₦airaland Forum

By Asikason Jonathan



AT the homestretch of the 2015 presidential election, the Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election campaign team challenged then candidate Muhammadu Buhari to a sport contest. When the gauntlet was left unpicked, the team in a follow up, set the internet abuzz with the juxtaposition of the pictures of President Jonathan and members of his Federal Executive Council jogging and that of not-too-good- looking candidate Buhari.

The challenge which came on the heels of simmering conjectures on the health condition of candidate Buhari was aimed at passing one message which is: President Jonathan is healthier than candidate Buhari to carry out the duties of the office of president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

But was “health” given a premium in the election? The vuvuzelas of the opposition party was so fortissimo that not even the yawping of Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state could be heard. They rally-cried “Nigeria sai changi” and people responded with “Sai Buhari” and thus turned a blind eye to the critical issues in the election.

That health is of premium in the electability of a candidate leaves no room for argument. All public office –let alone the office of president– demands people who are sound both in body and in mind so that efficiency and proficiency will be brought to fruition in the exercise of the duties of the office.

Ever wonder why Nigeria is in downward spiral today? Serious countries never play with the health reports of candidates for an election––for there is a correlation between the health of a leader and his/her performance in office. This explains why the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign quickly published the health report of its candidate when candidate Donald Trump alleged that she is not healthy enough to be the president of the United States.

Nigeria is sick today because President Buhari is sick. And that the nature of the sickness is jealously guided makes the matter more complicated. Whither Nigeria?

The happenings in our Nigeria today often evoke the anecdote of the wise ram. The story had it that lion’s friendship with tortoise was put to test when the former sought for the guardianship of the latter’s child after devouring four of its five children due to the famine that struck the animal kingdom at the time. The request was one that tortoise could not turn down because they were good friends. So to select the one to send to lion, tortoise gathered its children and began ask: how many times will something happen to you before you become wise? The eldest answered four times.

The second said two times whereas the third son said once but when it came to the turn of the wise ram, it answered: before the act is fully hatched I will discover and avoid it. The tortoise nodded and sent the wise ram to lion.
So I ask Nigerians: where are the wise rams among us? We have trod this path before and not only that we are on it again but very complacent about its implication on the political development of the country.

At a point in the Yar’Adua saga, when all the threads in the political machinations of the cabal that hijacked the country were unwoven, the doctrine of necessity was invoked ––I wonder if the National Assembly is waiting for another bazaar before the said doctrine is invoked?
In his first medical trip, President Buhari spent over fifty days in a London hospital and incurred expenditure that the minister of information, Lai Mohammed, said will undermine national security if made public.
President Buhari has been away to the same hospital since May 10 for a fellow up treatment and with no sign of returning soon.

The complacency that is shadowing the politics of Buhari’s health and our evolution to ‘cabalcracy’ has given rise to the question: when will Buhari be considered “incapacitated”? A sickness that keeps one hospitalised over a month I believe falls within the definition of the word–incapacitated. In a sane milieu, President Buhari’s resignation would have been a fait accompli.

Odd enough, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic (as amended 2010) usurped the powers of the National Assembly in the originating process of the declaration of the permanent incapacity of presidents and vice-president of the country. According to section 144(a), the first step in the process is a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of all the members of the Federal Executive Council.

That the members of the Federal Executive Council are the appointed aids of the president made it impossible for the passage of such resolution to be successful for it is like biting the fingers that feeds one. And that the National Assembly, which is the presumed mouthpiece of the Nigerian citizens, cannot come in without the passage of the resolution makes the constitutional provision laughable.

Truth be told, Nigerians do not need a magician to tell them that President Buhari is incapable of discharging the duties of his office. That Prof.Yemi Osinbajo is yet to become a substantive president exposes not just the northern born-to-rule mentality which has stunted the political development of the country but also the APC paucity of leadership.

So, are we going to stand arms akimbo and wait till 2019 before we can do something? Waiting till 2019 amounts to leaving our fate to the power-play of the cabal that Aisha Buhari complained about and that amounts to a great disservice to this country. This piece therefore, calls upon the National Assembly to do the needful by arresting the situation now lest water, as they say in the Nigerian street parlance pass garri.

By PAUL UWADIMA, Abuja


Innoson motors has metamorphosed into a continental business venture, with the Mayor of Bamako leading a delegation from Mali to the automobile manufacturing plant in Nnewi, Anambra State, to purchase about 400 vehicles.

According to the information released by the company yesterday, the chairman of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, received a delegation from Mali led by the Mayor of Bamako, Mr. Harimakan Keita, for a factory tour of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Plant in Nnewi.

The visit, which was facilitated by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council led by Segun Awolowo, witnessed the signing of aMemorandum of Understanding with Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing on purchasing about 400 Innoson IVM vehicles that will be exported to Mali.

The Malian delegation also included The Charge D’ affaires, Nigeria Embassy, Mali, Zayyad Abdusalami, Minister of Employment and Professional Training Mali, Director of Regulation Urban Transport of Bamako, CEO of TAXI Plus Mali, CEO GINCO Group Mali.

Earlier, the delegation paid a courtesy call to the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah.

lalasticlala

Posted By: Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki 


For allegedly having sex with a man on her late husband’s matrimonial bed, a 70 woman been banished from her community.

The widow Mrs Maria Okoh, it was gathered, was allegedly caught by her granddaughter allegedly having sex with the 30 year old man said to be  her lover at Amaudo Nkpoghoro village, Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

In Afikpo, it is a considered a taboo for a widow to make love on her late husband matrimonial bed.

Maria’s  grand daughter was said to have gone to her grandmother’s house to give her some food items which she bought for her when she saw the 30 year old man making love with the grandmother.

She immediately raise alarm and immediately reported the matter to some members of the community who reported it to elders in the area.

Some of the villagers immediately held the woman and the man and dragged them out of the house chanting disgraceful songs on them.

The villagers paraded the widow and the man round the community while chanting disgraceful songs  as punishment for their act.

The woman was allegedly banished from the community after the parade.

One of the villagers, Egwu Azubuike said  the woman would have faced  greater punishment if her husband was still alive.

He noted  that the act has brought shame to the widow’s family, adding that the widow was among the most respected women in the community
before the incident.

Meanwhile, according to the community’s custom, the woman will  give three goats as fine  to appease the land before she will be accepted back.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Halliburton Corporation have reached an agreement that will speed up oil discovery in the inland sedimentary basins.

The cooperation will aid the United States based firm to achieve the exact location of viable crude oil deposits in the area.

Group General Manager, Research and Development Division of the NNPC, Dr. Bola Afolabi, said in Port Harcourt that the collaboration with Halliburton will help fast-track the inland basin exploration efforts through the use of the innovative Neftex solution designed to provide exactitude in drilling for oil.

He said the Halliburton Neftex solution, would provide a geophysical mapping structure of the country, and complement the ongoing in-house efforts by the NNPC research centre to develop what is known as ‘Turonian Cenomanian Cretaceous source rock’ for all the basins in Nigeria.

This, essentially, seeks to identify all the prolific basins in Nigeria by locating the cretaceous kitchen, that is, areas where large crude deposits could be found.
He said the collaborative research with Halliburton, which had crossed the 65 per cent threshold, would take 18 months to complete.

“We are so excited about this project and with the assured support of the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, our projection is that by the turn of next year, we should be able to help the frontier basin team achieve a pin-point location of possible commercial oil finds for eventual drilling activities,” he said.

The GGM also informed that research work had reached advance stage on the Federal Government commissioned project assigned by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), to classify Nigeria’s crude oil and natural gas.

He also stated that the NNPC research centre was already working on a project to enhance production from existing assets by introducing a cost effective and reliable alternative to drilling new wells. Already successful pilot scheme has been executed in collaboration with its strategic partners - Cypher Crescent Limited.

Established in 1977 to provide solution to operational and technical challenges of the Nigerian oil and gas industry, the NNPC R& Division currently has on its employ, three professors, 12 Ph.D holders and a handful of masters degree graduates in various fields of the sciences ranging from geology to chemistry and physics.

Under the ongoing NNPC restructuring, the projection is to transform the 40-year old research outfit into an autonomous and well-equipped one-stop shop technology centre in the frontline of petroleum technology development efforts in the west coast of Africa and beyond.

lalasticlala

fafambo:
Thanks for the information, so are u saying I should go and do the interview, does it worth traveling all the way from portharcourt down to ibadan? pls I ask again hope they are not GNLD OR HMO,pls ur response will be highly appreciated

The Federal Government has directed residents of flood prone areas to quickly evacuate to safer places to avoid impending danger.

This is just as environmental experts have predicted intense flooding across the country this year.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), in their rainfall prediction and flood outlook for 2017, had listed local council areas in almost all the states of the federation as likely to be affected by flooding.

Director General of National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr. Garba Abari, who gave the advice, while speaking with newsmen, said residents of the states and councils listed should take it seriously by taking measures to move out of the areas in the first instance to safeguard assets and property in and around the area.

Abari also urged Nigerians to, “adopt simple environmental safeguards, including opening of waterways and stopping the dumping of refuse in gutters, among others.”

He further warned Nigerians to, “stop building houses along designated water channels to avoid blockage that could cause flooding and brace up to their responsibility of clearing drainages and possibly invoke environmental laws towards flood mitigation in the country.”

The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, had said that summary of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, showed that approximately 30 states and over 100 local government areas were categorised as high flood risk areas and therefore should expect flooding.

He said, “In the coastal areas, including Lagos, Port Harcourt and Calabar, possible coastal flooding in these places were mentioned in the NlHSA’s flood outlook.”

lalasticlala

fafambo:
PLS CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME WITH ANY INFORMATION ABOUT FUNLAB IBADAN,I WAS INVITED FOR INTERVIEW, AND PRESENTLY I'M IN PH,I DNT WANT TO WASTE TFARE AND ON GETTING THERE IT TURNS OUT TO BE GNLD,PLS HELP ME, the previous info I saw on nairaland.com about the company wasn't convincing but I want to be sure

By Hamza Idris, Saawua Terzungwe, Ismail Mudashir (Abuja) and Yusha’u A. Ibrahim (Kano)




Meets With Ex-Ministers, BoT, Expanded Caucus Monday

To Fix Date For Party’s Convention

‘APC’s Time Is Up’

Just two years to the general elections, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is finding a formidable challenger in the same individual it evicted from the Aso Rock in 2015. Former President Goodluck Jonathan, this time around, is strategizing to bring his party, not necessarily himself, back to power. 

In the PDP, former President Jonathan is no longer regarded as the cause of the party’s problems occasioned by his defeat at the election in 2015. He is now regarded as the silver bullet that is capable of restoring the party’s lost glory and the pride of being the biggest political party in Africa that is capable of ruling for 60 years.

The former president seems to accept the new role that the party has now conferred on him. His actions and pronouncements contrast the image he cut at the Port Hacourt International Airport, shortly after handing over power to President Muhammadu  Buhari on May 29, 2015. He does not look unsure about his future political role anymore.

This new posture has just been bolstered by the PDP’s victory at the Supreme Court over leadership tussle between the Senator Ali Modu Sherrif and the Ahmed Makarfi factions as well as the victory in Osun Senatorial by-election.

Immediately after the Apex Court ruling, Jonathan took to his Twitter handle calling on former members of the party that defected to other parties because of the leadership crisis to return “home.”

“I thank God for this day of Justice and may God bless Nigeria,” he said in one of the tweets. “The party that gave Nigeria the largest economy in Africa is a party whose heart is large enough to find a place for all Nigerians and a free market economy that provides a level playing ground for all,” he added in another.

The two developments did not all send a clear message to members of the party about the possibility of regaining their lost strength, they also speak to the APC, especially in the case of Osun, political party analysts say.  

While the little cohesion that survived its fall from power was being threatened by the Sherrif-Makarfi crisis, most of the party’s leaders remained indifferent. For instance, Jonathan who was still smarting from election defeat, initially failed to take a stand and played host to both parties in the crisis.

One PDP leader who argues that Jonathan’s aloofness did not help matters, is the National Legal Adviser of the PDP, Barrister Bashir Maidugu.

“Sadly, the party could not manage itself simply because those who were supposed to take charge of putting things together absconded. I would blame ex-President (Goodluck) Jonathan for that,” he said.

He observed that the former president could have put a “mechanism” in place to keep the party together, instead he said, “he disappeared.”

“It was the absence of personalities like Jonathan that led to what happened in the party. Assuming before he handed over he had asked the national leadership to resign and set up a caretaker committee, nobody would have argued with him. That would’ve led us to a convention. It would have led us to the production of another set of leaders who would have been ruling without any issues like the ones we had. 

“But that was not done by Jonathan; he just left. That was what led to the situation we found ourselves in. It’s very good that he is coming in now because as a former president, people respect him and people listen to him and he is expected to continue with that role until a new leadership emerges,” he explained. 

But the supporters of the former leader dismissed the charges against him, insisting that even though he could not be isolated from the factors that led to the crisis in the PDP, he had little to do at the time.

They said Jonathan felt betrayed by many people in the PDP who he had trusted and provided enough resources to ensure his victory at the poll.

They also held that the ex-president had quietly carried out important assignments that have national significance at the time he was seen to be indifferent to the happenings in his party. They said, as part of the assignment, he met with President Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar at different times.

A source close to Jonathan also debunked the allegations, saying he had been in support of Makarfi to pull the party together even while the case was still in court. “He was all along with the Makarfi faction, supporting it to reunite the party and put it back on its feet ahead of 2019.

“My understanding of his efforts is that he is not doing all these for any impending presidential ambition. No. He is only bothered about the party, cognizant of his status as a former president commanding a lot of respect from its supporters and many Nigerians,” he said.

He further disclosed that the thinking around the PDP is that Nigerians are disenchanted with the level of performance of the APC so far and will be ready to give the PDP another chance. “The selling point of the PDP will be the inability of the APC to fulfill any of its campaign promises and Nigerians know it is the fact of the situation because they have seen the failure of the current government in nearly every sector.  Our party’s victory in Osun is enough to tell everyone what Nigerians are ready to do with the APC,” he added.


Jonathan, Sambo, PDP ex-ministers, others meet Monday

Former Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, said the former president had been playing a fatherly role and most of the party’s stakeholders would continue to recognize him as a father.

He said, “Even the Sheriff-led faction did not technically refuse to recognize Jonathan as a former president and as a leader of the party. Probably, they were so angered and desperate to have the leadership of the party and that is all, but they recognized Jonathan as leader of the party and I am sure they will continue to give him that respect.

“So, as far as PDP is concerned, Jonathan being the only living president of the party now is technically the leader of the party. We still see him as leader and he will remain the leader and he is still playing a very active role. He has been on this matter behind the scene for almost a year now. And many of us have been with him on this matter. So, the former president was not alone in the struggle to bring peace in the PDP.

Shekarau said most of the PDP stakeholders had talked with both sides and appealed to various organs of the party in order to arrive at a political solution, adding that the intervention led to the decision of the former president to call for a reconciliation meeting.

“Our decision then was to reconcile the two aggrieved parties and ask our lawyers to write to the court so that the case will be dismissed. All we are after at that time was to dodge the court judgement because we don’t want to have winners and losers in the matter. Now that it is over, we will not give up in the resolution of the matter,” he said.

On his part, the former Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Aminu Wali, said the former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, played a positive role in ensuring unity in the party and would continue to play same role until the party comes out stronger from its internal crisis.

He said, “The roles he has played to bring unity in the party prior to the recent judgment by the Supreme Court that ended the leadership tussle were very positive. He never took any sides from the beginning to the end. 

“Not only that after Sherrif walked out on the former president at the meeting, Jonathan being so humble, led some former governors to another room where they met Sheriff for one hour all in an effort to reconcile him with Makarfi and bring unity to the party.”

He said now that the Supreme Court had brought to an end the leadership crisis in the party, the stakeholders had now embarked on rigorous move to bring unity in the party.

“We are going to hold series of meetings from Monday to Wednesday. I can assure you’re the former President, Goodluck Jonathan will be in attendance unless if he travels out of the country. On Monday, we are going to meet with the expanded caucus of the party, who are the major stakeholders and we are expecting the Makarfi-led caretaker committee to present a paper at the meeting.

“The following day, the Board of Trustees will meet and on Wednesday, the National Executive Working Committee will meet. We are expecting the former president to attend these meetings,” he said.

Also, a statement by the party yesterday said the former, former vice president, Namadi Sambo and various organs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are expected to meet tomorrow, in Abuja.

The statement by the national secretary of the PDP national caretaker committee, Senator Ben Obi, said the Board of Trustees (BoT), National Executive Committee (NEC), National Assembly Caucus as well as PDP governors, ex-minister and former governors are expected to attend.

According to the statement, the INEC and the BoT members will meet on Tuesday, while others will meet Monday. 

While the essence of the meeting is not stated, Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the meeting which will be held at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, is meant to dicuss how and when the national convention would be held.

A BoT source who craved anonymity told our correspondent last night that the meetings would also deliberate on how to bring back the sacked national chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and his team back to the mainstream. 

“Two major issues will be discussed. The issue of reconciling with the Sheriff group and the convention, “ he said. 

Daily Trust on Sunday also gathered that the issue of zoning would be discussed ahead of the convention. 

Set to unite PDP

Jonathan’s campaign to salvage the PDP started drawing public attention when he held a meeting in August last year with the BoT members, led by Senator Walid Jibrin, at his residence in Abuja, where he accepted to broker peace in the party. 

After the meeting, declined to brief journalists, saying “It is not the type of meeting that requires briefing” 

On his part, Jibrin said since the PDP was a family, it would resolve its internal squabbles amicably. 

Later, the ex-president received Sheriff with members of his National Working Committee (NWC) and held a closed-door meeting with them. 

Speaking with newsmen after the meeting, Jonathan assured that the crisis would be resolved. The crisis, however, persisted.

The former president also met with the PDP governors in Abuja on February 28, 2017 and opted for a political solution to the crisis in the party. 

The governors were led by the Governor of Ekiti State and chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Ayodele Fayose.

Fayose, who addressed the press, said the meeting was at Jonathan’s instance.

“He is genuinely concerned about what is going on in the party, and he thought that an interactive session with the governors would go a long way to douse the tension,” Fayose said.

On March 26, 2017, the ex-president received the report of the Governor Seriake Dickson-led PDP National Reconciliation Committee in his country home, Otuoke, Bayelsa State where he urged the contending parties to embrace reconciliation as a way out of the logjam. 

One of the key recommendations in the report was that the party’s national convention be held not later than June 30 this year. 

Similarly, the Prof. Jerry Gana-led Strategy Review and Inter-Party Affairs Committee had on February 13, 2017 met with Jonathan behind closed-doors at his residence in Abuja and  submitted its report. 

Addressing the committee members, Jonathan said losing the presidency was a temporary setback. 

“We should be able to get that position back as long as we are able to get our acts together. I am happy that you people are working towards that,” he said. 

The PDP Women’s Forum, which also visited Jonathan in his Abuja office, said the former president remained the leading light for the party. 

They commended the role played by the former president towards resolving the party’s crisis. 

The former president had on April 6, 2017, organised PDP stakeholders’ meeting which took place at Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja, to unite the factionalised party.

The meeting was the first gathering that had the the two factions and nearly all the party bigwigs sit under one roof in nearly a year but it did not yield the desired result, as Sheriff stormed out of it in anger.

He attributed his action to the organizers’ refusal to allow him to preside over the meeting.

But the act was interpreted as an insult on the sensibilities of the PDP leaders by Sheriff, a development that was said to have united them against him.

After the Eid el Fitr in June, Jonathan also received former ministers on the PDP platform who paid him a Sallah visit at his residence in Abuja. Analysts said the visit, the first of its kind since he left power, was meant to bolster Jonathan’s new status as the unifier of the party.

His condolence visit to Kano over the death of the Danmasanin Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, in the company of his former ministers was also seen as part of the move to prove that the party is united under him.

Those that accompanied Jonathan on the visit include the former ministers of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Bala Mohammed, Internal Affairs, Abba Moro, Water Resources, Prof Sulaiman Ibrahim, Special Duties, Kabir Turaki, Foriegn Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali, and Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau.

Also on the entourage were former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Senator Aminu Inuwa, former member of House of Representatives, Farouk Lawal, Hajiya Baraka Sani and former Speaker, Kano State House of Assembly, Gambo Sallah.


‘Why Days of APC are Numbered’

A PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) member and former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, who has remained very close to Jonathan, told Daily Trust on Sunday that the ex-president is interested in re-focusing the party for victory in future elections.

“He is still a young man who loves the party. As a man of peace and with the information and experience at his disposal, he should be actively involved in an advisory capacity. 

“He should be concerned about making sure those in charge of the party’s affairs are diligent and focused on the values, vision and mission of the party while PDP-controlled states enjoy good governance,” he said.

A former chairman of the Senate Commitee on Rules and Business in the 5th Assembly, Senator Umaru Tsauri(PDP, Katsina) said attention has shifted to the former president because he has now woken up to his responsibility of strengthening and promoting unity in the party. 

In a phone interview, Tsauri said with the resolution of the internal wrangling of the party, facilitated by the Supreme Court judgement, Jonathan displayed high maturity with his statement of “no Victor, no vanquished” 

He said Jonathan was reluctant initially because of the two camps in the party and the fear of being attacked by the APC led administration. 

“The reluctance of Jonathan, initially was because he doesn’t want to be seen supporting any of the camps in the party and he doesn’t want to be embarrassed by the government of the APC, if he plays the role of a strong opposition leader, “he said. 

He said with the judgement of the apex Court, a new fiesta of opposition has been opened, the one he said will lead to the ousting of the APC government. 

“Jonathan has now taken his rightful position in the party and that was why he made the statement of no Victor, no vanquished immediately the judgement was delivered. If you recall he was in Kano to condole the people of the State over demise of DanMasanin. 

“Aside the visit, he has been meeting with necessary stakeholders in our party to promote unity. As far as we are concerned, the former president is doing the right thing and we are very comfortable with him. With his new commitment to the party and the maturity of Makarfi, the days of the APC government are numbered. We are saying bye bye to the APC government,” he said.

lalasticlala

Kenneth Ofoma

[img]https://i1.wp.com/newtelegraphonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Doctor-arraigned.png?zoom=2.8899999999999997&fit=500%2C320&ssl=1[/img]

The Police yesterday arraigned the Medical Director of Divine Grace Hospital and Maternity, Dr. Okafor Ikehukwu of 10 Nsugbe Street, Garki Akunanaw, in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State to a Magistrate’s Court for unlawful detention and confinement of one Ms Chiamaka Ogbodo and her child, Kosisochukwu Ogbodo for a year and four months.

The one-count charge also accused Ikechukwu of holding the mother and her newborn child against “her will or otherwise unlawfully, depriving them of their personal liberty and thereby committed an offence punishable under 316 of the criminal code 30 volume II law of Enugu State of Nigeria, 2014”.

The police prosecutor, DSP Oliji Clement, stated that Ikechukwu from April 2016 to 1th June 11, 2016 and from August 31, 2016 to of July 8 did unlawfully detained Chiamaka and her baby boy, of which she was delivered by the doctor, for her inability to pay hospital bill. After the charges were read before Ikechukwu, he pleaded not guilty.

The Magistrate, A. O. Eze, granted the suspect bail in the sum of N100,000 with a surety of a level 16 officer with three-year tax clearance certificate, while the matter was adjourned to August 1. Commenting on the issue, Chiamaka told journalists that she put to bed at the suspect’s hospital on April 10, 2016 but due to her family’s inability to pay all the bills at once.

She said she lost her father in the process compounding her family’s financial challenge and that every appeal made to the doctor to even allow her to go and see the corpse of her late father before his interment fell on deaf ears. She said it took the intervention of the national coordinator of Human Rights Volunteer Copse (HRVC), Mr. Larry Oguego, to use the police to rescue her from the doctor’s ‘cell’ on July 8.
She further alleged that while in detention several attempts were made on her by the doctor and his friends to violet her sexually but she resisted.

lalasticlala

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja



The acting President Yemi Osinbajo, has said the Federal Government did not owe N-empower employees backlog of salaries.

This is even as he disclosed that about 2.3 million youths had applied for the second batch of the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP), meant to absorb additional 300,000.

The portal for NPower to absorbed additional 300,000 into the 2017/2018 phase was reopened on June 13.

Scores of beneficiaries of the NPower job initiative protested against non-payment of their monthly stipends since December last year.

Osinbajo, during a visit to the N-Power Response Center at the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), said all those whose Bank Verification Number (BVN) had been verified had been paid, adding that verification was necessary in order not to pay the wrong people.

Responding to questions from newsmen after visiting the Response Center on complaints of backlog of salaries, Osinbajo said: “There is no such thing as a backlog.

If your BVN is verified and everything is checked, then you are paid. There is a problem if your BVN does not match the records you gave. If there is a problem with any of your records you cannot be paid.

The moment your records are cleared, then you are paid constantly. If you don’t correct these records, then you might be paying the wrong people.”

The acting President said: “Already 200,000 young people have been engaged. And since the programme was opened, another 2.3 million have applied and we are looking at the next phase of engagement.

“But for me, I think what is important is that we are able to do this incrementally and we are able to give hope to some of these young people who need the opportunity.”

“You will recall that the target was 500,000 but depending on our resources, we can always do more but the target for now is 500,000.

Emboldened by last Wednesday’s judgment of the Supreme Court, which settled the leadership tussle within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some former members of the party are set to quit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and return to the umbrella-symbolled party.

Indications to this effect became rife on Thursday night when Saturday Telegraph got wind of a meeting holding between some bigwigs within the PDP and some of their former colleagues, who are now in the APC. A further probe by our correspondents however revealed that the meeting involved some former members of the group that what was then known as the newPDP, who defected to the APC in the wake of the 2015 general elections.

Sources within both parties confirmed that the Supreme Court ruling, which confirmed the leadership of the PDP on the Senator Ahmed Makarfi led faction, might have buoyed the defectors to conclude a plan to return to the PDP.


Ex-nPDP leaders in talks with former party

Investigations by our correspondents however revealed that there had been series of meetings between some of the defunct nPDP and APC members, who had been awaiting the verdict of the apex court. One of the sources informed that some of the defectors, who in 2013, formed what was then known as the newPDP, are the major players in the current move, while not ruling out the possibility of new entrants from some of the parties that formed the APC.

“Don’t you know them? They are from the second PDP. Have you forgotten them? They called themselves the newPDP at that time. They had been meeting before the ruling, it is certain that some of them will go back. “This is the judgment they had been waiting for. It could have been different if the judgment had gone the other way.

Some of them had said openly that they cannot work with Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff, but with the victory given to the Makarfi group, you can expect majority of them to go back to their vomit. “You need to see how they were dancing as if it was their party that won the court case. It is obvious that their hearts are still with the PDP.

They are just waiting for the right excuse to use and return to the PDP”, he said. The Supreme Court had in its judgment affirmed that the PDP leadership led by the party’s caretaker committee’s chairman, Ahmed Makarfi, was the authentic faction of the party.

However, feelers within the party last night revealed that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, might be among those considering a return to the PDP. But one of our sources was quick to exonerate the former Rivers State Governor from the clandestine moves to jettison the ruling party, saying, “except for people like Amaechi, who are serving, and who you don’t expect to quit the cabinet, most nPDP members will go back ‘home’, where they belong”, he said.

Another highly placed party member, who is in the know of the latest twist, told this newspaper that most, if not all the members of the nPDP may be on their way back to the PDP. The source, who was not categorical when such movement would be, however, insisted that the need to return to the party was necessary considering the fact that the judgment had given hope for a fresh PDP emerging from the rubbles of a crisis-ridden party. According to the female source, the rebirth is coming at a time when the APC was no longer living up to its billing in meeting the socio-political and economic yearnings of Nigerians. She said: “As you can see, the Supreme Court judgment has thrown up so many things.

From all indications, a lot of realignment and counter-realignment will begin to emerge to shape the countdown to 2019. “Don’t be surprised when you begin to see the return of our nPDP members who went to APC. Yes, I can tell you that they are already thinking of a return and this will definitely happen. This I know.”

The big madam’, as she is fondly called was of the opinion that the restructuring agenda being propagated by Atiku, is one major reason that the former VP would return to the PDP, insisting that he can’t achieve his aim of restructuring Nigeria in the APC. “Atiku can never be in the APC and still be talking of restructuring. He can’t achieve that in the party, he has to come back to the PDP. “But before then, I want you to recall that Atiku is a strong contender for 2019 presidency. So, we know that Atiku is already considering this option since he had been championing the cause for the nation to be restructured.”


Atiku: Not true, insists on restructuring

But one of Atiku’s aides who craved anonymity denied the report saying; “that is not on the table and not on the agenda. “The rumoured defection had been going on for some time now, we don’t know where that is coming from. But I can tell you it is not true. Atiku remain in the APC”. Also, the Special Assistant on Media to Atiku, Mr. Paul Ibe, told Saturday Telegraph that the insinuations could not be true.

According to Ibe, the former Vice President remains a loyal member of the APC and any report of him crossing over to another party at this time is merely speculative and should be ignored.

“He is a loyal member of the APC who worked for the emergence of this government. He deployed his resources in aid of the party before, during and after the 2015 elections. So I don’t know what greater commitment somene can show than what he had done,”Ibe said.

And as if our source was reading Atiku’s mind, the former VP who had been in the forefront of the campaign to restructure the polity, yesterday insisted that Nigeria must be restructured for national cohesion.

Atiku, yesterday urged debaters and contributors on restructuring to be openminded. He also charged the states opposing restructuring because of the oil to have it in mind that oil would not have an everlasting relevance, but to make use of the relevance it has today and develop their revenue base.

He said: “The states or zones of the country that are most dependent on oil revenues have a greater urgency to decouple themselves from that dependency now that there is still some oil revenue to assist them in the transition. That window may not remain open for a long time, which may then make the inevitable transition much more painful and chaotic.”

“Restructuring will contribute to national cohesion and good governance, as it would decongest the centre and enhance greater manageability, efficiency and accountability. “Restructuring will ensure greater accountability. People are more likely to hold their state and local governments to account once those governments are no longer able to convincingly blame the central government for their shortcomings; Restructuring will promote healthy competition among our federating units, which will encourage them to diversify their revenue sources.

“Restructuring will ensure greater fairness and a perception of same among our constituent parts and there is also another huge economic imperative for us to restructure: oil, which underlined and underwrote our excessive centralization and fragmentation into numerous unviable states, and which has been at the centre of much of our squabbles, seems to have reached its peak as source of revenues for our country”. On those holding different views about restructuring, the former Vice President said: “Yes restructuring may mean different things to different people.

Like all things with political and economic implications, those calling for restructuring have varying positions, which is not a bad thing. But we won’t really find out how close our positions are to those of others until we sit down with them and start to talk and negotiate. The biggest challenge seems to be that we seem to be allowing moderate voices on this issue to be drowned out by the reckless utterances of a few rabble-rousers on all sides who may be tools in the hands of those who do not wish this country well.


Kwakwanso denies involvement

But, in a swift reaction, Kwankwaso refuted the claims through his spokesperson, Binta Spikin, saying there was no time he muted the idea of moving out of the party that he suffered to nurture. “Kwankwaso is not an unpopular politician who will go out of a party unannounced, you know the army of his followers across the country so I don’t think he can even think of decamping without first discussing it with his loyalists.”
The former governor, who was among those that dumped the PDP after polarising it shortly before the 2015 general elections, said he didn’t see anything good in the PDP that would make him go back. He reminded that the ruling APC is still the party to beat despite the lapses being witnessed, saying all those needed to be corrected would soon be corrected and that, that does not mean the party has completely lost ground.
The spokesperson noted that when Kwankwaso was going out of PDP he did it in such a way that he attracted attention. “It is not that simple thing for a Man like Kwankwaso who drive national loyalty and supports to just decamp to a party that still is searching for it is based. “If truly he is going out of the ruling APC it would have been the talk of the town by now because he will do it in such a way that millions of his followers will be put in the know and be prepared for the journey ahead.”


Kwara PDP moves to poach from APC

In Kwara State, the leaders of the party confirmed that they were ready to poach more members from the APC as a means of working towards a 2019 victory in the state. A leader of the party said they were convinced many APC members were not happy with the way things were being done in the state but had no veritable platform to move to given the crisis of the PDP and expressed confidence that with the situation now resolved, such members will only be glad to be invited to the PDP. “We are ready to poach even their big names because we know they are unhappy here’, the party elder who is also a member of the central working committee in the state said.

State chairman of the party, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, while addressing members who had gathered at the party’s secretariat to celebrate the decision of the apex court, said the leaders would also work to ensure that members that left the PDP due to the crisis were brought back. Fagbemi called on all, including his factional colleague, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, to join the PDP to effect a genuine change.

The PDP boss said the decision of the court would also filter down to the factional situation in the state and would work to reconcile with the other faction. He said: “We know that if we join hands, the misrule, misgovernance, poverty promotion, and negatives that they have brought upon us will be brought to an end.

The legacy they are saying must continue in Kwara will be stopped because there is nothing to continue. The change they have brought must be changed for a better Kwara. “The widely applauded ruling of the nation’s apex court has rekindled Nigerians hope in the judiciary as the last hope of the command man. “The ruling is a welcome development and a relief to Nigerians yearning for a virile opposition party, the absence of which has made the ruling to be slumbering and denying the citizens good governance.

“We thank the judiciary for staying on the side of the truth and we urge its officials to continue in that direction, so that together we can build a country where there will be equal opportunities for all, regardless of class status. “With this landmark judgement, our great party, the PDP is now in a better stead to play its role as the leading opposition party in the country. It’s also a great opportunity to reposition the party ahead of the 2019 general elections.

“We have strong conviction that the party under the chairmanship of Makarfi will wrest power from the crisis-ridden APC in the next general elections. The feat recorded by the PDP in the last weekend senatorial bye election in Osun State is a pointer to this”, he said.

By HENRY OKONKWO



A thirteen-year-old boy has been found dead in an uncompleted building beside his home after his mother allegedly rained abuses on him.

The teenager, simply identified as Rokeeb, was found hanging on a noose last Monday, around 9am, at 25 Ekimogun Street, Apelehin under Isokan community in Bariga area of Lagos.

Neighbours told Saturday Sun that Rokeeb could have sunk into depression after his mother launched a tirade at him in which, she allegedly told him to go hang himself if he liked.

On the fateful day, no one expected that such a terrible thing would happen, because Rokeeb was his usual self, doing the call to prayer in the local mosque situated at Kehinde lane, close to his house.

Rokeeb’s Quranic teacher simply known as Alfa Sambo, said the boy, after performing the religious assignment that morning continued reading the Quran in mosque, but suddenly left when he saw his mother going out.

“He told Alfa that he wants to go and help his mother carry her load,” an eyewitness told Saturday Sun. “Rokeeb’s mother sells noodles at a bus stop in Bariga. Few minutes after, we heard the mother shouting and abusing the boy, I was confused as to what could have gone wrong with Rokeeb and his mother. But I didn’t go out to confirm what the cause of the outburst was.”

Another neighbour said one of Rokeeb’s siblings told her that the deceased asked their mother for money, but she told him she did not have. Then Rokeeb started grumbling and complaining about life, saying that he was tired of living. That apparently annoyed the mother and made her reply in anger that if he was tired of life he should go and hang himself, the neighbour said.

Moments later, Rokeeb’s body was found dangling from the ceiling in an uncompleted building near the house.

“We heard some residents shouting for help that Monday morning,” a resident who simply identified himself as Kunle, said, adding: “we found Rokeeb hanging and struggling for breath. We took him down and rushed him to Gbagada General Hospital, but he died at the emergency section before medical help could get to him.”

Neighbours said Rokeeb’s mother is a single mother of three. Rokeeb was a product of her first marriage, which crashed. She remarried and had the last two children. That marriage also crashed, so, currently she is not with any man, one said.

Saturday Sun’s efforts to reach the woman for comments were unsuccessful as she was said to have been at large, since the incident. No one could tell her whereabouts by press time.

The student was allegedly impregnated by one of the teachers.

Prosecuting police officer, Sgt. Rachael Donny, told the court that Mustapha, Musibau and others at large, committed the alleged offences between 2014 and 2016 at Ibowon.

She alleged that they secretly subjected the girls to serial sexual harassment for two years.

Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups. Hence, it should not surprise anyone that among these groups, there will be some strange cultural practices associated with marriage. Most times, these practices are meant to strengthen the bond of marriage and preserve its sanctity. There are the good, the bad and the ugly. In line with this, Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 4 strange Nigerian cultural practices associated with marriage in Nigeria.

Flogging the groom among the Fulanis

This is a festival in which an intending young Fulani groom is flogged to prove that he’s ready to take a wife. The would-be groom will be trashed and he must show no signs of pain. Otherwise, his readiness to take up the huge responsibility of marriage will not be accepted.

Magun (thunderbolt)

Magun is very common among the Yorubas. It is usually placed on wives by their husbands without their knowledge as a deterrent for committing adultery. And if she goes ahead with the act, her lover could end up losing his life or getting stuck while in the act.

Fattening room

This is practiced by people who hail from Calabar. The fattening room is a room where young women are kept and prepared for womanhood and marriage. Being fat is considered as a sign of good living.

Shaving the hair

A woman who just lost her Igbo husband is usually taken through some cultural rituals to prove that she played no role in the death of her husband. One of the rituals, although somewhat humiliating, is that she has to shave her hair.

lalasticlala

Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, has faulted the approach employed in fighting the war against corruption.

He said with immense “emphasis” placed on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the country was only dealing with symptoms of corruption whereas “corruption is like a tree”.

The speaker said this on Thursday when a delegation from the fiscal responsibility commission (FRC) visited him in Abuja.

Dogara was querying the non-disclosure of interests accruing to Nigeria’s foreign reserve accounts which he said should be under the custody of agencies like FRC “for dissemination to the public when necessary”.

The speaker said Nigeria earns interest on foreign reserves like Botswana but the country has such interest as its second highest revenue source after natural resources.

He, therefore, wondered why the Central Bank of Nigeria does not declare interests accruing on the foreign reserves accounts of the federation even after the house had passed a resolution calling it to do so in December 2015.

“In Nigeria, we have been asking the question, are we earning or are we just running charity with it or just leave people to manage it,” the speaker said.

“From the way we are fighting corruption, it is like emphasis is built on EFCC, but the problem with that approach that you are dealing with the symptoms of corruption.

“Once you continue to deal with the leaves and the fruits, and the root is still there, you cannot totally eliminate corruption.

“These are preventive agencies and we ought to invest more in agencies such as the Fiscal Responsibility Commission because we have to make it difficult for corruption itself to take place. Once we do that, we will be applying the remedy at the root of corruption.

“There is no limit to the kind of attention we can pay to agencies like this, because this is the right way to combat corruption itself to ensure that resources are efficiently allocated and that we have fiscal discipline.”

https://cdn1.dailypost.ng/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WALE-kachikwu.jpg

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachukwu has clashed with the Group Chief Executive of Oando PLC, Mr. Wale Tinubu, over alleged planned concessioning of Port-Harcourt refinery.

Both men met on Thursday during a one-day Public Hearing of the Senate on the way forward for the oil sector.

The Minister, who appeared before the Senator Abubakar Kyari-led ad hoc Committee on the Planned Concession of the Refinery rebuffed Tinubu and disowned statements credited to the latter which implied that his company (Oando) has been granted concession for the Port Harcourt refinery.

Although Wale Tinubu also denied ever making any remark in the media on alleged concession of Port Harcourt refinery to the oil company by the federal government, he vehemently maintained his stand that the refinery has been packaged for Oando’s rehabilitation.

After accusation and counter accusation between the two, the Senate and the federal agencies handling the nation’s oil refineries on alleged move to concession the Port Harcourt Refinery, all parties settled for revamping, rehabilitation and maintenance of the refinery along with others through what they termed, sourced financing from private oil firms.

Speaking further on the state of the refinery, Kachikwu who noted that $300 million would be required to repair it, said that it was better to engage the company that built the refinery in the first instance for its repairs, due to the availability of spare parts and knowledge of the configuration, adding that the country’s refineries were being run and maintained by Nigerian engineers, and acknowledged that there was the urgent need for constant retraining of the engineers.

The Benue Police Command on Wednesday arraigned Mrs. Queen Akwaza , wife of a wanted criminal suspect, Terwase Akwaza, over alleged refusal to disclose her husband’ s whereabouts.

Mrs. Akwaza, who appeared before a Makurdi Chief Magistrate’s Court, was charged with criminal conspiracy, screening of armed robbery and kidnapping suspects, and acts of terrorism.

The offences, according to the prosecutor, Mr Hyacinth Gbakor, are punishable under sections 1 (2)(b), 6 (a)(b)(c) of the robbery and firearms acts, laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and section 1 (2) of Terrorism (Prevention)(Amendment) Act, 2013.

Gabor told the court that on June 15, 2017, a team of Police Joint Task Force Patrol, led by Mr Simon Majinga , arrested eight persons, who were arraigned in the same court, on July 7, for the same crimes.

He said that Mrs. Akwaza was among the suspects, but was still at large, at the time of that arrest.

“ The team reported that the suspects were carrying out acts of kidnapping , hostage taking and terrorism. It said that the criminals, led by Akwaza, his wife, Queen, and one Teryima Ihimbe, operated around Katsina- Ala, Kwande, Ukum and Vandeikya areas of Benue.

According to the prosecution , during police investigation, it was also discovered that Mrs. Akwaza was the brain behind the kidnappings and other nefarious acts spearheaded by Zendedoo Tsekaa, one of the suspects arraigned earlier.

Gbakor said that Mrs . Akwaza was arrested on July 7, 2017 and she confessed to the crimes.

Though no plea was taken for want of jurisdiction, the accused person , in a statement to the police, claimed that her husband used charm on her, which hypnotised her into marrying him.

She claimed that her husband had touched her on the buttocks in the market and she followed him immediately afterwards.

“ Immediately after that `touch’ , I followed him and have been living with him since then.

“I am his 33 rd wife; any woman he touches, ends up with him, ” she stated.

The suspect claimed that the only child from the union, a girl, was killed and buried by the husband.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Isaac Ajim, ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the matter to Aug. 8, for further mention.

Ajim also ordered the prison authority to give her a comprehensive medical check up.

lalasticlala

adeniyisamuel59:
Pictures or idonbilivit

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE


A 15-year old secondary school girl has been hospitalized after four men reportedly gang-raped and injured her in Oshodi Lagos.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened at Church Street in Oshodi, where the victim was lured and was raped by the suspects in turns.

One of the suspects, Mukaila Nurudeen has been arrested, charged for the alleged offence and remanded in prison custody.

According to police source, the victim suffered her fate after one of the suspects lured her to the place where the three others waited to rape her.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the victim was lured into the room, the door was shut, she was ordered to remove her clothes and pant and was raped in turns.

Thereafter they allowed her to go but before then the suspects had already injured her which made her parents to take her to the hospital where she was being treated.

The matter was reported to the police who trailed the suspects and arrested Nurudeen while the rest escaped and were said to be at large.

Nurudeen was charged before Ogba Magistrates court for the alleged offence while the police were said to be looking for the escaped suspects.

When Nurudeen was arraigned, he pleaded not guilty.

The presiding Magistrate, Mrs Davis Abegunde granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.
He was remanded in prison custody pending when he will perfect his bail.
The matter was adjourned till 17 July 2017.

lalasticlala

YelloweWest:
Women enjoy sex more than men.

Finacial Times of London says President Muhammadu Buhari has practically done nothing to grow Nigeria’s economy, stating that the country has let a crisis go to waste.

In an article written by David Pilling, its Africa editor, the newspaper said the economy will grow in 2017, just like a dead cat will bounce if thrown from a 50-storey building.

“The term ‘dead cat bounce’ derives from the fact that even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height. If you imagine a dead cat soaked in crude oil and dropped from a 50-storey building, you get a rough picture of how Nigeria’s economy is performing these days.

“Nigeria is expected to grow 2.5 per cent this year after contracting 1.6 per cent in 2016. But the population is also growing at 2.5 per cent. So in per capita terms, things are going nowhere.

“The reasons for the “recovery” are twofold. First, last year’s performance was so dismal it would have been difficult for the economy to fall further. Without doing anything at all — a reasonable description of policy under Muhammadu Buhari, the country’s ailing leader and frequent London resident — the baseline effect has worked its magic. Second, the oil that makes up so much of government revenues is flowing faster. In June, production was 1.7m barrels a day, 10 per cent higher than a year ago.”

FT said Nigeria’s power house has not heard of the advice that “one should, they say, never let a crisis go to waste”, further stating that Nigeria has let its recession go to waste and will return to business as usual as oil prices recover.

The newspaper acknoledges that Nigeria has among “the sharpest, most driven and entrepreneurial” people on the African continent.

Pilling added that Buhari “has spent much of the past year convalescing from a mystery illness that has sapped his presidency of vigour and set off a merry-go-round of political jockeying to succeed him.
There has been practically nothing in the way of coherent economic policy”.

In all of these, FT adds that Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is “competent and dynamic” to run Nigeria, and has been doing just that.

Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, will own 50,000 cows by 2019, and produce 500 million litres of milk per year.

The group, principally owned by Africa’s richest man, plans to invest $3.8 billion in sugar and rice and $800 million in dairy production in the next three years.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, Nigeria needs about 1.5 billion litres of milk annually.

US department of agriculture also puts Nigeria’s “insufficient” milk import at $225 million per year, stating that the country’s dairy market has a potential in excess of $3 billion.

With Dangote’s drive, the group will produce a third of the country’s ideal demand and nearly all of its current import.

According to Bloomberg, the company seeks to expand and deal with a shortage of dollars needed to import raw materials.

The conglomerate plans to increase its production of sugar to 1.5 million metric tonnes a year by 2020 from 100,000 tons now and is seeking to add 1 million tonnes of rice.

In an interview on Tuesday, Edwin Devakumar, executive director at Dangote, said lack of foreign exchange means companies need to invest in local agriculture to help meet demand for food from Nigeria’s population of more than 180 million.

“All raw sugar has to be imported today, same thing for flour milling,” Bloomberg quoted Devakumar to have said.

Dangote, whose cement unit is Nigeria’s biggest listed company, has been investing in agriculture as the country’s government seeks to diversify away from oil, which accounts for 90 percent of the nation’s export earnings and the bulk of revenue.

The economy, which plunged into its first recession in a quarter-century last year amid falling crude prices, is forecast by the World Bank to expand by 1.2 percent this year.

Dangote plans to cultivate 350,000 hectares (864,850 acres) of land for sugar cane and add 200,000 hectares for rice, according to Devakumar.

The company has ordered five plants for sugar milling and 10 for rice from Switzerland to be located in the north of the country, he said.

John Alechenu , Olalekan Adetayo and Leke Baiyewu


There were indications on Sunday that the All Progressives Congress leaders have met over the crisis between the Presidency and the Senate on the appointment of the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu .

The PUNCH gathered that the party had intervened in the crisis and would declare its position before the end of this week.

A Presidency official, who confided in one of our correspondents , said that those who attended the meeting, which was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, included the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie - Oyegun; the Deputy National Chairman , North; Senator Lawal Shuaibu; the National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni; the National Treasurer, Mohammed Gwagwaruwa ; and the National Organising Secretary , Senator Osita Izunaso.

The source, who did not give the details of the meeting, stated, “Our party leaders have met with all the gladiators . I met on Friday with some of the party leaders who attended the meeting . I guess they will be speaking on the outcome soon. ”

The Presidency source also disclosed that it was the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who contacted the acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, after the Senate passed the latest resolution on Magu .

According to the Presidency official , Saraki expressed his readiness to attend any fence -mending meeting if there was any.

“To be fair to the Senate President , he was the one who contacted the acting President shortly after their resolution – to express his willingness to attend any meeting organised to find a lasting solution to the matter and he attended , ” the source said.

But a National Assembly source said the meeting between the acting President and the Senate President on Thursday night was at the instance of Osinbajo.

The source said the Senate ’ s resolution on Tuesday compelled Osinbajo to invite Saraki to a meeting.

The source said, “ A meeting took place between Saraki and Osinbajo. The acting President actually reached out to the Senate President after the lawmakers sent a strong signal to the Presidency.

“ The acting President seems to have realised the implication of what he said . He was literally begging at the meeting that nobody should heat up the polity; that what he said was only a reaction to what Mr. Femi Falana said. Also, note that if the acting President did not want to see Saraki, the Senate President would not have gone there. ”

It was learnt that the party leaders were also using ‘back channels’ to reach out to the feuding party members.

A top ranking APC official , who pleaded anonymity in order not to escalate tension, noted that the issue at hand had not yet reached a point where the party would intervene but said it may soon convene a meeting to be jointly attended by the two arms of government.

The source said , “We are intervening to prevent things from getting out of hand. We are using back channels to reach out to the executive and the members of the legislature.

“ We don’t want individuals to take advantage of the situation to advance their personal agenda . Egos are bruised and we must do everything to de-escalate tension.

“ For now , we are reaching out to both parties to get them to avoid making public statements capable of exacerbating the situation; we will take it up from there. ”

The source further explained that the decision of the party ’ s National Working Committee to meet with its governors, at least , once a month had greatly improved relations.

He said the same approach was being adopted to ensure that the party, the executive and the legislature were on the same page on national issues.

When asked if the party ’ s leaders met with the executive and the legislature over the weekend , the APC National Publicity Secretary , Bolaji Abdullahi, in response to a text message on Sunday said ‘ no’.

But a presidential aide , who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, said, “Consultations are still at infancy . There is really nothing to tell at the moment. ”

Abdullahi told The PUNCH on Saturday that contrary to insinuations in some quarters , there was no rift between the executive and the legislative arms of government.

The spokesman, in a telephone interview in Abuja, on Saturday, that what appeared to be a disagreement between the two arms of government presented the nation with an opportunity to strengthen democracy.

Abdullahi said, “There is no face - off . For me , I would like to look at the positive side and the positive side is that the more of this type of situation we have, the more the opportunity we have to test our constitution.

Osinbajo had, in an interview in April ruled out the possibility of President Muhammadu Buhari replacing Magu , whose nomination was rejected by the Senate twice.

He had said he aligned himself with the argument of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, that Senate confirmation was not needed for the EFCC chairman based on the provisions of Section 171 of the constitution.

Osinbajo's statement drew the ire of Senators , who on Tuesday, threatened to withhold all requests for confirmation into executive positions from the Presidency.

Efforts to get the reaction of the Senior Special Assistant to the acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, on the telephone did not yield positive result as of the time of filing this report on Saturday.

Attempts to get reactions from some of those said to have attended the meeting were futile. Calls to the mobile telephone number of Odigie -Oyegun were neither picked nor returned.

He had yet to respond to a text message sent to him on the subject as of the time of filing this report.

Similar calls to the party's national organising secretary were also not picked nor returned.

A response to a text message sent to him was still being awaited as at the time of filing this report.

Calls and text messages sent to the party's deputy national chairman (North) and the party ’ s national secretary were not responded to.

lalasticlala