₦airaland Forum

The President, Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, and the factional National Deputy President, NLC, Mr. Issa Aremu, have insisted on capital punishment for corrupt government officials and others individuals.

The NLC noted that corruption had become pervasive and endemic, adding that it had led to the death of many innocent Nigerians.

Wabba spoke in Ilorin on Saturday during his condolence visit to Aremu who lost his 91-year-old mother, Hafsat.

He further said there had been a collapse of social services and basic amenities as few Nigerians corruptly enrich themselves to the detriment of the majority.

Wabba said, “We must canvass for capital punishment. It is only people who are stealing that will go against it. If we are campaigning for capital punishment and people are kicking against it, we must be consistent because people are reaping from where they did not sow.

“We are facing challenges because many people have appropriated the resources needed to drive development. Schools are not developing; there are no drugs in hospitals. People have helped themselves and Nigerians are suffering. We have the right to demand for good governance and accountability.’’

The NLC boss claimed the crisis that factionalised the labour union had been resolved.

Wabba said the strength of any labour union lay in its solidarity and oneness. He stated that all labour unions were bound together by the quest for improvement in the living and working conditions of workers.

“We never had a faction. We were not divided over the issues of unity and issues that will advance the interests of Nigerian workers. We have been the same, ’’ he added.

On his part, Aremu said many Nigerians were dying from corruption as a result of avoidable deaths from decayed and unavailable infrastructure and social amenities.

http://www.punchng.com/news/nlc-insists-on-death-penalty-for-looters/

So amazing it is to know that there
is a place in Nigeria where exists
the largest population of twins in
the world. This place is Igbo-ora ,
small village in Oyo State, south-
west Nigeria, more twins are born
in Igbo-Ora than anywhere else on
earth and that there are just few
households who do not have at
least one set of twins in their
family.


This has also been shown by birth
statistics which stated that there
are 158 twins per 1,000 births in
Igbo-Ora, while in Europe there are
five twins per 1,000 births. The
village of Igbo-Ora has become
popular all over the world for this
interesting occurrence. The people
of Igbo-Ora attribute the
predominance of twins in their land
to their indigenous Àmàlà and Ìlasà
meal. Àmàlà is a popular morsel
meal made from yam powder and
is popular within the SW region of
Nigeria, while Ìlasà is a special okro
soup indigenous to Igbo-ora
community.


According to medical director of the
local Olugbon Hospital, Rasak Tijani,
the delivery of twins in the local
community hospital is a routine
procedure. He also explains that,
although people in other local
government areas in the area eat
the same food as they do and have
the same culture and practice, yet
the rate of twinning is different.


However, consultant gynaecologist
Donald Imosemi at Nigeria’s biggest
medical institution, Lagos university
teaching hospital, believes that
food may indeed play a part.


Extensive studies on multiple births
have been conducted, showing that
yams contain the chemical
gonadotrophins, which helps
women produce multiple eggs.


However, one of the local residents
said that it was difficult to raise his
twins because they need twice as
much attention. “You’re now faced
with providing two things for two
people. So definitely you’re going to
spend so much for the two of
them. Nevertheless, Head Chief
Adeyemi believes that twins should
be worshipped. He believes that it
is a sort of honour to be called
“Baba or Iya Ibeji” (Father or
mother of twins) “because they are
a special breed from God.”


Although the people of Igbo-Ora
are very proud of their heritage
and are very welcoming to visitors,
however, they complain of low
tourist visitation to their community
to celebrate their twin children.

sources:

http://naijatreks.com/2013/10/visit-igboora-twins/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2253845.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/010607_twins.shtml

Senate President Bukola Saraki, who stoned yesterday with rocks and water sachets by an irate mob at the Eid Prayer Grounds in Ilorin, Kwara State, has accused Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of leaving him vulnerable and open to attack, an aide of the governor has told SaharaReporters.

Our source added that Governor Ahmed confided in aides and the traditional ruler of Ilorin that the Senate President made himself the target of furious crowd because he failed to listen to security reports and advice urging him to stay away from Ilorin during the Sallah holiday.

A security source corroborated the governor’s sentiment. According to him, security agencies in the state had been aware of public anger against the governor and Mr. Saraki, especially as information circulated among residents about the size of the senator’s assets and personal wealth. He added that many people in the state, among them unemployed youth and workers who are owed arrears of salaries, felt that the Saraki family had exploited them for years.

A reporter in the state also told SaharaReporters that rumors circulated widely that Governor Ahmed had given Mr. Saraki N1 billion from Federal bailout funds meant to clear several months of salary arrears to workers. “Whether it’s true or not, the rumors were making the rounds. And they made many people incensed against the governor and Senator Saraki,” the reporter said.

Other sources in the state disclosed that a few local imams (Islamic preachers), shocked by media reports about Mr. Saraki’s obscene wealth, revealed in his past asset declarations, preached about the senator’s greed.

“Once we heard what the preachers were saying in mosques, we warned the governor [Ahmed] to avoid any public outing as it was clear that people [were] angry and waiting to attack him and his godfather, former Governor Saraki,” one of our security sources said.

He added that, days before the Sallah festivities, security agents had seen piles of stones hidden in drainages around the prayer ground, and told the governor about it.

An aide of the governor told SaharaReporters that Governor Ahmed, in turn, communicated his concerns to Mr. Saraki in Abuja. “But Senator Saraki continued to feel that he was popular in Kwara State, especially in Ilorin,” said the governor’s aide. “He would not agree to exercise caution because he wanted to show his popularity after his ego was bruised at the Code of Conduct Bureau,” the aide added. Mr. Saraki was last week arraigned at a tribunal for false declaration of assets.

Ignoring all security warnings, the Senate President reportedly ordered the governor to arrange a series of high profile events for him in the state capital. The events proposed by the embattled senator included meet and greet at the Ilorin Airport on his arrival in the state.

A few days before Senator Saraki’s arrival, the airwaves were saturated with radio announcements calling on politicians and civil servants in the state to welcome the former governor at the airport. In the end, the event was abruptly canceled when security agencies warned that protesters were planning to launch an attack on Mr. Saraki at the airport.

SaharaReporters learned that, a night before the Sallah prayers, Governor Ahmed told Senator Saraki that he would not attend Eid prayers at the Ilorin praying grounds on account of adverse security reports. But Mr. Saraki was not deterred, said our sources. Instead, he ordered his aides to scout the length and breadth of Ilorin and surrounding towns in order to mobilize a huge crowd to show up and sing his praises at the prayer grounds.

On Sallah, Governor Ahmed headed for his hometown, avoiding showing up in Ilorin.

Meanwhile, Mr. Saraki arrived at the venue where he was initially serenaded by a retinue of hired praise singers. However, shortly after the formal prayer events started, with the Chief Imam presiding, and the Emir of Ilorin, Sulu Gambari, next to him, protesters started shouting “Ole! Ole!” (meaning thief in Yoruba). Pandemonium soon ensued as the angry crowd began hurling rocks at the VIP tent. Prayers were aborted as Mr. Saraki and a coterie of other religious and political officials were smuggled out of the prayer grounds. The police, army and civil defense agents had a hectic time clearing the way for the dignitaries to escape. Several eyewitnesses disclosed that the security agents fired teargas and live bullets to scare the rampaging protesters.

In a public relations stunt, Senator Saraki quickly arranged a short press conference where some hired youth chanted his praise in the background as he spoke for a minute or two before he fled.

Our source, who is an aide of the governor, told SaharaReporters that Mr. Saraki was also displeased with the governor’s media team for issuing a statement condemning the attack on Senator Saraki and other VIPs. The embattled Senator Saraki felt that the statement undermined his earlier denial that he was not the target of the stone-throwing protesters.

Mr. Saraki had handpicked Mr. Ahmed to succeed him as the governor of Kwara State. State workers are being owed salaries for the last five months, a development that is seen as the result of Mr. Saraki’s financial mismanagement during his eight-year stint as state governor.
http://saharareporters.com/2015/09/25/ilorin-attack-saraki-upset-kwara-governor-who-responds-%E2%80%9Cwe-warned-you%E2%80%9D

Senate President Bukola Saraki, who stoned yesterday with rocks and water sachets by an irate mob at the Eid Prayer Grounds in Ilorin, Kwara State, has accused Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of leaving him vulnerable and open to attack, an aide of the governor has told SaharaReporters.

Our source added that Governor Ahmed confided in aides and the traditional ruler of Ilorin that the Senate President made himself the target of furious crowd because he failed to listen to security reports and advice urging him to stay away from Ilorin during the Sallah holiday.

A security source corroborated the governor’s sentiment. According to him, security agencies in the state had been aware of public anger against the governor and Mr. Saraki, especially as information circulated among residents about the size of the senator’s assets and personal wealth. He added that many people in the state, among them unemployed youth and workers who are owed arrears of salaries, felt that the Saraki family had exploited them for years.

A reporter in the state also told SaharaReporters that rumors circulated widely that Governor Ahmed had given Mr. Saraki N1 billion from Federal bailout funds meant to clear several months of salary arrears to workers. “Whether it’s true or not, the rumors were making the rounds. And they made many people incensed against the governor and Senator Saraki,” the reporter said.

Other sources in the state disclosed that a few local imams (Islamic preachers), shocked by media reports about Mr. Saraki’s obscene wealth, revealed in his past asset declarations, preached about the senator’s greed.

“Once we heard what the preachers were saying in mosques, we warned the governor [Ahmed] to avoid any public outing as it was clear that people [were] angry and waiting to attack him and his godfather, former Governor Saraki,” one of our security sources said.

He added that, days before the Sallah festivities, security agents had seen piles of stones hidden in drainages around the prayer ground, and told the governor about it.

An aide of the governor told SaharaReporters that Governor Ahmed, in turn, communicated his concerns to Mr. Saraki in Abuja. “But Senator Saraki continued to feel that he was popular in Kwara State, especially in Ilorin,” said the governor’s aide. “He would not agree to exercise caution because he wanted to show his popularity after his ego was bruised at the Code of Conduct Bureau,” the aide added. Mr. Saraki was last week arraigned at a tribunal for false declaration of assets.

Ignoring all security warnings, the Senate President reportedly ordered the governor to arrange a series of high profile events for him in the state capital. The events proposed by the embattled senator included meet and greet at the Ilorin Airport on his arrival in the state.

A few days before Senator Saraki’s arrival, the airwaves were saturated with radio announcements calling on politicians and civil servants in the state to welcome the former governor at the airport. In the end, the event was abruptly canceled when security agencies warned that protesters were planning to launch an attack on Mr. Saraki at the airport.

SaharaReporters learned that, a night before the Sallah prayers, Governor Ahmed told Senator Saraki that he would not attend Eid prayers at the Ilorin praying grounds on account of adverse security reports. But Mr. Saraki was not deterred, said our sources. Instead, he ordered his aides to scout the length and breadth of Ilorin and surrounding towns in order to mobilize a huge crowd to show up and sing his praises at the prayer grounds.

On Sallah, Governor Ahmed headed for his hometown, avoiding showing up in Ilorin.

Meanwhile, Mr. Saraki arrived at the venue where he was initially serenaded by a retinue of hired praise singers. However, shortly after the formal prayer events started, with the Chief Imam presiding, and the Emir of Ilorin, Sulu Gambari, next to him, protesters started shouting “Ole! Ole!” (meaning thief in Yoruba). Pandemonium soon ensued as the angry crowd began hurling rocks at the VIP tent. Prayers were aborted as Mr. Saraki and a coterie of other religious and political officials were smuggled out of the prayer grounds. The police, army and civil defense agents had a hectic time clearing the way for the dignitaries to escape. Several eyewitnesses disclosed that the security agents fired teargas and live bullets to scare the rampaging protesters.

In a public relations stunt, Senator Saraki quickly arranged a short press conference where some hired youth chanted his praise in the background as he spoke for a minute or two before he fled.

Our source, who is an aide of the governor, told SaharaReporters that Mr. Saraki was also displeased with the governor’s media team for issuing a statement condemning the attack on Senator Saraki and other VIPs. The embattled Senator Saraki felt that the statement undermined his earlier denial that he was not the target of the stone-throwing protesters.

Mr. Saraki had handpicked Mr. Ahmed to succeed him as the governor of Kwara State. State workers are being owed salaries for the last five months, a development that is seen as the result of Mr. Saraki’s financial mismanagement during his eight-year stint as state governor.
http://saharareporters.com/2015/09/25/ilorin-attack-saraki-upset-kwara-governor-who-responds-%E2%80%9Cwe-warned-you%E2%80%9D

According to a statement by his
spokesman, Mr. Laolu Akande, the Vice
President, who represented Buhari in
Ouagadougou, said the leaders were in the
country’s capital to convey the
recommendations agreed by ECOWAS
leaders in Abuja.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday
recalled how he joined other leaders of
the Economic Community of West African
States to facilitate quick restoration of
civilian rule in Burkina Faso, a day after
President Muhammadu Buhari hosted an
Extraordinary session of ECOWAS Authority of
Heads of State and Governments in Abuja.

A decision was taken at the summit to ensure
the termination of last week’s military coup in
the West African nation.

According to a statement by his spokesman,
Mr. Laolu Akande, the Vice President, who
represented Buhari in Ouagadougou, said the
leaders were in the country’s capital to convey
the recommendations agreed by ECOWAS
leaders in Abuja.

He expressed delight that the intervention had
led to the reinstatement of Mr. Michel Kafando
as the country’s transition President.

Akande quoted the Vice President as telling
journalists that the restoration of civilian
authority in Burkina Faso after last week’s
military coup was a good sign and positive thing
for the region.

He said ECOWAS played a significant role in the
process that made the restoration possible.
“As you know, President Kafando had been
detained by the RSP, the presidential guard,
but they have now stepped down as you can
see, and they are now part of the process to
ensure that the transition goes on.

“What we have seen today is how ECOWAS
states came together basically to agree and see
to it that President Kafando was reinstated and
now, that has been accomplished,” Osinbajo
was quoted as telling the journalists.

He said the major task now before the leaders
was to advance the transition process in the
country.

He added that while there were still difficult
issues to be resolved as fallout of the coup, it
is clear that progress will continue, judging
from the fact that the people are determined
and all the groups involved are cooperating.

Osinbajo reiterated Nigeria’s continued
brotherly support for Burkina Faso, while also
commending the international community for
coming together to condemn the coup.

“I think it is very clear, going by the ECOWAS
Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and
Good Governance and the legal instruments of
the African Union, that coups are no longer
fashionable and no longer acceptable.

“In fact, it punishable to take power by force.
“As soon as this coup took place, the entire
ECOWAS, AU and the entire international
community rose with one voice against it.”

After Tuesday’s summit in Abuja hosted by
Buhari, ECOWAS had selected a group of six
leaders one each from Nigeria, Benin, Senegal,
Togo, Niger and Ghana to visit Ouagadougou
and proffer the recommendations of the West
African nations towards solving the disruption
of civil transition programme in Burkina Faso.
President Boni Yayi of Benin was named as
facilitator, while Nigeria was represented by the
Vice President.

In what included series of talks and events all
through Wednesday, leaders from the six West
African nations met with the RSP, Burkina Faso
military and civil leaders and presided over the
formal ceremony to effect the restoration of
power from the presidential guards led by Gen.
Gilbert Deirdre.

http://saharareporters.com/2015/09/24/how-we-resolved-burkina-faso’s-crisis-–-osinbajo

From corruption investigations in the United States and Switzerland to the sudden suspension of his right-hand man, FIFA president Sepp Blatter can expect a barrage of questions when he faces the media on Friday, AFP reports.
Blatter’s press conference, his first appearance since the removal of FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, will follow a two-day executive committee meeting where the seemingly-endless scandals at world football’s sleaze-tainted governing body are on the agenda.
Since the executive committee last met, much of the news surrounding FIFA has been less than positive.
On Wednesday, the Swiss justice ministry approved the extradition to the US of Rafael Esquivel, a Venezuelan ex-FIFA official who was among those arrested in a dawn raid in Zurich in May.
Switzerland has also approved the transfer to US jurisdiction of former FIFA Vice-President Eugenio Figueredo, a Uruguayan, with extradition decisions on four other suspects due in the coming days.
Last week also saw Valcke’s sacking on allegations that he participated in a massive black market ticket-selling scheme surrounding the 2014 World Cup.
Valcke fiercely denies the allegations and has vowed to fight them.
Three days before Valcke was dismissed, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said her sweeping investigation into decades of graft at FIFA was expanding and was likely to lead to more people being charged.
It was Lynch who uncorked the crisis at FIFA in May, when her office unsealed indictments against 14 people – nine football officials and five sports marketing executives – accused of involvement in a bribery scandal worth more than $150m since 1991.
Speaking next to Lynch in Zurich last week, Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber said his separate probe into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups had led to assets being seized, including flats in the Swiss Alps.
Lauber has not given any indication as to who may be charged in the Swiss inquiry, but FIFA officials have conceded that if there is clear evidence that bribes were paid during the bidding, both Russia and Qatar could lose hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively.
Lauber made clear that his investigation had “not yet reached half-time.”
http://www.punchng.com/sports/blatter-under-fresh-fire/

ANGRY mob on Thursday hurled water sachets and stones at a tent under which the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and some other dignitaries sat, at the Eid-el-Kabir prayer ground in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.

Amid shouts of “ole” “ole” (thief! thief!), the mob, made up mainly of youths and workers in the state, reportedly defied security operatives at the Eid-el-Kabir prayer and threw objects at the tent.

Saraki was reportedly smuggled out of the area by security operatives.

The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Sulu Gambari, who arrived at the venue at 10 am, five minutes after Saraki, reportedly met the mob hurling sachets of pure water and stones at dignitaries including the Senate President.

The tent also accommodated the Emir; the Chief Imam, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir; the state House of Assembly speaker, Ali Ahmad; and a former Acting national Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, and now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, among others.

One of our correspondents reports that the state-owned radio station, Radio Kwara, which had been transmitting the event live at a point, discontinued its broadcast.

Hundreds of faithful, who could not get to the prayer ground because of gridlock, but who had been following the proceedings on the radio, were unable to observe the congregational prayer because of the transmission stoppage.

It was learnt that a coaster bus conveying the Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, and others, was also vandalised in the mayhem with eight persons in the bus sustaining injuries.

The Senate president has however said that he was not attacked.

Saraki, in a statement by his media office, said any report that indicated that he was attacked was false.

The statement partly read “Before the Senate President left the prayer ground, he spoke to reporters who had asked him about his message for Nigerians to mark the Eid-el-Kabir.

“We want to say that nothing can be further from the truth as the Senate President was never attacked nor was there any attempt made on his life to warrant him being ‘whisked away’ as reported by a section of the media.

“We however observe that there was a protest allegedly staged by local government employees over purported non-payment of salaries, which hoodlums attempted to hijack but this development was immediately curtailed by security agents.”

He said no missile was hurled at him.

But eyewitnesses told our correspondent in Ilorin that the mob had targeted Saraki in respect of allegations of false asset declaration levelled against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau and trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

One of the eyewitnesses, Rasaq Yahaya, said, “The mob was directly facing the prayer ground shouting ‘ole, ole’ (Thief! Thief) at Bukola (Saraki). They were throwing stones and sachets of pure water at him, his entourage, the Emir and others. If not for the tent that shielded them, they would have been injured by the stones. He (Saraki) was their target. Some Kwarans are angry with Bukola concerning what they have been hearing in the news lately as regards his case with the EFCC.”

Another eyewitness, Kazeem Agboji, however condemned the attack, and said the attackers were mainly workers, who were being owed salaries by the state government.

Agboji said, “I learnt they (the attackers) were workers who have not received their salaries. Yesterday (Wednesday), some workers were paid a month salary while some got two months’ salaries. They assembled opposite the prayer ground. As Bukola (Saraki) arrived, they started mumbling. Five minutes after when the Emir came, they began shouting ‘thief, thief’ and the whole place was messed up with stones.

“The Imam could not even say khutba after the prayer. His ram was quickly slaughtered and everybody fled. It was unfortunate that this incident happened on a day like this. It is a total embarrassment and nemesis would catch up with those who caused the confusion.”

Another eyewitness, who identified himself only as Kadiri, said the fact that the state governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, was not present at the prayer ground suggested that the attackers were not state workers.

“If they were to be aggrieved civil servants as some people are saying, the governor would be their target and he did not come. I think Bukola (Saraki) is their focus,” he said.

A worker at the University of Ilorin, Mr. Garba Apo, who spoke with one of our correspondents on the telephone, said he was one the workers that accompanied the VC to the prayer ground. He said the windows of the bus were shattered and that he sustained injuries in the legs.

“It was terrible. I had to jump through the window of the bus. The windows were damaged. The stones caught up with us and about eight persons were injured in the head. The VC did not sustain any physical injury,” Apo said.

The Kwara State Police Public Relations, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, told journalists in Ilorin that the mob were made up of hoodlums who had come to beg for money but were disappointed as they could not get to where some prominent people were seated.

He said that the police had got information that some hoodlums, who normally beg for money at the prayer ground, were planning to cause trouble if they did not get enough money.

He said the police had arrested eight of the attackers and that the prayers later went on without hitches.

But a policeman, who was on duty at the prayer ground, told one of our correspondents that about eight vehicles that escorted Saraki to the venue were vandalised.

“They aimed the stones at Bukola. It was very difficult for us to control the mob. We only shot at the air to disperse them. They vandalised about eight cars that conveyed Bukola’s entourage to the prayer ground and cut the the wire being used for transmission by Radio Kwara,” the source said.

Okasanmi said, “Today is the celebration of the Eid-Kabir and as usual we deployed enough policemen, in conjunction with other security agencies, to make sure that the celebration was free and peaceful.

“It was free but in the course of prayers, there was the resurgence of criminals, who we had put into consideration in planning our security strategies. They always come there to beg for money from well to do members of the public. So, they, as usual, came and when we started noticing that they were becoming unruly, we came out to stop them from gaining entrance or going near where the Very Important Persons were.

“They did not want to be held back as they felt they could get money from their leaders since the VIPs were far away from where they were. They actually became unruly and we had to chase them out and succeeded in arresting some of them. About eight of the miscreants were arrested and they are in our custody now and we have started investigation.

“We learnt that one or two people were injured but there was no official report to that. For us now, there was no casualty but when we are through with the investigation, we would be able to know if there was any casualty.

“We have not got any official report of any vehicle that was damaged but we heard that one or two vehicles were damaged. But we have not seen any injured person or damaged vehicles. As far as we are concerned, they are miscreants and they were there begging for money.”

The Kwara State government condemned the attack on dignitaries at the prayer ground, saying it was absurd, barbaric and unIslamic.

According to a statement by Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed’s Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahaab Oba, the government said it heard of plans by some aggrieved politicians, in collaboration with some of the local government employees and teachers, to protest arrears of salaries owed them by their various local government authorities.

He said that the government had gone out of its way to negotiate and secure bank loans to offset the arrears, pending the time when the Federal Government bailout would be released and that workers had received their salaries.

http://www.punchng.com/news/mob-pelts-saraki-others-with-stones-at-eid-prayer/

By Ogaga Ifowodo
THE formal filing of charges against Senator Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, not to speak of the issuance of a bench warrant for his arrest for failure to appear in court to take his plea, leaves him with only one honourable course of action: resignation in order to clear his name. The alleged offences impeach very seriously his character and integrity, qualities that no leader, if he or she is to enjoy the respect and confidence of his or her peers (as of the electorate) and be effective, cannot afford to have under any shadow of doubt. Certainly not in these hopeful days of change, the real manifestation of which the people await with bated breath.

It is a serious thing to ask an “elected” official to resign his mandate, even though the office here is really only a privilege. Thus, in addition to my unqualified citizenship right to comment on matters of (urgent) national interest, I proffer, unbidden, further bona fides. I am a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress. Had I succeeded in my bid to represent the Isoko people in the House of Representatives, I would be Saraki’s colleague in the National Assembly. And I consider it a matter of honour and duty that Saraki resign from the office he occupies through means considered devious and unbecoming by almost everyone except those boxed into his Amen Corner.

Mostly, though, I make this call as the natural step enjoined on Saraki by the lofty sentiments he espoused and urged on his fellow senators in his inaugural senate address. In just the first four sentences, Saraki had uttered the words honour, honoured, distinguished, respect, faith, trust, humility, responsibility, and duty, repeating “humility” and “honour” as if to be sure that we would notice how much he valued those virtues. By the sixth sentence, he was literally aloft while describing the presidential election of 28 March as a “lofty victory for our country and our democracy.”

All of this, it would appear, was to enable him deploy the phrase “individual ambition” by appearing to deplore that tendency while thanking the senators who elected him for their “courage.” Their support, said Saraki, went beyond “any individual’s ambition.” Curious words, but they remind us that his ambition, writ large for all the world to see, required the absence of nearly all the senate members of his party, and that he got his victory from the defeated party at the ransom price of trading away his party’s capacity for effective legislation towards the transformative change it had promised, the elimination of corruption being a priority.

Yet, taking him at the surface meaning of his words imposes a minimum decorum. At least, for the sake of the integrity of the vaulted office he so doggedly covets, and because he seems not unaware of that ethical responsibility. “Beyond any political party or personal victory” (how the personal and the individual haunt this thoughts!), he said, the 2015 elections marked “a major watershed in the political annals” of our country, a “moment . . . when our democracy truly came of age . . . fired by our people’s overwhelming desire for change . . . [thus imposing] enormous responsibilities . . . on those of us who occupy leadership positions in our respective capacity (sic) at this time [that] can hardly be over-emphasised.”

Well, this unique moment of change is threatened by a heavy cloud of suspicion hanging over the head of the leader of the legislative arm of government. The thirteen felonious charges of non-declaration and false and anticipatory declaration of assets, fraudulent conversion of public funds for personal gain, contravention of the law prohibiting public officials from operating foreign accounts, etc., may well turn out to be unfounded and really an excuse for a witch-hunt (suggesting, ironically, that his own party members whom he thinks are behind his troubles consider him the witch in their midst). Malicious prosecution, as Saraki and his counsel, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, must know is an offence and offers him additional remedy through a post-acquittal action in tort.

Thus, if I were Saraki, knowing that my reputation and moral authority have been grossly tainted, I would jump at the opportunity to restore my name. I would go to any court or tribunal, any forum, properly constituted, to prove my innocence. I would spurn my lawyers’ well-laid obstruction strategy sure to delay my day of vindication.

After all, their best outcome can only be legal victory in the stifled courtroom but assured conviction in the open court of public opinion. I would say to my lawyers, “And while you file motions upon motions and cripple the court, how shall I regain the respect and trust of my peers and my party for the serious business of nation-building? What will the people think of me while you grin in self-satisfaction over your cleverness?”

But then if I were Saraki, I would not be in this fine mess in the first place, not having made it past the party primaries for the House of “undistinguished” Representatives. And faced with felonious charges aimed at proving my ultimate unsuitability for public office, at destroying my public career, I would sooner have witch-hunters as my prosecutors than the more down-to-earth citizens in the streets. Which is why, on my honour, I would resign and hasten to court to clear my name.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/were-i-senate-president-saraki-i-would-resign-today/

How

Fact

Really

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has asked Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court in Lagos to withdraw himself from a fresh suit filed by Senator Buruji Kashamu.

Kashamu, in the new suit, is seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the NDLEA and the Attorney General of the Federation from seizing his property.

The new suit came after the failed effort by the NDLEA to extradite Kashamu to the United States of America, where he is said to be wanted for alleged drug-trafficking offences.

Justice Buba had on June 23, 2015 reaffirmed a May 27, 2015 order of Justice Okon Abang of the same court restraining the NDLEA and others from extraditing Kashamu.

In the new suit, Kashamu said he had got winds of the moves by the NDLEA and the AGF to seize or take over his properties, including a 24-flat housing estate at Egbe and several hectares of land on Lekki Peninsular, Lagos, worth over N20bn.

He claimed to have acquired the properties by dint of hard work and legitimate business as opposed to the respondents’ allegation that the properties were acquired with proceeds of drug-trafficking.

His lawyer, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, claimed that allowing the respondents to seize Kashamu’s property would occasion a breach of his fundamental right to own property as provided under section 43 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution.

Already Justice Buba had, by an interim injunction dated June 29, 2015, restrained the respondents and their privies from interfering with Kashamu’s right to own property either in Nigeria or anywhere else, pending the determination of the main suit.

But at the resumed proceedings on Tuesday, the NDLEA appeared in court with an application seeking to discharge the interim injunction.

The NDLEA’s lawyer, Mr. J. N. Sunday, claimed that the interim injunction was granted against public policy, adding that it amounted to tying the hands of the Federal Government’s agencies from discharging their legitimate mandates.

The anti-narcotics agency also asked Buba to disqualify himself from the case, saying it was afraid that since Buba had adjudicated over Kashamu’s previous case and gave judgment, it might be impossible for him to reach a different conclusion in the fresh case, which stemmed from the earlier case.

On his own part, counsel for the AGF, Mr. Oyin Koleosho, in a preliminary objection, challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear Kashamu’s suit.

The counsel said the judge had no jurisdiction to entertain matters bordering on landed property title.

Justice Buba adjourned the case till September 30, 2015 to enable the parties to regularise their processes.

http://www.punchng.com/news/ndlea-rejects-judge-in-fresh-kashamu-suit/

THE Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday entered the dock at the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja where he was arraigned for false assets declaration charges.

Saraki arrived at the tribunal at 9.20am in company with 50 senators, beating by 40 minutes the 10am deadline the judge had set for the Inspector General of Police to provide the Senate president.

He pleaded not guilty to all the 13 charges slammed on him by the Code of Conduct Bureau and his trial has been scheduled to hold on October 21, 22 and 23.

Saraki appeared at the tribunal after the courts had refused his request that the proceedings at the CCT be stopped.

From the dock on Tuesday, the Senate president said he was hearing about the charges against him for the first time, saying he ought to have been invited and briefed by the CCB as the Senate president.

He said, “I am the Senate President and I have respect for the rule of law. Mr. Chairman, I observed that they have made reference to the good work the Senate has done in the administration of criminal justice. If there is an allegation of false declaration of assets, the Code of Conduct Bureau shall refer the person involved to the tribunal after giving the person an opportunity to explain if the facts are true. But in this case, I was not given the opportunity.

“I thought the CCB should have called me and given me the right to fair hearing. I am hearing about the charges for the first time. We are all here and the whole world is watching when we said we are in new Nigeria. I want to state here that I am not guilty.”

Saraki’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN, challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal, saying the CCT was not a court of criminal jurisdiction and as such, the administration of criminal court did not apply.

Citing Section 693, paragraph 18 (1) of the Constitution, Daudu reminded the tribunal of the ruling of a High Court in a case involving a former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, which held that the CCT did not have jurisdiction over criminal cases and submitted that the tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to try the accused under criminal act where he would be required to be docked.

But the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, opposed the application, saying the tribunal had ruled on jurisdiction last Friday. Jacobs submitted further that Section 2 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act gives the tribunal powers to handle the criminal charges against Saraki.

After listening to the arguments of both parties, Justice Danladi Umar held that the tribunal had the jurisdiction to compel the Senate President to not only appear in person but to also be moved to the dock.

He said, “It is in the view of the tribunal that the trial before it is criminal in nature and it has jurisdiction over criminal matters, the defendant should therefore proceed to the dock.”

While proceedings to the dock, Saraki expressed shock that the tribunal had chosen to be ignorant of the stipulations under which the defendant could be brought to court.

He was however granted bail in self recognition and the warrant the tribunal had issued for his arrest was quashed.

As a governor of his home Kwara State between 2003 and 2011, Saraki was alleged to have make false declaration of his assets, including an alleged anticipatory declaration of asset yet to be acquired.

He is also being accused of owing an American Express credit card account during his tenure as governor. Public officials are forbidden from operating foreign accounts while in office.

But Saraki had earlier shunned the CCT and asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the tribunal’s proceedings against him.

However when he failed to appear before it last Friday, the tribunal chairman had issued a warrant, compelling the IG to arrest the Senate President.

The warrant had spurred Saraki to run to the Appeal Court, asking it to quash the warrant and to stop the procceding of the tribunal.

The two courts on Monday refused his requests.

“To appear before the tribunal is not a death sentence,” Justice Morri Adumein of the Court of Appeal had told Saraki.

The senators that followed Saraki to the tribunal on Tuesday included his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu; Shaaba Lafiaji, Theodore Orji, Mao Ohuabunwa, Samuel Egwu, Ben Murray-Bruce, Aliyu Wamakko, Gilbert Nnaji, Kabiru Gaya, Alasoadura, Samuel Anyawu and Foster Ogola.

Others were Sunny Ogborji, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Isa Hamma Missau, Emmanuel Paulker, Obinna Ogba, Kaura Tijani, Clifford Ordia, Ibrahim Abdullahi, Peter Nwaoboshi, Rose Okoh, Mohammed Ohiare, Gershom Bassey, Olaka Nwogu and Lanre Tejuosho.

Meanwhile, some senators on Tuesday expressed confidence that Nigeria and its democracy would be the ultimate beneficiaries at the end of the trial of the Senate President.

The spokesman for the Senators, Ibrahim Danbaba, said this while reacting on behalf of his colleagues to the arraignment of Saraki at the CCT.

Dambaba said, “We also want to state here, on behalf of our colleagues, that the Senate remains solidly behind Senator Saraki and we express our unalloyed support for his leadership.

“We reiterate the fact that he is our choice for the post of Senate President and no politically motivated, mischievous and vindictive trial will change our opinion of him.”

In a statement after the tribunal proceedings, Saraki said he was being tried because he was the Senate president and that his trial indicated flagrant disregard of due process.

The statement by his spokesman, Yusuph Olaniyonu, read in part, “Today, I appeared before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for the commencement of my trial in a case concerning the asset declaration form I filled in 2003 after I have explored the opportunity to defend my fundamental human rights in other courts.

My appearance in court today once again demonstrates my belief in the rule of law and respect for the judiciary of our country.

As I stated while taking the plea in the case, I reiterate my belief that the only reason while I am going through this trial is because I am Senate President. If I were to be just a Senator, I doubt if anybody will be interested in the asset declaration form I filled over 12 years ago.

“It is my humble opinion that this case is a vivid example that there is still flagrant disregard for due process in our polity. This trial is not only being observed by Nigerians alone, the international community is watching because Nigeria is a key member of this community. So, the executive, legislature and judiciary should do the right thing that will truly demonstrate that we have imbibed the spirit of positive change.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/saraki-pleads-not-guilty-trial-begins-october-21/

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has barred the lawmaker representing Ondo-Central senatorial district, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, from attending South-West caucus meetings, our correspondent has learnt.

It was learnt that the senator was ostracised for allegedly working against the interest of the party’s South-West leadership and for taking sides with Senate President Bukola Saraki.

Alasoadura was also among the senators that followed Saraki to the Code of Conduct Tribunal in solidarity on Tuesday.

A reliable source within the party told our correspondent that Alasoadura had been sidelined from all APC South-West meetings for his disloyalty to Tinubu.

The source said, “Alasoadura was a Commissioner for Finance under the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu for over five years. He later defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the Action Congress of Nigeria. Tinubu accepted him and appointed him the Director-General of the Rotimi Akeredolu governorship campaign organisation in 2013.

“Alasoadura was not even supposed to have emerged the senatorial candidate of the APC in the last election but the party favoured him. However, when he got to the Senate, he returned to his PDP family and started working against the party. He also supported Saraki against the interest of the party.

“When Tinubu convened a South-West meeting in Abuja during the height of the National Assembly crisis, Alasoadura came. However, Tinubu walked him out of the meeting and told his orderly to ensure that the senator was escorted off the premises.

“Tinubu also warned senators present to ensure that sensitive issues were not discussed in the presence of Alasoadura as he was an enemy within.”

Two days after the faceoff with Tinubu, however, the Ondo State senator issued a statement wherein he pledged his loyalty to the party and denied supporting Saraki.

Alasoadura said he was only working in the best interest of his constituents.

An APC leader, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, however, said that the fact that Alasoadura accompanied Saraki to the Code of Conduct Tribunal in solidarity on Tuesday, confirmed their suspicions.

He said the party would ensure that he remained irrelevant in the APC.

http://www.punchng.com/politics/tinubu-bars-pro-saraki-senator-from-apc-caucus-meetings/

Justice reloading[quote][/quote]

Update: Senate President Saraki finally inside the accused box for 13 count charges against him by CCB #SarakiOnTrial


https://twitter.com/NTANewsNow/status/646278241121083392/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the PDP of openly launching a counter-offensive against the determined efforts of the Buhari Administration to rid the country of impunity and corruption, but warned that the opposition party will fail in its attempt to take Nigerians back to Egypt

‘’Saturday’s Press Statement by the PDP is nothing but a thinly-veiled frontal assault on the relentless efforts of the Buhari Administration’s to clean the Augean Stable of the last PDP Federal Government,’’ the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed

‘’With its statement that is nothing but an unabashed support for impunity and corruption, as well as its major actors, the PDP has now confirmed itself as the official ‘poster boy’ for corruption in Nigeria,’’ it said.

APC said the long-winding sophistry about the rule of law, democracy and personal freedoms is aimed at couching the PDP’s abhorrence and disdain for the fight against corruption in democratic cliches, especially now that the battle is gradually hitting the PDP where it hurts.

‘’For the PDP to brush aside the latest revelation that a government it sired could not account for $700 million from the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), or the fact that the party could not account for billions of Naira in its own campaign funds, and then launch a frontal attack against a reformist government, is the height of shamelessness”, it said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/pdp-has-fully-launched-counter-offensive-against-fgs-anti-corruption-battle-apc/

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the PDP of openly launching a counter-offensive against the determined efforts of the Buhari Administration to rid the country of impunity and corruption, but warned that the opposition party will fail in its attempt to take Nigerians back to Egypt

‘’Saturday’s Press Statement by the PDP is nothing but a thinly-veiled frontal assault on the relentless efforts of the Buhari Administration’s to clean the Augean Stable of the last PDP Federal Government,’’ the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed

‘’With its statement that is nothing but an unabashed support for impunity and corruption, as well as its major actors, the PDP has now confirmed itself as the official ‘poster boy’ for corruption in Nigeria,’’ it said.

APC said the long-winding sophistry about the rule of law, democracy and personal freedoms is aimed at couching the PDP’s abhorrence and disdain for the fight against corruption in democratic cliches, especially now that the battle is gradually hitting the PDP where it hurts.

‘’For the PDP to brush aside the latest revelation that a government it sired could not account for $700 million from the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), or the fact that the party could not account for billions of Naira in its own campaign funds, and then launch a frontal attack against a reformist government, is the height of shamelessness”, it said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/pdp-has-fully-launched-counter-offensive-against-fgs-anti-corruption-battle-apc/

A coalition of civil society organisations under the aegis of Heritage Centre and the National Association of Nigerian Students have threatened to lead mass protests to foreign embassies in Abuja to protest alleged political vendetta against Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, but gave no date for it.

They were reacting to the order of Saraki’s arrest by Code of Conduct Tribunal over alleged falsification in his assets declaration.

The Director-General of HC, Dr. Katch Ononuju and NANS President, Tijani Usman, who issued the threat during a press briefing on Saturday evening in Abuja, said it was a witch-hunt against the Senate President by what he described as political ‘cabals,’ who should be put under checks by the Federal Government.

Ononuju said, “The President makes appointments and does not refer them to the Senate for confirmation because he does not like the leadership there. Our democracy is under threat and that is why we are talking to Nigerians. ‎Since President Muhammadu Buhari took over, everything is going down. We are calling on the Chief Justice of Nigeria to protect the integrity of the courts by ensuring that injunctions are respected. We are to march to every embassy to tell them that our democracy is under threat.

“The President lacks the political will to fight corruption. We are very worried with the ‎turn out of things. The action by the Senate to appoint its own leadership is the reason behind this witch-hunt. Accidents have been arranged for senators who supported Saraki.

“The DSS has been used to trail senators. The current CCB should not exist. The current leadership came into office in 2010 and their tenure ought to have elapsed in April 2015. The power that seeks to undermine our democracy and the Senate is gaining the upper hand. I sincerely want corruption to be fought headlong, but we do not want a return to the days of Olusegun Obasanjo, where arrests where targeted.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/saraki-civil-society-groups-nans-plan-protests-in-embassies/

A coalition of civil society organisations under the aegis of Heritage Centre and the National Association of Nigerian Students have threatened to lead mass protests to foreign embassies in Abuja to protest alleged political vendetta against Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, but gave no date for it.

They were reacting to the order of Saraki’s arrest by Code of Conduct Tribunal over alleged falsification in his assets declaration.

The Director-General of HC, Dr. Katch Ononuju and NANS President, Tijani Usman, who issued the threat during a press briefing on Saturday evening in Abuja, said it was a witch-hunt against the Senate President by what he described as political ‘cabals,’ who should be put under checks by the Federal Government.

Ononuju said, “The President makes appointments and does not refer them to the Senate for confirmation because he does not like the leadership there. Our democracy is under threat and that is why we are talking to Nigerians. ‎Since President Muhammadu Buhari took over, everything is going down. We are calling on the Chief Justice of Nigeria to protect the integrity of the courts by ensuring that injunctions are respected. We are to march to every embassy to tell them that our democracy is under threat.

“The President lacks the political will to fight corruption. We are very worried with the ‎turn out of things. The action by the Senate to appoint its own leadership is the reason behind this witch-hunt. Accidents have been arranged for senators who supported Saraki.

“The DSS has been used to trail senators. The current CCB should not exist. The current leadership came into office in 2010 and their tenure ought to have elapsed in April 2015. The power that seeks to undermine our democracy and the Senate is gaining the upper hand. I sincerely want corruption to be fought headlong, but we do not want a return to the days of Olusegun Obasanjo, where arrests where targeted.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/saraki-civil-society-groups-nans-plan-protests-in-embassies/

The Code of Conduct Bureau has filed 13 charges against the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

The Deputy Director in the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, M.S.Hassan, filed the charges against Saraki on September 11.

The charges include false declaration of assets when he assumed office as the Kwara State Governor in 2013.

Details later…
http://www.punchng.com/news/conduct-bureau-charges-saraki-with-false-asset-declaration/

The Police have explained why they have not prosecuted those indicted in their report on the investigation into the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Rule 2015.
They attributed the failure to prosecute the Senate forgery case to a civil suit by a group seeking an injunction to stop the matter in court.
The police stated that the group had approached the court to stop further investigation into the case, thus stalling actions on the report.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, explained that the police were waiting for the court’s decision on the case. Kolawole was asked to explain what was delaying the prosecution of the Senate forgery case and its status.
She said, “Police investigations are ongoing on the matter. However, there is a civil case in court by some group to seek an injunction to resist the police on further investigation. Police are waiting for court’s decision on the case.”
Kolawole was apparently referring to a preliminary objection against the police case filed by the Enugu East senator in the National Assembly, Mr. Gilbert Nnaji, asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain the police and the Attorney-General of the Federation from taking further steps on the investigation of alleged forgery in the Senate’s rules.
Nnaji, through his counsel, Mr. P. J. Nwokolo, had urged Justice Gabriel Kolawole to, among others, restrain further investigation of the allegation in a suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/646/15, which was filed before the release and sending of the police report to the AGF’s office for further action.
The police investigation had indicated that a forged 2015 edition of the Senate Standing Orders was used for the conduct of the elections of Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu, as Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively, shortly after the proclamation of the 8th Senate on June 9, 2015.
The forgery investigation arose from a petition by Senator Sulaiman Hunkuyi of the All Progressives Congress from Kaduna State.
The petitioner had alleged that some parts of the 2015 Senate Orders were different from the one ratified by the 6th Senate in 2010, which was used by the 7th Senate, as Standing Orders 2011.
The police, in the course of their investigation, had on July 6 questioned some members of the 7th and the 8th Senates as well as some management employees of the Senate, including the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa.
A study of the controversial 2015 Senate Standing Orders, Rule 3, as contained on page four of the document, which has to do with the election of presiding officers, showed that it was different from the 2011 Senate Standing Orders.
Rules 3(e) (i) and (ii) had been included in the 2015 document to accommodate electronic voting and secret ballot, whereas secret ballot and ballot papers were not specifically mentioned in the 2011 Standing Orders.
The PUNCH had exclusively reported on August 19 that there was a confusion over the final report of the police investigation into the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Order with conflicting claims by both the police and the justice ministry on the status of the report.
While the police insisted that they had sent the report to the Ministry of Justice for possible prosecution of suspects, the ministry official said the report had not been received.
A source however had confided in The PUNCH that the police had yet to return the report to the ministry.
The police had sent an initial report to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation for proper legal advice but the AGF office had sent the report back to the police, asking them to conduct a better investigation into the allegation.
In the initial report, the police confirmed that “some group of senators” criminally amended the Senate Standing Orders 2011 to produce the 2015 edition.
But the Directorate of Public Prosecutions of the Federal Ministry of Justice had sought for more information on the senators that allegedly amended the document.
http://www.punchng.com/news/court-delaying-senate-forgery-case-say-police/

A former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, said on Thursday that if he was not forced out of office, his party would have won the 2015 general elections.
Tukur, who spoke with journalists at his residence in Abuja as one of the activities to mark his 80th birthday, said the party was winning elections when he was in office.
The former PDP chairman was forced to resign from office when he sanctioned some governors of the party.
Tukur, who was a former governor of the defunct Gongola State, identified lack of internal democracy as the bane of the former ruling party.
The defeat suffered by the PDP was unprecedented as the then opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, won the power at the centre and many states where the PDP had hitherto remained unbeaten.
Tukur however said the situation would have been different if he had not been booted out of office unceremoniously.
He said, “Well, when I was there I won elections and in the same vein, if I was there I also expect to win the election.
“But first and foremost, this is a democracy and in every democratic system, you have the opposition and the party in government.
“So, it is time (for the opposition) because it is a democracy and it is the people who decide who they want to vote for and that is what the people have done.
“Sure the PDP will rediscover itself. I am sure about that; it is their own party and they can find out what have gone wrong.
“If for 16 years people allowed you to rule them and in the 17th year they say no, you have to find out why they said no.”
He said he faced problems in the party because some of those he described as strong members of the party were afraid of election and would rather prefer selection.
He said such powerful men were ready to leave the party, but he decided to leave for them. Tukur added, “Well, I thought we were in a system of democracy and my views were such that what I believed in were what I will preach. “I wanted election and people said they wanted selection. If the majority or the strong people in the PDP did not believe in it then the choice or the next thing for me to do was to leave.
“It is either I leave or they leave but I did not want them to leave, so, I decided to leave. At that time, people said I was preaching internal democracy instead of imposition. So, it was difficult for me to sit down and be part of them.”
Despite the way he was treated in his party, Tukur said he would not defect to the APC, saying that it would be difficult for him to change his principle at 80.
He said, “At 80, what do you want somebody to do? You want to change somebody’s character at 80? Is it possible?
“At 80, you remain because you cannot bend. You are unbendable anymore and if you do it by force, you will break.”
http://www.punchng.com/news/pdp-would-have-won-if-i-wasnt-removed-says-tukur/

Really

The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party says Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s only achievement in the last 100 days is fighting his predecessor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

The Publicity Secretary of the Lagos PDP, Mr. Taofik Gani, said this during an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday.

Gani said Ambode was attacking Fashola so as to distract the people of Lagos from seeing his own deficiencies.

The PDP spokesman, who noted that Ambode had revoked several of Fashola’s policies and contracts, said the governor was not sincere.

He said rather than rubbish Fashola in the media, Ambode should launch a sincere and thorough probe of the Fashola administration with a view to exposing all shady deals that took place under Fashola and then forward a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Gani said it is only after doing this that the people of Lagos would take Ambode seriously.

He said, “Ambode’s performance has been dismal. I will score him 20 per cent and the 20 per cent is the achievement of the civil servants who have continued to work. The 20 per cent is not because of Ambode’s personal input.

“He has failed to appoint commissioners despite the fact that his predecessor is a fellow APC member like himself. His government should have hit the ground running.

“I advise him to first and foremost apologise to Lagosians for misleading them during the elections. Obviously, he was not prepared for governance.

“Ambode’s only achievement is fighting Fashola and he has not even done that properly. The people of Lagos want a complete probe of Fashola’s administration after which Ambode would forward a petition to the relevant anti-corruption agencies. After doing that, Ambode should face governance. What he is doing now is diversionary and it is inimical to the development of the state.”

The PDP spokesman said the All Progressives Congress had done nothing but impoverish the people of Lagos.

He maintained that despite the high Internally Generated Revenue, the people of Lagos had continued to suffer while social infrastructure like the BRT had become moribund.

However, a group, Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate, has congratulated Ambode for exemplifying excellence in governance in 100 days since assuming office.

In a statement by its Executive Chairman, Mr. Nelson Ekujumi, the group said Ambode had been able to reposition the civil service, block financial leakages and reorder the finances of the state.

Ekujumi said the governor had recruited over 1,000 primary schoolteachers. He noted that the governor was running a compassionate government as evidenced by the compensations paid to families involved in a tanker fire in Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos.

The statement read, “We are quite aware of how the governor puts smiles on the faces of state and local government retirees from ministries, parastatals and agencies earlier in August when he approved N11bn to offset arrears owed since 2010.

“This is a commendable development by a responsible government and this is a radical departure from our history of shabby treatment of retirees in the public service.”

“The prompt responsiveness of the Ambode government to disasters and emergencies is worthy of commendation if we recollect his empathy visits to the scenes of petroleum tanker fire disasters in Idimu and Iyana Ipaja where he not only commiserated with the victims, but also promised them government succour which has since been fulfilled.”

http://www.punchng.com/politics/fighting-fashola-is-ambodes-only-achievement-pdp/

[b]Google’s Android One programme has been unveiled in Africa with the launch of Infinix Hot2 device exclusively on the Jumia online store.

According to Cellular_news.com, the launch which is in partnership with key players in the Nigerian mobile ecosystem including Jumia, MTN and Infinix, offers Nigerian consumers the smartphone device valued at N100, 000 at N17, 500 exclusively on .

In a statement, Jumia said, “As the 15 per cent market shareholder of smartphone sales across Nigeria, Jumia Nigeria is indeed committed to being a world-class organisation and maintaining its status as Nigeria’s number one online retail store.

In every sense of the word, more than ever before, the company is set to drive the implementation of its e-commerce model in its first-ever partnership with Google, Infinix and MTN to encourage technological innovation in Nigeria through the introduction of Android One in the form of the Infinix Hot 2 mobile phone.

This partnership brings Jumia closer to accomplishing its ultimate goal of placing one smartphone in the hands of every Nigerian.”

Recall that the Android One and the Infinix Hot2 was officially launched in Lagos recently.

The Chief Executive Officer of Jumia Nigeria, Jeremy Doutte, said Jumia entered into the partnership because, “Any forward-looking organisation must have real-time, cutting-edge wits at the fulcrum of its business operations and that is what Jumia Nigeria consistently espouses in pushing the frontiers of its operations to everyone in the country.”

He added, “Jumia will continue to drive and make premium technological equipment available to Nigerians at an affordable price.”

Google has just introduced an affordable smartphone in six African countries to enable low-income earners to gain access to an interconnected device. Nigeria is the first to sell the device, which will be followed by Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco in the coming weeks. The price for the Hot 2 phones starts at N17, 500, which makes it a steep markdown from other smartphones.

Speaking on the partnership, Google Vice President, Caesar Sengupta, said, “The combination of the Google software, Infinix hardware, MTN network support and Jumia helps to facilitate easy delivery of the device to consumers.

He said, “What better partnership can bring you the best functional device at an affordable price? Google is proud to be associated with Nigeria’s development, and is committed to working with Jumia to advance the access to technology for all citizens within the country.”

http://www.punchng.com/business/technology/jumia-google-infinix-collaborate-on-android-one/[/b]

[b]
The Federal University of Technology, Akure has embarked on the fabrication and installation of locally-produced traffic lights on campus.

The Head, Department of Electrical Electronics Engineering, Dr. Samson Oyetunji, said the pilot project, which would be installed on one of the roads on the campus, would boost the institution’s prowess in technology for self-reliance.

According to the Project Manager, Mr. Sola Oladiran — a technologist in the same department – the university management has entrusted the project to the department, with the mandate that it should harness locally-fabricated equipment to control traffic within the campus.

Oladiran said the project, which already had its pilot stand on the Middle Belt road, was a one wholly designed, constructed and installed by the Department of EEE. He added that the solar inverter-powered project was designed to retain charge for a period of seven days at a time.

Commending the project team, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, pledged the support of the university, saying that steps would be taken to replicate the project at other levels after the successful completion of the pilot scheme.

http://www.punchng.com/education/futa-fabricates-traffic-lights/ [/b]

As the administration of President Muhammadu
Buhari clocks 100 days today, organised labour
in the electricity sector has warned that the
current power supply in the country is not
sustainable even as it gives reasons Nigerians
are experiencing improved power supply.
Speaking through the National Union of
Electricity Employees, NUEE, labour said the
raining season, the President Muhammadu
Buhari factor and steady supply of gas to power
plants were the major reasons for the improved
power supply.

The General Secretary of NUEE, Mr. Joe Ajaero,
said: “During this time of the year, there is
always a slight improvement in power supply
because of the rise in water level. That is, the
lake goes up and hydro power stations generate
more power. Second is the Buhari factor which
has made operator to sit up and added to that,
before now, the gas pipelines were usually
vandalized.

We suspect it may be in collaboration by some
highly placed individuals who award contracts
for the pipelines to be repaired which runs into
billions of Naira. If the pipelines are vandalized
and the contracts are awarded for repairs,
almost every two months, it is big money for
them. I think that because of the fear that
those who engaged in the business may be
caught, for now there is relative peace and the
gas pipelines are delivering gas to the power
plants. But we fear the current power situation
may not be sustainable. Once the rainy season
ends and the water level drops, there will be
problem. Again, today all power being
generated is being pumped into the system,
there is no reserve in case of any break down,
and there is no reserve in case of maintenance
and so on. We ought to have reserve for
emergencies. Sadly, we do not have that at the
moment.”

Speaking on the recent NUEE face-off with Port
Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company,
PHEDC, Ajaero said though the Department of
State Service, DSS, and the police, attempted to
wade in, they had nothing to do with industrial
relations.

Ajaero warned that next time, the management
of PHEDC would not find it easy, saying “Though
the 18 successor companies have disdain for
union, at least, in others, there is union
management relationship. Though we don’t
agree on a lot of issues, we meet and discuss,
but PHEDC does not want to discuss. The next
time we are biting them, we are going to bite
them hard. This one is just an example. We
went to Industrial Arbitration Panel, IAP, and
the management said they were not going to
respect the ruling of IAP. They wrote to us a
letter that they had appealed to the National
Industrial Court, NIC, but, till now, we have not
seen the appeal. Nevertheless, the issues now
are not the matters presented at IAP. They
wanted to use that excuse of being in court to
continue to perpetuate anti-labour practices.

“The current arrangement in the power sector
makes it easier for us to select a place and deal
with the issues there. Before now, it would have
been a nationwide action. We have perfected
our plan so that there could be power outage in
Port Harcourt, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa
without the action affecting other states. We feel
sorry for the residents of these states plan who
experienced power outage during the action,
and we pray that we will not be forced to take a
similar action again. If we take this action again,
the management won’t see anyone to negotiate
with. Electricity sector is a unionised sector.

“At privatisation, the first six months was a
transition period from Power Holding Company
of Nigeria, PHCN, to the new investors. What
were transferred to new investors were the files
of the workers and grades, only Port Harcourt
claimed that the membership of the union was
not transferred. Even for the six months that
nobody was meant to talk, they did not pay
their dues. None of the workers has withdrawn
his membership of the union. The IAP told them
to pay the dues they owed. Someone who was
receiving N150, 000 before was paid N30, 000
and when they complained, the management
sacked 30 of them. That is the level of impunity
going on there. They sacked without discussion
with the union. That impunity has to stop.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/buharis-100-days-improved-power-supply-not-sustainable-labour/

Men of the Department of the State Service have
uncovered arms and ammunition from the Akwa
Ibom State Government House in Uyo.

It was learnt that the discovery was made
during a surprise raid. The operation was jointly
carried out by operatives from the SSS
headquarters in Abuja and the state command,
according to Premium Times. The SSS reportedly
stormed the Hilltop Mansion based on security
reports.

After ransacking the entire residence of the
governor, which is yet to be occupied by the
serving Governor, Udom Emmanuel, the
operatives moved to guest houses and the
presidential lodge, said to be currently in use by
ex-Governor Godswill Akpabio.

Security sources said on Friday that the arms
were found in one of the guest houses while
searching for documents and Improvised
Explosive Devices.

When contacted, the state government declined
to comment on the report.

Meanwhile, Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele
Fayose, has condemned the invasion of the
Akwa Ibom Government House by the armed
men of Department of State Services.

Fayose said the manner the DSS ransacked,
intimidated and harassed the occupants,
claiming they were searching for bomb and
documents, was “strange and anti-democracy.”

The governor, however, accused the DSS of
acting a sinister motive to run down the Peoples
Democratic Party-controlled states, instead of
going after the Independent National Electoral
Commission suspected to have been involved in
graft.

He said, “Interestingly, the DSS under Alhaji
Lawal Daura that has turned Akwa Ibom State
and other states into centre of its draconian
operations has not deemed it necessary to invite
for questioning, the Yobe State Resident
Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Abu Zarma, in
whose bank account N15m alleged to be a bribe
was found.

“From the barbaric act of the DSS and other
actions under Alhaji Lawal Daura in the last few
weeks, one can conclude that Daura is taking
Nigeria back to the 1984 era of Gen.
Mohammadu Buhari and this is unfortunate.
“No doubt, the DSS Director-General is acting out
a sinister script of taking over the PDP-controlled
states in the South-South and South East by
whatever means.

“Daura’s actions as the DG DSS are regrettable,
unfortunate, condemnable and unacceptable
because he has come to symbolise dictatorship,
which democracy abhors.”

Fayose, who addressed journalists on Friday in
Ado-Ekiti through his Special Assistant on Public
Communications and New Media, Mr. Lere
Olayinka, urged President Muhammadu Buhari
to call Daura to order or sack him if he was
uncontrollable.”

“As for me, I will continue to talk because
Nigeria belongs to all of us. Nigeria is not a
banana republic that can be ruled anyhow by
anyone and Daura should know that this reign
of brute force over constitutional democracy will
fail.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/sss-uncovers-arms-in-akwa-ibom-govt-house-fayose-condemns-dss-invasion/

Some Lagos residents have expressed frustration over having to spend many hours in the premises of telecommunications operators in a bid to validate their Subscribers Identity Module cards.
The Nigerian Communications Commission had issued a directive to the telecoms companies on June 15 to either re-register the SIM cards of some of their subscribers whose data were not properly captured or risk heavy fines.
To this effect, major telecoms operators, especially MTN and Airtel Nigeria, had been sending notifications to the affected subscribers to visit their offices in order to validate their SIM cards registration.
However, our correspondent, who visited the offices of MTN and Airtel in the Ojodu area of Lagos on Friday observed subscribers were made to sit and stand in the sun in order to validate their lines.
Some of the subscribers, who had had their telephone lines barred from accessing the operators’ services, lamented that the new NCC directive was having a toll on them.
Olanrewaju Adams, an MTN subscriber whose line got barred on Wednesday, said he had been visiting the office since Thursday, but had been unable to register his SIM card due to the large crowd.
He said, “I don’t understand why I need to register my line again since I’ve done it before. They said my face was not captured. Was that my fault? Why didn’t they do what they were supposed to do initially? I left my business yesterday and today (Friday) again. For how long will I continue to do this?”
An Airtel subscriber, Chigozie Udoh, said if he were to be in an advanced country, he would have sued the telecoms operator for the stress it had caused him.
He said, “It is just that anything goes in Nigeria. We don’t have proper planning. Why should we be always subjected to suffering like this every time?”
The NCC said it had identified about 38 million mobile lines which were not properly registered with the telecoms operators. About 10 million of those subscribers were barred last month.
MTN said in a statement that it had increased the number of staff doing the SIM registration/ validation across all its channels and had mandated all its registration outlets to remain open till 8pm every day until further notice.
It said, “We also appeal that you do not panic and remain calm as you visit our various outlets. We are committed to ensuring that all affected subscribers complete the process as directed by the NCC.”
http://www.punchng.com/news/lagos-residents-groan-over-barred-network-lines/

The recent announcement by the Department of
State Security that the dreaded Boko Haram sect
has moved into Lagos and Enugu has led to
widespread tension and fear in the states.

Ever since the security agency made the
revelation in a press statement on Sunday,
residents have not stopped discussing the
ominous implications of the development in the
states.

The DSS on Sunday had announced the arrest of
20 suspected Boko Haram commanders in Lagos,
Kano, Enugu, Plateau and Gombe states
between July 8 and August 25, 2015. Some of
the suspects were said to have masterminded
suicide attacks in Potiskum, Kano, Zaria, and Jos.

The Baba Oloja (market leader) at Owotuntun,
Okrika, Kaatangwa market, Lagos, Badmus
Aboderin, said there has been palpable tension
among traders since the DSS announced the
arrests.

Aboderin said market leaders had been holding
prayer sessions and holding meetings with
security agencies to secure the market from
Boko Haram attack.

He said, “We have told our traders to be more
observant and we have also been meeting with
security operatives to checkmate any planned
attack on the market. We pray to God every
Thursday to avert any danger from the market.”

Also, traders at Oba Ogunji market, Agege,
Lagos, expressed fear over the development.

The market’s General Secretary, Alhaji Lukman
Lamidi, said the market had employed
measures to safeguard their shops.

He said, “We’re afraid because we don’t want
anybody to destroy our market or Lagos for us,
which is why we drive everyone away from the
market by 6.30pm daily.

“We don’t want anyone to hide in our shops at
night and we have also been holding meetings
with the police in the area. We disseminate any
information we get from the police to the
traders to ensure security.”

A trader at Yisa market, Lagos, Adedeji Ajayi,
said he and some other traders had put their
lives in God’s hands, urging the government to
efficiently monitor the influx of migrants into the
state.

“God will expose anyone who plans evil here but
at the same time, there are too many people in
Lagos who have no business here,” he said.

Fears of possible Boko Haram attacks has also
been more pronounced among traders in major
markets like Ogbete main market, Artisan
market, Kenyata market, Mami market, New
Haven market, Mayor market and Relief market
in Enugu.

Our correspondent observed that transporters
and travellers in the major motor parks in the
city are afraid of the Boko Haram sect.

Some traders who spoke to our correspondent
expressed concern at the presence of the Boko
Haram sect in Enugu.

Mr. Obinna Ozo, who deals in curtains and
fabrics in Kenyata market, said most traders in
the market had been apprehensive since the
DSS made the revelation.

Ozo urged the state and federal governments to
beef up security in the market.

He noted that reports from the North East had
shown that Boko Haram usually target markets
because of the large number of casualties that
could be recorded in such attacks.

He said, “Traders here are apprehensive, we are
worried.

“Normally I look forward to coming to my shop
here six days in a week, we don’t open on
Sundays, but now I am not so comfortable in
the market.

“Who knows when Boko Haram will strike? There
are many people here, who can tell who is a
terrorist or someone who came to buy, or even
sell?
“It is so fearful, everyday we hear in the news
that one market or the other was bombed in
Maiduguri and other areas in the north, and
now we have been told that Boko Haram is in
Enugu. I wonder how safe we are.”

Another trader, Amadi Nwobodo, who has a
provisions shop in Ogbete main market, told our
correspondent that he was considering moving
his business out of the market.

Nwobodo said he would be more secured if his
shop was located in a residential area.
He said, “I am thinking of relocating my shop to
a less crowded place, preferably a residential
area.

“Experience has shown that crowded places like
this market are easy targets for Boko Haram.

“I don’t feel safe in the market anymore but I
pray that God will continue to protect us.

“I am not the only one that is worried; other
traders here will tell you the same thing, even
customers too.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/boko-haram-tension-in-lagos-enugu-markets-over-dss-arrests/