₦airaland Forum

the lady's probably on steroids to have survived the assault.five shots

By  Godwin Oritse, Abdulwahab
Abdulah, Ishola Balogun, Dapo
Akinrefon & Ifeanyi Okolie
GREAT celebration heralded the release of
former South West Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) Chairman, Chief Olabode
George from the Maximum Prison in Kirikiri
in Lagos Saturday,  as  hundreds of party
supporters and well wishers  gave him a
warm reception.
Bode George who was in very high spirit,
acknowledged greetings from supporters
with a victory sign when he hung on the
door of a Toyota Sequia four runner jeep
with registration BD 252 EKY , wearing a
white Buba and Sokoto.
Bode George who stepped out of the gates
of the prison at exactly 10 : 40 am was met
by the Lagos State PDP chieftains who
ushered him into the waiting vehicle and
drove straight to the   Cathedral   Church
of  Christ at the Marina, Lagos for the
thanks giving service.
Bode George, leaving Kirikiri Prison, Apapa,
Saturday. PHOTO; Kehinde Gbadamosi
Thousands of party supporters had
gathered at area, as early as 7:00am
waiting for the release of the popular ‘Lagos
Boy’.  Many were clad in various aso-ebi
and customized T-Shirts  with  inscriptions
such as “We thank God your incarceration
is highly political”, G18 etc, defying the
security personnel and the armed guards
of the Prison Service who had barricaded
the road,
However, this euphoria was not without
some over-zealousness from the
supporters of the politician, attacking a
photo journalist, who defied their
instruction not to catch his picture while
stepping out of the Prison.
Among top politicians that were present at
the church service were Otunba Gbenga
Daniel, Ogun state governor, former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Ayo
Fayose, former Ekiti state governor,
Defence Minister, Mr Kayode Ademola, John
Odeh, Gen Tunji Olurin, Mrs Modinat
Adedibu,  Deputy Governor Oyo State, Mr.
Taofeek Arapaja, Ambassador Musiliu
Obanikoro among others.
Obasanjo who came in at about 1pm
embraced Chief Bode George and
exchanged pleasantries with other
politicians including Governor  Gbenga
Daniel.
Bode George  who spoke to newsmen after
the church service said he holds no grudge
against anybody and wish everybody well.
Bode George’s supporters at kirikiri. Photo:
Sylva Eleanya.
He said: “Out there in the prison, you are
totally blanked out,  You don’t know what
is going on, so, I want to thank you guys,
thank all Nigerians with malice to nobody
and love for all.  We will make our country
an envy to other nations.  I have collected
the certificate from the university of life and
I thank God. I just graduated from the
university of life”.
Bode George  who was sentenced to a
two-year jail term alongside some
members of the Board of the NPA by
Justice Joseph Oyewole was arraigned by
the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC on August 8, 2008 . He
was accused on a 163-count charge that
bordered on alleged abuse of office and
award of about N100bn contracts without
due process.
The arraignment had followed the
investigation conducted by the EFCC under
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. But they all pleaded
not guilty.  However, on October 24, 2008,
the EFCC reduced the charges to 68.
The convicts were said to have inflated the
contract prices contrary to Section 22 (3) of
the Corrupt Practices and Other Related
Offences Act, 2000.
Justice Joseph Oyewole held that the EFCC
proved beyond reasonable doubt that
George, a former Deputy National
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party,
abused his office and the  court delivered its
judgment on Monday, October 26, 2009.

www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/i-have-graduated-from-the-university-of-life-says-bode-goerge/

By Inalegwu Shaibu
ABUJA — THE Senate has
approved the N18,000 new
national minimum wage for
workers proposed by President
Goodluck Jonathan.
The bill was given an expeditious
passage as the Senate suspended
order 79 of its standing rules to
amend the National Minimum
Wage Act, thus increasing the
minimum wage from N7,500 to
N18,000.
Section 2 (1) of the National
Minimum wage states, “As from
the commencement of this act, it
shall be the duty of every
employer to pay a wage not less
than the national minimum wage
of N18,000 per month to every
worker under his establishment. ”
Deputy Senate President, Senator
Ike Ekweremadu, who presided
over the passage of the bill,
yesterday, said the new wage
would alleviate the sufferings of
workers.
He said: “We have responded
appropriately to the yearnings of
our workers whom we are
representing in this chamber.
Today is a happy day because we
have shown that we are
conscious of the sufferings of our
people. This country is rich
enough to cater for everybody if
we avoid the avarices of some
few people. ”
Ekweremadu, however, urged
workers to be more responsive in
paying taxes to enable
government fund the new wage
increase, saying: “The need has
come for us to pay more tax to
support the new wage. ”
Senate Leader, Senator Taslim
Folarin, who led the debate on
the bill advocated the amendment
of the Constitution to give state
governments the rights to
legislate on wage increment.
He said: “I recommend that a
more pragmatic approach should
be evolved in future to address
the subject of wage increase.
There is need to alter the Nigerian
Constitution by delisting of the
subject of minimum wage from
the exclusive legislative list to the
concurrent list to enable both the
federal and state governments
free hand in negotiating wage
increase matters separately with
their workers which will further
strengthen our fiscal federalism.”
Also contributing, Deputy Senate
Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-
Egba, said workers deserve more
than N18,000, noting that wage
increment must correspond with
standard of living.
He said: “Nigeria workers deserve
it if you look at the wastage of
government. It is also time for
revenue commission and the
salary and wages commission to
index wages against cost of
living. It should not be all the time
that we should always come to
the National Assembly to increase
wages. ”
Senator Smart Adeyemi, PDP, Kogi
who was also in support of the
new wage said it will be
unrealistic for some state
governments to claim that they
cannot pay the new wage.
He said, “I want to disagree that it
will be practically impossible for
some state governments to pay.
We have more resources to pay,
states in Nigeria are richer than
some of the states in West Africa,
so they can pay.
“The problem is mismanagement
of resources and corruption.
People divert money from this
country to abroad for selfish
gains. I hold the strong view that
N18000 is not enough.
I am also of the view that we
should have a bill to review the
minimum wage annually because
of the rate of inflation is on
annual increase. ”

www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/senate-approves-n18000-national-minimum-wage/

tip of the iceberg,RPGs,Mortars and the likes next.

Police said Monday they killed five
suspected Islamists and uncovered
weapons stashed away in a house in
a northern Nigerian region hit by
series of attacks blamed on a radical
sect.
The raid in which weapons including
rocket-propelled grenades, firearms
and rocket launchers were found,
occurred on Sunday in northeastern
Nigeria, where an Islamist sect known
as Boko Haram is active. The raid in
Yobe State came a day after another
cache was separately discovered in a
car in neighbouring Borno.
"We succeeded in killing five of them
(sect members) at their hideout in
Damaturu and arrested three others
who confessed they belong to Boko
Haram sect," Mohammed Jinjiri
Abubakar, police commissioner for
Borno State where the sect is based,
told AFP.
Several rifles, 12 rocket launchers, two
rocket propelled grenade bombs,
bomb denotating cables and more
than 3,000 ammunitions were among
the weapons found in a house in
Damaturu, the capital of Yobe.
"This is a very important discovery in
the fight against Boko Haram militants
that have been terrorising these parts
of the country," said Abubakar.
Police staged the raid after one
gunman survived in a shootout with
the military in the border town of
Gamboru Ngala near the border with
Cameroon on Saturday and led the
security forces to the house in
Damaturu.
www.thumbtribe.mobi/pl/svt/si/ttmsolution/po/thumbtribe/dk/thumbtribe2.02-21-2011.6009p0000/sc/ttafricanigerian/ms/qQqPkLYN67/r/1298316639/pa/224920

Multiple pre-dawn explosions rocked
opposition offices in oil-rich southern
Nigeria, the latest in a wave of attacks
ahead of April elections, police and
the party said Monday.
The explosions went off at the Labour
Party campaign offices in Bayelsa,
President Goodluck Jonathan's home
state.
No casualties were reported in the
attack.
The party is fielding a former
presidential adviser on the volatile
Niger Delta, Timi Alaibe, to challenge
incumbent governor Timipre Sylva.
Alaibe resigned from Jonathan's office
last year to run for governor in
Bayelsa in the April poll.
"There was an explosion at the
Labour Party office in Ogbia in the
night, but I can't give a specific time.
The details are still sketchy and
investigations are under way to try to
identify the perpetrators," police
spokesman Emokpae Eguavoen told
AFP.
Residents said the explosion ocurred
around 4:00 am (0300 GMT) and
destroyed the office which had been
slated for commissioning by Alaibe,
hours later.
The party's campaign chief Thalford
Ongolo condemned "the politics of
violence".
"We will neither be intimidated ,  (nor)
diverted from the goal of liberating
the people of the state," said state
party chairman Aduo Bobo.
www.thumbtribe.mobi/pl/svt/si/ttmsolution/po/thumbtribe/dk/thumbtribe2.02-21-2011.6009p0001/sc/ttafricanigerian/ms/qQqPkLYN67/r/1298316639/pa/224920

In their bid to save face,chelsea fc fell to the greatest league purchase scam by doling out 50m pounds for a tired player,(torres).they should just forget about the title or even the top four.good bye to bad rubbish, forever.

If you're in lagos,please attend this C.A.C church at jakande estate,near former durbar hotel,mile 2.i worshiped there some 14 to 15 years ago.they are really trying there.i pray they are still as strong as they used to be.i had a major problem that GOD USED them to solve for me.best of luck.don't do the occult;there are consequences joining them.

By Udeme Clement
The bid by the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN), to introduce
Islamic banking in the country
has sparked controversy. In this
interview, the Director- General,
West African Institute for Financial
and Economic Management
(WAIFEM), owned by Central
Banks of Anglo-speaking West
African countries, Professor
Akpan Ekpo, speaks on the
banking innovation and ATM
fraud.
How far do
you think
Nigeria
would go
on Islamic
banking
system, if
CBN finally
implements
the policy?
First of all,
we need to
fully understand the meaning of
Islamic banking, how it works in
other countries and the economic
benefits, before we begin to
condemn CBN on the policy.
For instance, WAIFEM is owned by
Central Banks of Anglo-speaking
West African countries, with the
mandate to build capacity in
macro-economic management,
financial and debt management in
member countries. At present, we
have a course on the rudiments
of Islamic banking inWAIFEM.
Nigeria ’s economy should not be
in isolation from other economies.
Whether we call it Islamic or non-
interest banking, what Nigerians
should do is to look at the
product and see what it has to
offer the economy.
The policy does not prevent non-
Muslims from participating.
Islamic banking is just another
type of banking technique that
should join the existing
operations in the industry, so that
anyone interested could
participate. In other countries,
there is what is called Christian
bank and people are getting the
product to do business.  There is
the need for us to understand
what Islamic banking means, so
that we do not just criticise what
we don ’t know.
Also, a large number of Nigerians
are Muslims and if there is a type
of bank that could add to the
efficiency of banking in Nigeria,
why are people against it?  For
me, the CBN governor should not
even call it non-interest banking,
he should call it Islamic banking,
straight to the point, because that
is what it is called everywhere in
the world.
www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/islamic-banking-’ll-benefit-nigeria’s-economy-prof-ekpo/

Kill them all!aaaaallll ooooooof them!what kind of nonsense is this?in my house,on my bed,shampooing my unborn 'child's'head.AK47 will send them to heaven

NO

ok,ok.we assume the president is a drunken fisherman,bla,bla,bla.what does that make you?let me guess.erm,a treacherous,pot smoking,forcefull,autocratic,self glorifying.dictating,back stabbing b@stard!

[quote author=Em-my link=topic=604910.msg7734954#msg7734954 date=1297780141]Its true that the Nigeria Police Force we planted to protect us is now the one harvesting us,

Its also true that Innocent people are arested when some issue of crime arise,
[color=cyan]But, tell me where & which time do they find these inncent people to arrest??[/color]

Robber invaded the town and you xpect the police not to arrest the people they see on the road??
[color=violet]from the story of this man,
he is a criminal, [although he might not be among those that killed the person in question] even after entering the theatre he refused to recopy a document,[/color] what a hard man
Imagine if you were among the police that arested this man, would you have said he is not guilty from his actions?
._.CONCLUSIVELY._.
our actions contribute  about 30% of why the police arrest us for a crime we are not guilty of.[/quote]RETARDID BASTARED!THE MAN'S DILEMA WILL BE REPLAYED IN YOUR LIFE AND YOU WON'T BE VINDICATED.

the wasted years,lost ones,the trauma,the mental torture,the wrong allegation.how does one process such injustice.the poor dude needs rehab asap.even his explanations is near incoherent.i marvel how he kept his sanity.JONA can score pol points by making public apology on behalf of the govt,rehab and compensation to the man.

God save Nigeria!we're such cowards,we can't make such change,it's just impossible.

sorry dear!second time abi?bout time you got your own private guard.the police are way too USELESS.thanK God you're still alive,ThanK God.

guys please stop being myopic.we've got better looking blokes at yaba/tejuosho,hustling used clothes and the likes.

OLASUNKANMI AKONI
Fashola
Just after the state Commissioner
for Economic Planning and
Budget, Pastor Ben Akabueze
made his 2-hour presentation, Mr.
Quasim Akinreti, a United
Kingdom trained on-line media
expert, sought answers to why
some contractors executed some
of the state projects halfway
within a fiscal year and how many
contractors have been sanctioned
so far for what he allegedly
described “dereliction of duties or
breach of contracts”.
Before Akabueze responded, Mr.
Peter Ajayi, a federal media
agency representative, also asked
a set of questions mainly
“ bordering on the value of
unspent funds returned to the
state coffers each fiscal year since
2007; whether the Fashola
administration will adopt the
minimum wage standard of the
federal government; and if
inadequate resource was
responsible for why some capital
projects have not been completed
in the last fiscal year. ”
Quite a number of participants
sought answers to a barrage of
questions on the state budget
financing, debt management and
servicing since the inception of
administration of Fashola.
At last, Akabueze, who is the state
chief budget manager,
responded to diverse questions,
to which a wide spectrum of his
audience (basically from the
media and civil society) wanted
clarifications one after the other.
His method was quite empirical
and logical considering the
manner the state budget
manager freely referred to facts,
figures and policies explained the
state government business and
operation in the last four years.
For clearer understanding,
Akabueze offered insight into the
state of Lagos economy prior to
when Governor Fashola took
over from former Governor Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, which he said,
laid down a robust road map to
confront the socio-economic
challenges of Africa ’s emerging
model megacity. He simply put
that the “preceding purposeful
administration set foundation for
today ’s Lagos economic
breakthrough”.
The basis for Tinubu’s
foundational roles was captured
in various socio-economic
strategies and policy initiatives,
which Akabueze said Tinubu ’s
administration put together to
transform Lagos from slums to
model city. Without a solid socio-
economic foundation, which he
said the last administration laid
down, Akabueze, who was in
company of Special Adviser on
Revenue and Taxation, Mr.
Adeola Ipaiye and his Economic
Planning and Budget counterpart,
Mrs. Florence Oguntuase Fashola ’s
administration could have faced
herculean task.
Akabueze therefore cited Ten-
Point Agenda (TPA), Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), Lagos
State Economic Empowerment
and Development Strategy
(LASEEDS), resolutions of Lagos
Economic Summits, global
computerization programme,
revenue diversification and
deepening, and enhanced
transparency and accountability
relating to internally generated
revenue (IGR) as key policy
documents and initiatives
currently being implemented to
achieve high budget performance
since 2007 and transform Lagos
to a desired city.
However, Akabueze quickly
rolled out a number of
challenges, which he said,
Fashola administration
confronted in the face of
numerous opportunities. He thus
mentioned poor resource
profiles, huge infrastructural
gaps, high crime rates, growing
unemployment rates, inadequate
institutional capacities, influx of
immigrants from neighbouring
states, prevalent poverty and
socio-economic problems as key
challenges, all of which he said,
constituted disincentives to
investments and threat to
perceived opportunities.
Taking cognisance of these
challenges, Akabueze put the
budget projection of the state at
about $50 billion to be spent
within a period of 10 years.
Studies carried out by the present
administration in 2007, according
to him, shows that Lagos
infrastructure funding gaps will
gulp $50 billion. As indicated in
the studies, water development
requires $3 billion; road &
drainage needs $20 billion;
power will also gulps $10 billion;
ICT needs $5 billion,
transportation requires N9.3
billion and water & sewage will
require $2.7 billion.
But the commissioner
acknowledged the deployment of
broad socio-economic strategies
“ to achieve the change agenda.
This includes revenue
diversification and deepening;
enhanced transparency and
accountability; efficient allocation
of resources across sectors;
tighter operating expenditure
control, quarterly review of
budget performance; more
effective project monitoring as
well as pegging capital and
recurrent expenditure ratio at
60:40. This approach has proved
effective and efficient in the state
fiscal management ”.
This is precisely what Akabueze
said was responsible “for the
state exponential improvement in
its budget performance from
2007 to 2010. About 70 percent
was recorded in 2007, 71 percent
in 2008; 73 percent in 2009; and
80 percent. In this light, Lagos
State has since 2007 been
recording best budget
performances across all the states
of federation, and by extension,
other states in West African sub-
region within the period under
study”.
When compared with the Federal
Government, its 2010 budget
only recorded a performance of
21 per cent in terms of the capital
expenditure, according to the
Minister for Finance, Mr. Olusegun
Aganga.
But the minister acknowledged
almost 100 percent
implementation of the recurrent
expenditure during the same
fiscal year. Lagos success story
therefore paint some good
lessons, from which budget
experts believe the federal
government can learn.
Also, during the period under
review, Akabueze stressed the
international standard 9-sector
classification of functions of
government (COFOG) was
introduced in 2008 to replace
previous 4-sector classification.
Away from the 4-sector
classification, the commissioner
attributed the state budget
performances to the new
standard, which he said
specifically place more emphasis
on such sectors as infrastructural
development, social protection,
education, environmental
protection, health, general
services, public order and safety.
Akabueze, said the key outputs
of the budgets “include increased
internally generated revenue
(IGR) from N85bn to N176bn (i.e.
N7bn to N15bn monthly)
anchored on Medium Term
Sectoral Strategy (MTSS), Medium
Term Expenditure Framework
(MTEF), Medium Term Budget
Framework (MTBF) applied to
strengthen public expenditure
management. The state ’s MDAs
now have functional ICT units
statewide Implementation of
Electronic Document Management
System (EDMS) improved staff
competence ”.
Sectoral reviews by the
commissioner showed graphic
performances of the state
budgets between 2007 and
2010. He thus cited the public
order and safety sector, which he
said, had witnessed an optimal
decline in term of crime rates. He
attributed the decline “to the
establishment of the State Security
Trust Fund (LSSTF), two
helicopters purchased for security
and emergency management,
Central Security Surveillance (CSS),
500 patrol vehicles, 18 Armoured
Personnel Carriers (APCs); arms
and ammunition purchased for
the police command.
“The key outcomes were armed
robbery incidents and stolen
vehicles decreased by 89 percent
in 2008 and 54 percent in 2009
respectively. Murder cases fell
from 221 cases in 2007 to 94
incidents in 2010, representing
about 75 percent decline. For
every 10 cars stolen in 2009 at
least 9 were recovered in the
same year, and quicker
disposition of cases (in term of
judgement delivered in criminal
charges filed in the state)
improved by 61 percent,
especially those related to
criminal cases tried in 2010 from
13 percent in 2007 ”.
He also reviewed how the budget
implementation helped the state
government improve food
security in the last four years. This
is what the commissioner
accounted for an improved and
increased local food crop
production “from 1.452 million
metric tons in 2007 to 2.103
million metric tons in 2010),
increased livestock from 1.765
million metric tons in 2007 to
2.005m metric tons in 2010,
increased aggregate fisheries
production from 0.249m metric
tons in 2007 to 0.255m metric
tons in 2010, and beneficiaries
from the state Agricultural Youth
Empowerment Scheme (Agric-
YES) Project has improved from
300 in 2007 to 1,500 in 2010”.
Quoting the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP)
report, Akabueze ’s presentation
showed a downward movement
of unemployment rate to 20
percent. This does not include
undergraduates engaged in
Enterprise Registration &
Identification Development
Agency (ENTRIDA) Project,
partnership with Messrs Elsewedy
Electric Nigeria Limited on the
production of transformers and
cables; 70 persons employed at
take off in 2010, commencement
of physical development of Lekki
Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) and
deployment of 1,273 high
capacity buses to enhance public
transportation all parts of the
Lagos metropolis.
Having set this background,
Akabueze thus addressed key
questions raised at the briefing
one after the other. On the
unspent funds, Akabueze simply
said the state “does not run the
silos kind of accounting system
whereby funds are allocated to
MDAs to prosecute their projects
and retire whatever is unspent at
the end of the fiscal year to the
treasury office as it is done at the
national level. The state MDAs are
encouraged to go to the treasury
for cash backing when they are
ready to pay contractors for
projects they want to implement ”.
His clarification on the
uncompleted projects pointed the
fact that the state “adopts the
medium term expenditure
framework (MTEF) with a basic
principle that budgetary plan
spans beyond one fiscal year ”.
Under this framework, he said,
some projects were not designed
to be completed within a budget
cycle as many might be designed
to last about three years to
complete. What is incorporated in
each budget for such projects
lasting longer would be estimated
cost value of jobs to be
accomplished within such a fiscal
year ”.
On the wage increase, Akabueze
held that the fixed amount was
what “was arrived at by the
Salaries and Wages Commission
established by the state
government with the probability
that it could even arrive at a figure
higher than the federal
government minimum wage. The
category of workers that earn
minimum wage are no longer in
the state public service. So, the
minimum wage was not relevant
in the state wage context
because the state government
now outsources the services of
staff members that earn minimum
wage ”.
On this note, the commissioner
said impressive budget
performance “is not a rocket
science, though requires effective
project preparation, monitoring
and implementation. We ensure
that pre-contract preparations
like drawing and other issues
have been done. If you release
money before that is done, the
money might have been spent ”
before actual site work is ready to
take off. He also harped on
stringent project monitoring to
ensure the contractor is not
defaulting at any stage of project
implementation.
According to him, it is difficult for
any contractor of Lagos State to
abscond because cash
disbursement is tied to project
need. In the cases where advance
payment is issued, the contractor
must provide advance payment
guarantee from a reputable
financial institution. So if the
contractor runs, we can always
hold the guarantor responsible.
So, the success of any budget is
dependent on the preparing as
well as monitoring of project
which remains pivotal for budget
performance. If you do not
monitor the projects, it would
never happen.
In the light of Akabueze’s
presentation, both Executive
Director of Public Policy Initiative
Network of Nigeria (PPINN) Dr.
Remi E. Aiyede and Chief
Executive Officer of Economic
Associates, Dr. Ayo Teriba offered
a bird’s eye view on the
performance of the state budgets
between 2007 and 2010. In his
analysis, Aiyede said it would be
difficult to determine the state
budget performance based on
the expenditure of funds
allocated to specific projects
approved for implementation
within a particular fiscal year.
Aiyede, who lectures public
administration at the University of
Ibadan, said it would not be
objective enough to assess
“ budget performance based on
how much of the allocations
spent on approved projects.
Objectively, budget performance
is best determined by actual
concrete targets of the budget
and level of performance of the
targets. Such performance can be
measured using budget targets
and the level of performance of
the expenditure ”
www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/fashola’s-performance-under-scrutiny-in-lagos/

By Kolade Larewaju
ABEOKUTA- THE Independent
National Electoral Commission
(INEC) has released the list of
candidates for the forthcoming
polls with the names of Governor
Olugbenga Daniel, Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Mr.
Dimeji Bankole and daughter of
the acclaimed winner of the June
12 1993 elections; Bashorun MKO
Abiola, Mrs. Lola Abiola Edewor
conspicuously missing from the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
list.
The Obasanjo
faction
completely
swept all the
candidacy
with Gen.
Adetunji
Idowu Olurin
as the
Governorship
candidate
with Tunde
Oladunjoye as his Deputy, Senator
Iyabo Obasanjo Bello emerging
as the senatorial candidate from
Ogun Central. From the Ogun East
where Daniel contested came
Mohammed Tahir Adetunji and
Chief Babatunde Fadun from the
West Senatorial District.
Others who lost out in the PDP list
include the Deputy Governor,
Alhaja Salmot Badru who was
replaced by Capt. Musa Kehinde
Borokini for Ipokia/Yewa South
Federal Constituency, Bankole
was replaced by Peter Olusegun
Alawode in Abeokuta South
Federal Constituency while Mr.
Gbenga Oduwaiye a current
member of the house of
Representatives was replaced
Salami Muideen Adegboyega in
Odogbolu/Ijebu-Ode/Ijebu North
east Federal Constituency.
In the Action Congress of Nigeria
[ACN] list, Senator Ibikunle
Amosun was listed as the
Governorship candidate white
Prince Segun Adesegun as
running mate while the former
Deputy Governor of Ogun State
Alhaji Sefiu Adegbenga Kaka
picked the Senatorial Ticket for
Ogun East.
Olugbenga Obadara picked the
Ogun Central Senatorial ticket
while Babalola Kamar Odunsi
picked the Ogun West Senatorial
ticket.
Also on the list are Olumide
Babatunde Osoba who picked the
House of Representative ticket for
Abeokuta North/Obafemi Owode
and Odeda Federal Constituency,
Samuel Olusegun Williams picked
ticket for Abeokuta South,
Abayomi Hunye [Ipokia/Egbado
South and Odeneye Kehinde
Olusegun [Ijebu-Ode/Odogbolu/
Ijebu North East
Announcing the list in Abeokuta,
the Resident Electoral
Commissioner Deacon Martins
Okunfolami said that 33 parties
submitted nominations in the
state with eight of them
nominating only Presidential
Candidates and running mates
while the remaining 25 submitted
nomination for various offices.

vanguardngr.com/2011/02/daniel-bankole-loses-out/

By Adekunle Aliyu with Agency
Report
Final results of last month’s
referendum show an
overwhelming majority of
southern Sudanese voted to split
from the north, a result that will
lead to the creation of the world ’s
newest nation, the referendum
commission said Monday.
The chairman of the Southern
Sudan Referendum Commission,
which organized the vote and
includes members from both
sides, said 98.83% voted for
separation, while 1.17% voted for
unity.
“It was a peaceful process,” said
chairman Muhammad Ibrahim
Khalil at a ceremony in Khartoum
attended by Sudanese politicians,
international diplomats, U.N. staff,
academics and others. “It was a
transparent process.”
“Not a single person” showed up
to appeal the results, he said.
Preliminary results had shown
overwhelming support for
separation.
The commission met Monday with
Sudanese President Omar al-
Bashir and First Vice President
Salva Kiir to present the final
results, state TV reported earlier.
Al-Bashir has stated his
commitment to the results and
said he will accept them, state TV
said.
As a result of the government’s
acceptance of the results, the
United States is beginning the
process of removing Sudan from
its list of state sponsors of
terrorism, U.S. State Department
spokesman P.J. Crowley said
Monday.
U.S. President Barack Obama
announced Washington ’s
intention to recognize Southern
Sudan as a sovereign,
independent state in July, when a
comprehensive peace agreement
with the north is due to end.
“After decades of conflict, the
images of millions of southern
Sudanese voters deciding their
own future was an inspiration to
the world and another step
forward in Africa ’s long journey
toward justice and democracy,”
Obama said in a statement. “Now,
all parties have a responsibility to
ensure that this historic moment
of promise becomes a moment of
lasting progress. The
Comprehensive Peace Agreement
must be fully implemented and
outstanding disputes must be
resolved peacefully. ”
Obama promised the United States
would support the governments
of both Sudan and Southern
Sudan to ensure a smooth and
peaceful transition to
independence.
“It is a happy day for southern
Sudanese,” said Louis Makor, 40,
an activist from the south. “We
have gained our rights, our self-
determination, and I hope the
best for both southern and
northern Sudanese. And we will
remain brothers. ”
Those in the north had more
varied opinions.
“I think it is better,” said Abd al-
Aziz Ahmad, 30, a grocery store
owner. “They can have their own
country and our problem in the
north will lessen. ”
Northerner Al-Razy Yassin, 27,
however, said he felt very sad
about the outcome.
“I believed that our strength is in
our diversity,” he said. “This
means the failure of the Sudanese
national state and I fear what
might come. ”
There were tears on the face of
Ikhlas Garang, a woman who is
half northern and half southern,
who cried, “Why are we
separating? Why are we
separating ?”
Sudan’s north and south fought a
war for more than two decades,
finally ending in a peace treaty in
2005 that paved the way for the
referendum. The conflict, which
left 2 million people dead, pitted a
government dominated by Arab
Muslims in northern Sudan
against black Christians and
animists in the south.
From CNN
vanguardngr.com/2011/02/referendum-splits-sudan-into-two/

By wole mosadomi
Minna — Resident Electoral
Commissioner in Niger State, Dr.
Emmanuel Onucheyo, has
revealed that Alhaji Muhammadu
Abubakar Bello Masaba, the
octogenarian with about 5,000
familiy members had officially
written to Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC, earlier
before the commencement of the
registration exercise of the need
to create a new voting unit for
him.
However, the REC noted that
“ since creation of additional units
is a constitutional matter, there is
nothing I can do to satisfy his
demand. ”
Disefranchised till 2015
He exonerated the Commission
from the denial of more than 80
wives of the controversial
octogenarian man from Bida in
Niger State, from registering in the
just concluded voters ’ registration
exercise.
Besides the over 80 of his wives
who were not registered, another
batch of about 4,000 including
his children and other
dependants did not register in
Bida.
The commissioner in an interview
with journalists in Minna, said
though it was wrong for
members of the community to
have denied him or any eligible
voter from registering, those
disenfranchised would have to
wait till 2015 before they can vote
again.
He said since they were unable to
be captured in the just concluded
registration exercise, they would
not have the right to vote in the
April general elections.
‘INEC not aware of fight’
Dr. Onucheyo explained that
while the fracas between the
family members of the
octogenarian was going on over
the registration in Bida, weekend,
the commission was not
informed, thereby making it
difficult for it to intervene.
Dr. Onucheyo said since
registration was a continuous
exercise, those unable to be
registered should wait till after the
elections and be registered and
would be eligible to vote in the
future elections.
It would be called that last
Saturday in Bida town, no fewer
than eighty wives of the over
80yrs old man, Alhaji Masaba, his
children and some members of
his family were disallowed from
being registered at the Masaba
“ A” ward.
Besides being disallowed to
register, they were also attacked
by some hoodlum, at the
registration centre.
Our correspondent reliably
gathered that dangerous
weapons were freely used by the
hoodlums during the attack
which led to scores of people
from the two warring parties
seriously wounded.
It was however gathered that the
octogenarian and some of his
wives have successfully
registered at the same polling unit
on Friday before the other wives
and his other relatives were
denied their rights by the
hoodlums the second day.
Meanwhile, the legal Adviser to
the octogenarian Barrister
Mohammed Jibrin has
condemned the assault on
members of the Masaba family
and accused the police of
negligence pointing out that the
attach was in the presence of the
police who refused to take action.
He has threatened to take a legal
action against the Area
Commander of the police.
Barrister Jibrin confirmed that no
fewer than 20 members of
Masaba family were seriously
injured during the free for all
fight.

By Emeka Mamah
Kaduna — The Muslim
fundamentalist group, Boko
Haram, has given conditions to
enable its members stop
slaughtering innocent Nigerians
in some parts of the North.
The group said it would stop
inflicting pains on the people if
the Borno State Governor, Senator
Ali Modu Sheriff, steps down from
office with immediate effect and
also allow members to reclaim
their mosque in Maiduguri, Borno
State capital.
The group’s leader, Abu
Suleiman, who gave the
conditions while speaking on the
British Broadcasting Corporation,
BBC, Hausa Service interview,
monitored in Kaduna yesterday,
insisted that government must
withdraw all security personnel
on the streets of Maiduguri,
adding that no persons will be
harmed any longer as soon as the
appropriate authorities meet the
conditions
However, speaking during the
BBC interview, Suleiman, said: “We
want our mosque to be given
back to us and we also want all
the soldiers in Maiduguri to be
withdrawn immediately. ”
He explained that his group has
what he described as “a serious
religious affinity” with their
mosque in Maiduguri so that
members can continue with their
religious activities.
He said: “The soldiers and other
security agents in Maiduguri are
not fair to all and that is why we
want them withdrawn
immediately. It is not also proper
for us to perform our religious
rites in other mosques because
we believe that leaders and clerics
in these mosques are not
intellectually capable to lead us.''  
vanguardngr.com/2011/02/boko-haram-gives-conditions-to-stop-killings/

so the the manifesto will be manifested when?before or after the elections?the guy is not even flashing any progress talkless of achieving it.

relax,he's tending his cows

niiiiiiice!let the competition begin.i see bank rates dropping drastically.like drastically,

saly kely:
my problem with nigerian christians is the fact that the most of them are bigot. Anything islam appear to threaten them. HSBC one of the bigest financial institutions in the world has a window for islamic banking known as AMANA. what the big deal about islamic banking? after the great economic depression in UK in the 30s the committee set up to look into the cause of the crises observed that trading in money was one of the causes of the depression. dont forget that the arab muslims gave the west most commercial words they use today e.g cheque which was derived from the arabic word sak plural sukuk and Umar bin hkatab was the first person to issue same, buy from the arabic word bai, trafficking whose origin was tafriq  the french word acheter is ishtara and the word tarrif was originated from ta'arifa and many others. For those who are learned. When ever muslims approach their challanges by turning to their religion for guidiance the christians are stupified as they have no such provisions in their bible other than springing out ARMIES of FALSE PROPHETS and declearing every year their year of miracle but end up carrying over their problems to the next year.

instead of attacking muslims baselesly why not bring up a biblical solution to our present day economic crises since it is obvious that the present one has failed. FOR THE MUSLIMS IN NAIRA LAND IT ALSO APPEAR TO ME THAT THE MOST OF YOU HAVE ONLY A SUPERFICIAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORKING OF AN ISLAMIC BANK.
i wont like to go into the history of islamic bank in nigeria, however in brief. in the 1960s a bank named muslim west (west africa)bank was operated in the country and the liscence was revoked latter by the then minister of finance chief Obafemi Awolowo. other attemp were made but unsuccessfull like AL- ABARKA, HABIB and JAIZ bank. We should not forget that the present attempt to introduce islamic banking was innitiated by soludo and not sanusi

well said,well researched

you're kidding right?

i'm humbled by such humility and brotherliness.our northern brothers take note.you can't fight GOD'S BATTLES for HIM.IT.it's even in the HOLY QURAN.you can't fight HIS battles for HIM.

she actually looks like zelda from the terra hawks animation fame,so therefore she passes for a witch,lol.