₦airaland Forum

‘Dare Odufowokan
THE national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, appears to be in the eye of the storm ahead of the 2023 elections.

His position is under threat following agitation to replace him with a Northern to pave the way for emergence of a Southerner as the party’s presidential flag bearer in that election.

Secondus was elected national chairman on December 10, 2017after a keenly contested election at the Eagles Square, Abuja.

Signs of opposition to Secondus’ continued stay in office by some prominent party members has been growing for some time now.

Some members say they don’t even know where Secondus and his team stand on the issue of zoning of the party’s presidential ticket for the 2023 elections.

Secondus and members of his National Working Committee (NWC) are due to complete their term in office before the next general election.

Amidst indications that the Rivers State-born politician may have angered some of his strongest supporters over his handling of certain issues since the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the party for the 2019 general elections, a new twist has been introduced to the power game in the PDP following the decision of some prominent party chieftains from the North to demand that a Northerner must be made the national chairman of the party if the South is desirous of producing the next presidential candidate of the PDP.

Reliable party sources told The Nation that zoning is generating fierce debates in the PDP . While the majority of PDP leaders from the South insist that an unwritten zoning arrangement being followed by the party since 1999 makes it mandatory for the next presidential candidate to come from the south, a number of northern party chieftains are of the opinion that the party should avoid zoning the ticket to any region so as to allow it presents its being candidate in its quest to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

This is just as some powerful individuals and groups within the party are working round the clock to ensure that Atiku is returned as the 2023 presidential flag-bearer of the opposition party.

As the battle rages, Secondus is largely seen as non-committal to the zoning arrangement. For this reason, pro-zoning agitators are said to be considering moving against him and forcing his ouster as the national chairman of the PDP as part of efforts to ensure that an aspirant from the southern part of the country emerges as presidential candidate in 2023.

Some chieftains of the party are said to be pushing for the re-zoning of the position of national chairman to the north to make it easier for the south pick the 2023 presidential ticket.

The Nation gathered that the development followed a parley between a group of party leaders favourably disposed to the emergence of a southerner as presidential candidate in 2023 and some northern PDP stakeholders in Abuja during the week.

A source said: “It is absolutely wrong to say northern PDP leaders are against the zoning arrangement or are opposed to the party producing a southerner as presidential candidate.

“The PDP is a unique party and as you can see over the years, we adhere strictly to zoning. The south should be allowed to produce the next presidential candidate. What we are saying however is that the north should also be considered fort the leadership of the NWC as a way of balancing the equation properly.

“That is how it has been done since 1999.”
Speaking further, the source who is one of the longest serving national legislator from the North Central revealed that some northern PDP leaders, having observed the possibility of a serious crisis within the party over the zoning debate, and following series of meeting with pro-zoning party chieftains and groups from the south, have resolved to start a fresh agitation for the position of the national chairman of the PDP to be returned to the north during the next convention of the party. According to him, the implication is that Secondus will be denied a second term in office.

“This has nothing to do with his performance as our national chairman. Rather, it has to do with our decision to prevent the PDP from sliding into another internal crisis that will destroy our chances of returning to the presidency in 2023,” he said.

“We have examined the issues and we have come to the realization that if we listen to ourselves and return to the ways of our founding fathers, there is no issue we cannot resolve. The zoning issue is not just about the presidency as far as PDP is concerned. We usually use zoning to balance power in the party since 199.

“Our position is not that Prince Secondus should quit his position today. No. What we are saying is that at the next convention, which will come years before the convention that will produce the presidential candidate for 2023; the south should show readiness to produce the presidential candidate by allowing the north to produce the next national chairman of the party.

“Once we all agree on this, it will not be difficult for us all to agree to the fact that the zoning formula makes it mandatory for the south to grab the presidential ticket.”

Confirming the development, a member of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) from Oyo state, said there has been a number of meetings between various groups concerning the zoning debate. He confirmed that not all northern chieftains of the party are opposed to zoning.

The former NWC member of the PDP said a group from the north recently announced its readiness to back the south for the 2023 presidential ticket “in exchange for the position of national chairman which they insisted, must be ceded to one of the zones in the north.”

“And for us in the Rebirth Group, we don’t see anything wrong in their demand. If you go back to 1999, you will see that the positions of presidential candidate and national chairman have always been shared between the north and the south. So, since it is our desire to produce the presidential candidate and we want them to support us, we will definitely support them too when they come to the convention to ask that the national chairmanship be given to them. I am sure Secondus too will not mind such an arrangement as a loyal party man,’ he added.

The Nation also gathered that more party chieftains are being consulted by various groups and stakeholders on the new development. It was also gathered that the camp of Prince Secondus is currently working on how best to counter the moves that may see him being denied another shot at the chairmanship of the opposition party. When asked about the development, an aide of the PDP boss who claimed anonymity said “it is all politics. There is no rule that says a zone cannot produce chairman and presidential candidate at the same time. We understand these moves and we are not sleeping at all.”

Payment of pensions to former governors and ex-deputy governors will not end anytime soon as the National Industrial Court in Abuja has validated it in a recent judgment.

Saturday PUNCH stumbled on a recent judgment of the court delivered on January 22, 2020 validating the laws creating the payment of pensions and gratuities to former governors and their ex-deputies.

This was despite the criticism of such payment by a judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on May 20, 2019 and another judgment delivered by a judge of the National Industrial Court in Jos, prohibiting it on December 9, 2019.

Payment of pensions to former governors and their ex-deputies has drawn much of public outcry, especially as the various levels of government struggle to generate enough revenues to fund public projects, and pay the N30,000 new minimum wage.

Declining revenues at both state and federal levels continues to plunge the country into more foreign and domestic debts, with some states giving excuses why they could not pay the minimum wage, yet such states have never ceased to pay ex-governors and their deputies’ their pensions.

In response to the public criticism, the Zamfara State Government recently repealed the law stipulating provision for former governors and deputy governors of the state.

However, Sunday PUNCH on Friday obtained a copy of the National Industrial Court’s judgment validating and declaring as constitutional the laws made by the various states stipulating pensions and gratuities for former governors and their deputies.

The judgment was delivered by the President of the NIC, Justice Benedict Kanyip, in the suit which had 40 persons and civil society groups as claimants.

The claimants sought the nullification of such pension laws which they said were sources of “waste of public funds”.

They sued the governors and the Houses of Assembly of the 36 states, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, as the first to the 74th defendants.

Only Adamawa State governor, the governors and Houses of Assembly of Bayelsa and Kwara states defended the suit.

The claimants argued only the 74th defendant, RMAFC, had the exclusive constitutional power to set the remuneration of such public officials as governors and their deputies, adding that their pension was part of the remuneration of public officials.

They, therefore, contended that any law stipulating pensions for such public officials already covered by the constitutional mandate of the RMAFC, ultra vires, null and void.

But in dismissing the suit, Justice Kanyip held that “the power of the RMAFC under Section 124(1) is one that relates to ‘salaries and allowances’,” adding that “pension is not mentioned at all; and the ‘salaries and allowances’ talked of are those ‘paid to the holders of the offices mentioned in this section’.”

He faulted the main grounds of the claimants’ suit to the effect that Houses of Assembly lacked the power to legislate on pensions or gratuities for former governors and former deputy governors.

He noted that contrary to the claim that the National Assembly and the RMAFC were the rightful bodies constitutionally charged with that responsibility of handling such matter, “the power of the RMAFC under section 124(1) relates to ‘salaries and allowances’, not pensions.”

“The word ‘remuneration’ used in paragraph 32(d) of Part I of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution does not include pensions.

“While Section 124(l) donates the power to prescribe remuneration and the salaries of governor and other public office holders subject to the amount as shall have been determined by the RMAFC, Section 124(5) did not subject the power of the House of Assembly to that of the RMAFC in granting pension or gratuity for former governors and their deputies.”

He added that the court lacked the power to repeal a law validly passed by a legislative body.

But this contrasted the position of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which in its May 10, 2019 judgment described as “morally wrong” the payment of severance allowances to elected or appointed public office holders.

The court, through its three-man panel led by Justice Abubakar Yahaya, expressed the non-binding opinion in a unanimous judgment delivered in a suit that had to do with a dispute between the Kogi State Government and some former members of the Kogi State Local Government Service Commission, who served for from February 2013 to February 2017.

Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment of the court stated that such payment “cannot be justified in the context our present social realities”.

He said, “The political appointees and elected public office holders who do not work as long and as hard as career civil servants quickly get paid huge severance allowances upon leaving office, in addition to the huge wealth they acquired while holding such offices and without having been subjected to any contributory pension schemes.

“It is not morally right to pay an elected public officer or a political appointee pension and gratuity or severance allowance for holding such an office for three to eight years as the case may be. It cannot be justified in the context the present social realities; it amounts to gross social injustice.”

Also, Justice Kenneth Amadi of the Jos Division of the NIC, on December 9, 2019, nullified the Taraba State Governors’ Pension Law.

But while validating the ex-governors’ pension laws made by the various Houses of Assembly in his judgment of January 22, 2020, Justice Kanyip, described the Court of Appeal’s decision as an “admonition”.

He added that “the key reason for the decision of the Court of Appeal was that the letters of appointment of the political office holders in issue did not stipulate their entitlement to such payment; and that they did not produce any law or any document or instrument that entitles them to the payment they seek.”

Justice Kanyip, who awarded N400,000 cost against the 40 claimants, also ruled that Justice Amadi’s conclusion “was arrived at without a consideration of Section 4(3) of the Constitution itself.”

The founding director of one of the claimants, Legal Assistance and Defence Project, Mr. Chnonye Obiagwu (SAN), who doubles as the lead counsel for the 40 claimants, told our correspondent on Friday that he had appealed against Justice Kanyip’s judgment.


Pensioners fault judgment, say it’s a coup against the middle class

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme Sector on Saturday said the judgment was injustice to pensioners who earned little while in service and owed several months in pensions and gratuities by the same governors that the court was backing.

In an exclusive interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, the Chairman of the union, Sylva Nwaiwu, said that the NIC’s ruling had confirmed a coup by the ruling class to eliminate the middle class, noting that it was a shame that this was happening at a time when governors were struggling to implement the new minimum wage of N30,000 for workers.

He said, “Most of the governors did not pay pensioners while in office and their successors do not deem it fit to pay when they get there.

“In Imo State, the government owes 70 months in pensions. Now, we are talking of a governor that has not paid pensioners receiving a fabulous amount of money in pension for life after leaving office.

“That is the injustice that has taken over our society. They keep doing this to widen the gap between the rich and the poor in society, so much that they have succeeded in eradicating the middle class. It is either you are rich or poor. Pensioners in Nigeria have become endangered species and this is known to everyone.”

Nwaiwu added that the union would continue its agitating for its rights and against the ruling.

He said, “On Thursday we were at the National Assembly and we had an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service. This issue came up during the session we had with the committee.

“Really, it is disheartening and no pensioner in their right senses will support such agitation or ruling in favour of governors and their deputies. It is dehumanising; this is the sad mood of pensioners in Nigeria.”


Judge did not consider cost of pensions to govs –HEDA

Mr Olanrewaju Suraj, who is the Chairman of Human and Environmental Development Agenda, an organisation that was part of the claimants in the suit, lamented that the judge did not consider at what cost was the payment of pensions to the former governors and their deputies was to the states.

He said, ‘‘The social reality is very crucial. Judges should ask the Houses of Assembly or the governor to show justification for giving two houses in Abuja and Lagos, N400m to N500m medical allowances to a former governor.

‘‘How do you determine that going round every citizen of the state? How is the life of the citizens of the state bettered by the governor to justify giving that kind of resources to a governor under any guise? Giving pension largesse to a former governor is at what cost to the state? It is sad that we do not have our judges rising to the level of such social consciousness.

“In making decisions, it is not about the legality or otherwise of the process of making the law, it is also about what you are supposed to do. It is about the social engineering of the system.

‘‘It is about the judges in those states also assessing how much they and their families are benefitting from the system.

‘‘Somebody who was governor for eight years, not only did he receive salary, he got security votes , he was paid for clothing and rarely spent a dime from his personal purse for eight years, yet he is automatically entitled to life pension. I think is just unconscionable and irresponsible.

About N2.4b has been spent within 11 months to procure 80 cars for the 40 members of the Lagos State House of Assembly. Information available to The Guardian revealed that sometimes last year, a contract was awarded for 40 cars to be purchased for the lawmakers. And less than a year after, another contract was awarded for the purchase of cars for the Assembly members in December and January.

In the document, there was disparity between the cars for principal officers and floor members. While the principal officers got Toyota Land Cruisers, the floor members got Toyota Prado.

It was also learnt that the vehicles for the six principal officers cost N51.8m each, while those for the 36 members cost N36.5m each.The Guardian also gathered that the new set of cars for the lawmakers is coming less than a year after a contract was awarded for the supply of 40 vehicles for official duties that cost N18.8m each.


The contract document showed that the first 40 cars delivered sometimes last year were valued at N752, 905, 775, while the second batch of cars was awarded in two phases. While the contract for floor members’ cars was awarded in December, the one for the principal officers was done in January.

Also, while the six cars for the principal officers were valued at N311, 123,595,50, those for the 36 floor members were delivered at N1.3bn. It was gathered that the same company was awarded the three contracts. Interestingly, of the present 40 members of the Lagos State Assembly, 30 are returning lawmakers, with just 10 being new representatives.

The Lagos Assembly House Committee Chairman on Information, Tunde Braimoh claimed he was not aware any car was bought last year. He said: “You may want to ask why government is providing functionaries of Assembly with vehicles. The vehicles are for government; registered in government’s name. They are not personal property of the Assemblymen.

“If the user stays to the end of his term, he could be offered to buy the vehicle, and it will be at competitive rate. For example, the one I was using before now, I bought it for about N4.5m, which might not be up to that, if I were to buy it at a car mart. So, it is not to say people are being given these things for free. When people come into government, they are assisted with equipment to do their job.”


“These are mundane issues, aimed at distracting us. What we should be interested in is, to whom much is given, much is expected. Mind you, if these people were not given this equipment, they would be given transport allowances. So, it depends on the policy government is adopting.”

When furnished with the amount spent on the 40 cars early last year and December and January, he said: “You may have the information I do not have. But honestly, I would have wished as a Nigerian, as somebody interested in Project Nigeria, that we should not distract ourselves with mundane issues. I do not think that government would buy cars last year and buy another set this year.


“You should have probed further whether those vehicles bought with taxpayers’ money were registered in any person’s name. If that is what you are talking about, I am aware that the Assembly bought vehicles last year for the committees’ use. Many vehicles were bought, as the vehicles they were using had become old.

“I would wish as Nigerians that we set our eyes on important things, and not start thinking that someone will do all the work without getting any perk. The Constitution does not allow us to do any other job; it is full time…”However, some sources in the Assembly told The Guardian that Braimoh was being economical with the truth, as lawmakers were given cars early last year.

Kamarudeen Ogundele
The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd .) , has appointed Dr Folasade Yemi- Esan as the substantive Head of the Civil Service of the Federation with effect from Friday , February 28 .

Her appointment followed the President ’s approval of the retirement of Mrs Winifred Ekanem Oyo- Ita from the Federal Civil Service with effect from Thursday , February 27 .

A statement from the Permanent Secretary , Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Oluse²gun Adekunle , said the retirement of Oyo- Ita was without prejudice to the ongoing investigations of certain allegations against her.

The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, said a total of 28 persons have so far been quarantined in Ogun State.

DAILY POST learnt that those who were quarantined were those who had contacts with the Italian, who was the first person that tested positive to the coronavirus.

At a press conference on Friday, Gov Abiodun said the state government was leaving no stone unturned as items needed for health workers had been procured so that they can arrest the situation immediately.

According to him, the state is also tracing those who might have had contacts with the Italian, so as to isolate them, adding that “a contact-tracing exercise is ongoing.”

Abiodun spoke further that the company where the Italian visited had been shutdown, saying two isolation centres had been set up at the company.

Ogun state government has said that the whole facility of Larfarge Africa Plc, cement factory in Ewekoro, Ogun State has been quarantined following the confirmation of the first case of coronavirus in Nigeria. The government said the victim, an Italian who is a consultant to Larfarge Africa Plc, had visited the cement factory on Tuesday.

The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker who disclosed this on Friday while addressing journalists in Abeokuta, the state capital, said the victim had developed fever and was treated at the clinic located in Lafarge facility before he was rushed to Lagos on Wednesday when the case grew worse.

The Commissioner who was flanked by the Special Adviser Public Communication, Remmy Hazzan, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Kunle Somorin and top officials from the Ministry of Health during the briefing, said a team of epidemiologists have commenced line listing to detect all contacts the victim made during his stay in the state.

The Commissioner hinted that the victim made three contacts before his arrival in Ogun on Tuesday. Coker, however, said it would be premature to put number to the contacts he made in Ogun “since the case was just confirmed on Friday.” Coker vowed that every single contact with the victim would be identified.

She said “In the last 12 hours, the first case of COVID – 19 (Coronavirus) has been identified in Nigeria and the individual visited Ogun State.

The said individual is from Italy, a consultant to the Lafarge, Ewekoro factory. He arrived Nigeria on Monday, 24 of February at about 9:00pm.

Before arriving in Ogun State, he had made contact with three people, spent the night in Lagos and arrived on Tuesday morning in Ogun State. He stayed at a guest house and at about 4-5pm on Wednesday, he developed body ache and fever. “The staff clinic of Lafarge were very sensitive to the case.

They responded speedily and contacted Lagos, they had a high index of suspicion and once they contacted Lagos, the protocol kicked in and the individual was transferred to Lagos in a closed ambulance according to protocol. “He was transferred to the infectious disease centre in Yaba, Lagos where tests were conducted and a definite confirmation came out earlier this morning hence, the press release nationally and from Lagos.

“However, my colleague, the Commissioner for Health in Lagos contacted me very early this morning to alert us about the situation. “My message to the people of Ogun State is, there is no cause for concern.

The epidemiologists in Ogun State being supported by both Federal and Lagos governments are line listing every contact that this individual has had which means we are going to phone them, get in touch with them, quarantine them and monitor their temperature for two weeks. “Also, I’m urging us that individually we have to be responsible for our health.

Every single one of us has to have good respiratory hygiene which means that if we have a cough or we have a cold, we have to cover our mouths with tussles or handkerchiefs and dispose them responsibly.

Don’t leave them on surfaces because the virus could still be in those things, use them and dispose them immediately, don’t put them back in your pockets,” she said.

By Wale Odunsi

Sen. Ajibola Bashiru (APC-Osun Central) has disclosed that senators in Nigeria earn less than N1million per month.

Bashiru made the disclosure on Thursday while speaking on the sideline of a programme organised by the Correspondents Chapel of the Kwara Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

He stated that basically, what a senator take-home monthly is N700,000 out of which car loan of over N8 million is being deducted on a monthly basis.

“What I tell whoever that stands up to say senator collects jumbo pay is that they can also contest so that you can also collect jumbo pay” NAN quoted him as saying.

“The truth of it is that the take-home pay of a senator is about N700,000 per month. Aside from it is the car loan of over N8 million which is being deducted monthly.

“As a senator, you are entitled to six aides who are paid by the National Assembly Service Commission and they are paid directly into the account. Will you count that as my salary?

“Also, I am entitled to travel allowance and Eastacode which does not form part of the salary”, Bashiru said.

On cost of governance, the lawmaker said: “We have about 38 structure systems in the country – the Federal Government, Federal Capital Territory and the 36 states of the federation with bureaucracies.

“The personnel cost of MDAs in Nigeria runs into billions if not trillion of naira. Let’s analyse Nigerian budget and see what goes into personnel.

“We are not focusing on this, but not focusing on salaries of 109 senators and 360 representatives”.

The lawmaker added that if the National Assembly is scrapped, the country would only make marginal savings, if at all any savings, in the cost of governance.

“The issue of cost of governance goes beyond going out and attack legislators as if they are rogues.

“We must look inward to see how we can streamline our agencies, ministries and departments in such a way that is efficient and has value for money”, Bashiru said.

A woman from Akwa Ibom State has been abducted in Uyo over her inability to pay N21, 000 to a microfinance bank in the city.

Comfort James, a petty trader in Uyo, collected some loan from Grooming Microfinance Bank, Uyo, for her business. She is unable to pay back all the money.

Ms James was said to have been picked up on Tuesday morning at their family house in Uyo allegedly by some people from the bank, her brother-in-law, Udiabong Akanimo, told PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Akanimo said he went to the bank’s office the following day, Wednesday, but was unable to secure Ms James’ release.

He said the officials of Grooming threatened to detain him as well if they did not get their money back when he introduced himself as a brother-in-law to Ms James.

“It was already 5 p.m, so I told them I could only transfer money to them through a mobile app but they said they wanted cash,” Mr Akanimo said.

The bank officials, however, told Mr Akanimo that Ms James was not with them.

A PREMIUM TIMES reporter was able to establish contact with Ms James by 9:11 a.m. on Thursday via her telephone line. She said she was being “detained” by the bank.

“I collected N70,000 from them, I have been able to pay back some of the money, it is remaining N21,000. They are saying they won’t let me go home until I pay all their money,” she said, sounding helpless on the telephone.

PREMIUM TIMES met with the officials of Grooming Microfinance Bank in their office, at 15 Udobio Street, Uyo at about 10 a.m., Thursday.

An official, Joshua Eze, who claimed to be a manager in the bank, said they did not visit Ms James’ house as claimed by Mr Akanimo and that they did not know where she was.

“All that we want is our money,” Mr Eze said.

“We will come to your house if we don’t get our money,” Mr Eze said, pointing his finger menacingly at Mr Akanimo as the latter was about stepping out of the bank office.

“I think it is better I report this whole thing to the police,” Mr Akanimo said, to no one in particular, while walking down the stairs, from Grooming office.

PREMIUM TIMES reached out to one woman, Ima Essien, who facilitated Ms James’s loan from Grooming.

“The truth is that those people want their money back, they have vowed not to let anybody know where she is except they have their money,” Ms Essien told PREMIUM TIMES around 9:56 a.m.

She said the bank was keeping Ms James.

“I know where she is kept but I can’t reveal it if the money is not paid because the whole thing is also on my head.

“Those who owed the bank just N5,000 have been arrested in the past, how much more with someone who is owing N21,000? What she (Ms James) has done is going to affect other persons, including me. She has not done well at all,” Ms Essien said.

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach the police in Uyo for their comment on the matter as the police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, Nnudam Fredrick, did not respond to calls and text message to his phone line.

There is anxiety among hundreds of medical students at the College of Medicine of the University of Ibadan (UI).

Patients seeking clinical services at the University College Hospital (UCH) are also apprehensive with the withdrawal of services of over 300 members of the Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) at the university and the hospital.

MDCAN had declared an indefinite strike on Tuesday to press home its demands for the National Universities Commission (NUC) to withdraw the circular requiring clinical lecturers to acquire a PhD as a condition for career progression in Nigerian universities.

The strike, which started yesterday, is taking its toll on the college and the university.

Clinical lectures have collapsed, leaving medical students in suspense and despair.

MDCAN Chairman at UCH, Dr. Dare Olulana, told reporters that the association was left with no other choice than to withdraw its services from UI with immediate effect.

Other doctors at the media briefing included its First National Vice-President, Dr. Victor Makanjuola, representing the National President of MDCAN, Prof Ken Ozoilo; Dr. Olulana; Dr. Dayo Williams, of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD); MDCAN’s Secretary, Dr. A. Adedapo and medical students from the College of Medicine of UI.

“Having held our local chapter’s congress at the UCH in Ibadan, we resolved to comply fully with the directive of our national body – to embark of indefinite withdrawal of our services from the College of Medicine of the University of Ibadan until our demands are met,” he said.

Political analysts yesterday forecast that the duo of Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his Kaduna State counterpart, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, may pair for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election season.

According to them, the duo looked good for the ticket because among those being rumoured to be nursing presidential ambition, they paraded the most outstanding credentials and currently enjoy support from President Muhammadu Buhari and members of his kitchen cabinet.

Already, there are subterranean moves in the ruling party to see that the APC fields one of its governors to succeed Buhari whose tenure expires in 2023.

The analysts, who spoke to THISDAY against the backdrop of the recent advocacy by el-Rufai for power to shift to the South after Buhari’s tenure, confided in THISDAY that of all the governors in the South-west, which is the only zone in the southern part of the country where APC commands huge support, only Fayemi has the heft to give APC National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, who is said to be nursing a presidential dream, a run for the office.

They added that the ambition of the duo threatens Tinubu’s presidential ambition, and likely to upstage him from the race.

El-Rufai had recently said the presidency should return to the South after Buhari’s tenure in conformity with the zonal arrangement embraced by the major political parties.

He did not specify which of the three geopolitical zones in the South that should take the presidency in 2023 but added that it would be unjustified for the North to seek to retain the presidency after Buhari’s tenure.

Fayemi, whose second term tenure as Ekiti governor will end in October 2022, about six months ahead of Buhari’s, is currently the chairman of the influential Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), and commands respect among his colleagues across party lines.

Besides, being in the same party with el-Rufai, both of them are close and the Kaduna governor was one of those who rallied support for him during the NGF chairmanship election, which Fayemi won unopposed.

The analysts’ prediction came just as the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and an elder statesman and a founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, have lauded the call by el-Rufai that the South should produce Buhari’s successor in 2023.

However, the leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, dismissed as diversionary, the governor’s statement, saying that the country should be restructured first before the issue of power rotation is discussed.

But the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) described the governor’s opinion as personal, adding that zoning and power rotation are not binding on any political party.

The Ohanaeze said the only way to unite the country would be for the South-east geopolitical zone to produce the next president by 2023.

President General of the organisation, Chief Nnia Nwodo, in an interview with THISDAY, said by the time the South-east produces the next president, the problem of imbalance would have been effectively resolved.

“I want to congratulate el-Rufai for coming to the realisation that power must return to the South. This is good, especially knowing full well that power should not be monopolised.

“However, let the Kaduna governor bear in mind that power moving to the South-east should be inevitable. I also expect him to come out openly to state that power should return to the South-east in order to address the problem of imbalance in the system,” he said.

Yakasai also expressed support for power shift to the South in 2023.

He told THISDAY yesterday that he had been an apostle of power shift and rotation among all sections of the country.

He said power rotation would give every section of the country a sense of belonging.

“I have said before that it will be wrong for the North to aspire to produce the president after Buhari because the country belongs to all of us.

“I happened to be a member of the National Executive Committee of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN), which introduced zoning and rotation and there was a reason for that. “The reason is that power should be rotating between the North and the South so that every section of the country is given a sense of belonging.

“Not only between the North and the South, but also between the northern minorities and southern minorities.

“So, the rotation includes minorities in the North and South so that both majorities and minorities would be given a sense of belonging.

“Because if you don’t adopt to rotation and zoning, one big group like Igbo, can cooperate with northern minorities to get the presidency to their side or Hausa-Fulani in the North can collaborate with the Ijaws in the South and dominate the power all the time.

“So, the rotation and zoning should go together so that every segment of the Nigerian society would be given the opportunity to produce the president as the time goes on.”

But Adebanjo faulted el-Rufai, describing his advocacy as a diversionary plot.

He said: “I will not be a victim of that diversionary tactic. Anybody talking about where the presidency should go now is not honest.”

Adebanjo added that the country must be restructured first before the issue of where the presidency will go can be discussed.

“With what is happening, I don’t trust any election that will happen under Buhari. Let’s restructure the country, then we can decide where the presidency should go.

“Why are they talking about presidency now when they know where it will go? He holds all the powers and he is deceiving the people. Let’s go back to where we are at independence; what is the problem with that?”

He stated that both the president and his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), are not honest with Nigerians on the issue, adding that for peace to reign in the country, the nation must be restructured.

The ACF, however, said the governor was expressing a mere opinion.

The Secretary of ACF, Mr. Anthony Sani, told THISDAY in Kaduna that unless there is a consensus by Nigerians or a law is enacted to make it binding on political parties to adopt zoning and power rotation, it will be difficult for the parties to implement it.

“I have made it clear to the media that in the absence of national consensus or law on politics of identity symbolised by zoning and rotation of the position of the president that is binding on political parties, which are the organs to present candidates for elections in our nascent multiparty democracy, any position by anybody on which zone to produce the president comes 2023 is foolhardy because it has no traction.

“Governor el-Rufai’s suggestion on this issue is not more than his personal opinion, which is not binding on all our political parties.

“Whether his suggestion is fair or not is not important because it has no backing of force of law or of national consensus. This is because democracy is a practice whereby majority holds sway. The position taken by the majority is deemed to be fair,” Sani explained.

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However, SaharaReporters has now gathered that Hadiza’s employment was facilitated by the new Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Abdulkadir Umar Saidu.


Despite efforts by persons in government to deny the employment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter, Hadiza, into Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, fresh facts have emerged on how the secret recruitment took place.

Earlier in February, some contract staff of the PPPRA raised the alarm that Hadiza had been employed into the agency as deputy manager along with children of other top and highly influential persons in the country.

After the news hit the airwaves, the Presidency swung into action, denying that the claim was “untrue, malicious, and meant to cast aspersions on the first family”.

However, SaharaReporters has now gathered that Hadiza’s employment was facilitated by the new Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Abdulkadir Umar Saidu.

To clear the way for the employment of Hadiza and others, Saidu had to sack at least 34 contract staff, who had worked with the agency for over seven years.

Before the appointment of Saidu as Executive Secretary of PPPRA, the former occupant of that office, Mrs Sotonye Iyoyo, had secured an approval to regularise the employment of 134 contract staff and also employ more qualified Nigerians into the agency.

However, as is the norm in most federal ministries and agencies in Nigeria, management and board of PPPRA decided to share the slots amongst themselves and cronies rather than throwing it open to the general public.

The employment slots were allocated to powerful individuals in the executive, legislature, and judiciary arms of government in the country.

Further investigations revealed that the reason why no management staff was willing to challenge the present Executive Secretary on most of his obnoxious policies and high-handedness was because of an issue of money laundering and covert fraud of N2bn withdrawn from the agency's coffers by the General Manager Admin/HM – V.Z Shidok, who acted as ES at a time.

Insiders revealed to SaharaReporters that Shidok withdrew the said sum and shared it among his fellow general managers, Mr Teddy Okonkwo (GM Corporate Planning), Soji Soloye (GM Operations), Mr Olasupo Agbaje (GM Gas and Energy Renewal), Mr J.T Peter (GM Finance), Mr Kimchi Apollo (AGM Corporate Services), Mr John A. Egundebi (AGM Audit), and Mr Jar’ far Abubakar (Head Legal/Board Secretary).

The windfall also got to members of the board led by Alhaji Muhammad Lawan Buba, who all went on an all-expense paid trip to Singapore on the agency's bill.

According to findings, some members of the National Assembly also benefited from the largesse as Saidu spent a lot of money to have them confirm him as substantive Executive Secretary of PPPRA.

It was also revealed that Saidu, a native of Daura in Katsina State, runs the agency like his personal enterprise.

He regularly boasts to staff and management executives that he was President Buhari’s nephew and therefore can run the agency as he wants.

A staff, who spoke with SaharaReporters, disclosed that the sacked workers were treated badly despite serving the organisation diligently.

“The affected staff constantly appealed to the management of the agency to regularise their employment for eight years but they were always told to be patient.

“They were subjected to working to ensure that the agency met its mandate, while generating revenue for the agency and of course the country in general.

“In spite of this, they were verbally booted out on September 25, 2017 with deceitful assurances that they will soon be contacted to resume back to work,” the staff revealed.

Speaking further, the staff said, “Mrs Iyoyo’s son and son-in-law were both employed to ensure that she does not speak about the corrupt acts going on at PPPRA.

“Mua’zu’s three brothers were employed, two senior staff and a junior staff.

“A director with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs Rose Ekawu’s daughter was favoured as it was hinted that the director always kept the agency abreast of happenings in the commission and helped out with financial fraud issues concerning the agency.”

Also, the leadership of PENGASSAN, both national and branch executives, were also favoured with slots, and that is why they have been turning a blind eye to the injustice meted out on the sacked employees.

As a result of the development, staff of PPPRA have called on government to investigate all past and present heads of the agency and especially look into their academic qualifications.

“Some of the managers and top staff at PPPRA are working with forged results.

“We want anti-graft commissions in the country to launch an investigation into happenings at this agency to unravel the extent of corruption going on here,” one staff said.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given a stern warning to all banks to seek its approval before sacking more than five staff. The bank gave the warning in a communique released through  the Bankers Committee after its meeting on Friday.

The committee, in a circular signed by Director, Financial Markets Department, CBN, Angela Sere-Ejembi, emphasized that all banks should send sample of Contract Letter issued to outsourced staff + SLA  with the company being used to run outsourced staff.

It stated, “Banks should note and be guided by the CBN circular in respect of laying off staff that is more than five. This requires apex bank’s notification and approval going forward.”

The Bankers’ Committee had said the mass sacking in banks would be reduced in the shortest time possible.

The committee noted that while it was working on how to reduce the level of job losses in the sector, there would always be reasons people would have to be sacked from their workplaces.

It explained that while the decision to sack bank workers had elicited a lot of sentiments from both the public and private sectors, the banks understood the implications of having to relieve workers of their jobs in view of the current economic situation in the country.

Early January, one of the largest banks in the country started the new year with the sack of about 2,000 staff in one fell swoop. Although, the bank denied the story when contacted, the social media were awash with the news at the weekend. If the report were true, it would have served as a reminiscent to similar incident of last year when the same number of staff  were laid off in January, May and July by Ecobank Nigeria Limited.

Several Nigerian banks are in the habit of arbitrarily disengaging thousands of their staff at very short notices. While some would be served their dismissal letters without serverance packages, others were not that lucky, as they were not informed officially but got blocked from accessing the bank’s server.

For instance, most of the Ecobank Nigeria Plc workers under the auspices of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), shut down the headquarters of the bank following the disengagement of about 1200 workers in July last year. The workers, with their placards, took to the bank’s head office to protest their disengagement, insisting that the employer should pay them commensurate benefits.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday held what was called a ‘special consultation’ with the service chiefs behind closed-doors but Major General Babagana Monguno (retd.) was absent.

The meeting was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. – Gen Tukur Buratai; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar; and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, also attended the meeting. President Muhammadu Buhari meets with the service chiefs Daily Trust learnt that Monguno did not attend the meeting because he had travelled out of the country to represent President Buhari at Munich Security Summit.

The NSA, who is expected to return to the country tomorrow (Tuesday) via London, had, in a leaked memo, alleged that undue interference of the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, on matters of national security had slowed down meaningful gains that Buhari had sought to achieve.

In the leaked memo to the service chiefs, which was published by an online platform, Premium Times, Monguno directed them (service chiefs) to desist from taking further directives from Kyari.

According to Monguno, in the memo, Kyari’s directives to service chiefs were sometimes issued without the knowledge or approval of the president, a practice he said had added to the government’s failure to contain insecurity. “Chief of Staff to the president is not a presiding head of security, neither is he sworn to an oath of defending the country.

“As such, unprofessional practices such as presiding over meetings with service chiefs and heads of security organisations as well as ambassadors and high commissioners to the exclusion of the NSA and/or supervising ministers are a violation of the Constitution and directly undermine the authority of Mr President.

“Such acts and continued meddlesomeness by chief of staff have not only ruptured our security and defence efforts, but have slowed down any meaningful gain that Mr. President has sought to achieve,”

Monguno said in the memo dated December 9, 2019. After the consultation, the service chiefs passed through the office of the Chief of Staff to the President on their way out, while the Chief of Army Staff was the last person sighted leaving about 3.55 pm. There have been several calls for the sack of service chiefs because of the frightening security situation in the country.

While the House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for the ouster of the service chiefs, the Senate requested that a national emergency be declared over the state of insecurities. President Buhari had on Sunday told Nigerians to expect an aggressive campaign to rout out the terrorists in the coming weeks.

Uwheru Kingdom in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State has banned the sale and consumption of cow meat in the kingdom following incessant herdsmen attacks on farmers and other residents of the kingdom.

Uwheru is one of the 24 traditional kingdoms in Urhoboland in Delta State.

Our correspondent gathered that the ban was imposed on Saturday at a meeting of the kingdom attended by prominent sons and daughters of Uwheru Kingdom, including Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, the Delta State Commissioner for Higher Education.

The decision which takes immediate effect followed last week’s repeated attacks on the communities by Fulani killer herdsmen in which no fewer than 10 persons died.

Sources close to the meeting revealed that no fewer than 86 farmers in Uwheru communities have been killed in herdsmen related attacks in the last 12 years.

A source said, “By this ban, nobody can bring cow meat to any of the communities that made up Uwheru Kingdom for any function, be it burial or any other celebration. You can’t kill our people and expect us to be eating cow meat when our people can’t go to farm. The ban takes effect immediately.”

By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
As the permutations for the 2023 Presidency begin to dominate political discourse nationwide, Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has said the Presidency should rightly return to the Southern part of the country.

Although the governor, acclaimed to be a major strategist of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, did not specify which of the southern geopolitical zones should take the Presidency in 2023, he argued that it would be unjustified for the North to seek to retain the Presidency after President Muhammadu Buhari might have completed his eight years.

El-Rufai, who headed the APC’s Restructuring Committee, pointed out that although the party’s constitution does not make provision for rotational presidency, like the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, it was a general understanding that the Presidency should rotate between the two political zones of Nigeria for the sake of justice, equity and fair play.

The governor said: “The general political consensus in Nigeria is that the Presidency should rotate between the North and the South. It is not written but everyone understands it. “In some of the parties, like the PDP, it is even written down in their constitution but it was breached in 2015. I think that every politician of honour should understand and abide by that consensus except there is an extenuating circumstance compelling it to be set aside.

What could this be? “President Yar’Adua died in office and it was compulsory for Jonathan to continue but when 2011 election came, there were many people who insisted that Jonathan should step aside for a northerner to complete the tenure of Yar’Adua but I opposed it because I didn’t think it was proper for an incumbent that got there not by his own design should be stopped from contesting when the constitution has not barred him from running.

“In the APC, we deliberately omitted rotational Presidency in our constitution and the emergence of a presidential candidate does not take into account zoning and that was why in 2015, Rochas Okorocha from the East contested, Sam Nda-Isaiah contested, Buhari, Kwankwaso and others contested.

“I can say that as distinct from the PDP, APC has no rotational Presidency but candidates are selected strictly on the basis of political merit and the general acceptability of the candidate. “I want to say that those of us from Northern Nigeria honour agreements.

We do not violate unwritten political agreements and I will be the last person to lead in violating that agreement. I may have a personal view but that should be the basis. I don’t care where you come from but I look for merit. “But as a group, the Northern APC will have to sit down and endorse someone, most likely someone from the South, because after eight years of Buhari, I don’t think the Presidency should remain in the north unless there is some extenuating circumstances.

But all things being equal, we will honour our agreement and we keep our words.’’ It will be recalled that some northern leaders have lately begun to canvass for the retention of the Presidency in the region, arguing that the south had done more years than them since President Umaru Yar’Adua died and his vice, Goodluck Jonathan, took over and did another term in place of the north.

Others have even argued that since the PDP jettisoned the well established rotational Presidency, which the party put in place to ensure orderly sharing of power, power sharing between the north and the south should no longer be on agreement but on merit.

Our correspondents

The Senate has clarified that Senator Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo remains a  member of the upper chamber for now despite the certificate forgery which denied him a chance to become Bayelsa State deputy governor.

The Supreme Court stopped David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress from being inaugurated as Bayelsa State governor,  along with Degi-Eremienyo, on the eve of his inauguration after the latter submitted forged certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Spokesman for the Senate,  Godiya Akwashiki, said on Friday that Degi-Eremienyo’s place in the upper chamber was not under threat.

Akwashiki told one of our correspondents that the Supreme Court did not address the issue of his senatorial status while delivering judgment on the Bayelsa governorship election.

He said the process to recall a senator could only start if they were dead,  had a recall demand from his constituency or through a court pronouncement directing INEC to withdraw their certificate of return.

Akwashiki said, “The process of declaring somebody’s seat vacant is in three stages based on the provisions of the law.

“It is either by death;  If his constituents demand his recall, or if any court of law, (tribunal,  appeal, or Supreme Court), ordered that INEC should withdraw their certificate of return.

“In this situation,  the judgment did not say anything about his (Degi-Eremienyo’s) senatorial seat.

“The judgment only addressed the issue of the Bayelsa State governorship election.

“Also in the case of Degi-Eremienyo,  he has not taken any oath of allegiance.

“The oath of allegiance that he took in the Senate still subsists since the Supreme Court did not mention his seat at the Senate in its judgment.

“For now, the Senate cannot do anything about his seat. He is still, a democratically elected member of the Senate.”

Akwashiki justified the decision of the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, to declare the seats of the governor  (Douye Diri) and deputy governor (Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo) of Bayelsa State vacant.

He said the action was necessary because the duo, who were serving senators before the Supreme Court pronouncement, had taken oaths of office during their inauguration at the National Assembly.

He said, “The Senate President acted according to the law because,  both Duoye and Ewhrudjakpo  cannot take oaths of office twice.”

Meanwhile, a senator, who is also a principal officer of the Senate, told one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity that the upper chamber lacked the power to declare Degi-Eremienyo’s seat vacant on account of certificate forgery.

He said, “Is there any provision in the constitution that says the National Assembly should send a letter of recall to INEC because a senator allegedly presented a forged certificate to contest election?

“The seat of a lawmaker can only be declared vacant by court pronouncement, by recall or by death.

For Nigerians who expected President Muhammadu Buhari to come down hard on his kitchen cabinet, otherwise dubbed the cabal, for exposing the lack of cohesion in his government, through recent and previously leaked memos, that may not come soon.

A Presidency source, yesterday, confided in The Guardian that the President has asked his Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (retd) to go and settle their differences.

Asked if that was all, the source said; “well, Oga suffers long,” meaning that he gives his trusted allies sufficient time to either redeem themselves, or get fired. But they don’t get fired easily.

Tracing the genesis of the animosity between Kyari and Monguno, the source said it has to do with the latter’s urbane and cosmopolitan style, and ability to caution the team on excesses.

He is said to also have the President’s ears on serious matters. That was the position during President Buhari’s first four years. After the successful prosecution of the 2019 presidential election, the source said Kyari had plans to push for Monguno’s exit and return the sacked director general of the Department of States Services (DSS) Lawan Daura as NSA, but that didn’t work. Even Femi Adesina was also to have suffered same fate. But they seem to have earned the trust of President Buhari, and he refused to drop them.

The President, the source said expressed shock over the idea of wanting to return Daura, but the matter was allowed to rest.

The NSA, having secured his appointment in President Buhari’s second term found courage to now cry out through memos already in the public space.

Meanwhile, serious reconciliation is ongoing and if it plays out well, nothing dramatic is going to happen, except that the President is unhappy that Kyari is reaching out to service chiefs without the knowledge of the NSA.

Kyari’s excuse was that the NSA did not maintain a good personal relationship with the service chiefs, an alibi, which the source declaimed, saying perhaps a little personality ego may have existed between the NSA and the Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai.

With the exposure, the source said Kyari does not find the bad public opinion of him very palatable. Consequently, he may need to adopt another style.

On the likely fate of the embattled service chiefs, the source said that all options are on the table, as no single action is being contemplated at the moment.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has again expressed disappointment in Buhari’s handling of the crisis tearing his presidency apart, a situation it noted has worsened the already hopeless and unabating security challenges in the country.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, who spoke to The Guardian, yesterday, said: “The cluelessness and incompetence of the Presidency, which has prevented President Buhari from taking timely and appropriate decisions has unfortunately resulted in terrible infighting among those who illegally usurp and abuse such presidential powers.

“Our nation and people are being abandoned in the face of security threats that might cause more serious socio-political, economic hardship for petty infighting by Buhari’s henchmen,” the party stated.

Noting that security is the most important element of governance, followed by the welfare of citizens, the PDP argued that, “since President Buhari has relinquished these statutory responsibilities, he has no other reason to remain in office.

The party further noted that “the NSA’s memo that urged service chiefs to stop taking orders nor attending meetings called by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari further exposes the fact that our nation has been on autopilot under President Buhari, whose abdication of serious matters of state is directly responsible for the untold suffering, anguish, pain and escalated insecurity in the country.”

Attempts to get the APC to react to the unending rumblings between presidential aides, was unsuccessful as the party elected to keep mum.

The National Publicity Secretary of APC, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu declined to pick calls placed to his mobile phone, neither did he respond to text messages sent to him.

When contacted, the Chairman of the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), Mr. Niyi Akinsiju, said he would not speak hastily on an issue that is within the realm of speculation.

Said he: “We cannot actually take a stand on the issue because it is not an official rendition of happenings in the Presidential Villa. For us to take a stand, we must understand the content of the issue. So, we just have to leave it as it is for now.”

Also weighing in on the Kyari/Monguno feud, a retired Assistant Director of the State Security Service (SSS), now DSS, Dennis Amachree, said: “The National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff to the President are both close and direct advisers to the President. While the Chief of Staff acts as the confidante and adviser, he is also given direct powers by the President to supervise, or filter certain issues from cabinet ministers.

“On the other hand, the National Security Adviser gives the President direct advice on national security issues, as well as act as a clearing house for all intelligence coming from security agencies. In other countries the NSA also plans presidential trips and gives background memos to the President for his meetings with other world leaders.

“In the Nigerian situation, the duties of the NSA and the Chief of Staff could overlap. The Chief of Staff also acts as the alter ego and sounding board of the President. So, it is not unlikely that advice from the NSA could be further discussed between the President and his Chief of Staff. So, there need not be a clash, as they are both working for the good of the President. However, in a breakdown of this nature, the President should step in and resolve it urgently. A face-off between these two top aides of the President does not spell good for our national security. More so, when the country is prosecuting a war on insurgency in the North East,” a national security analyst submitted.

For the Managing Director/CEO Hakes & Partners Limited, Col. Hassan Stan-Labo, the security situation in the country is beginning to take a heavy toll on the Presidency, where aides are now engaging in altercations over sensitive issues. He said the security implications of the incessant feuds could be disappointing in view of the general belief that all hands should be on deck. Stan-Labo said: “The situation between the NSA and the CoS shouldn’t have been left to degenerate to this level if good working relations had existed. Piled up emotions led to all these. The letter was quite in order and well articulated, but would have rather been re-adapted for the President and copied to all parties.

“The CoS was not only usurping the powers of the President, but also that of the NSA. The NSA must be a very patient fellow to have put up with such encroachment on the powers of his office all these years. The CoS’s responsibility does not include the coordination of security matters.

That’s why the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) is domiciled within the Presidency. All matters relating to security could have been directed to the ONSA. RELATEDLY, the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has said that sacking of the service chiefs by Buhari alone will not put a stop to insecurity in the country. Obi who spoke yesterday as the convocation lecturer at the 8th Convocation Lecture/Ceremony of Veritas University, Abuja said for Nigeria to completely address the problem of insecurity, there must be a deliberate effort to revive the declining economy.

An Assistant Director, Administration in the State House, Ms. Dagan Laetitia Naankang, who was on Monday night murdered in her Abuja apartment by unknown gunmen, has been laid to rest.

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The burial ceremony took place in her hometown in Qua’Pan local government area of Plateau State. In a statement by state house Deputy Director, Information, Mr. Attah Esa, she worked in her State House office on Monday till 8pm, only to be gruesomely murdered in her apartment at 11pm by unknown persons.

By Kunle Akinrinade

A woman, Mrs Comfort Giwa, said she got the beating of her life when her landlord, Mr Adisa Lukman openly brutalised her for allegedly turning down his love advances.

The incident, according to Comfort, the incident happened on February 9, 2020, while she was talking to a friend outside their residence at 3, Idiatu Kilani Street in the Fagba area of New Oko Oba, Agege, Lagos.

She said she was mercilessly beaten by the landlord during which she sustained varying degree of injuries on several parts of her body including a wound on her arm.

She claimed that had made passes at her which she rejected on several occasions, after which he threatened to deal with her.

‘’I started having issues with our landlord, (Adisa), shortly after we moved into his house three years ago when he made several passes at me.

He said he liked me and that he would like to date him and I rebuffed him for making overtures to me knowing full well that I am a married woman living with my husband in his house.

‘’He was persistent in asking me out following my rejection of his love advances and at a point I reported him to my husband. He then threatened that he would deal with me for spawning him. He has own wife, yet, he disturbs me by asking me to date him.

‘’Last night, I was seated beside one of my friends outside our residence when a woman living near our house told me that my landlord said my daughter was fond of harassing her own daughter.

I told the woman that my daughter was innocent of the allegations and that God would expose whoever is behind the false allegations.

Suddenly, my landlord rushed to where I was engaging the woman and attacked me for no reasons. He was wearing a trouser without any shirt on his body and he beat me to pulp.

He held me down with his strength while he called on one of his friends who joined him to further brutalise me. The beating was so much that I sustained injuries on my body.

There’s a deep cut on one my arm as I speak. I was rushed to a hospital and placed on admission while my husband reported the incident to the police at Oko-Oba Division.

‘’However, nothing came out of the police intervention because our landlord sought the help of some community leaders who used their connection with the police to deny me justice.’’

In his remarks, Comfort’s husband, David Giwa said he was planning to move out of the building before his landlord brutalise his wife for refusing his love advances.

‘’My wife had told me that our landlord was fond of peeping through the bathroom door to look at her naked body whenever she is having her bath.

After he was cautioned, I figured out that his attitude was a signal to leave his house and I started saving money to get another accommodation in order to save my wife and children from the incessant harassment by my landlord.

‘’I was then shocked when my landlord and his associates descended on my wife and brutalised her to the extent that she sustained injuries.
She was placed on admission in a hospital for some days and she is still nursing wounds from the attack as we speak.

‘’After I visited my wife in hospital, I made a report on the incident at Oko-Oba Police Division but nothing came out of it because my landlord and some community leaders used their connection to circumvent justice.’’

Contacted, Adisa denied inflicting injuries on Comfort. He said the police had investigated the matter and exonerated him of any wrongdoing.

The embattled landlord told The Nation on telephone that Comfort injured herself when she made a fruitless attempt to hit him with one of her hands.

‘’Police have investigated the matter and found out that it was not true. Comfort’s daughter and another girl whose mother lives in the neighbourhood ganged up to harass my daughter on her way to school.

I warned her and the other woman to reprimand their daughters and she suddenly held my dress and attacked me.

‘’ I did not beat her. The wounds on her hand were as a result of the attack she launched on me. She wanted to hit me with her hands which I dodged and she landed one of the hands on a plank used to erect a shop extension at the scene.’’

He added: ‘’ I gave his husband a quit notice months ago and he tore the notice in my presence; even the community leaders have reprimanded the couple to no avail.

Eta Mbora, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member of the house of representatives, has introduced a bill seeking to provide automatic employment for graduates after their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.

The legislation seeks to amend the NYSC act to enable the military, paramilitary agencies and other special services recruit willing graduates immediately after they have completed the one-year youth service.

The amendment bill scaled first reading at the green chamber on Thursday.

The NYSC act, as it currently is, does not provide any employment window for youth corps members after the programme.

In an interview with TheCable on Friday, the lawmaker, who represents Calabar Munincipal/Odukpani federal constituency of Cross River state, said the bill will help address Nigeria’s unemployment problem.

He said if passed into law, it would help graduates desirous of joining the military, paramilitary agencies or special services to do so after they have completed their NYSC programme, provided they meet the agencies’ requirements.

“At the conclusion of their service year, there should be a process where the agencies will examine those interested to determine their qualifications to be employed,” he said.

“They should be able to now enrol them after the completion of service; that is for those qualified. That way, it can address the unemployment problem and job scams in Nigeria.

“Those willing to join the military and paramilitary agencies and other special services should be able to do so since they have served their country.”

Mbora added that the bill seeks to officially increase the allowance of corps members to cater to their needs.

He said although the federal government recently increased the allowance, the action is not backed by the law and will only be legal with the amendment.

Despite being Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria’s unemployment rate is very high. It rose to 23.1 percent at the third quarter of 2018.

The federal government has sought various remedies to check this trend, including introducing through schemes like the N-Power programme, but there is still a big gap.

An Abuja Area Court has ordered the Department of State Security (DSS) to investigate a case of forgery filed against the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

Ewhrudjakpo of the PDP was sworn in as deputy governor of the state when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pronounced Douye Diri as the elected governor of the state following the Supreme Court judgment disqualifying the former governor-elect, David Lyon of the APC.

Before his swearing-in, Ewhrudjakpo, who was in the Senate representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District, was dragged before the court in Lugbe, Abuja on the allegation of presenting a forged NYSC Exemption Certificate with code  No: 139708 dated Feb. 2, 1998, on his nomination form to INEC.

The plaintiff in the suit, Benjamin Youdiowei, a chieftain of APC in Bayelsa alleged that Ewhrudjakpo was still in possession of the document which he continued to use as part of his credentials.

Following the absence of Ewhrudjakpo in court on November 27, 2019, the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

However, at the resumed hearing of the case, the court was told by Seidu Jibrin, counsel for the plaintiff, that the matter was fixed for the report of police investigation as it was referred to the Wuye Police Station for further investigation on the last adjourned date. Jibrin expressed concern that the defendant and his counsel were not in court.

He alleged that the case file was moved from Wuye Police Station to IGP Monitoring Unit of the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters by some people who, he said, thought they were above the law. He alleged that when he was summoned by the IGP Monitoring Unit, his call to bar certificate was seized by the police.

Delivering the ruling, the judge, Abubakar Sadiq held that the procedure was that, “if by any reason, Wuye Police Station is not capable to investigate the matter, they should have reported back to the court, so that the court can order another unit of the police to investigate the matter.

“We hereby terminate the order of investigation given to the police in respect of this matter and order the DSS to investigate it, Sadiq held, adding that the DSS could take the matter to any court of their choice after the investigations.

Three children have reportedly been killed in a midnight fire in a community ( name withheld) in the Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State .

The PUNCH gathered that the parents of the children were not at home when the incident happened .

While the father of the kids , who was said to be a musician , reportedly went to perform at an event, the mother reportedly eloped with a lover to a nearby hotel .

A resident , who preferred anonymity , told The PUNCH that the mother had locked the three children in a room and lit a candle before she left with the lover .

He said, “ The woman is a teacher . She left with her lover to a nearby hotel that night.

“ The three children were locked up in a room and they got burnt beyond recognition in the inferno believed to have been caused by a lit candle .

“ The children were aged 5, 4 and 2 years respectively.

“ She has been arrested by the police for investigation . ”

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state , Haruna Mohammed , confirmed the incident in a statement .

He , however, did not say anything about the arrest but said the victims sustained varying degrees of burns and all died on the spot while property worth millions of Naira were destroyed .

He said, ” Following the distress call , Police patrol team led by the DPO rushed to the scene , cordoned off the area and the fire was put off by local volunteers before the arrival of firefighters .

“ The victims were photographed and corpses buried, according to their customs .”

Soldiers of Operation Safe Haven retaliate the killing of two of their colleagues by Fulani herdsmen

After killing two soldiers and injuring one other, Fulani settlers in X-Land Barkin Ladi in Plateau State have experienced the full rage of the Nigerian Army in return.

On Tuesday, soldiers raided the Fulani settlement, burned an estimated 100 homes and arrested some persons.

The retaliation was provoked by the attack on Sunday on men of Sector Five of the Special Task Force, Operation Save Haven (OPSH) by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.

Two soldiers were killed and another soldier injured in the ambush.

The soldiers who were angered by the incident gave the community two days to provide their attackers.

On Tuesday, the soldiers returned and raided the area, burning down scores of houses, a witness said.

The witness said the houses burnt largely belonged to the Fulani settlers in the community, adding that the army also made some arrests during the raid.

“On Sunday, gunmen attacked soldiers of the sector five, killed two personnel and ran into the houses of Fulani settlers living here in X-Land.

ABUJA- The FCT Ministerial Task team on Traffic Management hinted that stricter measures will be talking to ensure route compliance in the face of continued intimidation of its operatives by armed uniform personnel.

This came as a Nigerian Army General who reportedly pulled his gun at a personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps FRSC on Sunday who flagged him for driving against traffic along the Nyanya-Mararaba route in the territory.

Speaking at a press conference to hint newsmen about the development, the Chairman of the task Team, Comrade Ikharo Attah disclosed said the work of his team would have been made easier courtesy of the cooperation from the civilian population, lamented that armed uniform operatives have become a law unto themselves.

H further stated that FCT Minister, Malam Muhammadu Musa Bello had recently approved a “name and shame” policy for traffic offenders in spite of their status, Mr Attah said his Taskteam is also collaborating with the Military Police who would assist in meting appropriate sanctions on erring military personnel.

Attah who was flanked by representatives of various security agencies as well as the Chief Security Officer to the FCT minister, Rasheed Ahmed, also recalled how some personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service NCoS had once assaulted the Divisional Police Officer DPO of Karu Division for stopping their official bus from parking wrongly on the expressway.

According to him, “We have the problem of roadside trading which we have almost successfully tackled. The other problem now which I know that the DPO of Karu and the DPO of Nyanya as well as the Kugbo and Karu component of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services DRTS are battling is the issue of those going against traffic – the one way drivers. And we have agreed among us that they are largely done by uniform personnel.”

“We are not disputing that. On the first day our operation commenced in Nyanya, some officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service NCoS beat up the DPO of Karu for telling them not to park on the road.”

“They came down from their bus, attacked him, tore his clothes because they felt they were Correctional Service personnel and were wearing uniforms. Subsequently, the DPO Karu and the FRSC have been battling both police and military personnel on the slope to the point that the Commissioner of Police and some senior officers had to go there in person to ensure enforcement.”

“Last Sunday when we had a problem at Kugbo, we had a very rough encounter with some uniform personnel. We were there when the Corps Marshall of the FRSC arrived at the scene to monitor his men and a General in the Nigerian Army brought out a gun to threaten a road safety official that he would shoot him, and the Corps Marshall had to advise that the road safety official looked at safety first.”

“But we are pushing hard. The beauty of it is that we are getting the military police, Col. Madaki and his men who can punish their own and we know that is going to help us greatly.”

“There was a day the DPO Nyanya had to stop an AIG and the people there were jumping up. They were so sure that he would lose his job that day, but along the line the AIG had to turn back. That very day, the CP was on the hill at Kugbo with the DRTS Director and FRSC Sector Commander, stopping and turning Generals back from taking one way.”

“Law enforcement officers are paid to maintain the law and not to break the law. It is not right because they are putting their own colleagues on the field under pressure. Next time when they take one way and block the road, we will abandon the roads for them and call their superiors to come and meet them on the road.”

“The other challenge is those riding trailers. We asked them not to drive at peak periods. The minister is personally unhappy with that. We need to brace up and ensure that they are off road at such periods because aside from causing more gridlock, when their brakes fail, the casualties are always high and it is usually difficult to evacuate them amidst heavy traffic.”

“There was also a case of suspected theft the other day, where a tanker driver had emptied his contents somewhere else and then left only a little inside the tank and came to deliberately crash the vehicle at Nyanya.

The whole place was thrown into confusion with people running, fearing that the tanker could explode while on our part we were also making efforts to cordon the area not knowing that he had diverted the file elsewhere before and then came to crash the tanker so that it would look like he lost his fuel in the accident”, the Chairman stressed.

The Permanent Secretary, State House, Abuja, Jalal Arabi, has described the killing of Ms. Laetitia Naankang Dagan, Assistant Director of Administration in the State House, as “a painful loss, not only to her immediate family, but also the entire State House.”

This was contained in a statement to DAILY POST on Tuesday, signed by Attah Esa, Deputy Director Information, State House.

“She was a dedicated, hard-working officer, and we all feel pained by her dastardly and untimely death,” Arabi told her family members during a condolence visit.


According to the Permanent Secretary, “We all share in your grief and pains, but be consoled by the fact that she lived a good life and contributed her best to the services of her nation.”

Arabi expressed confidence that “the Police will fish out the killers of Laetitia and the law will take its course.”

47-year Ms. Dagan from Plateau State, worked in her office on Monday till 8pm, but by 11pm, she was gruesomely murdered in her apartment by unknown persons.


The Permanent Secretary prayed God Almighty to comfort Ms. Dagan’s family, the entire Staff of State House, and grant the soul of the departed officer eternal rest.

An Assistant Director attached to the State House, Abuja, Laetitia Naankang Dagan, has been killed by yet-to -be -identified assailants.

Dagan was said to have been killed in her apartment in Galadimawa , Abuja , on Monday evening shortly after she returned from work.

She was said to have left her office in the Presidential Villa, Abuja , about 8 pm while the incident reportedly happened about 11 pm.

A State House statement confirmed the development , quoting the Permanent Secretary , Jalal Arabi, as mourning the deceased.

Arabi was further quoted as telling her parents during a condolence visit that “ the Police will fish out the killers of Laetitia and the law will take its course. ”

Umar Ganduje, governor of Kano, has appointed three senior special assistants to handle issues on streetlights in the state.

In a letter dated February 13, the secretary to the state government notified Anwalu Salihu of his appointment as the senior special assistant, streetlights III.

According to the letter, the appointment was based on his ”dedication to duty, patriotic disposition and loyalty”.

“This is to formally convey to you that His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kano State Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, OFR has approved your appointment as Senior Special Assistant, Street Lights III with effect from 10th February, 2020,” it read.

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The appointees

“Your appointment into this position of trust and confidence was made upon careful assessment of your credentials, competence, track record of performance, dedication to duty, vast experience, patriotic disposition and expressed loyalty. It is hoped that you will employ these qualities to bear towards ensuring effective discharge of your assigned duties.

“As we move the state to Next Level of development, it is my sincere hope that you will live above board and justify the confidence reposed in you by the Government. I pray God in his infinite mercy accord you the wisdom and determination to execute the assignment diligently and to the expectation of the administration. Accept my congratulations, please.”

In a phone interview on Monday, Salihu Yakasai, the governor’s spokesman, confirmed the appointment, and said there were three senior special assistants on streetlights.

He told TheCable that the aides would report to the commissioner of works and infrastructure, and not directly to the governor.

Yakasai said the senior special assistants on streetlights will handle issues concerning generators and diesel used in powering the streetlights.

“It is true. They are one of the special assistants. Even though their title reads special assistant to the governor, but they are reporting to the commissioner,” he said.

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The appointment letter

“The Kano metropolitan area is divided into clusters. Each cluster has different areas and their responsibility is to ensure that all the streetlights are functioning. We use generators to power the streetlights, so they ensure that there is constant supply of diesel.

“It is just in partnership with the ministry of works. There are three special assistants on streetlights but they report to the commissioner of works and infrastructure.”

dre11:
In deed we have entered a one-chance government who thrives on propaganda.
That's why the US are asking for what we are using the Abacha loot for or else they take it back



https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/apcs-historic-swindle.html

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that Nigerians will pay dearly if they discredit the nation’s academics because of alleged sexual harassment in universities.

ASUU National Chairman, Dr Biodun Ogunyemi, stated this in Abuja during Senate public hearing on ‘Sexual Harassment of Students in Tertiary Institutions (Prohibition) Bill 2019’.

He said this period was not a good time to be lecturers because they are stigmatized due to cases of sexual harassment in academic institutions.

“The bias is too much. It is as if we are stigmatizing those who should be the custodians of our innovations and progress.

“Universities are currently handling problems like this and we should not discredit the custodians of our knowledge, because if we do so and cause them to lose confidence in what they are doing, we will pay dearly to recover,” he said.

Ogunyemi said Nigerians need to recognize the autonomy of universities, where there were institutional procedures through which disciplinary issues are handled.

The bill, he said, failed to take cognizance of the various extant legislations that deal with issue of sexual harassment.

“If we have a law that addresses issue of sexual harassment, why are we wasting time talking about another law. Are we also going to formulate separate laws to address problem of corruption in the universities, to address sexual harassment in the police, in the National Assembly?” he queried.

Ogunyemi noted that laws should not be made ad-hoc.

He said in other climes where issues of sexual harassment were reported, no new laws were formulated to address them.

He said instead of formulating new law, the National Assembly should review the existing laws.

Responding, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the bill was never intended to vilify the teaching professions.

He also dismissed ASUU’s stance on the need for the bill, saying if there were lacunas in the existing laws, they would be reviewed and new ones would be made.

“The bill is aimed at addressing this issue in a particular sector. It doesn’t stop anybody from bringing new bill that will address the same issue in another sector. Laws will always be made to address issues. This is to address sexual harassment in our tertiary institutions,” he said.

Earlier while declaring the public hearing open, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said there was need for stakeholders to think upon new resolutions and sanctions to check sexual harassment if the extant laws were not tight enough.

gotzy:
ok now what? they were just trying to meet ends means without nobody get hurt, they were not force into prostitution, can't someone hussle in peace again, atleast it is better than arm robbery, as if they're going to provide them a job or something, bunch of hypocrites

Johnchuks Onuanyim,



Former Minister for Communication and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Adebayo Shittu has decried the crisis in the party and governance, even as he expressed regret that his party has not provided leadership.

Shittu, who spoke to some journalists in Abuja over the weekend, faulted some members in leadership positions for the lingering crisis in the party.

Asked to react to the crisis in APC, Shittu said: “We worked tirelessly to ensure that we build a party which is different from anything that Nigeria has ever known. Particularly we wanted a truly progressive party which will do things differently from what those you call conservatives or reactionalists or corrupt politicians. Unfortunately because of poor party leadership – both the national and my state, Oyo level – we have series of crisis which are continuing. It’s unfortunate and I feel very sorry and I feel ashamed that we have found it difficult to rarely provide requisite leadership which regards to management of our political party.”

The former minister, who served in the first tenure of this administration, said it would be wrong for anybody to associate or think that corruption is for one political party.

According to him, members of APC are corrupt and that is why some of them are being prosecuted and some are serving jail terms.

The Oyo State APC chieftain dismissed the allegation that the former governor of the state, Senator Ajimobi has been endorsed by the South West APC to replace the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Niyi Adebayo as the party’s Deputy National Chairman.

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Sunday  ruled out any fresh governorship election in Bayelsa State as requested by the All Progressives Congress.

INEC’s  Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, dismissed the APC’s demand for a fresh governorship   poll in Bayelsa State.

He said the commission on Friday concluded its work on the Bayelsa State governorship poll.

Also, top officials of  INEC, who confided in The PUNCH on Sunday, said the commission had never granted such a request and that of the APC would not be the first.

One of the officials said, “The APC is asking for what is not possible. The party should forget a fresh governorship election in Bayelsa State.”

The APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, had in a letter dated February  14, 2020 and addressed to the INEC Chairman,  Mahmood Yakubu,  called for a fresh election in Bayelsa State.

The APC national chairman said the swearing-in of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party,  Douyle Diri,  as the state governor was unconstitutional as he did not meet the mandatory constitutional requirements.

The party said although   the Supreme Court nullified its candidate, David Lyon’s victory, it  stated that  Diri also failed to meet the mandatory requirements to become  governor.

It  said the court judgment did not void the votes of   the APC  in the  November 16, 2019 governorship poll in Bayelsa State.   It, therefore, said its votes   must be reckoned with.

The APC had said, ‘‘We are aware that Section 179(1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria mandatorily requires a candidate for an election to the office of governor of a state to have not less than one quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two thirds of all the local government areas in the state before the candidate can be deemed to have been duly elected as the governor of the state. This mandatory requirement was affirmed by the Supreme Court in the judgment under reference.”

According to the party,  Bayelsa State has eight local government areas, hence the two thirds of at least eight local government areas will be approximately  six local government areas.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday nullified  the candidacy  of Lyon and his running mate,   Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, on the grounds that Degi-Eremienyo  presented false information about his educational qualifications in his Form CF001 submitted to INEC as a candidate for the 2019 election.

Justice Ejembi Ekwo, who read the lead judgment, had said Degi-Eremienyo’s disqualification on the basis of submitting false information to INEC had infected the joint ticket with which he and Lyon contested the election and emerged victorious.

Shortly after the judgment was delivered, Oshiomhole had vowed that Diri would not be sworn in as the  Bayelsa State governor because he did not meet the constitutional spread of votes in the governorship poll.

But in their swift reactions, the PDP and the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, dismissed the APC national chairman’s claim and insisted that Diri  would be inaugurated.

After a meeting of its top management on Friday, INEC, at a press conference confirmed that Diri met the constitutional requirements.

It argued that votes of the APC candidates had been invalidated by the apex court judgment. It therefore, presented a certificate of return to Diri, who was sworn in as the fifth  governor of Bayelsa State on Friday.

After the declaration, our work is done – INEC

When  asked if and when the commission would meet to deliberate on the APC’s letter seeking a fresh governorship election in Bayelsa State, INEC Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Osaze-Uzzi, dismissed the party’s demand.

Osaze-Uzzi asked, “Fresh election to which office or seat?” When our correspondent reminded him that it (the fresh poll) was  for the office of the governor and that the APC had written INEC demanding a fresh election, he retorted, “After the declaration. Our work is done, please.”

PDP, APC clash over Oshiomhole’s letter

But the PDP and the APC clashed on Sunday over the latter’s call for a fresh governorship poll in Bayelsa State.

While, the PDP said the APC’s demand was irresponsible, the ruling party (the APC) stated the opposition party was  being hypocritical.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in an interview with one of our correspondents, advised INEC to throw the letter into a trash can.

Ologbondiyan said by the judgment of the Supreme Court, the APC had been disqualified from participating in any fresh election in the state even if it had been ordered by the apex court.

He noted that the Supreme Court in the judgment voided the participation of the APC in the November 16 governorship election.

The PDP spokesman added that the APC  had  lost the right to stand for any fresh election.

 He, therefore, wondered what the APC would gain by calling for a fresh election since according to him, it (the APC) could not participate in the fresh election.

He, however, said that the PDP got the required constitutional votes and spread for its  candidate, Diri, to be sworn in. He stated that INEC did the right thing and obeyed the Supreme Court by issuing a certificate of return to Diri.

He alleged that the APC and its national chairman were plotting to cause a crisis in the polity. He called on the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), to caution Oshiomhole.

He also reiterated the PDP’s call on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu, to arrest Oshiomhole for allegedly making inciting utterances, which he said fuelled the crisis in Bayelsa State before and after the inauguration  of the governor.

The PDP spokesman warned Oshiomhole and the APC against trying to muzzle INEC.

Ologbondiyan said, “First and foremost, it smirks of illiteracy for the APC to say that the PDP did not meet the required spread or the number of votes for it to have been declared the winner of the election”

He accused the APC and its leaders of trying to throw the country into a crisis by destroying the polity.

The PDP spokesman said, “If you look at Edo State, where their chairman comes from, the state is permanently in a crisis; houses are being burnt, people are being killed and that is what the leadership of the APC led by Oshiomhole wants to extend to the entire region of the south and the nation as well. We call on President Buhari to caution Oshiomhole or the IGP should arrest him as we have demanded and question him on why he wants to throw Nigeria into turmoil.

“It is irresponsible of the APC to have written such a letter even when they know that even if a rerun had been ordered by the Supreme Court, they would not participate in that election. The letter is an irresponsible piece of letter that should be dropped into the trash can.”

“The APC are sore losers. They should find somewhere to sit, cover their faces and leak their wounds instead of asking for a fresh poll from INEC. Oshiomhole needs to understand that he does not command INEC and that the commission is not a parastatal or an agency under the APC.”

PDP is being hypocritical – APC

But the APC accused the PDP of being  hypocritical by faulting its letter to INEC.

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, while  responding the PDP’s criticism, told The PUNCH that Nigerians were  fully aware of the antics of the opposition party anytime a judgment was against it.

He said, “This is the same PDP that went to the European Union office and the embassies of western countries to protest when the Supreme Court ruled against them in the case of Imo. They went everywhere saying democracy was in danger.

“So, now, democracy is no longer in danger in the case of Bayelsa because they feel the judgment is what they want. Is this not hypocrisy?  If they are sure of themselves, why are they afraid that we will win when the case is reviewed? They should face their problems and leave the APC alone.”

APC may head for Supreme Court this week

Meanwhile, there are strong indications that the APC will be heading towards the Supreme Court this week to seek a review of the judgment annulling the victory  of  Lyon.

The  PUNCH gathered in Abuja on Sunday that the party’s National Legal Adviser, Babatunde Ogala, was consulting with other lawyers within and outside the party as well as the party leadership to take a final decision.

Although the APC national legal adviser was non-committal when asked when the party was going to court, he said, “You will know when we go to court.”

However, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Nabena, said the dispute over the Bayelsa governorship election was “far from over.”

According to him, the position of the APC is well-articulated in the letter written to INEC by Oshiomhole, in which the party demanded a fresh election.

He said, “Like our national chairman said, we are a law-abiding party. That is why we wrote INEC even as we prepare to return to court. We still have confidence in the judicial process. The contention on the Bayelsa governorship poll is far from over.”

Nabena said the party  would go to court to challenge the National Youth Service Corps certificate presented by the Bayelsa State Deputy Governor,Senator Lawrence Oborawharievwo Ewhrudjakpo.