Ileke-IdI:

Plz does anyone know when the Ekiti's debate will be aired? Thank you.

Oops, sorry no guber election in Ekiti this year!!

seunlayi:

What is hot in this debate?
these politicians are full of deceit, somebody here talking of using coal in this twelfth century to generate light

Coal is still used in many parts of the world, there's something called clean-coal technology which eliminates, or reduces to the barest minimum, the carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutant emissions,

Because SADLY there's a law making provision for that. Not until it is repealed can this practice end.

Those paid were political office holders under the Adebayo administration of 1999-2003 and Fayose administration of 2003-2007. Other newspapers had more detailed breakdown of the news.

Always thought it was Yoruba, but it was apparently borrowed from Hausa!

http://susannelamido..com/2005/07/whats-wahala.html

From another angle, the entry into the local councils could also raise the revenue profile of the LGs and eliminate current loopholes exploited by the council workers. And Compass is owned by Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State.

But then, just one company for both the states and the LGs?? Why not open the contract/deal for fair and open bidding? Still sounds shady to a great extent.

But in reality, cutting down on government in Nigeria has a formidable foe in the provision of the 1999 Constitution:

Section 147 (3) Any appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of this Constitution:-
provided that in giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State.

blacksta:


That is why you have a case where a governor will have 268 advisers ( haba is he running heaven or what).

That is being modest in my opinion, when Isa Yuguda of Bauchi once had (maybe still has) 911 http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/4989/1/Yuguda-sacks-commissioner-911-others/Page1.html, and Dakingari once had (maybe still has) 478 http://www.thisdayonline.info/nview.php?id=146553

I think the problem stems from the rather queer provision of the Constitution:

Section 147 (3) Any appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President
shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of this
Constitution:-
provided that in giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the President
shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an
indigene of such State.

And we sadly have such a twisted education policy that is unable to incorporate Chinese into our national curriculum.

Why do we even have an embassy in China if translation is such a bother?!

omongbatic:


During the service, Adeboye said he would pass the prisoners' complaints to President Goodluck Jonathan, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Inumidun Akande.

Responding to some prisoners' requests to be pardoned, the cleric said he hoped that many of them would be released after his interaction with the government. He expressed hope that many of them could still be useful to the society when released.

Adeboye said, "I have my reasons for being keenly interested in what goes on here. I will take your case up again.

"I will take it to the President. I will take it to the governor of Lagos State. I will take it to the Chief Judge. I have done it before.

"When I did it the first time, they released hundreds. I am believing God they will do it again. So keep praying along with me. I will be your voice out there.

"Pray that the Almighty God will add weight to whatever I may say, so that the next time I come here, many of you will not be here. Out there, you will be very useful unto God."

He also said it was regrettable that many months after Fashola promised to provide succour to them, the governor was yet to fulfil his pledge.

Okishie, who is also a pastor at the Liberty Chapel, called on the government to set some of the inmates free, noting that many of them had spent many years in prison. He said some of the inmates had been in prison for over 27 years.

He stated that the[b] decongestion of prisons would be achieved through speedy justice delivery[/b], adding that many of the prisoners were desirous of being set free, especially those wrongly incarcerated.

With these various parts, I am still yet to see the relevance of the heading!!

^^^Well, since you clearly adhere to your own advice, feel free to express the anger while remaining on the same spot. Arguments are for accomodating opposite views, not personal potshots. Adieu.

Apparently, the analogy of the argument is lost on you. Not turning to US vs THEM as I "neither" know any of them nor care to anyways.

Just thinking we, as the future of Nigeria, should move beyond criticism for the sake of it, not when those being criticised have not only opened their books but told us all where to view the books.

It is akin to criticising a movie based on the preview without watching it in its entirety, while available at the movies. Or a novel based on its 10-line description, when it is available in some bookstore.

While not holding brief for anyone, rather than blind criticism, anyone questioning his source of wealth can as well take a trip or get someone to help him/her go to the Magistrate Court in Ado-Ekiti to get the details of his worth. This IMHO is a better way of constructive criticism than staying online to trade brickbats.

I also believe this was the official response of Fayemi to the official statement of PDP. He said it is public document and it contains how everything was bought and owned by himself and his wife.

About the NEWS magazine interview, he said "at a point" he had N5000 in his personal account and had to rely on his wife for support. Does this mean he and his wife were both broke? Even as normal humans, we have times we put in money into something and are broke for a while, does that mean we are forever poor?

Land appreciation, inflation-adjusted values etc are numerous factors since liquid cash is only a small fraction of the assets. Bill Gates being worth $50bn plus doesn't equate to same amount in liquid cash, afterall Michael Jackson was broke in liquid cash but still worth over $500m in assets.

Lastly, with regards to the deputy governor's assets and worth, without applying these same standards, we can do well to focus on more important issues of development. Afterall the assets were listed as hers and her husband's.

Βουκέφαλος:

their term as expired, so he did what he had to do , this posters sef. Which one be dissolves

But what happened to plain old new elections before the terms of the erstwhile chairmen expired? We do not have transition governors or presidents!!

Indeed it is wonderful to realize that Abdulsalami Abubakar and indeed, the ex-COAS Dambazau were two of the good guys of the whole Yar'Adua episode. Jonathan was also shown to either be spineless or overtly cautious. But i think the more explosive cables would be the ones around the periods when there were coups.

Beaf:

It is not the salaries that are the problem. It is the benefits, you can see from the figures you posted, that things like furniture and transportation are more than 3 times the salary of a senator or rep. The math can easily be done for the full list. The result is staggerring and unsustainable.

In places like the UK, you can meet elected top shots on trains, buses or even on bicycles. In Nigeria, they are in the 1st class section of flights and bullet prooof million Dollar SUVs. Yet, they are meant to represent the people. How can they represent us, when such huge wages (for nothing) separate them from us?

Yeah I know, I put the clarification since the basic salary is the basis for the calculation of the allowances. Ayogu Eze being clever in half only mentioned the basic salary in his defence of the figure attributed to the National Assembly.

Note that the salaries are monthly salaries. this much was confirmed by Ayogu Eze who said " can assure you that if you are talking about the salary of a senator, I do not see any senator earning above N950, 000 a month."

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/20375.html

For the benefit of Rosske and everybody, I have gone through the pains of searching for not only the salaries of the federal legislators but also a full list of their "approved" allowances as set by the REVENUE MOBILISATION ALLOCATION AND FISCAL COMMISSION.

FEDERAL LEGISLATURE SALARIES

1. The President of the Senate N993,697.00

2. The speaker, House of Reps N990,844.00

3. The Dep. President of the Senate N923,667.00

4. Dep. Speaker, House of Reps N877,989.00

5. Senator N810,560.00

6. Member House Reps N794,085.00


APPROVED ALLOWANCES FOR POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDERS (Percentages are based on annual basic salary)

1.  Accommodation 100% All officers of Executive, Judicial and legislative arms except principal officers*

2.  Transportation 350%(loan) As above

3.  Utility 20% As Above

4.  Domestic Staff 75% As Above

5.  Entertainment 10% As Above

6.  Furniture 300% (once in 4 years) As above

7.  PA 25% As Above

8.  SA in kind As Above

9.  Fueling/Maintenance 30% As Above

10. Recess 10% As Above

11. Severance 300% (After Successful Tenure) As Above

12. Leave 10% As Above

13. Hardship 50% As Above

14. Constituency Only Elected Officers: President/VP 250%, Governor/Deputy 200%, Senator 150%, Member50% Chairman 25%, Councilor 5%

15. Medical in Kind As Above

16. Security in kind

Source: http://www.yashuaib.com/rmafc.htm

But our dear Ayogu Eze did not include hardship, constituency, furniture, wardrobe, newspaper, etc allowances. And he had the cheek to say N950,000. When workers still have to paralyse the nation to get N18,000 a month!!

So in the case that Uduaghan wins again, would INEC still conduct elections again as part of its earlier stance with regards to other states that previously had their elections annulled and the incumbents re-elected?

http://www.economicconfidential.com/x/index.php/facts-a-figures/529-rich-and-poor-states-how-states-shared-n1-trillion-between-january-to-june-2010

This is the link to the original story on the Economic Confidential. It contains the full table of the revenue on a month-to-month basis.

Akin-Egba:

But Lagos did not begin receiving larger chunk of VAT money in 2010. They have always been doing so way before 2010, and rightly too.

Well it was basically an illustration to show that other govts could create a better business environment in their states to make the most of the bad situation. Only Kano broke the N1bn mark in VAT among the remaining 35states. This can not be achieved in a situation where a small state like Ekiti recently had 21commissioners and 14advisers of cabinet status, or a Bauchi governor sacking 911 aides in 2009, or a Kebbi governor sacking 490 aides in the same 2009. Money that could be best spent improving the state revenue profile.

http://www.fmf.gov.ng/FMF_Revenue_Alloc.aspx

The above is the link to the Federal Ministry of Finance page on revenue allocation. A quick glance would show why some of these states earn more than others, based on 13% of derivation and also on VAT allocations based on amounts generated in their areas. For example, Lagos allocation was on the same level as those of other states until the inclusion of almost N5bn from VAT for July 2010.

This is for those calling for figures. My own silent contribution to what promises to be a robust discussion.

Reeling off statistics is not the same as reeling off ACCURATE, "UN-PADDED" statistics. Lots of politicians reel out statistics anyways. All the best to him still though.

chosen04:


Prof Dorothy Akunyili who left Nigeria for New York in a presidential convoy on Wednesday September 22nd 2010 picked her Senatorial forms personally at the Wadata Plaza on Monday September 20, 2010 alongside Dr. Carol Nwosu [an Anambra gubernatorial aspirant 2010]. Dr. Nwosu also picked Senatorial forms on the same day.

When Prof Dora Akunyili was contacted via the telephone she was boarding at the London Heathrow Airport on her way back from New York. She did not respond directly to the question of her secret aspiration to vie for the Senatorial seat. Her response was that she “could not talk freely” where she was – that she will talk with us later.

http://www.ukpakareports.com/news.php?type_id=2&news_id=1423

So the presidential convoy drove her to New York?? Wooooow, or maybe it escorted the jet.

And is it so difficult to differentiate between "contacting her on her phone while she was boarding" and "contacting her via the telephone she was boarding at the London Heathrow Airport"?

Backroom reporting at its best!!

Fayemi prunes down cabinet
News Oct 26, 2010

By Gbenga Ariyibi
ADO-EKITI—Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has prune down members of his cabinet from 40 to 15, even as members of the ruling Action Congress of Nigera, ACN, have intensified lobby to be commissioners and special advisers.

Vanguard gathered that the new governor, Dr Fayemi has made it clear that he is averse to over-blotted cabinet by the immediate past government led by Engr Segun Oni where members of the state executive council were 40.

Fayemi was said to have told the ACN at a meeting that they should not expect an over-blotted state executive from his administration.

The governor was said to have expressed a desire to assemble a “compact but virile” state executive that would assist him in the day-to-day running of his administration.

He was said to have pleaded with the party members to show understanding as the finances of the state may not be able to take care of too many executives.

Dr.Fayemi was said to have pledged that he would not like to make a square peg in a round hole and assured that all of them would be relevant in their respective localities in assisting his administration.

The source further disclosed that the governor was said to have expressed his reservation over the proliferation of ministries by the immediate past government in the state.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/fayemi-prunes-down-cabinet/

A welcome development. No wonder Ekiti never had money after paying all these people salaries and other entitlements.

When the late Umaru Yar'Adua was having breakfast with these same MEND guys, and sending policemen to Borno State, where were these clowns?!

First thing I checked was what news medium carried this story. Not shocked it's tribune.

Second thing is the incompetent guy did not win an election to start with.

This article is as shallow as they come. How many people in the SW still live in the 60s as we are made to believe with the Awo angle? And how many of the current governors actually won a free and fair election as to be custodians of the wishes of the people?

Lastly, if all the insinuations are to be followed, what happens to the Abiola angle? I wish some journalists would get a life and address important issues like the economy, power, security, social security, education and leave the 60s and 70s where they are and deserve to be, IN THE HISTORY BOOKS.

The Parliament is not exactly a tea party or a social gathering. The people you need to like you are those who sent you there in the first place. And in all respect, this was the outcome in this scenario.

It might be interesting to have the OP point out where Awolowo laid claim to sole wisdom. Indeed in his many books as I have read, including "Path to Nigerian Greatness (1981)", he always spoke of the party doing this or that, never a personal achievement.

[b]"In all these, the Government of the Unity Party of Nigeria will go out in a big way to give subsidies to duly established co-operative farming groups and to the OPTICOMS, especially in respect of land preparations and housing. The provision of infrastructures and public including the construction of new feeder roads, and the immediate reconstruction of the old ones which are in ruins; the irrigation of the savannah and subsavannah areas of the country – all these are, in an underdeveloped economy like ours, the direct responsibilities of the Government. We are resolved to bear them, and do so effectively when we are brought to power.

The third cardinal programme is necessarily implied in every programme that is designed for the good of man. It is the provision of free health services for every Nigerian citizen. Lenin said it many years ago that “the productivity of a worker depends on his health.” Indeed, we would go further and say that the success of anything that calls for physical and mental efforts depends on good health. It is the resolve of the Unity Party of Nigeria that, when in power, it will make both curative and preventive health facilities available, free of charge, to all citizens of the Nigeria.

The fourth cardinal programme is full employment. Again, it is our iron resolve that, when elected into office, we shall pursue policies which will make it feasible for every Nigerian to be gainfully employed at all times. In other words, we are determined that the ugly and soul-depressing phenomena of unemployment and under-employment shall be no more, under the new dispensation."
[/b]

And as the OP has generously quoted on the people who wrote papers for him, they wrote the papers for the party and espoused the goals the party sought to achieve through its elected representatives. This is part of the demystification of office we need to preach. Awo was never a saint and as you and I had his flaws, maybe even worse than the average man, but it is irrelevant to set about to demonise him. His ability to deliver when entrusted in position is more important than his flaws IMO.

Also, the issue of people joining NNDP from NCNC can also be viewed from the point of an Adedibu and Akala crossing from APP (as it was then) to PDP in 2001/2002. It doesn't bestow any form of foresightedness on the action neither those it necessarily represent an evil, it all depends on the side of the divide you view it from.

Akintola, as a man, is different from Akintola as a politician and leader, the same way Maradona as a player is different from Maradona as a man and coach.

The OP has failed to acknowledge also in his diversions the role played by Awo in the keeping the economy on sound footing while serving under the Gowon leadership and his quitting when the goalpost for return to civil rule kept shifting. Examples shown from the Bush era about the failure of an economy's fundamental while fighting a war prove the importance of having a sound manager.

While not ascribing to the schools of thought that Akintola was evil or not, I believe as shown from history that his actions during the period this thread started with were fundamentally wrong and at divergence to the cause of his party and people. This does not take anything away from Akintola the man, but then there is no need to distort history.