₦airaland Forum

ogb5: You seem to conclude that a sitting governor can not be involved in legitimate business with an oil company, you are so wrong.

If i were to be a governor today, I can get a company that is into a service normally provided by foreign companies, as a nigerian I will authomatically get the contract if my cost is at par with the foreign companies previously providing the service due to the local content law. It will be very legitimate and I do not need to influence it with the powers of the office of Governor.

You talk as if it is Illegal for Ibori to supply house boat to chevron, am not aware of a law that bars public servants from having interest in other companies, to me the interest should be declared and those companies should not be given any preferential treatment. A sitting governor has a better chance of attracting bank loans or partnership deals while in office, he could channel such avenues into providing services that are required while competing equally with others providing same service. I rather have a politician providing legitimate service and making profit from it than divert state funds to his account.

And finally you are getting it wrong, Ibori does not need to prove that he got his money rightly, it is not for an accused to prove he his innocent, it is for the prosecution to prove that an accused is guilty. Thats because an accused is adjudged innocent until proven otherwise. Like I said the news media has been filled over the years with tales of monumental fraud commited by Ibori, why not just bring the evidence of such tales to court to show that he actually stole from the state, that shouldn't be too difficult.

I have this to say to a Governor being involved in state business dealing CONFLICT OF INTEREST recall the recent case of Prof. Bart Nnaji, the past Minster of power. He had to resign his appointment when one of the preferred bidder was linked to him. Even if the process is free and fair, you can not be a judge in your own case. Even these various lotteries even state as one of their condition "if you are related to a worker of the firm, that make you ineligible for the draw." So even if the Governor has genuine interest to develop the state, what he can do is enforce the local policy encouraging local content participation and not to directly be involved. lets face facts he has he power to influence policies or Government agencies that could make or break company operations, we are humans their is no way he will not be tempted to skew things to favor his firm. So i think the law in this instance is more about avoiding temptation.

Governor can have companies but their companies should not be involved directly in contracts in the Governor's sphere of influence.

And yes one is innocent until proven guilty, recall that that has already been done. His girl friend and i think his wife also was convicted, even Ibori himself reached a plea bargain to serve a lesser term. I think this current case is about other properties that was not in the original plea bargain he reached with the crown prosecutors. Even by his being in jail alone says he has been found guilty of fraud, just the extent of the fraud is what is being debated in court.

ogb5: It is the duty of the prosecution to prove its case. It is not for an accused to prove that he is innocent. Justice does not work that way.

It is all over the news that ibori defrauded his state massively, wherever they got that information from why don't they bring it to court.

A governor of a Niger delta state does not need to steal to be very rich within his tenure. Do you really think any oil company will refuse to give oil contracts to a sitting nd governor? And the governor can simply ensure that all his allocated contracts are executed fully and pocket the massive profits that come with oil contracts

Yes i fully agree with you that sitting Governor get contract from firms operation in his domain, with this he can get huge profits if those contracts were on a regular bases, as was the case of Ibori's houseboats and the Chevron/Shell contract saga. however that does not make it right or legal, don't forget these companies follow due bidding and tender process before awarding contracts. And these process are supposed to be fair and with out biased.

If in this Ibori's case with Chevron were his house boat was being used on contract, why then did Chevron try to extract it self from the invitation by the crown prosecution to appear before it to explain the nature and term of that contract it entered with one of ibori's firm?

These governors get contract and the likes that fetch them huge revenue but using your office or position to enrich yourself is also a punishable offence and fraud under the law. Both himself and the company awarding such lop-sided contracts can be prosecuted for fraud.

Ibori was taken to court for fraud and the facts are his assets declaration difference is a major reason for him to be in court so if wants to be freed he should provide evidence that he got all those funds and properties though legit means, the prosecution presented evidence gotten through the EFCC, it may be circumstantial evidence at best, never the less Ibori still needs to prove his innocence to the court, since they deemed it necessary to hear the suit filed against him after the preliminary hearings.

ogb5: It is the duty of the prosecution to prove its case. It is not for an accused to prove that he is innocent. Justice does not work that way.

It is all over the news that ibori defrauded his state massively, wherever they got that information from why don't they bring it to court.

A governor of a Niger delta state does not need to steal to be very rich within his tenure. Do you really think any oil company will refuse to give oil contracts to a sitting nd governor? And the governor can simply ensure that all his allocated contracts are executed fully and pocket the massive profits that come with oil contracts

Yes i fully agree with you that sitting Governor get contract from firms operation in his domain, with this he can get huge profits if those contracts were on a regular bases, as was the case of Ibori's houseboats and the Chevron/Shell contract saga. however that does not make it right or legal, don't forget these companies follow due bidding and tender process before awarding contracts. And these process are supposed to be fair and with out biased.

If in this Ibori's case with Chevron were his house boat was being used on contract, why then did Chevron try to extract it self from the invitation by the crown prosecution to appear before it to explain the nature and term of that contract it entered with one of ibori's firm?

These governors get contract and the likes that fetch them huge revenue but using your office or position to enrich yourself is also a punishable offence and fraud under the law. Both himself and the company awarding such lop-sided contracts can be prosecuted for fraud.

Ibori was taken to court for fraud and the facts are his assets declaration is a major reason for to be in court so if wants to be freed he should provide evidence that he got all those funds and properties though legit means, the prosecution presented evidence gotten through the EFCC, it may be circumstantial evidence at best, never the less Ibori still needs to prove his innocence to the court, since they accepted the case after the preliminary hearings.

ogb5: It is the duty of the prosecution to prove its case. It is not for an accused to prove that he is innocent. Justice does not work that way.

It is all over the news that ibori defrauded his state massively, wherever they got that information from why don't they bring it to court.

A governor of a Niger delta state does not need to steal to be very rich within his tenure. Do you really think any oil company will refuse to give oil contracts to a sitting nd governor? And the governor can simply ensure that all his allocated contracts are executed fully and pocket the massive profits that come with oil contracts

Yes i fully agree with you that sitting Governor get contract from firms operation in his domain, with this he can get huge profits if those contracts were on a regular bases, as was the case of Ibori's houseboats and the Chevron/Shell contract saga. however that does not make it right or legal, don't forget these companies follow due bidding and tender process before awarding contracts. And these process are supposed to be fair and with out biased.

If in this Ibori's case with Chevron were his house boat was being used on contract, why then did Chevron try to extract it self from the invitation by the crown prosecution to appear before it to explain the nature and term of that contract it entered with one of ibori's firm?

These governors get contract and the likes that fetch them huge revenue but using your office or position to enrich yourself is also a punishable offence and fraud under the law. Both himself and the company awarding such lop-sided contracts can be prosecuted for fraud.

Ibori was taken to court for fraud and the facts are his assets declaration is a major reason for to be in court so if wants to be freed he should provide evidence that he got all those funds and properties though legit means, the prosecution presented evidence gotten through the EFCC, it may be circumstantial evidence at best, never the less Ibori still needs to prove his innocence to the court, since they accepted the case after the preliminary hearings.

[/quote]Ibori continued: “The prosecution has always claimed that I defrauded Delta State of huge sums of money, I am content to say that in this case that we have been witnessing for the last three weeks, the evidence should speak for itself and it should be crystal clear to anyone except the most biased observers that there has been a huge and substantial gap between the prosecution's sensational claims and the hard evidence required to back up those claims, the sort of evidence that is backed by verifiable facts, instead of nothing but unjustifiable quotes in the news outlets.”[/quote]What other evidence is the lawyer talking about? the man declared 10 Naira before entering office and at the end of his 8yrs tenure he had 300,000 Naira? Is he a money-doubler? what business did he do to gain such huge profit in the time span? if he can not prove the authenticity that his wealth was legally acquired then there would be no need for his properties to be seized in the first place.

Secondly this matter of Delta state not cooperating with the crown prosecution is just disheartening, if we are genuinely fighting corruption then the AG's office should be following this matter closely and provide all the needed assistance, but this being Nigeria, we'll rather throw Ibori a lavish party and prayer session.

Please they should just conclude the trial and Jail time there as a Nigerian Court, in my view, lacks the competence to handle this matter freely and fairly.

[/quote]Ibori continued: “The prosecution has always claimed that I defrauded Delta State of huge sums of money, I am content to say that in this case that we have been witnessing for the last three weeks, the evidence should speak for itself and it should be crystal clear to anyone except the most biased observers that there has been a huge and substantial gap between the prosecution's sensational claims and the hard evidence required to back up those claims, the sort of evidence that is backed by verifiable facts, instead of nothing but unjustifiable quotes in the news outlets.”[quote]

What other evidence is the lawyer talking about? the man declared 10 Naira before entering office and at the end of his 8yrs tenure he had 300,000 Naira? Is he a money-doubler? what business did he do to gain such huge profit in the time span? if he can not prove the authenticity that his wealth was legally acquired then there would be no need for his properties to be seized in the first place.

Secondly this matter of Delta state not cooperating with the crown prosecution is just disheartening, if we are genuinely fighting corruption then the AG's office should be following this matter closely and provide all the needed assistance, but this being Nigeria, we'll rather throw Ibori a lavish party and prayer session.

Please they should just conclude the trial and Jail time there as a Nigerian Court, in my view, lacks the competence to handle this matter freely and fairly.

[/quote]Ibori continued: “The prosecution has always claimed that I defrauded Delta State of huge sums of money, I am content to say that in this case that we have been witnessing for the last three weeks, the evidence should speak for itself and it should be crystal clear to anyone except the most biased observers that there has been a huge and substantial gap between the prosecution's sensational claims and the hard evidence required to back up those claims, the sort of evidence that is backed by verifiable facts, instead of nothing but unjustifiable quotes in the news outlets.”[/quote]What other evidence is the lawyer talking about? the man declared 10 Naira before entering office and at the end of his 8yrs tenure he had 300,000 Naira? Is he a money-doubler? what business did he do to gain such huge profit in the time span? if he can not prove the authenticity that his wealth was legally acquired then there would be no need for his properties to be seized in the first place.

Secondly this matter of Delta state not cooperating with the crown prosecution is just disheartening, if we are genuinely fighting corruption then the AG's office should be following this matter closely and provide all the needed assistance, but this being Nigeria, we'll rather throw Ibori a lavish party and prayer session.

Please they should just conclude the trial and Jail time there as a Nigerian Court, in my view, lacks the competence to handle this matter freely and fairly.

Metropolitan police lied, says Delta AG

By Jude Igbanoi

The former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, has told the Southwark Crown Court in London that the British court system lacks the power and jurisdiction to determine and reach a conclusion for the Nigerian Code of Conduct Bureau to confiscate his assets.

Ibori is currently serving a jail term in a London prison.
The former governor, who spoke through his lead counsel, Ivan Krolic, argued that since Nigeria was an independent nation, is the British court system lacked the powers and jurisdiction to determine and reach a conclusion over assets declared or undeclared in Nigeria.

The British Crown prosecution, among other allegations, have accused the former governor of non-declaration or false declaration of his assets as required by Nigeria's Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) during his time as governor of Delta State.

As the legal battle on the assets confiscation hearing of the former governor enters its final stage, the British crown prosecution in their arguments asked the British court to confiscate the assets of the former governor because he breached CCB statutory requirements on assets declaration.

The crown's lead prosecutor, Sasha Wass, asking for the confiscation of every single penny above the sum of Ibori’s emoluments as governor said: “Every asset over and above that which was declared and which was referable to his (Ibori) level of salary can be shown to be the proceeds of his criminal conduct, namely fraud and corruption.”

Ibori’s lawyer firmly opposed that stance. In a firm manner and looking straight into the British Judge Anthony Pitts's eyes, Krolic said: “Even where there is a legal obligation to make declaration of income or assets, the failure to make any such declaration or making of false declaration (if such exists) cannot cause the property to be confiscated because this cannot turn otherwise legitimately acquired assets into criminal property, since this procedure requires the intervention of a third party, CCB And with the unknown outcome of the bureau’s input, it is not possible for an English court to reach any conclusion about the attitude of Nigeria's CCB to issues to issues as whether undeclared property held in a discretionary trust would constitute breach of the bureau's code of conduct.”

Krolic added: “In any event, these procedures are those of the of the Federal Government of Nigeria and thus, any forfeiture would benefit the Federal Government of Nigeria and non-declaration could not constitute a defrauding of Delta State, a necessary provenance in these proceedings.”

He had earlier told the court that despite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and British Metropolitan police's arrest and detention of the officials of Delta State Government including its Accountant-General between 2005 and October 2007, the EFCC and the British Police did not have any evidence that the state was defrauded by Ibori or that the state funds could be traced to accounts of the former governor except for his salary. And this is an incontestable fact,” he said, nodding his head repeatedly for effect.

Relying on the evidence given before the crown court by the former Chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, where he, said “Over the eight years of Ibori's governorship, approximately half of the state revenues of $1billion were either wasted or stolen by him, James,” the Crown Prosecutor, Wass said: “This puts Ibori's benefits figure in the region of $500 million'.

She, therefore, urged the British court to make a confiscation order of £90,000,000 against Ibori, based on nothing but somebody’s whimsical and capricious comments.


In his argument against the crown prosecution's confiscation request and their reliance on Ribadu's claim that Ibori defrauded Delta State, Krolic said: “It is the crown's case that Delta State was the victim of the fraud done by James Ibori, yet there is no single evidence from Delta State, the victim, either in the Crown's trial bundle or this hearing that there were withdrawals and funds diversion without just cause despite Nigeria EFCC's and British Met Police's detention of Delta State top officials in the course of their investigations. The allegations are not supported by any iota of documentary evidence. This is not the way justice is done.”

Reacting to the British crown's confiscation request order against him, Ibori said through his solicitor, Mr. Jonathan Epelle, “once you get passed the sensational media headlines and the ridiculous amount of money that has been mentioned, this confiscation proceedings are all about facts, figures and evidence.”

"And this is where Ribadu or the British Police have done nothing at all to advance their case; they have all the while relied on scoring sensational headlines in the news media."

Ibori continued: “The prosecution has always claimed that I defrauded Delta State of huge sums of money, I am content to say that in this case that we have been witnessing for the last three weeks, the evidence should speak for itself and it should be crystal clear to anyone except the most biased observers that there has been a huge and substantial gap between the prosecution's sensational claims and the hard evidence required to back up those claims, the sort of evidence that is backed by verifiable facts, instead of nothing but unjustifiable quotes in the news outlets.”

Meanwhile, the Delta State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Charles Ajuyah (SAN) has denied allegations by the London Metropolitan Police that the state government refused to release vital documents to it while investigating the corruption case against Ibori.

Ajuyah, who made the clarification while speaking to the press yesterday, said he was shocked that the London Met police could make such allegations against the state government when in fact it never made any request for any document relating to Ibori’s trial.

He said: “The truth is that there was never a time the Metropolitan Police requested for information or document from Delta State.

“No request was made either formally or informally and I do not think the person who made that assertion actually meant Delta State. If he did, then it is not a sincere or truthful statement.

“I believe a request on that nature should be in writing. Was any evidence of the request produced? None was produced. Believe it, none was made and I say so with all sense of responsibility.

However, the Attorney-General stated that the EFCC had requested to conduct an audit into the Delta State accounts sometime in 2007 over which judicial intervention was sought.


He said: “In fact, the only authority that ever contacted us on the Ibori case was the EFCC and initially they requested for documents from 1999 to 2007 for audit.


“It was a general request and as a responsible government, it approached the court for a determination of the right of the state and an important issue was whether EFCC has the right to audit a state under the constitution?

There are other issues, which are 'sub judice', but the court granted and order ex-parte to restrain the EFCC until determination of motion on notice.


“That order lasted for very short period and thereafter, EFCC made specific requests and the state government gave full and maximum cooperation.

“EFCC has boxes and boxes of documents from the state and I am aware that the documents were in possession of the Metro police and Crown Prosecution. If the State did not co operate with EFCC, how come the Crown had materials from the Delta State.’

Ajuyah said this clarification became necessary in the face of the spurious allegation the Metropolitan Police made against the Delta State Government as the asset recovering trail instituted by Oando Oil against Ibori continues in London.

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/iboris-assets-case-english-court-lacks-jurisdiction-defence-tells-court/160885/

What exactly is going on?
There has been a lot of accusation at the ministry of finance that the country is broke and the economy is not doing well. This has been met with fierce denials, yet we keep seeing headlines like this.

If the USA parliament could openly admit to there financial woe and even shut down their most of the activities in their federal arm till the problems are solved then the senate committee on fiance should ge to the bottom of this and determine the extent (if any) of our financial predicament. if we indeed have a problem denying it will not solve it rather open admittance of a problem is the first step to solving it.

Though i doubt those fat cats in the senate committee on fiance will carry out an unbiased inquiry, because if the economy is failing then drastic cuts in federal spending will have to be made just like the US did, and with the recent cry out over the law makers pay package that will be the obvious place to start.

NNPC denies owing Federation Account N2.3tr

SEQUEL to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund’s (PTDF) cry of possible bankruptcy over the weekend, the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) has issued the agency a seven-day ultimatum to provide details of its earnings in the last five years as well as a comprehensive list of its portfolio investments.

The PTDF Executive Secretary, Dr. Oluwole Oluleye, had said that except the N57 billion budget backlog owed the agency by the Federal Ministry of Finance was released, it would go bankrupt “in months” and might not be able to fund scholarship of hundreds of Nigerians in foreign universities.

And with a declaration that will jolt Nigerians and particularly state governments, which are still waiting for more funds from the Federation Account, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said yesterday that it does not owe the Federation Account N2.3 trillion.

In a statement in Abuja by its Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Tumini Green, the NNPC also berated Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who reportedly made the submission, for making claims that lack verifiable evidence.

She expressed dismay at the “increasingly unwarranted and unfounded accusations against it by otherwise informed persons in the polity - persons who, by virtue of their positions in government, should know better.

Green claimed that Oshiomhole’s attack was part of a sustained campaign against the corporation aimed at distracting it from pursuing the transformation of the oil and gas industry for the general good of the nation.

“We wish to state without any equivocation that we do not owe the Federation Account any money as at today, taking into account outstanding subsidies and other associated costs of operations and loses,” she said. “We have consistently paid all monies due to the FA into its Central Bank of Nigeria account as we receive them.”

She stated that not all revenues collected by NNPC are paid directly into the accounts of FA with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as some are paid into the accounts of the relevant government agencies, like the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Department of Petroleum Resources, with the CBN. But eventually, all payments are credited to the accounts of the FAAC.

Oluleye had also told the Senator Emmanuel Paulker-led committee during an oversight tour of PTDF’s projects that the agency has been unable to pay salaries in the past two months due to the situation.

The report of the agency’s budget performance for the period January to August 2013, which was presented to lawmakers, also indicated that out of N70.9 billion budgeted for the 2013 fiscal year, only N13.7 billion has so far been released, resulting in just about 19.37 per cent performance.

However, Paulker faulted PTDF’s bankruptcy claims on the ground that the agency has several other undisclosed sources of income while most of its portfolio investments are shrouded in secrecy.

Also, members of the petroleum upstream panel queried why the PTDF declared N123,205,016.77 in “Excess of Income/(Expense) Over Expenditure” yet claimed inability to pay staff salaries and meet sundry financial obligations.

Source: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/national-news/134851-senate-queries-ptdfs-n57b-backlog-claim

•Warns 'don't use dynamite to blow up the house you seek to occupy'

By Nduka Nwosu and Jaiyeola Andrews

In response to the barrage of criticism in recent weeks, especially from the seven aggrieved governors of his own Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday told his critics to stop distracting him and allow him to do his job, warning those seeking his job “not to blow up the house you are seeking to occupy with dynamite.”

The president, who spoke at the interactive lunch held yesterday with the Nigerian Diaspora community at the New York Plaza Hotel, also spoke on his achievements and his transformation agenda in office, adding that when he appointed a team to his cabinet, he went out of his way not to appoint politicians but appointed transformers to help him achieve his objectives.

Specifically, the president mentioned the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina; and Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, whom the president said he barely knew but appointed them primarily on the basis of the recommendations made to him and their CVs.

“My goal was to bring in more technocrats to the cabinet and not just political appointees. That is why I appointed the likes of Ngozi (Okonjo-Iweala), Adesina and Aganga.

“I did not know these people before I appointed them. When Ngozi was finance minister the first time, I was a deputy governor and out paths hardly crossed. But based on recommendations and their CVs I appointed them to help me in my transformation agenda.

“Each of them has performed very well and it is to their credit that we have been able to transform the agriculture sector, attract more investments into the country and kept the economy on track,” the president said.

Continuing, the president said: “The team is doing well and if given the chance, without distractions, it would do even better. Yes, we are not yet in the Promised Land but we on are track, so they should give me the chance to do my job.”

On the criticism that his administration was not doing enough to tackle corruption, Jonathan said he would rather deal with facts and numbers instead of speculation.
He pointed to the agriculture sector where N25 billion was being spent on subsidising fertilizer by past regimes which barely reached farmers, adding, however, that the trend had been reversed under his administration.

“N25 billion was being spent in the past to make cheap fertilizer available which hardly reached the end users. But today, we cut the amount to N5 billion to N6 billion per annum and 80 per cent of farmers have access to fertilizer to improve their yields. Yet they say I am not doing enough to curb corruption,” Jonathan said.

In the area of the power sector, he added that his administration had implemented the most transparent privatisation programme that was above board, adding, “No one gave us a chance. But for the first time, the federal government has implemented the most transparent privatisation programme, which was above board.

“The winners have emerged and will be taking over the distribution and generation companies in the next few weeks.

“With the handover of the power sector to the private sector, we will begin to witness improvement in electricity generation and intend to hit 10,000 megawatts of electricity generation by next year.

“Through the privatisation programme, we realised close to $3 billion which again is the highest ever realised from the sale of government companies.

“This is unlike what obtained in the past when the process was corrupted by those who were responsible for it. Yet the same people have the temerity to say I am corrupt when they could not run a clean process.”
The president also spoke on the petroleum downstream sector in which he said his administration tried to remove subsidies, but could not do so because Nigerians opposed the scheme.

“If this government was corrupt, I would not have asked that subsidies on petrol should be removed. I could have left it as it was in the past where we had all manner of marketers defrauding the government of billions of naira.

“But when I tried to remove the subsidy on petrol, we were forced to reduce it because we had to consider the demands of the Nigerian people who did not want the subsidy removed,” he said.

The interactive session, which was hosted by Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States of America, Professor Ade Adefuye and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Professor Joy Ogwu, was attended by Aganga, Adesina, Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, Chairman/Editor-in-Chief, THISDAY Newspapers, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr. Uche Orji, among others.

Meanwhile, the president yesterday debunked an online report that he is in New York with 600-man delegation from Nigeria.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the president said the report was untrue and misleading.

“We have noted with regret the continuation today by saharareporters.com of its usual scurrilous and baseless attacks on the Jonathan administration with publication of a false claim that the president is leading a 600-man delegation to the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“While we trust that discerning members of the public who are already very familiar with Sahara Reporters’ usual fare of mischief, outright falsehood and erroneous speculation will rightly dismiss this latest claim as a fresh manifestation of the online medium’s ill-will towards President Jonathan and his administration, we wish to affirm for the benefit of the unwary that there is absolutely no truth in the allegation that the president took a 600-man delegation to New York.

“There is also no substance to the rehashed charge of profligacy which Sahara reporters annually makes against the president when he leads Nigeria’s delegation to the UN General Assembly.

“The truth is that less than 30 persons arrived in New York with the president this morning as members of his entourage. Other than them, the only other persons who are in New York for the UN General Assembly with the president’s knowledge and approval are relevant ministers and a few essential aides.

“President Jonathan’s official delegation is definitely not out of proportion with Nigeria’s size, role and relevance in Africa and the global community.

“Sahara Reporters’ claim that the president’s delegation is the largest at this year’s General Assembly is an unjustifiable fabrication which can never stand any rigorous test of truthfulness.

“We are certainly aware that many Nigerian citizens are currently on visits to New York. These persons are here for their own purposes and neither President Jonathan nor his administration has any responsibility for the presence of these persons in New York.

“We will not be surprised if it is such persons who include Nigerian businessmen who are here for an African Business Roundtable event, members of non-governmental organisations and tourists that Sahara Reporters has been counting, for the sole purpose of mischief-making, as ‘members of the Nigerian delegation’,” the statement read.

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/jonathan-to-detractors-allow-me-to-do-my-job/159698/

NNPC credits minister with ramping up crude oil output

By Ejiofor Alike

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has stated that the federal fovernment saved N879,billion in 2012 as a result of the increase in the price of petrol from N65 to N97 per litre and the reduction in national consumption of petrol.

This is just as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has credited the minister with the proactive measures that led to the restoration of the Trans-Niger Pipeline, Nembe-Greek Pipeline and Tebidaba-Brass Pipeline, which according to the corporation, has helped to ramp up the country’s crude oil output.

NNPC’s statement came two days after Shell announced that it had yet again shut down the Trans Niger Pipeline following its discovery that the pipeline had been vandalised.

Speaking shortly before her departure to the United States at the weekend, the minister said N467.20 billion was saved from the N32 per litre mark-up in the pump price of petrol in January 2012, while an additional N412.30 billion was saved from the reduction in national consumption of petrol from 60 million litres per day in 2011 to 40 million litres per day.

The minister, who attributed the success to President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformational Agenda in the downstream sub-sector, said the savings were made possible by a number of strategic reform initiatives in the management of petroleum products supply and distribution.

“In spite of these savings, we have also been able to maintain stability of products supply, while putting in place, stringent regulatory conditions which would make it difficult for dubious marketers to short change the system,” she said.

The minister said the federal government had done extremely well in the area of halting fuel subsidy scams in the country, stressing that government’s efforts at transparency and accountability were yielding positive results.

She said the reforms were carried out to address the issue of pervasive malpractices in the oil and gas sector, so as to engender public trust and belief in government’s sincerity in the downstream operational activities.

She identified some of the reform initiatives to include, restoring credibility in the process of products supply and distribution, and the conduct of a prequalification exercise for traders/suppliers initiated in the form of technical audit of suppliers of petrol into the Nigerian market.

She enumerated other measures to include the conduct of monthly and mid-quarter Import Performance Review meetings with stakeholders and resolution of marketers’ complaints through effective mediation.

According to her, these measures have stemmed the erosion of marketer’s confidence in the fuel importation regime, with its attendant payment uncertainties occasioned by budget approval delays.

“Over N50 billion of private investment was realised in the downstream sub-sector supply and distribution infrastructure alone, in 2012, employing thousands of Nigerians and contributing to our economic growth.

“Such a staggering net flow of investment has also led to the rolling out of private mega filling stations across the country renewed investment in modern vessels and information technology-driven depots all along the coastal areas of the country from Lagos to Calabar,” she said.

The minister further disclosed that the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of NNPC, had not only completed the repair of the Port-Harcourt-Aba, Warri-Benin and Jos-Gombe pipeline networks to ensure pumping of products to the depots in those areas, but had also commenced the process of upgrading some of its rehabilitated depots from analogue to digital loading meters.

She noted that the government had further promoted and popularised gas, resulting in the drastic increase of the nation’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) consumption to 250,000 metric tonnes (MT), from 100,000MT in 2011.

She said the government’s gas revolution agenda had begun to yield dividends with plans for the establishment of a number of new fertilizer plants at advanced stages of construction.

“The landmark pioneering efforts of NIPCO Plc in Benin for LPG and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG); the Oando and Techno popularisation of small gas cylinders for low income earners are all good examples,” she added.

In a related issue, NNPC has lauded the minister for the proactive measures she took in the wake of pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft which resulted in the shutdown of three major trunk lines - Trans Niger Pipeline, the Nembe Greek Pipeline and the Tebidaba-Brass Pipeline - accounting for the shut-in of 400,000 barrels per day
According to a statement issued by the corporation’s acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Department, Ms. Tumini Green, “Part of the measures taken by the minister included escalating the issue to the highest level leading to the setup of a Security Strategy Committee headed by the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, which has resulted in the restoration of the three lines.

“The feat recorded by the minister will enhance increased production and shore up the revenue accruing to the country.”

NNPC added that the rise in crude oil production in the country to 2.4 million barrels per day was as a result of the recent action taken by Alison-Madueke, adding that the recent approval of N15 billion by the National Economic Council (NEC) for adequate policing of oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta region to stem crude oil theft would go a long way in curbing the menace.

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/alison-madueke-fg-saved-n879bn-from-fuel-price-increase-reforms/159692/

Well my own observation is that the Op was not very clear in his description of the matter, it is even reading in between the line of his latter post can you now guess where he is leading to. From what i can gather the driver is either inexperienced or is simply careless, else you would have noticed the slight stiffening of the wheels, this will be more pronounced if the car slows to a crawl and you try to turn the wheels. if he had the AC ON he could not have missed the tell-tail sign of hot air coming from the vent, and there is the battery indicator and the temperature indicator in the dash board (though most driver rarely glance at the dash while driving) he can be forgiven for missing that.

And there is the initial sound of knocking when you accelerate, this occurs as the engine gets hotter and the oil thins out, closely followed by steam from the bonnet. If he missed all these signs and keep on driving then you are sure to have bent valves, crack cylinder head, burnt top gasket or even engine block (aluminum engine block) in some cases.

The driver does not deserve to drive if this actually happened, except he is a learner, a woman or just a wicked guy.

@ikenna keep your cool,your a leader here so expect to be picked on once in while for no apparent reason. by the way your are doing a great job here and do limit the number of tread that make it to front page to avoid those crazy member polluting this section.

Well my own observation is that the Op was not very clear in his description of the matter, it is even reading in between the line of his latter post can you now guess where he is leading to. From what i can gather the driver is either inexperienced or is simply careless, else you would have noticed the slight stiffening of the wheels, this will be more pronounced if the car slows to a crawl and you try to turn the wheels. if he had the AC ON he could not have missed the tell-tail sign of hot air coming from the vent, and there is the battery indicator and the temperature indicator in the dash board (though most driver rarely glance at the dash while driving) he can be forgiven for missing that.

And there is the initial sound of knocking when you accelerate, this occurs as the engine gets hotter and the oil thins out, closely followed by steam from the bonnet. If he missed all these signs and keep on driving then you are sure to have bent valves, crack cylinder head, burnt top gasket or even engine block (aluminum engine block) in some cases.

The driver does not deserve to drive if this actually happened, except he is a learner, a woman or just a wicked guy.

@ikenna keep your cool,your a leader here so expect to be picked on once in while for no apparent reason. by the way your are doing a great job here and do limit the number of tread that make it to front page to avoid those crazy member polluting this section.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has written the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, asking it not to tamper with its nomination of Mr. Tony Nwoye as its candidate in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
In a letter to the commission dated Friday September 13, 2013 the PDP through its counsel, J.K. Gadzama, alerted the commission to reports in the media where it was alleged that Senator Andy Uba had been upheld as the party’s candidate for the election upon the order of the courts.
In the letter, signed by Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama and Managing Partner, J.N Egwuonwu Esq., it was deposed that the judgment of the court ordering the parties to the dispute on the legitimacy of the Anambra State PDP executive should maintain the status quo, however, did not in any way infer that the nomination of Nwoye through the primary conducted by the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC should be upturned.
Noting that the conduct of gubernatorial primaries is the exclusive function of the NEC of political parties as stipulated by Section 87 of the Electoral Act, the letter said that a change of leadership even if enforced on the party cannot alter the job procedurally done by the NEC which produced Nwoye as the party’s candidate.
Integrity of the commission
While appealing to Jega to maintain the integrity of the commission under his leadership, the PDP while referring to the order of the Federal High Court asking the parties in Anambra State to maintain the status quo, wrote: “Sadly, this order of court, most especially the third paragraph which states that the 1st and 2nd Defendants (the Peoples Democratic Party, and the Independent National Electoral Commission) should recognise and deal with the 1st Plaintiff (Ejike Ogbuebego) in all matters in Anambra State has been badly misconstrued and the position of the court deliberately and mischeviously misrepresented.


Source; http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/anambra-2013-pdp-writes-inec-says-nwoye-is-our-candidate/

noskeybaba: Baby.....just let me rub it around it and I swear I won't put it in

Guilty of this on four different occasions and with three different girls (long ago sha).


9.Baby.....just let me put the head in and i swear i wont thrust!

This i actually did way back in my NYSC, Trisha was mad after the show and refuse to believe it was a reflex action.

Well if the our government knows any better now will be a god time to nip this in the bud, before they gather those unemployed riffraff's to cause problem.

You guys should look beyond the present, all this acts between the two PDP factions clearly shows that both side have no regard what so ever for the rule of law, they should just out rightly abolish the whole Judicial system.

BOTH PDP FACTION DON'T OBEY COURT ORDERS
THE POLICE DON'T UNDERSTAND THEIR ROLE IN THE COUNTRY AND HAVE BEEN RELEGATED TO BE PUPPETS CONTROLLED BY THE PUPPETEERS IN POWER.
THE JUDICIARY JUST SIT THERE AND WATCH THEIR ORDERS BEING USED AS TOILET PAPER AND THEY DO NOTING.

This going on shows that 2015 is going to be "Operation do what you want and screw everyone that has a contrary stance".

According reports by AFP, a Toronto woman who used a fake baby bump to try to smuggle two kilograms of cocaine was arrested yesterday September 11th at Bogota airport by Colombian police.

28-year-old Tabitha Leah Ritchie, identified as a social worker, was stopped while trying to board an Air Canada flight in Bogota, Colombia after an inspector noticed that her belly was unusually cold and hard. Airport security discovered a false belly made of latex taped to her body and they found 2 kilograms of cocaine. Record shows that Ms Richie arrived in Colombia on Aug. 6.

Source: http://www.lindaikeji..com/2013/09/28-yr-old-woman-uses-fake-baby-bump-to.html

@Op if you indeed post this and not copy it from some blog, then i hope you don't my asking but are you gay? just a question no insult intended.

Na tag-team match those two trailer day do

By Wole Mosadomi
Minna — Their joy knew no bounds when they parked to their new house last Saturday.
It was a day they had looked forward to and they took the final decision to move into the new apartment in Gbeganu area in Minna, Niger State last Saturday.
The Adewales
The Adewales
Though not completed, the house was, however, habitable as the plan was to gradually complete the house as they moved in.
However, instead of relatives and well wishers trooping to the new house to congratulate them and “wash” it, it was the burial ceremony of the family of three that relatives and other well wishers went for.
The middle aged man, Seyi Adewale, a generator repairer, his wife, Felicia, aged 23 and their three-month-old daughter, Deborah, were, Tuesday, found dead in their room with the corpses already decomposing.
It was gathered that they died on Saturday night, the day they moved into the new house.
Vanguard gathered that the trio, who retired to one of their rooms late in the night to enjoy their first night in the house switched on their generating set close to the room while the fume emitting from the set consumed them overnight. They never woke up to see the next day.
Unknown to other neighbours that the trio had parked in, the corpses of the three-member family remained in the room unattended to and were gradually decomposing.
However, the junior sister of the deceased husband, Deborah, who had been making frantic effort to locate her brother got more worried, Tuesday, four days after they had moved into the new house.
It was a shocker to her after forcing the door of the house open to meet them dead after being killed by fume from the generator.
She immediately raised alarm which attracted other neighbours to the scene.
She said: “We last spoke on phone on Saturday night, when he was moving his property and family to the new house.
“On Sunday, which was the second day, I also called but nobody picked. I still tried on Monday thinking it was due to the poor network service or run-down battery and yet no response and that was why I decided to come down to the house only to meet my brother and family dead and decomposing.
“It is very unfortunate for this to have happened to my brother, especially at a time when we are supposed to be rejoicing with them on their new house.”
Land in contention
Vanguard gathered that the land on which the deceased erected his house had been in dispute with another contender, which was, however, “settled” by the community head of the area.
Contacted, the state police command through its spokesman, Mr Richard Oguche, who confirmed the deaths, said they must have died as a result of inhaling the carbon monoxide from the generating set, which was turned on overnight and left close to their room.
The corpses have been buried in Minna, the Niger State capital.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/family-of-3-dies-in-their-new-house/#sthash.X5WtN0uh.dpuf

Kindly read this up on thisday, copy and paste the url below

source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/jonathan-g7-govs-inch-towards-accord-talks-continue-sunday/158819/

Some of the paragraphs that i found interesting are below

However, THISDAY gathered that the peace meeting held Tuesday night till yesterday morning to resolve the crisis rocking PDP ended with some concessions made by the president to the governors.

Of the seven issues discussed by the president and the Group of Seven Governors (G7 governors), represented by Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers), Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), five were resolved while two were deferred for discussion on Sunday.

Jonathan had on the advice of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who chaired the PDP Elders Committee, met with the four governors individually, because their grievances were peculiar to each of them.

According to a presidency source, the president was in the company of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih; Akwa Ibom State Governor and Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio; and Governors Liyel Imoke and Capt. Idris Wada of Cross River and Kogi States respectively.

During the meeting, the source said: “The grievances of the governors were tabled and revisited individually by each of them.

“When the issue of party structures in each of the affected states came up, the overriding interest of PDP was taken into consideration and the president and his team agreed that the authentic party structures should be restored in Adamawa and Kano States.”

On the issue of the crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the PDP, however, there was concern over the alleged determination of some forces in the presidency to isolate Amaechi and make him the scapegoat of the crisis.

The presidency source said: “As for Rivers State, the president and his team advised all the parties to withdraw their lawsuits in court in order to resolve the matter.
“Although the president admitted that the suspension of Amaechi was illegal, given the expiration of the 30 days as specified by the party’s constitution, he said everything was predicated on the resolution of disputes in court.

“Accordingly, the president advised Amaechi to withdraw his lawsuits against the party so that his suspension can be lifted and a resolution is worked out with respect to the crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the PDP."

On the row in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the source explained: “Those with the president advised Amaechi to step down. But Amaechi was straightforward in his response when he said: 'I won’t step down'.”

The Rivers governor, THISDAY gathered, informed the meeting that he was elected by other governors who are not members of the PDP and therefore could not relinquish his mandate unless they told him to do so.

On the basis of his position, it was agreed that the NGF crisis should be taken out of the purview of the presidency and PDP and should be left to the 36 governors of the federation to resolve among themselves.

Regarding the 2015 poll, another source said one of the governors on the side of the president caused some tension when he took advantage of the talks to lash out at the G7 governors.

He said the G7 governors and others had deliberately caused the crisis because of 2015 poll, in order to stop Jonathan from contesting.

But one of the governors from the north said he had been in four meetings, including Ethiopia and United States where Jonathan said he would not contest in 2015.

The source added: “When the tension rose, it was agreed that Jonathan's candidature in the 2015 election should be put on the agenda at the next meeting on Sunday.

“Also, the fate of Tukur will be discussed at the next session on Sunday. I can tell you that Sunday’s meeting will determine the way forward," he said.


What ever anyone says about Amaechi, i give him two thumbs-up for being his own man ad not bowing to pressure on the NGF issue, He was duly elected and he should not sellout because the stage is now to rough and full of perils. If indeed he is going for the VP slot then he will amke a hell of a vice president, cos i don't see him being relegated to the back ground as is the case with most VP around the world, However being to bold has it's own drawbacks as it makes you a target for removal if you become too meddlesome.

But why is this Rivers state issue so hard to overcome, i don't want to believe that the first lady may want blood (women and vengeance), but if they could restate the other states PDP structure amicably why can they not do the same with Rivers.

Humm..... i don't have a problem with Victora Island Police Command being the best but did they also look at other areas?
Victoria Island is a high class area where the residents have their own private security personnel and in some area they secure the whole streets, what of places like oshodi, ebute-meta, amukoko etc, those are the area where they should do focus on as these areas tend to be the criminal flash points! if they can transform these middle and low class area police station also then they deserve the top ranking.

It is like comparing VI, VGC or Maitama (if they have one there) police stations and officer with the ones in places like Ajegunle or dutse. those highbrow area know the kind of personality that live there and they will keep up appearance to "keep face"

I give kudos to the Lagos state government for their efforts but i somehow feel that it was done for "show", like those days during my school days when during inspections the best dressed pupile is always presented while those that are unkempt even though brilliant are told to hide or given "free day"

I can just imagine the typical scenario on the road

Police: Oga way your BCMR Smart Card?

Driver: Officer here it, it is up to date.

Police: Na so una dey talk jare, wait make i put am for the machine make e check am, before you do my work for me. eer corporal come check this one card for me.

Corporal: Yes sir!

Police: You get luck say the corporal wey sabi the machine dey, you for don wait til him come as me i no sabi use the machine, Corporal you never check am!

Corporal: Oga battery for machine don die oooo.

Police: Mr. Man you go wait till we get battery check your card because i dey suspect this your card or you provide battery for us make we leave the matter. Which one you take? By the way park well first bring your key and particulars make we see.

Driver:

Trust the Nigeria police to think up ways to fleece the mass, there is going to be various variation to how they will gain.

Security aides of Baraje withdrawn

• Jonathan raises three panels on party’s split

• Crisis can destroy Nigeria, says Oyinlola

A CRACKDOWN on those behind the breakaway group of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) may have begun with the withdrawal of their guards and escorts.

The security aides of immediate past Governor of Kwara State Bukola Saraki and Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi were withdrawn on Saturday.

Those of the Chairman of the New PDP, Abubakar Kawu Baraje, have also been removed.

But the police leadership has remained silent over the matter. Efforts to confirm the withdrawal of the police orderlies were abortive as Acting Force Public Relations Officer Frank Mba refused to answer all calls and text messages to his mobile phones.

But sources at the Force Headquarters confirmed that a clandestine order was given to that effect.

Although the police high command thought it unwise to carry out the order as it was not constitutional, it was compelled to obey it.

He said: “The police leadership hands are tied in the situation, when an order comes from a higher authority. The orderlies were withdrawn but there is no official statement on it yet and there is also a warning that no official statement be issued now, until when necessary.”

On the sealing off of the secretariat of the new PDP in Abuja, the All Progressives Congress (APC) said that the culprits must be immediately identified and jailed for crass lawlessness and palpable impunity.

‘’The festering crisis in the PDP is not our business, but when the crisis leads to repression, disregard for court orders and constitutional provisions, we cannot keep quiet because those issues have grave implications for our democracy,’’ APC said in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) urged President Goodluck Jonathan to order the reopening of the secretariat .

In a statement, the CNPP’s National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, said: “We are predicating this call on the constitutional and patriotic mandate of the president to at all times protect, and defend the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. Hence to rule according to the provisions of the said constitution, which guarantees freedom of association, security and welfare of the citizenry.”

Arewa leaders and a rights activist in the North said that a situation where the party was divided and lacked direction had created a serious vacuum in governance.

The coalition specifically condemned the sealing off of the premises of the new PDP, saying that it was undemocratic and retrogressive.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum Arewa (ACF), Anthony Sani said yesterday that “ in a situation where the party is unable to provide order and direction, then there is a problem.”

The ACF chief traced the crisis in the PDP to the unfortunate struggle for power and what he termed positioning for 2015 general election.

The leader of the Northern Civil Society Coalition, Malam Shehu Sani, in a statement issued in Kaduna yesterday, pointed out that “the sealing off of the new PDP secretariat demonstrates the growing level of political intolerance, desperation and brigandage on the side of the Federal Government.”

Sani who is also the President of Civil Rights Congress (CRC) added that it “is reminiscent of the sadism and fascism of the Abacha despotism.”

Meanwhile, an Ikeja High Court, Lagos, is expected today to hear the suit against the Chairman of the party, Bamanga Tukur.

The court presided over by Justice Ganiyu Safari had last week fixed this morning for the hearing of a suit filed by Baraje in which they sought to stop the Tukur-led group from further functioning as officers of the party.

In the suit, Baraje, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and the PDP as plaintiffs had last week asked the court to restrain the defendants from parading themselves as the members of the National Executive of the PDP.

Apart from Tukur, other defendants named in the suit include the Deputy Chairman Uche Secondus, the Woman Leader, Mrs. Kema Chikwe, and the Publicity Secretary, Olisah Metuh.

Apparently to resolve the crisis, Jonathan has set up three committees. The panels were set up Thursday shortly before the president left for Kenya on a three-day visit.

The committees, which were termed political, legal and contact went to work last Thursday and they are expected to submit their reports tomorrow .

A source told The Guardian yesterday that they were tasked to “immediately fashion ways of containing insurgency within the party and also fashion appropriate response to contain the aggrieved members especially if they continue to resist peace options.”

According to sources, the president is disposed to resolving the issues of those who are genuinely aggrieved but has vowed not to compromise on those “who are clearly guilty of indiscipline.”

While stating that he cannot “condone brigandage”, Jonathan believes that it is clear that “some elders appear to be stoking the fire from behind.”

The constitution of the panels was said to be pro-active following advance reports that the recommendations of the peace panel of elders under the leadership of former President Olusegun Obasanjo might not favour Jonathan.

And those who pushed for the constitution of the three panels are now in “I told you so” mood as the Obasanjo committee has made five key recommendations including reinstatement of Adamawa PDP executive committee, reinstatement of Rivers State executive committee, reinstatement of Amaechi in line with the PDP Constitution and resolution of the crisis within the Nigerian Governors Forum through a meeting between Jonathan and the two contenders, Amaechi and Jonah Jang.

Sources in the presidency said the report was on-sided: “The question is what is the other faction giving back? A resolution should give and take and not one-sided. How come all the recommendations appear to indict the PDP hierarchy and the government? Does it mean that only Amaechi and others are right and the PDP is wrong all the way? The president may ignore the report if it contains all the one-sided recommendations, I can assure you of that.”

On his part, National Secretary of the New PDP, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has warned that the party’s raging crisis is capable of destroying the country if not contained in view of its effects on virtually all strata of the nation’s economy.

The former Governor of Osun State also alluded to the possibility of the members of the New PDP to form another party if the current moves by the elders of the party yield no positive result.

Oyinlola, who spoke yesterday at his country home in Okuku, where he addressed a rally and supporters from all the 30 local councils of the state, traced his travail in the PDP to 2010 due to his alleged loyalty to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He recalled that the current crisis that polarised the PDP started in 2010 when President Goodluck Jonathan declared his intention to contest the 2011 presidential election and perceived some serving governors as not being supportive of his ambition.

“President Jonathan called me at about 1.00a.m. sometime in 2010 and requested that I should come to see him in Abuja,” he said. “I honoured him and when I got to him, he told me of his ambition to contest the president election, and sought my support.

“The President later told me that he knew that my hands were tied but I told him immediately that I was not a goat so no one could tie me. His belief was that I would give maximum support to Gen. Ibrahim Babangida because of my relationship with him and interestingly,

Jonathan had 99 out of 100 votes cast by the delegates from Osun State.”

He accused the President of taking sides in the process that led to his alleged unjust removal as the National Secretary, pointing out that peace meetings initiated by notable leaders of the party to resolve the matter were deadlocked.

Oyinlola, who was accompanied to the rally by his wife, Omolola, and party leaders, including the former state chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Ademola Razaq, insisted that he was the recognised National Secretary and remains the leader of the embattled political grouping in Osun State contrary to claim by some of its bigwigs who threatened to sanction him.

He said he had not contravened any provision of the party’s constitution by teaming up with like minds to form a parallel faction, adding that the decision was taken in the best interest of the promoters since “the PDP constitution does not prevent anyone from teaming up with like minds.”

Recounting his ordeal, Oyinlola said: “My problem with my former boss, Alhaji Tukur, started right from my first day in office. He introduced some strange things like creating the office of the Chief of Staff and others. I kicked against this development and he took offence to my action.

“Tukur ruined the PDP when he started fighting everybody. He fought the governor of his state and other northern governors. He believed he could do everything on his own without the support of other people. Now, he has ruined the party,”

He said Jonathan was aware of his face-off with Tukur but accused him of doing nothing to settle it, stressing: “Even when the President called both of us to a parley in Abuja, nothing meaningful was achieved. I also tried to advise Tukur as an elder that he is to me, but he turned deaf ears to my advice.”

Oyinlola noted that the South West was marginalised in the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP, pledging that the new leadership of the party under Baraje would address the perceived injustice.

Meanwhile, Sani has urged Niger Delta former militants to withdraw a threat they issued against former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in the interest of peace, national cohesion and stability of Nigeria.

Dismissing it as empty and lacking common sense, Sani said the threat barring Atiku from entering into the Niger Delta was a misguided action that is alien to democratic tenets.

The ex-militants recently threatened to declare Atiku a personal non grata in the South-South region over his involvement in the PDP’s split.

Also, a Niger Delta youth leader, Comrade Timi Frank, dismissed the threat as empty and falling flat of common sense.

In separate statements yesterday, ACF and Frank said the ex-militants’ position depicted the ignorance of the group and only showed total lack of understanding of the crisis in the PDP.

Frank said it was wrong for the group to declare Atiku or indeed any Northerner and Nigerian involved in the PDP crisis a persona non grata as the issue at stake was purely a party matter that should be devoid of tribal, ethnic, religious or regional sentiments.

According to him, the Niger Delta and its youths have “benefited immensely from the vast business interests of the former Vice President.”

However, a socio-political group from17 states, Southern Youths Forum (SYF), condemned the action of Atiku, seven governors and others who staged a walk- out at last Saturday’s special convention of the PDP.

The groups’ convener, Mr Odeyemi Oladimeji, while addressing reporters at the conference centre of the University of Ibadan (UI), described the attitude of the Atiku’s PDP led faction as an act of political rascality.

It added: “The walkout staged by these aggrieved party members when Mr. President was seated in the same venue is a total disrespect to the office of the president who happens to be the leader of the party.

“Those who staged this walkout and later claimed they organised another convention are selfish and treacherous politicians pursuing their selfish political ends."

source: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/national-news/132310-outrage-at-crackdown-on-new-pdp

Rules out settlement with Amaechi
Obasanjo Elders Committee in dilemma
Oyinlola: Faction will form new party
Breakaway govs shun post-convention dinner
By Chuks Okocha and Muhammad Bello and Yinka Kolawole

Ahead of tomorrow’s reconciliatory meeting between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its splinter group, the ‘New PDP’, President Goodluck Jonathan has given what may be termed his condition for continued peace talks with the “rebel” governors of Kwara, Sokoto, Kano, Niger, Jigawa and Adamawa States.


This is coming as the Elders Committee headed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo may have reached a stalemate over its inability to reach a consensus on how to resolve the crisis rocking the party.

In the same vein, the interim secretary of a pro-Jonathan support group, the National Unity Group (NUG), Garuba Lawal Mainasara, has canvassed reasons why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must intervene decisively in the PDP, New PDP controversy.

A governor, who was privy to last Tuesday’s meeting between the president and some governors considered loyal to him, informed THISDAY that the president is not averse to reconciliation with the six northern governors who formed a new faction, but has made it clear that he would not recognise the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), adding that the president was pained that Amaechi had used the NGF as a platform to oppose his administration.

“In our meeting, when this matter of the splinter group and the NGF crisis came up, the president made it clear that he will have no dealings with Governor Amaechi as the chairman of the NGF.

“The president is not happy that the NGF which was set up as a policy review think-tank and for peer review, has been turned into an opposition group.

“Those of us at the meeting took it as he said it, because he is the president”, the source said, explaining that Jonathan said as far as he was concerned, he was open to dialogue on any issue but not Amaechi.

Meanwhile, the PDP Elders Committee meeting headed by Obasanjo and was attended by former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, former national chairmen of the party, Ahmadu Ali, and Senator Barnabas Gemade, may have run into a brick wall due to the inability to reach a consensus on the factionalisation of the ruling party.

THISDAY gathered that at the meeting held Friday night, after listening to both sides of the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led PDP and the splinter group led by Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, the elders committee was unable to reach a consensus on how to resolve the crisis.
THISDAY was told that the elders were polarised on their support for Tukur to continue in office as the national chairman, while other members called for his resignation as one of the conditions to appease the splinter group within the party.

Also, the committee could not agree on whether to lift the suspension slammed on Amaechi, given that his suspension has exceeded 30 days. Yet, the two National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings of the party that took place on June 20 and August 22 did not discuss the suspension of the governor.

It was further gathered that there was no consensus by the PDP elders on the parallel executive committees in Adamawa State, with each of the factional committees loyal to either the state governor, Murtala Nyako or Tukur.

Though the Obasanjo committee tacitly acknowledged that the crisis in the party was all about the contest for 2015, but it was not certain whether a position was taken to dissuade the president from presenting himself for the presidential contest.

However, the crisis in the party is likely to spin out of control as the presidency is making moves to diminish the efforts being made by Obasanjo to resolve the impasse, THISDAY has learnt.

Obasanjo, who was chairman of the PDP BoT until he relinquished the position, and ever since has been involved in a subtle battle of supremacy with Jonathan, has been working visibly and behind the scenes to realign the party.

But a source in the presidency informed THISDAY last night that the move by “Atiku and others to hijack the party is a clinical one that the president is uncomfortable with.


“As a result, the presidency is currently unveiling its own counter-measures in order not to be caught unawares by its detractors, including Obasanjo who is believed to have encouraged the seven PDP governors to form their faction.”

Meanwhile, the NUG has advocated that INEC should step into the PDP crisis before it gets out of control.

In a statement issued yesterday by its interim secretary, the group said: “Political disagreements within a political party are better settled politically or through the intervention of the regulatory agency, that is, INEC rather than through the judicial process, particularly if the party concerned is a ruling party at the state or federal level as such disagreements could become a national security matter.”


According to Mainasara, “If there is a dispute on the football pitch, it is the referee of the match who rules on the matter as a convention and not the courts or the players or spectators.

Usually, if there is disagreement within a political party, which the politicians cannot resolve, then INEC comes in and rules. This happened in the case of Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP) and the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) factions in 1982 to 83 when the Federal Electoral Commision (FEDECO) came in and recognised the Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim-led faction of GNPP and the Aminu Kano-led faction of the PRP.

“The other factions not recognised went to join other political parties. Without the intervention of INEC, the present day politicians, blinded by inordinate ambitions, will disagree to the extent of destroying the democratic order like what Murtala Nyako said: ‘We will remain in PDP to kill it and bury it’.”

Mainasara said instead of these persons who strongly disagree to go and form their own political parties like the late Chief S. L. Akintola did in the First Republic or join another political party like Rochas Okorocha did by joining the All Progressives Congress (APC), when he disagreed with the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) leadership, those in the PDP have chosen to remain to create crisis in the ruling party and consequently cement instability in the Federal Government of Nigeria and the whole country.

He said, INEC, therefore, “has the responsibility at this point in time to act in accordance with its regulatory role.”

But in a position at variance with the NUG, the factional National Secretary of the New PDP, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, yesterday said the crisis rocking the party was capable of destroying the country, noting that the crisis was affecting the nation’s economy.
Also, Oyinlola, who described Tukur as an arrogant leader, said the members of the New PDP were considering forming a new party in the interest of the country and in order not to aggravate the crisis as intended by Tukur.

Oyinlola while addressing members of the PDP loyal to him from all the 30 local government areas of Osun State at a rally held in Okuku, his home town, remarked that his travails in the PDP started in 2011 as a result of his loyalty to Obasanjo.

He made it clear that the current crisis, which has divided the PDP, started in 2010 when Jonathan declared his intention to contest the 2011 presidential election and considered some serving governors as not being supportive of his ambition.
Oyinlola said: “President Jonathan called me at about 1 am sometime in 2010 and requested that I should come to see him in Abuja. I honoured him and when I got there, he told me of his ambition to contest the presidential election, and sought my support.

“The president later told me that he knew that my hands were tied but I told him immediately that I was not a goat, so no one could tie me. His belief was that I would give maximum support to General Ibrahim Babangida because of my relationship with him and interestingly Jonathan got 99 out of 100 votes cast by the delegates from Osun State during the presidential primary.”

He condemned the president for taking sides in the process that led to his removal as the national secretary of the party, adding that all peace meetings called by notable leaders of the party to resolve the matter ended in a deadlock.

Oyinlola also made it clear that he is the recognised national secretary of the party and remains the leader of the party in Osun State, contrary to claims by some leaders of the party that he should be disciplined.

He stressed that he had not contravened any provision of the constitution of the party by teaming up with like minds to form a parallel faction, stressing that the PDP constitution does not prevent anyone from teaming up with like minds.
Elaborating on the crisis, Oyinlola said: “My problem with my former boss, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, started right from my first day in office. He introduced some strange things like creating the Office of the Chief of Staff and others. I kicked against this development and he took offence to my action.”

He added: “Tukur ruined the PDP when he started fighting everybody. He fought the governor of his state and other northern governors. He believed he could do everything on his own without the support of other people. Now, he has ruined the party.”

He also pointed out that the president was aware of his face-off with Tukur and did nothing to settle it, adding, “Even when the president called both of us to a parley in Abuja, nothing meaningful was achieved. I also tried to advise Tukur as an elder that he is to me, but he turned a deaf ear to my advice.”

He expressed displeasure that the South-west geopolitical zone was marginalised in the NEC of the PDP, stressing that the new leadership of the party under Baraje would do justice to the anomaly.

In the meantime, the cracks within the ruling party deepened yesterday when none of the dissenting members of the Baraje group fail to show up for the post-convention dinner of the PDP held at the banquet hall of the Presidential Villa.

Obasanjo, who has been making effort to broker peace in the party, was also conspicuously absent.

The event kicked off at 8:29 pm when the president and Vice-President Namadi Sambo arrived.

Those who graced the occasion were Anenih, Tukur, and Deputy Speaker, Hon. Emeka ihedioha.

Also in attendance were Governors Theodore Orji (Abia), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Jonah Jang (Plateau), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Idris Wada (Kogi), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Martin Elechi (Ebonyi), Usman Dakingari (Kebbi), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), acting Governor of Taraba State, Umar Garba, and Deputy Governor of Benue State, Dr Stephen Lawani.

Welcoming the attendees, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, noted that the PDP was the only party that hasn't changed its name, adding that the current challenges it is facing were not unexpected.

According to him, "Our enemies are not happy because Jonathan has been performing. They control the states but we control the national sphere. Those not here are those on the wrong path and we urge them to turn the right way.

"Nigeria belongs to all of us irrespective of tribe or religion. Goodluck will take us to the promised land. All of us should join hands to support him. Already, 90 per cent of Nigerians are with Jonathan, Tukur and the PDP."


source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/jonathan-ready-for-peace-with-six-northern-govs/158566/

i have a question about this car tracker.
Word on the street is that they are easy to disable by those experienced car thieves. they say it is just a matter of detecting the cables leading to the battery and the ECU and vola, the tracker and immobilizer can be disabled.
Is this true?

if so what extra precaution does this system offer in term of "tamper proof" in case of car theft?

THESE DIDNOT MAKE ME CRY BUT THEY SURE WERE EMOTIONALY MOVING TO ME
1. CITY OF ANGELS
2. MY SISTERS KEEPER
3. HOW SLEEP THE BRAVE
4. GAME OF THRONES (THE WEDDING SCENE)

just to refresh the question about fuel consumption at half tank.