₦airaland Forum

is like APC/ NEW PDP sponsor the protester.

the action by the protester is political...................... presidency

wonder shall never end read below. i fear PDP.

Members of the Delta State House of Assembly were on Tuesday thrown into a state of astonishment when they discovered that one of the seven persons nominated by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for appointment into the Delta State Tourism Board had died a while ago.

Last week, Mr. Uduaghan had included the name of James Youmu in a list of nominees for the state’s tourism board that was forwarded to the legislature for screening and confirmation. Mr. Youmu has been dead

The other nominees for the same board are Efe Afe, Peter Okolotu, Hyacinth Iyere, Amah Agbajoh, Abel Eyube and Joe Morg.

There was a mild drama during the screening when Mr. Youmu, the fourth nominee on the list, was called up. Mr. Afe, a former member of the state assembly who was screened as the chairman of the board, immediately told the House that the said James Youmu had died even before the names were sent for screening.

The embarrassing situation raised eyebrows among lawmakers. The strange incident became a new chapter in the governor’s controversial actions regarding the membership of the state-owned agencies and parastatals.

Last week, a prominent member of the Delta State House of Assembly had told SaharaReporters that he was dismayed that the governor sent a list of nominees for the boards of state-owned agencies after the governor had sworn in the nominees into office three months ago. The legislator said that the governor’s belated action was “evidence that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has lost focus.”

Other legislators also told SaharaReporters that they were taken aback by the governor’s letter forwarded a letter with the names of nominees after he had inaugurated them, thereby violating the law. “Why did His Excellency send us names of nominees for state boards for screening and confirmation when the boards were inaugurated by the same governor some months ago?” one of the state lawmakers wondered.

Several of the legislators wondered why none of the governor’s aides had warned him against inaugurating boards without first forwarding the names of their members to the state assembly for vetting and approval, as demanded by law.

A letter titled “Request For Confirmation Of Nomination Of Chairmen And Members Of Certain Boards” and personally signed by Governor Uduaghan was accompanied with a list of nominees to be screened for appointment into the Delta State Tourism Board, Delta Broadcasting Service, Warri; Delta Broadcasting Service, Asaba, and Delta State Rural Development Agency.

The latest development, where a dead man’s name appeared on the governor’s list, caused consternation among Deltans who went to the state assembly to witness the screening and confirmation exercise. “Who come put dead man for board?” one of the spectators mused, speaking in pidgin language.

niger deltarian i hail ooooo

make una check this police man well well e go be akwa ibom man or calabar. that place na ph dioub, close to wike house

the same statement that Buhari made then and the whole Nigerians want to hug transformer.
let wait and see what will be presidency reaction.

ifyalways: funny but true.
Another committee to investigate if she gave the so-called speech while held at gunpoint or after enough "highness"

A probe on who released the leaked video/voice note.

A commission of inquiry to oversea all the committees.

. . .More papers for the ekpa seller.

in the end they will invite voice detector expatriate from oversea to analyse the voice if is that of a minister, and they will say no.
the following day labaran maku will say is the hand work of APC to rubbish their transformation agenda. naaja I hail o

a country that is ready fight corruption take a proactive action like Ghana did.
i promise you if this happen the Nigeria GEJ will set up a committee to investigate if the voice is really that of minister.

a country that is ready fight corruption take a proactive action like Ghana did.
i promise you if this happen the Nigeria GEJ will set up a committee to investigate if the voice is really that of minister.

The fight against corruption has assumed a new dimension in Ghana as President John Mahama has sacked the Deputy Minister of Communications, Victoria Hammah, for allegedly making a statement that suggested that she could be corrupt.

On Thursday, a taped conversation that Hammah had with someone, in which she allegedly said she would not leave politics until she had made $1m, leaked. By Friday, she was sacked by the government.

This is coming at a time that Nigerians are impatiently awaiting a decisive step by President Goodluck Jonathan over the role of the Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, in the purchase of two armoured vehicles at a mind-boggling cost of about N255m.

Ghana’s decision appears to have reminded concerned Nigerians that by geographical standards, their country and Ghana are neighbours. They have also shared some historical moments, so much that they can sometimes be regarded as political allies. But despite such affinities, both countries are far from being on the same page when it comes to the treatment of corruption.

Although Hammah had not carried out the intention credited to her in the said tape, she was fired nonetheless. In the tape circulating online, she appears to have said, “If you have money, then you can control people.”

Interestingly, Hammah and Oduah are said to have played similar active roles in the elections of their respective principals. According to a BBC report, Hammah had, ironically, also openly expressed disgust at corruption months back.

“In August, she said there was a lot of pressure on her to steal public money because people thought that, as a minister, she was rich. She described such demands as obnoxious,” BBC quotes Ghanaweb news site as saying. She is said to have added that “corrupt politicians are the reflection of a corrupt society.”

Apart from the fact that Oduah has confessed to giving the approval when she appeared before the House of Reps Committee on Aviation that probed her and other parties involved, two other limousines bought by FAAN has been linked to her. Yet, she is still a minister in the Jonathan cabinet.

The highest that President Jonathan has done is to set up a probe panel in which many people have little or no confidence. Many observers may not have any problems with the integrity of the members of the committee. Rather, people are bothered about the sincerity of the President, the political will to deal with the situation and the fact that nothing concrete had come from similar probe panels in the past.

Indeed, some are tempted to describe the Nigerian government’s backyard as a cemetery of reports of other similar earlier panels.

The fear assumed more substance considering a report that Jonathan might not think highly of the House of Assembly’s recommendation that Oduah be sacked.

Reacting to the development, the Governance Manager of the Action Aid International Nigeria, Obo Effanga, notes that although every President has the latitude to choose who he appoints or retains as a minister, he must always consider the feelings of the people he governs on an issue like the ‘Oduahgate’.

Effanga says, “Another issue is that when you are talking about fighting corruption, there should be evidence that every step you have taken points towards that. The experience we have had with committees also shows that they take time to complete their work. It also takes another long time for the President or whoever is involved to act on the committees’ reports.

“On this bulletproof cars matter, we have wasted a lot of time, and we have yet to take a decision on it. One of the issues we need to address is: Were they provided for in the budget? Who approved the purchase? Does the person have the authority to do so? Whoever committed a crime in the whole matter should be made to face the punishment due to anyone in that circumstance. The President has delayed too much on the matter.”

He adds that it is wrong to give the impression that a political office is meant for a particular person, who must remain there no matter the circumstance.

Lagos-based lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, also notes that the Oduah-Hammah story shows contrasting political cultures in Nigeria and Ghana. In a telephone interview with our correspondent, he argues that what Ghana has done shows that it has a political culture that listens to the yearnings of the people.

He says, “It shows that Ghana has a culture of decency. It shows that in Ghana, anybody who has done something indefensible cannot hold political offices. It depicts that theirs is a culture that does not accommodate indecency.

“On the other hand, the development shows that we have a political culture that accommodates indecency in Nigeria; a culture in which you can grab whatever you can for yourself without being responsive to the yearnings of the people. It shows clearly a corrupt culture and culture of brigandage. It shows that those in government can go away with blue murder. They can steal anything and go away with it.”

Aturu decries the working of what he calls a cultic committee in the Odua scandal, saying that any committee who Nigerians do not know when it is holding its meeting and who it is talking to is a cultic one.

According to him, the step the aviation minister took in the purchase of the car amounts to recklessness of the highest order.

He says, “That tells you why we are where we are. It is a wake-up call to Nigerians: We must insist on the right thing. We must stop people perpetuating this culture of impunity and brigandage.”

Human right activist and President of the Campaign for Democracy, Joe Okei-Odumakin, salutes Ghana for having made ‘giant strides’ in sanitising its clime. But she is sad that Nigeria has not shown any sign of seriousness in this regard.

“One salutes Ghana for efforts it is making. No wonder, the country has continued to make steady progress. In our own clime, impunity continues to thrive. Even when the matter of the scandalous purchase of the bulletproof cars had become public knowledge and source of public outrage, some of our people embarked on a journey to Israel, including the indicted person. We had probe panels working on the issue, we have the relevant agencies, like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, yet everyone embarked on the journey to Israel.

“There must be enough political will to sanitise Nigeria. There is so much poverty, unemployment, insecurity and other problems in the country. Yet, someone is spending so much money on cars. This culture of impunity must stop. What is happening in Ghana should serve as a clarion call to Nigeria. President Jonathan must act now because justice delayed is justice denied,” Okei-Odumakin adds.

source; www.punchng.com

a country that is ready fight corruption take a proactive action like Ghana did.
i promise you if this happen the Nigeria GEJ will set up a committee to investigate if the voice is really that of minister.

A rally by the Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was today foiled by police.

Some hours to the commencement of the rally, officers of the Anti-crime unit, Ikare Division, arrived at the venue and blocked the university’s main gate with their vehicles. It was unclear why a rally would be considered a crime.

The union had planned to begin the rally inside the school and proceed to the outside gate of the Town Campus.
Several pleas by the striking union with the police fell on deaf ears, and members of the union embarked on solidarity songs.

Journalists who arrived to cover the rally were hindered in the performance of their duty by the police.

Speaking at the rally, an ASUU representative, Mr. Busuyi Mekusi said the rally was organized to enable the union to register its displeasure over the refusal of the federal government to implement the 2009 agreement it entered into with ASUU.

He noted that lecturers were tired of being party to producing graduates who cannot hold their own because their training and education does not measure up to standard.

"It is very unfortunate that our rights are abridged. The strike is in the interest of our education in Nigeria particularly in the interest of students who study under inhumane conditions".

He said people should shun misinformation over the protest, stressing that ASUU is only fighting for the rejuvenation of university education in the country.

Mekun further said members of the union will not relent in their struggle, and promised to join their counterparts in other institutions in the solidarity strike.

www.saharareporters.com

At a combative House of Representatives hearing Thursday, lawmakers and the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, debunked claims by aviations agencies and the minister on the raging car purchase scandal rocking the aviation ministry.

Both purchases, at an alarming cost of N255 million, were not approved in the budget as the ministry and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, have claimed; and did not pass the Due Processes test, the BPP and the House Aviation committee said.

The House committee admitted formally that the NCAA made known its plan to purchase the two armoured cars, but that plan was struck out during budget approval by lawmakers.

"The constitution is clear: no public fun shall be spent without the approval of the National Assembly," said Nkiruka Onyejiocha, who heads the aviation committee.

That claim was backed by details of the budget of the NCAA made available at the hearing, which showed how the armoured car proposal was struck off by the legislators.

In the proposed budget, the agency proposed to spend N140 million for two armoured cars for "executive movements and security/safety purposes". The agency also proposed to buy assorted brands of Toyota cars as operational vehicles.

But in the approved budget, signed by the Aviation committee chairpersons in the Senate and the House, the armoured cars were deleted.

However, the National Assembly approved 25 operational vehicles for the NCAA, comprising of Toyota Hilux, Corollas, Prados and Hiaces at the total cost of N240 million.

But defying relevant laws, the NCAA, in its implementation, bought 54 cars, including the two armoured BMW cars that were rejected by the lawmakers, all at a total of N643 million, with a financing from First Bank that may raise the total close to N1 billion when all interests are added.

A surprising point was how the armoured cars, even when they had been rejected, suddenly rose from N140 million that the agency proposed to the National Assembly, to N255 million, an amount that has added to the fury many Nigerians have shown since the scandal broke, calling for the removal of the minister, Mrs. Oduah.

The minister, currently in Israel, must attend the hearing on Tuesday, the house committee ruled.

In her first reaction to the controversy, one of the most intense the nation has seen in months, Mrs. Oduah assured President Goodluck Jonathan in a reply to the president's query that the purchase was not only budgeted for, but followed 'Due Process'

"Due Process was followed in the procurement of the said operational vehicles," Mrs. Oduah told the President in a response to a query issued her by the president.

Both claims were false, it emerged at the hearing.

Ayo Aderibigbe, who represented Emeka Eze, the director general of the BPP, demonstrated that point when asked to make a presentation on the purchase Thursday.

He read the requests for information on four areas in the House committee's letter- including request for correspondences between NCAA and the bureau; the Certificate of No Objection awarded to NCAA as green light for the purchases-and declared all as unavailable.

"We have nothing to forward to the honourable house on this because they don't exist," he said for each, implying the NCAA did not subject any of the purchases through the required procurement stipulations.

The procurement was done under Joyce Nkemakolam as acting director general of the NCAA. Despite apparent evidences to the contrary, Mr. Nkemakolam insisted at the hearing that the purchases were lawful.

When questioned by the committee chairperson, Mrs. Onyejiocha, if the purchase was right, he answered in the affirmative. He also insisted that it was in the budget.

Asked to provide evidence, he referred the committee to a subhead in the approved budget which allows for the purchase of "operational vehicles". As stated in the budget, such vehicles were supposed to be used for inspection and monitoring, of airport perimeter fencing.

"There is no way armoured cars can be used for the inspection of perimeter fences," argued Jerry Manwe, a member of the committee from Taraba state.

Mr. Nkemakolam said the subhead was a "holistic description" with import stretching to cover the armoured cars.

But while it was clear the National Assembly was unaware of the purchase, Mr. Nkemakolam said in his presentation- which had the same content as one sent by Mrs. Oduah to President Jonathan- that the NCAA wrote to the minister for approval before buying the cars, and the minister approved.

Coscharis, the firm that supplied the car at a rate many believe was deliberately inflated, appealed to be allowed to respond on Tuesday as the head of the company, Cosmas Maduka, was away in China, and would be returning soon.

The committee said the representatives of the NCAA, including current director general, could not answer required questions satisfactorily and directed the agency to return on Tuesday with all invoices involved in the transaction and a six-month statement of account of the bureau.

let see how this brouhaha will end.


m.allafrica.com

Their was an airport!!!!!!

idupaul: First she denies then accepts , my questions are:

Since her life was at threat why didn't the FEC approve the purchase of such special vehicles for their national treasure of a Minister, why was the bill passed to the tiny NCAA and not the Ministry of aviation?

Is it part of the Statutory functions of the NCAA to provide security for the Minister of Aviation?

Why was a 170k USD Car bought at the outrageaous sum of 800k USD when even the Beast used by the President of the US cost 300k USD?

It is on record that she already uses an armoured Toyota Landcruiser vehicle as minister and possess an Armoured Cadilac Escalade in private capacity even before she became Minister , so why the need for this High Security Beamer?

Stella Oduah I love U but I am deeply disappointed ooo.

woww. You have spoken so well and unbiased, u know what i can bet you no single investigations will conduct by any FG ant graft agency, because she is our sister,

big lie...... during the just past weekend i spent 3,000 naira to fuel my generator. may be you are talking about another portharcourt different from the one in Rivers state.

polluted air.......

am not surprise about this, i have seen this types of corn before in early 90's. though it may surprise the white monkeys.
please Okada move fast am late for the meeting.

We are saying or accusing the federal government/ state government of doing nothing or not doing enough.
what is the performance of your local government chairman At least they are the grassroots government that is closer to you,of which you can easily effect change.
how far have you reach out to your local government chairman to make sure he bring vital development to your community/?/ let have your contribution and the performance of your local government chairman, because I believe some local government chairman are more worst than federal/ state government.

chess guru: His main point was the double standard of ASUU who rejected fuel subsidy only now to cry' that FG is wasting money importing fuel when their needs are not being met.
As far as sleeping on okada, I really having nothing to say, except that that man has empowered more youths and talents than your governors have done since the initiation of democracy

it seem you are sleeping on top of bicycle

If Ben Bruce or Ben ibu, I don't what he call himself think fuel subsidy is the problem that warranty FG not to resolve ASUU strike, he must seriously sleeping on top of okada

Amaechi all the way. if you no like am go and hug transformer

I thought you have a picture of advancing flooding, but it seem you are advertising signposts.
common be serious

Gbam,. I support him. How can a married lady dressing that way. Is she advertising her body to remarry again. I wish every sincere man have this courage.

How I wish say na me give am the belle, chai see pikin.

abati over to you

i begin to lose respect for this forum, why this rubbish making front page for what?? what exactly massage you are trying to pass??
their are more important issue to make front page that is nonsense

GOD!!!!!!
the same happen in Portharcourt yesterday night at garrison. hmmmmmmm

you are carry a huge amount of money for donation when the people of your community are suffering
this man is real VIP, Vagabond In Power

i would have support you as well, but you sound more defending your igala people than the issue at hand. also you lied when you said they paid SSCE for 10 years, pls prove it.

Richie01: @Acidosis!

It's really very disheartening that the state has been from bad to worse in recent yrs...

But your idea of seizing that opportunity to insult the Igala people and as well spew hatred towards them has killed my zeal and enthusiasm to support you on this.

You talk as if Igalas does not kick against em too... If you must know, corruption is ubiquitous everywhere in Nigeria, Kogi as a state isn't an exception.

For the record, these men have done other good things for the state even when those things weren't/are consistent.

It baffles me how you think that Okun as a people are better than the Igalas, that's a shabby act of reasoning.

You act as if the Igalas are plagues whom you don't even want to co-habbit with... I wonder why you think you are better than them. Such a huge shame.

Way back in my university days, I had friends from your tribe whom are good people and are humble, sometimes, they follow me to my home for weekends... I teach some of them on some courses and I didn't even look down on any of them.

These governors paid all SSCE fees for more than 10yrs, they have built houses under the housing units in the state, they have been instrumental to relative peace in the state.

Once more, if they are as selfish as you portray em, then, why would Ibrahim change the name of the state university to KSU?

Lokoja water works, double lane township roads in all LG of the state.

It's so funny how you won't talk about your house of assembly representatives and your local govt chairmen and councillors on how they have failed too...

Why are you painting us black? What do you gain from doing that? Why do you think you people are better than us? Why do you act as if my people are plagues? Why are you generalizing things about us?

that is anti- party, he need to be suspended like Amechi................................ [color=#990000][/color]

though this nice development, but how dose this guaranty the aviation security and safety in the country??
can this be maintain

Several photos have emerged showing Rivers State lawmaker Evans Bipi attacking a police officer during a fracas precipitated by President
Goodluck Jonathan and his wife to unseat the governor, Rotimi Amaechi.

please drop any update regard to on going governor forum election.
i read pro-presidency has split into three group and they are unwilling to step down for each other.
what if amechi win or lose the election what will be the political implication on 2015 election?