria as a matter of urgency to meddle into the matter of a programme that is gradually turning the most vibrant and productive part of its population into being aged and idle all in the bid of mobilisation.

This Is not the time to be idle but to be productive.

God Bless Federal Republic of Nigeria

In making this public intervention, I seek to highlight the benefit of global relationships and cooperation in a world that is changing daily as a result of globalisation and transborder economics, social and even criminal activities where no one is safe, except all are safe, and to leave the dispassionate observer his opinion after deep reflection on the value, or lack of it, of President Muhammadu Buhari’s foreign trips.

This way I hope every Nigerian who cares about our country will have some information about what their president is doing about the things that concern them.

First I will start with context.

Barely two decades ago (between 1994 and 1998), we would not have quarrelled with the description that we were a pariah nation. We were ostracised from global events because of bad governance. We had lost the respect accorded nations like ours were they well-led and well-run. I recall that not a few Nigerians complained that the green passport was becoming, if it had not already become, a burden.

That was at the height of the dictatorial government that broke the rules of international relations. It was from there that we started to heal. Investors entered our country. Many brands that we sought after abroad started coming to set up shop in our country. The tourist footfalls in our country
increased slowly but surely, but again we began to slide.

That was when Buhari declared at a meeting in Lagos during his campaign in 2015, that if elected, he would make us proud about our country again. Proud to be Nigerian again.

That is the context in which I view his foreign trips and the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Foreign Relations which promised to: Make the Nigerian national interest the overriding factor in its foreign policy and international relations.

Work to reform global governance in multilateral
institutions and agencies. Work to strengthen the African Union (AU) to become a more effective organisation on global affairs. Engage the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) on the basis of equality.
Play a leadership role to develop a MINT (Mexico, India, Nigeria, and Turkey) as a counterforce to BRICS.

I will limit my takeaways to four trips that I attended with the president namely: the G7 Summit in Germany, the Oil and Gas Summit in Iran, the Renewable Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi and the state visit and Business Forum in China; and two trips that I did not attend, but whose deliberations I followed, namely: Paris for the COP 21 and USA for the Nuclear Energy Summit.

G7 in Germany

This is a club of eight of the most industrialised, economic and technologically advanced nations. For the benefit of those who do not follow international politics, it was originally the G8 comprising the USA, Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, Italy, and Russia, who were later suspended and had sanctions imposed on them to make it G7 as a result. It was formed in 1975 as a club of six before Canada and Russia were admitted. They look after each other, and the rest of the world to put it simply. They have
gone to war together if you remember Iraq and Libya in recent memory and they are all largely collaborating to fight terror. (Most recently the FBI was rendering assistance to Belgium in the aftermath of the terror attacks in that country).

Why G7 one might then ask?

Answer: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as host, invited President Buhari on his inauguration to be their guest along with some three or four other African countries. Their agenda was global security, global economy and global health in the aftermath of Ebola, which was still raging in some African countries. Apart from the personal aides of the president, Governor Shettima of Borno, General
Abdulrahman Dambazau and myself were the only ones who accompanied the president. I recall that upon our arrival in Germany, they expressed surprise that our delegation was small and asked if others were still coming. In the pre- departure briefing, in addition to highlighting how the security and economic agenda of the G7
coincided with two of his campaign promises, security, (corruption) economy, President Buhari stated the reasons three of us were invited. Governor Shettima was in the front line of terrorists and criminal activities in the North-east; General Dambazau was a former Chief of Army Staff, and
also a faculty associate of Harvard University Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs; I had run the single biggest economy of a state within Nigeria for eight years and was in the frontline of Ebola. Without ministers, one week after taking office, he felt we were the ones best suited to assist,
if he needed it, on the issues of security, economy and health on the G7 agenda. In the event, he did not need us. He held his ground admirably. He was the first person called upon to speak at a Summit in which Nigeria was not a member. I was proud to be a Nigerian.

At global summits, we usually got to speak when others had spoken and the hall has emptied. President Barack Obama was the first G7 member to speak after President Buhari and he said that Nigeria has elected a president that brings a reputation of scrupulous integrity to the table. I was proud to be a Nigerian.

The opening session was robust and welcoming, we saw some of the world’s most powerful men and women take off their jackets, call each other by their first names in a club like setting while addressing the world’s most serious problems. Problems that affect you and I daily. I was proud that my president was in a room where decisions concerning my planet were being deliberated upon.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor Merkel and others also spoke in similar vein about our president’s reputation and our nation’s strategic position in Africa and the world. They pledged support for Nigeria on terror and the economy.

Importantly, I learned that their scientists were worried about increasing resistance of strains of infections to antibiotics; and that they were committing enormous resources into finding out why and what to do. They highlighted the difficulty of time and resources that it will take to develop new antibiotics and the risk to global health.

If we all appreciate how vulnerable we can be without effective antibiotics, especially our children, and if we remember how low life expectancy was and how poor global health was before the discovery of Penicillin after the World War, we will appreciate the seriousness of the platform to which Nigeria was invited. I was proud that our president was there. If the seven most powerful nations stand with you, who can stand against you? I need not say more except that I can attest that President Buhari has
been following up on these matters, and the progress on security is visible, while results on the economic front will manifest soon enough. Iran Oil and Gas Summit

For those who are not aware, one of the reasons why oil prices went up, and from which we benefited in the past, was that Iran, the world’s 7th largest producer of oil, was facing global sanctions from which she was due to emerge in 2016. Because Iran was soon to be selling oil, the likelihood of a further crash of oil prices that had drastically fallen was a threat to Nigeria’s economy if oil prices crashed
further. (Our 2016 budget proposals had just been formulated on a $38 per barrel assumption).

I was witness to President Buhari’s persuasion to Iran to come to the market slowly instead of pushing out large volumes which will raise supply and crash prices, even though Iran also needed the cash. You can’t do that type of diplomacy by letter or by phone, in my view, not when the major players were all there in person. I witnessed the meeting with the Venezuelan prime minister, who was leading the South American producers to sell more and get cash even if the prices were lower. President Buhari’s logic was different. Hold your volumes, steady the price, and don’t let us hurt one another. Recorders of history will recall that the Venezuelan government suffered a major political
defeat in Parliament, while President Buhari’s logic has at least steadied oil prices. It might interest you to know that all European nations sent their oil ministers, except Russia, where Vladimir Putin came in person, because having been suspended from the G8 and facing sanctions, this was the meeting where his country’s interests were best served.

For the record, Russia pledged a $5 billion state support to Iran, and if the purpose of this is lost on anyone, I interpret it to mean, “Take cash, don’t pump out your oil. It will hurt me.”

This is the reality of international politics.

Finally on Iran, President Buhari told us, how when he flew to Iran in his days as Petroleum Minister, he noticed how much gas they were flaring and now he returned as president, all the flares were gone. We found out that all the gas had been harvested and piped to every home for heating, cooking etc. His mandate: “If they can do it, we must do it.” I am proud to be led by a president who sees good things outside and seeks to bring them to his people.

Abu Dhabi Renewable Energy

This is reputed to be the richest of the Emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Apart from seeking cooperation to recover Nigeria’s stolen wealth stored in the UAE (his anti-corruption commitment pursued in person), President Buhari addressed a renewable energy summit where we learned about initiatives to bring solar power price down to five US cents per kilowatt hour, (approximately N10) as against the price of 17 US cents (N34) per KW/h tariff in Nigeria fixed at privatisation by the last government.
President Buhari’s mandate was for us to explore collaboration for the manufacture of solar panels in Nigeria to bring down the price and deploy it to the sunlit areas of Nigeria, especially the North that is most prolific for irradiation. We are currently working on the Energy Mix for Nigeria which is the implementation process of the energy policy that will take us there. Hopefully, we will soon be signing the first set of solar deployment agreements for Nigeria. In this way, more solar and hydro will be used in the North, more coal and hydro in the Middle Belt, and
more gas in the South; so that we take power generation closest to the most prolific source of fuel to bring down the cost and make it more affordable. On the trip to China (which I will comment on) we met a few Chinese solar manufacturers (who recognised us from Abu Dhabi) who want to set up business of manufacturing solar panels in Nigeria.

China Investment Forum and State Visit

This is the visit that provoked this write up, because I had bottled what I knew. But it was time, I believe, to share some of it. China is the second largest economy in the world with a per capita income of $8,000 which they are planning to raise to $12,000 by 2020. By her own assessment, according to President Xi Jinping, they are still a developing nation seeking to achieve what he described as “initial prosperity” by 2020.

If you look at the back of your phone, your TV, your watch, your I-Pad, your mobile charger, many other accessories that you use, you are likely to find these three words “Made in China” printed somewhere.
For such a nation, (with trillions of dollars in reserves, that plans to spend $2 trillion on imports in the next five years and earn $100 billion annually) who still sees itself as a developing nation, such modesty in the face of success, assiduous hard work and productivity is a destination to seek cooperation in the pursuit of economic development.

This is where President Buhari led an array of Nigerian investors including Erisco Foods, (who now makes our tomato paste at home and employs people locally including farmers who supply the tomatoes), power operators (DisCos and GenCos), and the Dangote Group, to meet with and address their Chinese partners.

During the meeting with the Chinese President, six collaboration agreements were signed including for agriculture and food production improvement techniques, rail and power infrastructure development, for funding the Dangote Group to continue to expand and create jobs at home and keeping some of our reserves in the currency of the richest nation in the world. This last mentioned agreement was a legitimate coup by President Buhari because the intelligence was that some West African countries were going to sign before us. President Buhari seized the moment.

Of course he had to apologise for our previous failures on our agreement made to part-fund four airport projects in Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna rail project.
The Chinese had provided their agreed part of 85 percent but the remaining 15 per cent Nigeria did not honour during the last administration. Some of the recent revelations about financial scandals estimated at $2.1 billion in the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) alone during the last administration suggest how impactful such funds
would have been in delivering these critical infrastructure; but we all know what happened.

This is why President Buhari is travelling. To repair our reputation severely damaged by the last government, and to assure our partners that Nigeria has CHANGED. And from there to re-negotiate an existing funding agreement to complete critical transport infrastructure. Because of his reputation, President Xi Jinping believed him, and to quote him, he said: “It is better late than never.”

Through him China literally opened the door to Nigeria in areas of infrastructure (power, railways and roads), agriculture, education and manufacturing especially in our Free Trade Zones. To paraphrase the Chinese President, “ask us for whatever support or partnership and we will be
happy to respond.”

“We wish to see you take your rightful place and we are happy that you are the first African president visiting China, after my visit to Africa last year to pledge a $60 billion support for the development of the continent.”

If this was not initiative I doubt what is?

As for the trips to Paris, COP 21 and the USA, Nuclear
Security Summit, I will only say this:

a) The threat of climate change, global warming, desertification in the north of Nigeria and coastal erosion in the Atlantic (Bar beach in Lagos) and inthe south, affecting Rivers, Bayelsa and other coastalstates, the clear scientific evidence lays the blame at the door of the world’s most industrialised nation for their pollution.
b) Since the Kyoto protocol they have paid lip service
to remedying the situation, which unfortunately affects developing nations more adversely.
c) COP 21 was the first serious commitment that these leaders made to ensure that global temperatures do not rise above 2°C and indeed are reduced to 1.5°C. I am proud that Nigeria was not missing at this historic moment. When the planet is saved, the next and future generations of Nigerians will recall that President Buhari was present, when all of the world leaders were present to save the
planet.
d) In the aftermath of COP 21, the commitment of these nations is to increase production and technology for renewable energy and to reduce the use of carbon fuels. One way they plan to achieve this is increased deployment of nuclear energy.
e) These nations are at the cusp of sharing safe nuclear technology for peaceful uses with developing nations for power generation. This for me was reason enough and a good one at that for President Buhari to be in the USA because Nigeria has been pursuing a nuclear power programme for about 17 years, not as an alternative to gas or Hydro, but as additions to them.

The world leaders must trust you for you to partake. At that summit, in the group photograph, President Buhari stood on the second row along side Britain and Turkey. In the past, we used to be on the last row. This is CHANGE. As he meets with world leaders outside Africa, he has not forgotten the home front. He is regularly visiting and receiving his sister and brother presidents on the African continent.

President Buhari has earned their trust for all of us and I am proud to carry my green passport. Yes, some results are not yet manifest, and may take a little while to do so, but a solid foundation for a sustainable, respectable and prosperous future is being laid, block by block. This is how to build a solid “home” from whence we can project respect abroad with confidence. How many of us will do business
with total strangers without a reference or a good reputation in this age of due diligence?

President Buhari is building affiliations everywhere that if well-managed in future, will develop into a global network of friendships, trust and respect for Nigeria and Nigerians. I once heard that the role of a leader, like that of the head of a family, is that of an aggregator, opening doors and opportunities, breaking down barriers and forging alliances. I agree.

This is my Takeaway on these trips.

Mr. Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, writes from Abuja

Source:www.africanliberty.org/to-repair-our-reputation-severely-damaged-by-the-last-government-and-to-assure-our-partners-that-nigeria-has-changed-fashola-lists-the-gains-from-buharis-foreign-trips/

NIGERIA:

The present Senate serving the Nigerian people runs the risk of being remembered as the worst since 1999. Public Relations Consultants and media officials of this particular Senate have done their part flooding both the print and the online media with details of how productive the Bukola Saraki-led Senate has been, and they have been quite
aggressive in telling us about 30 important Bills which when passed, will change the face of Nigeria and deliver change.


The Senate according to one report has considered over 125 bills, debated over 48 motions, and passed three bills. But nobody is apparently impressed. During the Jonathan administration, the Senate was the better regarded of the two legislative chambers. While members of the House of Representatives in the Seventh Assembly behaved as if they were a band of students’ unionists, the then Red Chamber
projected an image of maturity and temperance, even if it was also self-serving! With the 8 Assembly, the House of Representatives, apart from the shameful resort to physical combat over the distribution of “juicy” committees in November 2015, has shown itself to be better organized than the present Senate. The critical difference is that of
leadership. It is one of management. It is a matter of
weight and politics.


What is clear is that the leadership recruitment and selection process in the legislative arm of government is as critical as it is in any other sphere of government. During the 7 Assembly, the politics of the emergence of the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, a PDP lawmaker who became an agent and later, chieftain
of the opposition party, ensured that the Houseremained almost permanently in a frosty relationship with the Executive. Likewise, the manner of Bukola Saraki’s emergence as Senate President, marked again by alleged disloyalty to his own party and collusion with the opposition for personal gains, has laid the foundation for the supremacy of intrigues, cabals, and the politics of mischief in a Chamber that should be devoted strictly to the making of laws for the good governance of Nigeria.


His colleague in the House of Representatives also emerged under controversial circumstances, but Yakubu Dogara’s politics seems to be better managed. Saraki’s politics is made more complex by the fact that he has strong roots in the two dominant parties in the National Assembly and has proven to be extremely influential across party lines, making him a dominant force in Nigeria’s current power
equation, and most certainly, a threat to other power centres.


Online, the Saraki-led Senate claims that it has donea lot, even if it has spent more time being on vacation in less than a year, and obsessed daily with the politics of contradictions. The Senate President once reportedly boasted that the Senate under his watch has helped to block corruption by helping Nigeria to save money. He talked about the Senate’s probe of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). But now, here is the contradiction: Many Nigerians would find it difficult to see how a Senate whose leader is on trial for corruption-related matters, and that has chosen to buy for its members, luxury SUV vehicles at inflated cost can claim to be helping Nigerians at a time when the economy is on a tragic downward spiral, and yet the same Senators had allegedly collected vehicle loans. This has brought the Senate condemnation from both the Nigeria Labour Congress and a coalition of about 400 Non-
Governmental Organizations (NGOs).


But we know where the problem lies: politicians are always playing games, and the Senate under Bukola Saraki’s watch has acted more than once, as if it is against the people. This Senate has had to reverse itself thrice in the last one month following public outcry about its lack of moral rectitude. The painful reality is that the impression has now been created
that the Senate as presently constituted is playing the politics of one man. It has reduced itself to a Saraki- must-stay-and-the-Executive-and-anti-Saraki-APC- leaders-must-bow-Red-Chamber. Most members of the House of Representatives have tactfully stayed away from this abuse of privilege and utter contempt for the original mandate of the National Assembly, but they need to be advised to also stay away from the kind of infectious madness that seems to be seizing hold of the Senate. It is a form of madness
that encourages recourse to farce, burlesque and conspicuous acquisition.


Determined to show support for their embattled Senate President who is on trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), and whose name has also been mentioned in the Panama Papers scandal, many of the Senators abandoned the Senate Chambers and started following their boss to the Tribunal. On one occasion as many as close to 50 Senators abandoned their primary assignment and
chose to go and play politics at the Tribunal. If this seeming relocation of the Senate to the Code of Conduct Tribunal was meant to intimidate the presiding judge, His Lordship has refused to be intimidated, either by the crowd or the convoy of buses or the retinue of 90 defence lawyers. He has now chosen to attend to the case on a daily basis.
The number of Senators doing follow-follow has since reduced: it will of course, be absurd to shut down the entire Senate to embark on sycophantic frolic. Nonetheless, the Saraki case is taking its toll on the Senate. It has placed it on a collision course with a court of competent jurisdiction, with the Executive and also divided the ruling All Progressives Congress.


It has also led to a situation whereby the lawmakers even attempted to change the Code of Conduct Bureau Act in an obvious attempt to frustrate the Saraki trial. In less than 48 hours, the amendment bill went through first and second readings. If there had been no public outcry, the lawmakers would have passed the bill in less than 72 hours. It would
have been the fastest piece of legislation ever, and yet it was meant to be self-serving: making a law to sabotage due process, even when they know that a law cannot have retroactive effect. When that failed, our Senators came up with the ingenious idea that the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal must appear before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions. An indignant crowd of civil society agitators also shut that down. The
Chairman of the CCT has also been a target of campaigns of calumny. Saraki’s supporters are throwing everything possible into this matter, where the legal process fails, the legislative process is deployed; when that also fails, an internet war, rallies, protests, all designed to win the public mind is launched.


Senate President Bukola Saraki may not have read Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power, for he seems to have broken too many of those laws already; perhaps he has read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. He should have been told that to rush headlong into war without mastering the dynamics of power is costly. This is one bitter political lesson about the strategy of war that Senator Saraki is currently learning. But now that he has gone so deep into the battlefield, he may no longer be allowed to surrender or retreat, even as his troops are gradually fleeing. Saraki has
stepped on the proverbial Banana peel; as he struggles for survival, our Senate, the people’s Senate, must not be allowed to fail as a public institution. Senator Saraki should step aside, for now, as Senate President. If he emerges victorious from his travails, his colleagues should do him the honour of reinstating him to that office of honour,
without question. But if he loses, he should remember that war only offers two possibilities, and even when a warrior wins, there may still be dangers on the way back home. In all, the politics of Saraki’s trial should not consume the Senate, and indeed the 8 Assembly.


“So far, so good”, Saka Olawale wrote assessing the present Senate. I don’t think so. If anything, this Senate needs to be rescued. Whatever explanations our present set of Senators offers would be difficult to believe given the manner in which they have exposed their own limitations. The Senate cannot even keep documents. Copies of the 2016 Budget
vanished from its custody. The copies when eventually found mutated into versions unknown to the Executive arm that presented the same Budget at an open ceremony.


For five months, the Senate is embroiled in a needless controversy over the content of the Budget. What is worse: In almost one year, no Senator can be quoted as having said anything engaging or profound. The only Senator who makes a serious effort to display some common sense is far more active on Twitter than on the floor of the Senate. The
more prominent Senators are known for their rabid
politicking or their wardrobe or exotic cars or the comedy that they provide. One of them even came up with a bill to gag free speech. It was in this same Senate that some male chauvinists declared that women cannot have any equal rights with men, and so a Gender Equality Bill is unacceptable.


They failed to realize that in the United States, whose Constitutional democracy we are copying, a woman is only a short distance away from emerging as Presidential candidate of the Democratic Party and as 45 President of the United States. I imagine many of them struggling to be photographed with the same woman if they are so privileged. Was it also not in this same Senate that a member argued that Nigerian lawmakers should only patronize Made-in- Nigeria-women? This was meant to be a “brilliant” contribution to a debate on the need to promote
Made-in-Nigeria goods. How dumb! And this kindergarten level statement actually generated some debate!


Challenging as the democratic process may have been, Nigerians can still remember a few Senators of old who sat in that same Assembly and made impact with their interventions and insightful speeches. To now have a group of Senators who crack jokes, borrow their imageries from road side bars, embark on a frolic, or spend time on sycophantic exertions, and when called upon, prove annoyingly incapable of analyzing and interrogating policies and making solid contributions is sad. We expect this to change.

Source: www.africanliberty.org/reuben-abati-the-senate-cct-and-the-politics-of-sarakis-trial/

iamauxin:
This guy is a legend.... majority of you don't know that if we borrow this money today, we certainly will repay same tomorrow....thereby making the future more difficult for us. What happened to inward generalising of fund here in Nigeria?

Why can't our president and his Economic advisers( dunno if he has any) devise ways of making money that's distinct from loan

Someone will come and say it's needed to finance our "budget".... that's balderdash!
Now the question is why would someone in his right senses borrow to finance his budget... why not cut it down.
It's just like a school boy who was given two thousand naira as pocket money but while drawing up his budget for the semester, he budgets 10k..... because of the 8k he "would" borrow when he gets to the campus.
Tell me if that's intelligence or sheer stupidity.

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I thoroughly peruse your response and I can only say: why have you decided to display your stupendous ignorance on this forum? With due respect, all you have said; is nothing but arrant nonsense.

Why is your sense of judgement beclouded by unmitigated stupidity and ethnic bigotry? Your so called hero (Fayose) has forgotten so quickly that he's a spectator in the economy and not a participant.

Let's do a comparative analysis between Buhari and Fayose. Ekiti State piloted by Fayose on the ladder of revenue is at the bottomless bottom. Why can he use his ingenuity to propel the state to the next level? Look at Willie, he's doing brilliantly well and too busy to develop his State than Fayose who's yet to commission any developmental project in his state than to cut fish, cow skin, go to naming ceremony uninvited among other pinnacle of displayed stupidity. Imagine a governor, in 21st century saying " My people don't want projects all they want is Stomach Infrastructure" how retarded he's in thinking.

Yes, there are challenges but Buhari is working effortlessly to turn the economy around. I have reserved comments about the President too but so far I must commend him for the bold steps taken in ameliorating/fixing the moribund state of the economy.

Let me quickly state the obvious, the loan was not solicited by Buhari but by previous government. The loan is geared towards developing Nigeria in capital projects and on the long ruun help to diversify the economy.

People like you are so parochial about long term projects. All you care for is, now. You want to consume the future now to leave generations to come with the question: how greedy you were?

For now Buhari is yet to have a working budget and his intention is incapacitated by the stalemate in budget palava.
Let's leave sentiment and be objective for once when talking in public glare not forgetting that Nigeria is for us all not Buhari. He will rule and leave but Nigeria remains.

God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria

Intelligentdude:
Bro is this your number correct?I have been trying to call you.It is very urgent.

Yes.

Personally, I think for BOI to give you a loan is a truism of how lucrative the business idea is. Palm Oil is a commodity that Nigerians can't do without regardless of financial status. I will advice he take the loan and strive hard to raise back the money knowing what's at stake for him.