₦airaland Forum

Cuddlemii:
me? lolz

Yes, just let me know, you earned it

^^^Your comment does not make any sense and non-comprehensive

@Shy One
I am happy for your strength and I read your comments with perfect understanding. You are doing the right thing and I pray your man will come to understand that he will even enjoy you more after your healing process. God is with you.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Lagos State, on Tuesday, analysed its performance in the last April general election and attributed its failure to internal wrangling among the top echelon of the party, just as it mapped out strategies aimed at capturing the state during the local government election scheduled to hold later this year.

In its resolve to capture the state, the chairman of the newly-inaugurated PDP Repositioning Vanguard, Lagos State chapter, Honourable Labrar Folami, lamented the failure of the party in the previous elections and expressed the readiness to reposition it for greater height.

He said that in recent times, the PDP in Lagos State had suffered numerous electoral misfortunes, adding that in 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011, gubernatorial elections, the party scored 100,000, 700,000, 500,000 and 300,000 votes respectively. This trend must stop.

The Vanguard, according to Folami, was formed in order to reconcile all the emerging factions and as well giving the party a new lease of life.

He said that with the present situation of things in the South-West, if care was not taken, the party would soon go into extinction. This necessitated the forming of the Vanguard which has the backings on notable leaders in the South-West,” Folami said.

Commenting on the style of leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN), Folami said, “it is our earnest conviction that the current government of Lagos State, does not have monopoly of improving the state.

On the contrary, they are in need of fresh ideas for nation building, other than aggressive taxation. We are not here to practise politics of destruction. Our primary interest is the Lagos of our dreams.”

Commenting on the formation of the Vanguard, Honourable Idowu Adefuye, Honourable Kotun, Prince Tunde Edward and Mr Segun Sonaike lamented the failures of the party in the party, regretting that in spite of the potentials that it was blessed with, its performance has not shown the kind of stuff, it has in the state.

“In PDP, we are not losers but winners. However, the recent political situation in the South-West is worrisome and steps have to be taken.

Lagos State Police Command will take a man who allegedly killed his banker’s wife, to a psychiatric hospital, in the metropolis. Akolade Arowolo was paraded before pressmen yesterday, at the premises of Police Public Relations Office, Oduduwa Street ,Ikeja, by the command’s spokesman, Mr Samuel Jinadu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police. Jinadu said Arowolo would be taken to a psychiatric hospital for examination, to ascertain his mental state.

Though Arowolo has since denied killing his wife. The suspect claimed that he even struggled to collect the knife from her so that she would not kill herself as she threatened to. The suspect untied a bandage wrapped round his right hand and showed his stomach and claimed that while trying to disarm his wife and stop her from killing herself, he was injured. Arowolo claimed he was not in his right frame of mind to talk to the Press. Later, he alleged that Titilayo stabbed herself to death.
“My lawyer will talk to all of you in due time. All I can tell you is that look at my hand, my chest and all my body.

She even injured me as I tried to collect the knife from her. Please, talk to my lawyer. The investigation is going on and he will talk to you in due time. You are talking about my wife here and not any other person. I am undergoing medical check-up and I am not in the right mood to talk to anybody, please, talk to my lawyer.( weeping) I beg you in the name of God.” Daily Sun gathered that Arowolo allegedly stabbed his wife several times in the neck and some other parts of her body. A police source revealed that an internal organ was chopped off from the deceased’s stomach. Her breasts were also affected. A knife was alleged to have broken inside her neck.

Jinadu said on June 24, at about 8.30pm, Arowolo, who lives at Akinseyinde Street, Isolo ,Lagos, stabbed his wife, Titlayo to death. Jinadu said immediately Arowolo committed the offence, he disappeared from his house. The police spokesman said the case was reported to the police at Aswani Division. He said the detectives swung into action and on, June 25, the said suspect was apprehended. The case has since been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti,Yaba, Lagos. He said on interrogation, Arowolo told the police that it was his wife that stabbed herself to death. He assured that investigation is still on in respect of this case. “The corpse of the victim had been deposited at the morgue of General Hospital, Ikeja., where autopsy report will be performed any time from now, to determine the extent of injury sustained through that particular act of the husband, despite the fact that her husband has denied stabbing her. Meanwhile, Arowolo will be taken to a psychiatric hospital to be examined to know what has actually gone wrong with him. And why he perpetrated the evil act,” he said.

Arowolo’s lawyer, Vincent Obianoyi has appealed to journalists to exercise patience in other not to jeopardise the investigation that is going on .Obianoyi said Arolowo should not make any statement or comment until the police investigations are out. It is safer for both parties to keep their gun powder dry until police investigations are out. And beside that, making a statement now may even further affect the already fray nerves ”,he said.

Meanwhile, police have rescued a six-year- old girl who was kidnapped in Lagos for four days. Omonike Olawale was allegedly kidnapped by Segun Ogunbawo,25. Ogunbawo claimed he began to target Omonike since the day he attended a party in Ayodeji Ogunlana Street, Idimu where the child resides with her parents. The suspect claimed that he went their with a black toy gun while the police debunked the claim, saying he exchanged gunfire with them when he came to collect the agreed ransom. The suspect demanded N5 million ransom but detectives used N650,000 as a bait to apprehend him. The suspect alleged that he wanted to use the money to set up a workshop for his business. He was paraded at Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, by Jinadu.

Meanwhile, police have rescued a six-year-old girl who was kidnapped in Lagos for four days. Omonike Olawale was allegedly kidnapped by Segun Ogunbawo, 25.

Ogunbawo claimed he began to target Omonike since the day he attended a party in Ayodeji Ogunlana Street, Idimu where the child resides with her parents. The suspect claimed that he went their with a black toy gun while the police debunked the claim, saying he exchanged gunfire with them when he came to collect the agreed ransom.

The suspect demanded N5 million ransom but detectives used N650, 000 as a bait to apprehend him. The suspect alleged that he wanted to use the money to set up a workshop for his business. He was paraded at Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, by Jinadu.

Tragedy struck in Surulere area of Lagos on Tuesday as a 62-year-old man, Mr. Abayomi Balogun, was crushed to death by a blue bus of the Bus Rapid Transit opposite the Office of the Lagos State Public Defender, Funsho Williams Avenue.

According to an eyewitness identified simply as John, Balogun was about to cross the lane when the bus with registration number XL 852 KTU and code number 82, which was on top speed, hit him and crushed his head. He died instantly.

John, who has a business opposite the BRT lane where the accident occurred, said, “The BRT driver and his assistant promptly abandoned the bus and ran away. When the passengers in the bus realised what had happened, they all scampered out of the bus and ran away too.

“The whole area was agog with rampaging youths from the neighbourhood, protesting the death of the man.”

The youth reportedly wanted to burn all BRT buses within the vicinity before they were prevailed on by the family of the deceased.

Another eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said the deceased had already crossed the BRT lane but saw two school children who wanted to cross the road.

The witness said Balogun held the children’s hands and took them across. But as he attemped to cross the lane again, he was knocked to the ground by the bus.

The deceased’s brains, whose corpse had been deposited at the Surulere General Hopital, Lagos, had been covered with sand on the lane when PUNCH METRO visited the scene.

Passers-by and eyewitnesses were seen at the scene recording the gory sight with their mobile phone cameras.

When our correspondent visited Balogun’s family at 14, Funsho Williams Avenue, Surulere, his relatives were still battling with the dilemma of how to tell his elder sister identified simply as Alhaja Suleiman about the sad news.

PUNCH METRO found out that the incident happened around 7am when school pupils were on their way to schools. It was learnt that the deceased had on Monday night complained about cold and on Tuesday told his relatives that he was going to a hospital for medical check up.

A niece of the deceased, Mrs. Kudirat Ogunsanya, told PUNCH METRO amid sobs that she had to look for elders in the neighbourhood to assist in breaking the news to Balogun’s sister.

A nephew of the deceased, who spoke on behalf of the family, Mr. Kehinde Bakare, said the incident was an indescribable pain for the family.

“This kind of death is not the kind anybody would wish an elderly person. The drivers of these buses drive sometimes like madmen. They believe when they are on that lane they are the gods of the road. That is something the government would have to look into. Something should be done to curb the excesses of these drivers,” Bakare said.

The family has since made a statement at the Area C Police Station, Surulere.

Mr. Muibi Oladosu, the Investigating Police Officer, who has been assigned to the case in the Traffic Section of the station, said the management of the BRT had been notified.

“They would produce the driver. We have already called them,” he said.

A MONTH after giving Aminu Tambuwal a bloc vote to emerge as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, it is pay back time for the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

The opposition party is insisting that its members must be given the chairmanship of some juicy positions in the Lower Chamber.

The Speaker is also facing another challenge from the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is insisting that it must choose those to occupy the remaining four principal positions of House Leader, his deputy, Chief Whip and his deputy.

It was gathered that the ACN leadership had already sent a powerful team to Tambuwal to intimate him of its intention not to compromise on its intention to fill the chairmanship of committees, such as Custom and Excise, Education, Finance, House Service, Agriculture, Appropriation, Aviation and Gas (downstream) among others.

The demand is outside the chairmanship of Public Account Committee which traditionally goes to the leading opposition party and Committee on Media and Publicity already occupied by Bamidele Opeyemi (ACN Ekiti).

A source said the ACN leadership met Tambuwal at the weekend to demand for the committees “if he really wants our full support during his four-year tenure or be a victim of our big stick”.

It was learnt that the PDP leadership had already submitted the names of Mulikat Adeola-Akande as House Leader from the South/West and Jerry Manwe from Taraba State as her deputy.

But, another powerful group in the PDP is pushing for Muraina Ajibola as the House Leader “and Tambuwal is in a dilemma over who to pick”.

During the June 6 election which produced Tambuwal as the Speaker, Adeola-Akande and Ajibola contested against him.

While Adeola-Akande was sponsored by the presidency, Ajibola was the candidate of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The source, however, said that Tambuwal preferred John Enoh from Cross River as the House Leader while he is looking in the direction of the North-East to fill the position of the Deputy House Leader.

Out of the 28 A-list committees often reserved for strong and ranking members across the party having majority members , the trend is changing now as ACN is asking for more than half of them with another condition that, at least, 50 of its members must serve as deputy chairmen of the second category on the list which contains other strategic committees.

Parly Iriase (Edo ACN) said that Tambuwal has a moral burden to consider his ACN colleagues for key appointments going by their support for him in June during the election.

He explained that the strength of his speakership lies heavily on the support of the opposition in the House.

But Bitrus Kaze (Plateau PDP) warned the Speaker to allow his party have its way in all appointments.

According to him, the party, not the Speaker, owns the office having secured majority of members in the 360-member House.

GOVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has been sued at an Osogbo High Court over his refusal to appoint commissioners, almost eight months after becoming governor.

A pensioner, Major Raphael Towobola (rtd) and a businessman, Mr. Adedotun Adebowale, in suit number HOS/M.53/2011 filed by their counsel, Kehinde Adesiyan, are seeking an order of Mandamus to compel Aregbesola to appoint commissioners.

They are also seeking another order of the court declaring as null and void all policies including award of contracts, financial spendings and other activities of government requiring the deliberations and assent of the Osun State Executive Council but which Aregbesola unilaterally carried out.

Filed along with the suit is a motion exparte seeking the leave of the court for a judicial review to compel Aregbesola to constitute his cabinet as stipulated in the constitution.

The plaintiffs set out eight grounds upon which the reliefs were sought, among which is that the appointment of commissioners in any state is statutory and mandatory by virtue of Section 192 (1), 193 and 195 (1 and 2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

Other grounds are that while it is the duty of Aregbesola to appoint commissioners, the commissioners so appointed are to determine the general direction of the policies of the government of the state. They added that "mandatory regular meetings of the State Executive Council is necessary to discharge the Executive responsibilities of the government."

The plaintiffs also hinged their action on the fact that " the policy directions and the activities of the government of Osun State had been grounded to a halt by reason of the failure of the respondent to constitute the cabinet which is the State Executive Council since about eight months ago when he took over.

"The appointment of an Attorney-General for a state, who is also to man the office of the Commissioner for Justice of the Government of the state, has not been made thereby grounding to a halt the administration of justice in the state," they stated while adding for effect that the government of Osun State is being run by Aregbesola "as a sole administrator".

Filed along with the processes was a written address in which the plaintiffs argued that they are pensioner and businessman respectively and also citizens of Osun State who are interested in how they and other people of Osun State are governed.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the application and the substantive suit.

The controversy over which geo-political zone should produce the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened Tuesday with three zones now tugging at the party for the office. The zones include the North-east, South-west and South-east.

Each of the zones has pushed its arguments aimed at securing the position.

The party had zoned the chairmanship position to the North-east zone.

But the South-west, using an advocacy group, has complained of marginalisation in the present power-sharing arrangement and called on President Goodluck Jonthan to concede the position to the zone.

Speaking with THISDAY Tuesday after its closed doors extra-ordinary meeting held in Ibadan to review the recent political developments in the zone, the co-ordinator of the group, Mr. Bayo Akinloye, decried what he described as the marginalisation of the zone.

The meeting, which comprised former lawmakers, chairmen of local governments, appointed state functionaries from the six states in the zone - Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos - noted that the marginalisation was inimical to the spirit of the constitution of the PDP as well as the Nigerian constitution which provide for equitable representation of all zones in the various organs and levels of government.

The group also called on the PDP leadership in the zone under former President Olusegun Obasanjo to urgently mobilise opinion leaders to meet with President

Jonathan and demand the national chairmanship of the party.

Akinloye said: "It is the contention of our group that the South-west geo-political zone is too important to the economic and political stability of the country called Nigeria to be left out of its political equation as being presently done."

He assured the president that the zone would continue to support his administration and urged him to reciprocate the support of the South-west which returned 98 per cent of its delegates’ votes at the presidential primary and 61 per cent of its total votes cast in the general election.

The PDP had zoned the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the South-west, but the members of the lower chamber of the National Assembly revolted against the party’s arrangement and voted Hon Aminu Tambuwal, from the North-west geo-political zone, thus denying the South-west zone of the number four position in the country.

In the North-east, there have been controversies over who should be the zone’s nominee as Adamawa State has opposed the candidature of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Prof. Jibril Aminu and Ambassador Hassan Adamu.

And following the nomination of the Acting National Chairman of the party, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, for ministerial appointment, some stalwarts of PDP in the North have called for an emergency convention where a properly elected chairman of the party would emerge.

The party chieftains expressed their objection to the appointive methods being used to fill the seat by the leadership of the party, arguing that during a proper convention such an acting chairman would have advantage over other interested aspirants.

This development, according to a source, has pitted the party’s National Caucus against the National Working Committee (NWC) which are billed to meet on the matter soon.

It was gathered that some influential chieftains of the party from the North have insisted on an emergency national convention to produce the next PDP national chairman instead of the appointive procedure which the leaders of the party have used.

According to the source, “when you appoint one of us to the post, the person would have undue advantage and when the national convention comes and the personality is interested in the post of national chairman, the party would have no option than to simply ratify him to the detriment of other aspirants.

“That is why we feel that the best thing to do in the circumstance is to revert back to the South-east zone so that a neutral person will be on the seat to conduct the national convention and supervise the election into national offices.”

Bello, it was gathered, may tender his resignation to the party’s National Secretary, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, within the week if he eventually scales through Senate’s screening as minister.

Those who are kicking against appointing anybody from the North-east zone where the position of the party’s national chairman had been zoned argued that it would place other aspirants to the seat at great disadvantage.

The South-east geo-political zone has also been in the league of zones demanding to produce the chairman of the party, given that Bello’s predecessor, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, who was unceremoniously asked to resign, is from the zone. The zone in recent times has raised the tempo of its agitation.

The controversy over the appointment of Olusegun Aganga for a fresh ministerial term escalated Tuesday with the House of Representatives urging President Goodluck Jonathan to abide by the law that backs a minister per state and a court being asked to declare Mr Aganga’s nomination on the slot of Lagos State illegal.

Mr Aganga, the immediate past Finance Minister, was re-nominated as a representative of Lagos State by Mr Jonathan for an unnamed portfolio, and is expected to be approved today by the Senate.

Following constitutional provisions that entitles each state to a ministerial slot, the decision has rekindled debates about Mr Aganga’s Lagos State claim - a controversy that first erupted during his first term in 2010, with officials and lawmakers from the state pressing for a replacement.

They allege Mr Aganga hails from Edo State, an argument not yet countered by the former minister.

A federal high court in Abuja has been asked to declare Mr Aganga’s nomination illegal. Funsho Ibrahim, Rahman Pedro and Tajudeen, all indigenes of Lagos State, challenged the decision on Monday in Abuja, according to court documents.

Ruling on a constitutional order raised by Femi Gbajabiamila (Action Congress ‑ Lagos), the House of Representatives rebuffed opposition to its rule, and urged Mr Jonathan to stick to the dictates of the 1999 Constitution backing each of the 36 states to be given a ministerial slot.

“We are urging the President to look into the section (147) of the Constitution as raised by Gbajabiamila, and act in accordance with the constitution,” the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal said.

The resolution came as the House scored a major win earlier in the day, literally compelling the president to notify the lower chamber of his appointment of 20 new Special Advisers as required by law, reversing last week’s omission that was questioned by the lawmakers.

Mr Gbajabiamila argued that the nomination of Mr Aganga breached the constitution and “amounted to short-changing the people of Lagos State.”

He, however, said the president’s action may have been an oversight, and urged the House to cause President Jonathan to urgently reverse the nomination in accordance with the law.

“This is the only place where the issue of indigeneship was referred to in clear terms in the constitution. Even though the President has the power to appoint the minister, his powers are limited by these provisions and Lagos State has been short-changed by appointing somebody whose indigeneship is not Lagos. There is no denial that he is from Edo State,” Mr Gbajabiamila said.

Approving the notice to Mr Jonathan, Mr Tambuwal said while the president had powers to appoint ministers, he needed to be aware of the provision of the Constitution as it relates to the matter.

CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reiterated its determination to nationalise banks that are unable to meet the September 30 deadline to increase their equity, rather than forcing them to liquidate.

Speaking in Pretoria, South Africa, Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, CBN, Kingsley Moghalu, said the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), created by the apex bank to buy the bad debts of banks, may become a majority shareholder in the rescued banks by plugging their equity shortfalls.

The affected banks are Union Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank and FinBank. Others are Bank PHB, Spring Bank and Afribank.

However, some of them have reached advanced stages in their recapitalisation talks with their partners.

The CBN bailed out eight of the country’s 24 banks in 2009, pumping N620 billion into the industry to prevent its collapse. The rescued banks have until the end of September to recapitalise or merge with new investors to avoid liquidation.

“The deadline is a very serious one. We have the responsibility as a systemic financial regulator to make sure the banking system is normalised by the end of the year,” Moghalu said.

While nationalisation is not the “favoured option, it is preferable to liquidation,” Moghalu said.

If AMCON takes a majority stake in a bank, it may manage the bank for a year or two before selling it, he said.

But some shareholders and former bank executives have sought to stall the recapitalisation process through court action.

Mr Erastus Akingbola, former managing director of Intercontinental Bank, and FinBank’s ex-Managing Director, Okey Nwosu, had their applications to halt the process dismissed last month.

A lack of clarity on the positions of Nigeria’s failed banks has led to “uncertainty” for investors, Fitch Ratings said on June 15. If Nigeria is “less inclined” to support the banks, there may be negative implications for the ratings on Nigerian banks, Fitch said.

“There are a number of vested interests coming to scuttle the process,” Moghalu said. “I can assure you those vested interests won’t prevail. As the regulator, we have the policies and powers to make sure we restore full financial stability one way or another.”

At least, three of the rescued banks are expected to sign agreements with investors in the coming weeks, Moghalu said, declining to elaborate further. The CBN is also investigating options aside from nationalisation and liquidation for lenders that fail to meet the September 30 deadline, he said, without giving details.

“I want to downplay the option of liquidation,” Moghalu said. “We put out the threat, but it was to concentrate people’s minds. It doesn’t mean we will wake up and liquidate banks. If people want to play rough, we have to show them we can play rough.”

Meanwhile, commercial banks can now place their Automated Teller Machines (ATM) outside their locations as the CBN has reversed its policy barring banks from erecting ATM outside their locations.

The apex bank has also disowned the United Bank of Africa (UBA) over its recently introduced N25,000 minimum cash balance for account holders.

The CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Mr Tunde Lemo, disclosed this at the second edition of deputy governors departmental briefing of the apex bank, held at the CBN Headquarters, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Mr Lemo, speaking on the currency management policy of the apex bank, said the Nigerian economy was too cash-oriented, adding that the resultant huge volume of cash transactions imposed tremendous costs to the banking sector.

He said the retail cash policy, which would commence on June 1, 2012, did not prohibit the withdrawal of more than N150,000, stressing that those who wished to conduct heavy transaction with their banks were free to do so within the provision of the policy.

Mr Lemo disclosed that the banks were poised and committed to an aggressive roll out of ATMs, Point-of-Sale (POS) and other electronic channels to ensure these were readily available to the high cash driven individuals and businesses.

The deputy governor stated further that the CBN and bankers’ committee were implementing an e-payment roll out programme that would deploy additional 40,000 POS and 10,000 ATMs before December 31 and 375,000 POS and 75,000 ATMs by December 2015.

He said that the CBN, in recognising the low absorptive capacity of the ATMs on the bank premises, had lifted its ban on erecting ATMs outside the banks locations, disclosing that banks were now free to erect ATMs kilometres outside their premises, to ensure the success of the cash management policy.

Noting that power was another key infrastructure, which impacted the availability of POS and ATMs, Mr Lemo said the CBN had agreed on minimum POS standard, which specified adequate battery lifespan to support uninterrupted availability of service to the terminals.

Mr Lemo said a clear directive to vacate any existing contract, which was restrictive to card usage with effect from June 1, 2012, would be issued by the CBN.
On the UBA N25,000 minimum bank balance directive to its customers, the deputy governor said the apex bank was not aware of this, except what had been written in newspapers.

“It is not CBN policy, we don’t micro-manage how banks conduct their businesses, however, we won’t be happy if any bank decides to turn back minor savers,” Lemo said.

However, UBA customers, whose accounts balances were below the minimum N25,000 threshold and are not able to upgrade between July 1 to September 1, 2011, have the option of migrating to self-service channels provided by the bank.

According to the Executive Director, Corporate and Institutional Banking, UBA, Mr Ifeatu Onejeme, the migration of customers to self-service e-banking channels and mobile payment platform, U-Mo, was being done through the various business offices of UBA, where the respective accounts were domiciled, in a simplified process, devoid of any hassles.

He reiterated that the new minimum balance was to provide service to customers, adding that U-Mo was to make life earsier for a segment of customers.
“Market is changing, things are moving positively and we cannot be static,” he said.

Commenting on the increase in the minimum balance, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, Executive Director, Resources, said the initiative was based on the continuous efforts of its management to improve on customer service delivery.

In the implementation of this new initiative, the bank was not unmindful of some of the inconveniences it would cause.

He further said salary/pension accounts, whether savings or current; overdraft/facility linked current accounts; loan accounts; savings/current accounts linked to deposits/investments and para-military/military/ex-servicemen accounts were exempted from the new minimum balance requirement.

Seven people including two policemen, an Assistant Superintendent of Customs (ASC II), and three civilians were on Tuesday killed by the Boko Haram Islamic sect in Maiduguri, Borno State.

The two policemen whose ranks could not be ascertained as at press time were shot dead in Gwange area within three hours. The development came as three members of the Islamic fundamentalists were killed by policemen at their hideout in Bauchi, on Tuesday. Several other members of the sect were injured in the clash.

Bothered by the spate of killings by Boko Haram and the level of insecurity in the country, the Senate met top security chiefs, including National Security Adviser, General Oweye Azazi behind closed door for three hours in Abuja, yesterday. Azazi led the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, Inspector General of Police Hafiz Ringim and the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) Ita Ekpeyong, to the meeting even as Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Ivy Okoronkwo accompanied Ringim to the parley.

Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) who spoke with newsmen at the end of the session noted that the Senators were specifically briefed on the Boko Haram phenomenon, the arrests made so far and the challenges facing them. He said: “The briefing was extensive and covered every aspect of the security challenges currently facing our country including the Boko Haram phenomenon. Questions were asked, clarifications sought, and were given.

“At the end of the day, I can say with certainty that the security chiefs have assured Nigerians that they are on top of the situation and that these challenges, especially the challenge of the Boko Haram, will be curtailed sooner than later.”
However, some Senators at the meeting told Daily Sun that the security chiefs took their turns to brief the chamber on measures and strategies being put in place to counter insecurity in the country.

“They briefed us on the general security situation of the country. At the end of the day, they all centred on Boko Haram menace; porosity of our borders and infiltration of small arms and ammunition.”
Another ranking Senator who craved anonymity narrated how the security agencies had decided to collaborate on the counter-offensive measures being put together to curtail the menace.

“They told us that they have risen to the challenge and how the problems would be curtailed. The security chiefs left us with the assurance that they were cooperating on the Boko Haram problem. They have started and are still meeting.”
Reacting to the report that members of the dreaded group plan to shift their attacks to Kogi, Benue and Nassarawa States, Lokoja residents called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Borno State and set up a special tribunal to try those guilty of bombing and kidnapping saying, the option of President Goodluck Jonatahn to treat the issue with political solution may not bring any tangible results
Many of the residents urged President Goodluck Jonathan to be more firm and radical in his approach to security of lives and property of Nigerians.

A legal practitioner in Kogi State, Mr Ahmadu Umar, said before there could be peace in Borno State or in the North-east where the bombings were rampant, President Jonathan must hold the bull by the horn by declaring a state-of-emergency in Borno state.

“President Jonatahn must not treat this sect called Boko Haram with kid gloves. He should confront them frontally by declaring a state-of-emergency in Borno State and go ahead to set up a special tribunal to try those caught to be involved in bombings and kidnappings in the country. The special tribunal,” he advised, “should be made up of retired justices and military generals including members of the security agencies and those found guilty should be sentenced to life imprisonment without an option of fine.’’
Michael Olowojaiye, a retired Army officer also shared the view of Umar as he said unless the Federal Government used Borno State Government to test its will power by declaring a state of emergency there, peace may continue to elude that area.

Olowojaiye however called on the security agencies to identify influential people who may be sponsoring this sect including past and present political office holders in the state, saying, nobody should be above the law.
On Tuesday’s killings in Borno State, sources said one of the slain policemen identified as Babagana Angus was attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Gwange Divisional Police Station until the early hours of Tuesday when he was shot.

Daily Sun gathered that the gunmen had stormed Babagana’s residence at Gwange at about 11 am on a motorcycle and disappeared as soon as their mission was accomplished. A police operational vehicle was seen with the corpse of Babagana in front of the Accident and Emergency Unit of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) at about 12.30 pm.

But less than three hours after the killing of Babagana, another policeman was mowed down at same Gwange at about 3.30 pm. Details of the second killing were sketchy as at press time even as residents were gripped with fear.
As at the time of filing this report, details of the killing and identities of the three corpses found around the Bulunkutu roundabout were still sketchy even as military authorities maintained they had not received information on the incident.
Commander of the Joint Task Force, Maj. Gen Jack Nwaogbo who spoke on phone disclosed that the force had received the news of the Gwange early morning killing. He however maintained he was “yet to receive any information on the Bulunkutu incident,” promising to furnish journalists with details when he is briefed.

Efforts to reach the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Abubakar on his mobile phone were unsuccessful as his line remained switched off throughout yesterday afternoon. The Command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abdullahi Lawal who spoke with this reporter on phone said he did not have the details of the incident. “I’m not in the state right now and I don’t have the detail,” he told Daily Sun.

Meanwhile in Bauchi, the suspected Boko Haram hideout attacked yesterday was located at Kur in Jahun ward of the Bauchi metropolis. An eye-witness said he saw heavily armed policemen in the area very early in the morning.
The police operation which lasted almost six hours was said to have been a pro-active action aimed at smoking out members of the sect in the state.

Sporadic gunshots caused panic among residents living in the area particularly, in Dutse Tanshi, Danjuma Goje Street, Federal Low Cost Housing and Games Village. There were also reports that at least three persons were killed in the operation while several others were injured.
An eye-witness told Daily Sun that he saw one man shot on his stomach and another man shot on his hand and legs.
In his account, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammad Barau, said police received information that the criminals hid in one house in Anguwan Kur.

Barau said that based on the information, a team of policemen cordoned the house.
He said the people inside the house opened fire at the police and the police responded and overpowered them.
The PPRO said the house was searched leading to the recovery a gun and ammunitions.
He added that the police has arrested and taken the injured to the hospital.
When asked whether the suspects were members of the Boko Haram sect, Barau said he could not yet establish if they were members of the group or not.

On the number of suspects arrested, killed or injured, the police spokesman said the group just came back from the operation and was yet to make a detail report.
Speaking on the threats to National Security posed by the Boko Haram a lawmaker in Delta State, Hon. Efe Ofobruku advised President Goodluck Jonathan, to dialogue with the sect in order to nip their activities in the bud.
Ofobruku who gave the advice Tuesday in Warri, expressed deep worries over the activities of the sect sect serious tension it is causing across the country, especially in the northern states and Abuja, the nation’s capital.

“I want to call on the president to engage these fighters in a dialogue because two wrongs do not make a right. It is true that what they are doing is wrong but it will be worse for government to take wrong step in a bid to solve this issue”, said Ofobruku who is representing Uvwie Local Government in the State House of Assembly.
Also the Coordinator, Journalist Network against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Agbese has said the prevailing insecurity bedeviling the northern part of the country was as a result of financial support to terrorist’s activities in the past.

Agbese told Daily Sun yesterday in Jos, after he addressed secretariat staffers of the network in Plateau State. He informed that the network was formally inaugurated in Nigeria during the weekend in Kaduna, Kaduna State, with the aim of exposing corrupt practices. He emphasized that money laundering and terrorist financing were the focus of the network.

Agbese observed that the Boko Haram syndrome been recently experienced in some part of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital as denied both local and foreign investors investing in that state, and has affected negatively on the economy and well being of the citizenry.

On its part, the office of the Traffic Warden National Welfare Committee has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to use the death of Asst. Nongor Nangtu in the Police Headquarters, Abuja bomb blast to address the lingering issue of the promotion of traffic wardens and their over-dependence on the Nigerian Police.

The tribute which was read during the burial of the late traffic warden in Langtang, Plateau State and made available to Daily Sun recalled that a ministerial committee was set up last year on the instruction of the President to look into the issues and submit a report within a week to the presidency. He however lamented that till date, the report is yet to be submitted despite having completed the job.

It urged the president to step into the issues affecting traffic wardens as a tribute to their dead colleague who had become a sacrificial lamb to save the Nigerian Police and the Inspector General of Police, in particular.

^^^^I bear no grudge daughter, but will only spank you when next you break your toys

Whats pweety4me doing on that list?

Cuddlemii:
First of all, PRAISE THE KINGS OF KINGS FOR YOUR KIND

Many men would capitalize on this, sleep with her till they fill up their tank.

Tell her you are not interested anyhow you want it without mincing words and feeling bad. To hell with her if She doesn't want to be friends with you anymore.

As far as in your mind, you did the right thing and your conscience is clear


As for the girl, she needs a mask, sun shades and Hijab or Nicob, that black overall dress that Muslims wear. So she doesn't know how to play her cards right to get you without causing all this drama. She should have just charmed you is all.

I will like to be your friend sha, my own request is different oh. Im just proud of you man. Big up urself

Cuddlemii, am also like the OP we have same qualities, so are you gonna be my friend?

@OP Never, I said NEVER go back to that hoe of your ex-gal. That will be sheer suicide, maybe you wont even survive her next attack

^^^^Well said. Your next hair-do is on me

@OP did the shopperholic put any shot gun in your head?

nadneth:
Why are some Yoruba eediots so tribalistic? They've started calling others even when the guy in question is a Yoruba guy. The other day a yoruba guy butchered the wife to death. Just last week a yoruba guy was caught in the US for travelling with a fake ticket, and now London Met arrested yet another Yoruba for fraud in the UK. Now we know who is giving Nigeria bad name abroad.

It is so sad my brother, these people have given us a very bad name, also a few days ago a Yoruba woman went to have a Quin in London and cant foot her bills and the husband bolted. We are still battling with the ones in Abuja. Do they always derive joy in cheating the system that benefits them?

Umu afo Igbo, biko jenu denye afa na Nzuko Ndigbo ebe a: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-705192.99999.html#bot

I am really impressed with all these happenings in Enugu. The last time I went home I was really glad

Since the removal of the former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo from the South-east, and his replacement by Alhaji Haliru Bello Muhammed from the North-east, the zoning permutation of the party has suffered hiccups.

The nomination of Bello Muhammed from Kebbi State for a ministerial appointment has also thrown up a fresh challenge for the PDP, which is now torn between the South -east, the original owner of the current slot and the North-east, the zone which is expected to produce the substantive national chairman at the next convention.

If Muhammed’s nomination is ratified and confirmed, the post of the chairman would become vacant and would warrant filling up with another acting chairman pending the party’s national convention next year where a substantive national chairman would be elected.

As it were now, the slot was supposed to reside in the South -east before it would move to the North-east at the next convention.
The problem now is that the South-east, the natural owner of the slot, wants it back at least to complete its term, which was started by Nwodo.

Daily Sun reliably gathered that some top chieftains of the PDP from the South-east rose from a caucus meeting at the weekend and decided to work towards occupying “the about-to-be-vacant post that is naturally our birthright in the interest of justice and fair play.”

A source close to the meeting revealed to Daily Sun that “to underscore the seriousness attached to the project, the meeting had in attendance political bigwigs like the former vice-president Alex Ekwueme, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, national vice chairman (South-east), Chief Olisa Metu and his predecessor, Chief Fidelis Ozichukwu, among others.

The fear of the South-east PDP leaders and party elders is that if the North-east candidate is chosen for the post in acting capacity now, tendency is that the favoured candidate may be confirmed as substantive national chairman during the national nonvention and thereby putting the chance of the South-east to complete its term in total jeopardy.
It is against this background that South-east elders put heads together to demand for their political right in the PDP scheme of things. Daily Sun further gathered that the concerned leaders have put machinery in place to work out modalities on how to lobby the relevant power brokers within the party to achieve their goal.

Interestingly though, no name has come up as the candidate to complete the term for the zone, it was gathered authoritatively that the zone would, this time, work harmoniously together to present a candidate that would be acceptable to the generality of the South-east caucus.

“The consensus this time is to reclaim the lost position for the zone. It will amount to double jeopardy if we cannot reclaim it now and at the same time we will not have opportunity to contest the post in the next national convention,” one of the leaders in attendance pointed out.

The fear was confirmed by a chieftain of the party and former minister for works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe who said “the party has decided to pick a North -east candidate to hold the post in an acting capacity pending the party’s national convention coming up next year March.”
According to him, the zone had lost out severally in the present dispensation, revealing that “they did not get speaker, they lost the deputy speaker slot and so, there must be re-arrangement to accommodate and compensate both the North-east and the South-west.”
He further revealed that the post of the secretary wouldgo to the South-west exuding confidence that there would not be any crisis in the arrangement.

Eleven days after, Mr. Kolade Arowolo, who was suspected to have killed his wife, Titilayo, a banker with Skye Bank, Marina Branch, Monday denied stabbing and killing the deceased.

He said contrary to public opinion, the deceased stabbed herself to death.

The suspect was said to have killed his 29-year-old wife in cold blood at their No. 8 Akindehinde Street, Isolo, a suburb of Lagos, on Saturday, June 24.

According to him, he had been having serious issues with the deceased over their marriage before that fateful day that she ended up killing herself, after stabbing him too.

Recalling what transpired between them that day, Arowolo said the deceased was acting under the influence of demons that took over her body and turned her into another person entirely.

He said: “The woman was possessed that day and while we were quarreling, she went into the kitchen and brought out a knife with which she overpowered me and then began to stab me all over my body and head.

“The next thing I saw, she started stabbing herself repeatedly with the knife while telling me that she was tired of the marriage and that since I did not want to let her go, she will kill me and then kill herself.”

According to him, “We have been having issues since the day we got married so much so that I have contemplated divorcing her but because I am a spiritual person and church I pastor, I decided to manage.

“I am now regretting that decision because I should have been bold enough to divorce her and then face the consequences instead of this mess I have found myself.”

He went on to say that he never had plans to marry her as he had a lady he was dating but got lured into her web with the pregnancy she said he was responsible, adding that he only agreed to marry her when the pressure from her family became too much from him to bear.

Urging young men not to allow family pressure to push them into unwanted relationships, he advised them to be bold enough to stop any relationship that was not moving well before it culminates into marriage.

He declared as false, stories that he was probably frustrated because of his unemployment status, stating categorically that never at any time was he ever unemployed even when he left his accounting job.

He stated that even though he was not on any white collar job anymore, he had veered into a business where he deals with exporting cashew nuts to other countries.

Also tackling the issue of the deceased paying the house rent, Arowolo said that when they got married, the first house rent that was paid was solely with his money while admitting that the deceased supported him in the payment of subsequent ones.

When asked why the press was not allowed access to him since the incident, the suspect said that he was critically ill from the knife stabs from the deceased, stressing that he only became conscious last weekend.

Lamenting that stories claimed he ran from police men who met him in the blood soaked car, the suspect said after the deceased killed herself, he jumped down from the storey building and ran to his family members to report himself.

He said he was taken to Ejigbo Police Station where he was later moved to Aswani Police Station before he finally landed at the State Criminal and Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba

Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday sentenced the Group Managing Director of Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti to prison for disobeying a valid court order.

The presiding judge, Justice Charles Archibong who handed down the sentence held that the bank MD should be kept in detention till he purges himself of contempt.

Archibong also awarded N5 million costs against the Skye boss should pay N5 million as costs.

Justice Archibong added that if Durosinmi-Etti is out of the bank’s head office, the next ranking executive director to him should also be committed to prison.

Archibong gave the orders after entertaining arguments from Malachi Okafor, counsel to the judgment creditor in the matter, Desange Nigeria Limited.

According to the fact of the matter, Desange secured a judgment against the Nigeria Customs sometime last year, but the organisation refused to pay the judgment sum.

Irked by the development, Desange filed a motion to furnish the accounts of Customs in five banks. The banks included Zenith, Sterling, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Skye Bank.

All the banks were said to have complied with the court order by filling affidavit to show cause. Besides, the other banks were said to have eventually complied fully with the court order by paying the judgment sum, but Skye Bank refused to pay the money.

Skye Bank instead filed an objection to the garnishee proceedings, but same objection was dismissed by the court on the ground that it lacked merit.

Thereafter, Skye Bank issued a cheque in the sum of N10, 820, 680. 25 as payment for the judgment sum, but the cheque was dishonoured when it was presented for payment, an indication that the bank issued a dud cheque.

According to the court processes, the said Desange then filed form 48 and 49 to commit Durosinmi-Etti to prison for disobeying a valid court order.

Apart from Durosinmi-Etti, others listed as contemnors in the contempt proceedings included Skye Bank Chairman, Morenikeji Onasanya; the company secretary of the bank, Abimbola Izu and five executive directors of the bank – Gbenga Ademulegan, Dotun Adeniyi, Amaka Onwugbalu, Timothy Oguntayo and Mrs. Ibiye.

After an ex-parte motion moved by Okafor, the court said: "The discharge (dud cheque) which was based on a deception of the court is hereby revoked and the bank (Skye Bank) will pay in the account of the judgment debtor the value of the draft they presented in court on the last adjourned date."

The court further adjourned the matter till July 11 for report of compliance with the order of court.

Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello on Monday denied that the property she purportedly evicted a tenant from belonged to her.

Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, told a Lagos High Court that the property in dispute located at M10, Road 2, Victoria Garden City, Lekki, Lagos, was owned by her sister, Ms Damilola Obasanjo.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Justice Adesuyi Olateru-Olagbeji had on April 7 ordered Obasanjo-Bello to re-open the property to enable the plaintiff, Mr Martin Abhulimhen, to remove his personal effects from the house.

Abhulimhen is seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant from evicting him without following the due process of law.

His lawyer, Mr. Napoleon Emeaso-Nwachukwu, urged the court to compel Obasanjo-Bello to re-open the house to enable his family to have access to the apartment, which was locked up on March 2, 2010.

However, at the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, Obasanjo-Bello told the court that the petitioner was not her tenant.

She said she had never dealt with the claimant or any occupant of the property, adding that she did not visit the property with policemen to throw out any tenant as claimed by Abhulimhen.

According to Obasanjo-Bello, the suit is meant to embarrass her as a “notable politician.”

NAN also reports that the claimant is also seeking a declaration that the attempt by Obasanjo-Bello to evict him from the property was illegal, unlawful, null and void.

He wants the court to award him N200m as damages for trespass.

The Senate’s refusal to screen former Finance Minister Olusegun Aganga and former Water Resources Minister, Obadiah Ando may have been due to weighty petitions filed against them in the Senate.

Ando’s problems are even compounded by the fact that all three Senators from his home State, Taraba are signatory to a petition against him.

Aganga is being confronted by a number of petitions alleging that he is not from Lagos, though all three Senators from Lagos have been quiet on the issue.

Both Aganga and Ando were passed over during the screening last week reflective of the fact that the Senate is considering the petitions against them. Yesterday, Aganga fought back insisting that he was nominated back to the federal cabinet based on his performance as Finance Minister in the last cabinet.

In the latest petition against Aganga filed by 93 years old retired Justice Isiaka Oluwa, he said that the nomination of Aganga was against the provision of Section 147(3) of the constitution which requires that each state should have a nominee in the federal cabinet.

“I am Justice Isiaka Ishola Oluwa (rtd), a 93 years old indigene of Lagos State and indeed patriotic Nigeria who has served meritoriously as a judge in the Lagos Judiciary. By virtue of my age, I could claim to have been part of the metamorphosis of the Nigeria State from embryonic stage till what it is today.

“This clear provision presupposes that amongst other criteria of qualifications, a person to be appointed as Minister to represent a particular state on the Federal Executive Council must be an indigene of that state. With all due regards, I submit that this provision is clear, unambiguous and sacrosanct.

To this end, I respectfully implore distinguished Senators to meticulously consider the nominees, particularly to confirm their states of origin. This will be in tandem with clear provision of Nigeria’s constitution and expectation of the Nigerian people. Particularly, it will also prevent situation where Lagos State ministerial slot would be usurped by a person who is not of Lagos State origin”.

Special Assistant, Media, Mr. Okwudili Ojukwu, however, said that Aganga was nominated based on his performance in the last cabinet.

His words, “the sterling performance of Mr Aganga is obviously the basis for his invitation into government this time. Most Nigerians are of the opinion that he passed his test very well and see that as the basis of his invitation by the president to join the cabinet again.

The petition signed by the three Senators from Taraba, Aisha Jummai Alhassan, (Taraba North), Abubakar Tutare, (Taraba Central) and Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South), a copy which was made available to Vanguard said they had rejected him.

The Senators who addressed the letter to Senate President David Mark and copied the Deputy Senate President, all Principal officers, all Senators and the Taraba State governor, Danbaba Suntai stressed that he cannot be the minister to represent Taraba State.

The petition which was dated June 30,2011 with the caption ““Objection to the Nomination/Confirmation of Dr. Obadiah Ando, Ministerial Nominee, Taraba state”” which was written on the letter-headed paper of the Taraba Senators Forum reads: ““You may recall our verbal objection to the nomination/confirmation of the Taraba state ministerial nominee, Dr. Obadiah Ando made by the three senators representing the people of Taraba state.

““We the undersigned representing Taraba state deem it necessary to officially communicate the objection of the people of Taraba state o the Senate through your Excellency, our President. ““We shall give details or the reasons of our peoples” objections whenever we are so required so to do.““Please accept your Excellency the assurance of our unflinching support and that of the people of Taraba state””.

The Senate has a tradition of dropping any nominee for federal cabinet if at least two senators from his state kick against any nomination.

Former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Monday underwent security screening at the headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS), Abuja, preparatory for her appearance Tuesday before the Senate’s on-going ministerial confirmation hearings.

Okonjo-Iweala, a source said, arrived the Asokoro Drive office of the SSS at about 3.30pm and was led to the hall where other nominees were undergoing screening.

This puts to an end speculations on whether she would agree to serve in President Goodluck Jonathan‘s cabinet following her controversial exit from the cabinet of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Dressed in her normal traditional attire, she looked healthy and walked majestically as the SSS officials took her from one office to the other.

Meanwhile, ahead of the ministerial confirmation hearings scheduled to resume Tuesday at the Senate, the three senators from Taraba State Monday raised objection to the confirmation of the state's nominee, Dr. Obadiah Ando.

The senators - Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan (PDP, Taraba North), Emmanuel Bwacha (PDP, Taraba South) and Abubakar Tutare (PDP, Taraba Central) - told newsmen in Abuja Monday that their objection to Ando's clearance was in deference to the wishes of their constituents who had unanimously rejected the nominee.

By the Senate's rule for a ministerial nominee to scale the screening hurdle, his nomination must be supported by at least two of the senators representing the state where he comes from.

Ando, the immediate past Minister of Water Resources and his Finance counterpart, Olusegun Aganga, were the only ones whose screening was held in abeyance by the Senate last week. Their 12 other colleagues, who were reappointed, have all been confirmed and sworn in by President Jonathan who promptly returned them to their former ministries.

The screening of the remaining nominees is expected to engage the Senate's attention today, tomorrow and probably on Thursday.

Al-Hassan, who spoke on behalf of her two other colleagues, said the people's objection to Ando's nomination was based on his non-performance when he was Minister of Water Resources in the last administration as well as his inaccessibility to the people of the state.

Ando ought to have been screened by the Senate last Tuesday according to the order in which the nominees' names appeared on the Order Paper, but he was skipped when it got to his turn.

Al-Hassan denied the insinuations making the rounds that the standing down of Ando's screening last Thursday was to give the nominee time to reach out to the senators for a possible change of mind.

She said Ando's appearance was stood down by the Senate to allow for the screening of the two female nominees slated for that day before the Senate adjourned in the spirit of gender sensitivity.

She maintained that she and her colleagues were "all men and women of very high integrity who will never be influenced or induced with anything to divert the cause of justice or oppose the objective wishes of our constituents".

On whether their objection to Ando's nomination would not bring the Taraba senators in direct collision with their state governor Danfulani Suntai, she said: "There is no fight in this matter. It doesn't matter who nominated him. He (the nominee) is to represent the entire Taraba State and not the person that supposedly nominated him"

NATIONAL chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) Victor Umeh, has said that since names of ministerial nominees by President Jonathan were made public, a lot of APGA faithful had been calling and sending text messages expressing disappointment.

The APGA Chairman also spoke on the Boko Haram threat to security saying Nigeria stands the risk of being branded a terrorist nation, urging the federal government to toe the path of caution by employing dialogue and psychological therapy to diffuse the issue.

Umeh, who spoke to The Guardian in an exclusive interview in his office, Abuja, said: “We ran for the various seats except the presidency because we did not have a presidential candidate, so we supported Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. We left what he would do for APGA to his discretion. As to whether APGA is satisfied as a political party, I will tell you that since this screening exercise began, our party members have been calling me and sending all sorts of text messages expressing disappointment. It (nomination of ministers) is an issue party faithful feel very strongly about, but there is nothing we can do about that because it was a support that was given unconditionally.”

The APGA chairman remarked that quite unlike what befell the Alliance for Democracy, (AD) in 2003, APGA came out of the 2011 elections enlarging its coasts instead of shrinking in size, recalling how newsmen inundated him with questions suggesting that APGA had shot itself in the foot by supporting a rival party’s candidate.

On concerns raised by some notable party men that the President should have compensated the party with a ministerial nominee for the Southeast geopolitical zone or Anambra State, Umeh said that in an ideal situation where federal character is upheld to the letter, state governments not controlled by the ruling party ought to recommend persons to be appointed into the federal cabinet.

“What is the key really is whether we have people in the federal executive council or not, those chosen should see Nigeria as one constituency. They should do everything in their power to meet the enormous challenges facing the country,” he said.

According to him, in the event of failure to perform, APGA will stand very strongly to say that the government has failed this country.


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53208:apga-not-pleased-with-jonathans-cabinet&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

DELTA State Re-run Election Petitions Tribunal has dismissed the application by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, which sought to strike out the petition of his main challenger, Chief Great Ogboru of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP).

In a unanimous judgment, the tree-man tribunal headed by Justice Uzoamaka Ogwurike, ruled that Ogboru’s petition in the last January 6 re-run election in the state was proper and must be heard on its merit.

The panel held that it would amount to injustice to shut the door against the petitioner without granting him fair hearing, stressing that, “the proper legislative intent of the petition must be perused.”

At the inaugural sitting of the panel on Thursday, counsel to Uduaghan, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) had urged the tribunal “to see the petition as abandoned and (an) abuse of judicial process” and so should be struck out for lack of merit.

When the matter came up yesterday, the panel’s chair ruled that, “I hold, therefore, that the application of the petitioner, brought before the registry of the tribunal, received and accessed is accepted as valid.”

“Application by the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respondents (Uduaghan, PDP and INEC) is hereby dismissed.”

The panel also granted the applications of the parties in the matter, seeking for joint inspection of the ballot papers used for the “controversial” election


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53206:tribunal-strikes-out-uduaghans-application&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has increased airport charges for passengers travelling through all airports in the country.

The new levy, Passenger Service Charge (PSC), has been hiked to N1,000 from N350 for domestic travellers and took effect two weeks ago.

But Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operators of the ultra-modern domestic terminal, MMA2, continues to charge the old rate of N35O per passenger.

For international travel, the authority has equally, some say clandestinely, raised the charge from $35 to $50, a situation some airlines claimed was not communicated to them.

With the scenario, a passenger travelling to Accra, Ghana for instance is expected to pay over $100 on airport tax as he would pay $50 at the airport and another $50 at Kotoka International Airport, Accra, all exclusive of airfare.

The implication is that Accra, which is about 45 minutes by air, may cost over N100,000 as airlines are contemplating raising airfare to cover the new charges.

A top official of FAAN who spoke with The Guardian on condition of anonymity confirmed the increase, but declined to give reason for it.

Some travel agents who spoke with The Guardian at the weekend said they were surprised over the development.

And, following several flight delays and cancellations without prior notice, which currently characterise air travel in the country, more wealthy Nigerians appeared to have lost faith in airline operators and have instead decided to buy their own private jets to fly in.

A top official in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) who spoke with The Guardian on this development submitted that these rich Nigerians were buying the luxury jets in order to cut down on time wasted in the course of moving around for their business transactions.

The source stated that it would be foolhardy for a wealthy businessman to be stranded at an airport for more than four hours or more or rely on domestic flight schedules that are currently unreliable when he has urgent business appointment to meet.

The current unending flight delays and cancellations have been attributed to the airlines’ indebtedness to aviation fuel marketers, totalling over N4 billion, a situation that has forced the marketers to supply the operators on a cash-and-carry basis.

Many airlines in the country are cash-strapped and cannot raise enough funds to fuel their aircraft for their daily operations.

Although the NCAA, through its consumer protection directorate has been working to end this ugly situation, the problem has remained the same.

Two weeks ago, a business mogul and sole distribution of a popular brand of cars in Nigeria acquired a state-of-the-art Gulf Stream jet, just as one of the management concessionaires of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), whose concession is under threat of revocation.

Not too long ago, a publisher of a national newspaper joined the fray. Other recent buyers of private jets included clergymen and notable businessmen.

A visit to the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport revealed many of these private jets parked at the apron near Arik aircraft hangar and at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) near Aero Contractor’s terminal. They included jets were Gulf Stream, Challenger Global 5000, Hawker 900 XP, Beechcraft and Falcon X aircraft brands.

Recently, Director-General, Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Mrs. Ifeyinwa Umenyi, said the commission would invoke a section of its Act to impose sanctions on airlines that continue to cancel or delay flights.


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53320:-faan-raises-airport-charges-as-nigerians-buy-jets&catid=1:national&Itemid=559