₦airaland Forum

Two notorious Area Boys have been arrested while stuffing millions of Naira abandoned robbery loot into their private parts in Oshodi, Lagos.

The gallant operatives of the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad (RRS) have arrested two suspected notorious area boys identified as Goke Wale and Ganiyu Idowu.

The duo were said to have been apprehended as they stuffed N1.5 million abandoned robbery loot into their private parts in the Oshodi area of Lagos.

See more photos below:

By Anayo Okoli

UMUAHIA —BARELY three weeks after a community in Arochukwu council of Abia State was invaded and attacked by Fulani herdsmen, another community, Ozu Item in Bende council was again attacked with scores of farmers sustaining life threatening injuries.

Crops worth several thousands of naira belonging to Ozu Item farmers were also destroyed by the herdsmen and their cattle.

Current Secretary to Abia state Government (SSG), Dr. Eme Okoro is from the community and he has roundly condemned the invasion and attack.

The attacks by herdsmen in the state seemed to have defied solution from both the state government and the police in state.

Some victims of the deadly attack were taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Umuahia while several others were taken to private hospitals for treatment.

At the Federal Medical Centre, one of the victims, Mr. Sunday Oru, 40, who had a fractured right arm and chopped fingers was still wreathing in pains at the accident and emergency ward.

Oru told reporters that the herdsmen invaded their farmlands, plundered their crops including rice, cassava, okro and plantain and fed their cattle with them.

He alleged that thousands of cattle were led into Ozu Item community by herdsmen and when the farmers confronted them and asked them to leave the community, they ignored them and invaded their farms.

He alleged that the herdsmen “vowed that instead of being expelled from our community, they will conquer us and occupy our community.”

He explained that it was after the herdsmen invaded a rice farm on Thursday morning and youths and farmers went to expel them that they attacked the people, inflicting injuries on them.

“ We are not civil servants. We are farmers and our crops are very important to us but the cattle are destroying everything”, Oru lamented.

When contacted, the state police command confirmed the attack but insisted that they were on top of the situation. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, Nta Ogbonnaya Nta said “the police is on top of the situation”.

However, the Abia SSG, Dr. Eme Okoro who hails from the attacked community lamented that the herdsmen have become very audacious in the attacks.

According to him, “there is no Bende community that the Fulani herdsmen have not invaded. Ozu Item has come under attack by Fulani herdsmen”.

According to Dr. Okoro, three days before the attack, he had alerted the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 9 Umuahia, Hosea Karma and he promised to send the state commissioner of police, Leye Oyebade, but said he wouldn’t know “if the police are handicapped” since the herdsmen successfully launched the attacked.

Bernard Tolani Dada

A 35 year old legal practitioner Akaniyene Cletus has been arraigned before a Chief Magistrate Court in Uyo for allegedly assaulting a female journalist Blessing Ambrose.

The case, which is between the Commissioner of Police v Cletus came up for hearing before Chief Magistrate Usukuma Akpabio.

Blessing who is a broadcaster with Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation AKBC, told the court that the accused had beaten her up and inflicted injuries on her on May 29, 2016.

She said Cletus, who was her co-tenant at No. 6 Umana Uko Lane, off Atiku Abubakar Road in Uyo demanded for a drink when she brought a sewing machine to the compound.

She claimed that the accused beat her up when she refused to provide the drink.

My Lord “I reported the matter to my landlord who intervened and said that he does not want any trouble in the compound.

“Few days later Cletus’ house help came to tell me that my friend that visited does not know how to use the sewing machine.

“Cletus who was inside his house shouted that I should take the machine out of the veranda immediately.

“He later came out and used his legs and pushed the sewing machine.

“When I demanded to know why he should hit my sewing machine, he slapped me, pushing me down and beat me up.

“I sustained injuries on my knee, eyes, arms and face. When my brother tried to stop him, he beat him up too. People from the compound later came and took me away,” Ambrose said.

She said she informed the landlord of what transpired, and that he cautioned Cletus to learn to live peacefully with other tenants or move out.

The complainant further said that on August. 7, 2016, Cletus intimidated her with a machete, a situation which made her to immediately report the matter to the ‘C’ Division of the Police at Aka Etinan, in Uyo.

The Chief Magistrate however adjourned the case to January, 9, 2017 for further hearing.

President Muhammadu Buhari has proposed a budget of N7.2 trillion for the 2017 fiscal year, Daily Trust has learnt.

A source told our correspondent that the Federal Executive Council approved the 2017 Appropriation Bill yesterday during a six-hour meeting presided over by President Buhari.

"The budget estimate that will be laid before the National Assembly for the year 2017 is N7.2 trillion. This is what FEC approved," the source hinted.
This is about 24 percent higher than the 2016 budget which is N6.06 trillion.

Budget and Planning Minister Udoma Udoma, who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting, confirmed that the council approved the 2017 budget proposal.

Udoma said the president would communicate the Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly; while the legislature would use its discretion to decide when it will be presented.

Meanwhile, the FEC yesterday said the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Sustainability Paper submitted by President Buhari was not empty.

The Senate had recently dismissed the document, describing it as empty and not worth considering.
Udoma said after extensive consultations with the private sector, the MTEF was very well prepared by experienced experts.

He said the estimates in the document at the time of its submission were bound to change due to the changes in the exchange rate.

But Udoma said yesterday that whenever the executive appeared before the National Assembly to defend the document, it would engage the legislators and explain each item.

"But the assumptions of that MTEF were assumptions which were true and correct as of the time it was prepared in August. Naturally, the estimates, every time you improve on your estimate based on the latest estimates, for instance one of the issues they raised was about the exchange rate; that we used 290 as the exchange rate, and that was the exchange rate of the time,” he said.

The minister also stated that the implementation of the 2016 budget had been affected by revenue shortfall. He, however, said the Federal Government had released N800 billion for capital projects and had paid 100 percent on personnel.

There is confusion among many of the 200,000 candidates selected for the Federal Government’s N-Power programme concerning their place of assignment as the scheme officially takes off today, Daily Trust’s findings show.

The Presidency had about two weeks ago said that 200,000 graduates employed under the N-Power would resume work on December 1.

“Between now and the end of the month, the states and the FCT would be engaged in deploying the graduates who would formally start working and earning their stipends on December 1, 2016,” the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, had said in a statement.

On the complaints by many of the selected applicants that they were yet to receive letters of deployment, Akande told Daily Trust yesterday that states were responsible for the placement of participants.

The vice president’s spokesman said that those selected would get their first salary in December. “Everything is set. The money is already available,” he said.

“The states will deploy them to their places of primary assignments. It is not a permanent job. Rather, it is a two-year intervention programme for unemployed graduates.

“All the states have keyed into the programme. The states are responsible for the deployment of the selected applicants. The states are already contacting them. The deployment started about a week ago.

Some states are already doing this and others will follow suit. After the states have deployed them to their places of primary assignments, they (the selected applicants) will get letters on information about where they will work.”

We don’t know our fate

However, checks by Daily Trust last night revealed that many of the shortlisted participants were in the dark as to where and when they will be working.
As at last night, checks by Daily Trust also showed that there are no liaison offices for the programme in most states.

One of the successful applicants, who only gave his second name as Suleiman, said he and many of his colleagues were confused.

“I was successful but nobody told me anything yet, either through letter confirming the placement or even a text message or phone call,” he said.

Suleiman, who had been unemployed since graduating from the university 12 years ago, said his initial joy of making the shortlist of successful candidates was gradually fading because of the seeming uncertainty.

Another successful candidate called Kyari said he was also confused.

“They said our work starts tomorrow but I don’t know where to go and report. I was selected for the teaching component, but which school would I go?
“I’m really getting agitated about the whole thing. I wish the federal government will get this thing right so that we would not get frustrated at the end of the day.

“I don’t want free money, I want to be posted somewhere to work and earn the N30, 000 stipend, not to just sleep at home and go to the bank at the end of the month,” he said.

“There is no communication about our deployment as at today (last night). We haven’t received a text message as promised,” one of the beneficiaries, Mohammed Lawal of Jos-North, Plateau State, said.

In Kaduna State also, beneficiaries are yet to be posted to their various stations, our investigations have revealed.

Some of the beneficiaries who spoke with our correspondents, said though their names appeared on the list of successful candidates from the state, there were no details about the posting.

A top government official in Kaduna State, when contacted, said the state government had plans to engage the beneficiaries in future but that the details had to be worked out first by relevant ministries in the state.

Samuel Aruwan, media aide to Governor Nasir El-Rufai could not be reached for comments as his line was not available at the time of filing this report.

States differ in arrangements

In Gombe State, the beneficiaries were still undergoing verification and screening yesterday ahead of their posting to their various places of work. Hajiya Maryam Isa Mele, the Special Adviser on Social Investment to Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, said the participants would be posted to teach in Primary and Junior Secondary Schools, Agricultural Extension Services and Primary Healthcare Centres.
She said the beneficiaries would be posted to place of work close to their residence.

However, Jigawa State N-Power Coordinator, Bala Chamo, said placement of beneficiaries had begun and the exercise was expected to be completed by Friday.

In Kebbi State, a meeting is expected to hold for the state government to decide when and where the participants would be posted.

The State Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Comrade Aliyu Bunza told our correspondent on phone that “The State Government is liaising with the Federal Government on the modality of the programme and we would be having a meeting with government today (Thursday) to know when those who benefitted will be posted to their place of work.”

In Kogi State, the government, through the Special Adviser to the Governor on Multilateral, Donor Agencies and Special Projects/Focal Person on Social Investment Program, Mr Adoga Ibrahim, said Governor Yahaya Bello would officially flag off the Programme today (Thursday) in Lokoja.

He said the government was working in partnership with the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Kogi State Agricultural Development Project (ADP) and Primary Health Care Development Agency to ensure smooth deployment of the beneficiaries to their various place of assignment.

In Kano, most of the applicants interviewed told Daily Trust that although they were aware of today’s arrangement but were unsure of where and when they would be posted.

When contacted, Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Dr Austin Tam George, said he had no information about the project.

Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, told the Daily Trust, he had not been briefed and wouldn’t want to speculate on the programme.

In Imo State, the Commissioner for Information, Youths and Public Utilities Engr. Obinna Nshirim, said that he was not sure if the state would start today as expected.

He however said he would like to make inquiries on the issue.

How N-Power will work

The N-Power Programme, according to the Federal Government, is to reduce youth unemployment by providing “young graduates and non-graduates with the skills, tools and livelihood to enable them advance from unemployment to employment, entrepreneurship and innovation.”

In this first batch, 150,000 of the graduates will teach, 30,000 will work in the agricultural sector and 20,000 in healthcare delivery.

Beneficiaries of the scheme are to be paid N30, 000 monthly stipend.

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Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to charge over 100 electoral officials for allegedly receiving part of the $115m (N23bn) disbursed by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, during the countdown to the 2015 presidential election.

Sources within the EFCC told our correspondent that the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, and the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, would meet tomorrow (Thursday) in Abuja to tidy up the charges that would be filed against the suspects.

While some of the officials would only face dismissal for breach of INEC rules, a majority of them would be arraigned by the EFCC.

Some of the officials, who have returned a total sum of N400m, may not face prosecution.

At the meeting, Magu is expected to present a report on the investigation while the INEC boss would make recommendations.

A source at the EFCC said, “You will recall that the EFCC started investigating the INEC officials in the South-South in March and we arrested several officials, including the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers State during the 2015 election, Gesila Khan.

“However, further investigations revealed that the bribery took place across Nigeria and so, all the EFCC zonal offices started conducting investigations simultaneously.

“We have sent reports to the chairman and he is expected to meet with the INEC chairman on Thursday. Some of the electoral officials were not INEC employees but ad hoc staff. Some of the officials collected money through their bank accounts while some collected cash.”

The EFCC had, in April, arrested the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the 2015 elections in Rivers State, Mrs. Gesila Khan, and other officials of INEC that conducted elections in Delta an Akwa Ibom states.

Khan had been quizzed by the Department of State Services in July last year but was never charged.
The residences of all the suspects were subsequently searched and incriminating documents were recovered by the commission.

According to impeccable sources at the EFCC, Khan, who is now the REC in Cross River State, allegedly received N185.8m ahead of the March 28 and April 11, 2015 elections.

A source alleged that Khan received the money through a special bank account and the commission had received overwhelming evidence.

The source also revealed that the EFCC had arrested one Fidelia Omoile who was the INEC electoral officer in Isoko-South Local Government Area of Delta State.

Apart from tracing over N112.4m to her, the commission also recovered some sensitive electoral materials during a search of her apartments in Edo and Delta states.

The commission also arrested one Oluchi Obi Brown who was the INEC administrative secretary in Delta State. She allegedly received over N111.5m.
Further investigations by detectives revealed that Brown had about $75,000 in an account in the United States.

The anti-graft agency also arrested one Edem Okon Effanga, who is a retired INEC official. Effanga was arrested alongside his alleged accomplice, Immaculata Asuquo, who is the Head, Voter Education, INEC, Akwa Ibom State.

Effanga was alleged to have received over N241.1m which he shared among INEC ad hoc workers during the last election.

Also in Gombe State, 11 electoral officers that worked in Gombe State during the 2015 general election, admitted to receiving N120m out of the N23bn.

Sources at the EFCC told our correspondent that the 11 officials in Gombe State had been interrogated and had made confessional statements.

A detective at the anti-graft agency disclosed to our correspondent that the electoral officers, who were in charge of the 11 local government areas of Gombe State, reported at the Gombe State zonal office of the commission on Thursday.

The electoral officer for Akko LGA, Ahmed Biu; and the one in charge of Gombe Local Government Area, Mohammed Zannah, allegedly admitted to have collected the bribe from one Yunusa Biri, also a retired electoral officer who acted as Gombe State coordinator of bribes for electoral officers in the state.

The detective gave the names of some other detained officers as: Godwin Maiyaki, Gambo Balanga, Bukar Benisheik, Dukku, Jibril Muhammed, Billiri, Dunguma Dogona, Funakaye, Mohammed Wanka, Kaltungo, Ishaku Yusuf, Kwami, Suleiman Isawa, Babagana Malami, Shongom, and Nuhu Samuel.

lalasticlala

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

A 29-year old man, Aregbesola Quazeem has landed in trouble after he allegedly attacked a female hotel attendant, Amaka Christopher for disrupting his sex plans with his lover over poor condition of a chalet in a hotel he lodged in Lagos.

Quazeem was angry that he lost money and at the same time could not achieve his sex desire because his partner refused to sleep with him after complaining of poor condition of the chalet with non-functional air conditioner.

The incident happened on Sunday at a popular hotel, CY Hotel located at Ikotun area of Lagos.

An angry Quazeem allegedly took her lover to the hotel and paid N4,000 to lodge till day break.

When they moved into the room, they discovered the place was not conducive as there was no functional air conditioner which caused unbearable heat in the room.

P.M.EXPRESS gathered the woman insisted that Quazeem cannot not sleep with her under the heat and she asked that they relocate to another room with an AC or he should forget about their sex romp.

Quazeem went to the attendant to complain and requested for another room. She replied every other rooms in the hotel have been booked and there was nothing she could do that night.

On the basis of that, Quazeem requested the refund of his money so they can look for another place to lodge and she refused. This led to a disagreement which resulted in Quazeem attacking Amaka and reportedly injured her and tore her clothes.

The matter was reported to the police at Ikotun division who arrested Quazeem. By then his lover had left the place.

He was charged with conduct likely to cause breach of public peace and assault on Amaka.
He pleaded not guilty.

The presiding Magistrate, Mr A.A. Fashola granted him bail in the sum of N50,000 with two surety in like sum.
He was remanded in prison custody pending when he will perfect his bail.

The matter was adjourned till 14 December 2016.

Former Peoples Democratic Party, Board of Trustees, BoT, Tony Anenih has disclosed how former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, emerged as the party’s candidate in 1999.

This was contained in his recently released book, “My Life and Nigerian Politics.”

According to Anenih, the former President told him, “you should take me to Aso Rock but how you do it is not my business”.

He said, “We got the first notice (as PDM leaders) through Lt General Aliu Mohammed, later national security adviser, that General Olusegun Obasanjo was interested in the PDP presidential candidacy and would like PDM’s support,” he wrote.

“Seven PDM leaders met at Bolingo Hotel that morning and agreed to support Obasanjo mainly because of his stature, inspiring role in Nigerian politics, his voluntarily handing over to civilians (Shagari in 1979) and also because of his good relationship with Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua.

“When his campaign outfit needed some strengthening and strategy, he called me on the phone in Benin from Ota one Sunday and when I came on line, he said it was Obasanjo. He then said: ‘Chief, I have two messages for you. The first is that you should take me to Aso Rock. How you do it, is not my business. The second one is if we win, you must be a part of my government.’ I was dumbfounded. Here was a former head of state making this passionate appeal to me. I replied: ‘Sir, let us take the first part of the assignment and later, God will decide what happens thereafter.”

Anenih said he met with Obasanjo in Abuja the next day, and he advised that they play the game by the rules.

“I told him we must obey the rules of the game and he also assured me that he would make sure that the rules of the game were followed,” he wrote.

“I began by arranging a dinner for the top hundred (100) politicians in this country at the place I was staying in Lake Chad Crescent, Abuja. After these invitees had all arrived, I then went to Nicon Hotel to bring him to the meeting. General Olusegun Obasanjo was surprised to see the number of cars parked around. I welcomed the guests after greeting round. I spoke to formally introduce General Obasanjo to the guests.

I urged them to rally round him and challenged them thus: ‘If all of you put your hands behind him, there is no way he would not win the nomination on the platform of the PDP. He will simply not fail. He will win the PDP nomination and the election ultimately.

“All these various committees helped me (as national campaign director) and Obasanjo to make sure that he won the primaries on the PDP ticket and went on to win the general election convincingly.”

The former Minister of Works, had earlier revealed how he stopped former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, from being President.

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Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja

A former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, says the military administration of President Muhammadu Buhari kept him in jail for 18 months between March 1984 and August 1985 because he was a rich man.

Anenih said this in his biography titled, ‘My Life and Nigerian Politics’ which was launched in Abuja on Saturday.

He said when Buhari came into power through a military coup in December 1983, he went about arresting politicians arbitrarily and he was one of those picked up because he was the Chairman of the defunct National Party of Nigeria in old Bendel State.

Anenih said, “The military regime of General Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon threw me into detention for 18 months on the basis of an anonymous petition that as a prominent and wealthy politician and leader of the NPN in Bendel State, the military administrator would not find his footing unless I was removed from the scene.

“I was sent to Kirikiri Prisons where I spent three months before I was transferred to Ikoyi Prisons.”

The retired police officer maintained that he did nothing wrong to warrant such treatment.

He said, “I must emphasise it again and again that I did nothing wrong to anyone, the government or the state to merit a detention. My crime was that I was a wealthy, influential and highly respected politician.”

Anenih, who later served as the minister of works and housing under former President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2002, said while in detention, he met other prominent politicians like former Governor Lateef Jakande of Lagos State, former Governor Olabisi Onabanjo of Ogun State; ex-Governor Bola Ige of old Oyo State; former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme, ex-Governor Ambrose Alli of old Bendel State, Chief Solomon Lar and many others.

The ex-minister said their cells were bugged by security agents who monitored their conversation.

The PDP chieftain said the worst part of the detention was that some governors who had sentenced some criminals to death were locked up in the same cells.

Anenih said, “We were transferred to Ikoyi Prisons because of the riot that took place while we were there. The condemned prisoners whose death warrants had earlier been signed by Alhaji Lateef Jakande when he was governor of Lagos State, broke loose on sighting him as one of the detainees.

“They broke out of their cells and headed towards the building where Jakande and the rest of us detainees were kept. As the prisoners were attempting to force the iron door open, mobile police were called in to quell the riot.”

The ex-minister, who gave an insight into the living condition of the politicians in detention, described the experience as hellish.

He added, “Where we were staying, the bucket latrines or toilets had opening to the rooms. These buckets were emptied maybe once a week from behind, and if for any reason the buckets were not emptied once a week as the rule, you lived with the stench.

“At night, cockroaches, rats and lizards passed through these holes housing the bucket latrines into our cells after crawling on the buckets to disturb us. So, you could really not sleep for one hour without getting cockroaches perch on you.”

By Olawale Olaleye in Lagos, Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and James Sowole in Akure

  

In a carefully executed plan, loyalists of President Muhammadu Buhari in the All Progressives Congress (APC), some of whom are cabinet members, yesterdaysuccessfully delivered on their first political assignment in the lead up to the 2019 elections, with the election of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as the Ondo State governor-elect.

Akeredolu was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), after polling 244,842 votes while his closest rival, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 150,380 votes came second. Coming third was Mr. Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), who polled 126,889 votes.

Saturday’s election in Ondo State was, however, indicative of the power tussle within the ranks of the APC for the South-west geopolitical zone, with loyalists of the president, on the one side, and those loyal to a National Leader of the party, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the other.

Tinubu, who backed Dr. Olusegun Abraham to secure the ticket of the APC to contest in the Ondo poll, had opposed Akeredolu’s emergence as candidate of the party, alleging irregularities during the party’s primary.

Those believed to have taken part in the execution of the plan to deliver the state and are now regarded as “Buhari’s Boys” are the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN); the governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai; and his Ogun State counterpart, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

Ironically, most of those who have now aligned with the president were once loyalists of Tinubu, but are believed to have fallen out of favour with him.

Party sources who spoke on the issue to THISDAY said they were spurred by political expediency to show strength and capacity by mobilising all the resources at their disposal to ensure that the candidate of the president, Akeredolu, who was openly rejected by Tinubu won the election in the hotly contested race in Ondo.

The only APC governor believed not to have taken sides in the ongoing power tussle is the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, while the Osun and Lagos State governors, Rauf Aregbesola and Akinwunmi Ambode, remain staunchly in the Tinubu camp.  

Curiously, Akeredolu too, who is now in the opposing camp to Tinubu was his (Tinubu’s) candidate in the 2012 governorship election in Ondo State, but in which he came a distant third.

According to sources, with a majority of Tinubu’s former allies executing a brilliant campaign against their erstwhile principal, the stage has now been set to deliver Ekiti and Osun States to the president in 2018.

The goal, explained one source, is to ensure that the alliance between the North and South-west, which catapulted Buhari to victory in the 2015 general election, is maintained.

“The Buhari boys left nothing to chance, including using pawns such as Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, a businessman, and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, a former governor of Borno State, who both held the PDP by the jugular by ensuring that the party was unable to go to the election in one piece.

“Team Buhari was not oblivious to the fact that had they lost the Ondo election, the president would have been subjected to gross embarrassment, the very reason they deployed everything at their disposal to ensure that Akeredolu won, including mobilising everything and everyone who mattered to the grand finale campaign rally held in Akure, the Ondo State capital, a few days to the election.

“Although it is believed that Buhari’s boys have nothing against Tinubu, their goal, however, is to reenact the alliance that existed between the North and the South-west that was used to snatch victory from the PDP during the 2015 general election.

“So, with Edo and Ondo now comfortably in the kitty, the next port of call for Buhari’s Boys are Ekiti and Osun States, where elections are in 2018,” the source revealed.

But while those loyal to the president are said to be preparing for the two South-west states, and how best to retain their winning streak, they are not likely to bother about Lagos State, which Tinubu has held firmly in his grasp since 1999.

From all indications, what seems to be coming up in 2019 in the APC is a reenactment of the 2003 tsunami, which swept off all the AD states with the exception of Lagos under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a situation that gave the PDP considerable leverage during its 16-year reign in power.

But the difference between 2003 and 2019 is that while the former was an external aggression orchestrated by the former president into AD-controlled territory, this is no less an internal insurrection, also by the presidency, to wrest control of the South-west from Tinubu and ultimately pave the path for Buhari’s re-election bid in 2019.

THISDAY also learnt that the outcome ofSaturday’selection is bound to stoke a bitter rivalry within the party, whichever way it goes. 

Sources hinted that some of the unreported outcomes of two separate meetings of the South-west governors held in the run up to the Ondo election showed that the cracks might be deeper than thought, as the governors in the region have already taken sides.

At the Ibadan meeting, for instance, one of the governors loyal to Tinubu was said to have called Tinubu on the phone for him to thank the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, a PDP governor, “for staying the course”. 

Indeed, when Tinubu answered the call, he was said to have profusely thanked Fayose for his interventions and described him as “Omoluabi”, the Yoruba term for a child who has done well in a particular assignment and shown to be of proper upbringing and behaviour. 

But that camaraderie at the meeting only lasted till the time other APC members suggested that Fayose should chair the meeting.

Amosun, however, was said to have rejected the suggestion, saying since there were two PDP governors present at the meeting, against four of them from the APC, a governor from the ruling party should chair the meeting. It was on this basis that the meeting was chaired by a governor from the APC.

The Ibadan meeting, nonetheless, was not as heated as the Abeokuta meeting, where Aregbesola and Amosun were said to have engaged in a heated exchange.

In fact, Aregbesola, a source disclosed, was said to have claimed Amosun was threatening him because the meeting was held in his house. 

The cause of the exchange occurred because Aregbesola and others accused Amosun of betrayal, as they had reached an understanding earlier that they would not attend Akeredolu’s grand finale rally in Akure. 

But Amosun was said to have objected, saying they were the ones who played anti-party politics by disobeying and disrespecting the president, who was said to have personally called everyone and urged them to attend the rally. Amosun, the source said, accused them of ignoring Buhari’s pleas and embarrassing him and the party by not attending. 

The meeting was said to have been so heated that Aregbesola and Ajimobi refused to eat after the meeting. But while Aregbesola refused to eat because he claimed Amosun had threatened him, Ajimobi felt it was improper to eat since the matter had not been resolved.

However, a former chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande had a hearty meal, showing maturity and neutrality over the contending issues. 

Aregbesola, who believed that their candidate, Oke, might win the Ondo election was also said to have suspended further discussions until after the election. 

Had Oke won the election, Tinubu, sources said, would have returned today into the arms of scores of supporters who would have been mobilised to receive him at the airport.

But with the outcome of the election, it is unlikely he would return anytime soon as planned and might spend more time abroad before returning home. 

Despite Tinubu’s disenchantment with the APC primary that threw up Akeredolu, leading to his eventual victory, the party’s national leader yesterday congratulated the new governor-elect.

Tinubu asked party members to close ranks “for the good of our party and its progressive ideals”.

In a statement from his media office, he said: “Following the announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with regard to the governorship elections in Ondo State, I extend congratulations to Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) on the outcome of the election and for his perseverance and persistence in seeking that office.

“I must also congratulate the people of Ondo State for their generally exemplary conduct on election day and for demonstrating their will to shun the regressive politics of yesterday by returning to the progressive brand of politics that has been the trademark of the people of that state.

“I congratulate all party members in the state, particularly the party leadership in the South-west.

“Finally, I must express profound congratulations to President Muhammadu Buhari, the national leader of the party, whose stature and dignity helped guide the APC to another victory that should advance the progressive aims of the party and the people.

“To all the people and parties in Ondo, your election has been had and held. Now is the time that all must work for the continued development, prosperity and peace of your state and our beloved country.”

He appealed to all party members including those who have been disaffected from the primary to come together for the good of the APC and its progressive ideals.

 

Akeredolu is Governor-elect

But as the internal wrangling within the South-west zone of the APC continues, INEC’s Returning Officer for the Ondo governorship election, Prof. Abdulganiyu Amballi yesterday declared Akeredolu as the winner of the poll, having polled 244,842 votes to defeat Jegede of the PDP who scored 150,380 votes. Oke scored 126,889 votes to come third while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Dr. Olu Agunloye, came fourth with 10,149 votes.

Amballi, who is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, said the winner had satisfied the requirements and was therefore declared the winner of the poll. The margin of victory, he said, was 94,462 votes.

He said the election was conducted in a free and fair manner, and under a peaceful atmosphere.

The results released by INEC showed that the Akeredolu won in 14 local government areas, while the Oke won in two – Ilaje and Okitipupa Local Government Areas, just as PDP came top in the two local governments of Ondo East and Ondo West.

Surprisingly, Jegede marginally lost the election in his own local government area, Akure South to Akeredolu, scoring 25,005 as against 25,797 scored by the APC candidate.

Other local governments won by APC were Akure North,  Ile Oluji/Oke-Igbo, Ifedore, Ose, Akoko South West, Akoko South East, Akoko North East, Akoko North West, Owo, Idanre, Irele, Ese-Odo and Odigbo.

While agents of the parties that contested the election signed the result sheets, the agent of the SDP, whose candidate came a distant fourth, refused to sign the result sheets.

With his declaration as the winner of the election, there was jubilation in many parts of Akure and Owo, the hometown of Akeredolu, as the governor-elect and his supporters trooped out to celebrate his victory.

The APC members who armed themselves with brooms danced round major streets in the towns, chanting solidarity and pro-Akeredolu songs.

A good number of APC members also converged on the party’s secretariat along Oba Adesida Road and at his campaign office on Oyemekun Road, where they sang and danced in celebration of the victory of the party in the election. 

Speaking on his victory at his country home, Akeredolu promised not to fail the people of the state who elected him and dedicated his success at the poll to God. 

He commended the president, the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and members of the party National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

“I wish to express my profound gratitude, first, to the Almighty God whose infinite grace has allowed us to see this day.

“This victory is of God through the people. It is not for me or the APC alone, it is a victory for the people of Ondo State irrespective of which side of the divide you stood during the election. For me it is a challenge to perform. It is a call to rescue our state and reverse its fortunes.

“I thank the people of my dear state for their steadfastness. I have heard their messages throughout the campaign in all the nooks and crannies of the state. Today, you have spoken with one voice. You have walked the talk. You have voted for me as your governor for the next four years.

“Today, change has come. I hereby make a solemn pledge that this collective mandate shall address all issues with keen determination. The welfare of our people alone shall be the directive policy of the government.

“Today’s victory is a confirmation of the willingness and readiness of the people of Ondo State to change and seek a better life. I thank you for your faith and confidence in me. I thank all those whose uncommon sacrifice contributed in no small measure to the success of the exercise.

“A special show of gratitude must be extended to our security agents for their patriotic duty.

“I shall in a few months be saddled with the task of providing responsible leadership, a leadership that would take our people from poverty and stagnation to productivity and prosperity, from pains and lamentation to joy and laughter,” he said.

Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, believes the victory of Rotimi Akeredolu at the Ondo governorship poll is proof that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is still popular among Nigerians.

The APC went into the election unsure of victory, having seen its stock plummet in recent times, primarily because of the ailing economy.

However, Akeredolu emerged winner, fending off the challenge of Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

“The election of Barrister Akeredolu and the APC in Ondo state is a clear indication of the popularity of our political party,” Dogara said in a statement issued by Turaki Hassan, his special adviser on media and public affairs.

“The victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election is proof that the party is still loved by Nigerians.

“I would like to congratulate my learned colleague on his victory at the poll, and also commend our great party, the All Progressives Congress, for a thorough and successful campaign.”

He urged all stakeholders to come together and ensure that the incoming APC government in Ondo delivers on the mandate given by the people inline with the party’s manifesto.

“As a party, we must take our victory in Ondo seriously since the people have placed enormous trust in us,” he said.

“We must, therefore, deliver on policies that will improve their standard of living.”

Dogara also praised the people of Ondo state for “keeping the election process peaceful and coming out to perform their civic duty”.

He also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies for “ensuring a hitch-free exercise”.

OLALEKAN ADETAYO

President Muhammadu Buhari may not act on the 16-point demand presented to him by elders of the Niger Delta until militants stop vandalising oil installations in the region, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.

Stakeholders from the region under the aegis of Pan Niger Delta Forum had, at a meeting with Buhari on November 1, presented 16 points that they claimed could help the Federal Government to achieve “quick wins” in the region.

The Amanyanabo of Twon Brass, Bayelsa State, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, presented the demands contained in a 10-page document, which included “inclusive participation in the oil industry and ownership of oil blocs.”

Buhari was said to have promised the delegation at the meeting, held behind closed doors inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that he would study their demands.

But a source in the Presidency told our correspondent on Saturday that the President might not act on the demands except the leaders succeed in restoring normalcy in the region.

“You will recall that a day after the President met with the Niger Delta delegation, there was bombing in the region. That caused a major setback for the dialogue. I can tell you that President Buhari may not act on the demands except violence stops completely in the region,” the source said.

It was also learnt that in negotiating for peace in the region, the Federal Government would not yield to pressure to drop corruption charges against an ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina,  confirmed that Buhari would not stop the trial of any person who was found culpable in any case.

He said, “It is not in the character of this administration to stop those who have questions to answer from answering such questions. Those who do not have any question to answer also have nothing to fear under this administration,” Adesina said.

lalasticlala

Ihuoma Chiedozie, Femi Makinde, Success Nwogu, Gbenro Adeoye and Mudiaga Affe

A cross-section of economists, including university dons from across the country have expressed their displeasure with President Muhammadu Buhari’s proposal to borrow $29.9bn to get Nigeria out of recession, saying it would mortgage the future of coming generations.

Some of the economists also noted that it was risky for the country to take such a loan as there was no national plan for it.

Buhari had sent a request to the Senate for the approval of external borrowing to the tune of $29.9bn, but the lawmakers voted against the loan request due to technical issues.

However, the Leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, recently expressed shock that the request suffered such a setback, while expressing optimism that the issues would be resolved and the request would be represented.

But economists said adding a $29.9bn loan to Nigeria’s debt burden would create problems for future generations.

A professor of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Sheriffdeen Tella, described the $29.9bn loan proposal as “no small amount.”

“Moreover, there is no national plan for the loan. There ought to be a long-term national plan on what the loan is meant for. I am not in support of the loan because it will only create problems for the coming generations,” he said.

Prof. Abayomi Adebayo of the Department of Economics, Obafemi Awolowo University, also said he was not in support of “Nigeria taking loans to bail itself out of recession.”

“We are already in a recession and I don’t believe we can go lower than this. I believe that if we confront the situation squarely, we can get out of recession,” he said.

Head, Department of Economics, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Dr. Elizabeth Oloni, and the HOD, Economics, Kwara State University, Prof. Kaita Lansana,  also kicked against the loan proposal, in separate interviews with Saturday PUNCH.

They stated that the loan, if approved and accessed, would mortgage the future of Nigeria.

Oloni said the future generations of Nigeria would not forgive their parents if Buhari took the loan.

Lansana said it would be a risky venture for Nigeria to take the loan.

He stated that with the fall in the prices of crude oil in the global market, Nigeria would be paying so much to service and eventually pay back the loan.

Lansana said, “Government should be trying to get as much money from those who have taken too much money for themselves.

“It is a risky venture at this stage to add to our debt burden,” he said

Also, the Head, Department of Economics, Coal City University, Enugu, Mrs. Ebele Ndubuisi, said the proposed loan would put the country’s future generations in trouble.

“If the Federal Government takes that loan, Nigeria’s future generations will suffer because the burden of the debt will fall on them. The loan will put the future generations in trouble,” Ndubuisi warned.

An economist in Akwa Ibom State, Ime Ekpoattai, asked Nigerians to resist the loan request Buhari made to the National Assembly, saying its burden “will fall on future generations which may last up to 25 years or more.”

Ekpoattai said that experience had shown that previous Nigerian governments failed to use such loans for serious investments.

Similarly, a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Osun State University, Dr. Temitope Akintunde, said government resorted into seeking loans because it was looking for a short route to addressing the economic crisis.

Akintunde said government could also raise fund by looking internally but decided to go for loans, which she described as a quick solution with its own disadvantages.

She said, “Developed countries also borrow but they don’t borrow for recurrent expenditure, they borrow to build infrastructure.”

In Ondo State, Mr. Olusegun Akinwale, a retired banker, also urged the government to look for alternative means of generating money internally rather than obtaining loan, saying there was no need for borrowing as the country has the “resources to generate money.”

lalasticlala

President Muhammadu Buhari says he has no business in government if he cannot guarantee “decent” elections.

He said this when he received members of the Governance Support Group (GSG) led by Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba in Abuja on Friday.
The president expressed worry over killings during elections in the country.

“I agonised over the elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Rivers states. We should have passed the stage in which people are beheaded, and killed because of who occupies certain offices.

“If we can’t guarantee decent elections, then we have no business being around. Edo State election was good, and I expect Ondo State election to be better,” he said in a statement issued by Femi Adesina, his spokesman.

Speaking on the anti-corruption cases before the courts, the president said he believed the cleansing currently going on “will lead to a better judiciary. When people are sentenced, Nigerians will believe that we are serious.”

Buhari equally told his guests that the progress being made in agriculture and exploitation of solid minerals “gives a lot of hope”, adding: “Our grains go up to Central African Republic, to Burkina Faso, but they can’t buy all the grains harvested this year. And next season should be even better.

“We will focus on other products like cocoa, palm oil, palm kernel, along with the grains. We can start exporting rice in 18 months, and we are getting fertilizers and pesticides in readiness for next year.”

Speaking on behalf of members of GSG, Nwajiuba said the government had succeeded to a large extent on the security and anti-corruption fronts, adding that the group was positive that the economy would soon experience a turnaround, “as the government is working very hard in that direction”.

The group said the biggest constituency of the president was the poor and lowly, and thus recommended what it calls “a social re-armament of the poor.”

lalasticlala

The second Nigeria's family are in a happy zone, as Vice president Yemi Osinbajo and wife Dolapo celebrates their 27th wedding anniversary.

Mrs Dolapo Osinbanjo posted a photo of herself, her husband and children, cutting an anniversary cake, and captioned it: "27 years with my friend. All glory to the Lord."

She ended the post with the hashtag "#WeddingAnniversary."

A House of Representatives panel yesterday threatened to issue arrest warrant against the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami.

The minister has failed to appear before the committee, which is investigating the recent invasion of residences and property of some judges by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The ad-hoc committee, chaired by Rep Garba Datti (APC, Kaduna), said during its second day of public hearing yesterday that it had sent Malami letters twice to forward his position to the committee but that he neither obliged nor responded to a reminder.

Malami was billed to appear before the panel yesterday alongside the Director General of DSS, Lawal Daura and chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Nta Ekpo.

But while Daura and Ekpo personally appeared before the panel, Malami was absent even as he did not send any representative.

Datti said Malami’s attitude to the committee was unfortunate and gave him up to Tuesday to appear or risk a warrant of arrest.

One Obed Fwoms, has been arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stabbing his neighbour, Emeka Ofoke, with a knife on his manhood in Awori – Dopemu, Agege area of Lagos State.

The prosecutor, Insp Nwosu George, told the court that the accused committed the offence on November 17 at his residence.

The 32-year-old man, who is standing trial on a one-count charge of wounding and similar acts, unlawfully assaulted Ofoke by stabbing him with a knife on his manhood.

George said, “Ofoke said that he was coming from work when he saw other tenants in the compound gathering around Fwoms.

“The complainant said he asked one of his neighbours what had happened and he was told that Fwoms damaged the ceiling of the house to connect electricity supply without informing others.

“Ofoke, who confronted the accused on what he had done, told him it was only a thief that would damage the ceiling of the house without informing other tenants.

“He said the accused, who was annoyed about the statement, brought out a knife from his pocket and stabbed his manhood with it.

“The complainant said he was quickly rushed to the hospital by his neighbours who were at the scene of the incident and the case was reported to the police, which led to the arrest of the accused person.

“The offence contravened Section 244 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,” the prosecutor stated.
The accused person pleaded not guilty to the charge.
In his ruling, the Magistrate M.O Osinbajo granted the accused bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties.

Osinbajo adjourned the matter till December 19 for hearing, ordering that the sureties must be gainfully employed and should show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

lalasticlala

Olaleye Aluko

A pastor of the Celestial Church of Christ, Johnson Dominic, has been hospitalised after he was allegedly tortured by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Dr Emmanuel Eze, in Onosa community in the Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Pastor Dominic, who is the head of the CCC, New Jerusalem Parish, Onosa Avenue, was allegedly brutalised around 5pm on Tuesday by the ACP and his aides, who came to the area in a jeep.

Our correspondent learnt that Eze is the ACP, Medicals, in Bayelsa State Police Command.

Dominic, a father of three children, claimed that he was assaulted on the premises of his church because he refused to pay up some money, which he owed the ACP, who had some plots of land in the area.

The pastor was said to have bought one of the plots of land for N1.2m, but the police officer allegedly demanded more payment.

Our correspondent gathered that Dominic, who sustained injuries in the chest and head, was rushed to a private hospital in the Jakande, Lekki Phase 1 area, where he had been admitted.

The 44-year-old pastor told PUNCH Metro that the ACP and three of his aides dragged him on the floor and slapped him several times, accusing him of being rude to the police boss.

He said, “It was around 5pm that the ACP and his men came to my church. I was attending to some people, who came for prayers.

“He came to inspect his land. We had known each other for some years. The ACP bought 16 plots of land beside my church and he had always asked me to monitor them for him. I asked him to remove his shoes because he was on the church premises. He got angry and he slapped me. His aides dragged me on the floor. The beat me until I became unconscious. That was how I found myself in this hospital.”

When contacted, the ACP, Eze, said he did not beat Dominic, but the pastor slumped because he had been fasting for two days and eating only fruits.

The ACP said he was a humane police officer, who respected human rights, adding that there was an argument when he went to inspect his plots of land in the area on Tuesday, but no physical assault.

He said, “I am a medical doctor. I do not carry arms and I do not violate people’s rights. Honestly speaking, Johnson (Dominic) is my good friend. He has been helping me to look after some plots of land I have in the area.

“My problem with him started when he supplied me some concrete blocks and someone later told me that he had been shortchanging me.

“Instead of 1,500 concrete blocks that I ordered for, he brought 1,200 blocks. When I came in yesterday (Tuesday), I told him that my wife was coming to farm on the plots of land.

“He did not like that idea. I also asked for 100 rods I kept with him. He said they remained 91 rods. So, an argument started.

“I did not come with any aide. I had three pastors and my driver in the jeep. I do not like civilians to be molested. When I came in with the pastors, he asked us to remove our shoes. So I stood outside.

“While we were arguing about the rods, nobody pushed anybody. We were just arguing. He just slumped and became unconscious. It was a fierce argument. I was told he had been fasting for two days. He had earlier threatened that he was going to kill me. I was the one who rushed him to a hospital and paid for his bills. It is not true that I beat him up. I am a responsible police officer.”

Pastor Gideon Johnson of No 4, Boripe St., Basorun-Ibadan, Oyo State, on Wednesday accused his wife of poisoning his driver who then allegedly ran mad after eating a meal she prepared for him to eat.

Gideon said this at a Grade C Customary Court sitting at Agodi-Ibadan, where he had gone to seek the dissolution of his 17-year-old marriage to with his wife, Oluwatoyin.

He accused his wife who had four children for him of bad character and threats to his life and other members of his family.

Gideon in his testimony told the court that he gave the food his wife prepared for him to his driver to eat.

He said, “The innocent driver ran mad few hours after he had eaten the food and was chained before we could take him to his family for solution.

“She intended to run me mad, she is fetish, diabolical and a threat to my life; in fact she killed my senior brother and my father through her fetish ways.

“She almost succeeded in ruining my ministry when she ganged up with my enemies to spoil me before the big personalities that usually come to my church for prayers.”

The pastor also told the court that he had not slept with his wife in the last 11 years because of her bad characters.

Gideon said that he would kill his wife if the court should decline his request to separate them.

However, Olwatoyin Johnson in her defence, objected to the allegations levelled against her and denied ever killing his father and brother- in-law.

The mother of four told the court that her husband abandoned her 11 years ago when he married another woman who had bore three kids for him.

She said, “He neither cared for me nor for the four children of the marriage but was always abusing me whenever he was preaching on the pulpit in the church.

“He accused me of being a witch and possessed spiritual power and I had challenged him to do deliverance for me since he is a pastor.”

She, however, pleaded with the court not to dissolve the marriage for the sake of the children.

The court’s president, Chief Mukaila Balogun, dissolved the marriage and ordered two children to be with the plaintiff while the custody of the remaining two children should be with their mother.

Balogun also ordered the plaintiff to be paying N8,000 monthly as maintenance allowance for the two children that are in the custody of their mother.

He also directed the plaintiff to pay N12,000 as house rent and N5,000 as transport fees for the defendant to pack her load from the plaintiff’s house.

The president warned the parties to maintain peace and stay clear of anything that could bring disharmony.
(NAN)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is not under the direct supervision of President Muhammadu Buhari or “any other person or authority”.

Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, INEC director of publicity, said this in response to the allegations that the commission was compromising its independence.

Recently, some civil society organisations (CSOs) and chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accused INEC of compromising its independence.

But Osaze-Uzzi said most of the allegations levelled against the commission were as a result of some of its decisions not favouring the accusers.

“What we have always been doing is trying to assert our independence; trying to work in accordance with the laws. Sometimes this favours one set of people, sometimes it doesn’t,” he said.

“From our experience, when it doesn’t favour them, they make some forms of allegations to undermine the commission, its integrity, its independence and try to bring it down in the eyes of the public.

“Ironically, some of the same people are accusing us of compromising our independence and calling on the president to call us to order.

“We are not under the direction or supervision of the president or any other person or authority, so, why should the same set of people be calling on the president to call us to order?”

He said the same set of people accusing INEC of compromising its independence were the ones who want the electoral body to be compromised.

“They are the ones asking the national assembly and everybody to call us to order. If you read the constitution very well, we are not under the control of any body or institution,” he said.

Osaze-Uzzi said INEC was maintaining its independence in accordance with the law of the land.
“We are trying to apply the laws and principles consistently,” he said.

On the call for the resignation of INEC chairman over the alleged of complicity in the production of fake election result sheets in Ondo state, Osaze-Uzzi described it as “an absurdity’’.

He said nobody, not even the most of staff, in the commission knew the security features of the result sheets, adding the entire allegation were ridiculous.

“When you see people printing fake currency do you call on the central bank governor to resign?” he asked.

“When you see people printing fake WAEC result sheets, do you hear people calling on the registrar to resign or people working in WAEC to resign that they are involved?”

by Temitayo Ayetoto,


a 28-year-old man has committed suicide in Mushin, Lagos, on the eve of his wedding.
Shakiru, popularly called Jarule, was found hanging from the ceiling of his 56, Oduduwa Street, Mushin home.

Relatives told The Nation yesterday that the father of two was being expected in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Saturday for the event. Shakiru was said to have sent a suicide message to his sister, Mariam, which reads: “I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

Mariam had reportedly insisted on his arriving early for the event on noticing his attitude of late. But when the message came in around 6:30pm, she did not read it immediately. When she did, she tried to reach some of his friends, but all to no avail. She then got their elder sister who lives near him to go and find out what was happening. His sister found his room locked from inside indicating that he was at home.

But when he did not respond to her knocks, she called Mariam, who asked her to look through the window from where she found his lifeless body dangling from the ceiling.

Mariam said: “I called him several times to urge him to get to Osogbo on time but he told me he would arrive probably on Sunday or even Monday. I asked him what he meant by that when he knew the wedding was slated for Sunday. He quickly changed it and said he was on the way, that he would be there.

I was expecting him till I got his message late at night. I called people close to his area but it didn’t go. Later I called my aunt to help me check him up. That was when she found out what happened. I had stopped calling him at a time because of his unresponsive attitude.”

The late Shakiru also left some notes in his jotter, bordering on love and his life trajectory. They included “I’m Done”, “If you are reading this, it’s too late.” He also wrote phrases such as “I love you” on the pictures of his two children.

Some relatives described his death as embarrassing and unfortunate. They said he was an introvert who hardly picked their calls. It was learnt that his wife is about eight months pregnant. He was said to have proposed an abortion which his doctor warned against because “it was too late.”

His niece, who didn’t mention her name, believes he committed suicide over financial difficulties.
According to her, he became frustrated after the death of his mother three years ago.

“I don’t know what he has encountered in life that should warrant suicide. Since his mother died, he has been finding it difficult to cope with life because she pampered him a lot and he didn’t lack anything. She always supported him out of love for her children. He didn’t acquire any skill that could sustain him. After her death, he was dejected. Sometimes he would complain of not eating regularly, his job was not paying much and that he was getting tired of life.

“But I don’t understand his problem because even his children are not under his care. It is the family that has been catering for them. This wedding we ought to be doing now is not on him. All we required was of him to make himself available. We even sent money to him when he complained he didn’t have money. The wife’s family has been complaining that he was not doing anything on her.”

Another relative said he didn’t believe the late Shakiru committed suicide because of financial constraints. The deceased, he said, just received N36,000 from a thrift society the previous week.

The Nation learnt that the police are detaining four persons living with the late Shakiru.

by Yusuf Alli,

Chief Registrar: I’ve no role in running account


Detectives have uncovered huge cash payments to Supreme Court Justices, members of the management and staff of the apex court.

Some of the payments, which were effected through a secret/ Operation Account, are alleged to be outrageous and outside the allowances approved by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

The allowances include cash for justices and management staff during festivities, especially Easter, Christmas, Ramadan and Eid-el Kabir.

Detectives are probing why the apex court paid cash instead of remittance of such payments to the accounts of the beneficiaries.

The Presidency is said to be in dilemma on what to do because all the former Chief Justices of Nigeria (CJN) and Justices of the Supreme Court were paid the jumbo allowances in cash from the unauthorised secret/ Operation Account.

Some documents attached to the charge sheets of some of the suspects on trial by the Department of State Service (DSS) provide insights into the cash payments.

The breakdown of what the past and present CJN and Justices have been receiving since 2009 is as follows: Salary—N750,000 (paid into account of each Justice); N750,000 monthly subsidy—(payment in cash); N950,000 quarterly subsidy (payment in cash); £10,000 (estacode) for trips (payment in cash); $25,000 (medical fees yearly (payment in cash); Unspecified payment for Business Class to them and spouses in cash depending on airline; $750 per night for number of days abroad in cash; N350,000 cash as welfare for each of the festivities (Easter, Christmas, Ramadan, Eid-el-Kabir); Chief Registrar—N700,000 as robe allowance; N200,000 for each of the festivities (in cash); and other lawyers—N500,000 as yearly dress allowance (In cash).

A top security source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Detectives have unearthed all manner of allowances which were paid and still being paid to Supreme Court Justices since 2009 from a Secret/Illegal/ Operation Account.

Some of these allowances are outside those ones approved by RMAFC. Our investigation confirmed the RMAFC approvals for CJN and the Justices as including regular salary and allowances: Monthly Basic Salary; Vehicle Maintenance/Fuelling; Personal Assistant; Domestic Staff; Entertainment; Utilities; Outfit; and Newspapers/Periodicals.

“Their Non-Regular Salary and allowances include: Accommodation (once annually); furniture (once in four years); annual leave bonus; severance/gratuity (after successful tenure); vehicle loan (optional); Duty Tour Allowance per night (where applicable) and Estacode per night (where applicable).

“In fact, one of the arrested Justices was in December 2014 paid N2million as a mark of welfare from the court to support him for his daughter’s wedding.

“So, we discovered a lot of discrepancies in the allowances being paid to the past Chief Justices of Nigeria and Justices of the Supreme Court since 2009.
Even four of the Justices who are beneficiaries of the monetisation policy still earned double allowances.
“Technically, everyone was paid all these unauthorised allowances from the operation account based on the computation of the management. Nobody knows how the allowances were arrived at.

“And the situation has not changed. We have documents showing that all the Justices were paid N910, 000 in April and N710, 000 in May as allowances.”

On the status of the Operation Account, a document confirmed that one of the officials of the Supreme Court told DSS interrogators: “All these payments, except the salary, are paid in cash to the Justices which they signed for collection. I am aware that has been the tradition but I am not sure of any written authority backing the payment.

“None of the Justices has ever, to my knowledge, refused payment of medical fees given to them.”
But another source said the Operation Account was legally opened in 2009 after the e-payment policy was introduced.

The source cited a memo, dated March 3, 2009 by a former Deputy Director (Finance and Accounts).
The memo has also been tendered in the court by the DSS as part of its evidence against some suspects.
He said the memo was explicit that the Justices be paid in cash.

The memo, signed by M. B. Tambawal and sent to the then Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, said: “You may recall that we had a management meeting last week where we discussed the way forward on e-payment. We had various suggestions on how to have an Operation Account that would ease the operations of this Honourable Court.

“In view of this, I humbly wish to suggest that a non-COT Operation Account be opened for the cashier (Ahmed Fagbenro).

“The account would accommodate payment for their Lordships and staff. The cashier will be responsible in cashing these payments and pay to the beneficiaries. He would keep a Petty Cash Book in order to record the payment plus a register that would be signed by the payees.”

The source added: “You can see that all the former CJN, present CJN and Justices of the Supreme Court were made to collect the allowances in cash by the management. This is not their making at all; they have committed no infractions.

“I think it is a system problem which the present Chief Registrar, Ahmed Gambo Saleh is trying to reform since 2014.”

The Presidency is weighing options because everyone has collected unauthorised allowances unknowingly. They are also unexpected to collect payment in cash – in line with financial regulations. I think they are victims of bureaucratic trap, but ignorance is no excuse in law.

“What the government is doing is to address the issue of corruption first before looking into other accountability problems besetting the Supreme Court.

“Certainly, the management of the Supreme Court needs to be overhauled. This is part of the agenda for the incoming CJN in collaboration with the Presidency.”

The Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Ahmed Gambo Saleh has denied involvement in any fraud or sharp practices in the apex court.

He also said he was never involved in any bribe deal or in the management of Operation Account.
Saleh, who made the clarifications in his testimony to the DSS, said he has introduced reforms, including stoppage of cash payment, since he took over in 2014.

He said: “I have never directed anyone to pay the sum of either N12million or N18million to any Justice of the Supreme Court.

“”I am aware the practice of cash payment is not in line with financial regulations but that has been the tradition I met in the court.

“But on assuming office, I stopped cash payments to staff; all payments are now paid into their accounts.
“The Operation Account is in Ahmed Fagbenro’s name (the Cashier); I don’t know how much is the balance in the account.”

Eniola Akinkuotu and Ade Adesomoju

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed 30 charges against a Federal High Court judge, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia; and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Obla, The PUNCH has learnt.

The EFCC said about $793,800 passed through the judge’s domiciliary accounts between 2012 and 2015. The judge allegedly used the money to buy a house in London.

The two accounts, Access Bank (0002649223) and Diamond Bank (0032091183) have since been frozen by the EFCC.

The commission is expected to arraign the two suspects before a Lagos State High Court this week.

Five of the charges are centred on an alleged N5m bribe given to the judge by the senior advocate while the remaining 25 charges are on the huge amounts that passed through the accounts of Ofili-Ajumogobia and her alleged inability to explain her source of wealth.

The other charges filed against the judge border on forgery, lying, unlawful enrichment and other related offences.

Ofili-Ajumogobia and Obla have been in the custody of the EFCC for about 10 days following revelations that the senior advocate paid N5m into her account in 2015 at a time she was presiding over one of his cases.

While Ofili-Ajumogobia claimed the money was a deposit for a N40m property she sold to Obla, the senior advocate said the money was a payment for building materials.

Obla also insisted that he did not know that the account belonged to the judge.

Some of the charges read in part, “That you, Hon. Justice Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia, and Godwin Obla (SAN), on or about May 21, 2015, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired with each other to pervert the course of justice in charge number FHC/L/C/482C/10 with the sum of N5,000,000.

“That you, Godwin Obla (SAN), on or about May 21, 2015, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, intentionally gave the sum of N5,000,000 to Hon. Justice Rita Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court directly from your Obla and Company account (1015319084) domiciled in the United Bank for Africa Plc in order that the said judge acts in the exercise of her official duties.”

Investigations by the EFCC further revealed that about $793,800 passed through the judge’s accounts and she allegedly was not able to explain to detectives how she came about the sums.

Breakdown of figures

A breakdown of the figures by the EFCC showed that Ofili-Ajumogobia received a deposit of $130,000 through her Diamond Bank account on May 30, 2013. On June 2, 2014, she allegedly received $70,000 through the same account.

The anti-graft agency said the judge received $55,000 on March 27, 2014, and another $55,000 on October 14, 2014 while $20,000 was received through the same account on June 19, 2014.

The commission alleged in the charge sheet that Ofili-Ajumogobia also received $20,000 on October 13, 2014 while she got an additional $50,000 on December 20, 2014.

The judge allegedly received $50,000 on November 21, 2014 and $30,000 between June 17 and June 19, 2015 through the same Diamond Bank account as well as another $10,000 on July 6, 2015.

She allegedly received $20,000 on June 11, 2013; $30,000 on February 11, 2014 and $150,000 on March 29, 2014.

The EFCC accused the judge of receiving $68, 800 through her Access Bank account between August 11, 2011 and March 27, 2012.

She also allegedly received $35,000 through the same account between April 30 and September 3, 2012.

The charges were said to be contrary to Section 82 (a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, No 11, 2011.

Some of the charges read, “That you, Hon. Justice Rita Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia, between the 11th day of August 2011 and 27th day of March 2012, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, being a judge of the Federal High Court, enriched yourself with a total sum of $68,000 through your account (0002649223) domiciled in Access Bank Plc, so as to have a significant increase in your assets that you cannot reasonably explain in relation to your lawful income.

“That you, Hon. Justice Rita Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia, between the 10th and 30th day of May 2013, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, being a judge of the Federal High Court, enriched yourself with a total sum of $130,000 through your account (0032091183) domiciled in Diamond Bank Plc, so as to have a significant increase in your assets that you cannot reasonably explain in relation to you your lawful income.

“That you, Hon. Justice Rita Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia, on or about the 20th day of December 2014, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, being a judge of the Federal High Court, enriched yourself with a total sum of $50,000 through your account (0032091183) domiciled in Diamond Bank Plc, so as to have a significant increase in your assets that you cannot reasonably explain in relation to you your lawful income.”

The judge allegedly received over N40m in mysterious deposits made by some companies.

Judge accused of lying

The EFCC also accused the judge of telling lies.

Specifically, Ofili-Ajumogobia had told detectives around 7.16pm on October 19, 2016 that she would not be able to honour an invitation because she was admitted to Golden Cross Hospital, Bourdillon, Ikoyi.

However, the judge was not there when detectives checked the hospital.

She was also accused of forging a deed of assignment between County City Bricks Development Company Limited and Niger & Colive Limited in 2010.

UN’s ex-prosecutor to lead Justice Ngwuta’s trial today

 A former prosecutor at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Mr. Segun Jegede, has been engaged by the Federal Government to handle the trial of a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, who is to be arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja today (Monday).

Jegede and another international lawyer, Mr. Charles Adeogun-Philips, have been engaged by the Federal Government to prosecute all the judges it lined up for trial.

The two lawyers with decades of international practice are separately leading two teams that have been briefed by the Federal Government through its National Prosecution Coordination Committee.

While Jegede is leading the prosecution of Justice Ngwuta, Adeogun-Philips has been briefed to lead the prosecution of some Supreme Court officials who had been charged with diversion of N2.2bn belonging to the apex court.

The two lawyers are both on the team of 80 special prosecutors of the Federal Government whose activities are being coordinated by the NPCC.

Jegede reportedly worked at the UNICTR for over a decade.

Jegede’s work at the UNICTR mainly revolved around the investigation and prosecution of some of the known masterminds of crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide.

According to online search engine,Wikipedia, the Rwandan genocide, which lasted about 100 days in 1994, was a mass slaughter of the members of the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda by the members of the Hutu majority government.

Jegede was also said to have had a stint at the Federal Ministry of Justice as a state counsel before going into legal practice and establishing his own law firm in 1988

Adeogun-Philips, who was born in England 50 years ago, is a former genocide and war crime prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.

 Already, three cases have been filed with respect to the charges of corruption preferred against some judges and court officials, following the raid on the houses of some judges by the operatives of the Department of State Services between October 7 and 8, 2016.

The first case involved a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Ngwuta, who was charged with 14 counts of money laundering before Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Another case involved a Federal High Court judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, who was charged with receiving gratifications, along with his wife.

The other one involved the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr. Ahmed Saleh, who was charged along with two other officials of the apex court.

The three apex court’s officials were jointly charged with alleged diversion of N2.2bn belonging to the court and receiving  gratifications from contractors providing services to the court.

Also to be later charged is another Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Inyang Okoro.

Justice Ngwuta, who was charged with 14 counts of money laundering, has been scheduled to appear before Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, for arraignment today.

 It was alleged in the 14 counts of money laundering that Ngwuta transferred the total sum of N505m “denominated in naira and US dollars” to a building contractor, Nwamba Linus Chukwuebuka, between January and May 2016.

The N505m was alleged to be part of proceeds of Ngwuta’s “unlawful” activities.

He was also accused in the amended charges of retaining N35,358,000; $319,596 and £25,915 during the raid on his house by the operatives of the Department of State Services between October 7 and 8.

Apart from the money laundering charges, Ngwuta was accused of passport offences in counts eight to 14 of the amended charges.

He was accused of being in possession of two valid diplomatic passports and another two valid Nigerian passports, when his house was raided by DSS operatives on October 8, 2016.

Niger Delta militants have renewed their threat to blow up more oil facilities in the region if the Federal Government do not drop the charges against a former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has since declared Tompolo wanted in February over an alleged N45.9bn fraud and charged him to court in absentia.

The leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Democratic Front, General Playboy, yesterday warned the Federal Government to leave Tompolo and any indigene from the oil-rich region alone.

The militant leader condemned the raid of Gbaramatu Kingdom by soldiers and said government must apologise to Tompolo over the death of his (Tompolo) father.

He said, “You (Federal Government) are coming to Gbaramatu Kingdom in search of militants; how many communities in the North-East have you raided in search of Boko Haram?

“We have said it before now that we will not stop bombing until the Federal Government drops charges against Tompolo and any indigene of Niger Delta, and apologise to Tompolo over the death of his father, who soldiers have killed.

“Let me use this medium to warn the Federal Government that if anything should happen to former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, President Muhammadu (Buhari) will see our true colours.”

by Collins Nweze,



•Calls longer than 3 mins to attract surcharge

•Says economy facing stagflation

Mobile phone users will be in for hard times if proposal by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele to the federal government to introduce mobile phone call tax becomes a reality.
The Governor, who broke the news at the 2016 Annual Bankers’ Dinner organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) on Friday night, in Lagos, said such tax, targeted at the middle, upper class and long phone call makers, can generate N100 billion annually into the federal government coffers.

Speaking on the theme: “Policy options for reversing Nigeria’s economic downturn” he said the country’s economy is currently facing a classical case of “stagflation” and although the 2016 budget is well on track to tackle it, there is need to boost revenue generation base though increased taxes.

He suggested that government could explore opportunities for more revenues to wriggle out of stagflation and recession by introducing a negligible telecom surcharge to be paid by initiator of a telephone call.

“There are several ways we can raise additional revenue to finance the increased expenditure that is needed to engender fast and sustainable growth in the economy. I think we can consider introducing a negligible telecom surcharge to be entirely borne by the initiator of a call. In order to protect the poor and vulnerable amongst us, we could structure it to only take effect after the third minute of talk. Some analyses have indicated that the government could earn about N100 billion per annum from this alone,” he stated.

Emefiele explained that the surcharge will mainly be borne by middle and upper class people since many poor people do not make calls for more than three minutes.

He explained that stagflation occurs when a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is falling or stagnant while unemployment and inflation are rising, all simultaneously.

“As recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate, Nigeria’s GDP growth decelerated by 0.36 per cent and 2.1 per cent in the first and second quarters of 2016, respectively. More also, the rate of price inflation for the months of September and October were 17.9 per cent and 18.3 per cent, respectively, while official statistics also indicate that the country’s unemployment rate increased to 12.1 per cent and 13.3 per cent during the first and second quarters,” he stated.

Emefiele said that stagflation is a difficult condition for policymakers to deal with, insisting that no single macroeconomic policy can address rising inflation and slow growth simultaneously, because fighting inflation may require implementing policies that might, in the short term, be inimical to economic growth, whereas expansionary policies to stimulate growth usually worsen inflation.

Still on taxes, the CBN boss said government could also consider introducing minimal property taxes across the country. “This not only raises money for the government but also could be a veritable weapon against corruption since it creates a database of who really owns homes in this country. Another option to consider would be to fully implement the 2003 Cabotage Act. This is Act stipulates that all cargoes and passengers in the inland and coastal waters be transported by ships and ferries built, owned, crewed and manned by Nigerians,” he said.

Emefiele explained that contrary to the requirement of this Act, there are several foreign-owned vessels providing shipping services locally. “Out of about 600 ships that operate within our waters, only about 60 of them are owned by Nigerians and are mostly idle, in violation of the Act. Industry sources suggest Nigeria may be losing as much as N2 trillion annually from this anomaly. In addition to raising revenue, a full implementation of the Act could also spur job creation, capacity building, and significant backward integration,” he said.

Speaking further, he said that exchange rate is simply a price that is determined by the forces of demand and supply.

He said that while the proposal may seem controversial, variants of this policy have proven to be highly effective in other climes and even here in Nigeria. “For example, throughout the early days of South Korea’s economic renaissance, the government intermittently used excessively stiff tariffs, quantitative restrictions and prohibitive inland taxes to effectively ban many items with potential for high imports, and simultaneously, offered generous and subsidized loans to firms for export promotion causes. In fact, at some point, about 93 per cent of total imports into South Korea were subject to one or more such restrictions,” he said.

Emefiele admitted that interest rates are a veritable tool for curtailing inflation but with inflation at over 18 per cent, the regulator would be abjectly failing on one of its cardinal objectives if it cuts interest rates at this time. “Second, for those who say we need a rate cut to spur growth, we need to remind that high inflation is highly inimical to economic growth. Indeed, many empirical studies have estimated the threshold level at which inflation becomes significantly growth retarding to be 11 per cent for developing countries. With ours at 18.3 per cent, one must question the judgment of cutting interest rates at this time,” he said.

The CBN Governor insisted that interest rates reflect not just the cost of capital but also the cost of doing business, hence, the need to also look at interest rates from the perspective of the lender. “Given that most banks have to individually provide security, power, and other infrastructure, it is not surprising that some of these costs are passed on to customers in the form of high interest rates. Notwithstanding these facts, we will continue to use moral suasion to encourage commercial banks to be more considerate in interest charges on customers,” he stated.

lalasticlala

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on Saturday countered claims by the Nigerian government that the terrorist Boko Haram group has been defeated.

Speaking in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, at the 11th Founder’s Day Ceremony of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), the former vice president said Boko Haram remained deadly, and that it was premature to declare that the insurgency was over.

“The insurgents still occupy a specific geographical space,” Atiku said. “They (Boko Haram) still retain the capacity for occasional deadly attacks. Many citizens in the zone still remain vulnerable and live in fear.”
The former vice president’s comments appeared to counter repeated claims by President Muhammadu Buhari and his information minister, Lai Mohammed, that Boko Haram had been defeated, and was no longer holding any territory in the country.

In his 2016 Independence Day speech, October 1, Mr. Buhari insisted the sect was defeated in December 2015 even as the group continued its onslaught across the Northeast, launching deadly attacks and killing soldiers and civilians.

But in his Saturday speech, which was emailed to PREMIUM TIMES, Atiku said it was premature for anyone to claim victory over Boko Haram at this time.
Like Mr. Buhari, Atiku belongs to the ruling All Progressives Congress, a shaky political platform, whose leading members have bickered consistently since it came to power in mid 2015.

“We cannot say that the problem is over until every displaced person is able to return home, to the office, to the market, to the farm, and resume normal activities,” the politician said.

“We cannot say it is over until we rebuild the schools, the churches, the hospitals, the markets, and the homes that had been destroyed. And we cannot say it’s over until the survivors of this insurgency receive the help they need, including psychological therapy to deal with the trauma that they have been through.

“I visited an IDP camp on Saturday and had the privilege of teaching a math class to some children. But the site of hundreds of children running around and unable to attend school was very gut wrenching. It still breaks my heart. So we cannot say the insurgency is over until all the displaced children return to their schools.

“And, as I indicated last year, it would not be enough for people to simply return to their pre-insurgency lives. We must do better than that otherwise we would only have papered over the wound without really treating it.

“People must return to something better, to hope, to improved schools, to improved economic opportunities, to freedom of worship and improved inter-religious harmony.”

Read Atiku’s full speech below.
Protocol

Let me join President Ensign and the MC in welcoming you to this year’s Founder’s Day ceremony of this university. It doesn’t feel that long ago when we broke ground here for what is to be the first private university in Northern Nigeria, and the first American university in Sub-Saharan Africa. Here we are today at the 11th Founder’s Day of this dream we the AUN.
Looking back and looking around, we have made tremendous progress. The little acorn is growing into a promising oak. But there’s a lot still left to be done. As you know, the work of building a great university never really finishes. A university is a living organism. It has to keep growing; it is continuously nourished. It becomes ever more complex but also integrated, more extended, and more interesting.

This past year has been particularly challenging for us and for the country. The country’s economy, which had remained weak, slid into a recession. There has been little public spending as the new government in Abuja and most state capitals try to figure out how to proceed with governance, just as oil production and revenues plummeted. And when citizens, including parents, have little income to spend, especially in the midst of uncertainty, the effect spreads to various sectors of the economy, including higher education.

But it was also a year that saw significant improvements in the security situation in the North East, our catchment area. The commitment of the Federal government and the state governments in this zone, as well as the support of the governments of our neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, have pushed back against the violent insurgency and improved the security of citizens in the area. The improvement in the security situation also means that some internally displaced persons have been able to return to their homes and try to resume normal lives. I would like to specially acknowledge the efforts of our security forces in making these possible.

However, more still needs to be done to restore normalcy in this area. The insurgency remains. The insurgents still occupy a specific geographical space. They still retain the capacity for occasional deadly attacks. Many citizens in the zone still remain vulnerable and live in fear; and we cannot say that the problem is over until every displaced person is able to return home, to the office, to the market, to the farm, and resume normal activities. We cannot say it is over until we rebuild the schools, the churches, the hospitals, the markets, and the homes that had been destroyed. And we cannot say it’s over until the survivors of this insurgency receive the help they need, including psychological therapy to deal with the trauma that they have been through. I visited an IDP camp on Saturday and had the privilege of teaching a math class to some children. But the site of hundreds of children running around and unable to attend school was very gut wrenching. It still breaks my heart. So we cannot say the insurgency is over until all the displaced children return to their schools.

And, as I indicated last year, it would not be enough for people to simply return to their pre-insurgency lives. We must do better than that otherwise we would only have papered over the wound without really treating it. People must return to something better, to hope, to improved schools, to improved economic opportunities, to freedom of worship and improved inter-religious harmony. People must return to the realization that it is ok not only to be different but also to learn, including so-called Western education. You see, Western education really belongs to humanity since different parts of the world contributed to that which we now call Western education and culture. In any case, nobody says we must take everything that is associated with that culture; we can take that which helps us improve our societies while ignoring that which doesn’t.

And we must no longer wait for socio-economic and political problems to fester for a long time before we tackle them, the way we routinely wait for small potholes on our roads to develop into huge gullies and death-traps before we try to fix them, if at all. That should be a critical lesson of this insurgency.

So let us take immediate steps to put our people to work. Let’s fix our roads, bridges and schools and other infrastructure. Let us expand schooling in this zone and other parts of the country. Let’s expand enrolment, and hire and train highly qualified and motivated teachers who are paid well. Let’s resolve to strictly enforce the law that makes primary and secondary education free and compulsory in this country so that every child stays in school until at least the age of 18. Let us expand vocational training in addition to improving our universities and polytechnics. Let us expose our youth to entrepreneurship as part of their education, to help us to really create employment and grow the economy and incomes in a sustainable way. Germany seems to offer a great example on vocation training and apprenticeship. We may want to carefully study its system to see how we can adopt elements of it for our country, our people and our economy.

When we take these measures that expand educational and career opportunities for our young people, we give them hope; we give them positive things to aspire to. We must demonstrate to our youth that living is far better than dying. When we provide them these opportunities we are likely to see more of them receive the kinds of awards and honours that were bestowed on these outstanding people that were so honoured here today.

But we should not stop there. Citizens are not just about jobs and incomes. We have to take measures to facilitate citizen engagement, especially the youth. Our young people have to take greater interest in public affairs. And I am not just talking about voting in elections. They should be organized and participate in debates on public policy and community service. And as a country, we have to find ways to lift up those who need help, to give voice to the voiceless, to listen to the voices of those who feel marginalized and left behind, and find ways to address their concerns. The recent Brexit referendum in the UK and the November 8 Presidential election in the US hold important lessons for us. Being established and stable democracies they had peaceful outcomes. We may not be that lucky because of the fragility of our democratic and other public institutions.

To our students I say your handwork and sacrifices are worth it. You are among the privileged. So take full advantage of the opportunities you have. Education is an opportunity and remains the key that unlocks opportunities and opens new horizons. And in the contemporary world, those without education and requisite skills will have a harder time attaining social mobility. This is the world of big data, of coding, of genetic engineering, of 3D printing, of renewable energy, of artificial intelligence, of self-driving automobiles, of space tourism, of inter-connected devices (the internet of things), and of social diversity and inclusion. You have the opportunity to prepare and equip yourselves for that world so that you, your families and your country are not left behind.
I sincerely thank the leadership of this University under the tireless Dr Margee Ensign. I salute the faculty and staff, all of you that make this place work.

Let me also thank the Board of Trustees, under the very smart and meticulous Akin Kekere-Ekun, for its work over the past year and the preceding years. We also owe a debt of gratitude to the state and federal governments for the improved security in the environment within which AUN operates. I congratulate those honoured here today. You are truly deserving of your awards.

Let’s all rededicate ourselves to improving this university, this dream, and this region and our country.

Thank you.

Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

The Port Harcourt Refining Company is set to commence the production of Aviation Turbine Kerosene, popularly known as aviation fuel or JetA1, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said.

According to the corporation, the Managing Director, PHRC, Dr. Bafred Enjugu, disclosed this in a presentation made to the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, during an official tour of the 210,000 barrels per day facility.

Enjugu said the refinery had met all the international parameters for the production of aviation fuel.

He was quoted in a statement from the NNPC on Friday to have said that “the good news from our stand point is that we have scored 24 out of the 24 parameters for the production of aviation fuel and I must say that this is made possible because of the never-give-up attitude of workers of the great PHRC.”

Enjugu said the refinery had successfully blended ATK and was only waiting for appropriate conditions to commence full scale production of the product in response to demand of the aviation sector.

Baru, according to the statement, described PHRC as the nation’s flagship refining company, noting that the corporation would do everything possible to ensure that the refinery was not just in operation but also operating profitably and contributing effectively to meeting local demand for petroleum products.

He said, “We cannot under-estimate the importance of refining because that is our identity and we shall do whatever it takes to ensure that your two plants are running at all times and work to tackle whatever could militate against your achieving set targets and objectives.”

In a similar development, the GMD also promised to complete all ongoing gas infrastructure projects as part of measures to boost the nation’s economy.

Baru made this commitment during a one-day working visit to three of the NNPC’s Strategic Business Units, the Nigerian Gas Processing Transportation Company, Nigerian Gas Marketing Company, and the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company in Warri, Delta State.

He said the NGPTC and NGMC were particularly important in the aggressive drive to provide gas for power generation and industries to propel the nation’s economic growth.

by Eric Ikhilae,

The Federal Government has hired a former International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Charles Adeogun-Philips, to lead its team of lawyers to prosecute the Supreme Court Registrar and others for alleged N2.2b fraud.

But the arraignment of the three senior officials of the apex court was put off yesterday by Justice Abba Mohammed of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Jabi, Abuja because one of the Supreme Court officials, Muhammed Sharif, was absent.

The Federal Government on November 3 filed a nine-count charge against Chief Registrar Ahmed Saleh, Sharif and Rilwanu Lawal (who are both officials of the court’s Account Department.).

They are charged with conspiracy and criminal breach of trust for allegedly diverting N2.2billion belonging to the apex court and receiving gratification as public officers.

The three officials are also accused of receiving N74.4m gratification from contractors between 2009 and 2016.

The contractors from which they allegedly received the gratification are Willysdave Ltd., Welcon Nig. Ltd., Dean Musa Nig. Ltd., Ababia Ventures Ltd. and MBR Computers Ltd.

On November 8, Justice Mohammed granted a request by prosecution lawyer Hajara Yusuf for time to produce the three defendants in court for arraignment, following which the court adjourned till November 17 for arraignment.

Saleh and Lawal were in court. Sharif was absent.
Garba Tetengi (SAN), who announced appearance for Sharif, said he was ill and was on admission at the hospital. He sought an adjournment, which other defence lawyers – Abdulhakeem Mustapha – SAN – (for Saleh) and I.K Sanusi – SAN (for Lawal) did not object.

The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Umar, who led the prosecution team, later yielded proceedings to Adeogun-Philips, who spoke for the prosecution.

Umar said the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), had in exercising his powers under Section 174(1) of the Constitution, elected to engage an international lawyer to conduct prosecution in the case.

Adeogun-Philips said he was unhappy that Tetengi could not provide any document to show that Sharif was on admission in the hospital.

Justice Mohammed rescheduled the arraignment for December 15.

Ibe kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, says refineries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will become “scraps” by the time Dangote refinery comes on board.

Aliko Dangote, billionaire businessman, has projected that his refinery will commence operations in 2018.

Lamenting the way government-owned refineries were functioning, Kachikwu said no serious nation will run business in that manner and make profit.

He promised to work towards reducing the cost of crude production.

Kachikuwu spoke at the National Oil Policy and National Gas Policy consultative forum in Abuja on Thursday.

“These things should have been on ground yesterday. A lot of things happening in the industry for so long and they are being taken as a norm,” he said.

“We still produce crude at $27 a barrel and sell at $40. We have to bring it below $18. No serious nation will do that and make profit.

“Refineries will have to work. If time goes by and Dangote refinery begins, we’ll have scraps.”

Asked what happened to the 2008 Gas Master Plan, Kachikwu said: “If the gas master plan was that fantastic how come we don’t have changes in that sector?
“That means something is fundamentally wrong but I believe no work ever done in life is a waste.

“People who did the Gas Master Plan and the Petroleum Industry Bill did a huge work.
“Where we are headed is to try and free the industry so that it can do its own rule, set its own prices.

“There are few mechanics that we still have to get in place properly. We can forget the fact that we still have foreign exchange challenges; we can’t forget the fact that income to government is still very tight so you need to see how you balance that but what is important is: what is the objective?

“The objective is still to fully deregulate and we have started that process. It is a continuing process and we will continue fine-tuning it until we get to where we should be.”

NAN quoted a stakeholder at the event as saying Nigerians would have to embrace full deregulation one way or the other.

“It is inevitable. The PPMC is groaning. It is not making profit as it should because it bears the burden of importing and sometimes sells below cost price,” the individual, who preferred to be anonymous, reportedly said.

“You know if the president had his way, he would like to fix the price of the bread that we eat so it can be affordable for the common man.

“However, full deregulation of the downstream sector is important so that the market can determine prices which will be better for consumers in the long run.”

The command paraded a female student of Imo State University for allegedly arranging her kidnap, to extort money from her family.

The suspect, who gave her name to the police as Chinwendu Udensi, however, told reporters that she is Miss Jennet Okoro. She said she is from Imo State.

Also paraded were the three men that perfected the plan. Thirty-three other suspects were also paraded for offences ranging from cultism to robbery, car snatching, kidnapping, among others.

The police commissioner said Miss Udensi plotted her kidnap and demanded N6 million ransom from her parents.

He said she was, however, exposed when she sent one of her accomplices to pick the ransom on Obiri Ikerre flyover at Obio/Akpor.

Odesanya said: “On November 6 about 4pm, Chinwendu Udensi, a female student of Imo State University, was kidnapped by gunmen in Imo State.

“The kidnappers called and demanded N6million ransom. Men of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Monitoring Unit led by Ben Igweh set a bait for them and as they went to pick the money on Obiri Ikwerre flyover in company of the victim, they were arrested.

“It was later discovered that the victim connived with them and arranged her kidnap to extort money from her parents.”

In an interview with reporters, the suspect, who claimed to be a student of of Abia State University, Uturu Okigwe in Abia State admitted the crime.

She said she did it to get money from her wealthy but stingy father.

Her words: “Nothing much happened. I wanted to collect money from my family, so I faked my kidnap. I did it to continue my schooling.”

Asked if her parents did not take care of her, she answered in the affirmative.

Regretting her action, Chinwendu said: “I’m not happy about my present condition because I never thought it will be like this.

“I sincerely apologise to my family for the trauma I might have caused them in a bid to extort money from them for my project and other requirements. To my friends out there, my advice is that they should not involve themselves in such a crime.”

Also paraded was the suspected killer of a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Port Harcourt.

The suspect, Jon Ihejekwu, a dealer in Almaco doors and windows, said his gang killed the police officer for attempting to prevent them from escaping with a stolen vehicle.

The police boss said 25 suspected kidnappers have been arraigned.