₦airaland Forum

Dubai Gold Cup challenge excites Babangida

By Ernest Ekpenyong

February 19, 2011 10:05PM


African flag bearers, EL-Amin are intensifying their preparations ahead of their second tour of Middle East for this year’s Dubai Gold Cup international polo tournament.

Since they were confirmed as the only African team that will join the world’s best polo teams to battle for the final of the Dubai Polo Gold Cup, the continental ambassadors have gone into closed camping, perfecting strategies for what would be their toughest Arabian challenge yet.

That is what it means and that is how much it matters for their teeming fans across the continent. This is the mindset of Mohammed Babangida, the proprietor and chief motivator of the EL-Amin team. They have promised to take some venom into next month’s Dubai Gold Cup Polo Tournament.

Babangida, Nigeria’s polo patron of the decade and his reigning El-Amin team are all too aware that it truly will be modern-day warfare, minus the bloodletting.

“It is like your country going into battle. It’s an incredible feeling,” said El-Amin’s chief predator, Bello Buba. The players of El-Amin know what the Dubai Gold Cup series stands for and the high level of concentration that goes with it,” Buba continued.

Experience will count

With many international caps to their names, the African hopefuls already have a firm grasp of how much is at stake every time they line up for a challenge in the coming month in Dubai.

“Yes we have been training and our chemistry is nearing the peak that we hope will power our challenge for the title,” said EL-Amin hit man, Ibrahim “Rambo” Mohammed, who added that the team will not let the challenge of being mounted affect their game.

Their long shooting patron, Babangida recognises how the team’s efforts and achievements carry real significance and national pride within the west coast and throughout the continent, giving Nigerian polo a global status, which would ultimately reflect on the health of the domestic game.

“Everything about the build-up to our Dubai Gold Cup debut shows how much it matters. That is why we hope to create an enduring sense of pride, not just nationally, but for the whole of Africa.

“Much as we hope to use this as a spring board to further cement our international presence, it is our collective resolve to take the brand El-Amin brand to the next level and to show case our talents as well as put it on notice that Nigeria and indeed African polo has come of age,” Babangida added.

Biggest thrill

Of the pitch, the biggest prospect that really thrills the El-Amin boss about this trip is the numerous business opportunities that abound with Africa’s participation in the Dubai Gold Cup series.

He explained that Dubai is a huge market place with networking opportunities and he is hoping that those who will be part of the event will log on to some of these business opportunities.

“I would love to see most of the contacts made during tournament lead to some great synergy in terms of business. I would love to see it lead to some great collaborations between our countries within the continent, Dubai and the rest of the Arab world.”

We gathered that to ensure full utilisation of the business on offer during polo extravaganza, a group of esteemed personalities from both the public and private sectors of the economy, have been invited for the trip.

“And again to perhaps help clear the negative notion being tagged on Nigerian business men and Nigerians abroad. We want to show the business community in Dubai that we have very decent people around who are genuine businessmen with requisite capacity and experience and very ready to do business in the best possible manner.”

The host is ready

The Dubai international polo series will pitch 16 ambitious teams parading many of the world stars against each other and involves the Royal Jet Cup which galloped off with fanfare last Wednesday, February 16, 2011.

The final of the Royal Jet Cup is scheduled for Friday, February 25, at the fabulous grounds of the prestigious foremost Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club, at the Arabian Ranches.

The Threadneedle Gold Cup, which is fast becoming a world-class sporting event for Dubai and the United Arab Emirates two years after its inauguration will gallop off on March 2, 2011 at the same venue reputed as the heart of equestrian activity amongst residents in Dubai as well as visitors to the city.

Mohammed Al Habtoor, Founder of the Gold Cup said Dubai will, for the second year, stage an international polo tournament hosting some of the best polo teams and players in the world.

He noted that it was a lifelong dream to stage such an event in Dubai, and adding that it was a special privilege that such a prestigious and important tournament will be held in Dubai again this year.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the teams and players to the Threadneedle Dubai Gold Cup and also visitors from overseas to watch the games and enjoy our hospitality,” he said.

The glamour, excitement and passion of polo will be a fitting match to the already world renown Dubai lifestyle. Royalty, celebrities, sportsmen and families from around the region will congregate over a one week to witness the best polo players in the world play for the Gold Cup trophy, and El-Amin will be part of this star studded cast.

Over the years, the Nigerians may have created such an intimidating reputation, but the Gold Cup won’t necessarily follow them home.

Expectedly, they will get as much as they give, especially playing against some of the best professionals from Argentina, and Europe and the Arab world.

The African champions will be captained by Team patron Babangida, who has been at the helm of the team since inception. He will be joined by another foundation member, Ibrahim “Rambo” Mohammed, Aminu Alhaji and Buba.

The quartet go into this tournament with so much experience playing together, which puts them in good stead to push for the title.

They will be cheered on by a strong Nigerian contingent led by Life President of the Nigerian Polo Federation and Emir of Katsina, His Royal Highness, Abdulmumuni Kabir former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar and the Nigeria Polo Federation President, Francis Ogboro.

The high profile contingent will also include members of the National Assembly, State governors, first class emirs, business associates and thousands of their supporters across the continent. They will start arriving in the United Arab Emirates from Monday, February 21.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Sport/Polo/5678271-146/story.csp

Opposition parties dribble Jonathan

By Festus Owete

February 20, 2011 02:08PM


President Goodluck Jonathan’s relationship with about 21 opposition parties which recently pledged to support him in the April 9 elections has gone sour. The president, who is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is reportedly angry that the same parties have also met his All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) counterpart, Ibrahim Shekarau and pledged their support for him. The parties are Mega Progressive Peoples Party (MPPP), Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), National Movement of Progressive Party (NMPP),

Action Party of Nigeria (APN), Republican Party of Nigeria (RPN), National Majority Democratic Party (NMDP), Liberal Democratic Party of Nigeria (LDPN), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Nigeria People Congress (NPC), Action Alliance (AA) and Movement for Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD).

The others are New Democrats (ND), Citizens Popular Party (CPP), Masses Movement of Nigeria (MMN), United Democratic Party (UDP), Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA), Change Advocacy Party (CAP), Movement for Democratic and Justice (MDJ), United National Party for Development (UNPD), Advance Congress of Democrats (ACD) and Accord Party (AP).

The parties, under the aegis of the Patriotic Electoral Alliance (PEAN) had, at the flagging off of the presidential rally of the PDP on February 7 in Lafia, Nasarawa State assured the crowd that they will work for the victory of the Jonathan-Sambo ticket.

The vice chairman of the alliance, Shittu Mohammed, who represented the group at the rally, read out the names of the 21 parties as Mr Jonathan, his deputy, Namadi Sambo, acting chairman of the PDP, Bello Mohammed and other party chieftains, all of whom were on the podium, applauded. Mr Jonathan was so excited that he took the list from Mr Shittu.

Curiously, 16 of the parties that went to Lafia were in Kano the previous weekend where they reportedly gave their support to Mr Shekarau. They were led by the national chairman of the National Movement of Progressive Party, Lawrence Atuwana.

In a statement to the media, Mr Atuwana said that the parties resolved to support the Kano State governor after considering a number of factors. “Having X-rayed the personality, political antecedents and ability of the present governor of Kano State, we call on all Nigerians of voting age, irrespective of religious, political or tribal affiliation, to offer their complete and unwholesome support to a man who for eight years has held Kano State stable, peaceful and, above all, a place for every Nigerian to live and earn his/her living,” he said. “Considering Shekarau’s accomplishment in different areas of human development in Kano, there is no better person to be entrusted with the leadership of the country at this critical juncture of our history. We have collectively and voluntarily agreed to avail Shekarau of the structure of our parties from the wards to the national level to work towards realization of Shekarau presidency come April this year.” A source who was at the event said the statement was drafted by Mr Shekarau’s aide and given to the party leaders to read.

Mr Jonathan was reportedly livid to hear that the same parties had met Mr Shekarau two days earlier in Kano and announced their support for the governor. The president was said to have told the parties to immediately “put their house in order” if they want to work with him.

A presidency source said, “It is not as if the parties can make any impact during the election, but it is a morale booster for the president for having 25 parties pledging to work with him.”

Briefcase parties

A senior member of the ANPP, who does not want to be named, said it was all in the game of politics. “It is a strange thing. These are registered parties and they know what they are looking for. The thing is that when they say they are coming, you can’t say they should not come. These are brief case parties and this is their time to go marketing,” he said. “They have been coming to me too. They have been phoning me. I don’t want to look ridiculous. A politician cannot turn anybody back. So, it is left for you journalists to judge.” Efforts to speak with Sule Yau Sule, media aide to Mr Shekarau were not successful. However, his running mate, John Odigie-Oyegun confirmed that some parties visited his principal in Kano to pledge their support for him, but refused to give further details.

The leadership of patriotic alliance confirmed that there has indeed been some controversy over the trip. Mr Mohammed, who is the vice chairman of the group, said leaders of six of the parties mentioned have denied making the Kano trip.

“My party was not among them. Six of them have refuted the report that they made the trip. Even one of the chairmen, the Accord Party chairman who reportedly made the trip was there in Lafia with me,” he said. “We don’t know what Shekarau wanted to achieve with that.” Mr Mohammed also said that his party, the Republican Party of Nigeria, does not involve itself in political prostitution. “In RPN, we don’t jump about. Is it money you are going to give myself here? I am young but I am not hungry,” he said.

Abba Dabo, the director of media and publicity of the Jonathan-Sambo Presidential Campaign Council said he was not aware that the same parties which pledged their support for Mr Shekarau, appeared in Lafia.

“Do you think they are the same group? I think it is for you to find out,” Mr Dabo told NEXT in a telephone chat on Friday.

Mr Dabo couldn’t confirm if Mr Jonathan reached any agreement with the parties to accommodate them in a Government of National Unity (GNU) if he wins. “I cannot speak on this matter. Only the acting chairman (of PDP) can speak on it,” he said.

On his part, Mr Mohammed said the support for the president was borne out of a desire to ensure the unity of the country and not to get any monetary gift or appointment.

An alliance of equals

PEAN was formed last year when 37 registered political parties met to deliberate on how to confront the PDP in the forthcoming elections. Convened by former Lagos State governor, Lateef Jakande, and Rasheed Shitta-Bey, the group’s goal was “to field common candidates at all electoral levels to win elections and govern as a united front.” At its third pre-inaugural meeting, the alliance agreed to reconvene on Wednesday, November 24 for the election of the national executive council. Consequently, each party was asked to send three delegates to the working session to constitute the NEC and the other working committees. The three delegates included the national chairman of the party, the national secretary and one other member.

In November last year, about 16 of the parties and the ANPP agreed to work together during the elections to form a formidable group. The group was led to the meeting by Maxo Okwu, the national chairman of CPP, who challenged the ANPP to provide quality leadership for the opposition groups to ensure that Nigeria does not become a one-party state, which he said could truncate the nation’s democracy.

“I believe that ANPP should go back. When you have one way rule, democracy will die. Try to energise your party, we urge you to do more,” he said. “The next contest must be a clear contest. If PDP is one goal post, please come and help us to man the other goal post. Democracy must grow and we must make it grow.” At the meeting, the ANPP chairman, Ogbonnaya Onu pledged to lead the other opposition parties against the ruling PDP in the general elections.

Mr Onu, criticised the PDP for giving Nigerians poor leadership in the last 12 years, saying if the ANPP collaborates with the other parties, they (Nigerians) will have the change they are yearning for.

“By the time they see us, they will know that something is happening in Nigeria and that people are ready for change. Let us never doubt what we can achieve if we work together. The time has come for change in Nigeria and we are the apostles of that change.” The ANPP national chairman said that most of the problems confronting the country are self-inflicted and can be solved, stressing “we are asking Nigerians to give us the opportunity to lead the country. If one party (PDP) has failed the nation, there are 62 other parties.”

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5678724-146/story.csp

Lagos loosens the apron strings

By Segun Balogun

February 19, 2011 05:45AM

While other states of the federation and even the federal government dilly-dally about the 2011 fiscal Appropriation Law, the Lagos State government has commenced the implementation of its own, which the governor signed into law on January 31. The budget, totalling N450.775bn, is also far ahead of other states’ proposals and, indeed, it is only about N20 billion less than the federal government’s budget of year 2000. The state government had embarked upon a well-argued revenue generation drive, which started paying off almost immediately, as proven by the first budget of the state governor, Babatunde Fashola. The 2008 budget of N403.401 billion was about N128 billion higher than that of 2007. The leap in the approved budget within a year must also mean a leap in the Internally Generated Revenue of the state, through which about 60 percent of the budget is financed. Currently, the IGR oscillates between N15 billion and N18 billion monthly. The revenue generation drive is expected to bring N228.520 billion into government’s coffers this year and this will finance 51 percent of government’s spending for the year.

Stepping up the tax drive

Though the government itself described the revenue generation drive as “aggressive,” Mr. Fashola has always promised that the government will not increase the tax burden on the people; rather the “aggression” will be channelled at getting more people to pay taxes.

“We know we are just recovering from the global financial meltdown so we will not increase our rates. In fact, we are supposed to have increased the Land Use Charge rate but we will not. We will work hard to get more people to pay tax because the more taxpayers we have, the less the burden of tax becomes,” said Mr. Fashola, while explaining the misconception of multiple taxation in the state.

A financial analyst with IBFCAgusto Training Limited, Eloho Erihri, said the revenue generation drive of the government “should be maximised” because since government is the only organ saddled with societal development, it can only succeed with what is available to it.

“Without money, government cannot build infrastructure, and without infrastructure, we cannot generate employment. What matters most is to ensure the budget is having the desired impact,” he said.

According to the state Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ben Akabueze, the dependence of the state on federal allocations has been reduced to about 20 percent of the state’s need. “If it comes, fine. We don’t even cry before it comes,” he said.

“This financial independence,” according to a social critic, Bayo Ajayi, “is politically expedient and it will be good if other states can maximise their revenue generation and operate within the limit of what they can generate. It means governors will no longer be subservient to the president.”

Budget performance

According to statistics from the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, the percentage performance of 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 Budgets are 70, 71, 73, and 80, respectively. However, Mr. Akabueze noted that government does not measure performance by how much has been spent but by “how much of the set target is achieved”.

“We don’t just want to spend money, we want to ensure that budget has the desired impact,” he said, insisting that the government’s aim is to eliminate all bottlenecks and achieve 100 percent performance.

Remi Ayede, a public administration lecturer at the University of Ibadan said infrastructural deficit is the first indication of a government’s performance and scored the Lagos State government high in restoration of public order, environmental protection and private investment.

Although he said the Lagos State government has made a giant stride in budget implementation, he advised that the state ensure that, “determined by actual concrete targets of the budget and level of performance of the targets, such performance can be measured using budget targets and the level of performance of the expenditure”.

Mr. Ayede described the federal government as a “paralysed government because there is a lot of waste at the federal level.” He said the federal government “has much to learn from the Lagos State government.”

On what the federal government can learn about budget implementation in Lagos, Mr. Akabueze said “project monitoring is key.” He also recommended a central treasury as opposed to a system where each ministry operates its own budget.

“Lagos State does not run the silos kind of accounting system whereby funds are allocated to MDAs to prosecute their projects and retire whatever is unspent at the end of the fiscal year to the treasury office as it is done at the national level. The state’s MDAs are encouraged to go to the treasury for cash backing when they are ready to pay contractors for projects they want to implement and this ensured that payment is tied to performance,” he said.

Debt management

The 2011 Budget is a deficit budget, requiring N79.194 billion to finance. Critics have chided the state government for its “excessive” borrowings and the state’s debt profile also caused rancour between the executive and legislative arm of the state government in 2010. However, Mr. Erihri said, “Deficit is increasing but the government is also paying off debt principal and deficit as a percent of GDP remains below the 3 percent international benchmark. Given relatively lower levels of interest payments relative to IGR (5.3 percent in 2011 compared to 8.5 percent in 2010), the deficit borrowing does not seem to be a problem.”

According to statistics, the state government puts its deficit as a percentage of GDP at 1.91 percent. Though, Mr. Erihri said the government will have to disclose the state’s GDP for the ratio to be verifiable, the state in February 2009 put its 2008 GDP at N3.68 trillion. Mr. Erihri also said the 2011 budget shows the state government is “shifting its borrowings from loans to bonds evidenced by reduced loan debt expense and increased bond interest payments. It is also paying off principal on debt evidenced by the 32 percent decline in total debt expense (between 2010 and 2011).”

He also commended the N1.2 billion Pension Sinking Fund which shows that “the Lagos state government views its pension obligations as a debt and makes annual contributions meant to make sure pension obligations are met,” even before the need arises. However, he is worried whether N1.2 billion annual contribution is sufficient to meet government’s pension obligation.

Human vs infrastructural development

Another point harped on by critics is that the state government is developing the environment at the expense of the people. Mr. Akabueze, however, said: “Infrastructure improves quality of life. It creates jobs and enhances people’s buying power either directly or indirectly. So, by focusing on economic affairs, the government is actually improving peoples’ lives.”

He also said the state government will continue its free education and healthcare services, another means of developing human capacity in the state.

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Posted by Oladele on Feb 20 2011
Wow, The govt in Lagos always seems miles ahead of it's peers and even the Federal Govt. Truly the FG seems paralyzed and bereft of ideas judging by the state of affairs. In case some people don't notice, the state's commissioner of planning nag budget, is a Igbo man, the way forward for us as a nation is to abandon ethnic sentiments and use merit Well done to the Lagos team,


Posted by Tony Smart on Feb 20 2011
@ Oladele, You are spot on! Merit should be used as the basis of appointment not ethnicism, tribalism and religious sentiments. Lagos State has set a model of what state autonomy should be like. Lesson learnt? Nigeria should learn to depend less on Oil revenue. It makes our economy docile and unproductive!


Posted by GbemigaO on Feb 20 2011
When you bring in apolitical professionals to work for you, you get th best service.


Posted by Scarface on Feb 20 2011
Fashola's giant strides are simply a source of hope for me.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Politics/5673063-146/lagos_loosens_the_apron_strings.csp

‘Police killed my wife and left me bereaved'

By Ngozi Sams

February 20, 2011 02:37PM

When the young couple walked down the altar in 2009 and signed the dotted lines signaling their marriage, they never knew that the blissful union will only last for a few years. The union was blessed with a beautiful baby boy, who is just nine months old. As a reward for their hard work, the couple had built and packed into their own house in Mpape, a suburb of Maitama district in Abuja.

And then tragedy struck. Eugene Okere lost his wife Doris, on January 31, 2011 to bullets from a trigger-happy cop guarding a bank in Abuja. 31 year old Doris Okere was on her way to work from Mpape, where she had boarded a taxi painted in the official green and white colour to Bank PHB Wuse zone 1 where her office is located. The taxi was reversing in front of Zenith Bank at Mpape when one of the police officers attached to the bank fired shots at the vehicle. The bullet found its mark. Mrs. Okere, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was struck. She died on the spot.

For security reasons, taxis are not allowed to either park or stop in front of banks to pick passengers. But an eyewitness account revealed that the taxi involved in this instance was merely making a U-turn to head for the Abuja town when the event took place.

Husband of the victim, Mr. Okere, who is a civil servant, told NEXT that the incidence was devastating and unbearable. He said his family has been in great agony and things have not been the same ever since. He said, “I was in the house when she left for work that day around 7 o’clock in the morning. A couple of minutes after she left, I received a call on my phone , when I looked , I saw that it was her number calling me, I thought maybe she forgot something . When I picked the call, a male voice spoke to me saying the owner of the phone is dead. I couldn’t believe , I thought it was a joke ,but I was wrong.’’

‘‘After the line went off, I managed to call the number again to be sure that I heard right , the male voice advised me to come over to the Zenith bank where the incidence happened , on getting there , I saw my wife lying in the pool of her own blood , obviously dead.”

Police disinterest

Mr Okere also alleges that the police is handling the matter with levity and has not accorded it the attention it deserved.

According to him, since one of their own murdered his wife, the story has not been different. “Her body was taken to the mortuary in the evening and I went to the Divisional Police to make a statement on what has happened. I proceeded to the FCT Command and also made an entry,” he said.

“In fact, as I’m talking to you now, the autopsy and every other thing was handled by me. I didn’t see any police officer, they are not interested. Even on the day of the autopsy, they didn’t come. We have to wait for them, made several calls to the DPO. But when the result came out, they were the first to collect the result , even before I got there. The result is out and we have also gotten the permission to carry on with the burial. I am going to bury my wife this week (last) Saturday.

“All the expenses is on me. I pay N800 per day at Asokoro hospital to keep the corpse. The police is not forthcoming. They have not sent any delegation; even the Divisional Police Station has not even come to commiserate with me. Even if they are not concerned about me, they should look at the nine-month-old baby that the woman left behind. They have not done that. There is no sign of remorse. Rather, on that day, the Police Public Relations Officer and the Commissioner of Police who have not even investigated the matter said it was an accidental discharge.

And I know very well that the killer of my wife pleaded guilty to the offence.

He killed her at a very close range. She could neither talk nor cry out after the gunshot. She died without leaving a word.”

The management of the Zenith Bank branch, he also said, were yet to send a sympathy note, although the bank has commenced renovation work at the bank premises which was burnt down by the angry youth in Mpape when the incidence occurred. “When my wife was killed at her prime age at 31, she was also working in a corporate organisation like theirs. If they formed an alliance to kill my wife, I appeal to well meaning Nigerians to assist me, so that justice can prevail.” Poor child

The nine-month-old boy left behind by the deceased has been undergoing traumatic experience since the mother’s death. These days, the whole family keep vigil every night to assuage the baby. “That morning of the tragic incident, he sucked before the mother left for office.” Also, before she left for work that same day, she prepared her husband’s breakfast of rice. “I told her that I will call her in the afternoon and that on my way home, I will pick her so we can go home together. She said no problem and left. It was a lovely family, the future was bright,” he said.

“We planned going home by Easter this year because since I got married to her, she has not had the opportunity to go home due to her work schedule as a banker. We also planned that in August she will be taking the second phase of her leave,

then we will also go home to start our house project. Those were the things we planned together and now I am alone.

“I miss her companionship. She was a very tolerant, very cheerful and a good planner. Her plan for the baby was wonderful,” he said.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Crime/5677715-146/story.csp

April polls: Igbo threaten PDP, Jonathan

HeadlinesFeb 20, 2011

By Henry Umoru, Abuja

Ahead of the April general elections, Igbo leaders have warned  that it is dangerous for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, to go into the polls without returning the position of the party’s national chairman to the South East geo-political zone.

The Igbo leaders said yesterday that the president may have it rough in the polls in the South-East if the issue of the PDP substantive national chairman was not immediately resolved in the zone’s favour.
The last holder of the office of the PDP chairman, zoned to the South East under the PDP internal arrangement, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, had been forced to resign amid the intrigues that trailed the January presidential primaries of the party, throwing up his deputy, Dr. Haliru Mohammed, in acting national chairman capacity.
There have been insinuations of a scheme by the North to retain Mohammed in office as acting national chairman until after the polls, implying that he may run the remaining tenure of an office earmarked by the PDP for the South East.
Rising from a meeting in Abuja yesterday, a group of eminent South East leaders asked Jonathan, who is the leader of the party, as well as members of the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party to, as a matter of urgency, look at the issue and find a solution to it, against the backdrop that it becomes more dangerous when taken into cognizance the voting strength of the zone which they put at over 24 million registered voters.
Great vacuum
The group noted that the absence of a PDP national chairman has created a great vacuum, just as they said that the present political arrangement has left the South East as the only geo-political zone without a first-tier position in power-sharing, rotation of key political offices in Nigeria in line with the party’s zoning arrangement of 2007 and in pursuance of principle of justice, equity and fairness.
According to a communiqué signed by former governor of Anambra State and chairman of the group, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, the South East leaders also agreed to send a special ‘Save our Soul’ message to Jonathan to intervene.
The communiqué was also signed by former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Agunwa Anaekwe (Anambra), Professor Ihechukwu Maduike (Abia); Senator Sylvanus Ngele (Ebonyi); Chief M.O. Kalu (Imo); Chief Silas Ilo (Enugu); Mazi Larry Nwosu (representing Igbo in the 19 northern states), Dr. Chinweoke Mbadinuju; Dr. Douglas Acholonu and Dr. Ifedi Okwenna, who is the group’s  secretary.
The communiqué read in part, “That it will be too dangerous and counterproductive for the PDP to allow this current status quo to remain longer than necessary or to snowball into the next general elections.
“That it is spurious, self-serving and infantile to argue that time is too short for the party to have another national chairman or that the acting national chairman be allowed to use the national chairmanship position to rally support from his people for President Jonathan. This to us is a celebration of failure.”
Noting that silence on the part of the president to the development was not palatable to the people of the South East and that he should intervene, the group said, “his continued silence on this may be assumed to be acquiescence. The president is advised not to reward the unassailable South East support with official denial early in the life of his administration.
“There are over seven million  registered voters in the core South East states and over seventeen  million other Igbo who registered across Nigeria are already mobilized to cast their votes for the candidacy of President Jonathan unless they are forced to do otherwise.
‘’With dismay the inability of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to select from South East a party faithful as substantive national chairman to replace the former national chairman of the party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo more than one month after his resignation.
“That as at today, the South South occupies the office of the president of Nigeria; North West has vice president and acting national Chairman of  PDP; North Central has Senate President; south west has Speaker of House of Representative; north east has secretary to the Government of the Federation and south east where the national chairmanship of PDP was originally zoned to has nothing.
“That in the National Working Committee of the ruling PDP, no single person is from the south east geopolitical zone.
Ndigbo and power sharing
“That Ndigbo were not only the first major ethnic group in Nigeria to openly and unequivocally endorse the candidacy of President Jonathan for the 2011 presidential race but also spurned others to do the same. Ndigbo later voted with nearly every single vote of theirs in the delegate primaries of PDP to ensure the emergence of President Jonathan as the candidate of PDP. This is the first time in the political history of modern Nigeria that Ndigbo have given a near total adoption to any single presidential candidate in an election year.
“That it is very unfair and uncharitable to say that the delay in nominating a substantive PDP national chairman from south east is because the south east governors are against such a nomination as our enquiries have proved otherwise.
“Ndigbo despite its unambiguous and unequivocal support for President Jonathan’s government is again losing out in the power sharing, rotation of key offices in the government of Nigeria.
“That the position of the PDP national chairman remains allocated to Ndigbo in the PDP zoning arrangement of 2007 and that for fairness, justice and equity, the PDP should appoint its substantive national chairman from south east without any further delay.
“Ndigbo insist that what is theirs should be restored to them without any further delay and that no zone, group or individual should henceforth be allowed to again appropriate whatever is due to Ndigbo under any guise or form.
“That it will be too dangerous and counterproductive for the PDP to allow this current status quo to remain longer than necessary or to snowball into the next general election.
“That it is spurious, self-serving and infantile to argue that time is too short for the party to have another national chairman or that the acting national chairman be allowed to use the national chairmanship position to rally support from his people for President Jonathan. This to us is a celebration of failure.
“That the PDP should commence without any further delay the process for the emergence from south east a substantive national chairman for the party in the interest of justice, fairness, equity and peaceful co-existence of all Nigerians”.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/april-polls-igbo-threaten-pdp-jonathan/

R-L: Prof Soludo, Sen Ken Nnamani, Chief Simeon Okeke, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Achike Udenwa, Dr Sam Egwu, Mrs. Chinwe Obaji, and Senator Ben Obi outside the Hotel Concorde, Owerri venue of the Igbo Summit

Kwarans have come of age

Feb 20, 2011

For the past one month or so, several articles have been published in some national dailies analysing the political situation in Kwara State in manners that suggest that the people of the state remain perpetually subservient to the Saraki political dynasty.
Particularly disturbing in these obviously sponsored write-ups is the mischievous summation that the April 2011 governorship contest in the state would be fought in the main between the Olusola Saraki’s Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Saraki Jnr – Governor Bukola. The articles attempted a deliberate blackout of the rising profile among the masses and the intellectuals of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) whose governorship candidate, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), is a distinguished Kwaran par excellence. And, the party’s welfarist manifestoes.
This claim (of continued domination by the Sarakis) is not only preposterous and laughable, given its contradiction of the deep-seated disenchantment among Kwarans home and abroad over the crude way the state has been run like a fiefdom and conquered territory over the years.
It also runs counter to the winds of change waiting to sweep away the Sarakis in the coming ballot, with the outcome of the recent Offa Local Government polls as an eye-opener for the doubting Thomases.
The writers also assumed quite painfully that we the young generation of educated, broad-minded Kwarans – who unfortunately for the Sarakis now make up the bulk of the voting population – have chosen to remain in perpetual servitude and are contented with our being the objects of ridicule across the socio-political spectrum nationwide.
Across Kwara today, we, the youths are making it clear to our parents that our generation would not go the way of the past two generations of Kwarans who have watched while their future were being mortgaged by one single individual. And, our parents are, of course, owning up to their historical mistake and are willing to make up for it, beginning this April.
For the first time in his political career, Oloye received the shock of his life when he recently went to Agbaji – his homestead in Ilorin – to register in the just-concluded voter registration as people who traditionally would troop out to chant his praise were nowhere to be found. He was snubbed by his very traditional supporters, underscoring the fact that Kwarans have come of age and have made up their mind to unshackle themselves from the years of slavery.
Another terrible first in his political career are the confrontations, one of which took place during a recent Jum’at Service at the Ilorin Central Mosque, between him and the Islamic establishment who have kicked against the immorality of him wanting to impose his daughter on the suffering masses.
The man can no longer attend this mosque as he did arrogantly in the past. The myriad press statements issued by different pressure groups within and outside the Ilorin Emirate also show clearly that the game is up for the Sarakis – whether father, son or daughter.
Again, the claim in a newspaper editorial that Saraki Jnr is the jewel of the state politics also runs foul of the feelings across the state. The people of Kwara are well abreast of the fact that the difference between Gbemisola, who is the anointed candidate of Oloye, her father and the PDP’s Abdulfatah Ahmed – who is believed to be Bukola’s candidate – is like the difference between six and half a dozen.
Besides, the so-called bickering within this family is seen by most Kwarans as sheer deception, conceived to hoodwink the unwary while they perfect Gbemisola’s ascendance. But the people are wiser, and are watching. Or, how do you explain the fact that the newly-bought branded vehicles bearing Gbemisola’s campaign insignias were first taken to the Kwara Government House?
And, anybody who still believes that Bukola’s interest in Ahmed (who hails from Kwara South) is to press home his respect for zoning and equality should go back to the voting pattern at the just-concluded national convention of the PDP.
Delegates from Kwara, most of them cronies seeking political patronage from the governor, voted overwhelmingly against zoning. That is despite the fact that our governor had committed himself to the consensus arrangement, which was meant to ensure that zoning is respected.
Far from the outright lies and dummies often sold in the media, Kwara remains one of the most disadvantaged states in Nigeria in terms of infrastructure and human development. Anybody wanting to know the true situation of things in the state should take an unbiased trip to Kwara to assess the state of the roads, health and educational institutions, especially in primary and secondary schools.
A travel between Ilorin in Kwara Central and Baruten in Kwara North (to and fro) now lasts about 10 nightmarish hours (about the same time to travel between Lagos and Maiduguri in Borno State!). The disrepair state of the roads is indescribable.
The situation in Kwara South is just as bad, if not worse. Thousands of school pupils in Kwara still sit on bare floor to learn. People still go to streams – yes, the same streams polluted by cows – to fetch their drinking water. Education is nothing to write home about in the state.
Or, how do you convince a student of the Kwara State University (KWASU) whose parents cough out N150, 000 as tuition fee to rally round the same people who seek to take education off the reach of the common people?
So, where is the excitement to dump Saraki Snr, who precariously brought Kwara down this catastrophic path and made every Kwaran a laughing stock, and replace him with another Saraki as godfather whose eight years as governor would only be remembered for sheer propaganda and continued, modernised suppression of the people?
* Mustapha, a university student, lives in Agbaji, Ilorin, Kwara State.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/kwarans-have-come-of-age/

Date Published: 02/17/11

N64 billion still missing from FAAN Coffers as Presidency, EFCC wade in, Transparency Group says Aviation Minister, Njeze in the know

The whereabouts of a whooping N25 billion remitted to the accounts of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), by a revenue concessionaire, Maevis, is still a mystery. The sum which was acknowledged by FAAN in separate letters on March 28, and April 1, 2008, has simply varnished.

Also another N40 Billion it received in oil and gas concession has disappeared from the FAAN's accounts, fuelling allegations that the huge cash have been split into various private accounts belonging to top management staff and board members.

Aviation minister, Fidelia Njeze is also being fingered as an accomplice. Njeze had set up a review panel to look at the deal between the FAAN and Maevis, plus the attendant allegations. But Pointblanknews.com learnt that till date,, the report with reference number FMA/FAAN/7090/173/February 2010 has not seen the light of day.

Pointblanknews.com learnt that the development is causing some worry in the Presidency with President Goodluck Jonathan calling for an investigation. Meanwhile Kaduna based Transparency Center Network has dragged the FAAN to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (ECC), and the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission (ICPC) over the disappearance of a total sum of N64 Billon.

The FAAN is fighting back, but has not explained how the monies developed legs. They are currently accusing Maevis of not remitting N17 Billion collected recently blaming it for the nonpayment of pensions, and staff wages.

A Board member, Hamisu Shira who spoke with Pointblanknews.com simply described the allegations as 'political', but failed to tell us what happened to the cash received so far. Also FAAN spokesman, Akin Olukunle focused on the N17 Billion. According to him " Maevis cant deny the act that they are owing us , due to this we have not been able to pay gratuities on pensions and salaries of our workers , all these are caused by the non remittance of the collections (N17 Billion), "

Hitherto, Maevis had dragged FAAN to the Presidency over the N17 Billion the latter claims it is owing. The firm disclosed that records at Zenith and Skye show that N25 Billion has been acknowledged by FAAN in 2008.

Maevis is also insisting that its records shows over N31 Billion had been paid into the coffers of the FAAN rom Lagos and Abuja airports alone since 2008.

According to Maevis, based on the system design agreed for the project with FAAN, monies collected are electronically transferred into AAN's designated accounts at Zenith and Skye.

According to a petition signed by TCN's Umar Farouk, sent to the EFCC chairman, the group said “The Management of FAAN has collected not less than N25BIILON from the MAEVIS project and $6m, in 28 months. The management cannot account for this huge money which was generated from only 6 sources .PART OF THIS MONEY WAS DEPOSITED IN PRIVATE ACCOUNT OF AN OFFICIAL OF FAAN.We call on EFCC and ICPC to investigate this information.

5. The FAAN Management has frustrated attempts to computerize other sources of revenue because this will disallow personal mismanagement of the funds AND GOVERNMENT MONEY WILL EASILY BE FUNNELLED THROUGH SUCH SOURCES. The FAAN TOP MANAGEMENT SEEM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH ANY ARRANGEMENT THAT DOESNOT ALLOW DIRECT COLLECTION OF MONEY MANUALLY.

6. Over 50% OF THE FAAN CONCESSIONARES IN FOOD AND BEVERAGES AND OIL AND GAS are not documented with any agreements as many of them are owned by fronts of the top managers.

7. FAAN MANAGERS HAVE FRUSTRATED FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO RECORVER ABOUT N40 BILLION IN OIL AND GAS CONCESSION .The Minister of Aviation is aware of this because she set up a Review panel and the report is lying on her table without implementation.REF FMA/FAAN/7090/173, February 2010"

EFCC spokesman, Femi Babafemi told Pointblanknews.com that the commission would investigate any alleged wrong doing once the petition gets to them.

http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os4594.html

How Nigerian mother, son face persecution in Saudi – Col Umar

NewsFeb 19, 2011

Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (rtd) narrates the story of a Nigerian held illegally in Saudi Arabia after he travelled to the county with his mother on pilgrimage.
A Nigerian woman and her son on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia are now languishing in jail there in what appears to be persecution by the Saudi authorities.
Hajiya Saratu Ahman, a widow, and her 22 year old son, Abdullahi Suleiman Sarah, are not allowed to depart home even after a court had discharged and acquitted Abdullahi after establishing that he was wrongly arrested and charged in the first place.
Their plight was brought to public attention yesterday by one-time military governor of Kaduna State, Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (rtd), who in a statement gave a blow-by-blow account of their ordeal.
His statement entitled: “Persecution of a Nigerian by the authorities of Saudi Arabia”: Our attention has been drawn to a very bizarre story of an innocent Nigerian, 22-year-old Abdullahi Suleiman Ahman, who is being held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against his will. His plight defies all logic and his ordeal is without a parallel in its cruelty, impunity and discrimination. It behoves the Nigerian government and all people of goodwill everywhere to act quickly to secure his immediate release.
Facts available to us indicate that the mother of Abdullahi Suleiman Ahman, Saratu Ahman, a devout Muslim widow, decided to reward him with a pilgrimage to Mecca following his successful graduation in June 2010 from the Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria. On 7 September, 2010, they both left Nigeria for Mecca. Upon their arrival at the Jeddah International Airport, like everyone else, they joined the queue for the required immigration documentation. Unlike everyone else, however, at that point, their journey took an unexpected, frightening course.
As soon as the immigration officer finished reviewing Abdullahi’s travel documents, we were told, he asked him to step aside while he got busy making phone calls. A few minutes later, some Saudi Arabian policemen arrived at the counter. The immigration official pointed at Abdullahi who was immediately handcuffed and led away – to the utter shock and bewilderment of his mother. Her attempt to follow them was rebuffed. She turned to the immigration officer and sought to know why her son was arrested and to where he was being taken.
The only explanation grudgingly offered by the officer got her even more bewildered that the boy “duped” a Saudi prince in an airline business contract signed way back in 2007; at which time Abdullahi was just a 19-year-old undergraduate and most unlikely to have been involved in any such business. Besides, there was no evidence that he visited Saudi Arabia in 2007.
Her attempts to prove to the immigration officer that her son was a victim of mistaken identity were ignored. Instead, she was shouted down and ordered to leave. Aware of the limited rights she had as a woman and a Nigerian to engage Saudi officials, Saratu obeyed the order and left; sobbing.
Twenty-four hours later, at the police station, Saratu found her son totally disoriented and frightened. This was indeed to be expected given the public perception of the boy as an obedient, shy and diligent young man who would always be counted upon to stay out of trouble. Still, beyond what she was told by the immigration officer at the airport, no further explanation or information was offered. And, as it turned out, Abdullahi’s arraignment in court was not done until nine clear days. The reason was that the Saudi prince who lodged the complaint failed to show up in court.
Eventually, he was charged with breaching an airline business contract entered into between him and the representative of a Saudi prince some three years ago. After the charge was read, the defense counsel drew the attention of the court to several discrepancies in the document, including names, nationalities, addresses, etc., between the real owner of the defendant company and the person being prosecuted. The lawyer tendered a copy of the contract document under reference.
The terms and conditions of the contract indicated that it was signed on 3 November, 2007 between one Mr. Fahd bin Siliman bin Hassan Ashar, a Saudi national representing a company owned by a Saudi Arabian prince, HRH, Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Assaud and Mr. Abdoulaye Diori Hamani, owner of an Air Niamey carrier and a citizen of Niger Republic. The Air Niamey carrier agreed to pay a commission of USD 100 per passenger to the Saudi company for its services. The Niamey carrier also agreed to pay USD 3 million (three million dollars) as penalty if it failed to implement the agreement.
The prosecutor agreed with the submissions of the defense counsel whereupon the judge asked the signatory to the contract, Fahd bin Siliman bin Ashar, to identify and confirm the person charged as the true culprit. He responded by saying he could not; adding that he never really met the owner of Niamey Air. After several other failed attempts to confirm the identity of the alleged offender, the complainants finally confessed that Abdullahi Ahman was indeed not the same person as Abdoulaye Diori Hamani with whom they entered into a contract that was now in breach. That being the case, the court discharged and acquitted Abdullahi Ahman and ordered his travel documents be released to him. The judge also ordered that the travel ban order on him be lifted immediately.
To his utter amazement and that of his long suffering mother however, his discharge and acquittal by the court did little to ease his troubles much less restore his freedom. For, in spite of the court judgment, when they got to the Jeddah Airport, expecting to depart Saudi Arabia for Nigeria, the immigration officials told them they couldn’t go, the travel ban was still firmly in place! Not only did the Saudi officials prevent them from leaving, they became deaf to all their explanations and pleas. Exhausted and cash strapped, they made their way back to the town and began to look for a way to survive as best as they could.
Family and friends in Jeddah and in Sokoto mobilised and pooled various donations to enable mother and son to survive under conditions worse than hostages.
As it turned out, their new ordeal was caused by a uniquely Saudi legal conundrum: the Ministry of Justice is required to communicate (a duty they neglected to do) the decision of the court on Abdullahi Ahman to the Jeddah police authorities. Having failed to do so, the task to try to get the two departments of government to communicate to each other was left to the victims’.
They were finally successful. The ministry dispatched the letter on 1 December, 2010, clear six weeks after the first attempt to leave the country. Armed with the ministry’s letter, a copy of which they were able to obtain three weeks after it was dispatched, they returned to what they now consider a scene of crime – Jeddah International Airport–on 28 January, 2011. It was their third attempt to leave.
Yet, no luck. Reason? Abdullahi Ahman’s name still popped up on the immigration computer as a dupe against whom a travel ban order was subsisting.
For all practical purposes, Abdullahi Ahman (and his mother Saratu), are being held prisoners by the authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia even though they have broken no laws within or outside that country. One will of course be tempted to ask whatever did the Nigerian embassy in Riyadh do to save this innocent Nigerian from unjust punishment and discrimination by the authorities of Saudi Arabia.
In any event, all those familiar with the way Saudi authorities treat issues concerning Nigerians and Africans in general; this is really begging the question. For long, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and black African nations has been characterized by utter contempt, stereotyping and racial discrimination. The Saudi authorities could never treat an American or European citizen in the same way they are treating Abdullahi Ahman. Nor has the Nigerian embassy in Riyadh any influence with the Saudi government that they can apply to protect their nationals from unjust punishment. For sure, no one can be subjected to this sort of abuse in the Vatican.
Yet, as we said before, Saudi Arabia’s continuing refusal to play by acceptable code of international conduct and denial of peoples’ right to personal liberty and freedom must stop. People of good conscience, everywhere and in particular the Nigerian government, has a duty to free Abdullahi Suleiman Ahman without further delay. It is an undisputed fact of history but which does bear repeating: When the rights of one man are denied, the rights of all are reduced.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/how-nigerian-mother-son-face-persecution-in-saudi-col-umar/

PHCN workers shut Olorunsogo power plant

Energy UpdatesFeb 17, 2011

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

OGUN — THE Olorunsogo power plant in Ogun State, that was handed over to Chinese by the Federal Government on Tuesday (a public holiday), has been shut down by aggrieved workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, who yesterday locked out the Chinese from the plant.
The Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Wya, had on Tuesday, after a meeting with the management of the plant and its major contractor, Sepco, handed it a letter of authority from the government.
Vanguard gathered that the aggrieved workers are said to be protesting among others, perceived fraudulent manner surrounding the purported hand over, racist behaviour of the Chinese and unresolved labour issues.
However, the national leadership of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, has waded into the crisis and invited the plant’s unit labour leaders for a meeting today to examine their grievances and what should be done.
Speaking to Vanguard, General Secretary of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero, blamed the Minister of Power for the crisis, wondering what informed the decision to hand over the plant on a public holiday when it was obvious that labour issues were unresolved.
According to him, “just Tuesday, on a public holiday, we got information that the Minister of Power went to Olorunsogo Power Station that was built by the Federal Government with a loan from China, to hand it over to Chinese and some so-called Nigerian partners led by one Adeleke.
“There was no information about this before that day. Before then, when the place was almost completed, the Chinese decided not to operate. There was high level of sabotage by the Chinese not to operate it.
“The agreement was that when the station is operated, power generated there would be sold to repay the loan got from the Chinese. But the Chinese decided not to operate it. Besides that, the Chinese wrote the engineering manual in Chinese Language.”
So, before now there were some syndicated reports quoting sources from the Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, that the Nigerian Engineers because they cannot understand Chinese language, the plant should be sold. Because of that, Nigerian Engineers became very angry because when the Chinese withdrew, even with the Chinese manual, the PHCN workers have been pushing out about 100 mega watts consistently.
Go and check out the daily broadcast of generation. That was the beginning of this idea of handing it over to the Chinese through their Nigerian accomplices.”
“So, on that the Minister went there and announced that he has handed it over to the Chinese and their Nigerian investors. Immediately, the Chinese refused Nigerian Engineers into the power plant. So, the following that, which was yesterday, (Wednesday), the workers decided to respond Throughout Wednesday, I was in the National Assembly. This morning (yesterday), we got a report that the workers have locked the Chinese out of the place. So, the place has remained shut.
But this afternoon, the Minister of Power was able to get across to me and I told him that he went there to create crisis and that we are trying to manage the crisis. I have sent for the union leadership there to meet with them Tomorrow (today) to find out what is on ground and see what can be done. But the issue is that the government or the minister never took us into consideration in what they are doing.
This has proven to them that they can sell a place from their luxurious hotel room, but it is another thing to transfer the place. It is also another thing, to take care of the interest of the people working in the place. Those are some of the things we must harmonised. Whatever they are doing cannot work until all the labour issues are addressed.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/phcn-workers-shut-olorunsogo-power-plant/

Activists want Attorney General prosecuted

By Gowon Emakpe

February 18, 2011 04:59AM

Ten civil society organisations yesterday called for the prosecution of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke over alleged lack of commitment to the anti-corruption war.

Executive director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Awal Musa Rafasarjani, who addressed a press conference in Abuja, said Mr Adoke has demonstrated “a total lack of commitment to the anti-corruption war.” Among other charges, Mr Rafasarjani said within ten months of being in office, the AGF has withdrawn a record 25 cases against corrupt persons with high political profiles.

He said: “Adoke has flagrantly violated sections 15(5) and 174 (3) of the 1999 Constitution when he set out to withdraw several cases on economic crimes against the public interest. We note in particular the case of the Vaswani Brothers whom EFCC was bent on prosecuting for multi-billion naira tax evasion and forgery; his morbid deal with former Governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Muazu to stop his prosecution; withdrawal of charges and return of recovered stolen funds to former National Electricity Regulatory Commissioners; assurances of safe landing for Dele Oye and Erastus Akingbola’s return from criminally self-imposed exile; the trial of Kenny Martins handled by Festus Keyamo, for embezzling Police Equipment Funds was profanely halted by the AGF; so also was the trial of Julius Berge Nigeria Ltd, Siemens Plc., Saipem, Technip and Halliburton Inc.”

Call for public hearing

The Federal Government recently withdrew all charges against construction giant, Julius Berger in the Halliburton bribery scandal. This comes less than a month after a Federal High Court judge, Donatus Okorowo, disqualified himself from hearing the $180 million Halliburton scam.

Mr Rafasanjani also said that in February 2010, the Nigerian Bar Association had raised alarm over attempts by the Federal Government to sweep the Halliburton scam under the carpet.

“A year after the clarion call, it is distressful to see Bello Adoke, the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister following the line of his predecessor-in-office Michael Aondoakaa who was unwilling to prosecute public officials involved and was shown the way out in circumstances that are dishonourable and disgraceful,” he said. “We call on the Senate and House of Representatives to immediately set up a public Hearing and inquiry into Halliburton funds scam in order to stop the AGF and other collaborators from further scandalizing our dear country by his various acts of infamy.” The activists also called on President Goodluck Jonathan to dissociate himself from the “pro-corruption stance of Mr Adoke.”

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5678245-146/activists_want_attorney_general_prosecuted_.csp

Nwando Achebe Makes Full Professor at MSU

NVS

February 16, 2011

Nwando Achebe-Ogundimu, Professor of History, Michigan State University, and daughter of the great Chinua Achebe was recently inducted into the rank of Full Professor at MSU, thus becoming one of the youngest full professors on campus!

Below are some pictures taken during the full professor dinner hosted by the president of the university.


Nwando Achebe, Professor of History, Michigan State University, received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2000. She served as a Ford Foundation and Fulbright-Hays Scholar-in-Residence at The Institute of African Studies and History Department of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1996 and 1998. Her research interests involve the use of oral history in the study of women, gender, sexuality, and power in Nigeria. Her first book, Farmers, Traders, Warriors, and Kings: Female Power and Authority in Northern Igboland, 1900-1960 was published by Heinemann in 2005. Dr. Achebe’s second book, The Female King of Colonial Nigeria: Ahebi Ugbabe (Indiana University Press, 2011) is a full length critical biography on the onlyfemale warrant chief and king in all of colonial Nigeria, and arguably British Africa. The writing was funded by a generous grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation. Dr. Achebe is presently working on a WHO funded grant on polio eradication in northern Nigeria.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/people/nwando-achebe-makes-full-professor-at-msu.html

A dearth of good luck

NEXT Editorial

February 18, 2011 02:31AM

For the nation’s 50th year anniversary celebrations the president’s wife, Patience Jonathan, decided to share bags of rice to “alleviate the poverty” of local women – and did this in the crudest, most elementary way possible – by calling people together and throwing them bags of rice like beggars.

By the time she was through, there were plenty of casualties, some fatal, as citizens struggled not just for rice but also against the complete absence of crowd control measures or indeed any kind of preparation to handle the melee that was sure to ensue from that method of distribution.

The bottom line: someone wanted to make a public show of doing good, but the action was neither thought through nor planned well; a metaphor for many of this administration’s handling of crucial issues.

Last week however, it all became a bit too much.

At a campaign rally for the People’s Democratic Party at Port Harcourt sports stadium, where the president was heralded and governors received their party flags, it all ended in avoidable tragedy. Sixteen people died and many others were wounded from the stampede that ensued after a police officer fired into the air to disperse the crowd.

Unfortunately, this is no simple tragedy. According to reports, the problem began when crowds wanted to leave as the president was about to begin his speech. While there is no doubt that this probably had more to do with people’s impatience with speeches rather than any animosity towards the candidacy of Mr. Jonathan, his presidential security seems to have convinced itself that this would be embarrassing to the president. The guards therefore refused to allow the guests leave – especially because it appears the same thing had happened at a similar rally in Kaduna just the day before.

But a crowd that wants to leave is a crowd that wants to leave – and when the armed guards were unable to control the pushing any longer, one of them began to shoot. Evidently, in a democracy, a people cannot even choose whom to listen to and when, and it has somehow become a duty to sit still during a campaign rally. The result was chaos, death, and many wounded at an event where people came to answer the invitation of a man who wants their votes.

The information commissioner for Rivers State, Ibim Semenitari, confirmed the sequence of events. “As soon as governors finished receiving their flags, and the president was about to make his speech,” she revealed, “some of the people, who had come to celebrate with the president and their governors began to leave. Initially, the gates were opened, that is at the Liberation stadium. But people were leaving in an uncoordinated manner, and security personnel were trying to manage the crowd and in the process of managing the crowd, they shut the bigger gate. Then a woman fell down and the crowd started stepping on her, some other people fell subsequently, and more people were stepping on them; that was how the confusion started.

“Now, when that happened, the mobile police men, who were standing outside, shot into the air to scare others. They (MOPOL) released a shot into the air to stop further surge and rescue those on the ground. Unfortunately, that worsened the confusion and more people started pushing, rushing back, rushing forward, leading to more casualties.”

We are left to wonder, are the president and his staff - aware that he is in fact responsible for the security of the people he leads first and foremost?

Everything about this unfortunate series of events shows Nigerians that there is plenty to be worried about: the fact that the security measures were not only insufficient, but the course of action taken by those charged with ensuring crowd control precipitated the tragedy: the fact that the presidential guards took over the security functions that are usually the preserve of the local police: the fact that the government has not taken any steps to heighten security and crowd control measures in this election season that guarantees there will be many more such gatherings of large crowds.

How is the president going to safeguard lives in Jos if he cannot even safeguard lives at his own campaign rally?

As if to add insult to injury, speaking to newsmen after the incident, an obviously clueless Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio, of Akwa Ibom State, urged Nigerians to vote overwhelmingly for Mr. Jonathan as a mark of honour in memory of those who died in the incident. It would be comic if it weren’t so tragic.

After unnecessary denials and a concerted effort to minimise the true import of this story – the president’s team decided to put off his campaigns for a while in a mark of respect for the dead.

However, it is barely one week after, and the president is back on the campaign trail – this time to Jos, the same city he never visited while hundreds, even thousands, were being killed on his watch.

Indeed, there is much to mourn.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/Editorial/5678257-146/story.csp

Katsina-Alu, Adoke plot to extend retirement age for Judicial Officers, Brace for April Election Petitions

With the dust kicked up sequel to alleagtion of fraud against the Chief Justice of the Federation(CJN), Alysius Katsina-Alu, yet to settle, there is a fresh claim alleging a plot by the CJN and his kinsman, and Attorney General, Bello Adoke, to clandestinely extend the retirement age for judicial officers.

The move to extend the retirement age to 75 , it was learnt, is to ensure some very loyal Supreme Court Justices and top ranking judicial officers are preserved for the floodgate of election petitions anticipated against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) after the Aprile general elections.

The CJN had been acused by the President, Court of Appeal,(PCA), Justice Ayo Salami, of complicity in the Sokot State Gubernatorial election petition.

The PCA had alleged that the CJN pressured him to rule in favor of Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wamakko of the PDP. Few days before the Appeal Court could deliver judgement in favor of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) candidate, Alhaji Dakinyaji, the apex court 'arrested' the judgement and ordered a re-run with Wamakko. The Appeal Court had ruled that Wamakko and his running mate, Muktar Shagari, were not qualified to run on the platform of the PDP in the first, so were disqualied from the re-run.

The Appeal Court led by Salami, had annuled PDP victories in Ekiti and Osun to the chagrin of several PDP big wigs.

Meanwhile the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), and the Coastal Mandate of the Niger Delta, have urged the National Judicial Council (NJC), which has Katsina-Alu as boss, to cause an immediate investigation into the alleged nefarious activities of the CJN.

The backed their call with comments from Justices Kayode Esho and Idris Kutigi. Esho had said " what happens if the allegation of corruption is against the Chief Justice, ?, who judges the judge" Kutigi had alleged " , a former Chief Justice of Nigeria was being used as a conduit by politicians to get bribes across to udicial officers at the Supreme Court and othe rjudicial divisions"

On the retirement age plot the groups in statement made vailable to Pointblanknews.com and signed by its Grand Patron, Prince Colins Eselemo said " we also have it on sound authority that there are clandestine moves by the CJN and the AGF to extend the retirement age for judicial officers particularly Supreme Court Justices to 75. This is a deliberate ploy to extend the retirement age of the CJN and keep him in office for another five years to continue his evil act in favor of the PDP "


http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os4585.html

1,000 politicians defect in Anambra

By Jude Atupulazi

February 17, 2011 03:51AM


More than 1,000 members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN) in Anambra State yesterday quit their parties to join rival All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). The former PDP and ACN members were welcomed during the official flagoff of APGA’s campaign for the central senatorial zone of the state.

Austin Ndigwe, a former state chairman of the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) and PDP chieftain who led the defectors, said they included all the ward and women’s leaders of the PDP and ACN in Anambra State. He said that the decision to switch parties came because of what they called the success story of the Obi administration.

“We are joining APGA today because of what our governor has done for the entire state. We want to belong and to be identified with his success story. Personally, I am also joining the party because of Dora Akunyili. I will do anything within my power to see she goes to the Senate,” Mr. Ndigwe said.

The national chairman of the APGA, Victor Umeh, while welcoming the new members into the party, said that there was no alternative party to APGA in the state and urged the people to vote for the party to consolidate its leadership in the state.

Mr. Umeh explained that APGA adopted the country’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, as its candidate because, according to him, his candidacy was divine, and he urged Nigerians to support Mr. Jonathan as his winning the election would further unify the country and remove all shackles of tribal and religious sentiments.

In his speech, the state governor, Peter Obi, charged the state’s electorate to vote in credible and articulate candidates capable of giving the state quality representation at the national and state assemblies.

“The era when politicians plundered the state is gone. We now have a government committed to serving the interests of the people and not politicians,” Mr. Obi said.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Politics/5677880-146/story.csp

February 17, 2011 01:22AM

The Badagry Local Government Council of Lagos State has commenced the training of personnel for the Indoor Residual Mosquitoes Spraying Programme.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that eight supervisors and 100 sprayers would be trained during the week-long programme.

Oyetoyan Adeyanju, a medical officer in the council, said on Tuesday that the supervisors would be trained between Monday and Wednesday while Thursday was for sprayers. He said that the objective of the programme, scheduled for March 1 to March 30, was designed to reduce the incidence and prevalence of malaria in the area.

The programme, an initiative of the Lagos State Government, was being supported by the council and Dizengoff Nigeria Ltd. The project will take place simultaneously in Badagry, Ojo, Amuwo Odofin and Ikorodu. “This programme of mosquito control will involve house-to-house spraying to stem infestation of mosquitoes,” he said.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5677895-146/story.csp

Ugandan president may release rap album

NewsFeb 17, 2011

Kampala- President Yoweri Museveni says he may release an album after a rap he performed became a smash hit on Uganda’s radio stations and in its nightclubs.
“I was very happy with the reaction of the youth because that means they are very thirsty for the music of their ancestors,’’ the 67-year-old told a news conference before elections on Friday.
“So after the election you may get quite a big album of the classics,’’ he said.
The leader, nicknamed “M7″, performed two children’s folk chants from his birthplace in Western Uganda at several election rallies over the last few months.
Record producers then mixed the performances with hip-hop beats and audio of Museveni talking to the crowd about a genre of music.
“Those poems which I gave to the youth are classical poems which were being recited before colonialism.
“There are quite a number of other songs and recitals which I will make available to them,’’ Museveni told reporters.
Ruling party officials were pleased with the popularity of the song before the poll but issued warnings to some newspapers after they published doctored photographs of a topless Museveni with a muscled and heavily tattooed torso. (Reuters/NAN)

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/ugandan-president-may-release-rap-album/

Ohanaeze demands Nwodo’s reinstatement

NewsFeb 17, 2011

By Tony Edike

DISTURBED by the absence of a representative of Ndigbo in the National Working Committee, NWC, of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, after the removal of the former national chairman of the party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ebonyi State chapter, has called for his immediate recall.
The group said Nwodo remained the best option in search of who to fill the vacant position he was forced out of, stressing that “as leaders of Ndigbo youths, we find it unacceptable that the South East is not represented in the highest organ of the ruling party”.
The Ohanaeze youth wing asked President Goodluck Jonathan to “recall how Nwodo put in all in his arsenal and defied powerful lobbies to shut him (Jonathan) out of the presidential race over zoning” and initiate moves to recall him immediately.
Speaking to newsmen in Enugu, state youth president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Ebonyi State, Mazi Okemiri Alex, stated that since the crisis in the party had worsened, even after Nwodo was forced to quit, “it is now clear that if his reform programme had been allowed to take effect, the party would have been the better for it now.
“It is now very clear that Nwodo meant well for the party as his reform package would have taken care of the acrimony now threatening the victory of the party at the polls.”
Stating that “the time to recall him is now and not later”, the group contended that all Nwodo stood for in trying to open the gate of the party for those angling to come was exactly what President Jonathan was now preaching in calling for reconciliation and for aggrieved members to remain instead of leaving the party.
Protesting the current state of affairs, he maintained that it was not acceptable to Ndigbo that another person from another zone would be allowed to occupy a sensitive position zoned to the South East “when the Igbo man who was removed gave a good account of himself as a man of integrity.
“I am, therefore, on behalf of Igbo youths, calling on President Jonathan to recall Dr. Nwodo to office as the vacuum created by his exit has remained unfilled and the evidence is seen in the confusion in the party, where the party leadership is unable to solve any of the lingering problems.”
The group further called on “Igbo leaders, especially those who are in PDP and continue to watch while Ndigbo are being sidelined wrongly to rise up now and reject this treatment to Nwodo while some others now in NWC who actually worked against the president are there now holding sway and pretending to be Jonathan’s friends”.
They alleged that those who forced Nwodo to quit the exalted office are enemies of Ndigbo who actually saw the man’s profile rising as one of the voices of conscience for the nation as he strove to restore dignity and discipline to the ruling party.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/ohanaeze-demands-nwodos-reinstatement/

EFCC Arrests US-Based Lawyer, Ugwuonye, For Defrauding Nigerian Government
Posted: February 16, 2011 - 21:53

By SaharaReporters, New York

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained US-based lawyer, Ephraim Emeka Ugwuonye, for fraud-related issues. Agents of the State Security Services (SSS) arrested Mr. Ugwuonye last Saturday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

Mr. Ugwuonye was later moved to Abuja where he was handed over to the EFCC for further action.

EFCC spokesman, Femi Babafemi, told SaharaReporters today that Mr. Ugwuonye had been "watch listed" at the port of entry a few months ago after Nigeria’s Attorney General and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded that he defrauded the Nigerian authorities in a series of real estate transactions where he acted as an attorney to the Nigerian government.

The real estate transactions were the subject of an investigative report by Saharareporters in 2009. In the report, we exposed how the controversial attorney seized $1.7 million in tax refunds belonging to the Nigerian embassy in Washington DC. Mr. Ugwuonye had confiscated the funds after he represented the Nigerian embassy in Washington, DC to sell several houses belonging to the Nigerian government. He reportedly justified the seizure of the funds by claiming that the Nigerian government owed him fees for other legal services he had done.

The real estate transactions also triggered an inquiry by the Nigerian House of Representatives, although it was unclear if the legislative hearing led the SSS to “watch list” Ugwuonye for arrest.

The EFCC’s Babafemi confirmed that Mr. Ugwuonye was handed over to the agency on Monday and had since been interrogated about the whereabouts of the proceeds of the transactions.

Mr. Babafemi said Mr. Ugwuonye was still being interrogated, adding that the detained attorney claimed that he was in Nigeria to attend a wedding ceremony. SaharaReporters could not determine if it was his own wedding.
Mr. Ugwuonye has had a troubled career in recent years, earning professional rebuke by regulatory authorities in the US. In an ironic twist in 2010, he forfeited the companies used in the real estate transactions with the Nigerian Embassy to the state of Maryland for failure to pay property taxes on them. An official in the office of the State Comptroller in Maryland described Mr. Ugwuonye at that time as a “deadbeat resident agent.” A source told SaharaReporters that Mr. Ugwuonye is also currently facing a professional conduct inquiry by the Attorney Grievances Commission in that state.

Since SaharaReporters broke the news regarding the real estate transactions, Mr. Ugwuonye had sued us as well as other Nigerians who commented about the transactions for libel. He has also harassed several Nigerians by private e-mail threatening to sue them. He lost his libel case against Mobolaji Aluko, an engineering professor at Howard University as well as a blogger.

Mr. Ugwuonye also enlisted some bloggers to harass anyone who questioned his questionable handling of the real estate transactions. His clique of bloggers has tagged critics of Mr. Ugwuonye’s as anti-Igbo. He also filed claims in court that there was a conspiracy against his person because he was an Igbo person.

The EFCC said they plan to charge Mr. Ugwuonye to court for fraud in order to recover monies he illegally took from the Nigerian government.

That plan will be tested. SaharaReporters has learned that since Mr. Ugwuonye’s arrest, several powerful Nigerians have been putting pressure on the EFCC to drop the charges.

“This is an easy one to predict,” an analyst said today. “In two weeks this story may not exist.”

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/efcc-arrests-us-based-lawyer-ugwuonye-defrauding-nigerian-government

Ribadu not vindictive like Obasanjo —Tinubu

By Olusola Fabiyi

Thursday, 17 Feb 2011


A former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday said the presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, was not a vindictive person like former President Olusegun Obasanjo.


He said it would be wrong for people to think that Ribadu would descend on them if he wins the forthcoming presidential election.


Tinubu, who spoke in Abuja at the unveiling of the party’s manifesto and agenda for Nigeria, said that the toes that Ribadu stepped on while serving as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission were rotten.


He said because of the desire of the former president to get rid of him and send him to jail after he must have completed his tenure as governor of Lagos State in 2007, he asked Ribadu and the commission to investigate him (Tinubu).


The former governor said he spent about eight hours with the commission’s investigators on the day he was invited, adding that at the end, he was asked to go home.


He said, “People have said Ribadu stepped on many toes. Yes, he did because the toes were rotten and infected.


“If you cannot fight the cancer called corruption, there is no way you can move the country forward.


“I was the most hunted governor by Obasanjo’s government. They were looking for a way to get rid of me. Some even said that I was not going to stay to handover to my successor.


“They said I had several bank accounts, that I have undeclared assets all over the place. Yet, they would not tell you the balance sheets of these accounts.


“Ribadu investigated me for several hours. I was invited and faced investigators between 10am and 7pm. When I was there, my wife was fasting. At the end of the day, I was left to go home.


“Ribadu did not manufacture a case against me as expected by his boss. He is not a vindictive person. If your toe is infected, you will not sleep well. Those who are accusing him of selective justice should ask whether any case he instituted as chairman of the EFCC was thrown out by the court.


“Those he took to court were either jailed, or they entered into a plea bargaining.”


He said the ACN was a different political party from the Peoples Democratic Party, which he christened ‘Poverty Development Party.’


“They (PDP government) would come to you and say ‘come and join us so that we can sweep your case under the carpet.’


“They are blackmailers. We will change that government. It is time to sweep away non-performing government. This (ACN) is a party of ideas. We are different from the PDP.”


Tinubu said it was an irony that the Federal Government was still borrowing money when the price of crude oil was soaring high at the international market.


“When you have the price of oil soaring high and you keep on borrowing, you should pack your load and go,” he added.


Also speaking on the occasion, Ribadu who described the PDP-led administration as an abysmal failure in governance, said his party was poised to lead the mission of change in Nigeria.


He called on the PDP-led Federal Government to be ready to leave, since, according to him, it had not been able to lead Nigeria satisfactorily.


He said, “It has become fashionable for everyone to talk mechanically about change in the country today, even those who have inflicted the worst injury on our treasury, and our best values speak glibly about change.


“But for us, the distinction is clear as daylight; the change we talk about begins with a leadership that is transparent, accountable, competent, experienced, and virile.


On his part, a former National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the ACN is the best political party that can lead Nigeria.


Ogbeh, who was the chairman of a five-man committee that re-examined and reenergised the party’s manifesto, said apart from the party, other political parties were mere machines for vote catching.

http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201102174331517

Senate rejects N1.2bn budget for upkeep of ex-Heads of State

By Oluwole Josiah

Thursday, 17 Feb 2011


The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental-Governmental Affairs on Wednesday rejected the N1.2bn proposal by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the upkeep of former Heads of State and their deputies.


Chairman of the committee, Senator Smart Adeyemi, said his conscience would not permit him to defend it before the Senate Committee on Appropriation to which he directed the SGF.


A Permanent Secretary at the SGF’s office, Mr. Taiye Haruna, who represented the SGF, Yayale Ahmed, told the committee that the N1.2bn was not captured in the 2011 budget proposals, but that it would be presented to the committee later.


He also said that the sum of N2.2 billion was proposed for the upkeep of the former leaders in 2010, but was also dropped when the budget was being computed.


Adeyemi was visibly angry at the proposal.


He told the SGF, “I will not be able to defend this before the appropriation committee. My conscience will not permit me to do that. I think that these retired Heads of State should be able to take care of their needs, but we are still paying so much in the face of people not being able to eat three square meals a day. It is unfair.


“I cannot understand why we are going to be spending so much money on former Heads of State who presided over the affairs of this country rightly and wrongly when we are growing an army of unemployed youths who are now capable of staging a revolution.


“It is unfair to set aside N2bn for a few people who were part of those who mismanaged this country when there are no jobs, when there are no drugs in the hospitals and there is so much poverty in the land.”


Haruna explained further that N1.2bn was actually meant to cater for the needs of the former leaders which were already in arrears.


He said there were seven living former Heads of State; five former Vice-Presidents, six families of deceased leaders and two families of deceased Vice-Presidents.


He argued that the upkeep was in line with the Act recently passed by the National Assembly on the upkeep of the former Heads of State.


He said a five bedroom housing accommodation was supposed to be built for each of the former leaders in any location of their choice with telephone services. The government is also expected to provide, at least, three vehicles for them and pay the salaries of their personal staff.


The funds will also be used to cater for them whenever they visit Abuja, as well as pay for other courier services required by the former leaders.


Haruna also explained that as soon as the major provisions were made, the annual upkeep would not be more than N250m.


But Adeyemi noted that though the Act had come into force, he stood against it as it did not represent the interest of the people of Nigerians.


According to him, he would continue to oppose the implementation of the Act, hoping that someday the Act would be revisited for a possible repeal or amendment.


http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110217317617

Violent protest rocks Ilorin over abandoned road project

NAN

February 17, 2011 03:59AM

Economic and social activities were paralysed for several hours on Wednesday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, following a violent demonstration by youth who were protesting the abandoned construction work on the Olulande-Ita-Alamu-Offa Garage road. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that several people including one policeman were seriously injured during the protest. The violent protest started as early as 6.30am by youth in the area, who barricaded major roads and link roads to the Offa Garage-Ajasse Ipo road with bricks and blocks. The angry youth also set up several bonfire along the road from Michael Imodu Labour Studies Institute junction up to Ola-Olu-Stella Obasanjo junction. The youth in their thousands were chanting anti government slogans like: “Kwara must be free”, “No to slavery by Saraki, Bukola and Gbemi”, “Leave our state now Saraki”, among others.

It took the anti-riot policemen several hours before they could restore order and normalcy to the road as several canister of tear gas were fired to disperse the protesters. Kwara state Fire Service were also brought in by the government to put out the bonfire and tyres set ablaze by the angry mob. Speaking with NAN, one of the protesters, who spoke under condition of anonymity, explained that life had become unbearable for people living along the 2.5 kilometre road. Reacting to the incident, Bode Olayemi, the state commissioner for works and transport, told journalists that the road was a federal road being constructed by the state because of its concern for the people. He pointed out that the road was still ongoing and not an abandoned project as claimed by the protesting youth. The commissioner said that the government was not unaware of the difficulties being faced by the people. Mr. Olayemi noted that the sum of N363 million had been paid as mobilisation fee to the contractor handling the project, which is due for completion before the expiration of the tenure of the present administration. Mr. Olayemi, who addressed the news briefing together with the state commissioner for information and communication, Ben Duntoye, appealed to members of the public and protesting youth to exercise patience. He said that incidentally the contractor was expected to move back to site on Wednesday but could not due to the disturbance. Mr. Olayemi said that the contractor had been instructed to put speed breaker on the road in order to reduce the dust in the area. Ezekiel Dabo, the police public relations officer for the Kwara Command, in his reaction urged the people of Kwara not to take laws into their hands as government was doing everything within its reach to fix the road. Mr. Dabo told NAN that normalcy had since returned to the area following the early hours disturbances by the youth, which disrupted vehicular movement for several hours.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5677992-146/story.csp

P/Harcourt tragedy: Witnesses blame presidential security


Written by Bolaji Ogundele

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

Witnesses who testified before the presidential panel on the stampede which killed 11 persons in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, have blamed security men deployed from Abuja, the nation’s capital for the tragedy.

Testifying before the panel on Tuesday, Mr. Nmehielle James, Manager of Liberation Stadium, Elekahia, Port Harcourt, said men of Police Mobile Force and State Security Service (SSS) from the Presidential Villa, Abuja chased him and his staff out of their offices and changed the padlocks to all the gates.

James disclosed that the security men opened only three of the gates despite the large crowd, noting that the pressure on the main entrance to the stadium caused the tragedy.

The stadium manager said the security men ignored all the plans put in place by the stadium authority to ensure a hitch-free rally, stressing that the incident could have been avoided if all the security agencies were carried along.

Also testifying before the panel headed by the AIG, Zone 6, Calabar, Mr Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, a Commissioner of Police, Margaret Hart, wondered why one of the Masters of Ceremonies of security at the stadium announced that state house security personnel should take over the stadium’s main bowl, chasing out others and causing confusion.

According to Hart, the announcement was embarrassing and caused confusion among the security men.

Another senior police officer, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of operations in the state, Mr. Habila Joshak, said policemen who were detailed to man the gates by the state command were displaced by security men from Abuja.

Giving figures, Joshak said 3,550 officers out of the over 13,000 officers in the state were assigned various duties during the presidential campaign rally, saying that the stampede could have been averted if the right things were done.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/17642-pharcourt-tragedy-witnesses-blame-presidential-security

http://saharareporters.com/letter/farida-waziri-meddling-gombe-state-politics-using-efcc-tool-intimidation-sack-farida-waziri-n

Farida Waziri Is Meddling In Gombe State Politics Using Efcc As A Tool Of Intimidation- Sack Farida Waziri Now

Posted: January 29, 2011 - 14:59

By Bulus Malami


Dear President Jonathan,

We want to call your attention to the activities of Mrs Farida Waziri the chairperson of the EFCC in meddling in the affairs of Gombe State politics in favour of the husband Senator Ajuji Waziri.

Since 2008, Mrs Farida Waziri has been intimidating the people of Biliri LGA to support the ambition of the husband Senator Waziri.

We the people of Biliri decided that we will no longer support Senator Ajuji Waziri as he has never brought meaningful development to our area either as a senator or ambassador. Senator Ajuji is a selfish politician who believes only in his pocket.

During the last re run election, Mrs Farida Waziri brought the sum of N300 million for the people of Biliri to support her husband to go back to the senate, we initially resisted the move but Mrs Waziri threatened that she will re-arrest our leader Mr. Zebulum Wasa if we don’t accept her offer.

To allow peace to reign, we then accepted that he goes for the re-run with the promise that he will not seek for election in 2011 polls.

We were surprised when Senator Ajuji Waziri reneged and came to contest in the primaries. We the Tangale youths in adherence to the call of Mr. Zebulum Wasa fiercely resisted this attempt, which led to the loss of Senator Waziri in the primaries.

Due this loss, Mrs Farida Waziri then deployed EFCC operatives to arrest Mr. Zebulum Wasa, claiming that he had issues with them in 2008.

Mr. President. Mrs Farida Waziri has continued to oppress the people of Gombe state. Even His Excellency Governor Dajuma Goje is not left in these onslaughts of intimidation and extortion, but naturally he cannot cry out as his hands are tied.

Mrs. Waziri and Senator Ajuji Waziri have amassed so much wealth from Gombe LGA chairmen through intimidation. The same applies to LGA chairmen in Benue State who has complained to their counterparts in Gombe State.

Mrs Farida Waziri has several brand new cars parked in her husband’s house in Gombe as if it’s a car dealership. Please send security operatives to search Senator Ajuji’s house in Gombe and you will be amazed by the find.

We can no longer tolerate the excesses of Mrs Farida Waziri in Gombe State. Senator Ajuji Waziri is a loser and it cannot be reversed by intimidation.

We call on Mr. President to order EFCC to release Mr. Zebulum Wasa immediately from this witchhunt and political intimidation. Mrs Farida Waziri should be suspended immediately while investigation should be carried out about her corrupt practices and wickedness against the Gombe people.

We the Tangale youth Forum also want to state categorically that we have never written any petition against Mr. Zebulum Wasa our leader as insinuated by the EFCC.

FOR:
Tangale Youth Forum Biliri, Gombe State.

Bulus  Malami
Email:tangaleyouthsforum@yahoo.com

http://saharareporters.com/letter/farida-waziri-meddling-gombe-state-politics-using-efcc-tool-intimidation-sack-farida-waziri-n

--The Full article--


Killing People to Avoid Embarrassing Jonathan Is Becoming A Tradition
Posted: February 15, 2011 - 15:51
By Ibraheem Dooba
Remember Thisday newspaper reported that people refused to hear Goodluck Jonathan give his speech and immediately walked out of the campaign venue in Kaduna after party flags were presented to PDP governors?

That’s what would have happened in Portharcourt but the mobile police attached to the president wouldn’t allow that.

Thus, immediately Amaechi was presented with the flag and they see people leaving, the mobile police attached to the president closed the big gate of the stadium. The crowd surged forward, a woman fell, more people fell and our brainy police men stationed by the gate started shooting (apparently to scare people away from the gate).

I’m not making this up. It’s exactly the statement released by Rivers State Government said. When SaharaReporters.com said the same thing yesterday, some readers accused it of being sponsored because, they said “SR didn’t name any source”. Okay, here’s a source - Ibim Semenitari, Rivers State’s commissioner of information and following is exactly what she told journalists.

“It is important to give you the correct information on what happened yesterday (Saturday). Of course you (journalists) are all aware that there was a presidential rally and it was quite exciting as people turned out in their numbers to witness the event. As soon as governors finished receiving their flags, and the president was about to make his speech, some of the people, who had come to celebrate with the president and their governors began to leave. Initially, the gates were opened, that is at the Liberation stadium. But people were leaving in an uncoordinated manner, and security personnel were trying to manage the crowd and in the process of managing the crowd, they shut the bigger gate.

“Then a woman fell down and the crowd started stepping on her, some other people fell subsequently, and more people were stepping on them, that was how the confusion started. Now, when that happened, the mobile police men, who were standing outside, shot into the air to scare others. They (MOPOL) released a shot into the air to stop further surge and rescue those on the ground. Unfortunately, that worsened the confusion and more people started pushing, rushing back, rushing forward, leading to more casualties,” Mrs Ibim Semenitari, Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communication said.

That’s not all.

When Jonathan was booed and heckled in Nasarawa State the police killed two babies (six years each) to appease Mr. President. “Here Mr. P, we killed two children for you – a boy and a girl no less - are you happy?”

Dayyabu Usman was shot in the head and Fatima Nasir in her chest. Another boy, Hamza Ibrahim, who was bit older, was also killed with them. Dayyabu Usman’s brother said the six-year old boy was on an errand for the family when our dear mindless police put a bullet in his brain.

By the way, do the Nigerian police know something called a rubber bullet? I don’t even see them with batons any longer. Are they beyond using batons?

However, the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Olusola Amore, said the [Very Insightful] IGP has requested useful information on the immediate and remote cause of the mishap. Nonsense!

Here’s the remote cause of the avoidable deaths: police close the big gates to prevent people from leaving the stadium.

And here’s the immediate cause: police fired their guns.

Finally, Mr. P who must have realized by now that death follows him wherever he goes has suspended his campaign activities. But trust Nigerians with their automaton heads; when the campaign activities resume, more will gleefully surge forward to their deaths.

In case you didn’t know, Ibraheem Dooba is the warped mind behind AgainstJonathan.com and can be reached at idooba@gmail.com

Lagos House Of Rep. Member, Owolabi Alao Monsuru, aka Batola, in Certificate Scandal

Posted: February 16, 2011 - 03:03


By SaharaReporters, New York

Saharareporters has confirmed that the fourth term bid of Mr. Owolabi Alao Monsuru, a crony of Bola Ahmed Tinubu who represents the ACN in the House of Representatives, has run into trouble on account of certificate forgery.
The three-term lawmaker, who represents Lagos Island Constituency 11, presented to the screening committee of ACN a forged School Leaving Certificate and a fake diploma from the University of Lagos.  The First School Leaving Certificate is a minimum requirement for candidates hoping to become members of the lower house of the National Assembly.


SaharaReporters is in possession of one Secondary School Leaving Certificate from a “school’ called New Nation College which was submitted to the ACN by Mr. Monsuru. An investigation by Saharareporters revealed that no school was registered under that name by the Lagos State Ministry of Education at the time the certificate was issued. The certificate was issued by the Lagos State Ministry of Education although the West African Examination Council, WAEC, had been responsible for issuing such certificates since 1952.

The certificate shows that Mr. Monsuru, who is popularly known as “Batola”, was admitted to the school from January 1964 to December 1968.  It testifies, falsely, that he satisfied the necessary conditions for the award of the certificate after completing Class Four.  If a testimonial was indeed issued at that time, it would have said Standard 4 and not Class 4.

Mr. Monsuru also submitted another letter to the screening committee claiming that the University of Lagos Consultancy Services (Unilag Consult) could not reissue a diploma certificate he had obtained from the university. In place of the diploma, Mr. Monsuru presented a certified copy.

Saharareporters’ investigations with the authorities at the University of Lagos show that Mr. Monsuru’s Unilag Consult “diploma certificate” is a forgery.  Not only has the certificate no matriculation number, the letter headed paper on which it was issued is different from UNILAG’s regular letter head.  In addition, Unilag Consult is not a recognized department, a management program or a course of study.

The ‘certified’ photocopy of the fake diploma was signed by one Kola Babalola, designated as an Administrative Manager. The authorities at UNILAG do not know of any Mr. Babalola in a position to issue certificates. Furthermore, Mr. Babalola’s position as Administrative Manager does not exist.

A look at the HANSARD, the official report of the proceedings and debates of the legislative house, shows that for twelve years, Mr. Monsuru has contributed little or nothing on the house floor. As dissatisfaction grew among his constituents on Lagos Island, Bola Tinubu deftly moved Mr. Monsuru to Lagos Mainland as a candidate for the same House of Representative.

Sources within the ACN Lagos State party secretariat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Saharareporters of how the Chairman of the screening panel, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, presented Mr. Monsuru in absentia. The former senator, who is currently Commissioner for Tourism in Lagos State, produced Mr. Monsuru’s educational qualifications which turned out to be forged.

Party members who spoke to Saharareporters claimed that Mr. Monsuru is a front for former Governor Tinubu for the collection of unofficial taxes extorted from unsuspecting public transport drivers. These ‘fees’ are in addition to the official Lagos Government taxes and NURTW fees.  They also claim that in Bola Tinubu administration, Mr. Monsuru was allocated car parks, a “portfolio” he has maintained.  The whole Marina stretch of car parks is under Mr. Monsuru’s direct control, and he regularly remits returns to ex-governor Tinubu.

Party insiders also claimed that the toll gates between Ilupeju and Mushin and similar toll gates in and around Lagos are under Mr. Monsuru’s direct control.  Over the years, he acquired a giant printing press that is contracted to print all of Lagos State official stationery, as well as those of the ACN.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/lagos-house-rep-member-owolabi-alao-monsuru-aka-batola-certificate-scandal

We will fish out aliens who registered – Immigration boss

By MUSTAPHA SALIHU

Wednesday, 16 Feb 2011

The Comptroller, Kano State Command of the Nigeria Immigration service, Dr. Brasca Ifeadi, in this interview with MUSTAPHA SALIHU, explains the role of the service during the recently concluded voter registration exercise and how aliens who registered will be detected. What role did the immigration service play in Kano State during the voter registration?


The Federal Government instituted a security system in each state, which is headed by the Commissioner of Police. All heads of security agencies in the state work and collaborate under the umbrella of the commissioner of police. It is on this platform we operated during the voter registration and we were able to detect foreigners attempting to register. Six of them were all arrested within Kano metropolis trying to register as Nigerians.


Those foreigners you arrested, what nationality were they?


All of them are from Niger Republic. It is from Niger Republic we had the highest number of culprits who wanted to register illegally. Some, in fact, succeeded. We arrested six, but three registered. Three of those arrested were caught in the attempt and there were many more that also attempted to register. They gave their names as Murtala Yahaya, who was arrested at Singerr market registration centre; Mohammed Akilu, who was caught at the Kofar Nassarawa Centre and Yusuf Rabilu, who we got at the Yakasai registration point. Salisu Mohammed, Abdullahi Lawwali and Murtala Mukhtar were all attempting to process their registration to obtain the voters card at El-Duniya, Civic Centre and Badarawa Aminudeen Mosque registration centres respectively when they were nabbed.


How were they detected?


They were detected because of the vigilance of the committee. Because of the vigilance of the security officers and people within communities, we were able to grab them. We want to use this medium to warn people generally, that the Nigeria Immigration Service in all the states has been mandated by the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mrs. Rose Uzoma, to ensure that we do our own bit strictly and precisely. She warned that no foreigner must register and make useless, the attempt by President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the success of this year’s elections. So, we want those arrested to serve as a deterrent to every foreigner who would want to circumvent the law and register.


But why would a non-Nigerian participate in the process by registering with a view to voting in the April general elections?


Yes, I will like to let you know that we discovered them through analyses and investigations by our investigation unit. We have been able to find out that there was something that has been engineering them to vote, apart from political mobilisation by some illegal elements. Some of them believe that they have lived in Nigeria long-enough and automatically, that makes them Nigerians. This is extremely presumptuous. So, we announced to all foreigners at the time we inaugurated our e-registration on the January 17 that no foreigner, whether black or white, should register.


Did they heed this warning?


Not quite. Many of them have still not learnt from all our admonitions. So, for the six that were arrested, we immediately wrote our report to the Comptroller General of the (Nigeria) Immigration Service. We also wrote a report to the Commissioner of Police. We wrote the reports to enable us to repatriate all of them back to their country. We have selected the border to use through the Katsina area that is nearest to their domain in Niger Republic. We will depot them quickly to serve as a deterrent to others who, up till now, have not learnt their lesson.


There have been concerns among Nigerians about these aliens. What are you doing to deal with the situation? Their influx into Kano has constituted various problems?


We have kept our circuit open. We have our boys in the local government areas. They are sniffing around. Any of them caught will be brought to book. None of them will go unpunished. You know there is no system that is completely error free. But we keep trying our best. We have some problems. We have that common language with many of our neigbours. People from Niger, even some people from Chad, speak Hausa very well and their complexion is the same with ours. So it is actually difficult to detect all the time. But, I assure you that we will try our best to ensure that we continue to fish them out. It is a continuous process.


What happens to those who succeeded in registering? Will they be allowed to vote in the April poll?


No, absolutely no. They cannot vote even though they have succeeded in registering. If we cannot catch them, voting time will come. When they come to vote, we will be waiting. Immigration will be there to ensure that any of them that registered will be caught. Like I said, you can see that we began that on January 17 when we inaugurated the e-registration of all non-Nigerians of African extraction in Kano State. We have 44 local governments in Kano State and we have officers in all the local governments. The governor, (Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau) inaugurated it. He sent the Head of Service to represent him that day and it was a huge success. You see that day, the president of foreigners association who happens to be a doctor, a PhD holder from Ghana, made a very wonderful speech cautioning his colleagues who are not Nigerians that what they are doing it at the peril of the relationship that exists, between them and our country, because we will be hard on them.


Don’t you think they are being mobilised by politicians to register?


What you have said about political mobilisation, is something that is always inevitable because of the lack of understanding of some of our people about political parties. But we don’t want to delve into that now. What we are trying to say is that our people in the local governments are sensitising them, going round and preaching the gospel of people doing what is right. It is a national project. But I know one day we will get there.


Besides the voter registration, what is being done to check the influx of foreigners into the country illegally?


We are working assiduously towards protecting our border posts. The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service has strictly warned all officers who man the entry point because most of them don’t fly in. Most of them come from land borders which are extremely porous because of the sand infested nature of the borders in the North. And remember, this problem is not limited to the North. Also, on the Western and the Eastern sides there are people coming from Cameroun, there are people coming from Benin Republic. The same problem of ethnic contiguity is also affecting them in the West. You have Yoruba people in Benin Republic. The Comptroller-General has said that all state comptrollers that man states with land borders must be vigilant and regularly check their officers to ensure that they do what is right.


So how are you going about this?


There is a mechanism that the Immigration Service has put in place to ensure that we do what is right and check them by this e-registration. They register and get their stay regularised by getting what they call resident card for those who are within the ECOWAS community. Those who are not within the ECOWAS community will regularise themselves properly by passing through the normal process of having entry visa and getting their resident permit, and then the cyber card – the green card. When they get it, their stay is regularised.


Six Nigeriens were arrested. Will they have their documents regularised?


They won’t. Apart from trying to do what is illegal within, their stay will not be regularised. They don’t have papers. Most of them don’t even have travelling documents. Some of them abuse the ECOWAS concept of borderless border. They forget that even with the borderless border, you can come into the country because of the ECOWAS protocol and trade, but it doesn’t stop you from having your travel documents and registering yourselves properly with the immigration immediately you come into the country. If you are in any local government, we have offices in every local government. It is the responsibility of the foreigner to go to the immigration office and register. After registration, you get your resident card and depending on your category, if you are within the ECOWAS community, you get your resident card. Assuming you are from Egypt for example, you get your proper green card.

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201102164492737

Power: FG hands over Olorunsogo plant to Chinese investors

By Martin Ayankola

Wednesday, 16 Feb 2011


The Federal Government has announced the handover of the 335-megawatt Olorunsogo Phase 1 Power Plant to a consortium of Chinese and Nigerian companies, SEPCo-Pacific Energy.


The transaction marks the first successful sale of a government-owned power company to a private investor under the Federal Government’s road map for the power sector.


However, the new ownership structure of the plant is being worked out by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, based on facts and figures to be tabled by the Federal Government and SEPCo.


Initially, the government had provided 35 per cent funding for the construction of the project, while SEPCo helped raise 65 per cent credit financing from Chinese banks for the completion of the project.


But because the government had been unable to service the loan, it decided to turn the debt into equity for the consortium.


The Minister of State for Power, Mr. Nuhu Wya, who presented the handover letter to the consortium on Tuesday, at the power plant, however, explained that the agreement only covered the first phase of the plant.


He said, “The Federal Government has long approved the divestiture of this plant to the Chinese for the fact that they own 65 per cent of this plant and the Federal Government owns 35 per cent. The BPE is, however, putting finishing touches to the divestiture plans and policies and this formal agreement will be signed at a later date, but for the expediency of getting the plant started. I have today handed a letter to SEPCO to ensure that it commences full operation of this plant with effect from tomorrow (Wednesday).


“In line with the Federal Government’s divestiture policy from the generation and distribution aspect of electricity development, we have reaffirmed to SEPCO that they are the core investors for the Olorunsogo Power Plant; they will manage this plant and work with existing Nigerian workers to ensure that power is delivered to Nigerians with effect from tomorrow (Wednesday).


He added, “So, we have agreed, and they have assured us that they have repaired seven of the eight units and they are ready to be fired. So, by tomorrow (Wednesday), we expect at least 200MW from phase one of Olorunsogo Power Plant. I want to seize this opportunity to assure workers of this plant that nobody will be dismissed on account of this decision today. I appeal to them to remain loyal to the new management of the power plant.”

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201102162364562

Jonathan insulted our parents’

By Okechukwu Nnodim

February 16, 2011 08:05AM


Bola Tinubu, the former Governor of Lagos State and chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria, has described President Goodluck Jonathan’s comments about the southwest as an “insult” to the Yoruba ethnic group.

Mr Jonathan, had last week, expressed his displeasure with the ousting of People’s Democratic Party governors in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states, describing the beneficiaries of their exit as “rascals.” Following prolonged legal battles, the Appeal Court ordered the removal of Olusegun Agagu, Segun Oni and Olagunsoye Oyinlola from office as respective governors of Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states, declaring their challengers as the lawful winners of elections that originally brought them in. “The southwest is too important to be left in the hands of rascals,” the president had said. “We must take it over from them. The ruling party must take over Lagos. We must also take over Osun and Ekiti states.”

However, presidential spokesman, Ima Niboro, the next day, said that “at no time did the president ascribe the ‘rascal’ he mentioned to anyone.” “Please note that the president didn’t call any names when he said the southwest is too important to be left in the hands of rascals,” he said. “So anyone who wants to appropriate the name to himself is welcome to do so.”

Tinubu’s grouse

Mr Tinubu, who spoke with journalists, yesterday at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, said that President Jonathan is abusive to have branded southwest leaders as rascals. “I think the president is wrong because that is an insult to our parents,” he said. “It is a speech from a drunk sailor fisherman whose boat is about to capsize. That is an insult to our parents. You don’t come to this land, seek our votes, and then insult our parents that they raised rascals.”

Speaking on the choice of running mate for the party’s presidential candidate, Nuhu Ribadu, the former governor said that reports of clash between him and the party’s flag bearer is false. He also advised journalists to avoid demeaning the integrity of the country’s former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in their speculations. Describing Mrs Okonjo-Iweala as an individual with outstanding qualities, the former governor said that his party is yet to decide on who will emerge as the running mate to Mr Ribadu. “Is it not very interesting to you to keep the general populace in suspense?,” he said. “Is it not part of a good strategy? She is a very qualified individual and she is an asset. She is an asset to the nation, an asset to Africa, and [to the] international community; and no doubt about that. But you don’t know whether she is even free now.”

Merger possibilities

Mr Tinubu said that the party has the capability of taking over power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, adding that merger with other political platform, though beneficial, may not be adopted by his party now. “Everybody is entitled to his or her own thinking,” he said. “There are so many theories and theoreticians and forecasters and I deal with a political environment where gossip and ordinary speculations work better than deep-rooted thinking and the ideological philosophy of a party is not taken into account. You talked about a party that has been in power for 12 years, isn’t it? Who says that ACN cannot do the magic? It is some thinking from several quarters; we believe that if we pull together it will be better and easier, no one disputes that, but I will never write off my party and I believe Nigerians are tired of PDP and they will speak through their ballot.”

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5677713-146/story.csp

April Elections: NPLF Warns Of Disaster Ahead; Accuses PDP Of Sham Elections And Excessive Corruption

Posted: February 15, 2011 - 15:47

By SaharaReporters, New York

The Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) yesterday in Abuja warned that Nigeria’s forthcoming general election could be so bad as to make the terrible 2007 election seem credible, free and fair.

“After thorough appraisal, the Forum has arrived at the sad conclusion that Nigeria's politicians have not learned any lesson from our past and are about to repeat the same mistakes which brought political instability to the nation and stunted its political development,” it said in a press statement.

It said all of Nigeria’s political parties must share the responsibility for this situation, particularly the ruling People’s Democratic Party “because of the level of impunity it exhibited” in areas that include:

•    sham elections at all levels;
•    total disregard of the constitution of the party and the law governing elections in a desperate bid to maintain the status quo;
•    excessive corruption and financial inducement leading to the outright purchase of delegates, the unclothed display of wealth by public officers and their spouses and their open misuse of resources largely belonging to the public;
•    violence and thuggery leading to political assassination of opponents as well as willful and blatant misuse of public office to intimidate, harass and deny perceived opponents their liberty and democratic rights; and
•    using security agencies and the judiciary to manipulate the electoral process in order to favour preferred candidates.

“With all of these and more taking place in the just concluded primary elections, one can only imagine what will happen during the general elections in April,” the NPLF said.  It called on the parties to call their members to order and the Independent National Electoral Commission to sanction all found to be involved in subverting the nation's democracy for personal political gain.

Full text of the Press Statement:


The Northern Political Leaders Forum met on Monday, February 14, 2011 in Abuja and took a comprehensive look at the nation's political landscape, especially as it relates to the conduct of primary elections by Nigeria's political parties.

After thorough appraisal, the Forum has arrived at the sad conclusion that Nigeria's politicians have not learned any lesson from our past and are about to repeat the same mistakes which brought political instability to the nation and stunted its political development. If the behavior of Nigeria's political parties during the recent primary
elections is anything to go by, then it is safe to assume that the quality of the forthcoming general election in April will make the discredited  2007 election seem credible, free and fair.

In this regard, all the nation's political parties must share responsibility but the largest proportion must go to the ruling party because of the level of impunity it exhibited especially in the following areas:

a. lack of internal party democracy characterized by sham elections at all levels and, where a semblance of election was held, the substitution of bona fide winners with losers or total strangers. This practice continued to the very last hour allowed by INEC.










b. total disregard of the constitution of the party and the law governing elections in a desperate bid to maintain the status quo

c. excessive corruption and financial inducement leading to the outright purchase of delegates, the unclothed display of wealth by public officers and their spouses and their open misuse of resources largely belonging to the public

d. violence and thuggery leading to political assassination of opponents as well as willful and blatant misuse of public office to intimidate, harass and deny perceived opponents their liberty and democratic rights

e. using security agencies and the judiciary to manipulate the electoral process in order to favour preferred candidates

2. With all of these and more taking place in the just concluded primary elections, one can only imagine what will happen during the general elections in April. The Forum calls on all political parties to call their members to order and urges the Independent National Electoral Commission to sanction all those found to be involved in subverting the nation's democracy for personal political gain.

3. The Forum decries the failure of opposition political parties to occupy the moral high ground and to provide a viable alternative to the ruling party at this critical hour when Nigerians are sick and tired of more of the same. Only a viable opposition will arrest the nation's political drift to a one-party state. Opposition parties must hold themselves
responsible if they fail to play their proper role in a democracy, even one as broken as our own.

4. The Forum wishes to restate its well-known position on the principle of zoning and rotation of public offices which all Nigeria’s leading political parties, except the PDP, have so far upheld. Nothing has taken place in the nation’s political arrangement to warrant any shift in the position of the Forum. The Forum therefore wishes to state categorically that it continues to believe in the propriety of its cause until justice is done.

5. The Forum decries the state of insecurity in the country, especially in Akwa Ibom, Borno, Edo and Plateau States and calls on the authorities to rise up to their responsibilities of protecting the lives and properties of citizens. A situation whereby human life can be taken at will without sanction or punishment is a situation of anarchy which, if left unchecked, can easily destabilize the entire country.

6. Finally, the Forum wishes to reassure all Nigerians of its commitment to the unity, peace, and stability of the country based on the principle of justice, equity and rule of law and calls on all Nigerians irrespective of sectional, ethnic or religious affiliation to resist the appeal of temporary gain and continue to stand for what is right.



Adamu Ciroma

Madakin Fika

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/april-elections-nplf-warns-disaster-ahead-accuses-pdp-sham-elections-and-excessive-corrupt

Petition To INEC: How Jonathan Rigged PDP Primaries, By Atiku‏

Posted: February 15, 2011 - 16:16

By Senator Ben Obi

Petition Against Illegalities Of The Conduct Of The PDP Presidential Primary Election On 13th January 2011.

The above named Organization on behalf of Atiku Abubakar GCON, former Vice President and one of the P.D.P. Presidential aspirants wishes through this petition to draw your attention to the apparent lack of openness and fairness in the recently conducted P.D.P. Primary process which flagrantly violated the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), P.D.P. Constitution and the P.D.P. Presidential Primary election guidelines.

In the light of such lapses, uncertainty, unfairness, secrecy, non-disclosure of vital information and outright breaches of both the Party’s Guidelines for the conduct of the Presidential Primary election and the extant Electoral Act, the Atiku Campaign Organisation was compelled to warn the PDP leadership not to allow a repeat of the chaotic and undemocratic primaries conducted earlier in the states for State Assembly, National Assembly and Governorship candidates.

For example, the composition of the National Convention Committee, which had the overall mandate of planning and executing the primary election programme, was not made public until 72 hours before the convention. This violated Paragraph 7 (b) of the P.D.P Electoral Guidelines 2010. Similarly, the identities of members of the screening committee were also not released until 72 hours before the screening of presidential aspirants on 11 January 2011. The PDP leadership kept the Atiku Campaign in the dark on critical issues and processes up till the time the primary kicked off.

The ground rules governing the primary election ought to have been agreed upon and signed by all the parties involved, and such an agreement should not only be binding on all parties, but should also have been published and widely advertised in the print media. This is stipulated in Paragraph 8(b) of the P.D.P. Electoral Guidelines 2010. The agreement on the special convention ground rules would have been one major way to ensure that the primary election process was objective, impartial, fair, just and not programmed to produce a predetermined end. But the PDP leadership refused to be guided by these basic democratic norms.

Also, the list of delegates who would vote at the primary election ought to have been published and widely advertised in the print media prior to the primary as spelt out under Paragraph 8(b) of the P.D.P. Electoral Guidelines 2010, so as to forestall the list either being tampered with or its integrity being substantially compromised. But the list of delegates was sighted for the first time by members of the Atiku Campaign while voting was in progress. The list of delegates is crucial to the successful conduct of any primary election. It is as important as the list of Nigerian Voters which the INEC is required by law to publish before the conduct of the general election.

The Atiku Campaign also drew public attention to the unacceptable situation in some states where delegates were barred from meeting Atiku Abubakar on the directive of the governors. Such states included Jigawa, Ebonyi, Abia, Kaduna and Akwa Ibom. It was clear that PDP state governors were under intense pressure from the presidency not to allow Atiku Abubakar to meet the delegates from their states. The PDP leadership refused to take a firm and decisive action against this undemocratic practice or primitive display partisanship. This was an infraction of Section 85 (3) of the Electoral Act 2010 which states that all elections including primaries “shall be conducted in a democratic manner and allow for all members of the Party or duly elected delegates to vote in support of a candidate of their choice.”

The Atiku Campaign wondered why preparations for the conduct of the PDP Presidential primary election appeared to be going on in extreme secrecy, thus making the entire process suspect and placing it under grave threat of manipulation by the powers that be. With 48 hours to the primary, the Atiku Campaign Orgamization was still completely in the dark about such crucial issues as the venue/location for the accreditation of delegates; the number of its officials who were entitled to special passes; the security arrangement for such a huge political undertaking; the nature and context of the voting method to be adopted; the number and arrangement of ballot boxes; the nature of ballot papers to be used, and if they had any special identification; mode of counting the ballot papers; and the announcement of results. This is contained in Paragraph 8(b) of the Party Electoral Guidelines 2010 but was not followed.

Although the Atiku Campaign Organization had demanded that accreditation of delegates and election officials be made open and transparent, the party leadership ignored this. The accreditation was handed over to state governors and ministers who hand picked those they trusted would vote for President Jonathan and left out suspected Atiku sympathizers from the convention. This was also in violation of Section 85(3) of the Electoral Act 2010.

Despite Atiku Campaign Organization’s vehement opposition to state by state voting and the labeling of ballot boxes according to states, the PDP went ahead to do just that. Giving the statement credited to Chief Tony Anenih, former BOT Chairman, issuing threats to delegates that “they will be fished out and dealt with if they cast their vote for Atiku”, such voting pattern intimidated delegates and made them unable to vote according to their consciences. This action was against the spirit and letter of Section 131 of the Electoral Act 2010.

When the composition of the Presidential Screening and Convention Committees were eventually made public, the Atiku Campaign Organization raised critical issues with the lopsidedness of the membership of the two committees. The campaign listed at least eight of the members of the committees who were outrightly hostile to aspirant Atiku Abubakar. They include:

1. Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State: The governor has gone on record to express his virulent opposition to Atiku Abubakar. He recently denounced Atiku Abubakar as a “desperado” and called him other unprintable names. He has blocked all avenues for Akwa Ibom State delegates to meet with our aspirant. He even went as far as threatening any of them who dared to meet with Atiku Abubakar.

2. Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State: The governor has never hidden his support for Jonathan. He is the chief mobilizer and financier of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign in Oyo State. He recently told a newspaper interviewer that he had bought 35 cars for the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign and that if Jonathan does not win, Nigeria will break up.

3. Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State: The governor is also the chief campaigner and financier of the President and his deputy in Abia State. His hostility towards our aspirant is such that Abia State delegates have been too scared to meet openly with our aspirant.

4. Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State:
His bitter and utterly uncouth utterances in recent times against Atiku Abubakar clearly exposed him as a rabid Atiku hater. He has intimidated and forced some of the Atiku Campaign officials to resign their appointments.

5. Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba is the Co-ordinator of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign in the Senate. It would also be recalled that Ndoma-Egba chaired the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on PTDF that was programmed to indict our aspirant in 2006 over the management of PTDF money.

6. The Secretary of the Convention Committee, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, has been an Obasanjo lackey and he also serves as the Deputy Coordinator of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign in the South East.

7. Dr. Nuhu Zagbayi serves as the North Central Coordinators of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign.

8. Chief Sylvester Okonkwo who is to act as the Secretary of the Presidential Screening Panel is a Special Assistant to Governor Godswill Akpabio. Chief Okonkwo has openly derided and insulted our aspirant.




It was therefore obvious that with a preponderance of anti-Atiku people in the two Committees, Atiku could not expect a fair deal.

The National Chairman never responded to these complaints.

One other example of the absence of a level playing field throughout the period leading to the primary was the unprofessional use of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the African independent Television (AIT) to persistently air defamatory advertorials against Atiku Abubakar. The Atiku Campaign formally reported the two television stations to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the regulatory body. But the government-controlled NBC ignored our complaints, thus giving both the NTA and AIT free rein to broadcast lies, fabrications and unproven allegations against our principal.

On hindsight, it has become obvious that the process leading to the conduct of the presidential primary election was programmed to yield a pre-determined outcome. Even if the Atiku Campaign Organization had executed its strategic programme optimally, the result would have been only marginally different. A grand conspiracy against Atiku Abubakar was constructed between the presidency, the party leadership and the bulk of the PDP state governors to produce only one result – the success of Jonathan at the primary election. This is clearly not in consonance with the provisions of Section 87(3) of the Electoral Act 2010.

A report by Alhaji Halilu Bala Usman, Atiku’s polling agent, at the special convention, clearly showed that the party leadership and the presidency carefully planned and executed the monumental rigging of the presidential primary on January 13, 2011.

Alhaji Bala Usman, former deputy governor of old Plateau State, carefully documented his observations as follows:

1. The absence of the comprehensive delegate list aided the manipulation of the election process in favour of President Jonathan. It was also curious to observe that supplementary names were presented at the accreditation venue and purportedly endorsed by the respective States PDP Chairmen. This violated Section 122 of the Electoral Act 2010.The lists of delegates used for the elections had therefore been doctored before the issuance of ballot papers which resulted in over voting and in some cases issues of unaccounted votes. For example, sixteen Plateau State House of Assembly members who decamped to Labour Party with Deputy Governor Pauline Tallen were replaced with some other people by Governor Jonah Jang and they were allowed to vote as delegates. A delegate from Anambra State was shocked that as a former governorship candidate that he could not recognize most of those who presented themselves as delegates from the state. He actually sent away 20 fake delegates from the state contingent. Vehement protest from Alhaji Shehu Gabam, the Deputy Director-General of Atiku Campaign for mobilization, led to the disqualification of 26 persons who had showed up as Bauchi State delegates and were in fact being processed to vote.

2. Delegates were also not accorded their independence to make their choices as in most cases; State Governors led their delegations and directed the filling of the ballot papers by their appointed aides for President Jonathan. A close associate of Governor Akwe Doma of Nasarawa, Alhaji Walid Jibrin, was seen filling the ballot papers for all the delegates from the state. Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State nearly came to blows with the former Action Congress Chairman in Kaduna State, Alhaji Aliyu Yahaya, when he was challenged over his over-bearing attitude towards the delegates. Governor Lamido was ordering Jigawa State delegates to fill Jonathan’s name on the ballot papers. In Osun State, Youth Minister Akinlabi stood at the entrance of the polling station coercing delegates to vote for Jonathan and he was seen live on television. In Adamawa State, a close associate of Governor Murtala Nyako instructed delegates to vote for Jonathan or risk being dealt with by the state government when they returned home. Similarly, Defence Minister Adetokunbo Kayode was very visible around the polling station for Ondo State, directing delegates to vote for Jonathan and threatening to punish those who voted for Atiku. The Katsina State Commissioner for Local Government Councils was seen filling ballot papers for delegates in favour of Jonathan. This equally violated Section 122 of the Electoral Act 2010.

3. The election process was purportedly conducted based on the issued PDP electoral guidelines vide Paragraph 7(d) which unfortunately established and gave the Electoral Panel absolute power to control the voting pattern that ended up to the disadvantage of Atiku Campaign. The Strategy and Rapid Response Committee suspected and highlighted this issue prior to the convention.

4. No special congresses were held anywhere in the country for the purpose of electing the 774 special delegates who voted in the primary. Names of presidential functionaries, including Ministers and Advisers, as well as trusted aides of state governors were merely compiled and passed off as national delegates. These were the people who were used to do the dirty jobs during the primary election. They worked closely with state governors to whip delegates in line and in some cases they actually filled ballot papers for delegates. This negated the provisions of Part II (A) (i) of the P.D.P. Electoral Guidelines 2010.

5. Names of State Working Committee members, Local Government Chairmen, etc were changed days to the primary election and known supporters of the President were allowed to vote in place of those disenfranchised statutory delegates.

6. Accreditation of delegates was done in secrecy at state liaison offices in Abuja. The Atiku Campaign was deliberately denied access to these locations. In fact, state governors imprisoned delegates against their will at these locations throughout the night before the primary and bussed them to the venue of the convention the following day.

7. Delegate tags were deliberately designed without a mark of identification so that anybody could get a hold of it and vote as delegates. This action contravened Paragraph 8(d) of the Electoral Guidelines 2010.

8. President Jonathan doled out seven thousand dollars to each of the delegates, thus using financial inducement to make them vote for him.

9. Atiku lost the primary election not to the best candidate but due to the manipulations of the delegate list and the entire voting process. Consequently, the polling agents (Bala Usman, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim and Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba) did not sign the final result notwithstanding the provisions of Section 9 (b) & (c) of the Electoral Guidelines 2010 that gave the Panel the absolute power to uphold and release the result with or without their endorsements.

While reaffirming the unwavering commitment and loyalty of Atiku Abubakar and his entire campaign team to the PDP and its noble objectives, we would like to state that the result of the presidential primary released by the PDP did not reflect the minds of the delegates at the recent Special National Convention. In view of the above, we call on INEC to jettison the result of the said primary and cancel same as having not been conducted in accordance with the provisions of the extant Electoral Act 2010, P.D.P. Constitution 2009, and the P.D.P. Electoral Guidelines for Primary Elections 2010.



Yours faithfully
For: Atiku Campaign Organization
Senator (Dr) Ben Obi
Director-General

To: Independent National Electoral Commission
INEC Headquarters
Maitama
Abuja.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/petition-inec-how-jonathan-rigged-pdp-primaries-atiku%E2%80%8F

P-Harcourt stampede victims died for Nigeria’s democracy – Uduaghan

NewsFeb 15, 2011

By FESTUS AHON

DELTA State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday, described the death of supporters at the Port Harcourt stampede as a supreme sacrifice for the survival of democracy in Nigeria.
The Governor, who spoke in Ughelli, Delta State, when he paid a condolence visit to the family of one of the victims, who was resident in Ughelli, Mrs Victoria Okodaso, popularly known as “madam Ohwo”, said the PDP will take care of the cost of the burial ceremony and upkeep of the children she left behind.
Uduaghan who said he was condoling with the family of the late Mrs Okodaso on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan, the state government and the PDP family, pointed out that the deceased was a committed party loyalist.
He said; “When Mr President had made his speech and we were coming out, we noticed that there had been an accident outside, little did we know that Mrs Okodaso was part of it.
“We had no reason to question God, we would have asked, why this woman who had gone to Port Harcourt to be part of history? When she was going, it was not this kind of history that she wanted to be part of, but God knows best. It could have been worst. I know our sister, Faith Majemite, God also saved her life because she was also gone half way, but God said no. I know some members of National Assembly who were also almost gone, but God brought them back to life. So, we thank God because it could have been worst.”
He added, “For many of us who were in Port Harcourt who saw what happened; for many of us who saw the enthusiasm with which President Goodluck Jonathan was received; for many of us who watched the PDP flag being given to the PDP candidates, the later event was like an anti-climax of a day that would have been very glorious in the history of the South-South.”
Uduaghan who later inspected the Ughelli Township road dualization project, also paid unscheduled visit to St Theresa’s Grammar School, Ughelli, where he wished the students “happy valantine’s day.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/p-harcourt-stampede-victims-died-for-nigerias-democracy-uduaghan/