₦airaland Forum

Goke7:
Indirectly madam NOI has indicted herself for the problems we have today, the excuses she is giving is what kemi adeosun too can come up with in some years time. Our public officials must accept responsibility for their failures and successes the way many are expecting PMB and his aides to accept responsibility.

If a cabal is too strong for you to operate, its better to resign, blaming them afterwards is cowardice.

This applies to both PDP and APC.

An 18-year-old female student attempted taking her life in Kubwa, Abuja, over her inability to score up to 200 in the last Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination.

City News learnt that the student had sat for the exam the second time, having failed to scale through the cut-off mark in the previous attempt.

A neighbour said she was frustrated and considered herself a failure after she had put in much efforts in preparing for the examination but could not make the required marks.

The source said she took 12 tablets of Paracetamol at once and became dazed.

He said she was quickly rushed to the Kubwa General Hospital where she was resuscitated, treated and later discharged.

City News learnt that the action of the girl came to the parents as a rude shock as she was not under any kind of pressure from them to gain admission to tertiary institution.

The head, Accident and Emergency unit of Kubwa General Hospital, Paul Olise, said the patient had since been discharged after receiving treatment at the hospital.

lalasticlala

Ejiofor Alike in Lagos and Chineme Okafor in Abuja with agency reports

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has exonerated the federal government of any blames associated with the current lingering fuel shortages across the country, clarifying that Nigerians should rather blame the prolonged leadership crisis that had rocked the association as the cause of the crises.

The association also said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, should not be held responsible for petrol scarcity as their nearly two years of fighting over leadership positions in the association had contributed maximally in the current petroleum product scarcity.

According to the Interim Management Secretary of IPMAN, Mr. Lawson Ngoa, the rivalry between two IPMAN national factions has crippled the importation and distribution of petroleum products in Nigeria especially by independent marketers who control about 80 per cent of the fuel distribution network.

Ngoa explained in Abuja that Kachikwu had only intervened to end the crisis in his resolve to end the current fuel scarcity and could not be blamed for it.

He noted Kachikwu in trying to reconcile the factions and revive sanity in their operations, inaugurated IPMAN reconciliation and interim management committee to resolve the crisis and how it contributes to scarcity of petroleum products.

While shielding Kachikwu from the blame, Ngoa stated in a statement that the minister is completely innocent of the petroleum products scarcity as he inherited a crises ridden petroleum sector.

He further stated that IPMAN accepts all responsibility for the difficulties suffered by Nigerians while agreeing that IPMAN is now ready to commence distribution of products following the reconciliation brokered by Kachikwu.

“With the increase in percentage of product to IPMAN and other incentives made available by the federal government through the minister of petroleum, the fuel scarcity will end in weeks,” said Ngoa.

He urged all Nigerians to support the federal government and the minister of petroleum to end the scarcity.

Also speaking on the fuel scarcity, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) Downstream of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Henry Ikem Obih, has said that it would take the cooperation of all stakeholders in the country’s downstream petroleum sector to clear out the lingering queues for fuel at filling stations in the country.

Obih, who said more cargoes of petroleum products had been pumped into the market, explained that until everyone in the value chain honestly play their roles in the supply and distribution of petrol in the country, the long queues of vehicles waiting to buy fuel would not vanish.

He said that the NNPC alone would not be able to end the scarcity because it does not have all that is necessary to do that under its control.

According to him, instances of products diversions and operators’ reported reluctance to discharge and sell fuel allocated to them on time were noticed at some of the stations he inspected.

He said that such cases should be taken up and investigated by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to discourage the practice of operators’ preference for black market sale of petrol across the country.

Meanwhile, the federal government is set to reverse any decision made in the oil and gas sector, which is contradictory to the laws of the country.

The government’s commitment against fleece came through the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali, who upon hearing that the nation had been losing $1.5 billion annually due to illegal monopoly by an oil servicing company, said President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would stamp out all unwholesome practices that are inimical to the economic interest of the country.

Ali’s remark is coming in the wake of a revelation by the Chairman of Snake Island Integrated Free Zone (SIIFZ), Mr. Anwar Jarmakani that the country was losing between $3 and $5 on every barrel of oil produced, or $1.5 billion yearly to non-existent laws, which conferred monopoly to an unnamed oil and gas logistics provider in the country.

The NCS boss, who visited Nigerdock Yard at Snake Island in Lagos on Monday, further stated that Buhari’s government stood for equity, justice and fairness, adding that the NCS had no choice than to work along the path of the administration.

“In the past, certain things were done but not in accordance with the laws. I can assure you that if we find anything contradictory to the laws, we will correct it. It is our responsibility to ensure that investors and every player succeeds in Nigeria as we look forward to a successful Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is a government of equity, fairness and justice. If we see things that were not done in accordance with the laws, we will correct it,” Ali said.

The NCS boss, who said he was impressed with the huge investments in the Snake Island free zone, assured that the federal government would do everything possible to encourage more investments in the zone and create more job opportunities for Nigerians, in line with the administration’s commitment to create jobs.

In his speech, Jarmakani, who is also the Chairman of Jagal Group, owners of Nigerdock, said a dominant monopoly in Nigeria’s oil and gas, as well as supply services had existed for over 20 years, “sabotaging the national economy, conspiring and working against any potential competitors, particularly against Snake Island Integrated Free Zone”.

He said the monopoly had consistently and aggressively used different government institutions to entrench its position with impunity.

“Regrettably, attempts have been made in the past to also use the Nigeria Customs Service. We, therefore appreciate the fact that the present administration is aggressively doing away with such impunity,” he added.

Jarmakani added that this monopoly has damaged Nigeria’s international reputation, while oil and gas supply and logistics service in the country has become the most expensive in the world because of this monopoly.

According to him, this monopoly has over the last 20 years used a non-existent law to justify the assertion and false claim that “all oil and gas cargo must first be discharged at their ports of preference.”
He noted that the number of ports owned by this monopolist had increased from one to five.

On the global scene, as Iran’s decision to increase her crude oil exports to four million barrels per day before joining a global agreement on freezing production continues to threaten the global output freeze deal, Saudi Arabia has taken steps to slow Iran’s efforts at increasing exports by banning vessels that transport Iranian crude from entering their waters.

Production freeze is aimed at checking the inflow of oil into the market, a strategy designed by oil producers to shore up the tumbling price of the commodity that is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.

With the low oil price adversely affecting the Nigerian economy and rousing the country to pay more attention to other sources of income, the federal government said on Monday that it would end all sharp and unfair practices that had been fleecing the nation’s purse.

Iran had decided not to join the coalition for production freeze until its export target of four million barrels per day was achieved, a position that tallied with that of Russia, which also planned to export more crude oil to Europe in April than it had exported in any month since 2013, thus threatening a global agreement aimed at lifting the price of crude.

Financial Times reported that Iran already faces insurance, financing and legal obstacles despite the lifting of sanctions linked to its oil industry in January.

Under a nuclear deal with world powers, Iran was allowed to resume crude exports to Europe and other destinations.

But since the lifting of sanctions, Iran has managed to sell only small volumes of crude to Europe, including barrels to Spain’s Cepsa, Total of France and Russia’s Litasco.

By mid-April, only about eight tankers will have sailed from Iran’s Kharg Island for Europe, said shipbrokers, with only 12 million barrels booked to sail.

Iranian vessels carrying the country’s crude are restricted from entering ports in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, according to a circular sent by a shipping insurance company to its members in February.

The notice said ships that have called to Iran as one of its last three ports of entry will also require approval from the Saudi and Bahraini authorities before entering their waters. Shipbrokers and traders have relayed the same messages since.

Iran is also yet to regain access to storage tanks at a key oil transit hub on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, which is part-owned by Saudi Arabia Oil tanker association, Intertanko, and other industry participants say no formal notice has been given by Saudi Arabia but uncertainty is making some charterers less willing to lift Iranian crude.

Diplomatic tension between Saudi and Iran, which worsened during the bloody conflict in Syria, is seen influencing the commercial sphere with both countries battling for market share amid the collapse in oil prices.

OPEC and Non-OPEC members are set to discuss plans to freeze output on April 17 — the first concerted action to halt an oil price rout that has shredded producer countries budgets.

But last week, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Saudi Arabia would not hold output steady unless joined by Iran, which has said it plans to regain its post-sanctions output level before agreeing to any freeze.

Part of the slow increase in exports to Europe has been the lack of access for Iran to facilities operated by the Arab Petroleum Pipeline Company, known as SUMED.

Before the imposition of sanctions Iran used to send crude from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean on the company’s lines.
The facility is 50 per cent owned by Egypt, with Gulf Arab allies Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE together owning 45 per cent.

Muazu Elazeh

A middle aged man and official of Federal University Dutsinma, Umar Manu from Dutsinma town of Katsina State is currently being held by the police for allegedly killing his wife, Fatima Ibrahim.

The Commissioner of Police, Katsina Stae Command, Usman Abdullahi who confirmed the arrest of the accused, said investigation has commenced, saying that he would brief journalists  upon completion of investigation.

It was gathered that Ibrahim had visited his enstranged wife at her parent’s residence where he allegedly strangled and repeatedly hit her head on the wall leading to her death.

Sources said Ibrahim and the wife had some misunderstanding prompting her to relocate to her parent’s house where she was staying alone except for the local security man.

It was gathered that the suspect occasionally visit the decease but on the ill fated day, the lifeless body of the deceased was found in the house after the suspect had visited and left.

But a source said, “The security man was interrogated and he confirmed that nobody entered the house except the enstranged husband making him the prime suspect”

“He (the suspect) was contacted after and upon thorough interrogation, he confessed to committing the crime but said he never meant to kill her”.

Our source claimed that a black polythene bag containing blood stained clothes of the suspect was recovered.

lalasticlala

John Alechenu, Olusola Fabiyi, Sunday Aborisade,  Eniola Akinkuotu and Enyioha Opara

There are strong indications that the Peoples Democratic Party has begun fresh moves to reconcile with its former top members that defected to the All Progressives Congress before the 2015 general elections.

The PUNCH gathered on Sunday that among those being wooed by the PDP was a former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankanso, and the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

It was learnt that the fresh moves, which began a week ago, formed part of the strategies the leadership of the former ruling party had mapped out to strengthen the PDP ahead of the 2019 elections.

The peace shuttle, it was learnt on Sunday, was also part of the action plan of the party ahead of its National Convention in May.

Kwankwaso, some former governors from the North and some Senators met behind closed-doors shortly before the wedding (fatiha) of the daughter of a former Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abdullahi Kure, in the Lapai area of the state on Sunday.

Although the agenda of the meeting was not disclosed to newsmen, who had laid siege to the venue of the wedding, it was gathered that it was not unconnected with the current search for a northern candidate to fly the flag of the PDP in the 2019 presidential poll.

Some PDP supporters at the venue strengthened insinuations that the former Kano State governor was being pressurised to come back to the PDP.

The supporters, on sighting the dignitaries coming out of the closed-door meeting, chorused, “Sai Kwankwaso, Sai Kwankwasia, Sai Kadawo PDP, insha Allah” meaning “Kwankwaso, you must come back to PDP.”

Those who attended the meeting included the Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibril; Kure; immediate past governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu; a former governor of Kano State, Mr. Ibrahim Shekarau; Senator Philip Tanimu Ajuda, Senator Smart Adeyemi and Senator Isah Mohammed.

However, none of the PDP chiefs agreed to speak to newsmen after emerging from the meeting as they headed straight for the Mosque for the commencement of the wedding ceremony, administered by the Chief Imam of Lapai Central Mosque, Sheik Bashir Lapai.

The PDP BoT chairman confirmed that the party had zoned its Presidency to the North in 2019, saying the former ruling party was in search of a credible candidate for the race.

Jibril added, “We (PDP) have zoned the Presidency to the North but the Vice-President and other positions have not been zoned yet because we are still consulting.”

He stated that the party was on a reconciliation drive to ensure that all aggrieved members, including those that had left the PDP, returned to the party so that the PDP could win the 2019 presidential election.

But Kwankanso on Sunday denied holding any political meeting with some PDP leaders in Lapai, Niger State, on Sunday.

Kwankwaso, a Senator, spoke with one of our correspondents through one of his aides, who returned the ex-governor’s call, but failed to disclose his identity.

The aide said, “It is not true that Senator Kwankwaso held a meeting with PDP leaders after he had attended the wedding ceremony.

“Senator Kwankwaso and Alhaji Aliyu (Kure) were friends and they both served as governors in their respective states between 1999 and 2003 and they had remained close since then.

“There is no way that Senator Kwankwaso would be holding secret meeting with members of the opposition party when he remained committed to his party, the All Progressives Congress. He is a loyal party man, who would not engage in any anti-party activities.”

Saraki and Kwankwaso are currently having running battles with the APC.

The Senate President is undergoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for an alleged false and anticipatory declaration of assets.

He has said on many occasions that his trial was political and that it might be because the party’s national leadership didn’t want him as the President of the Senate.

Saraki, who is now a chieftain of the APC, was governor of Kwara State for eight years as a member of the PDP.

Kwankwaso is engaged in a power tussle with his successor, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje in the Kano State APC.

It was believed that Kwankwaso was being cut to size in the party because he could be nursing a presidential ambition in 2019.

A chieftain of the party, who confided in The PUNCH on Sunday, said the PDP had realised the mistake it made by allowing Kwankanso and other former members, including the President of the Senate, to leave its fold.

He said the PDP had been meeting its former members, including Kwankanso and Saraki, so that they could come back to the party.

“We made a mistake by dismissing the influence of these politicians. You will recall that Kwankaso came second at the APC presidential primary. Saraki is also very influential. If we had won Kano and Kwara states in the last presidential election, the APC would not have produced the President,” the PDP chieftain reasoned.

Another PDP stalwart told one of our correspondents that since Kwankwaso had lost control of the party structure in Kano State and was facing stiff opposition from the incumbent governor, Abubakar Ganduje, the PDP was the likely option for him to turn to.

The source noted that Kwankwaso was originally a PDP man but only defected to the APC in 2014 when it was obvious that the PDP would not allow anyone to contest against Jonathan.

He said the party was aware of Kwankwaso’s presidential ambition and would woo him back to the party and guarantee him a level playing field.

The top party man, a former national officer of the PDP added, “Kwankwaso won two governorship elections on the platform of the PDP and also served as a minister; so, he is a PDP man through and through.

“He is being maltreated by Ganduje and the party has refused to help resolve the crisis. This governor was Kwankwaso’s handpicked man as his successor.

“We virtually have no presence in Kano State; so, if we can get a serving Senator with a huge following like Kwankwaso, it would be a game changer ahead of 2019.”

Another PDP leader told one of our correspondents that it was seeking to exploit the crisis in the APC rank in the Senate to bring some APC lawmakers to the PDP.

One of our correspondents gathered that the about-to-be-inaugurated Reconciliation Committee of the PDP would visit Saraki and a former Vice President and impress on them the need to return to the PDP.

The committee is headed by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson.

Determined to retrieve power from the Buhari-led APC government in 2019, the PDP has already zoned its presidential ticket to the northern part of the country.

A source, who is a member of the NWC of the PDP, said, “We are no longer in power and the number of governors we have has reduced drastically.

“We therefore need someone who is rich and has the contacts across the country to help us wrestle power from the APC come 2019.

“We all know that only the likes of the ex-vice-president and former governors can do this for us. We want them back in our party.”

Authoritative sources told our correspondent that the committee would also visit Kwankwaso.

Jibril said he would want all PDP former members and new ones to return to its fold.

He told one of our correspondents that the doors of the party would remain open.

He added, “Any person, who wants to return to the party, including those you have mentioned, are free to return.

“We need them just the way we need many others who are not our members before.”

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said he was not aware of the meeting with Kwankwaso in Lapai on Sunday.

Attempts to get a response from the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on the meeting in Lapai and the moves by the PDP to woo some APC members,  proved abortive.

Calls to his mobile were not returned. A response to a text message sent to him was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.

The Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, to the Senate President, Alhaji Yusuf Olaniyonu, believed newsmen were creating stories to the effect that his principal was on the radar of the PDP towards 2019.

“Why will the PDP ask the Senate President to join a party he left two years ago? For what benefit or purpose? There is no truth to that fiction,” Oloniyonu said.

SOME officials of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan are being targeted by fraudsters who are demanding for money with threats to write petition against them to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly participating in the looting of the nation's treasury.

The victims of the blackmail are now crying out in an attempt to draw the attention of the public and security agencies to the activities of the individuals who they believe are being sponsored by their political rivals.

The fraudsters are said to be working under the assumption that once they write petition to the EFCC, the commission would go after the former aides who they think are keen to avoid any encountered with anti-graft body that is presently engaged in loot-recovery process.

The Nigerian Tribune learnt that those involved appear to have been elements of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who claim that they have information on the sleazy transactions allegedly perpetrated by former aides in while in office.

A top PDP member who asked not to be named, confirmed over the weekend that at least four prominent officials of the former administration including one former minister are known have been approached but it is not clear whether any of them has succumbed to the threats.

The source also noted that the fraudsters activities may not be unconnected with the forthcoming national convention of the PDP and the effort to gain advantage for future political positions.

A PDP deputy national officer (names withheld) has been fingered as the brain behind the plot to tarnish the reputation of the party chieftains.

"They are trying to blackmail us because they think we have stolen money and we are afraid of going to EFCC but it is pure politics that will not achieve anything," a PDP chieftain told the Nigerian Tribune on phone at the weekend.

The source said he did not directly obtain money from the past administration either by cash or bank transfer into his account and therefore he has nothing to fear.

Among those they have contacted for money with threat of petition is former Special Adviser to the president on Political Matters, Prof. Rufai Alkali, who is believed to be nursing an ambition to become the Gombe State governor in 2019.

A source close to the former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP confirmed that he had been approached by certain people threatening to expose him to the EFCC if he does not give them an unspecified amount of money.

But the source alleged that the extortionists were recruited by an unnamed top politician who has quartered them in a hotel in Abuja and has been funding their activities.

Alkali was the National Coordinator of the defunct Goodluck Support Group (GSG) which drummed up support for the re-election of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

According to the source, "once they believe that you are a threat to their ambition, they become jittery and devise all sorts of means to tarnish you.

"The national convention is around the corner. In order to pave way for themselves or their favoured candidates, they have to do something to checkmate you.

"But we are not going to wait until they drag us into the mud. We will fight back," the source declared without saying how.
When contacted Alkali declined comment.

lalasticlala

Caseless:
Dre, seun, lalasticlala , mynd44 , etc, read the story and change this title. Wush kain islamic cleric?

According to the suspect, “I am an Islamic cleric. I pray for clients and do some jobs for them. The fetish items found with me were those that I inherited from my forefathers. I combine tradition with religion. I was surprised when I was arrested over Damilola’s claim that I collected N48.5 million from her. It is true that I know her. Someone took me to her to settle a matter between her and another Aafa.

Nigerian Army has ordered Brigadier General Aliyu Momoh, who achieved notoriety by overseeing the rigging of a governorship election in Ekiti State in 2014, to resign.

Minister of Defense, Brigadier General Muhammad Mansur Dan-Ali (retd.), disclosed the plan to end General Momoh’s military career in an exclusive interview in Washington, DC.

Mr. Ali was in the US as part of the Nigerian delegation at a nuclear power summit convened by President Barack Obama of the United States of America.

The Defense Minister revealed that the army decided to initiate the process of rusticating General Momoh who was indicted last year by a military panel.

General Momoh led a contingent of soldiers and other security agencies who intimidated voters and inhibited the movement of officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a broad strategy that was reportedly approved by former President Goodluck Jonathan to enable Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to defeat then incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi.

A former Minister of State for Defense, Musiliu Obanikoro, was used as a conduit to transfer huge sums of funds for the rigging operation.

Mr. Obanikoro, who faces a separate investigation for money laundering, reportedly used the corporate account of his son’s firm to receive more than N4.7 billion for the election.

The funds were then distributed among Mr. Fayose, Senator Iyiola Omisore and security agents who carried out the rigging.

lalasticlala

Afeez Hanafi

A 22-year-old man, Tunde Sanusi, has been arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly beating up his father’s tenant, a 37-year-old pregnant woman.

Sanusi was said to have pummelled the victim, Mrs. Dupe Balogun, and damaged one of her eyes for allegedly failing to vacate the house after she had been served a notice to quit.

The building is located on Andrew Street, Lagos Island, while the incident happened on Sunday, March 27.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the landlord had been hard on Balogun for refusing to comply with the notice, allegedly threatening to kill the woman and her son.

The trader said she was ill on that day and was about entering her room on her way back from a hospital around 4pm when an argument ensued between her and Sanusi.

Our correspondent was told that the suspect, together with his sister and the father, afterwards descended on Balogun and beat her up. She was said to have been given a fist blow in the eye by Sanusi during the scuffle.

The incident was reported at the Adeniji Adele Police Divison and Sanusi was arrested. Balogun, who is four months pregnant, told the police that the injury would have been much but for the intervention of the neighbours.

She said, “The landlord gave us a notice to quit and always came to our apartment to bang the door, threatening to kill my son and me. As I came back from the hospital around 4pm on Sunday and sat in front of my shop, Tunde (Sanusi), the landlord’s son, approached and challenged me, saying I refused to quit the house after receiving the notice. I told him to let my husband return.

“All of a sudden, he started abusing me. Before I knew what was happening, he gave me a fist blow in the eye. The landlord and another child of his joined Tunde to beat me up. It was my neigbours that rescued me.”

Sanusi, however, denied beating the tenant, saying the woman fell while she was struggling with him. He also refuted the claim that his father and sister joined him to assault the woman.

The suspect said he met Balogun on his way to the bathroom on that day and she started abusing him.

He said, “I also abused her. She attempted to hold my shirt and I pushed her. Maybe as a result of that she hit her eye on a grinding machine on the premises. I did not touch her; my daddy told me to leave her and he did not touch her either.

“I only told her that her rent was due and that she should pack out from our house. She replied that I should do it myself. She held me and I pushed her. My sister did not beat her.”

A police prosecutor, Inspector Philip Osijale, brought Sanusi before a Tinubu Magistrate’s Court on one count of assault occasioning harm.

The charge read, “That you, Tunde Sanusi, and one other at large, at Andrew by Rica Street, Lagos Island, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully assault one Dupe Balogun by giving her a blow in her left eye and gave her bodily harm, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.”

The accused pleaded not guilty and elected summary trial.

He was granted bail by the presiding magistrate, Mr. L.A. Owolabi, in the sum of N50,000 with one surety in like sum, while the case was adjourned till May 11, 2016.

By Henry Umoru

ABUJA— SECRETARY to the Government of the Federation, David Lawal and some in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration have been accused of being the masterminds of plots to remove Senate President, Bukola Saraki, from office.

Lawal and others were also accused of being part of the team that did not want the Saraki matter resolved.

Speaking to journalists, yesterday, Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Senator Isa Misau, APC, Bauchi Central, however, debunked insinuations that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would take over the Senate if Saraki was removed.

The senator, who noted that what was needed to resolve the Saraki matter was political solution, said some hardliners in the administration were stalling the solution.

He alleged that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation recently met with some elders in the Senate, but turned down the requests.

He said: “I reliably gathered that some of our elders in the Senate once went to meet the Secretary to Federal Government, SGF, Mr. David Lawal, in order to find solutions to this problem.

‘’They were surprised by some of his utterances and they reported back to some senators that he vowed that this matter will not be resolved until Saraki goes down for spiting the party leadership.”

While speaking on the possible PDP take over of the senate, Misau said the senators of APC would do all within their powers to defeat the PDP if it came to producing another senate president.

He said: “What my friend, distinguished Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, said will not happen because the APC caucus of the Senate will under no circumstances allow Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki to be removed.

“But I understand the larger implication of what Nwaoboshi is saying because our majority in the Senate is very slim which means we need to be careful and that is why we need to find a political solution to this crisis and this trial of the Senate President at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.”

The senator also clarified that senators of the APC recently decided to close ranks to ensure there was unity of purpose, adding that the meeting had nothing to do with the travails of Saraki.

Misau, who noted that the Senate President remained popular among senators across the geopolitical zones, said: “I am a Muslim and I know that nobody can be a leader without the will of the Almighty Allah.

‘’But I can tell you today that 99 percent of the senators are solidly behind Saraki. So what we call closing of ranks is actually for us to unite behind our leadership in the Senate, behind the Federal Government and also behind President Muhammadu Buhari,’’ he said.

According to him, the APC caucus in the senate has made several efforts to ensure political solution but regretted that interference of those he called hardliners.

He said: “Several efforts have been made and are still being made. However, there are challenges. Despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s commendable position not to interfere, there are some hardliners within this government who are still fueling this matter and are, as a matter of fact, interfering with the trial.”

lalasticlala

Gbenga Odogun

The crisis rocking the Kogi State House of Assembly assumed a new dimension yesterday when the complex was finally sealed of by the security agents.
This follows the failure of the Assembly to resolve the leadership crisis that has bedeviled the house in the last three months.

Our correspondent who visited the Assembly complex yesterday morning observed that the main entrance to the assembly complex was blocked by heavily armed policemen and prevented members who were billed to conduct budget defence from accessing the complex.

The road leading to the complex was also barricaded by armed policemen who subjected staff of the assembly to scrutiny and only allowed them in upon confirmation of their employment status through their Identity Cards.

The security agent claimed to be acting based on instructions from the commissioner of police following a directive from the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking on the seal-off, Mr Aliyu Akuh, deputy to the embattled speaker Momoh-Jimoh Lawal said the crisis remained unresolved as earlier directive to return to status quo ante by the House of Representatives was ignored by the five members.

He said it was an aberration for five out of the then 20 members of the assembly to impeach the speaker on whom the remaining 15 members had passed a vote of confidence in his leadership.

Akuh said that the 15 members considered the action of the minority five members as an infringement on the constitution of the country adding that in a good democratic setting such infringements must be challenged.

“What happened with five members seeking to impeach a speaker in a house of 20 members is an aberration, unheard of and more so that some members’ names and signatures were forged and included as being part of them.

“We had to go to the higher authority which is the National Assembly vested with the constitutional powers to intervene in such situations. The House of Representatives ordered the seal-off and it was concurred by the Senate,” he said.

On the position of the law with the suit filed by the five members at the Federal High Court, Lokoja challenging the intervention of the National Assembly on the impasse, Akuh said there was no injunction or court order restraining the National Assembly.

The factional speaker, Alhaji Umar Imam described the seal-off as illegal saying that for the National Assembly to have gone ahead to seal-off the assembly in spite of the fact that the matter was pending in court smacked of illegality.

Imam who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Umar Ali said the action of the National Assembly was aimed at stunting the growth of the state as all legislative businesses especially the passage of the 2016 Appropriation Bill would be affected.

Efforts to get the state command of the Nigeria Police to confirm failed as the Public Relations Officer, Williams Aya in a text message said he was in a meeting.

Mudiaga Affe, Calabar

An unidentified man suspected to be 60 years old has been found dead at St. Patrick College bus stop by Murtala Mohammed Highway in Calabar, Cross River State.

It was learnt that the man, who was said to have been forcefully evicted from his rented apartment by his landlord, died on Sunday after staying at the bus stop for four days.

He had before his death, according to an eyewitness, survived on the goodwill of people who assisted him at the bus stop.

An eyewitness, Moses Akan, told Southern City News on Tuesday that the man had told him on inquiries that he was evicted from his home in the Ikot-Ansa axis of Calabar by his landlord.

He said, “I was passing by this bus stop late last Friday and I saw this old man here. His breathing was smooth. I came again the next day and tried to know about him by asking him what happened and he said his land lord drove him out of his house and brought him here at midnight.

“I asked of his relations and he said one of his sons was staying at 46 Webber Street. I personally traced the address but nobody named Ettekamba, which was the name he told me, was living in the address.

“After then when asked where he stayed before been brought here he mentioned his land lord’s name which I didn’t get well because of how he talked, he said he stayed at Eight Miles, I think off Ikot Omin, opposite Methodist Church.

“He said he would wish to go to the state Housing Estate police station to lay complaints so that they could get the landlord arrested. But by the next day he was found dead.”

Akan said someone had actually gone to Federal Housing Police Station to make a report that somebody was lying ill at the bus stop but the police did not pick interest in the matter.

As at the time of filing this report, the lifeless body of the old man was still at the bus stop.

When contacted, the Executive Secretary of Calabar Urban Development Authority, Mr. Joe-Mary Ekeng-Ita, said the corpse would be evacuated as soon as necessary documentations were done.

He, however, urged local government areas to also take responsibility of evacuating abandoned corpse, saying the task was not that of CUDA alone.

“I just got to know of it, we shall evacuate it very soon. We need to carry out some documentation. But I also urge the council areas in Calabar to take up such responsibility of evacuating corpses, it is not solely our duty alone,” he said.

smallbobo:
A 25-year-old man, identified simply as Idowu, has been killed by a truck driver, Fatai Olawunmi, on the Apogbon Road, Lagos Island.

Newsmen on arriving there learnt that Idowu was among a group of hoodlums who besieged the truck with number plate, KZR 117 ZT, demanding money from the driver.

The deceased was said to have climbed the back of the trailer without the knowledge of the driver, who in a bid to escape the harassment, jumped into the vehicle and sped off.

Idowu reportedly fell onto the road and was rushed to a general hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

A source said the incident happened around 5pm on Sunday.

He said, “The truck was laden with bags of cement and the driver stopped to cover the cement with a tarpaulin on the Apongbon Bridge.

“Some hoodlums immediately surrounded him and demanded money. Idowu was among the boys; he climbed the back of the truck. The driver suddenly jumped into the vehicle and zoomed off.

“Idowu fell off and he was rushed to the Lagos Island General Hospital where he died.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the suspect was in police custody. She added that investigations were ongoing.

“Someone probably touched her with a fetish object and made her enter a vehicle. The last memory she had was that after she withdrew the cash, she went straight into a vehicle parked nearby.”

The principal manager of Premier Lotto popularly known as Baba Ijebu in Alimosho Local Government Area (LGA) has escaped assassination after one of his staff paid an undisclosed amount to assassins to snuff life out of him in Lagos state, western Nigeria.

The staff identified as Segun Oyesunmi allegedly contacted two suspects, Gbenga Olunuga, 35 and Paul Alimele, 35 and paid a certain amount of money so that they can rob and kill his boss, Alhaji Akin Abubakar, to enable him over the leadership of the business in the LGA.

The suspect were arrested and charged before a Magistrate’s court in Ejigbo with attempted robbery and murder under the Criminal Code.

While Segun Oyesunmi who provided every information to the suspects including where they would recover some money in Abubakar’s home and office is now on the run.

However, before the suspects would carry out the operation at Abule-Oki area of Iyana Ipaja in Lagos where Abubakar resides they were rounded up on a tip off.

The suspects who reside at Agbara area failed after they contacted Wale to join in the operation and to help them to acquire equipment for the operation.

While they were discussing the operation in a hotel, Wale who pretended to be interested leaked it to local vigilante in the area who contacted the police.

When they arrived Abubakar office at Abule-Oki in Iyana Ipaja for the operation, they were rounded up and handed over to the police at Gowon estate.

P.M.NEWS gathered that the police also recovered masks, rope, knives and other dangerous weapons from them as exhibits.

During interrogation, the suspects confessed that it was one Segun who was the staff of Alhaji Abubakar that sent them.

They said that Segun who is now on the run, contacted them and gave them the assignment to rob and kill Abubakar and whatever money they realized from him would be shared.

Olumuga revealed that Segun equally mobilized them and revealed where they would go inside Abubakar’s house and office to cart away some money which he realized from the lotto.

He said he initially went to Abubakar’s place to survey the place and to also identify him in person.

He said it was Wale that actually tipped the vigilante who arrested them when they arrived to carry out the operation.

Abubakar who was still shock over the matter, told our reporter that he employed Segun, rented an apartment for him and was paying his two children’s school fee.

When the suspects was arraigned, they pleaded not guilty to attempted robbery and murder.

The presiding Magistrate, Mrs J.O.E Adeyemi granted the suspects bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

They were remanded in prison custody at Kirikiri pending when they will perfect their bail condition.

The matter was adjourned till 20 April 2016.

The Special Anti-Vice Squad of Bayelsa State Police Command have arrested a 16-year-old secondary school student, Larry Godsgift, and his 53-year-old stepfather, Seimukumo Aganju, over the mysterious death and secret burial of a woman in the Akenpai area of Yenagoa Local Government Area (LGA), Bayelsa State.

The buried woman, identified as 43-year-old Joyce Sawyer, an indigene of Odi Community of Kolokuma /Opokuma LGA of the State, was reported to have died on March 13, 2015 in her home after a long battle with an unknown illness according to police sources.

It was gathered that the deeds would have gone unnoticed if not for the Bank Verification Number (BVN) required by the verification team of the State government for all State workers.

The deceased was a LGA worker, and when a colleague tried to alert her on the need for her to leave her sick bed and come forward to submit her BVN, it was discovered that she had died and was buried without the knowledge of anyone.

The death of Ms. Sawyer was kept secret by Godsgift Larry and Seikumeikumo Aganju, her son and husband, respectively, and was secretly buried behind their home without the knowledge of her family members.

It was gathered that the 16-year-old tried to convince his stepfather to notify Ms. Sawyer’s family, but Mr. Aganju refused, accusing his in-laws of not showing concern while the deceased was on her sick bed.

Close family sources said that although Mr. Aganju did not have a strong relationship with his in-laws, the decision to bury the late Ms. Sawyer against tradition is criminal and suspicious.

While many claimed the secret burial was conducted in order to evade a mortuary fee, others alleged that the suspects might have wanted to continue collecting Ms. Sawyer’s salary while she was dead and buried.

Confirming the incident, the spokesman of the Bayelsa Police Command, Asimin Butswat, said the investigation is ongoing.

lalasticlala

Olaleye Aluko

A 15-year-old girl, Rita Clement, who was abducted by unidentified persons while on her way to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, has returned home.

Our correspondent learnt that Clement was dropped off by her abductors in the Oshodi area on Wednesday around 9pm, and given money to take a bus back home.

PUNCH Metro had reported on Thursday, March 17, 2016, that Clement, who lived with her relatives on Gboyega Kilo Street in the Ojodu Berger area, and had UTME registration number 65061660GJ, went missing on Thursday, March 10.

It was reported that she was to sit for the exam at 6.30am on the day she went missing, and her centre was at the West African Examinations Council International Office on Plot B, Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Lagos.

Our correspondent had reported that at about 5pm on Thursday, Clement sent a text message to her mother’s mobile phone, raising the alarm that she had been abducted and she did not know the location where she was taken to.

The matter was said to have been reported at the Ojodu Police Division and transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja.

Clement had written in the text message, “Mummy, they took my phone and beat me up inside the bus. Mummy, I don’t know where they took me to. They made me sleep and said they will kill me if I ran. Someone gave me the phone, saying I must return it before they came back. Mummy, please save me.”

The uncle, Emeka Orazulike, who worked as a pharmacist, had said they had yet to hear any update from the police, adding that he believed in God that Clement would return home.

PUNCH Metro learnt on Thursday that Clement walked back into the family’s apartment at about 9pm on Wednesday.

She was said to be tired and unable to give the details of her ordeal to the family members.

Our correspondent gathered that the family on Thursday went to the Ojodu division to make a statement that the teenager was back.

They, thereafter, proceeded to the SARS office, Ikeja, where the operatives took Clement’s statement.

Our correspondent observed Clement, Orazulike, and three other family members at the Command headquarters, Ikeja.

The SARS operatives thereafter kept Clement with them, instructing the family to come for her in the evening, preventing the teenager from being interviewed by journalists.

Orazulike, said the teenager’s narration so far was that she was taken to an unknown place, but was asked to return home on Wednesday when her captors got tired of her.

He said, “For now, we know that she was taken to Abeokuta, Ogun State, by the abductors. But on Wednesday, the men brought her to Oshodi.

“They then gave her transport fare to find her way back home. She said the men stated that she was not their material. She walked into the house yesterday (Wednesday). We were all surprised.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said she had interviewed the girl and her explanation showed an abscondment rather than being abducted.

She said, “The girl is back and I have spoken with her. From what she narrated, it is more of an absconding from home than being abducted. She had been in Abeokuta. Meanwhile, the police are still investigating to get to the roots of this matter.”

When our correspondent asked Orazulike the ‘abdscondment theory’, he said the girl had not told him about that.

He said, “We suspect she had been with kidnappers or ritualists. She did not tell us about running away from home. She made us to believe through the text message that she was abducted and taken to an area. That is all we know for now.”

Samuel Awoyinfa, Abeokuta

Tragedy struck on Thursday in Onifufu/Aderupagba Compound, in the Oke-Ijeun area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, after a dilapidated mud building collapsed, killing a pregnant woman and her daughter.

The woman, who was  said to be three-month pregnant, was identified as Kafayat Somoye.

She was reportedly taking her children, Ganiyat and Ganiyu, to school when the wall of the building collapsed on them as they were passing by.

Residents told our correspondent that the wall, which was weakened by  a downpour on Wednesday, collapsed, adding that Ganiyu escaped, but the mother and  five-year-old Ganiyat were trapped under the rubble.

Our correspondent gathered that late Somoye was initially rescued alive gasping for breath, but later died while being rushed to the General Hospital in Ijaiye.

When our correspondent visited the scene, the corpses of  Somoye and Ganiyat were seen on the ground.

Policemen from the Oke Itoku and Ibara divisions prevented some youths in the area from burning down what was left of the dilapidated building.

An eyewitness, Mrs. Kabirat Sonde, claimed to have escaped death by the whiskers as she was also taking her daughter to school through the same route when the incident occurred.

She said, “I was also taking my child to school. I was behind them and a woman was at the front. The woman was the person that raised the alarm immediately the incident happened.

“The mother (Somoye) was rescued alive, but as she was being rushed to the hospital, she gave up. People did not know immediately that there was a girl trapped under the rubble, it was the same woman in my front that alerted everybody to that fact.”

Another eyewitness, who identified himself as Tajudeen Badru, said, “It happened this morning as the woman was taking her children to school.  The older brother was faster, but the woman tried to save the younger one when they were trapped.”

The police were about taking the corpses to the morgue of the general hospital, when the family members of the deceased showed up.

The corpses were released to their relatives.