₦airaland Forum

And who was the president and at the same time petroleum minister when this act took place non other than the 18 page letter writing ota general. And a certain el rufai, and nuhu ribadu who today are seen by some gullible nigerians as anti- corruption crusaders as part of that administration.

US Fines Bilfinger $32m For Bribing Nigerian Officials

Posted by: Channels Television date: December 14

Bilfinger SE, the German parent company of Julius Berger, has reached a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to pay $32 million as fine for involvement in a foreign bribery scheme benefiting Nigerian government officials to obtain and retain contracts for the $387 million Eastern Gas Gathering System (EGGS) project.

An official statement by the US Justice Department says that from late 2003 through June 2005, Bilfinger conspired with Willbros Group Inc. and others to make corrupt payments totalling more than $6 million to Nigerian government officials to assist in obtaining and retaining contracts related to the EGGS project.

Bilfinger and Willbros are accused of having formed a joint venture to bid on the EGGS project and inflated the price of the joint venture’s bid by 3% to cover the cost of paying the bribes.

The statement further explained: “At another point in the conspiracy, when Willbros employees encountered difficulty obtaining enough money to make their share of the bribe payments, Bilfinger loaned them $1 million.”

Bilfinger has therefore pledged to implement rigorous internal controls, continue cooperating fully with the Justice Department, and retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for at least 18 months under the 3-year deferred agreement.

The Chief Executive Officer of Bilfinger SE, Roland Koch, said: “We are pleased that we have now been able to put these events from the distant past behind us. In recent years, Bilfinger has consistently expanded its compliance instruments and today has a modern and efficient system.”

The Department of Justice in its statement “acknowledged Bilfinger’s cooperation and its remediation efforts.”

In a separate release, Bilfinger SE said it had significantly reduced its investments in Julius Berger Nigeria PLC (JBN) in 2012, in tandem with the scope of its strategic alignment toward engineering and services. Already the company has reduced its stake in the Nigerian business from 49% to approximately 33%.

http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/12/14/us-fines-bilfinger-32m-for-bribing-nigerian-officials/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Dahomey Amazon: I guess that's why they are setting up baby factories all over the South East. Omo eran

am not igbo but is it also why child molestation and raping of of underage and babies in the sw. Crimes in nigeria are everywhere

mascot87: For everyone that think GEJ is a very good
man and he is doing well as the president of
our great country please say amen to this
prayer that nay God govern your life and lead
your life the way GEJ is governing and
leading Nigeria and Nigerians
Say Amen

amen

and may ur life be run the way obj ran nigerian. And if u and ur family ever use any infrastructure gej built or remodelled or made efficient then death would be your portion... ....

He is mad how did he sample the opinion. Of all nigerian is it not the same cnpp which the leader is an APC dog he and obj should continue deceiving themselves who does not know the objs regime was as corrupt as abacha. Obj that stole nnpc dry with his stooge mr kupolokun

Joyfullyme: Hmmm!! Thisday ... you are still saying that Chidi Lloyd was injured.

that's rivers state govt claim

I don't see why ameachi and his government are trying to stall this judgment .. Since he has more loyalist in the state assembly he has nothing to fear for. Thank God the road is clear for the high court to pass its judgment on the legality of the national assembly taking over the river state assembly.

Court Dismisses Appeals Stalling Judgment on Rivers Assembly

10 Dec 2013




 
The Court of Appeal in Abuja  Monday dismissed an application seeking a stay of further proceedings at the Federal High Court, Abuja, filed by the Rivers State House of Assembly and the Speaker of the assembly, Hon. Otelemaba Daniel Amachree.

The appellate court has therefore cleared the way for the Federal High Court to pronounce on the legality of the taking over of the functions of the assembly by the House of Representatives.

In a unanimous decision, the Appeal Court also dismissed another appeal filed by the Attorney General of the state challenging the ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja that had earlier consolidated all the processes in the case together.

Ruling in the two separate appeals were delivered Monday by Justice Abubakar Yahaya Jatijo, who dismissed both appeals but made no order as to cost.
The dismissal of the two appeals have cleared the way for the high court to hear the case challenging the decision of the House taking over the functions of the assembly.

The Rivers State AG was challenging the order of the Federal High Court that heard all the applications and consolidated them along with the substantive case. The matter was fixed for judgment on November 27, this year, before the appeal were filed.

According to Justice Jatijo, an application for stay of further proceedings that is directed at arresting the judgment of the lower court should be dismissed.
To stay further proceedings, according to him “will only prevent the lower court from carrying out its constitutional functions."

In a unanimous decision, the court held that the other appeal filed by the Rivers assembly and the Speaker was incompetent as it was also aimed at arresting the ruling of the Federal High Court that was yet to be delivered.

The court noted that the applicants should have first filed their application for stay at the trial court and also waiting for the court to deliver its ruling.

The court held further that the applicants did not show any special or exceptional circumstances why they did not first take the application for stay of further proceedings before the trial court.

The political crisis in Rivers State degenerated  in July this year when an attempt to impeach the Speaker of the assembly, sparked a free-for-all.

Five members of the assembly opposed to Governor Rotimi Amaechi had engaged about 13 of their colleagues in a fight shortly after the pro-governor lawmakers resisted the move to remove Amachree.

The Leader of the House, Mr. Chidi Lloyd; Michael Chinda and Martins Amahule, were however, not lucky as they sustained serious injuries during the fracas.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/court-dismisses-appeals-stalling-judgment-on-rivers-assembly/166289/

KIRIJI: andrew owoeye azazi was sacked not long after he said boko haram was created by the pdp and they have sympathisers in goodlucks administration

ur not in a position to tell me why the NSA was sacked anybody that was in nigeria who's not a kid was aware of the pressure for gej to sack azazi unless kids like u. even to the extent that tribal sentiment was used like what the op is trying now that azazi was gejs kinsman. The question am asking kids like u to answer is .why should the CHIEF OF AMRY STAFF RESIGN for an attack on an airforce base don't we longer Have a CHIEF OF AIR STAFF any longer?

Nafeesa AA: When Boko Haram bombed Police Force HQ in Abuja, Hafizu Ringim paid the ultimate price;:he was sacked. Now high profile Military installations, bases and barracks are routinely bombed like mare Boys Scout outposts, yet no one is asking for the head of the Chief of Army Staff. And why are only a segment of the country always get sacked when any Army formation is bombed. Just imagine the kind of noise that will be blowing if the COAS is a Yoruba or Hausa man, and to add more if he is a Muslim, he will have for long been tagged as a boko haram member.


Nigeria Has Capacity But Lacks Will to Tackle Boko Haram. US GOVERNMENT.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigeria-has-capacity-but-lacks-will-to-tackle-boko-haram-says-us-official/160826/

The Nigerian Army in reaction to last Sunday’s terror attacks on St. Andrews Military Protestant Church and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State, has removed the Commandant of the military facility, Air Vice Marshal IA Kure. Also removed from office was the Commander, Infantry, Maj. Gen MD Isah. The Director of Defence Information, Col. Mohammed Yerima, announced the changes in an email to our correspondent on Saturday. Yerima said the removal of Kure and Isah were fallouts of the bombing incidents in Jaji. According to him, the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Obrahim, took the decision to replace Kure with Air Vice Marshal Osim while Major. Gen KC Osuji was also appointed in acting capacity as the replacement for Isah.

http://www.punchng.com/news/army-sack-commanders-over-jaji-bombings/

http://news2.onlinenigeria.com/news/general/222060-army-sack-commanders-over-jaji-bombings.html

here. is the difference rimgim's office where he commands, the police head quarters was attacked and the attackers succeeded and got away with it... The base that was attacked was not an army base, it was an AIR FORCE BASE and the last I checked nigeria has a chief of air staff why ask the chief of ARMY STAFF to resign for an attack on an airforce base!! if ur not a bigot? And secondly why should the the coas resign why not national security adviser MR DASUKI . I remember when this boko haram saga escalated a certain section of this country put pressure on the president to sack azazi then the NSA, can u tell us why that same section not calling for the resignation of dasuki. If anybody should resign is the commandant of that Air force base. For not securing his base like the Ihejirika u want to resign is doing by securing his office the army headquater onlike ringim who could not secure the police headquaters.

take dat: We are indeed moving up, from 136th position to 144th! Nigeria is adrift on a dark ocean with no clue how to get to safe harbor, and you are consoling yourself with falsehood!

when we were 136th how many countries were sampled i remember people like you making noise on nairaland that the index was floored cause of number of countries sampled nobody cares what badbelles and never see nothing Good in nigeria think.the fact that we were once among the top ten most corrupt nation in the world not long ago and now were no longer their is an improvement.

[quote author=Nuzo']Somebody stole 20 billion of state fund with evidence and people are here talking about political winch hunt.

A corrupt crook like obj witch hunted lots of his corrupt political enemies but I supported the move.

This will mean one corrupt mofo off our street. The days of reckoning for the hunter if need be will surely come.[/quote]meanwhile in the past this are the same people that uses him as an example
Of one of the corrupt people in pdp whenever they want to prove their point that pdp is corrupt but because his now a progressive. His no longer corrupt his case with efcc even before he became a progressive is now political witch hunt. And for those who keep screaming what of odua she has no immunity u can either write a petition against her to efcc or u hire a lawyer like falana or festus keyamo to sue her to court for corruption that is what a good citizen would do and not jumping from newspaper to the internet foaming from the mouth.

take dat: Folks above are celebrating that we are not sharing positions with war ravaging countries like Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and others. Our West African brother, Ghana is ranked 63rd in the world while Nigeria with all the billions of Naira pumped into our anti-corruption agencies yearly, we are ranked 144th.



Last year we scored 27 points out of a possible 100 points, this year our score is 25 points out of 100. This 144th position isn't an improvement, rather there is the perception that the corruption
bazaar has increased.



http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/12/03/at-144th-in-the-world-nigeria-sinks-deeper-in-corruption-index/

but do u agree that at one time we were among those countries mentioned in your post? When nigeria was among the 10 most corrupt countriesin the world. If u agree then u would agree that their has been improvement and more needs to be done unless ur an hypocrite. The fg is doing alot to curb corruption in their ministries by following the due process law to the letter and passing the foi bill. If the state governors can do same i guess our rating would improve. Lagos state for instance has refused adhere to the FOI laws claiming it only apply to the federal government but instead administer oath of secrecy to member of the goverment and heads of state ministries now tell me how our rating would improve when our state governors hide their activities in secrecy. What are they hidding if not corruption and corrupt deals

Were going up but more needs to be done.

1025: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, who wrote this nonsense? which other country of this world has all their politicians as billionaires? which other country of this world is in darkness till date? liars.

the same people that wrote it when nigeria was among the 10 most corrurpt countries in the world

Nigeria is no longer among the top ten most corrupt country in the world and this news is not on the front page of our daily newspapers if the reverse was the case it would have made the front page.

BERLIN, (AFP) – Nigeria has been ranked 144th most corrupt country as Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are seen as the world’s most corrupt countries while Denmark and New Zealand are nearly squeaky-clean, graft watchdog Transparency International said in a survey Tuesday.
Worldwide, almost 70 percent of nations are thought to have a “serious problem” with public servants on the take, and none of the 177 countries surveyed this year got a perfect score, said the Berlin-based non-profit group.
Transparency International’s annual list is the most widely used indicator of sleaze in political parties, police, justice systems and civil services, a scourge which undermines development and the fight against poverty.”Corruption hurts the poor most,” lead researcher Finn Heinrich told AFP.
“That’s what you see when you look at the countries at the bottom. Within those countries, it’s also poor people who get hurt the most. These countries will never get out of the poverty trap if they don’t tackle corruption.”
Among countries that have slipped the most on the group’s 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index are war-torn Syria as well as Libya and Mali, which have also faced major military conflict in recent years.
“Corruption is very much linked to countries that fall apart, as you see in Libya, Syria, two of the countries that deteriorated the most,” said Heinrich.
“If you look at the bottom of the list, we also have Somalia there. These are not countries where the government is functioning effectively, and people have to take all means in order to get by, to get services, to get food, to survive.”
Heinrich said Afghanistan, where most NATO-led Western forces are pulling out next year after a more than decade long deployment, is “a sobering story. We have not seen tangible improvements”.
“The West has not only invested in security but also in trying to establish the rule of law. But there have been surveys in the last couple of years showing the share of people paying bribes is still one of the highest in the world.”
Also at the bottom of the list is North Korea, “an absolutely closed totalitarian society”, said Heinrich, where defectors report that famine is worsening corruption “because you have to know someone in the party who is corrupt in order to even survive”.
Among the “most improved” countries, although from a low base, was Myanmar, where a former military junta has opened the door to the democratic process and, facing an investment boom, has formally committed to transparency and accountability rules.
“That’s the only way countries can avoid the ‘resource curse’, where the resources are only available to a very small elite,” said Heinrich. “Nigeria and other oil-rich countries are obviously very good examples.”
Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency, said “all countries still face the threat of corruption at all levels of government, from the issuing of local permits to the enforcement of laws and regulations”.
The group says that because corruption is illegal and secretive, it cannot be meaningfully measured.
Instead Transparency collates expert views on the problem from bodies such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit, Bertelsmann Foundation, Freedom House and other groups.
It then ranks countries on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means a country’s public sector is considered highly corrupt and 100 means its is regarded as very clean.
The latest survey “paints a worrying picture”, said Transparency. “While a handful perform well, not one single country gets a perfect score. More than two-thirds score less than 50.”
The bottom-ranked countries, scoring 10 to 19, included Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan and South Sudan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
At the top, between 80 and 89, aside from Denmark and New Zealand, were Luxembourg, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
“The top performers clearly reveal how transparency supports accountability and can stop corruption,” said Labelle.
“Still, the better performers face issues like state capture, campaign finance and the oversight of big public contracts which remain major corruption risks.”
The following is a list of the top- and bottom-ranked 10 nations on graft watchdog Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released on Tuesday.
The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by country analysts and business people and ranges between zero, which is highly corrupt, and 100, which is very clean.
(The equals symbol means nations share the same rank)
TOP TEN
=1. Denmark 91
=1. New Zealand 91
=3. Finland 89
=3. Sweden 89
=5. Norway 86
=5. Singapore 86
7. Switzerland 85
8. Netherlands 83
=9. Australia 81
=9. Canada 81
BOTTOM TEN
=168. Syria 17
=168. Turkmenistan 17
=168. Uzbekistan 17
171. Iraq 16
172. Libya 15
173. South Sudan 14
174. Sudan 11
=175. Afghanistan 8
=175. North Korea 8
=175. Somalia 8


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/afghanistan-n-korea-somalia-top-world-graft-index/

They want to teach anambarians the progressive ways of free and fair election aregbes style.

Good development

theoctopus: The current speaker says pharoah must go. That Amaechi declared 6 days public holiday and Amaechi acts like a sole administrator

Dr Festus Sekibo taking the stage now

please keep the update coming and between i love the way ur ignoring the resident troll

They wont slam him again his now a progressive. The bill is now a welcomed development and a progressive one

I said it ! ameachi should get ready for impeachment

Symphony007: 90% OF NIGERIANS DO NOT KNOW THEIR SENATOR, FEDERAL CONSTITUENCE AND REP, STATE ASSEMBLY MEMBER AND COUNCILLOR.
A survey carried out by my school has come up with some shocking statistic. The most shocking is virtually every nigerian do not know their federal and local constituency, they do not know their senators, representatives in the federal house, their representatives at the state house of assembly and the councillors representing their ward in the local government councils. This shocking statistic is among working adults. The statistics for teens and students is more alarming. If people do not know their representives, how did they vote for them? If virtually no nigeria has written a letter to the reps in abuja or attended in town hall meeting with them, does'nt that say something pathetic about political participation in this country? Is'nt the sky high political ignorance one of the reasons we corruption thrives and our representatives are not accountable to us? This is a national disgrace as the next generation are growing up politically ignorant as the current one. Looking back i still don't belive these statistic so i want to try it out here. Amongs you nairalanders who come to politics section and argue politics to the last drop of your blood. Answer the following questions.

1.What is your federal constituency?

2.Who is your representative in the federal house of representative?

3.Who is your senator?

4.what's your state constituency?

5.who is your representative in the state house of assembly?

6.what is your ward?

7.who is your councillor?

are u suprised all they know is the federal government. Some dont even know the functions of the STATES and LOCAL governments. If you think its a lie conduct a poll on that. they dont know all this thats why they think that all their basic needs should be provided by the FG.

Nsukka – The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), said their academic activities would resume on Monday, Dec. 2.
They made the announcement in separate statements issued in Nsukka and Enugu on Saturday.
The Registrar of the UNN, Mr Anthony Okonta, in the statement, stressed that “normal academic activities would resume immediately.’’
The statement directed students who had outstanding examinations for the 2012/2013 session to report to their respective faculties and departments in Nsukka and Enugu campuses.
The ESUT Registrar, Mr Chris Igbokwe, also advised students and academic and non- academic staff to report to the institution on Dec. 2.
According to the statement, students are advised to return to their campuses at Agbani and Enugu campuses as the second semester examination would commence on Monday, Dec. 9.
The Federal Government had on Thursday, directed all federal universities to resume work on or before Dec. 4.
The statement, issued by the Supervising Minister of Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, directed the striking members of ASUU, to resume work on or before Dec 4 or consider themselves sacked. (NAN)


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/unn-esut-announce-resumption-date-dec-2/

THE dream of unseating the  Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, by the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2015 governorship election in Bauchi State, appears threatened as a result of internal crisis rocking the party.
For a party that is yet to find its foot in the state, the development is regarded as threatening by party faithful.
At the moment, Bauchi APC is contending with internal squabbles resulting from the emergence of two factions of the party.
The event which was expected to have produced executive members, ended up factionalizing the new party—a situation analysts described as messy.
It was gathered that hell was let loose at the convention when armed thugs invaded the  the Zaranda Hotel venue and chased away the party cheiftians, while many were injured.
An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity told Vanguard that some elders led by Senator Mohammed attempted to appoint themselves party leaders against the wish of members.
The source said, “we were at the middle of the function when the armed thugs infiltrated the gathering and unleashed mayhem as several faithful were injured while trying to escape the attack.
One of aggrieved factions of the party which is not satisfied with the method the party was employing to pick its candidate  was behind the crisis”
Instructively, he noted that Sen Mohammed was nominated as interim state chairman, while Dr Yakubu Leme, Alhaji Garba Gardi and Ali Wakili emerged as secretary, treasurer and publicity Secretary respectively.
This development, it was gathered, was rejected by most party members, who claimed that the process that produced them was not credible.
In this regard, the source added: ‘’The party members were in support of the idea of producing an independent candidate to be made interim chairman, but immediately after the nomination , the other faction led by Senator Suleiman Nazif Gamawa rejected the list and condemned the process.’’
Indeed, those opposed to the emergence of the new executive hinged their grouse on the ground that anyone with a political ambition should not be part of the caretaker committee.
Those in the camp of Sen Nazif include; Alhaji Sani Mallami, former All Nigeria Peoples Party Chairman in the state, Alhaji Baffa Tafida, ex- Chairman of defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Alhaji Aliyu Saidu former Chairman of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
Others are; Alhaji Isa Missau, Alhaji Ibrahim Zailani, Alhaji Abdulmuminu Muktar, Garba Malu Chiroman Shira, Hon Aliyu Gibi,Hon Salisu Sabo. This group is disposed to the choice of Col Hameed Ali ( rtd ), who emerged interim leader before the convention.
Commenting on the development, a party chieftain, Captain Bala Jibrin (rtd), regretted that the convention which was supposed to have produced party leaders, was disrupted by thugs.
“The thugs were led by someone who I personally know and respect, but for security reasons I will not disclose his name. He is opposed to the election and the entire nomination process.  We condemn this treacherous act in its totality and will report to the national headquarters what happened during the election,but that is the game of Politics. A new date will be announced later to elect the interim leadership of the party, ” Jibrin noted.
Additionally, he said, ‘’it is quite unfortunate that the attempt to inaugurate the leadership of the party in the state was frustrated.
This was the same thing  that  happened in the Congress for Progressive Change(CPC) during the 2011 election and we are supposed to learn from our past mistakes”.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/bauchi-apc-battles-internal-crisis/

The deflated balloons of Anambra State

on November 29, 2013

The mass media have been described as the Fourth Estate of the Realm in a democratic society. This is because of its importance in educating, informing and enlightening the populace about the goings on in the other three arms – Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.
However, the mass media can be put to negative use to deceive and misinform the populace if their owners choose to be partisan or to propagate their selfish instead of national interest.
One such misuse of the media is the flurry of tendentious comments in the private electronic and some sections of the print media in the country on the governorship elections held in AnambraState on November 16, 2013.
A content analysis of the national newspapers generally referred to as the Western Press and analyses by ‘experts’ and commentators in the electronic media will clearly show their bias and deliberate efforts to thwart the will of the majority of the electorate in Anambra State.
Every attempt is made to turn reason and logic on its head in order to achieve an aim of cancelling an election where a clear winner had emerged.
One easily concludes that the reasons the ‘expert analysts’ give for calling for the cancellation of the election range from ignorance of the provisions of the Electoral Act as amended to contempt and disregard for the good people of Anambra State as expressed in their use of their electoral mandate on November 16.
Is it not very unreasonable and ‘idiotic’( apologies to Chief Ojo Maduekwe) not to accept the clear fact that a party that secured 25 percent of the votes in 16 out of 21 local government areas in the state is the preferred political party in Anambra State? How do you compare this with Dr. Chris Ngige’s APC which secured the said 25% votes in only nine local governments or the candidate of the Labour Party who secured same in only his Nnewi North Local Government Area.
The reasons for the massive electoral votes for APGA in AnambraState are not far to seek. Yes, Dr. Chris Ngige, during the three-year tenure he stole in 2003 from the mandate given to Mr. Peter Obi rescued the state from buccaneers and godfathers who looted the state treasury hitherto.
But he concentrated his massive road development projects in his Idemili North and some areas of Idemili South local government areas to the detriment of the 19 other local government areas. Hence, all the villages in his Alor hometown and neighbouring towns are connected with good roads.
The import of this discriminatory action was not lost on Anambrarians and they used the November 16, 2013 election to inform him in clear terms that he is Onwa of Idemili alone and not other local government areas of Anambra State.
Significantly he was only concerned with roads while other sectors of AnambraState economy were neglected. Mr. Peter Obi came and not only did many more kilometres of roads all over the state but also opened up Anambra North Senatorial District for the first time, thereby giving the indigenes and inhabitants a sense of belonging.
Let the wolf criers be informed that calling for the cancellation of the elections is not the solution to the electoral problem of Dr. Ngige. Even if the election is held 10 times over, Dr. Ngige will not win the mandate of Ndi Anambra. He is not the Messiah Ndi Anambra have been waiting for. After all his tenure as a senator representing Anambra Central District has not been inspiring so far.
He cannot be moving from the Senate to Government House Awka and back to the Senate as if he is the only star in the firmament in AnambraState.
When the Great Zik left the  governorship of Old Eastern Region of Nigeria for the centre after the 1959 general elections, he handed over to Dr. Michael Okpara who proved to be a much more dynamic person and gave Eastern Nigeria unprecedented economic and political development. Dr. Ngige’s era in AnambraState should be history by now and he should allow other brilliant minds to contribute their best endeavours to the development of the state.
The argument that because less than 500,000 voters out of a voters register of more than 1,700,000 voters cast their votes during the election also falls flat on its face as it is done without sense of history and voting behaviour in Nigeria.
The question to ask is how many voters were registered in the state for the 2011 governorship election in which Mr. Obi defeated Dr. Ngige and how many voted? Had voters in AnambraState ever reached a figure of 500,000 in previous elections?
The case of the university dropout who aspires to govern AnambraState is also a very laughable one. It reminds Ndi Anambra of the 1991 governorship election in the state when an illiterate was cruising home to victory until Anambrarians woke from their slumber and gave their mandate to a brilliant mind, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife.
AnambraState, inspite of the huge population of traders is too sophisticated for their affairs to be directed by semi-literate people sponsored by money bags with questionable credentials. Hence, the successful capitalist should concentrate his energy on developing his capital and leave governance to trained and equipped people of the ilk of Dr. Willie Obiano, a chartered accountant and Dr. Nkem Okeke, a cerebral economist. They are adequately prepared to move AnambraState forward.
Let the columnists, political analysts, and wolf criers who tend to weep more than the bereaved leave Ndi Anambra alone. They have clearly demonstrated who they want to govern them. No level of media propaganda or use of money by moneybags to intimidate INEC or bribe judiciary officers can thwart the will of the electorate of AnambraState.

Mr. Victor Oguejiofor, a political analyst, wrote from Nnobi, Anambra State.
 


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/the-deflated-balloons-of-anambra-state/

Lamido and aliyu now teaching kwakwanso the same type of politics he taught jang

SB Joji: Act two scene one

na real act two scene one in all this is ameachi i pity his impeachment is stirring at him, nyako's deputy is still fying pdp flag he too should be expecting impeachment

Hahahaha am laughing at those waiting for impeachment when the governors were disobeying the leadership of the party some kids were urging them on. Now is the turn of lawmakers to disobey their governors. Waiting for their usual childish and naive political analysis.

November 28, 2013 | Filed under: main story | Author: Editor

The World Bank said on Thursday that it would commit 500 million dollars to support the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

World Bank’s Fadama Task Team Leader, Dr Abimbola Adubi, said this in Lokoja during a visit to Kogi’s Deputy Governor, Mr Yomi Awoniyi.

Adubi said the money would be spent on the provision of agriculture infrastructure, staple crops processing and supply of improved seeds and seedlings to farmers across the country.

He said that the global bank will spend additional 200 million dollars on the production of cassava, rice and horticultural crops.

Adubi said that the World Bank decided to lend a hand of support to the transformation programme after a thorough assessment by a team of experts.

He said that the programme was capable of creating millions of jobs and the reduce poverty level among Nigerians.

The official however, said that Kogi State was the only state to benefit from the bank’s cassava production support plan.

Adubi said the state being the country’s largest producer of the crop.

He said that the team was in the state to assess the staple crop processing zone at Alepo community.

Adubi said the team would interact with farmers and other stakeholders to know their challenges and generate an action plan to kick-start the programme.

He said that the bank expected the same level of commitment from the state government by ensuring prompt payment of its counterpart fund.

Responding, Awoniyi said that the World Bank’s position confirmed the state government’s endorsement of the Federal Government’s transformation programme.

The deputy governor said that because the state was blessed with vast arable land, it decided to develop agriculture to provide jobs for the youths and grow the state economically.

Awoniyi said the state government would ensure prompt payment of its counterpart funds as it was determined to ensure the success of the programme in the state. (NAN)


http://businessdayonline.com/2013/11/world-bank-pledges-500m-to-support-agriculture-in-nigeria/

Joining APC not solution to PDP crisis – LAMIDO

on November 29, 2013 at 2:00 am in News
By Our Reporters
THE heat generated by the defection of five of the aggrieved G-7 Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, governors to All Progressives Congress, APC, continued yesterday with one of the governors, Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, saying joining APC was not the solution to the crisis, and called for everyone to join hands in fighting impunity in the country.
Lamido, who did not defect to APC, spoke as the court re-instated National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola said his expulsion by the national leadership of PDP would not stand even as the party said, yesterday, that it was not losing sleep over the defection of the five governors and leaders of the Alhaji Kawu Baraje-led new PDP.

Meanwhile, Governor Murtala Nyako, who also decamped to APC, has asked his supporters to join the opposition party en mass, with PDP House of Representatives members saying they would wade into the crisis next week.
Lamido made the comments, yesterday, while receiving for-mer Head of State, General Ab-dusalami Abubakar (rtd), who was in Dutse for the commi-ssioning of Jigawa State Judicial Complex.
Lamido, Abdulsalami’s comments
Lamido told Abdulsalami, “the democracy you nurtured is today being cannibalised. The present crises bedeviling the party for quite some time now will not augur well for the nascent democracy.
“The PDP crisis is a problem not only for the party; it can equally consume the whole nation.”
Responding, Abubakar said it had become necessary for Nigerians to fight for peace as no meaningful development could be achieved without peace.
Directing his supporters in Adamawa State to register en masse with the APC yesterday, Nyako said the opposition has good intentions for the state and the nation at large.
The directives came as PDP flags were being removed from public institutions across the state.
Nyako gave the directives yesterday at a meeting of stake-holders of APC and the nPDP at the Government House, Yola.
The governor said that PDP had betrayed the people of Adamawa in spite of all they did in ensuring PDP victories at all levels in the last general elections.
He described the plight of the people of Adamawa under PDP as that of Israelites under Pharaoh, necessitating their mass exodus.
The governor debunked insinuations that he was working for his son’s political ambition, saying his son will not contest any election in 2015.
Nyako said: “My son will not contest any election in 2015. What we are doing is for peace, progress and unity of the state and the nation in general.
“The way PDP is operating in Adamawa is inimical to peace and unity of the state.
“APC offered better opportu-nity with level playing field for everyone. There is no new comer or old member in APC, so go and mobilise your people to join the popular movement.”
PDP Reps to mediate
Apparently disturbed by the development, PDP Reps, yesterday, agreed in a meeting to interface with President Goodluck Jonathan on the way forward, next week.
In a closed-door meeting held at the Reps’ wing of the National Assembly complex, they expressed disappointment in the manner the crisis was being handled and agreed that all the members would meet with Mr. President and bare their minds.
The meeting, which was chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, resolved to work as one large family and look issues dispassionately.
A front line member, who attended the meeting told Vanguard that “we have decided to work together as one.”
Asked whether it was both the PDP and nPDP Reps that met, he said, “Yes. We all met and there was no division of any sort. We met as one body.
“We are going to see Mr. President and tell him how we feel and how we intend to serve our fatherland without involving our members in whatever is happening outside the House.”
Another source said: “Those who are parading themselves as our representatives at the Presidential Villa are not selfless people. We have agreed to deal with Mr. President collectively.
…rule out House
leadership change
Meanwhile, the House said yesterday that despite the defection of five nPDP govern-ors, nothing will change in its leadership as no member has so far communicated to the leader-ship of his intention to move.
Deputy spokesman of the House, Mr. Victor Ogene (APGA, Anambra), said until such a time when members formally declare their intention, the House remains the way it is.
He said Section 68 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, provides that members can only defect to another political party in group base on merger agreement, but that what was happening in PDP cannot be defined as such.
He said: “In politics, things like this happen. But as a House, we remain one. Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, says people cannot cross carpet in group except in merger situation.
“But defection has to do with individual member. So if they’re defecting, the proper thing must be done by activating that section of the constitution.
“As at now, we are not aware of any member defecting to another party. Remember, going by our rule, until a party has 181 members, you can’t talk of having the majority.”
Oyinlola reacts
Also yesterday, Oyinlola said that his expulsion from the party as recommended to the party’s NWC by Alhaji Umaru Dikko-led Disciplinary Committee would not stand.
In a statement by his Principal Secretary, Femi Adelegan, Oyinlola, who noted that democracy was on trial, said: “The recommendations of the committee will not stand, as nobody can build something on nothing; and falsehood on truth.
“The committee does not exist because its composition was not ratified by the National Executive Committee of PDP, which is statutorily empowered to approve the composition of the body.
“They really worked with great speed in their feverish ambition of getting rid of Oyinlola before the hearing of his suit at an Abuja Federal High Court, challenging the validity of illegalities.
“No sane or decent person would be surprised at the recommendations of the illegally constituted Disciplinary Committee, which from the outset shouldered a heavy burden of legitimacy, integrity, lack of respect for fair play, principles of natural justice and the Rule of Law.”
Cross carpeting of disloyal elements, not merger— PDP
The national leadership of PDP, yesterday, took a swipe at the five governors and some members who defected to the APC, saying it was not a merger, but an opportunistic cross carpeting of disloyal elements, reiterating that as a party it would not lose sleep over the action.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP said a tree that is pruned blossoms the more.
It added that there was no way the fusion of Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led splinter group of PDP into APC could be described as merger because the group was never a party, adding that the Bamanga Tukur-led NWC stands as the only PDP known to law.
Metuh said: “Our attention has been drawn to press reports and statements from some persons passing off the cross carpeting of a group of former PDP members to APC as a merger.
“This information is false and is intended to mislead the public. What happened was not a merger. You can only talk of a merger where there were two distinct parties.
“In this case, there is only one party, APC. The so-called nPDP was never a party. This was established on October 10, when a Lagos High Court gave judgment against then PDP and on October 11, when the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, wrote the nPDP to say that the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led PDP is the only recognised party by that name.”
A sad devt— Anenih
Meanwhile, Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Tony Anenih, yesterday, described the move of the five governors as sad and urged members of the party not to be moved or disturbed by it.
Chief Anenih expressed satisfaction that the party leadership, President Jonathan, former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, former National Chairmen, Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Ali as well as himself “invested enough energy, commitment, maturity and sincerity in the collective effort at reconciliation.
“I had expected the governors to stay on in the party, which has offered them a unique opportunity to serve their people.
“Surprisingly, they decided to abandon their home and platform to take up tenancy in an opposition party even when it was apparent that the effort of Mr. President for genuine reconciliation was enough for them to see good reason to show restraint and understanding. However, as adults, the final decision was and remains theirs.
“I would like to urge our party members and sympathizers not to be disturbed by the exit of some of our governors but to continue to mobilize grassroots support for our party, Mr. President, and his Transformation Agenda.”


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/joining-apc-solution-pdp-crisis-lamido/

Vicky Richmond: Ameachi has no support from d rivers people,he has bin disrespectfull to traditional leaders in the state before now.He knows he has no support in the state that's why he keeps running to the media all the time to seek for help and get public sympathy.Amaechi is not even popular among his ethnic group.so anybody that says Ameachi is supported by The Rivers people is dellusional.

leave the guy let him continue deluding himself.