₦airaland Forum

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, has warned
that Nigerian politicians who incite or execute violence during Saturday’s elections would have their visas banned and assets in the UK seized.

Ms Laing gave the warning at a press briefing on Wednesday in Abuja to unveil the Election Situation Room of the Civil Society Situation Room set up by a coalition of civil society organisations to monitor the polls in Abuja.

She reminded political parties that apart from their assets being seized in the UK, they could experience a worst case scenario of prosecution.

“We will apply this absolutely across board not directed to any particular party; so, we are monitoring and looking out for hate speech.

“We are concerned about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rally which has hate speech a lot and we will like to call that kind of thing out


“Our two worries are on security not just on the role the police will play to ensure peace but about the role individuals play by getting angry or militias being paid to disrupt elections .

“Then, another worry is fake news (and) that is why we rely on CSOs and we will work with them to get information,’’ she said

UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, thanked the CSOs for the launch of the situation room, describing it as a good work toward the elections.

Mr Ibn Chambas said it showed that the groups were prepared for the elections and ready to monitor the voting process thus helping UN with ideas on the process in the country.

The American Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, said the special thing with the room was not just about that CSOs would say and do but about what every Nigerian would say and do.

“The time has come for this outside world that cares so much about Nigeria to listen to the people of Nigeria and to see what each of them do and then forward the results to lift Nigeria up,’’ Mr Symington said.

Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria, Ketil Karlsen, said the work of CSOs over the last years gave hope that continued consolidation of democracy clamoured for internally could happen.

Jude Illoh, Country Director of Open Society for West Africa (OSIWA), said that though there a lot of apprehension about the election, Nigeria would overcome it.

Mr Illoh said Nigeria’s democracy had experienced good progress.

“We have defied dictators, we have defied civil war and everything you can imagine, insurgency terrorism everything thrown at us we are still standing.

“I can tell you that the morning after the election we will be standing as a country, proudly Nigerians, ‘’ he said.

Clement Nwankwo, the convener of the Situation room, said the situation room would help monitor the election and give Nigerians information as it came in order to guarantee free, air and credible elections.

(NAN)

An Abuja High Court has granted bail to the former Secretary-General of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and two others.

The court on Wednesday granted them bail in
the sum of N50m each with one surety.

The sureties must be residents within the
jurisdiction of the court; they must possess
titles to lands within the jurisdiction of the
court, show evidence of payment of tax for the
past three years.

The court further noted that each of the
defendants is to deposit their international
passport with the court pending the fulfilment
of the bail conditions and are to remain in the
custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC).

Mr Babachir is being accused of diverting funds
meant for the clearing of evasive plants in the
troubled northeast.

Next trial has been fixed for March 18, 2019.

According to the groups, President
Muhammadu Buhari has lost the
support of 12 million voters, which he
“comfortably monopolised” in previous
election.

A coalition of more than 300 political groups has
endorsed Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to the groups, President Muhammadu
Buhari has lost the support of 12 million voters,
which he “comfortably monopolised” in
previous election.

The coalition, which cuts across political party
divides, based its decision on “the momentum
the Atiku presidential campaign” has continued
to gather across the country.

Balarabe Sadi Adamu, who spoke on behalf of
the coalition at a large gathering in Yola, the
Adamawa State capital, on Tuesday, said: "The
North cannot cede power to the North-West all
the time, except if we want to redefine the North
as North-West. You can see that contrary to permutations, Kano stood still for several hours
when Atiku visited on Sunday.

"I can bet it that the so called 12 million votes for
Buhari in the North for now, only exists in some
people's imagination. Therefore, going by what
obtains in the ongoing campaign rallies across
the country, every right thinking Nigerian
knows where the pendulum is swinging to.”

The Indigenous people of Biafra, IPOB, has
alleged that the Nigerian Army is conducting
a stealth genocide war against the people of
South East, with the shooting to death two
people in Owerri, Imo State on Monday, and
abduction of unidentified number of people in Aba, Abia State last night and this morning,
including a husband and wife.

IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity
Secretary, Emma Powerful, said “it has been
made to feel that a Biafran life is worthless,”
warning that it should not be pushed into
carrying arms, saying “in spite of Biafrans
being the most long-suffering people in the world, their anger is becoming uncontrollable
and the world will wake up to start
pontificating if they could involved in such act
of carrying arms.”

“The Nigerian Army is at it again. Nigerian
Army is conducting a stealth genocidal war
against Biafrans and it is the responsibility of
the world to take note. Yesterday, they shot
dead two young men in Owerri. Last night and
this morning they have commenced their abduction of Biafrans in Aba. Biafrans are now
the longest suffering race in human history.
One day the anger will no longer be
controllable and the world will wake up then
to start pontificating.

“Nigerian Army must release those they
abducted including a husband and wife they
kidnapped this morning. Our decision to
boycott elections is an act of civil disobedience
which any reasonable person ought to
understand. That Nigeria is an uncivilised backward society is not the fault of IPOB. We
have chosen a civilized non violent approach
but it appears Fulani Caliphate, their Jihadi
Nigerian Army and Igbo Efulefus are hell bent
on provoking us to pick up arms. When that
eventually happens, the world should know those to hold responsible.”

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Mr Babachir Lawal is to be kept in EFCC custody,
pending the ruling of the court on his bail
application. The ruling is fixed for February 13,
Channels TV reported.
Lawal joined active politics in 2002 through the
membership of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Lawal held many offices in the ANPP and also
in Buhari’s campaign team including as Deputy
Coordinator, The Buhari Campaign Organisation
in Adamawa State.

On 30 October 2017, he was sacked as
Secretary to Government of Federation
following a report into his alleged involvement
in diverting crisis relief funds.

By tomorrow, February 13, 2019 Nigerians will know if Babachir Lawal will be found guilty by the court and if he will be sent to jail.

Keyamo said the US Ambassador’s comment
and that of other diplomats about the election
might affect the perception of Nigerians. The spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign council, Festus Keyamo has accused the United States’ Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador W. Stuart Symington of tactically supporting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
According to Daily Post, Keyamo said Symington’s comment and that of other
diplomats about the election might affect the
perception of Nigerians. Citing reports in the media quoting the US
Ambassador, the campaign council spokesman
said “We take the view that the constant
statements by Ambassador Symington and the
other diplomats are implicit attacks against the
government of Nigeria.”
The statement reads: “It would appear that
these envoys seem to have discredited the
election before it has even taken place. We truly
hope some of the statements attributed to these
diplomats are inaccurate. For instance, the
Premium News reported that Ambassador W. Stuart Symington threatened to “hold to
account” anyone whose speech, no matter the
motivation of that speech, engendered hatred. “We all agree that any speech willfully intended
to trigger violence is condemnable. However, in
condemning other forms of political speech, the
American envoy overstepped his
ambassadorial brief. For instance, the American
Ambassador was reported to have condemned a situation where a candidate says that his
opponent’s political and economic policies are
abhorrent and dangerous to the greater
welfare of the people and calls on the citizens to
hate and reject such policies. “In our view, this is a correct statement
because it is the duty of the candidate to tell the
people these truths to protect the nation from
subsequent calamity. But Ambassador
Symington says his country would punish such
necessary political speeches.
“For us it is significant to note that such strong
political speeches are not unlawful in the United
States, but Ambassador Symington is seeking to
penalize such speeches by Nigerians. He seeks
to shrink our ambit of free speech so that we
may behave in accordance with their vision of well-behaved Africans, rather than in
consonance with our vision of our own
democracy, no matter how tumultuous and
dramatic we may be. It would appear that his
position seeks to prohibit forms of expression
integral to our political discourse. These forms of expression have time and time again been
adjudged to be constitutionally-protected
speeches by the United States Supreme Court. “However, Ambassador Symington
intentionally issued his threats to place a chilling
effect on speeches in Nigeria that, if uttered in
America, would be constitutionally protected.
Unfounded allegations and threats to penalize
people for constitutionally-protected free speech is improper interference in our internal
affairs. Sadly, what Ambassador Symington and
some other western diplomats are doing
border on the improper.
“We take the view that the constant statements
by Ambassador Symington and the other
diplomats are implicit attacks against the
government of Nigeria. These statements imply
the Nigerian government is inclined to rig the
election in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari. This is unfair and unacceptable to us.
President Muhammadu Buhari has never been
accused of electoral malpractice all his life.
However, in contrast, former Vice President,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar publicly boasted a few
months ago that he rigged the 2003 election in the Southwest States. Here, we have an open
confession of blatant electoral malfeasance by
the PDP candidate. But in all of these, there seem
to be no concern by Ambassador Symington
and other diplomats about this well-
acknowledged proclivity of the main opposition.
“It is not too late for Ambassador Symington to
repair the damage of his uninformed
statements. He needs to speak as an impartial
envoy instead of a person who appears to
have prejudged the quality of the process and
the outcome. Until he attains that level of informed impartiality, whatever good he seeks
is better achieved by his silence than by
tendentious utterances.”

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One you lack sense of reasoning

You lack morals

Nepotism is the second names for enemies of the state

Baba defeated boko haram

The Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, has revealed that the destruction of the dens of Boko Haram in Sambisa forestwas made possible by an Igbo man.

The Governor said this during a town hall meeting for the militaryand security agencies at the Government House, Maiduguri, on Monday.

Shettima further thanked the Buhari-led administration for making sure that peace finally returns to Borno state.

He urged all Nigerians to join hands in supporting the Federal Government and the military to end Boko Haram completely.

“This is a great day; a day for celebration. Four years ago, 20 of the 27 local government areasof the state were under the control of Boko Haram.

“Then, the only accessible road to Maiduguri was Kano-Maiduguri Road. If there are any people who are the greatest beneficiaries of this feat, it is Borno State.

“Interestingly, this accomplishments were made possible by an Igbo from Mbaise,Imo State. The Operation Lafia Dole has been able to penetrate all corners of Sambisa Forest and chased Boko Haram away.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youths have asked the party’s national chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, to apologise to former President Goodluck Jonathan for walking out on him at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja last week.

The youths, under the aegis of the Almagamated PDP Youth Leaders Nationwide, stated this at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.

They said it was an embarrassment for Sheriff to have walked out on Jonathan, who they described as the leader of the party.


Chairman of the group, Segun Aderemi, has now given Sheriff a 7-day ultimatum to tender an unreserved apology to Jonathan and other party leaders.

“We witnessed what happened that day when he walked out on the former President. Would Sheriff be happy if any member of the party embarrass him the way he embarrassed Jonathan that day?

“He has to tender an unreserved apology to the former President, the BoT and other leaders of the party.


“We insist he should tender an unreserved apology. We strongly believe that he is going to do the needful,” Aderemi said.

The House of
Representatives, on
Tuesday, said Governor
Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna
State published security
budget of the state, not his security vote. Chairman of the Committee
on Media and Public Affairs,
Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas,
stated this in a news
briefing in Abuja. He said that el-Rufai was
undermining and
distracting the national
assembly by his claims that
the N115 billion in the
legislature’s 2016 budget was for the 469 members.
According to him, the
budget covers among
others, salaries, allowances,
expenditure and running
cost of 469 members. “Salaries and allowances of
about 3, 000 legislative
aides and salaries,
allowances, equipment and
maintenance of about 5,
000 staff in the bureaucracy of the national assembly,’’
Namdas said. He urged the governor to
concentrate on governing
Kaduna state, particularly
addressing security issues
facing the state. Namdas said “as a senior
citizen, el-Rufai should not
overheat the polity with
tendentious and unfounded
outbursts. “We note that what Mallam
el-Rufai published was the
security budget of Kaduna
state and not his security
vote expenditure.

A whistle blower on Tuesday led the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to N4 billion suspected to be proceeds of corruption. The commission disclosed this in a message sent to the
media on Tuesday evening. However, EFCC did not state where and how the latest discovery was made. It said investigations revealed that the money belonged to a former deputy governorship candidate in Niger State. “The suspect uses the names
of two companies – Katah Property & Investment Limited, and Sadiq Air Travel Agency – in laundering the funds. “Each of the company has N2 billion fixed in its deposit account domiciled in
Guaranty Trust Bank. “The suspected owner of the account and the account officer are currently on the run,” the commission said. The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the EFCC on Monday intercepted huge sums of money in various currencies totalling about N250 million at the popular Balogun market in Lagos.
According to its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, the discovery followed information from a whistle blower that the money was being moved somewhere in the market for conversion into foreign currencies by unnamed persons. The April 10 episode came barely three days after the commission recovered N449 million at an abandoned bureau de change in Victoria Island, Lagos. Similarly, a tip-off by a whistle blower also led to the discovery of N49 million in crispy notes of N200 and N50 abandoned at the Kaduna International Airport on March 13.

The Senate has asked National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to drop plans to extradite Sen. Buruji Kashamu to the United States and allow Nigerian courts to handle issues. This emanated from the report of the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions presented by Chairman of the committee, Sen. Sam Anyanwu, at plenary on Tuesday. Presenting the report, Anyanwu recalled that Buruji had petitioned the Senate, alleging plans to extradite him to the U.S. over alleged drug-related offences.
He said “a law firm called TRLP represented by one Prince Ajibola Oluyele said he wrote the petition in his capacity as the Solicitor to Sen. Buruji for the intervention of the Senate.“This he said was in view of continued breach of the 1999 Constitution by the NDLEA in collaboration with some politicians to extradite him to the U.S. for prosecution for alleged drug offences when he was in the U.S. "The solicitor said the senator has no case to answer in the US or UK, and that the whole thing was a case of mistaken identity.’’Anyanwu said that after thorough consideration of the petition, the committee recommended that courts in Nigeria be allowed to handle various aspects of the case before them without interference.The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki,thereafter, put the recommendation to a voice vote and it was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers.The lawmakers, therefore, asked the EFCC and other agencies involved in the extraditionplan to drop and allow the judiciary in the country to deal with it.

sapele914:
DULLARD why must you show your ignorance,can't you comprehend,justice Alabi is accused of allegedly asking for 10 million to secure bail for the thief bamiyi,nothing to do with the vp. The vp's name is only in the story to sell the news to dumb asses like yourself. It is called junk journalism just like your junk thought process. 1st class mumu,3rd eye blind social media illiterate.

michoade:
Just tell me its a lie. My vp, it can't be.

ycat:
Haha nice try! The Hausa&fulani are scheming to take Osinbajo out of the way so their own can replace Buhari.

Jesusloveyou:
see painment.
You cant even address issue in proper perspective,
just be show us how painment you are