₦airaland Forum

FEELERS from Aso Villa, Abuja yesterday indicated that President Goodluck Jonathan may not be in a hurry to constitute his much awaited cabinet.

The Guardian learnt that two critical factors are responsible. The first is the intense lobbying by the old cabinet members. The lobby to return was said to have succeeded to the extent that a lot of them were on their way back until early this week when some influential elders sighted a tentative cabinet list and counselled against its release.

It was gathered that two elders from the North were said to have counselled President Jonathan that the “list containing most of the members of the cabinet dissolved two weeks ago would not be able to assist in transforming Nigeria.”

The elders were said to have advised that “the president needed a legacy cabinet for his transformation agenda,” and that the list they sighted “contained the names of some of those that have been lobbying even in the news media to advertise themselves and such people are mere locusts in the system.”

The president was said to have been persuaded by the counsel of the elders and that perspective is said to have compounded the already complex process of selecting from the motley crowd of applicants.

The second factor, which has affected human resources management in the presidency, is a reported leak that some of the members of the old guard have paid a shadowy group said to be soliciting CVs and money from those who would like to return to the cabinet at all costs. The intelligence and security community in the presidency is said to be investigating those alleged to be involved in the unwholesome practice.

The Guardian inquiries revealed that most of the old ministers are quite upbeat that they will even return to their old portfolios, as many of them have not handed over some vital documents in their old ministries and departments.

Meanwhile, the well-orchestrated report about the clearance of 10 old ministers may not be real after all, as it was revealed last night that most of the names paraded in the media are “a product of media propaganda and blackmail by some members of the old set-up.”

It was learnt that the president has been dealing with the State Security Service (SSS) on this, but the list is not open to the media as the names being paraded may not be correct after all.

This is the way a concerned president’s man put it last night: “Recall that a section of the media had two weeks ago reported that the same intelligence service had cleared the same set of people they mentioned again today. How many times would the president send the same names to the same agency for check?

“I think the media should be ethical and careful in reporting the office of the president. A cabinet list cannot be so open like that. And mentioning non-existing names in the media will not produce the names like that magically.”

Besides, it was gathered that there has been a ‘cold war’ over the scramble to make the list of the president’s men inside the State House. An insider attributed this to the “failure of the presidency to withdraw security cover cards from most of the members of the old guard who have access to their old offices, although the president has not confirmed anyone after the appointment and re-appointment of the SGF and the NSA.”



http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51595:why-jonathan-may-delay-announcing-his-cabinet&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

CONTENTS of call logs admitted in evidence by the National Judicial Council (NJC) probe panel investigating alleged corruption in the handling of governorship appeals in Osun and Ekiti states have been finally uncovered.

In the final address of the petitioners; former Governors Segun Oni of Ekiti, Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun and the Peoples Democratic Party (Osun State) to the Justice Umaru Abdullahi panel, the blow-by-blow account of how the alleged unethical calls were made between the President of the Court of Appeal, Isa Ayo Salami and chieftains of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) were detailed.

According to the document obtained by the Nigerian Tribune; “On 11th, November, 2010, ACN chieftain and spokesman, Lai Mohammed called one Tunji Ijaya (08034010700), a well known associate of Justice Ayo Salami and an ACN sympathiser, at 8.36 a.m. from Kosofe, Lagos, less than one hour later, precisely at 9.30 a.m., Mohammed called Ijaya again.

\“On 12th November, 2010 at 1.35 p.m., and at 1.39 p.m., Tunji Ijaya called Justice Ayo Salami twice from Ikeja, Lagos, precisely around Royal Exchange Assurance area.
A t 3.14 p.m., same day (12th November, 2010), Lagos contractor and ACN financier, Kayode Olowolafe, called Ijaya from Bourdillion Road, where Bola Tinubu has his residence. “Between 6.50 p.m. and 9.12 p.m. on the same 12th November, 2010, Olowolafe exchanged texts with Ijaya.

Still on the 12th November, 2010, Lai Mohammed called Ijaya three times between 10.38 p.m. and 12 midnight.

“On 13th November, 2010, Lai Mohammed called Ijaya at 7.11 p.m. from Farimu Layout, Kosofe, Lagos.

“On 15th November, 2010, Justice Salami called Ijaya at 12.18 p.m. for 151 seconds from 118, Waziri Ibrahim Street, Eti-Osa, Lagos.

“On 16th November, 2010, Justice Salami exchanged eight SMS texts with Turaki Kabiru Tanimu, ACN chieftain and 2011 governorship candidate for Kebbi State at 4.34 a.m.

“On 16th November, 2010, Justice Paul Galinge (08038700932), a member of the Osun panel exchanged four SMS texts with Justice Salami at 7.15 a.m.

“On 17th November, 2010, Justice Salami sent SMS twice to Ijaya at 8.40 p.m.

“The following day, 18th November, 2010, Justice Salami called Ijaya twice between 9.20 p.m. and 9.21 p.m.

“On 24th November, 2010, Justice Salami called Ijaya at 8.40 p.m. and he spoke with him for 399 seconds (six minutes) and for 407 seconds at 9.35 p.m.

“On 25th November, 2010, Lai Mohammed called Ijaya at 4.36 p.m. for 60 seconds from Abuja around the National Stadium area. Same day, 25th November, 2010, Olowolafe exchanged four SMS with Ijaya between 6.14 p.m. and 6.18 p.m.

“On judgment day, 26th November, 2010, very early at 8.03a.m., Lai Mohammed called Ijaya and they spoke for 73 seconds. In the evening of that day, Justice Salami received a call at 9.40 p.m. through Justice Clara Ogunbiyi’s husband’s line (08035039519). Same day, he exchanged SMS with Ijaya at 9.22 p.m.

“On 12th December, 2010, Lai Mohammed exchanged text messages with Justice Salami at 14.50 hrs.”

Chairman of the party also contended in the address that “That communication between the Court of Appeal Justices and the ACN lawyers on one hand, and Justice Salami and ACN chieftains on the other hand as revealed in the call logs referred to in the petition was unethical.

“That Justice Salami did not deny the telephone interaction as revealed by the call logs but queried propriety of the invasion of has privacy under Section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as reported by the Nigerian Tribune publication of 10th May, 2011.

“That Justice Salami admitted the issue of financial inducement in the landmark interview that he granted in the publication of ThisDay Newspaper of January 25th, 2011.”

The petitioners also released the documented testimony of the National Security Officer through Director, Lawful Intercept, Ndubuisi Onyia which read: “Mr Onyia, the Director of Lawful Intercept of NSA confirmed the authenticity of the call logs exhibits 12(2), 12(3), 12(4), 12(5), 12(6), 12(7), 12(, 12(9), 12(10), 12(11), 12(12), 12(13) and 14(b) before the panel as follows:

On the 19th April 2011, he said he received a letter from NJC requesting that call logs covering some phone numbers, including that of Justice Salami, whose telephone number is 08034004871, Ijaya whose telephone number, is 08034010700 and Lai Mohammed, whose telephone number is 08034303333 be made available to NJC.

The letter is tendered as exhibit 11. Mr Onyia said because of the voluminous nature of the call logs he accompanied a USB flash disk with a cover letter, exhibit 17A to NJC where the call logs exhibits 4, 5 12, (13), 14(b) were downloaded and received by the director of administration of NJC.

“Under cross examination, Onyia stated as follows: “My position at the NSA is not in doubt; NSA can clear me. There is no limitation as to any form of communication that we can use to obtain information. I choose e-mail because it is quicker and we have a time limit from NJC Panel. I sent a letter to NJC not e-mail. I do send information both by e-mail and hardcopy. We got the response by e-mail because of the urgency of this matter.

“The information in the flash drive was not scrambled because it was handled person to person. I hold B. Sc Economics and HND Engineering in Telecommunication. I have heard about cloning in Telecommunication. It depends on your level in Engineering to clone. I am hearing cloning of phone number from you for the first time. I identified the filename in the flash not the content.

“I came to testify on the letter and the call logs. I confirm that call logs exhibits 4, 5, 9, 10, 12(2), 12(3), 12(4), 12(5), 12(6), 12(7), 12(, 12(9), 12(10), 12(11), 12(12) and 12(13) are all from the office of the National Security Adviser, downloaded from exhibit 14(b) - USB flash drive.”

Oyinlola asked the panel to hold that by empanelling those he "trusted" to handle the Osun case, Justice Salami had breached his judicial oath to discharge his duties without fear or favour, affection or ill will.

FEAR gripped workers of the National Assembly yesterday when they heard of the explosions in the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) headquarters in Abuja.

The workers and some lawmakers were seen rushing out of the Assembly Complex in fear.

Security at the Complex was beefed up immediately.

Tens of securitymen were immediately drafted to the Complex to forestall any attack.

Vehicles coming in were subjected to thorough search.

Meanwhile, the Senate President, David Mark, has pleaded with security operatives to rise up to the challenge and bring the matter to an end.

In a statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, Mark enjoined security operatives to look inwards and arrest the situation forthwith.



He expressed grave concern about the unabating spate of bomb blast which, he said, was a threat to the security and corporate existence of Nigeria, adding: “no nation has ever progressed or survived in the midst of terror.”

Mark warned that act of terrorism is not the way out of any grievances, insisting that no matter the grievances or anger in a man’s mind, resort to violence, terrorism or wanton destruction of lives and property cannot be a way out.

He said there are established channels of redressing or addressing any issue, pointing out that resort to unorthodox means would only aggravate the situation and create more harm.

The Senate President pointed out that the issue of security requires collaboration, stressing that the security challenges unarguably called for collaboration and synergy between and among all security agencies to bring the situation under control.

He, however, implored all Nigerians to be security conscious and co-operate with security agencies, saying: “Those who are committing these heinous crimes do not live in the moon, they live among us”.

“I do not think that resort to killings or terrorism would answer our questions. The real answer lies in our ability to come together as a people and address our common problems.

“No one can claim monopoly of any knowledge. We can all contribute our quota positively and make our society a better place.”

Mark disclosed that adequate budgetary provision would be made available for security in the National Assembly, adding that the Senate and, indeed, the National Assembly on its part would make adequate budgetary provision for the security operatives to carry out their legitimate assignments unhindered.

He, however, sympathised with the Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, and urged him not to be deterred but reinforce his operations to arrest the situation so that peace would reign supreme in the country.

Godmother:
A stranger feeling will take over you after you are married and you discover the man is not whom you though.

Then you must have married him, it works out fine for some people and to some its tragedy. Anyways to me 6months is ideal

^^^Its easier said, sometimes you dont just think with your head anymore, I dont pray to experience that but it sure happens and can happen to u too. Lol

Rubbish!!!

@OP So what happened?

Nayah:
Clearly NO

Sometimes you wont even know how it happens, some strange feelings will take control over you

Nayah:
lol High Chief and?

I saw your sisters pic on your profile

Your friend might be one of those desperate women

^^^And i just checked your profile now

Lol@Doxology. I dont think such things exist these days anymore

You can ask facebook to provide "unlike" button as well

^^^I love your user ID and your signature, perseverance is the key

FORMER Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc., Dr. Erastus Akingbola, yesterday lost his bid to stop the planned sale of the bank to Access Bank Plc, by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as a Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, dismissed a suit he instituted against the move.

Akingbola and an erstwhile executive director of Intercontinental Bank, Bayo Dada, had filed the suit to challenge the propriety of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for business combination signed by Intercontinental and Access banks without recourse to them as shareholders and former directors of the former.

Akingbola and Dada also maintained in an affidavit in support of the suit that the Managing Director of Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and his deputy, Herbert Wigwe, are actually indebted to Intercontinental Bank to the tune of N16.247 billion.

The loan, which is said to be outstanding till date, was said to have been procured through a firm, United Alliance Company of Nigeria Limited.

They added that the said firm recently wrote a letter, dated March 28, 2011, to Mohmoud Alabi (Intercontinental Bank Managing Director), claiming that the debt was N10.2 billion, and requested for a change in repayment date up till December.

Besides, the plaintiffs stressed that Intercontinental Bank had an excellent business reputation, which earned it meritorious rating by informed industry watchers, but that the fortune of the bank nose-dived when Sanusi sacked them in August 14, 2009 without lawful reasons and fair hearing.

The plaintiffs added that the MoU for business combination between Access Bank and Intercontinental Bank was drawn up by the CBN and its governor, and that the said MoU stipulated that the entire capital of Intercontinental would be cancelled and the bank would be dissolved without winding up.

They, therefore, urged the court to set aside all steps and decisions taken by the CBN and its appointees on the board of Intercontinental Bank from August 14, 2009, except those in the ordinary cause of the day to day business operations of the bank.

They had also sought an order nullifying a directive from the CBN removing Dada as a director and an order that a general meeting of the shareholders of Intercontinental Bank should be conveyed for the purposes of electing directors for the bank.

Also, Dada had, in particular, prayed the court, presided over by Justice Okechukwu Okeke, to set aside a letter issued by the CBN removing him from the board of Intercontinental Bank.

But, the apex bank and other defendants, in their separate preliminary objections, had contended that the petitioners lacked the locus standi to file the suit, and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it.

The defendants also contended that the suit was statute barred in that it disclosed no reasonable cause of action against them.

However, the court, in a ruling on the preliminary objections filed by the defendants, held that the suit was statute barred and belated.

Justice Okeke also held that the case was an abuse of court process, because there is an action already filed by other interested parties on the same subject-matter, which is still pending before a sister court.

The court further stated that the petitioners failed to issue a pre-action notice on the defendants before instituting the matter in court, which was a condition precedent for the suit to be justified.

The judge stressed that the suit was belated in the sense that some of the actions being challenged were done as far back as August 14, 2009, when the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, removed some bank chiefs.

While also ruling on Dada’s removal from the board of Intercontinental Bank, Justice Okeke said that the letter through which he was removed was not tendered as exhibit in support of the suit, which, according to the court, “is very vital to his case”.

“The CBN has enough powers to supervise banking operations and looking at Section 48 of the Banks and Other Financial Institution Act (BOFIA), the CBN has enormous powers over who becomes a director of any bank. In effect, the CBN can validly remove and appoint bank directors,” Justice Okeke ruled.

The judge also noted that the refusal of the petitioners to include the letter through which Dada was sacked from Intercontinental Bank’s board robbed the court of jurisdiction, because the letter would have indicated whether the action was done in bad faith.

Akingbola and Dada had listed Intercontinental Bank and its Managing Director, as well as other directors, including Abubakar Sule, Gbenga Alade, Olusegun Osilowo and Suleiman Yusuf as co-defendants.

The list of defendants also included Intercontinental Bank’s Chairman, Raymond Obieri, Seinye Lulu-Briggs, Toyin Philips, Chris Alabi, J.S. Nwokolo, Sanni Adams, Access Bank and the CBN.

Meanwhile, a statement signed by the Corporate Affairs Manager of Intercontinental Bank, Edy Odumosu, hailed the ruling and declared that the coast is now clear for the bank’s recapitalisation before the CBN’s deadline.

In its reaction, CBN’s spokesperson, Mohammed Abdullahi, stated in a statement that the judgement was an affirmation of its stance on the entire process of recapitalisation of the bank, adding that it also affirms the fact that the CBN had always complied with the law in all actions it took in recent times.

He added: “It is the hope of the CBN that the shareholders will understand these and allow the process to move forward without further delay.

“They should realise that all these court cases are doing damage to the process, which may negatively affect the desire of the CBN to retrieve some value for them.”

Abdullahi further stressed that it was instructive to note that the judge clearly said that the petition was an abuse of the court process and statute barred and, therefore, unnecessary.


http://www.compassnewspaper.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8068:-akingbola-loses-bid-to-stop-sale-of-intercontinental-bank&catid=308:headlines&Itemid=600

FORMER president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday, at the ongoing 100th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneval, Switzerland, told the world leaders, employers and labour leaders that he would be a victim and number one target if revolution happened in Nigeria anytime from now.

Chief Obasanjo, who was speaking at a special event by the Club de Madrid, at the conference, also said former president of Ghana, John Kufuor and other African leaders would have no hiding place if the revolution that swept through the Arab countries happened in major African countries like Nigeria and Ghana.

Obasanjo, who was part of the panel of discussants at the event, said if the unemployment situation in African countries were allowed to continue and not checked and addressed, the revolution would be more severe than what was being witnessed in the Middle East

“Governments are bad or poor job creator, but they are to provide conducive and enabling environment for job creators, especially the private sector. So, governments must come together with the employers who will provide the capital (money) and labour leaders to create and provide. If we do this, I believe we will make it.

“If we don’t, the youth will be ignited and we will all be consumed. If it happens in our countries in Africa, none of us , I know that I will be a victim. My brother here (John Kufuor) too will have no place to run to,” he said.

Others on the panel were Kufuor; Mr Osvaldo Hurtado, former president, Republic of Ecuador; Mr Abdul Karim Al Eryani, former Prime Minister, Republic of Yemen; Mr Wim Kok, former Prime Minister, The Netherlands; Mr Stephen Pursey, Director, Policy Integration Department, ILO and Mr Raymond Torres, Director, International Institute for Labour Studies, ILO.

Chief Obasanjo said the ideal of sustainable and shared societies of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) could not be faulted, adding that social justice should entail what an ideal society should be.

Speaking on unemployment in Africa, Obasanjo said “it is a red alert for us in Africa. I am worried, I am apprehensive about the unemployment in our continent, which we are not taking seriously as it should be.”

This news has just gladdened my heart. Chime is really doing so well and has already carved a niche for himself

Machine007:
DREAM OF THE YEAR, WELDON YAK.

JUST WAIT A LITTLE YOUR TIME WILL COME, I PROMISE YOU, YOU WILL HAVE YOUR PLACE IN SUPER EAGLES.

SO, IF SIA 1 INVITE U, U GO COME ABI. NONSESTICAL NONSENSE.

Afterall dreams are for free and legal. LOL

^^^Are you dating/married to an ugly looking guy?(no offense)

The high rate of Kidnapping in the SW these days is just getting out of hand

I knew that guy had something up his sleeves

Kaii, I miss polo park suya. Sullivan is really doing a good job

A Nigerian immigrant in Georgia, the United States (U.S.) has been convicted of bringing two young women from her homeland to work as house slaves.

Bidemi Bello was found guilty on Friday of forced labour, trafficking, harbouring aliens, false statements on a citizenship application and “document servitude” for taking her victims’ passports to keep them helpless, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Federal prosecutors said Bello lured the women from Nigeria to work as nannies, promising to educate them and treat them like family. In fact, she did not send her victims to school or pay them, did not let them sleep in beds or use the shower, and sometimes made them eat rotten food, the government said.

Bello found her first victim in 2001. After she escaped in 2004, Bello went back to Nigeria to find another, who fled in 2006 by taking a cab to a church.


“Both women were brave enough to testify in court,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Coppedge. “This is a shocking behaviour going on in a normal-looking subdivision in Suwanee, Ga.”

Bello left the country but was caught when she returned and was indicted last September.

She could get decades in prison when sentenced on August 24 by U.S. District Judge Bill Duffey.

Investigation into the raid on a branch of First Bank Plc in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on May 31 has started yielding result with the arrest of two suspected members of the gang of robbers, which attacked the bank.

No fewer than five persons were killed in the successful operation in the state capital.

The State Police Commissioner, Mr. Olayinka Balogun, said this in Ado-Ekiti on Friday while briefing members of the Police Community Relations Committee during the Zone 8 meeting of the body, comprising Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi States.

The police boss, who did not give the detail of how the suspected hoodlums were arrested, said the two suspects were already in police custody.

He vowed that he would do everything to arrest every member of the gang who operated in the state.

Balogun had earlier claimed that his men dislodged the robbers from the bank, saying two of them (robbers) were shot dead by the police team. He, however, said the police could not recover their corpses because they were shot dead inside the operation vehicle, which the robbers escaped.

A top security source, who pleaded not to be named, told our correspondent on Sunday that the close circuit camera installed in the bank, assisted the police in their investigation.

He said the pictures downloaded from the CCTV were helpful.

Members of the Police Community Relations Committee, who commended the efforts of the police towards making Ekiti State safe, also called on members of the public to always inform security agents any time they found people of questionable character in their areas.

The Vice Chairman of PCRC in the zone, Chief Ayo Omodara, commended the state government for its efforts towards making the state safe and for assisting the police by providing them with vehicles and communication equipment to do their job.

He also lauded the police commissioner for his efforts since he was brought to the state.

It will be recalled that the robbers, numbering about 20, invaded the bank located at Okeyimi area of Ado-Ekiti around 10 am and blew up the security doors with dynamites.

Opposition is mounting against the second term ambition of Ondo State governor Olusegun Mimiko, as various politicians from different groups have concluded plans to fuse into the Action Congress of Nigeria in Ondo State to mount a formidable challenge to the Labour Party governor.

Though Mr Mimiko has not officially declared his interest to run for the second term, some groups within the Labour Party have continued to ask him to come out and make his position clear. Ondo State is the only state in the southwest not under the sway of the ACN, especially after the formally dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suffered great losses during the last elections. Ondo is also the only state with a Labour Party government in the country.

No fewer than 30 politicians from the PDP camp have signified their intention to pitch their tents with the ACN. Prominent among these are former state commissioners, Isaacs Kekemeke, Tayo Alasoadura, and Ayo Ifayefunmi. The trio served under the immediate past government of Olusegun Agagu. Others are Mayowa Akinfolarin, former Deputy Speaker of the state assembly and Otitoju Atikase, another former lawmaker.

Besides, no fewer than three serving commissioners in Mr Mimiko's cabinet are known to be currently romancing with the ACN. These commissioners were said to be secretly holding meetings with the ACN leadership due to their fear that they might be dropped from the cabinet at the reshuffling.

A new political group, ‘Sunshine Liberation Forum' (SLF) has therefore emerged as the pivot for the politicians implacably opposed to the reelection of Mr Mimiko when the state holds its governorship election last year.

The group said it would soon start a campaign to sensitize the people of the state on the need for change in governance. It already has members in all the eighteen local councils in the state Chairman of its publicity committee, Segun Odidi said the forum already has over 6,000 members cutting across all different political parties in the state.

Mr Odidi, a former member of the Labour party, said the forum was an ‘interventionist movement' created to put a responsive government in place ahead of the governorship election in the state.

All against Labour

He pointed out that the ‘financial recklessness' of the present Labour Party administration is alarming.

"The government met N34b on assumption of office and has been receiving monthly allocation and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) regularly without anything to show for it," Mr Odidi said.

"It is funny that the Mimiko led administration has been thriving on propaganda. Look at the Gani Fawehinmi Diagnostic centre in Ondo, 80 per cent of the project was reportedly funded by an international agency. The government is claiming credit and glory for what it did not initiate. The people of Ondo State did not bargain for this when LP and Mimiko were campaigning before April 2007 election. People are now impoverished, destruction of structures and shops is now the order of the day in major towns across the state."

Mr Odidi confirmed that the group has membership drawn from Mr Mimiko's cabinet, as well as members of the PDP and LP. He described the ACN as the only people-oriented party that could bring dividends of democracy to the citizenry.

"The intention of the group is to work for the emergence of an ACN candidate as the next governor in the state," he said. "We are working seriously in all 18 local government areas to sensitise people to effect a change in governance.

At the end of the day, we will move massively to ACN and work for the success of the party to have credible government in place."

A Lagos High Court, sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, granted bail to former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, in the sum of N100m with two sureties in like sum.

The trial judge, Justice Habeeb Abiru, also granted his associate, Bayo Dada, bail in lower sum of N50m with two sureties in like sum.

The accused persons had been remanded since May 3, first at the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, but the judge, after their arraignment on May 31, ordered that they be kept in the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons

The EFCC arraigned the accused after three failed attempts on an amended 22-count charge of stealing about N36.09bn belonging to Intercontinental Bank Plc.

Justice Abiru, in his ruling on Monday, held that the prosecution had failed to prove that the accused persons tampered with their trial or further investigation after they were granted bail by a Federal High Court in Lagos.

He noted that if they did not jump the bail granted them by Justice Charles Achibong of the Federal High Court, Lagos, it was unlikely that they would jump the bail in a suit before him in which they face less grievous charges.

Abiru said, “It is an agreed fact that the accused persons have cases at the Federal High Court and were granted bail.

“It is also an agreed fact that they did not jump bail. It is an agreed fact that the sum and the charges they are facing here is far lesser than that they are facing at the Federal High Court.”

Moving Akingbola’s application for bail on June 6, his lawyer, Mr. Deji Sasegbon (SAN), had promised that his clients would not jump bail.

He had also pleaded with the court to grant bail to the former bank chief on liberal conditions, saying that all that he had, including his international passport and landed properties, had been taken from him to fulfill the Federal High Court bail conditions.

Justice Abiru also ruled that the sureties to be produced by the accused must be resident in Lagos and must own a landed property (of unspecified worth) within the state.

The sureties are also to produce current tax clearance certificates paid to the Lagos State Government.

In the ruling, Justice Abiru made it mandatory for the sureties to show means of income and swear to an affidavit of means.

The court held that the addresses and the means of income of the sureties were to be verified by an EFCC official or an officer in the Lagos State Police Command whose rank is not below the rank of a Sergeant.

It also prohibited the accused persons from travelling abroad without the leave of the court as it ordered them to deposit their international passports and other travel documents with the court registrar.

Akingbola and Dada, according to the ruling, will also be required to report to the EFCC office on the first working day of every month during the pendency of their trial.

Seven out of the initial 27-count of N47.1bn theft charge preferred against Akingbola, his wife, Anthonia and Dada were on May 31 struck out.

The EFCC had asked the court to strike out the said counts, saying they were to be specifically answered to by Anthonia, who is still at large.

THREE years after the demise of the late strongman of Ibadan politics and Garrison Commander of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Lamidi Adedibu, some family members, at this year’s remembrance, have expressed their displeasure over the dumping of Adedibu’s family by his associates.

The only surviving wife of the politician, Alhaja Bose Adedibu, specifically rained curses on those who had, at one time or the other, benefitted from the politician but turned their back against the family, describing them as “betrayers” and people who lacked conscience with no fear of God.

The result of such attitude to the family left behind by Adedibu, according to the wife who spoke to the Nigerian Compass yesterday, also had its toll on many of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) politicians in the state who lost woefully to the rival Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the April general elections.

According to her, Adedibu’s ghost would continue to haunt many of them unless they come back to the fold and retrace their steps.



Mrs. Adedibu said that the family also felt betrayed that nothing has been done by beneficiaries of her husband’s large heart to immortalise him.

She said that most of his loyalists and close allies abandoned the family immediately after his burial on June 12, 2008.

“The ghost of Adedibu will haunt those who used the name and abandoned us shortly after his death. They are too many to mention but God knows them all,” Bosede Adedibu lamented.

Were Adedibu to be alive during the April general elections, she posited that Oyo State would not have gone the way of the ACN because all the intra party crisis that worked against the party’s success would have been amicably resolved to the satisfaction of all the contending factions in the party through the political prowess of the late politician.

“If the ACN government in Oyo State can immortalise my husband for his contributions to the political development of the country and Oyo State in particular, I will be the happiest woman in the world.

“I have congratulated the Governor Abiola Ajimobi for his victory at the April polls. In the first instance, he is my brother as well as a son-in-law. He is also Adedibu’s son. If he were to be alive; he would have done the same thing, because he doesn’t practise politics of bitterness. I have also congratulated Senator Femi Lanlehin, elected in Oyo South Senatorial district on the platform of the can. He is also a member of our political family who left the PDP out of frustration.

“My deceased husband was a caring politician. In dreams, she would always ask me to prepare foods for the people. Have you prepared their foods, he would always ask”.

Symbolic of the “amala and gbegiri” politics which the late strongman was noted for, the widow said even at death, Adedibu insisted the free meal must go on on a daily basis.

In order to avoid the confusion that attended the search for successor to former Lagos state governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Lagos chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has commenced a search for who succeeds the incumbent governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN).

Political drama that attended the search for Tinubu’s successor nearly tore the then Action Congress (AC) apart as some aspirants opted out of the party to actualise their aspiration in other parties.

Prominent among them were Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who left for Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA), Mr. Hakeem Gbajabiamila ( Alliance for Democracy), Mrs. Oluremi Adiukwu-Bakare (PDP) and former Deputy Governor, Chief Femi Pedro who left for the Labour Party (LP) among others.

Against this background, Daily Sun can authoritatively report that the party’s caucus has commenced serious consultations and secret screening of likely successor for Fashola.
Although the state Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Joe Igbokwe confirmed that the search for Fashola’s successor was in progress, he declined to mention those candidates being put under surveillance by the party.

“Yes, the search for Fashola’s successor has commenced since after the Presidential election because we are always pro-active. We have planned four years ahead for our party because we always set the pace and blaze the trail. We lead why others follow. And I can assure you that we will not disappoint our people with another masterstroke we are going to deliver for 2015,” Igbokwe boasted in an interview with Daily Sun.

Daily Sun can authoritatively reveal that two candidates are before the party elders for consideration. They are a three term Senator and former Mushin Local Government Chairman, Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon and former Lagos state Director-General, Land Bureau and newly elected Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bareehu Olugbenga Ashafa. While Solomon represents the Lagos West Senatorial District, Ashafa represents the East Senatorial axis of the state.

However, a party leader who craved anonymity confided in Daily Sun that while experience is in favour of Solomon, power shift system is in favour of Ashafa, reminding that while Tinubu represented the west as governor, Fashola represents the central.
The political permutation, therefore, according to him is that “the Ibeju-Lekki axis, where Ashafa hails from has been crying of marginalisation,” meaning that, “Ashafa can be used for 2015 to pacify the people of the zone in 2015.”

Another source close to the party caucus, however, reminded of Solomon’s popularity as a former local government Chairman, one term member of the House of Representatives as well as a three term Senator representing the largest political space in the state, pointing out that “to defeat such a man at primaries would be very tough.”
A national officer of the party from Oyo state, who didn’t want his name in print told our correspondent that “withdrawing a brilliant Senator like Olorunnimbe Mamora for Ashafa has a political undertone, suspecting that “Ashafa is likely being groomed for Lagos 2015 project.”

At a press conference to announce his stepping aside for Ashafa, Mamora told the newsmen that “it is in compliance with the party’s directive,” saying “a discipline party man must always obey party instruction without asking questions.”
One could also recall the speech of the national Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande at the retreat organised for the newly elected House of Assembly members nationwide in Lagos where he harped too much on party supremacy.

“No one, however highly placed is above the party or the discipline and sanctions which the party might care to impose,” Akande emphasised adding “it is the political trend that political parties evolved into a channel of control.”
Since 24 hours is a long period in politics, anything can happen whereby somebody else may surface to dislodge these two foremost contenders who are eminently qualified or that one of these two Senators would clinch the ticket. Only time can tell.

VICE-Presidential Candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Pastor Tunde Bakare, in the April presidential election has exonerated the presidential candidate of the party, General Mohammadu Buhari, from the post-election violence allegedly perpetrated by CPC supporters, noting that the party is not a group of killers.

He also claimed that the media did not report the crises in a good manner, saying all the reports about the violence was one-sided.

Briefing newsmen, yesterday, in Lagos, Bakare lamented that President Goodluck Jonathan commented on the violence on the sixth day, adding that it was not a good step from the chief security officer of a nation.

According to him, “Despite the fact that Gen. Buhari is not the chief security officer of Nigeria, he spoke on BBC, he spoke on Al- Jazeera , he went on Channel Television to condemn the killings, the crises and all that was going on, and to say that we are not part of.

”We are glad that the big wigs of PDP themselves, are now saying that we are not responsible.

“Last week, IBB said Gen. Buhari, was not responsible for the carnage, and he also testified that the elections were not simply rigged. We are not killers, fortunately, the God that I serve does not drink blood, He shed His own blood for the whole earth, and haven’t taken my time, I found time, I have come to speak and to let the nation know that is the whole truth about the crises.”

He stressed that CPC will be rebuilt, adding that the party is a force to reckon with in the country.

“Another thing is the press, which did not report the crises well. It is not that I am attacking the press but all the reports were one-sided. Go to Kaduna, you will find evidence of killings. Over 500 people were buried in mass graves. Nobody reported it, I have video evidence of this,” he stated.

In addition, Bakare said, “If what we have done is right, good things will come out of it, if it is not right, don’t expect any crooked means to bring about a constructive end, it won’t happen, that is the summary of everything.”

He said, “You have not been fair on this matter. There was repraisal attack by the sympathisers of PDP, yet it was not reported. Why did it take the President of Nigeria six days to comment on this issue, when we were crying on top of our voices. We should not give a dog the bad name.”

If the deaths of those innocent copers could not change a thing, then someone setting himself ablaze will mean nothing