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Senator Gershom Bassey the Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum, Upstream represents Cross River South Senatorial District and was among the founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Cross River. In this interview, he says the All Progressives Congress-led federal government has shrunk a robust economy which was the largest in Africa before 2015. He also reacts to insinuations that the oil industry induced the National Assembly against the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, PIGB and on claims that the PDP in Cross River State is in death throes.

HAS the APC Federal Government done well after two years?

Well, they have tried their best, let me put it that way. But I think that Nigerians want a bit more than that, so far, they have done their best, but they need to do much more because Nigerians voted for more and deserved more and the APC promised more. So, I don’t think they have met the expectations of Nigerians.

How do you compare the performance of the APC to that of the last PDP administration after two years?

Well, look, APC inherited the largest economy in Africa, today we are no longer the largest economy in Africa. You can give whatever reasons that you like, but it is incumbent on the APC to ensure with all its election promises that we return and surpass the level we are now.

Are you insinuating that APC has shrunk the fortune of the economy of the country?

Of course. Have you not seen it? Are we not in a recession? The economy that the APC met has shrunk. It is not as large as it was when the APC met it. I have seen their recovery plan, so, I expect that the APC has to do everything in their power, to ensure that they return Nigeria to be the largest economy in Africa. I don’t want to go into details. They were bequeathed with a large economy; they should return us not the same size but the largest economy in Africa, it should be even bigger than the one they met.

What do you think was responsible for the recession in the country?

I think it is self-inflicted. I think that there are mistakes we made in the management of our economy by this administration. The previous administration left the largest economy in Africa even with all the problems that we have identified in the previous administration, they still left Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa with all the problems. Now, this present government says it doesn’t have those same problems, and yet the economy is shrinking. So, they need to do something to return us to our former level.

Given the problems facing the PDP, do you think the party can return to power?

Oh yes. Look I don’t think it is about PDP or APC. I think at this point of our history, it is about Nigeria and we need to say look, what are we going to do to put Nigeria back to the pedestal where it used to be. That is what we are going to do, and it is across party lines. We need to sit down as a political class and look at how we are going to move our country forward, that is the real issue.

I am still a PDP member and whenever I go to my constituency and call for meeting everywhere will be full that shows that PDP is alive and well. If any of my colleagues in the PDP goes home and calls a meeting in his constituency, the hall will be full. So, the PDP is still alive and kicking.

PDP is alive and well because, at the grassroots, the party still has tremendous support. Yes, there are issues at the leadership level, that is, at the national leadership level because in my state (Cross River) the party is intact.

Is PDP not living on past glory?

No, I don’t think so. I think our glory is current.

Even with the spate of defections to the APC?

No, I don’t think so. I think it is just very few persons that have gone to the APC, but there have also been people that have crossed from the APC to the PDP.

What is responsible for the defections?

Well, you know all politics is local and in a lot of situations, it is because of the local politics of whichever area the person is defecting from.

But apart from maybe Senator John Owan Enoh, others that have defected are not going to change the fortunes of the party in any way.

But former Senator Florence Ita-Giwa was among the people that defected recently, will that not affect the party in the next elections?

No, Senator Florence has not been very active recently. I think she has been more involved in other issues; I am not sure she has been so active on the ground. Apart from John Owan Enoh as I said, I don’t see much effect from others that have defected.

Are you saying that the defection of Senator John Owan Enoh to the APC will affect the PDP in the next elections?

Well, I think that John Owan Enoh has some followership in the state and so we see him as a loss to the PDP. But like I said, even from his local government, others have moved from the APC to the PDP. So, there is a net effect which in the end probably might balance that.

When do you plan to defect to the ruling APC?

How? Based on what? I am not that type of politician; I don’t play my politics like that. I am a founding member of the PDP, and I am with the PDP through and through, and I have no reason to go to any other party.

It is alleged that multi-national oil companies induced members of the National Assembly on the PIB, and that is why there was a delay in its passage?

I am not aware of such an attempt. More so the governance bill is really about us in Nigeria getting our act together, it doesn’t have anything to do with the international oil companies.

All the players in the sector including the international oil companies will have a better environment in which to operate when the PIB is passed but its passage now really does not have anything to do with them.

http://www.nigeriatoday.ng/2017/05/two-years-of-apc-buhari-should-return-our-economy-to-2015-level-senator-bassey/

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Music mogul, Don Jazzy and media entrepreneur Mo Abudu are currently in Monaco for the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix. He joked about meeting Mo in Monaco since BankyW has refused to show him to way to get a wife. This is in reference to the fact that BankyW and his wife-to-be, Adesua Etomi, played a major role in a production that Mo’s Ebony Life Films has a stake in. BankyW has now finally shared the dating advice being requested for.




http://naijaparrot.com/bankyw-finally-gives-don-jazzy-dating-advice/

Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River has granted a state pardon to 34 inmates serving various jail terms in Calabar Prison to mark the 50th Anniversary of the state.

Ayade said this on Saturday in Calabar in his anniversary speech to the people of the state.

He said that Cross River had every reason to celebrate 50 years of its existence as a state, considering its monumental achievements during the period.

The governor said the pardon was in the spirit of the celebration and based on the provision of section 212 of the 1999 Constitution.

He said, “in the spirit of the celebration and the powers vested on me by the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, I hereby grant clemency to the following category of people serving various jail terms in the state.

“They are five people on death row; 16 prisoners serving life sentences; four prisoners who are above 60 years of age; nine convicted criminals who are terminally ill and may likely die any moment if not granted pardon.’’

Ayade stressed the need for the people to always remember past leaders of the state who had made considerable efforts in moving the state to greater heights.

He said that in spite of the great challenges that have bedeviled the state, there was the need for the people to have hope for a greater future.

According to him, the state has excelled in many fields of endeavors including tourism, agriculture and forest preservation.

He added that the annual Calabar Carnival has become the greatest street party in Africa.

“I therefore call on you to stick together as we look forward to a greater tomorrow, ‘’ he said.

Ayade had earlier performed the public signing into law of eight bills passed by the State House of Assembly, as part of the celebration.

The laws include Administration of Criminal Justice in Cross River; Citizen Right, Cross River Inland Water-ways, Cross River Scrap Regulatory Agency, Cross River Lottery ; Hawkers Right; Emergency Management Agency, and House of Assembly Commission.

The governor also used the occasion of the celebration to call on the people of the state to pray for the quick recovery of President Muhammad Buhari.

It would be recalled that Cross River was created on May 27, 1967 from the former Eastern Region as South Eastern State by the then Gen. Yakubu Gowon regime.

The state was renamed to Cross River State in 1976 by late Head of State, Gen. Murtala Mohammed.

http://thenationonlineng.net/gov-ayade-frees-34-prisoners-commemorate-criver-50/

A former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari and Acting President Yemi Osinbajo of running a “fascist” government following an alleged raid of a guest house owned by the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu.

Mr. Ekweremadu, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, said his guest house was raided Friday morning by police officers.

But the police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, told PREMIUM TIMES Friday night that the police have “absolutely nothing” to do with the raid.

No agency has claimed responsibility for the raid. Calls to EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, were not answered Friday evening. The State Security Service does not have a contact person that interacts with the Nigerian public.

In an emailed statement, Mr. Fani-Kayode said the development marked the latest in a relentless persecution of opposition figures and other citizens by the Buhari administration.

The former Minister of Aviation said Nigerians should rise up and demand a stop to ongoing attacks against democracy and the Constitution by Mr. Buhari.

“As each day goes by more and more people have come to accept the fact that the Buhari administration is a government of fascists,” Mr. Fani-Kayode said. “They are led and guided by dark and sinister forces whose sole agenda is to divide our people and destroy our country.”

“You illegally and indefinitely lock up Sambo Dasuki, El Zak Zaky, Ifeanyi Uba and countless others and you criminalise them before the world.

“Worse still you refuse to bring them before the courts of law or to give their lawyers full and free access to them,” the former minister added.

Mr. Fani-Kayode said while Mr. Buhari’s “dictatorial” tendencies could be understood due to his military dictatorship background, it was unfortunate that Mr. Osinbajo would allow acts of impunity to manifest while he is in charge.

Mr. Osinbajo is the acting president with Mr. Buhari in London for medical treatment.

“He is an erudite lawyer and a gentleman of good stock and noble blood and he really should know better,” Mr. Fani-Kayode said of the acting president.

He said opposition elements like himself would not succumb to persecution, calling on Nigerians to legally push back against alleged tyrannical actions of government.

“This is shameful and shocking. Raiding the homes of our friends and leaders like Ekweremadu and harrasing their children will not deter, stop or silence those of us that are in the opposition. It will only harden our hearts and strengthen our resolve.

“It is about time that Nigerians woke up and stood up to their madness and tyranny.

“We must employ all lawful means to resist them and expose them for what they are. Not only are they incompetent but they are also sadistic and wicked.

“Nowhere in the world do citizens sit by idly and say nothing when their rights are being violated in this way,” he said.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/232294-fani-kayode-attacks-buhari-osinbajo-over-raid-of-ekweremadus-guest-house.html

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Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu

Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has condemned what he called a raid on his official guesthouse in Maitama area of Abuja by men of the Nigeria Police Force from the Inspector General of Police Special Squad.

He said the raid was motivated by people with selfish political motives who wanted to push him out of office to pave way for the realisation of their ambition.Similarly, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senate Caucus yesterday also condemned in strong terms the raid.

A statement issued yesterday by Ekweremadu’s media adviser, Uche Anichukwu, said at the end of the search, nothing incriminating was found.Ekweremadu wondered why he was not put on notice before the search was carried out, pointing out that “in spite of the fact that they (the policemen) were informed that the property his the guest house, they nevertheless proceeded to thoroughly search it without establishing any contact with him or any of his senior staff.

The statement also said that the steward, Oliver Ogenyi, was taken away by the policemen to the Special Anti-Robbery (SARS) Office, Garki, Abuja, where the IGP Special Squad’s office is also located, but was later released after making a statement.

Ekweremadu said although he is a law-abiding citizen who does not dispute the fact that the security agencies are empowered by law to carry out searches on premises in accordance with the law, he is aware that the law requires that the owner of the property or his representative must be informed and should be present during the search.

The statement reads in part: “Ekweremadu is worried about the manner in which his guest house was raided. The questions are: Was there a search warrant? What were they looking for? Who searched the Police officers before the search? Who supervised the search?

“Instructively, this incident comes just a few weeks after Ekweremadu, on May 3, 2017, read to the Senate in plenary a written, but anonymous tip-off by a patriotic Nigerian on a plot to plant incriminating sums of foreign currencies, arms and ammunitions in a house linked to him under the pretext of the whistle blower policy. The aim, according to the source, was to rubbish, arrest, prosecute and ultimately remove Ekweremadu from office.”

“It is also apposite at this point to inform Nigerians that the Deputy President of the Senate had received at least three different forewarnings from various highly-placed sources before the written tip-off he read before the Senate, and they all pointed in the same direction: a clandestine effort to uproot the Senator from office by all means possible.”

According to the statement, “this latest act of desperation, intimidation, and disregard for due process further substantiates all the forewarnings.”On the motive for the raid, the statement further disclosed:

“we have it on good authority that agencies of government are currently scavenging through all the land registries and various banks within and outside the country to find incriminating reasons to arrest, embarrass, and prosecute him.

“The Deputy President of the Senate is also aware of a report revealing that some people within the government met with some top echelons of the security and anti-graft agencies at Maitama, Abuja, on May 17, 2017, to explore strategies to the arrest, prosecute, and remove him and some other Senators out of political circulation, by hook or crook to pave way for a total takeover of the National Assembly.”

It said that “these schemers have scheduled to meet again on June 13, 2017 as they hope to conclude their evil and anti-democratic machinations during the annual recess of the National Assembly when lawmakers will not be on ground to resist them.”

The statement drew attention to the fact that Nigerians that “Ekweremadu and the Senate President were, in June 2016, arraigned before a Federal Capital Territory High Court on trumped-up charges of forgery of Senate Standing Rules (2015) even when the petition by members of the Senate Unity Forum, statements by Senators and bureaucrats interrogated by the police, and indeed the police report itself did not mention, let alone accuse or indict any of them of any wrongdoing. The Senate’s presiding officers were docked when the proof of evidence did not establish any culpability on their part”

“The orchestrated political trial, calculated witch-hunt, barefaced intimidation, and clear attempt to emasculate the parliament and silence the leadership of the Senate, was eventually, but reluctantly withdrawn when external counsel briefed by the AGF, after studying the file, advised the Federal Government to do so” The statement said:

The Caucus, in a statement in Abuja by its spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, described the Police action as unwarranted, unacceptable and a deliberate attempt to muzzle the opposition.

Abaribe also faulted police explanations that they acted on whistle blower tip off, noting the “failed gestapo-like operation was nothing but a smokescreen to cover up a carefully orchestrated plot to intimidate Ekweremadu and by so doing cow the opposition from pointing out the failings of the government of the day.”


According to the caucus, “the raid was a willful affront on democracy.”“We had raised alarm on this plot not too long ago and now they have carried out the assignment only to reach a dead end, to the embarrassment of the Police and other anti-democratic forces bent on casting a wicked shadow on our fledgling democracy.

“We of the Senate PDP Caucus will never be intimidated or cowed in discharging our constitutional mandate of providing a responsible opposition. “Is it not an irony that the raid in the National Assembly guest house is coming on the eve of the Democracy Day anniversary?

“A raid on a property of another arm of government is a dangerous continuation of attack on the institutions that effects the needed checks on the excesses of the executive.
“It cast an ominous sign and this must stop,” Abaribe said.

http://www.guardian.ng