₦airaland Forum

Sunday Aborisade, Abuja

The Senate at plenary on Tuesday, expressed concern over the persistent failure of state governments to pay teachers’ salaries and urged the federal government to enter into negotiations with the affected states.

The upper chamber requested for an effective, comprehensive intervention scheme that will address the development.
The parliament equally tasked the federal, state and local governments to immediately take necessary steps towards the payment of all outstanding salary arrears they owe teachers.

It also urged the states to immediately begin the implementation of a priority expenditure scheme that will equate the payment of teachers’ salaries with public expenditure such as security.

The resolutions were the aftermath of a motion by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) in which he observed that basic education remained a concurrent issue.

He described it as the basic responsibility of both the states and local governments but which currently requires the prompt intervention of the federal government to avert a total collapse of the nation’s educational system.

Melaye further argued that a situation where some states owe teachers their salaries for five months and beyond, was nit good enough.

He said, ” The implications of this is that, what we have in our hands with this situation is a national emergency that requires drastic measures to halt the drift.”
He described teachers’ welfare as the heartbeat of the success of the education system.

He advocated the need to explore several education intervention funds that are backed by law but devoted to capital projects, pointing out that such funds can be deployed to pay teachers’ salaries.
He also observed that provisions had been made for the recruitment of more teachers in the 2016 budget without any clear roadmap about payment of salaries.

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, described as a paradox, a situation where the federal government is currently attempting to recruit 500,000 fresh teachers when those in current employment are actually not paid.
According to him, it is not right to hire more hands without any plan of action for their payment.

Senator Ali Wakili (Bauchi South) lamented that a number of teachers can no longer shoulder their primary responsibilities in their families because they are not paid.
Senate President Bukola Saraki. described the trend as a pitiful situation which he said required the appropriate involvement and collaboration of the federal, state and local governments.

He noted that the situation must not be allowed to continue and therefore, mandated the committee on education to ensure that the resolutions passed are followed up with a view to ensuring that the right thing is done about payment of teachers’ arrears.

Also yesterday, the Senate called on the federal government as well as the governments of Zamfara and Sokoto States to immortalise the former Director-General of National Security Organisation, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, who passed on last Wednesday in London.

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A group of Christians in Nigeria, led by National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF), have condemned the extension of public holiday by the Federal Government over the non-sighting of the moon during the just concluded Eid-el-Fitri celebration.

The fasting came the full cycle of 30 days based on the instruction of the Sultan of Sokoto and the President-General of Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III.

While insisting that the trend portends a dangerous precedent that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari was taking instructions from the Sultan, the coalition said the government and Islamic leaders should repay the country the extra day that was lost during the next Eid-el-Fitri “in which we expect that only one day should be approved as public holiday.”

NCEF has Solomon Asemota as chairman, with members being General Joshua Dogonyaro (retd), Professor Joseph Otubu, General Zamani Lekwot (retd), Dr Kate Okpareke, Dr Ayo Abifarin, Bishop Joseph Bagobiri, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, Elder Moses Ihonde, Elder Nat Okoro and Professor Vincent Anigbogu.

Others are General Ishaku Dikko (retd), Justice Kalajine Anigbogu (retd), Elder Shyngle Wigwe, DIG P. L. Dabup, Sir John W. Bagu, Dr Saleh Hussaini, Elder Mike Orobator, Chief Olaniwun Ajayi, Justice M. Ogebe (retd), Priscilla Kuye, Chief Debo Omotosho, Dr Musa Asake, Joseph Daramola and Pastor Olatunbosun Emmanuel as secretary.

The coalition, in a statement by Asemota, obtained by Religious Affairs correspondents in Abuja, said it was obvious that the All Progressives Congress (APC), which promised Nigerians change from the lawlessness and impunity that seemed to characterise this country, was drifting the country to a wrong direction.

Apart from NCEF, other members of the coalition include Nigerian Christian Graduate Fellowship; Think Tank for the body of Christ; Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria; Association of Christian Schools in Nigeria; Students Christian Movement; Christian Professionals Forum; Intercessors for Nigeria and and International Prophetic Ministerial Association (Inc.) Worldwide College of Bishops and Ministers in Africa, UK and USA.

The coalition also has Intercessors Without Walls; Wailing Women International; Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship; Nigerian Fellowship of Christian Students; Ministers Prayer Network; International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and University Joint Campus Christian Fellowship as members.

The statement by Asemota read: “As Nigerians, we congratulate the Muslims in the nation on their successful completion of the Ramadan fast in 2016. However, we are disturbed by the apparent shoddiness and confusion the Federal Government brought into the declaration of the Public Holiday rounding up the Muslim religious exercise.

“The Federal Government had earlier declared Tuesday, 5th and Wednesday, 6th July public holiday, only to reverse itself and declare Wednesday, 6th and Thursday, 7th July public holiday. If this was done before Tuesday was observed as public holiday, it would have been tolerable, but declaring Thursday, 7th as public holiday in addition to Tuesday and Wednesday, is a mark of institutional unseriousness. The implication now is that three days were work-free in the week.

“We are equally appalled that the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, based the decision to declare Thursday as public holiday on the directive by the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto, to the effect that the Ramadan fast continues today (last Tuesday) as a result of the non-sighting of the moon.

“We are not aware that Nigeria has transmuted into a religious theocratic state, in which the leader of a religious group issues directive to the Federal Government. If the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs confirmed Wednesday and Thursday as public holiday for the Ramadan fasting, then, who advised the Federal Government to declare Tuesday a public holiday?

“As innocuous as some people may want to present this development, it is a dangerous signal confirming the worrisome direction of the party that promised Nigerians change from the lawlessness and impunity that seem to characterise this nation. Since the inception of the Buhari-led administration, it had left no one in doubt of its discriminatory leaning towards Islam as the preferred religion in Nigeria, in violation of Section 10 of the constitution.

“The Buhari-led administration needs to be reminded again that Nigeria is not an Islamic Theocratic State that receives “directive” from a Sultan. Nigeria is a democratic and secular nation and preferential treatment should not be accorded any section of the nation; all should be treated equally.

“If, indeed, a mistake was made in declaring Tuesday a public holiday that does not warrant declaring Thursday a public holiday. Both the Federal Government and leaders of Islam should have maintained the statutory two days public holiday and learnt a lesson on how to not to repeat the mistake in future.

“It is very embarrassing, the tardiness and shoddiness that the Buhari-led administration has brought into governance in Nigeria. Decent and respectable people are ashamed at the flagrant acts of discrimination, nepotism, and impunity of the APC led government.

“We wish to state clearly that declaring Thursday an additional public holiday is not only wrong, but an insensitive approach to the management of the economy. The economic well-being of the nation should not be sacrificed on the altar of religious fervor.

“Nevertheless, having illegally appropriated an additional day as pubic holiday during the Eid-el-Fitri, the Federal Government and leaders of Islam should be prepared to repay the nation the extra day during the next Eid-el-Kabir in which we expect only one day should be approved as public holiday. Nigeria should not be turned into a lawless nation. The APC-led government should call itself to order.”

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It stated that the show was for a select group of key officials from the federal and state governments, to highlight business opportunities in Nigeria to UK investors, key UK government agencies such as UK Export Finance, Infrastructure and Projects Authority.
It listed sectors being showcased as energy, agriculture, transport, solid minerals, ICT and infrastructure.

It was learnt that after Busari was slaughtered, his head was then shattered with stones, while his body was later dumped inside a gutter

Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt

KIDNAPPERS in Rivers State have devised a new means of getting at their victims and making their families part with huge sums of money as ransoms.

It was gathered that kidnappers had begun to send text messages, inviting their victims for job interviews but they hold them hostage as soon as they turn up at the addresses given to them by the abductors.

A civil servant in the state, who simply identified himself as Joseph told Southern City News how a friend’s cousin was kidnapped after honouring an invitation for a job interview.

Joseph said in a text message sent to our correspondent, “Don’t honour any job interview invitation via sms if you did not apply for it. A family friend’s cousin got one of such sms and he attended the supposed interview only to be held hostage.

“His family was contacted and asked to pay N5m. As at yesterday (Saturday), the kidnappers told the family that they would accept N2.5 million, which the family cannot afford.

“The guys (kidnappers) are threatening to kill him (their victim) by today if the money is not paid latest today (Sunday).”

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, told Southern City News that he would brief the Anti-kidnapping Unit of the State Police Command on the new development.

Omoni promised that the command would put measures in place to ensure that those behind the dastardly act were arrested and brought to book.

THE Niger State command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), on Saturday, announced the arrest of three suspects in possession of a human head in Mokwa Local Government Area of the state.

The state Commandant of NSCDC, Mr Philip Ayuba, stated this in Minna, the state capital, while parading the suspects before newsmen.

Ayuba said that the suspects, Abdulmumuni Aliyu (alias Danjuma), Jubrinsha Aba and Salihu Usman, aged 34, 35 and 24 respectively, hailed from Ekpa village in Mokwa.

“I invited you here to see three suspects that we arrested on the ground of possession of human head.

After we arrested them, they confessed to us that they owned the human head,” he said.

He explained further that the suspects were arrested last Thursday while asking somebody to purchase the human head when they were apprehended by operatives of the NSCDC in Mokwa.

According to him, “our operatives pretended to bargain with them on how much to pay before they were arrested.”

The commandant said that the suspects had made confessional statements, adding that they would be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

Also speaking, the gang leader Abdulmumuni Aliyu, told journalists that his brother, Salihu Usman, invited him to his house to see the human head and assist in getting a buyer.

“I looked for a buyer for five months. So when I approached one Isah to buy the head, he agreed and said that he had a buyer in Mokwa town. When the buyer came, we started negotiating the price with him. It was in that process we were arrested,’’ he said.

Similarly, Salihu Usman, the third suspect, said that it was during a hunting expedition with Jubrinsha Aba in Ekpa bush that they discovered a decomposing body of a woman in the bush.

Usman said that both of them decided to cut off the head and sell it to make money.

“Two of us decided in the bush that we would sell the head to scientists and make money,” he said.

Ata Ikiddeh, a former special assistant on diaspora matters to immediate past Akwa Ibom Governor, Godswill Akpabio has described the Niger Delta Avengers as the military arm of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Reacting to the ongoing war on corruption by the current government, he said, “this government is a joke”, via a Facebook post.

When asked by one of his Facebook followers, Edim Asanaenyi, if the militant group was now a military wing of the PDP, Mr. Ikiddeh responded, “I am afraid to admit that – but that’s what this government is turning the Avengers into: the ‘resistance’ wing of the PDP.

“A very dangerous scenario is unfolding. I wouldn’t be surprised if a copycat group in the North becomes the clandestine military wing of APC, not with their permission of course, but this is how these things begin to take shape, they get out of our control, Boko haram is our perfect example.

“If I tell you, all PDP members in detention will be released by the end of July, you’ll wonder where I got that from (I don’t actually know how many there are but I know Omisore was arrested and detained recently) – just watch and start counting.

“I am not sure of Dasuki and Kanu, the rumour of a coup has made their releases a security risk to the state. But I wouldn’t be surprised if some kind of House arrest is fangled out for this two.

“I am not bothered about whatever anyone says. I am only expressing my opinion. And I am doing so as a patriot. I love this country.

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Adelani Adepegba, Abuja

A 42 year-old mother of seven, Mrs. Eunice Elisha, was on Saturday morning murdered by unknown assailants while evangelizing around Gbazango-West area of Kubwa, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory.

Eunice, who was a Deaconess at the Divine Touch Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Old NEPA Road, Phase 4, Kubwa, was said to have been cut in the neck and also stabbed in the stomach.

It was learnt that her killers left her in the pool of her blood with her bible, megaphone and cellphone.

Her remains were discovered by residents who alerted policemen who came to evacuate her to the police station where her husband went to identify her.

Speaking to newsmen at their residence, Eunice’ husband, Mr. Olawale Elisha, who is also a pastor at RCCG, said his wife had gone out to preach in the neighbourhood at about 5am only for him to hear the report of her murder.

Olawale, who expressed shock over the death of his wife, looked pensive and dejected as he spoke.

He said, “My wife always goes out early in the morning for ‘Morning Cry’ (evangelism). There was a particular day she went out and she told me that there is a mosque at the back where they commented about what she said. So I just cautioned her.

“This morning (Saturday), she went around 5am and I was still in bed because we did vigil which she participated in for a while because of the ‘Morning Cry’ she planned to undertake. Two of my boys are footballers, so they went to the field to play. And when they came back, they told me that they heard some footballers saying that some hoodlums had butchered a woman who was preaching early this morning.

“So, when I heard this, we trekked down in the shorts I was putting on and we didn’t see anybody but we saw blood on the ground. I asked a policeman around and he said it is true but that they had taken her to Phase 4 Police Station.

“I went to the station with my children and when we got there, I saw the lifeless body of my wife at the back of the police van and from there, she was taken to the mortuary. The incident happened between 5am and 5:30am because she usually goes out 5am and comes back 6am.”

Elisha who said Eunice was born on July 23, 1974, said they got married in July, 2000.
“My wife was so committed to anything that is of God. She was a reckless giver to God’s work, she rarely missed any programme in church. We have seven children,” he stated.

According to him, his wife had no quarrel with anyone that could have warranted her murder, describing her as a martyr.

“I see her as a martyr and she died for Christ. And whether the people are caught or not, they should forgive them; my prayer is that if they can accept Christ, that will be a gain to Christ,” the bereaved cleric said.

A lawyer and friend of the Elishas, David Ude-Chukwu, described Eunice’ murder as hate crime brought about by religious insensitivity, noting that the constitution allows every Nigerian to practise his chosen religion.

A senior police officer at the Kubwa Divisional Police Station, confirmed the incident, but referred our corespondent to the Divisional Police Officer, who was not available in the office.

The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Manzah Anjuguri, could not be reached for comment as he did not respond to calls to his phone. He had yet to reply a text message as of the time of filing this report.

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Success Nwogu, Okechukwu Nnodim, Etim Ekpimah, Bayo Akinloye, Jesusegun Alagbe and Peter Dada

At least 226 ongoing Federal Government road projects across the country are likely to suffer a major setback as the huge contract sum of N2tn required for their completion has lessened in value due to the current forex crisis.

The President, Federation of Construction Industry, an umbrella body for construction firms in Nigeria, Mr. Solomon Ogunbusola, said that the instability of the naira against the United States dollar had negatively affected the sector.

Ogunbusola told one of our correspondents that the value of naira attached to most of the contracts had reduced contract as a result of the forex crisis.

He, therefore, noted that the money quoted for some of the projects might not be enough to complete them due to the increment in the prices of materials caused by the forex problem.

In April, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, had during a town hall meeting in Lagos, said that the Federal Government required about N2tn to complete no fewer than 226 ongoing road projects across the country.

“Ongoing road projects alone awarded by the government before we came, about 266 roads awarded in the various states, the liability to complete them is about N2tn,” Fashola had said.

The minister, however, added that the total amount allocated to all the sectors under his ministry in the 2016 budget was about 400bn.

This, according to experts, also signifies that low budgetary allocation is another problem that may militate against the completion of many of the ongoing road projects.

Speaking on behalf of construction firms in the country, Ogunbusola noted that the forex crisis is “affecting contractors because the contracts some of us got when the dollar was between N170 and N180 have not been completed and right now, a dollar goes for over N300. Basically, the contract sum has reduced in value by half, which is an issue.

“However, the major issues being considered are if there are foreign and local components of the contract. For the local components, which are things that you can get locally, the prices may not be much different despite the forex crisis. But for foreign components like equipment such as spare parts and maybe payments made in foreign currency, they are the ones majorly affected by the forex issue.”

The FCI boss said it was up to contractors to demand contract reviews from the government based on the extent to which the forex crisis had affected the cost of their projects.

He said the renegotiation of contracts would “be on individual basis of contract because the contract for every contractor differs.”

“So it is going to be more effective for government to deal with each individual contractor as they come,” he said, adding, “The fact remains that the forex situation is affecting every facet of the economy and the construction sector is not an exemption.”

Also according to some contractors who spoke with Saturday PUNCH, the fluctuation in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market in the past months has largely affected the foreign components of construction companies’ operations, hence the need for contracts to be reviewed by the federal and state governments.

In a bid to address the country’s unstable forex situation, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria on May 24, 2016, directed the management of the apex bank to adopt a flexible exchange rate policy in the inter-bank forex management structure.

The flexible exchange rate system, which kicked off in June, is a monetary system that allows the exchange rate to be determined by supply and demand.

An economist, Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, admitted that contract sums would have been affected due to the lingering forex crisis and naira devaluation and that the contractors’ association should renegotiate with the Federal Government for the continuity of the projects.

He, however, played down FCI’s claim that the contract sums had been devalued by half, saying the devaluation would be less than that since the exchange rate had not been devalued by 100 per cent.
Tella urged the Federal Government to work on developing the local manufacturing sector.

He said if the government had worked on the existing refineries, the country could have been producing its own bitumen rather than importing it for the construction of roads.

He said, “There is the need for the Federal Government to renegotiate with the contractors for the continuity of the projects. We also need to start working on our refineries right away, especially the one in Kaduna which has the capacity to produce bitumen for us if it is well developed.”

Another economist, Rewane Bismarck, also urged the Federal Government to renegotiate with the contractors.

He said, “There would have been additional costs incurred in the importation of items like rods and bitumen, which would have led to the devaluation, but I don’t think it could have been devalued by half. The Federal Government’s delay in paying them could have also led to this.”

Meanwhile, the Surgical and Medical Laboratory Allied and Scientific Equipment Dealers and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has called on the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (now known as Sustainable Development Goals), Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, to come to the aid of its members who are being owed by MDGs’ office since 2015.

The association made this call through its National President, Nwokeafor Worthyman, during SMASEDMAN’s Annual General Meeting held in Abuja, recently.
He said it was a disincentive to contractors who after executing their contracts would not be paid due to delay in bureaucracy by government officials.

Worthyman lamented that most of the association’s members now had their properties confiscated by banks where they had borrowed money to execute MDG contracts awarded to them.

He stated that some of the contractors were in a bad state of health due to emotional stress attributed to non-payment of their money by the MDGs Office.
Currently, many Federal Government and state government projects running into trillions of naira have already been abandoned due to paucity of funds.

Two key projects that are supposed to be ongoing in Akwa Ibom State are the Coconut Plantation/Refinery between Mkpat Enin and Eastern Obolo local government areas and the Automobile Manufacturing Plant in Itu Local Government Area.

But the projects appear to have been abandoned as their sites have been overgrown by weeds. Other abandoned projects in the state include Etebi-Enwang Bridge and Road in Mbo Local Government Area and Science Park in Uyo.

A government source told one of our correspondents that the major contractor in the state, Julius Berger, had shut down some offices and put out some machinery for sale as the state government owes the company billions of naira.

For instance, many road contracts being handled by Julius Berger have been experiencing skeletal activities while the Third Ring Road, which was designed as a 10-lane thoroughfare, has been abandoned at Nung Oku Junction.

The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Aniekan Umana, said the cash crunch was affecting liquidity in the system, adding that the development was negatively affecting the state.

All attempts to speak with Public Relations Manager of Julius Berger in the state, Ndifreke Okotie, proved abortive as calls to her telephone indicated that the device was switched off.

Calls to the Public Relations Manager of China Civil Engineering and Construction Company, Mr. Solomon Matthew, also indicated that the phone had been switched off.

Work on some capital projects has also been stopped in Ondo State. For example, capital projects such as Oba-Ile Akure and Ondo town roads dualisation project, Igbokoda road project among others have been stopped due to the same reason of funds scarcity.

A manager in one of the construction companies handling one of the projects told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that the forex crisis in the country had affected the company in such a way that the remaining money for the completion of the projects might not be sufficient as prices of materials had gone up.

He said, “We have almost completed the project but the way things are now, I don’t think the remaining money the government will give us can be enough to complete the project again due to the increment in the prices of materials caused by forex problem. Most of the materials we used were imported and you know the price of dollars to naira now. It is a big challenge.
“I think my principal will meet with the government over the issue,” the source said.

The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said, “The forex crisis has affected our projects truly but budget is about projection and our projection was that we would get some money from the federation account but the money coming is not even enough to pay salaries, let alone fund capital projects.”

On whether the government has plans to renegotiate with the contractors, Akinmade said since most of the capital projects being undertaken by the government were at advanced stages, the government would manage to complete them.

The Kwara State Government also said there had been a lull in execution of its infrastructural projects in the state for about a year.

Senior Special Assistant to the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, on Media and Communication, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, also said that the state government had been unable to pay its contractors because of dwindling revenue from the federation account to the state.

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The inability of governors of the South-East to come together on issues affecting the zone is now a source of anger to leaders and people of the region. Since the 2015 election ended and new governors were sworn in, the governors have not been able to gather together to forge a common front on issues affecting the zone.

That has become a source of concern to leaders and people of the zone as the South-East has been left unattended to in critical matters affecting the zone both at regional and national levels.

One of the sourest points to the people of the area was the recent killing of over 30 people in Nimbo, in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State. Although, South - East governors were in Abuja like their other colleagues for the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting and other matters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP ), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum meeting , it was only the Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi , that met with President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue.

Then came the burial of the victims, where Ugwuanyi was the only governor present. There was no presence of other governors in the zone to mourn the victims of the incident. Only a former Governor of Anambra State and former chairman of the South- East Governors’ Forum , Mr . Peter Obi was present . Incidentally , many of the elected representatives from the zone were also absent .

There is also the issue of the killing of Igbo sons and daughters in the rallies organised by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB ) and the Biafra Independent Movement (BIM), among other groups . On May 30 , about 30 Igbo people were murdered by soldiers in Onitsha and Asaba while hundreds were arrested in different parts of the South - East and South-South.

They were marking the 49 th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra by the late Igbo leader, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu - Ojukwu in 1967. Again, mum was the word from governors of the South - East.

It was gathered that the inability of the South - East governors to offer a united front on issues affecting the region is rooted in their inability to meet regularly as was the case in the past. Since a former Governor of Abia State and now Senator representing Abia North District, Chief Theodore Orji , left office on May 29 , 2015 and vacated the seat as the Chairman of the South - East Governors’ Forum , the centre has refused to hold. Insiders say that there was animosity between some of the governors of the zone , with in fighting being the order of the day, making them not to sit together on issues affecting the area.

Before Orji assumed the seat, Obi was the chairman for about six years, owing to the insistence of the then governors that he retained the seat. The constitution of the Forum allows a rotation of the chairmanship seat between the governors of the five states of Abia, Imo, Anambra , Enugu and Ebonyi. During Obi and Orji ’s tenures, Enugu, the political capital of the zone , hosted the meeting at least once in three months regularly.

At such meetings, knotty issues affecting the region were ironed out . In the hey days of the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency, when detained leaders of ethnic groups such as Fredrick Fasehun and Gani Adams of the O ’odua Peoples Congress (OPC ) and Ralph Uwazuruike of MASSOB, it was the South - East governors and leaders of the zone that met with Obasanjo and secured Uwazurike ’s release with a promise of good behaviour. “When we met Obasanjo , he was angry.

We pleaded with him that this was our son and that others were being released . That he should release Uwazurike to us . He agreed after warning us . That was how the bail bond of Uwazurike was signed by the late Senator Uche Chukwumerije .

He was set free then,” said a source , who was at the meeting . He added that he did not understand why the present governors are sitting and watching events unravel dangerously in the zone.

Similarly, during the time of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua , when he threatened to close down the Onitsha Head Bridge Drug Market over allegations of fake drugs, Obi had summoned the then governors of the region , including Orji and Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State, who went for talks with Yar’Adua. At the end, Yar’ Adua ordered a cleanup of the market instead of a closure. But that has not been the case recently.

For instance, it was gathered that the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, and his Anambra State counterpart, Chief Willie Obiano, do not sit together in a meeting. They were both elected on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA ) before Okorocha took a splinter group to the APC. At few times Okorocha has made attempts to summon meetings of the group in Owerri, Obiano was not present.

As a matter of fact, Obiano has strictly kept away from meetings of the South-East Governors’ Forum whether it was held in Enugu or Owerri or anywhere else . Obiano is not known to have associated with any governor of the region since the last general elections. In the same vein, his wife also keeps her distance from other first ladies in the region.

When Dolapo Osibanjo, wife of Vice President Yemi Osibanjo visited Owerri, the Imo State capital for the graduation of the first batch of 810 women empowered through her skill acquisition programme last month, wives of the governors of Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states were on ground to host her. Again, the absence of Obiano's wife was conspicuous. A former governor in the zone told New Telegraph yesterday that there is so much infighting going on that the governors cannot come together.

He said that much as Okorocha and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State appear close , Ikpeazu is weighed down so much by litigations that he hardly has time for other things.

The case of Ugwuanyi and the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi , is not clear. A leader of the zone, who preferred anonymity , told New Telegraph yesterday: “ Look at the two receptions held for Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Trade, Investment and Industry from Abia State and Geoffrey Onyema from Enugu State, held in Abuja and Enugu, did you see any representations of the South-East governors there?
I am not talking of elected representatives of the zone at different levels . Are they not Igbo sons? Whether in APC or PDP government, are they not representing the Igbo there? What are we looking for and complaining about when we cannot accord our ministers respect ?

Have you heard the governors speak on MASSOB , IPOB or even the lopsided appointments against our zone ? Every governor is on his own while the zone’ s collective interest suffers. “Remember that under Obasanjo, when he wanted to remove Ogbonna Onovo as the Inspector-General of Police over issues of nonparticipation in the NYSC scheme, it was governors of the zone, who protested in a Council of States meeting and the matter was dropped. What are we talking about now?

There is so much disunity. ” Reacting to the alleged rift among the governors of the region, Sam Onwuemeodo , spokesman for Okorocha averred that the purported division exists only in the imagination of some people. “There is no law that dictates that all the governors must attend every meeting when they are called . How you know the true position of things is when there is an issue; their reactions often show they are on the same page,” Onwuemeodo explained.

Okorocha’ s spokesman said it was not ideal to meet incessantly when there is nothing of urgent importance at stake. He said: “Every state and governor have their peculiarities and you do not expect them to meet regularly without taking that into consideration. Whenever the need arises, they will meet and when an issue of utmost importance arises, they will address it as a united front. As far as I am concerned, there is no sharp division in the forum. The governors of the region are on the same page. ”

Since the beginning of this year, the governors only met once in Enugu in April . It was only the governors of Abia , Imo , Ebonyi and the host governor, Ugwuanyi, that attended. Obiano shunned the meeting and was represented by his deputy.

The forum has not elected their chairman since Orji left. MASSOB yesterday condemned the silence of South-East governors, National Assembly members of Igbo extraction on issues affecting the zone and refusal to meet to move the zone forward. In a statement by its national leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, MASSOB blamed the current state of the zone on imposition of the Igbo leaders on the people during the last general elections. It described the present crop of leaders in the zone as self- serving.

“South-East has continued to suffer lack of good leadership because those our people wanted to represent them at state and national levels as governors and legislators were not allowed to emerge during the 2015 general elections. The wishes of the people were not allowed to prevail at the polls and we have continued to suffer for that.

The people were completely rigged out during the polls and the effect is telling on them. “So, Ndigbo will continue to experience lack of good leadership that will speak and protect them and their interests when it matters most.”

“What we are saying now is that it has happened and the law enforcement agents cannot arrest any of the vandals, if we move to do it, are we sure the law enforcement agents would not use it against us? Those are the two main things because we have worked to redeem the image of the OPC and we don’t want anything to tarnish it again.”

Leaders of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have been contradicting each other over the industrial action called to protest some alleged irregularities in the oil sector.

On Monday, Lumumba Okugbawa, acting general secretary of PENGASSAN, directed oil workers across the country to down tools from Thursday.

The association, which gave government a seven-day ultimatum in June, blamed the proposed strike on the inability of the current administration to honour agreements contained in a May 12, 2016 communiqué.

However, on Thursday morning, Tokunbo Korodo, south-west chairman of NUPENG, said the strike have been put on hold pending a meeting with the government on Monday.

“As a result of this, we have to put the strike which is supposed to commence today on hold to allow for useful deliberations with the government representatives,” he told NAN in an interview.

Korodo said both parties had agreed to meet on Monday to deliberate on the issues affecting the unions.

He said the meeting, which was initially scheduled to take place on Thursday, had been shifted due to the public holiday.

But Francis Johnson, national president of PENGASSAN, insisted that there was no going back on the strike, accusing the government of trying to “apply fire brigade approach” to a serious matter.

Johnson alleged that the government was displaying a lack of seriousness, saying several efforts to engage them to forestall the strike were frustrated.

He said that before now, the union tried to engage the government on May 24, 2016, but it was inconclusive. Johnson added that the engagement was later fixed for June 23, 2016, which did not take place and again for June 30, 2016, which was unceremoniously cancelled with no date given.

“We see this as a deliberate attempt by the government to frustrate the discussion of the myriad of issues raised in the communiqué, which are critical to the survival of the oil and gas industry in the country,” he said.

“We have discussed this matter long enough for the government to address us but it closed its ears, now the authorities are calling for dialogue.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Samuel Olowookere, a director in the ministry of labour, said a “crucial meeting” was being convened to find a lasting solution to problems in the oil and gas sector.

However, a day later, Olowookere said the meeting had been rescheduled to 10am on Friday.

In a statement issued late Thursday, Emmanuel Ojugbana, PENGASSAN spokesman, said the strike was still on.
“There is no iota of truth in the report that the strike has been called off or suspended.

As we are speaking now, some of our members that are in the offshore have been withdrawn, while others who are on critical equipment have commenced gradual shutting down of such equipment before their final disengagement,” the statement read.

“Our members, especially those in offices and downstream sector will join tomorrow (Friday) as they resume from the Eid el Fitri holiday.”

meforyou1:
This headline is misleading.

A Tanzania- based Nigerian Footballer, Mr. Seriki Muktar Adebayo, who was arrested for drug trafficking by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA ),

Also arrested alongside Adebayo was Rita Godfrey, 46. She collected 1.525 kgs of cocaine while at the airport in Dubai, on her way from Spain.

Former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) has protested his detention for alleged $15billion arms deals facilitated by the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA).

He says the Federal Government should allow his trial to begin, The Nation learnt yesterday.

Dasuki is said to have told his associates that he is not disposed to a secret trial.
He insists that based on service rules in a security system, he only obeyed the directive of the President and Commander-in-Chief, former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The ex-NSA, The Nation learnt, told his associates: “I am ready for trial because they have destroyed my family’s name and my professional integrity, especially how we successfully fought Boko Haram and recovered major towns and cities, not villages. They should let my trial start in earnest to enable Nigerians know the truth from falsehood.

There is a plan to try Dasuki’s case in secret to protect some of the witnesses. But Dasuki disagreed.

He said: ”I don’t believe in secret trial and there is no basis for it because the government has filed all necessary papers in court and attached the list of witnesses.

Since the witnesses have become public knowledge, there is no basis for secret trial.’
Dasuki also queried the rationale for keeping him in custody “without any warrant”.

He said: “Since I was detained in the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS), I have not been shown any warrant to this effect or court order.

”I deserve to be shown the warrant of detention by DSS and the purpose for restricting me to house arrest. My detention is unlawful.”

He urged Nigerians to prevail on the government to admit him to bail in line with the present administration’s commitment to the Rule of Law.

Dasuki said: “All those who collected funds from ONSA have been granted bail but I am still in custody. I have been granted bail on all the cases filed against me by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and even DSS, but I have not been released.

”If all the beneficiaries of the so-called funds are on bail, what have I done wrong? Nigerians should help prevail on the government to grant me bail.

”I cannot rock the boat. I am prepared for trial. We did everything with national and security interest.”

Dasuki stressed that he disbursed all the funds credited to ONSA based on the directive of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

”Based on the service rules in the security circle, I owe it a duty to obey the President and Commander-In-Chief. Ex-President Jonathan approved all the expenses incurred by ONSA.

”I am ready to prove in court how we complied with the directive of the ex-President.”

Dasuki was initially arrested by the DSS but EFCC took custody of him for trial.
But he was later returned to DSS facility from where he had been going to various courts.

The EFCC had arraigned Dasuki, and two others on 19-count charge of misappropriation of funds meant for purchase of arms before a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja.

Apparently worried by the lingering National leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives has appealed for understanding just as he called for a united opposition party in the country
Hon. Sergius Oguns, member representing Esan south east and Esan north east federal constituency who disclosed this said, the PDP must put its house in order for the sake of providing a viable opposition party to checkmate what he described as ‘excesses’ of the ruling party.

Speaking at his country home in Ugboha,Esan south east local government area of the, said “I want to say the least I can’t say I am worried,I was a member of the convention committee, I was there at Port Harcourt and when we returned back from the convention to Abuja, the minority leader in the house of Representative called some of us to go and see Alhaji Ahmadu Sheriff to plead with him that the party is supreme, that he should put the party first, that if we have offended him as a person ,we are coming on behalf of the PDP caucus in the house to ask for your forgiveness.

“Ahmadu complained of the injunctions that came and others saying that was the reason he stopped the Port Harcourt convention, he now told us that the governors have immunity ,that he doesn’t have, that he can be arrested, so he needs to obey the court orders, so we now pleaded that for whatever happened he should forgive us in the interest of the party.

“We left and regrouped that same evening to see Prof. Jerry Gana in his place to also let him know that we have met with Ahmadu Sheriff so that the supremacy of the party can prevail. So the next day,the BoT of the party meet with the caretaker committee,then it was resolved that the stakeholders are ready to work with the caretaker committee.

“In that meeting it was also resolved that some of our leaders, should get in touch with Ahmadu Sheriff and his people and it was later reported back that they couldn’t reach him, so I was surprised when I saw
in the papers that Ahmadu Sheriff said nobody reached him,that wasn’t correct. I personally was in his house alongside other caucus members.

“My prayers is that, His Excellency, Ahamdu Sheriff would for the sake of the party,do the needful and withdraw the cases in court and let us have one United party, so that we as an opposition party can take on the government of the day. As you and I know,things are not working right in this country,when was the last time did you hear someone speak as a united PDP? Nobody.

So I will plead with him that if people offended him,we say sorry and for the sake of Nigeria,let’s have a strong opposition party to check the government of the day.

emekan:
Still don't understand why people post lies to create traffic on their blogs or pages. I saw this same pic two or three weeks ago. And besides why take such serious events unseriously and lie about them? Beats me.

mccoy47:
Bros leave oo. Some ashis fine die!