₦airaland Forum

NPP Smells Cover Up In Amidu’s Sack
Source: Daily Guide - Daily Guide


The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has pointed at a cover-up by government in the Woyomegate debacle, describing the payment to Alfred Woyome as a stinking rip-off.

According to a statement signed by Nana Akomea, NPP's Director of Communications, Martin Amidu's Tuesday 17 th January 2012 press statement exposed 'government's efforts to cover up on the stinking payment of public money to a self-confessed NDC financier, Mr. Alfred Woyome.'

An Auditor General's report to Parliament suggested that in 2010 the NDC government paid out tranches of money to Alfred Woyome, which came out last October 2011.

'The Auditor General reported to Parliament that in 2010, the NDC government paid out GH¢58million (¢580billion) in a so-called judgment debt to Mr. Woyome.

'The report stated that the first payment was done on 4th June 2010 (GH¢41.8 or ¢ 418 billion) and the second payment done on the 26 th of September 2010 (GH¢17.0 or ¢170 billion),' the statement explained.

Additional payments were made in the first week of January 2012 and subsequent months, the NPP said.

'If the Auditor General stated in his letter that the GH¢41.8m payments were stopped in April 2010, how come he reported on it in June 2010 when the payment was supposed to have been stopped in April 2010?' the party queried.

Turning to the President, the party wondered why he did not know about what was happening regarding this issue when 'all letters of this affair from the Attorney General to the Minister of Finance and vice-versa were all copied to the office of the President?', adding, 'If the President really did not know, or was not briefed, what else is our President not told about?'

Another question the NPP posed, whose answer might give a clearer picture about what remained a murky affair was: 'How come after the court had granted the government a stay of execution on the GH¢34m on September 6, 2010, the government still went ahead and paid the GH¢34m in 2011?'

The Amidu press statement, the party noted, put a finality to the deep public suspicion of a cover-up in the Woyome payout as it (NPP) questioned the integrity of the leadership being offered by President Mills under the disturbing circumstances.

The decline by NPP officials to cooperate with the EOCO, the party explained, was borne out of a deep suspicion about cover-up actions in the Woyome affair.

'The officials are fully ready to take part in an enquiry/investigation that would be conducted in public by an independent body, and this is what the bi-partisan Public Accounts Committee of Parliament offers,' the statement expatiated.

The NPP, the statement declared, had joined their compatriots in demanding to know which minister Mr. Amidu alluded to in his bombshell press release, adding, 'The NPP and Ghanaians want nothing less than the whole truth in this Woyome pay-out.!'

By A.R. Gomda
 
http://www.modernghana.com/news/373139/1/npp-smells-cover-up-in-amidu8217s-sack.html

Marianne Gingrich, Newt’s ex-wife, says he wanted ‘open marriage’

By James V. Grimaldi,

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich in 1999 asked his second wife for an “open marriage” or a divorce at the same time he was giving speeches around the country on family and religious values, his former wife, Marianne, said Thursday.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Marianne Gingrich said her former husband called her on May 10, 1999, as she was having dinner with her 84-year-old mother and said, “I want a divorce.”

“Is there anybody else?” Marianne Gingrich recalled saying. “He was quiet. Within two seconds, when he didn’t immediately answer, I knew.”

Two days later, Newt Gingrich gave a speech at a conference titled “The Demise of American Culture” sponsored by the Republican Women Leaders Forum in Erie, Pa. Gingrich extolled the virtues of the Founding Fathers and criticized liberal politicians for supporting tax increases, which he said hurt families and children. In the speech, which was televised on C-SPAN, he spoke often of God, families and values.

“When a liberal talks about values, will he or she actually like us to teach American history?” Gingrich told the women’s group. “Will they actually like young people to learn that George Washington was an ethical man? A man of standards, a man who earned the right to be father of this country?”

Marianne Gingrich said she was surprised at the timing. “How could he ask me for a divorce on Monday and within 48 hours give a speech on family values and talk about how people treat people?” she said.

At the Republican presidential debate Thursday night, Gingrich responded directly to his ex-wife’s allegations for the first time, issuing a blanket denial. “The story is false,” he said.

After Gingrich’s comments at the debate, Marianne Gingrich declined to direcly respond to the denial, other than to say she was sticking by her story, which she said is “the truth.”

Earlier in the day at a campaign event in South Carolina, the former speaker of the House had called the interviews with his former wife “tawdry and inappropriate” and refused to answer questions about them. “I’m not going to say anything about Marianne,” he said with his third wife, Callista, standing a few paces behind him.

Gingrich has said on several occasions that he has made mistakes in his life and has asked God for forgiveness.

Marianne Gingrich, 60, has been publicly critical of her former husband in the past, but her most recent accounts are more explicit about the demise of their marriage.

She said she was speaking out because she wanted her story told from her point of view rather than to be depicted as a victim or suffer a whisper campaign by supporters of her former husband’s presidential bid.

She said she had received so many requests for interviews that “it was unavoidable” and“I knew I wouldn’t get through this year without” doing an interview.

In the four weeks after Gingrich asked for a divorce, the couple saw a counselor, and he seemed to vacillate, Marianne Gingrich said. She had learned the name of his paramour, Callista Bisek — now his wife — although Newt Gingrich never talked about her by name. Callista had worked in the House for a GOP representative from Wisconsin, her home state, and then as clerk of the House Agriculture Committee.

After one counseling session, Newt Gingrich asked Marianne for an “open marriage” — though not in exactly those words — so that he could see other women, she said.

Marianne, who had attended services in a Baptist church with her husband, refused.

“He said the problem with me was I wanted him all to myself,” she said. “I said, ‘That’s what marriage is.’ He said [of Callista], ‘She doesn’t care what I do.’ ”

Marianne said, “He was asking me for an open marriage, and I wouldn’t do it.”

Later, Marianne said, her husband told her, “In a few years I’m going to run for president. She’s going to help me become president.”

The divorce was “ugly,” she said, and the stress exacerbated her multiple sclerosis.

Marianne Gingrich also spoke about her marriage to ABC News’s “Nightline” in an interview aired Thursday. Newt Gingrich’s daughters from his first marriage wrote a letter Wednesday to the network asking that the broadcast be killed.

For more than a decade, daughter Kathy Lubbers served as president and chief executive of Gingrich Communications, which promoted her father’s speeches and activities. It was disbanded last year when he decided to run for president.

Her sister, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, has earned more than $56,000 working for her father’s campaign committees in the past two years, records show.

Marianne Gingrich, who was a full-time political wife when married to Gingrich, said many of her views of her former husband and his political positions are positive. She believes that she and Gingrich, whom she married in 1981, accomplished a lot together when he was in Congress.

She said Gingrich has not spoken to her since the divorce.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/marianne-gingrich-newts-ex-wife-says-he-wanted-open-marriage/2012/01/19/gIQAJzgwAQ_story.html?tid=sm_twitter_postpoliticshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/marianne-gingrich-newts-ex-wife-says-he-wanted-open-marriage/2012/01/19/gIQAJzgwAQ_story.html?tid=sm_twitter_postpolitics?hpid=z1#photo=1

johnie:
That was a shift from the preliminary results the party announced after the Jan. 3 caucuses, which showed the former Massachusetts governor winning Iowa by eight votes. Iowa Republican leaders said that they had still not received results from eight of the state’s 1,774 precincts.[/color][/b]


The news does not alter the bottom line of the GOP primary race: the number of delegates that Santorum or Romney will receive at the national convention. For all their hype, the Iowa caucuses do not actually decide that.

Romney, for his part, issued a statement calling the results “a virtual tie.”’

Santorum’s strange, belated victory also served to embarrass the Iowa GOP — which had to admit that it had misallocated some votes, and simply lost some others, in a razor’s-edge election where every vote mattered.

It also cast an unflattering light on the old-fashioned and convoluted system that the party uses to collect and count caucus votes.


In fact, Iowa Republican leaders seemed to cast doubt on their own results, saying Thursday that it was hard to declare a “winner” without knowing what happened in those eight precincts. Matthew N. Strawn, the state party chairman, simply “congratulated” Santorum and Romney “on a hard-fought effort during the closest contest in caucus history.”[/color]


But some Form E’s didn’t show up at all.[/b]


But now it is too late for the missing votes to count.

“It’s done,” said a party spokesman, who asked that his name not be used. About the missing votes, he said: “We never got ’em. We tried to track ’em down, and for whatever reason, we don’t have them.”

One of the missing forms was from the Geneva-Reeve precinct, which covers two small towns in Iowa’s midsection. Local volunteers in that precinct were supposed to return Form E to the county GOP chair, Karen Zander.

After the caucuses, Zander said she gathered paperwork that was sent to her from precincts across the county. She emptied the envelopes and sorted the loose papers into piles.

Then she bundled the Form E’s that she found together and sent them in. So how did that single one vanish? Zander said she doesn’t know: Did the volunteers at the caucus site lose it? Did she misplace it in the shuffle of paperwork?

“Now that the count is done, I don’t think that there’s anything we can do about it,” she said. “I’m going to take the blame for it, because I am the county chair. . . . If I blame one of [the volunteers], I’ll never get another precinct chair to volunteer.”

[size=18pt]
I thought they said "it is only in Nigeria that these things happen?"[/size]

johnie:
One of the missing forms was from the Geneva-Reeve precinct, which covers two small towns in Iowa’s midsection. Local volunteers in that precinct were supposed to return Form E to the county GOP chair, Karen Zander.

After the caucuses, Zander said she gathered paperwork that was sent to her from precincts across the county. She emptied the envelopes and sorted the loose papers into piles.

Then she bundled the Form E’s that she found together and sent them in. So how did that single one vanish? Zander said she doesn’t know: Did the volunteers at the caucus site lose it? Did she misplace it in the shuffle of paperwork?

“Now that the count is done, I don’t think that there’s anything we can do about it,” she said. “I’m going to take the blame for it, because I am the county chair. . . . If I blame one of [the volunteers], I’ll never get another precinct chair to volunteer.”

This is the part I like.

Few people would be like Ms Zander and take responsibility.

[quote author=baba_eko link=topic=804007.msg9928481#msg9928481 date=1326128105]Hello Johnie,

Whats the daily commute now like, lets say from Ajah to the intersection with Falomo bridge.
Last time I done it about a year ago, takes me about an hour and can take almost 2hrs or more on a bad day.

Is it now on a cruizing level with the expressway, best time I ever done from phase 1 to Ajah is 20 mins on a sunday afternoon. Any advice on the alternative road or is it just not worth the hassle ?[/quote]I cannot give you the commute position from Ajah to Falomo as my journey is somewhere in between.

What I can tell you is that between Chevron and Falomo, traffic has eased tremendously compared to about a year ago.

The challenge within that space however is with the roundabouts. Vehicles tend to congregate at the round abouts causing some delays.

Other than that it is a smooth ride except if you decide to drive through the 'alternative' route where there are some choke points.


Talking about the other direction, (I.e. going home from Falomo to Ajah) the same pattern as the morning applied from Falomo to Chevron.

However from Chevron round about to Ajah is still as chaotic as it has ever been in not worse.

Between Chevron round about and Oluwanishola Estate (Eleganza) could take an hour in some instances!

Hope this is useful information.

Anyone with more information may also add.

Osun Police parade alleged killer of protester, 22 others
On January 19, 2012 · In News
Tweet

By GBENGA OLARINOYE
OSOGBO—Osun state Police command yesterday paraded 23 suspects, including one Lawrence Dada who allegedly murdered a protester in Osogbo during the last nationwide protest against fuel subsidy removal.

Parading the suspects in Osogbo, Osun state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olusegun Solomon, said the suspects were picked up in different locations in the state in the last three weeks.

He disclosed that Dada aka “The Law” with his friend, Tunde Ajiboye, while driving his car with number plate XG 109 AA  on January 9,  this year at Jolayemi junction in Osogbo met a road block mounted by labour strike protesters.

According to him, a quarrel ensued between them and the protesters where Dada Lawrence was said to have inflicted a deep machete cut on one Mojeed Wale Kareem’s head during a free for all which eventually resulted in his death.

The Commissioner said  the suspects had made useful information to the police while investigation was still ongoing.

Similarly, five suspects were also paraded for the alleged murder of an 80- year old, James Komolafe on his farm at Jagun village, Osun sate in December last year.

The Police boss recalled that the deceased with his son, Olagunju Komolafe, went to the farm at Jagun village where they saw one Ajibade Adeoye and Omoworare Adesoji felling trees in his farm.

He said: “An argument ensued between them which was later settled. Thereafter, the deceased’s son left for his farm but on his return to his father’s farm he could not see his father and went back home to inform his elder brother, Wale Komolafe of the development.

“Search was conducted around the farm where the deceased was found dead in his pool of blood. Police investigations later revealed that the suspects used their Dorman sawing machine to cut the deceased in the face, killed him and hid his corpse in the forest where it was later found.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/osun-police-parade-alleged-killer-of-protester-22-others/

Santorum finished 34 votes ahead of Romney in new Iowa tally; votes from 8 precincts missing

By David A. Fahrenthold and Debbi Wilgoren,


Rick Santorum won the Iowa caucuses Thursday — 16 days after the last vote was cast — when the state Republican Party said a final count showed him 34 votes ahead of Mitt Romney.

That was a shift from the preliminary results the party announced after the Jan. 3 caucuses, which showed the former Massachusetts governor winning Iowa by eight votes. Iowa Republican leaders said that they had still not received results from eight of the state’s 1,774 precincts.

 After what was widely considered an unfocused and bloated campaign in 2008, the Republican former Massachusetts governor is returning to the presidential sweepstakes with a more tightly knit team.

The news does not alter the bottom line of the GOP primary race: the number of delegates that Santorum or Romney will receive at the national convention. For all their hype, the Iowa caucuses do not actually decide that.

But Santorum’s belated victory did seem likely to alter the pundits’ narrative of the Republican race — by demonstrating that the long-shot former senator from Pennsylvania did, indeed, have the ability to beat the front-runner.

At least once. By a little bit.

“The narrative that Governor Romney and the media have been touting of ‘inevitability’ has been destroyed,” Santorum communications director Hogan Gidley said in a news release. “Conservatives can now see and believe they don’t have to settle for Romney, the Establishment’s moderate candidate.”

Santorum’s squeaker victory means that Romney can no longer claim to be the only non-incumbent Republican candidate since 1976 to win both the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.

Romney, for his part, issued a statement calling the results “a virtual tie.”’

Santorum’s strange, belated victory also served to embarrass the Iowa GOP — which had to admit that it had misallocated some votes, and simply lost some others, in a razor’s-edge election where every vote mattered.

It also cast an unflattering light on the old-fashioned and convoluted system that the party uses to collect and count caucus votes.

“It should be like a fine Swiss watch,” said Iowa State political science professor Steffen Schmidt. “It’s really more like a sundial.” He said the system used by Iowa Democrats was not significantly better.

In fact, Iowa Republican leaders seemed to cast doubt on their own results, saying Thursday that it was hard to declare a “winner” without knowing what happened in those eight precincts. Matthew N. Strawn, the state party chairman, simply “congratulated” Santorum and Romney “on a hard-fought effort during the closest contest in caucus history.”

This is how the process is supposed to work:

On caucus night, local volunteers collect the votes of local Republicans. Often, this is done by asking voters to write their choices on small slips of paper, all in a uniform color to prevent fraud.

After the votes are counted up (and bad handwriting is puzzled out), local officials write each candidate’s total on something called a “Form E.” This form — but not the ballots themselves — is then sent to the state GOP.

Thursday’s final count came from these forms, which had to be submitted by Wednesday evening. The Des Moines Register, citing unidentified officials in the Iowa GOP, reported that in 131 precincts, the forms showed numbers different than those reported on caucus night.

But some Form E’s didn’t show up at all.

The state party found that it was missing results from eight precincts, spread across five counties. The eight precincts probably did not account for a huge number of votes — in the 2008 GOP caucuses, they had a total of 298 votes. But in this election, of course, 298 votes could easily have swung the outcome.

But now it is too late for the missing votes to count.

“It’s done,” said a party spokesman, who asked that his name not be used. About the missing votes, he said: “We never got ’em. We tried to track ’em down, and for whatever reason, we don’t have them.”

One of the missing forms was from the Geneva-Reeve precinct, which covers two small towns in Iowa’s midsection. Local volunteers in that precinct were supposed to return Form E to the county GOP chair, Karen Zander.

After the caucuses, Zander said she gathered paperwork that was sent to her from precincts across the county. She emptied the envelopes and sorted the loose papers into piles.

Then she bundled the Form E’s that she found together and sent them in. So how did that single one vanish? Zander said she doesn’t know: Did the volunteers at the caucus site lose it? Did she misplace it in the shuffle of paperwork?

“Now that the count is done, I don’t think that there’s anything we can do about it,” she said. “I’m going to take the blame for it, because I am the county chair. . . . If I blame one of [the volunteers], I’ll never get another precinct chair to volunteer.”

Staff writers Philip Rucker and Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/report-santorum-finished-34-votes-ahead-of-romney-in-new-iowa-tally-votes-from-8-precincts-missing/2012/01/19/gIQAJGuRAQ_story.html

Ghanaian president sacks justice minister for “misconduct”
On January 19, 2012 · In News
Tweet

ACCRA(AFP) -Ghana’s President John Evans Atta Mills on Thursday sacked Justice Minister Martin Amidu for “misconduct” during a cabinet meeting, an official statement said.

According to media reports, Amidu — a lawyer who took office last year — levelled serious accusations of corruption at some of his government colleagues but was unable to substantiate them.

“Mr Amidu’s behaviour is incompatible with acceptable standards expected of ministers and appointees of the president,” said the statement from the office of the president, who chaired the January 13 meeting.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/ghanaian-president-sacks-justice-minister-for-misconduct/

Police arraign 20 youths in Lagos over protests
By Adebisi Onanuga 19/01/2012 00:00:00
Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font

The Police in Lagos yesterday arraigned 20 youths before two Ikeja Magistrate’s Courts for offences ranging from possession of offensive weapons, unlawful assembly, conspiracy and breach of public peace.

The suspects were arrested during the six-day protests against petrol subsidy removal. They were charged before Magistrates A.T. Omoyele and A.O. Akinde.

Ahmed Jayeola, Daniel Sani, Taye Alani, Abiodun Olatunji, Gbenga Balogun, Ganiyu Amoo, Hassan Sikiru, Moshood Alao, Jamiu Alabi and Rasheed Gani were arrested at Ijora on January 10.

The prosecutor, Inspector Roman Unnigbe, said the accused persons wielded four cutlasses and other weapons and caused fear in the public.

Jamiu Oyewole, Jubril Wasiu, Bola Shinabola, Suraju Yakubu, Adekunle Yusuf, Kamorudeen Owolabi, Nojeemdeen Oshota, Fadare Babatunde, Sule Oladeyinbo and Oluwafemi Adewole were arrested at Ijaiye and Iyana Ipaja last Friday.

Police prosecutor Bridget Abor said the suspects conspired with others at large to cause a breach of peace.

All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

They were granted bail in the sum of N10,000 each with one surety in like sum, who must provide evidence of tax payment.

The magistrates adjourned hearing till February 16.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/33804-police-arraign-20-youths-in-lagos-over-protests.html

LASUTH Records 2 Deaths, Treats 72 Emergency Cases

The Head, Surgical Emergency Unit, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr. Ibrahim Mustafa said that two patients died out of the 72 patients treated for emergencies during the nationwide strike.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that 40 of the patients were currently receiving treatment while 21 of them had been discharged.

He said that 12 of those treated for injuries sustained during the strike were referred to other hospitals for further treatment.

“Many of the victims suffered from trauma cases, gunshot wounds, head injuries and cases of multiple stabbing.

“The casualties were mostly protesters brought here from different parts of the state, “ he said.

Mustafa told NAN that the management of LASUTH had placed the Emergency Unit on standby before the strike began because it anticipated such cases and prepared for them.

A medical practitioner at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Dr. Shopekhai Itakpe, told NAN that no protester was brought in for treatment during the strike.

He said that out-patients were very few during the strike.

“The few cases we treated were those that suffered as a result of one form of domestic accident that affected their bones or muscles,“ he said.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2012/01/19/lasuth-records-2-deaths-treats-72-emergeny-cases/

Thugs loot Lagos education, district offices
By Adegunle Olugbamila 19/01/2012 00:00:00

Like bees, they swarmed on the building, looting. The security-man fled when he saw them coming.

It all happend last Monday at the Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) and Inspectorate Unit of Education District V, in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.

   They came under the guise of being part of those protesting the fuel subsidy removal.

The day had opened with the nationwide strike declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the civil society organisations over the policy under the price of petrol, which jumped from N65 per litre to N141. However, things appeared calm until about 10am when a horde of hoodlums suddenly swarmed the streets in the guise of protesting the hike.

But they had a different mission - to loot, and the LGEA was one of the first places visited.  [/b]The LGEA shares premises with the Ojo chapter of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) as well as the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation licensing unit.

"It was about 10am. [b]The boys numbering about 200 came from Alaba Rago (an Hausa commercial neighbouhood, a stone throw to the building).  Immediately, I saw them I ran away because I was the only person here and I knew my strength couldn't match theirs. The thugs then forced the gate opened, smashed some of the windscreens of the vehicles within the premises and then stormed the building destroying everything in sight. They started removing air-conditioners, laptops and desktop computers, flat screen television sets and some commercial motocylces seized by the FRSC.

"Meanwhile, I stayed at a safe distance helpless as the hoodlums looted the building. In the midst of the operation, which lasted for over two hours, I called one of our ogas (boss) on phone to intimate him of what was happening. He immediately alerted the DPO of PPL police station who deployed some of his men. But when they arrived and saw the number of the hoodlums looting the building, they were afraid to move close to them.

"About two hours after, the police arrived with more officers but by this time, the entire building had been looted and the few hoodlums left ran off at the sight of the police."

Deputy Director of the District V Inspectorate Unit, Mr Rufus Adebayo, said the cost of stolen items runs into millions of naira.

Speaking through the district Public Relations Officer, Mrs Yinka Okunade, Adebayo told The Nation on phone that the Education Commissioner, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, was immediately informed of the development, adding that plans are in the top gear to work with the police to fish out the hoodlums.

"The police are aware of this and investigation is still on course," Adebayo said.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/education/33741-thugs-loot-lagos-education-district-offices.html

[quote author=ndu_chucks link=topic=850354.msg10005456#msg10005456 date=1327045096]An unintended consequence of the subsidy removal of Jan. 1, is the uniting of Nigerians against incompetence, corruption & fraud. I will give the protesting masses credit for this. People like Beaf have a right to give the credit to GEJ and his handlers.[/quote]The Law of Unintended Consequences

The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of people—and especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. Economists and other social scientists have heeded its power for centuries; for just as long, politicians and popular opinion have largely ignored it.

The concept of unintended consequences is one of the building blocks of economics. Adam Smith’s “invisible hand,” the most famous metaphor in social science, is an example of a positive unintended consequence. Smith maintained that each individual,  seeking only his own gain, “is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention,” that end being the public interest. “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, or the baker, that we expect our dinner,” Smith wrote, “but from regard to their own self interest.”

http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/UnintendedConsequences.html

Lekki-Epe Expressway Row: Lagos To Sue Tribune

The Lagos State Government says it is heading to court over what it calls unfounded reports on the Lekki-Epe Expressway crisis by one of the dailies, Nigerian Tribune.

The newspaper had carried an advertorial yesterday captioned: “Governor Fashola, practice what you preach! Unlike the Lekki Toll Protest, the Army has not brutalised any Lagosian. Don’t send police to brutalise Lekki protesters and turn around to condemn the deployment of troops who have brutalised no one.”

The advertorial brought into the fore the reports of the Sunday Tribune of 18 December, 2011 in which the newspaper wrote: “1 killed, many injured in Lekki Tollgate Protest.”

At a news conference on Wednesday, the Lagos State Government lamented that the newspaper had consistently painted the government black over the issue, even when nobody died during the protest.

The advertorial was signed by Adamu Maimagani, the Social Secretary of One Nigeria Group.

Speaking at the conference at the Government Secretariat, Alausa in Ikeja, Lagos, South West Nigeria, attended by the Commissioners for Information and Strategy Mr. Adeyemi Ibirogba, his Environment counterpart, Mr. Tunji Bello as well as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye said government was pissed off by the advertorial.

Ipaiye said government had no issues with any section of the Nigerian press, adding, “we are taking it serious with this newspaper because it has thrown professionalism into the winds.

“We’ll deal with the newspaper legally because it has deviated from ethics of journalism based on truth, fair comment and professionalism.”

According to Ipaye, there was a row during the Lekki-Epe protest but insisted that no one died during the protest as the man purported to have died reported at the police station to debunk the story.

The Attorney General stated that investigations by the police later revealed that the man that was alleged to have been killed was a 39-year old employee of Power Holding of Nigeria (PHCN), Mr. Femi Ogunsanya.

He argued that the national daily deliberately doctored the report and the photograph of the alleged protester that was killed in order to further aggravate the protest and drag the image of the government in the mud.

“The man was actually arrested by the police during the pandemonium but he was later released to Mr. Alaba Williams,” he stated.

Also speaking, Commissioner for the Environment, Bello said the report carried by the newspaper was malicious and that in line with journalistic ethics, the newspaper should have retracted the story by now.

He said the government would drag Tribune before the Nigeria Press Council over the report and then explore legal option to seek redress.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2012/01/18/lekki-epe-expressway-row-lagos-to-sue-tribune/

Rad1cal,

that's a nice signature you have there!

Reading this now against the background of recent events, one wonders if:

a. this is a self-fulfilling prophecy;

b. this is a self-defeating prediction;

c. this a manifestation of the law of unintended consequences ;

d. the SNG is the forerunner (John the Baptist ) of this messiah (dictator) or;

e. this is one of the reasons soldiers were deployed to checkmate  those calling for "regime change"



. . . Just the musing of a befuddled Nigerian

The Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, today predicted that a dictator is coming to fix Nigeria


The running mate to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, in this year’s election, said during his sermon at his Lagos-based church today that the dictator that is coming would be very ruthless.

He said the cleansing that the former Ghanaian President, Jerry Rawlings, carried out in his country would be a child’s play compared to what the coming Nigerian dictator would do.

Pastor Bakare said the coming dictator may not necessarily be a military man, adding that Nigerians should be prepared to face the consequences of failing to choose the right leaders.

According to him, when one refuses to learn from past blunders one’s future destiny is destroyed.

He said what is about to happen in the country cannot be prayed or wished away because prayers cannot change prophecy.

Bakare, who was preaching on the topic: ‘The Prophet As A Sign To The Nation’, said MKO Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Gani Fawehinmi, Beko Ransome-Kuti and others who died in the course of the struggle to entrench democracy in the country did not die in vain.

He said just as his house got burnt and is now being rebuilt, that is how the coming dictator would cleanse the country to pave the way for a new Nigeria.

He assured that his prophecy would be fulfilled soon.

Last Sunday, he also spoke about the coming dictator, quoting Prof. Alexander Tyler who said “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves a largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority will always vote for the candidate promising the most from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policies and is always followed by a dictatorship.”

He said this happened in 1983 when former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s government was toppled by the military and the reign of dictators followed.

The fiery preacher expressed worry over the state of the economy and lambasted those belly-aching over the introduction of Islamic banking.

He said those doing so are just chasing shadows whereas what is urgently needed is to save the economy that is now in dire strait.

He those who are not comfortable with Islamic banking should go and start their own Christian banking, adding that investors are only interested in banks

^^^

Omo, you never blow your cover so?

djustice:
Fashola should be ready to face a MASS PROTEST against the obnoxious Toll Gates on Lekki Epe expressway on Saturday. What is good for the goose is surely good for the gander. Any attempt by RRS or ACN thugs to stop that protest will be STIFFLY RESISTED.

We are ready for WAR in Lekki. If he doubts it, let him bring it on. While he authorises protests sponsored by his godfather, he would use RRS to put down protests against the exploitation of the people by the same tin-god?

Saturday will be very interesting in Ojota and Lekki.

You can see why they have been shouting themselves hoarse that they want STATE POLICE!

is the 'dictator' here now?

No wonder!  I thought the name sounded familiar.

bilaya:
Journalists on the stables of The News, TSM and Tell were the worse hit. The publisher of the now rested TSM, Chris Anyanwu, who is now a senator, narrated how Biu physically assaulted her and practically got her eyes permanently impaired. Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) Dr. Frederick Fasehun, can never forget Biu, whom he told the Oputa Panel set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo how the embattled cop assaulted him. Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who was Managing Editor of The News, said Biu put a gun to his head, threatening to blast his brain.

The Borno-born cop is also criticised over the death of a reporter with The News, Bagauda Kaltho.Biu claims Kaltho was trying to detonate a bomb in a hotel and got killed in the process. Kaltho’s widow was also tricked by Biu to reveal information about Independent Communications Nigeria Limited (ICNL), publishers of The News on the pretext of reuniting her with her husband. It turned out he only deceived the woman, as he used the information to invade the magazine’s offices, carting away its property. Of course, he also arrested workers found on site during the raid. Biu’s deceit became clear to Mrs. Kaltho after the dreaded cop announced her husband’s death. He claimed a copy of Wole Soyinka’s book, The Man Died, was found at the scene where Kaltho was supposedly consumed by a bomb he was trying to detonate. Yet the book was not defaced by the explosion, which killed Kaltho! His remains were never released to his family.


When Biu appeared before the panel, he refused to be put on oath with the Holy Quran, because “he is not pure.” He denied all the allegations against him.

A retired Commissioner of Police Abubakar Tsav, who also appeared before the panel, debunked Biu’s claim. He said: “Everything he is saying is not true. I mean the evidence he gave in respect of Bagauda Kaltho. He said he got photographs from the wife of Bagauda Kaltho. He also said he got reports from the SSS through the Inspector-General of Police, which said the person who was killed in the bomb blast at the Durbar Hotel was Bagauda Kaltho. And he said that he never met Bagauda anywhere in his life. Then how could he come to that conclusion that the man killed was Bagauda Kaltho? He merely saw his pictures …He (Biu) should be in prison. As far as I’m concerned, he is a prisoner on parole.”

bilaya:
Like Ringim, Biu is due for retirement next month.

Let's see if he would wriggle out of this one.

bilaya:
How did such a man like this get back into the Nigerian police force?

Your answer is right there:

bilaya:
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was sent to jail by the Abacha regime, felt Biu was not fit for the force. He was said to have asked then Inspector-General of Police Musiliu Smith if the controversial cop was still in the force, after meeting him at a function. Not long after this, Biu was dismissed.

The Nation learnt that after Obasanjo’s exit from power, Biu petitioned the PSC. Mike Okiro was the IGP then. [b]Biu said he was retired without getting a fair hearing. He argued that by law, only the commission could fire him. Osayande saw merit in his case and ordered his recall.

The then Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said: “Biu is back in the Force as his name had never been removed from the Police register. Biu is now an instructor at the Police Academy in Wudil, Kano State.”

Ringim’s emergence as IGP paid off for Biu, as he was entrusted with curbing terrorism, which in the country is synonymous with an insurgent group, Boko Haram, whose root is deep in Borno, Biu’s home state. [/b]

Free lance activist?

That's a new one I would add to my dictionary.

Pukkah:
Petroleum minister Diezani Allison-Madueke and Comptroller General of Customs Abdullahi Dikko Inde yesterday gave conflicting testimonies over petrol imports and subsidy payments during a hearing by a House of Representatives committee in Abuja.

Allison-Madueke was the first to speak, saying that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation no longer imports petrol and that only private importers were involved.

She also said part of the fraud in the system was smuggling out of petrol on which government had already paid subsidy.

But when it was his turn to speak, Inde, who was represented by the Deputy Comptroller General in charge of Accounts and Tariff Julius Ndubuisi Nwogu, said contrary to the minister’s assertion, NNPC was still importing petrol because he had possession of a manifest that showed that the corporation brought petrol into the country in December.

The Customs official displayed a copy of a document showing that NNPC imported petrol for December 2011 which was discharged at Calabar port, “and was solely imported by NNPC but we don’t know the country of origin but was brought through Cotonou off shore.”

She said the finance ministry authorises such deductions. But on Monday Finance Minister Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala denied authorising subsidy deductions.

How would we know the truth if they don't contradict themselves.

Make dem carry go jare!

Pukkah:
Inde also said rather than “smuggling” as mentioned by the minister, what was happening was “diversion” because large vessels importing fuel supposedly to Nigeria do not reach the country’s shores but were kept in territorial waters of Benin or Togo while smaller vessels ferry only a fraction of the fuel to Nigeria.

He said oil importers including the NNPC perpetrate fraud by keeping the “mother vessels” on Benin or Togo territorial waters and using smaller vessels to bring in the petroleum products.

Oga thank you. We sef don dey wonder say  wetin customs dey do for border wen dem dey smuggle so much fuel cross border!

Pukkah:
The Customs chief said apart from petrol, NNPC also imports crude oil to the Kaduna refinery.

“Kaduna refinery runs on imported crude not domestic and no duty is paid on that till date. NNPC imports it through Warri port and move it straight to Kaduna refinery,” he said.

I have never heard this one before.

So we import crude oil too?

Pukkah:
Earlier, Mrs. Allison-Madueke said contrary to the popular belief, there was no group of oil importers who constitute themselves into a cabal.

So who is the fellow that introduced them term 'cabal' into our national fuel lexicon

Pukkah:
The petroleum minister also said the government was yet to arrive at exact amount of money spent on subsidising petrol as “we are still grappling with the figures.” She added that it would take at least four months to finish the computation.

Too much money!

pedestal82:
Fani Kayode is a fooooool. Nigeria! Ha! I weep for u. Can u imagine this man still able to talk, imagine coming out to say he is on the side of the masses during the subsidy row. Make I'm shut up abeg.

That's politricks for you!

When you lose out in the game, you become an "opposition" figure fighting for the masses by criticising every move of your former pals.

E.g.

Nasir El Rufai
Dino Melaye
Femi Fani Kayode
Patrick Obahiagbon

Please remind me of the others . . .

karl max:
Those who said the that the protest was peaceful is the above a discription of a peaceful protest? Eko ile and co pls I need your answer!!

Over 16 hours. Still no reply?

Since when? (lati igba wo?)

Explosion At Castle Over Woyomegate
Source: Daily Guide - Daily Guide

There is a flurry of activities at the Castle as the Mills administration struggles to douse the inferno that has engulfed the government over the GH¢58million Woyome saga.

The Attorney General's recent statement condemning certain anomalies in government and an allusion to a minister scheming against him because of a possibility that he would initiate a case which could implicate her criminally in the Woyomegate has for instance shaken the Castle to its foundation.

Unconfirmed information suggests that the AG is being asked to consider resigning, a call being fuelled by die-hard pro-Mills elements.

The Woyome saga remains a major fault-line in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Martin Amidu statement of a few days ago has widened the rift.

Unconfirmed reports said Mr. Amidu had been asked to leave the government following his explosive letter complaining about people allegedly fleecing the state in the name of a political party.

Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, speaking on Metro TV yesterday, said the Attorney General would be made to substantiate his claims, confirming the president's discomfort with the internal feud in his cabinet.

Mr. Amidu had said that some criminally-minded individuals parading as party members were causing harm to the corporate body of Ghana in the name of their political affiliations and that he was against the use of party name to commit crime.

'I have faith and belief in my Ministerial oath of office as a Minister of State and my cabinet oath that requires me to 'uphold, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the Republic of the Ghana as by law established…

'I wish to assure the people of Ghana that I still stand by my promise in spite of the fact that hard core criminals in our society today have made it a habit to hold paid membership cards of major political parties in the republic as an unconstitutional insurance against crime and criminal prosecutions.

'I wish core members and supporters of the NDC who cherish the principles and ideals upon which the party was founded to know that the attacks against me which started in the Daily Post publication of 3rd January 2012 were planned by a colleague Minister of State, who perceived that my integrity and professionalism as a lawyer was a threat to the concealment of gargantuan crimes against the people of Ghana in which they might be implicated', he said in the statement.

Even though Mr. Amidu did not mention anybody's name, fingers are being pointed at his predecessor, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who did not put up any defence against the payment of the GH¢58million to Mr. Woyome.

Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, now Minister of Education, is in the firing line, with the opposition NPP calling for her dismissal because of her handling of the Alfred Agbesi Woyome financial scandal.

Woyome did not have any contract with the state but Betty negotiated an agreement with him, leading to the payment of the gargantuan money which latest reports said stood at GH¢92million.

'I have sufficient integrity and experience as a Ghanaian and a legal practitioner who has personally conducted several leading cases reported in the Law Reports of Ghana to naively send hearsay and newspaper accusations to the courts of Justice only to lose them as was the practice a few years past.


'Cool heads are what are needed in the office of the Attorney-General and not emotions, inexperience and crass incompetence in the practice of the law', Mr Amidu stated.

He said some pro-NDC newspapers had been hired to attack his personal integrity.

'As for the section of the rented NDC press calling for my removal or dismissal from office, I wish to assure them that I never begged to be appointed Attorney-General: I opposed it on four separate occasions. That criminal section of the NDC press should be assured that I am ready, able and willing for that eventuality. The inescapable fact is that at the end of the day, truth will prevail over falsehood in the Republic of Ghana', he stressed.

Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa described the comments of the Attorney General as unfortunate.


'He is also going to be pushed to name [the minister plotting against him],' he said, observing that: 'So it appears to me that this is just the beginning of this very, very explosive statement which the Attorney General has uttered.'

Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa also described the attacks on the newspapers as unfair and expressed worry about similar developments he said could damage the NDC and bring down the government.

'There seems to be too much internal feud within the National Democratic Congress.

There seems to be too much mistrust so that when newspapers are after you, a colleague minister should necessarily be behind it… are people in an indecent haste to cause an implosion in the National Democratic Congress? Are they in hurry to return to opposition?'

The issue has opened the floodgates for various groups to trade polemics regarding the money paid to the NDC self-styled financier who made his cash available to President Mills during last year's FONKAR/GAME brouhaha.

The NDC Youth With Conviction of Principles (YWCP), a pro Rawlings group which championed the cause of the reconstruction of the gutted Ridge residence of the Rawlingses last year, had for instance demanded from President Mills a show of leadership in the face of what they considered a corruption of the ideals of the ruling party in its original form as represented by the Woyome scandal and the emanating statement from the Attorney General.

In a statement signed by the group's Coordinator, Alhaji Mohammed Naziru, they frowned at the recent matters arising from the Woyome saga, pointing out that it demanded the President's intervention so that the party's diminishing image could be shored up.

'President Mills should rise to the occasion and salvage the party and government before matters get out of hand. President Mills must show leadership now. This is the time for the NDC leadership to practically demonstrate its commitment to the party's core principles and values. We therefore do not expect anything to be swept under the carpet at the expense of transparency in the supreme interest of the Ghanaian people,' they pointed out.

With their sights on the Martin Amidu bombshell of last Thursday, the group pointed out that the issues raised in the said statement showed a deviation of the party's leadership from the ideals of the NDC.

The statement, they stressed, originating from a high-ranking member of the party and government, raised what they regarded as frightening issues.

The allusion to some elements in the NDC who were seeking to conceal crimes against the people of Ghana because they were implicated in these by the Attorney General, they noted, was also frightening, especially the leakage of official documents to sections of the press to truncate the AG's call for prosecution of criminals.

According to the grouping, 'if this is true, it certainly amounts to a sabotage of government business and injustice to the good people of Ghana.'

While taking exception to the anomaly, they said, 'We do not believe that any true member of the NDC should use his party card as 'an unconstitutional insurance against crime and prosecution' as alleged by the A-G,' adding, 'We also do not believe that any true member of the NDC should stand against probity, accountability and transparency.'

In another vein, they stated that 'neither do we believe that any true member of the NDC should be victimized or vilified for standing up to defend the ideals that form the bedrock of the NDC.'

The pro-Rawlings group's position was in sharp contrast with that of others within the party who thought that Alfred Agbesi Woyome as a member of the party should be supported by all means possible.

Some of them have been vocal on rooftops defending the so-called financial engineer.

In another development, the General Secretary of the People's National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, has taken issue with the Attorney General's statement, asking that he named the minister he made allusions to.

'To the AG, we say, name the Minister, expedite actions to prosecute the persons and bring justice to Ghanaians. Anything short of this is a slap in the face of the NDC-led government's commitment to fighting corruption, promoting good governance and strengthening democracy,' the PNC demanded.

The PNC, Mr. Mornah pointed out, 'is alarmed, terrified and surprised about the incredulous information contained in the press statement of the Attorney General which borders on potential crimes and attack on free speech and which jointly have adverse effects on Ghana's democracy.'

It is highly regrettable and irresponsible, the PNC noted, 'that his statement falls short of naming, shaming and expediting actions that will prosecute the supposed Minister of State and accomplices so as to bring justice to the good people of Ghana.'

A Daily Guide Report

http://www.modernghana.com/news/371852/1/explosion-at-castle-over-woyomegate.html

[size=14pt]I’ll not resign – Martin Amidu[/size]

The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Martin Amidu, has rubbished calls for his immediate resignation for revealing that a colleague minister is concealing “gargantuan crimes against the people of Ghana. ”

He told a private radio station - Joy Fm - that he does not have any intention of resigning now although some pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC) newspapers have been on his heels to resign for non-performance.

Mr. Amidu served notice that he intends to serve his term until the President, John Evans Atta Mills, thinks otherwise. He said he will ensure that all cases involving corruption are fought in court in the best interest of Ghana.

The A-G last Wednesday issued a strongly-worded statement throwing salvos at what he termed “criminal NDC media” - the Daily Post; the Informer; the National Democrat; the Ghanaian Lens - for allowing themselves to be “rented” to soil his reputation.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=227868

I laugh in fufulde whenever I re-read threads like this!

How did this thread I posted in the politics section get to this section?

Anyway, is is blocked?

I observed that I have not been able to log in to twitter since yesterday.

Is this general?