₦airaland Forum

i no believe am,

Sunny_bobo:
Ebere and Ebele are the same.

people from Anambra pronounce it as Ebele while people from the old Imo area will say Ebere

and did u see the meaning of his own Ebele?

Sweet,


Not

Mercy,

in Esanland Ebele is a quarter in Ubiaja so what else do u want to say,

the same way Yoruba will always want to ascribe to good names, like Agbonlahor they call him Agbolahan, changed names to build their lost careers, like the Igbos

Igbo una don come again, haha, so Goosluck be Igbo, Ebere is different from Ebele

Jonathan removes Aondoakaa

* Posted by Vanguard Media Limited on February 10, 2010 at 10:49pm



ABUJA—ACTING President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, assumed responsibility of the new office, when he approved a mini-cabinet reshuffle which led to the immediate swapping of portfolios by three ministers including the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, who now becomes the Minister of Special Duties.

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode becomes the new Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Ibrahim Kazaure becomes the new Minister of Labour and Productivity.

The redeployments take immediate effect.
Jonathan presided over the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, from the official chair of the President bearing the country’s mark of power, the “Coat of Arms.”

Information and Communication Minister, Professor Dora Akunyili, who briefed State House Correspondents after the meeting, said the Council extensively deliberated on the resolution of the National Assembly, declaring former Vice President Jonathan as Acting President and unanimously endorsed it.

She said: “FEC accepts the resolution of the National Assembly that the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan becomes an Acting President, Commander-in-Chief. Council commends the National Assembly for their action, and pledges to support the Acting President in his onerous responsibility of steering the ship of the nation.”

Asked why the sudden swap within the cabinet, Akunyili said: “it is the decision of the Acting President to move, it is presidential power, he has the presidential powers to remove any of us.”

According to the Minister, her popular memorandum to FEC, penultimate Wednesday, asking ailing President, Yar’Adua to toe the path of honour by handing over power to his deputy, had to be dropped at yesterday’s meeting because she felt there was no need for it again, especially when FEC had adopted NASS resolution.
Akunyili was accompanied to the briefing by the Ministers of Finance, Dr Muhtar Mansur, Sports, Mohammed Ndanusa, Health, Dr. Babatunde Oshotimehin and Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe.

There was a breath of fresh air in Aso Rock, at the meeting which attracted a mammoth crowd of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s aides, some who had, hitherto, absented themselves from FEC meetings without official permission, particularly since Yar’Adua left for treatment.

Obviously afraid of being the first casualties, the Yar’Adua aides were among the early callers at the meeting which was attended by all the ministers and many other cabinet members, because of fear of imminent cabinet shake up.

However, controversial Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba-Aji was conspicuously absent, while Principal Secretary to the President, Mr David Edevbie, was seen without a tie for the first time.

The Acting President who does not tolerate lateness to FEC meetings, has put intense pressure on ministers who have to work extra hard to ensure they arrived before Jonathan at yesterday’s sitting.

Unlike in the past, ministers and presidential aides started arriving, as early as 8:43 a.m, for the meeting which started at 10.00 a.m; whereas in the past many of them would choose to attend between 10:30 and 11.00 a.m.

Aondoakaa reacts

Meanwhile, the former Minister of Justice, Aondoakaa, yesterday, told newsmen he had no regrets over his actions in the last eight weeks, noting that there was no way he would have avoided those actions, particularly his insistence that there was no vacuum.

He said: “There is no action I’ve taken that I have regrets for, because every action I took was in the interest of the country. No country will say there is a vacuum. No Attorney General worth his salt will go on the pages of papers to announce that there is a vacuum. We have to preserve executive powers until a leader is selected. A leader has been given by the National Assembly and we have recognized him.

“What we did was a collective decision. First the Acting President told me of the need to go to another ministry. He had a discussion with me in the morning, and it was a cordial arrangement. How do I look at it? Well I am in the government, in the cabinet and I pledge my loyalty to the acting President, I am the Minister of Special Duties.

“The Minister of Labour is now Minister of Justice; I am now the Minister of Special Duties. No, I think it’s understood, first I had a discussion with the Acting President, I have taken a position and in this life when you take a position and there is a change in the position you allow another person who will have a free atmosphere to defend the new position”.

Asked how he intended to perform his new assignments, he said: “When I go there the permanent secretary will brief me on what the special duties are and I will do the job.”

Other decisions of the FEC included the variation of the contract for the construction the two hundred bed hostel at the National Stadium from N892 million to N1.74 billion. The facility is to be upgraded from two-star to a four-star structure.

FEC also approved the appointment of fund managers to manage the recent N10 billion funds, as approved by the National Assembly, for the proposed Urban Mass Transit Programme that was designed to provide loans to operatives at 0.75 per cent interest rate.

Cabinet shake-up covered by ourresolution – Senate

The minor cabinet reshuffle carried out in the Federal Executive Council was within the powers conferred by the Senate resolution on Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President of the country, the Senate’s acting spokesman, Senator Manzo Anthony has said.

Reacting to yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle, Senator Anthony told Vanguard in a telephone interview that the Acting President was empowered by the Senate resolution to run the Federal Government in a way he thought fit to do.

Affirming that it was an administrative procedure that will not bother the Senate, he said: “Our resolutions were two and very clear. If you give somebody acting appointment, it implies that he would do all the jobs of the person he is acting for and if in his opinion that the government he is leading as acting President will run better by reshuffling ministers so be it. Ministers are doing jobs on behalf of the President and it may well be that he will deploy them to areas that he believes that they will perform better and you will agree with me that once you stay in a place for a long time that it is always good to expose you to other areas.

“I don’t read much into this other than that this is just normal business and we don’t comment on day to day administrative business of the President, that is not our job in the National Assembly. What he has done is within the purview of his role as President and just like you don’t expect the President to interfere in the changes in the committees in parliament, so I think it is purely administrative.

“The resolution says he is Acting President and the Acting President says I can run this thing better this way, so I don’t think he has done anything outside the purview of our resolution.”

Anxiety grips Ministry of Justice workers

There was palpable silence at the Ministry of Justice complex located in Maitama, Abuja, yesterday, as members of staff of the Ministry had a few anxious moments, discussing in hush tones, the removal of their embattled former boss, Chief Michael Kaases Aoandoakaa, SAN, who was relieved of his duties as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, by Acting President Dr.Goodluck Jonathan.

Aoandoakaa who left his office to attend the Federal Executive Council, FEC, regular Wednesday meetings at the Presidential Villa, had scheduled to hold a closed door meeting with the judicial workers upon return, in an attempt to dissuade them from embarking on an indefinite strike action which they had threatened to commence yesterday.

His plans were, however, shattered by Acting President Jonathan, who appointed former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Prince Adetokumbo Kayode, SAN, to take over the reins of leadership at the Ministry of Justice forthwith.

Upon hearing the news of the removal of their former boss, the workers gathered in small groups to discuss the new turn of events. One of the workers told his colleagues: “I know Oga, he will surely resign from this appointment because I don’t think he will like to act as the Minister of Special Duties after holding sway in Nigerian politics for such a long time. What will he be doing there? This is like being relegated to obscurity.”
Meantime, batches of fierce looking mobile policemen had as early as 9.00 a.m, yesterday, fenced-off the perimeters of the Ministry of Justice Complex, where they subjected everything that was taken out of the complex to intense scrutiny.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/front-page-news/1138-at-last-jonathan-is-acting-president-says-im-humbled-by-this-call-to-duty-how-senate-reps-made-him-acting-president-pdp-leaders-failed-to-scuttle-senates-motion.html
At last, Jonathan is Acting President! •Says, I’m humbled by this call to duty •How Senate, Reps made him Acting President •PDP leaders failed to scuttle Senate’s motion

Written by Okey Muogbo, Taiwo Adisa, Ayodele Adesanmi, Idowu Samuel, Bola Badmus, and Leon Usigbe, Abuja

VICE-PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday, accepted the resolution of the National Assembly empowering him as the acting president, saying “I am deeply humbled and honoured by this great call to duty.” In a national broadcast to the nation on Tuesday night

, Acting President Jonathan described the circumstances

of his assuming duty as uncommon, sober and reflective.





He noted that the leadership and members of the National Assembly had shown great courage, statesmanship and patriotism in following the extant provision of the 1999 Constitution to arrive at the decision.

According to Dr. Jonathan, “I am fully aware of the responsibilities reposed in me and I want to assure all Nigerians that this is a sacred trust which I shall discharge to my fullest abilities.’’

He commended all the other political actors and national leaders, particularly the former Heads of State, elder statesmen, governors of the 36 states and other leaders of political groups, civil society organisations, the media, and, indeed, all Nigerians, for their invaluable contributions and counsel.

Dr. Jonathan’s acceptance speech came a few hours after the National Assembly passed a resolution empowering him as acting president.

How the National Assembly made him Acting President
Members of the National Assembly, on Tuesday, finally succumbed to the pressure of public opinion as they unanimously supported motions which sought to empower Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as acting president, in view of the prolonged absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua over his health challenges.

The lawmakers in the upper legislative chamber also passed a resolution that Acting President Jonathan “shall cease to act as president” when Yar’Adua arrives from his medical vacation in Saudi Arabia.

With the resolutions from both chambers, Dr. Jonathan will now be addressed as Acting President and Commmander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, pending the return of Yar’Adua and a letter to the effect that he (Yar’Adua) has concluded his medical vacation.

The Senate motion, which was passed at exactly 12 noon, on Tuesday, was unanimous, as senators resolved not to allow too many contributions on the motion. It was clear that the senators had made up their minds as they chorused repeatedly that the Senate president should proceed to the prayers contained in the motion.

The senators said that in view of the absence of President Yar’Adua from the country and following his failure to transmit a letter to the National Assembly in line with Section145 of the Constitution, the lawmakers resolved to confirm the vice-president as acting president pending the return of the president.

The passage was preceded by a closed session of the Senate which lasted about 51 minutes.

Sources at the closed session said that the senators resolved to allign their interests and forge ahead as a united entity in the interest of Nigeria’s democracy.

It was gathered that the Senate leadership had, on Monday night, concluded on the necessity of the passage of the motion, but that there arose the need to merge the planned resolution prepared by the leadership with that of the members of the National Interest Group (NIG), who championed the need to pass a resolution seeking the transmission of vacation letter by the ailing President Yar’Adua on January 27.

The closed session was said to have resolved things in favour of the motion presented by the Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin.

As soon as the sitting was thrown open, the Senate president recognised the Senate leader to read the orders of the day.

But Folarin immediately raised a point of order, raising orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Rules 2007 as amended.

“Things being as they are now, the next question is, what then is the solution to the national crisis of leadership compelled by the long and uncontrolled absence of the president?

“Again, we must turn to the constitution. The president has taken oath to uphold the constitution. The constitution says we must have a president in office. If now we have no president or we know not where the president is, then the constitution is violated, contrary to the oath of office of the president. Thus, a gross misconduct is established, not from his illness, but from the illness of Nigeria brought on her by the president.

“The act of abandonment of the nation without a head becomes gross misconduct, an impeachable act. Senate can summon those in charge of the President and give them the serious option or face the consequence.

“The president should transmit his absence by written declaration of vacation to the President of Senate and Speaker of House of Representatives as provided under Section 145 of the Constitution or face impeachment. Alternatively, if the president is so ill as to be unable to cognitively act, the Executive Council of the Federation should be invited to adopt the permanent incapacity resolution of Section 144 or leave the National Assembly no choice but to follow the impeachment road which may ultimately erode their offices.

“The third and final alternative is to wait until the tenure of the president expires, in which case he ceases to hold office by the force of the constitution.

“In short, the present situation cannot be resolved by pretentions of the courts or of the National Assembly but only by placing the nation first and above the president. The situation requires firm and bold faculty. Where this is absent, it will be better for the National Assembly to blow in the interim a muted trumpet until the present tenure of the president and his government expires instead of mere play-acting under the constitution.

Finally and ultimately, the people need the constitution made out of their experiences. It is when they have one that the constitution will conjure and command the type of reverence that will enable the president and those around him to respect the nation and people instead of holding them to ransom.”

Mallam Yusuf Ola-olu Ali (SAN) has said that the doctrine of necessity, which was the basis which the Senate passed a resolution on Tuesday that Vice-President Jonathan should assume the office of the acting president, is constitutional.

Mallam Ali said this in a telephone intervivew with the Nigerian Tribune. He said considering the provision of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which provides that whenever the president transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding an vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such functions shall be discharged by the vice-president as acting president.

He said the absence of the president had created a vacuum and it was important to fulfil that section of the constitution, adding that since the National Assembly was a creation under the law, its resolution was according to law.

Ali said: “If for instance, a law said that you should use your left hand and the left hand is incapacitated and cannot be used, to use the right would not be out of law since the law did not say you should not use it.” He said there was an urgent matter that had to do with the current state of the nation, as it related to the absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua from the country.

The Senate President immediately asked whether the senators were prepared to listen to the point of order. The Senators immediately responded with a thunderous ‘aye’.

Folarin then proceeded to read the prepared motion, which had two prayers. One of the prayers asked Vice-President Jonathan to assume office as Acting President and the second leg of the motion indicated that the vice-president shall cease to perform the duties of the president when the president transmits a letter in writing that he has resumed from his medical vacation.

But before Folarin’s motion was seconded, Senator Garba Lado (PDP, Katsina) raised a point of order and read Section 145 of the constitution.

He said that the Senate lacked the power to make Vice-President Jonathan acting president.

The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, however, ruled him out of order and paved the way for the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, to second Folarin’s motion.

The motion presented by Senator Folarin and seconded by Senator Ike Ekweremadu read:

“The Senate notes that the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation, His Excellency, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, GCFR, left Nigeria for a medical attention in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the 23rd November 2009.

“Notes that the entire country, particularly the Senate, prayed for his quick recovery and expected his early return from the said medical vacation.

“Notes that on the 12th of January 2010, His Excellency, President Umaru Yar’Adua, GCFR, transmitted to the whole world through the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), a declaration that he is receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia and consequently will be unable to discharge the functions of his office until his doctors certify him fit to return to Nigeria to assume his duties.

“Notes that the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives read the President’s declaration transmitted through the BBC and further published in several print media.

“Satisfied that, in the interest of our nation, Section 145 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 has been complied with by the said declaration.

“Do hereby resolve as follows:
1. That the Vice-President, His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCON, shall henceforth discharge the functions of the office of the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the federation as Acting President.

2. That the Vice-President shall cease to discharge the functions of the office of the President when the President when the President pursuant to Section 145 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in writing that he has returned from his medical vacation.”

When the Senate President put the question, it was unanimously agreed to and Mark then proceeded to read a prepared speech to justify the passage of the motion.

Mark said that the senators had decided to stabilise the polity through the motion.

He said that the president’s prolonged absence had bred anxiety and tension in the polity since his departure to Saudi Arabia on November 23, 2009.

He said that the Senate has remained guided by patriotism, wisdom and national interest, adding that in search of solutions, the Senate had moved the motion to ascertain the health status of Mr. President, invited the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, to brief it.

He further stated: “In furtherance of this and consequent upon the information provided by the SGF, the Senate urged Mr. President to notify the National Assembly of his medical vacation in compliance with the provisions of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.

“We further resolved that the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution should undertake a critical review of Section 145 of the Constitution in view of the present unforeseen circumstances and urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the speedy recovery of our dear President.”

He said further that the Senate has shunned legalese to adopt the principle of necessity.

“ Today is indeed a historic day for constitutional development in our country. The wisdom, patience, endurance, tenacity and understanding of the Nigerian people have strengthened us to attain this milestone and to resolve a seemingly intractable political and constitutional conundrum. We salute the patriotism and unalloyed support of the Nigerian people, even as we pray for the quick recovery and return of Mr. President.”

Mark further said: “My distinguished colleagues and bosses, shorn of legalese and technicalities, the intendment and spirit of the Constitution, as far as Section 145 is concerned, is that the legislature should have foolproof and irrefutable evidence that the Mr. President is going on vacation, or is otherwise incapable, in the interim, of discharging the functions of his office.

“A rigid and inflexible interpretation will not only stifle the spirit and intendment of the Constitution, but will also affront the doctrine of necessity. The doctrine of necessity requires that we do what is necessary when faced with a situation that was not contemplated by the Constitution. And that is precisely what we have done today. In doing so, we have as well maintained the sanctity of our Constitution as the ultimate law of the land.

“Viewed from an ordinary reading of section 145, we came to the conclusion that the President, through his declaration transmitted worldwide on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), has furnished this parliament with irrefutable proof that he is on medical vacation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and has therefore complied with the provisions of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.

“For the avoidance of doubt, let me re-emphasise the import of prayer number two (2) of our resolution. The President will automatically resume office as President and Commander-in-Chief once he is well enough and returns to the country and informs us accordingly, pursuant to section 145.”

Also, the House of Representatives rose from its Tuesday plenary session which was almost marred by chaotic scenes, conferring on Vice-President Jonathan a full power to act as the president of Nigeria pending the arrival of President Yar’Adua from Saudi Arabia where he has been since the past 82 days in search of improved health.

The Speaker, Honourable Dimeji Bankole, while receiving 36 state governors who paid him a visit after the plenary session said the House by its Tuesday’s decision had “bowed to the wish of Nigerian people.”

Bankole said the Reps resolved to employ political solution to the problem of leadership vacuum in the country, being mindful of the conflicting position of groups and individuals on appropriate solution to apply.

Members had to force the leadership to take the resolution granting Jonathan full presidential power, having defeated an initial attempt by loyalists of the president who were insisting that the vice-president should only be acting without a legal backing.

Before the plenary commenced, a motion meant to make the vice-president act only in an “executive capacity” had been prepared and meant to be presented for adoption, whereas members who sensed a fast play through such a motion kicked against it, thus throwing the session into chaos.

Within an hour, the House had held closed door session, the first of its kind since the past 10 years, just to find a common ground for members to resolve their differences, an opportunity that was fully exploited by the pro-Jonathan members.

It was after the closed door session that the Bankole asked the House Leader, Honourable Tunde Akogun, to read the resolution which enjoyed massive support by members.

The resolution read: “That for peace, order and good government of the federation and consistent with the judgments of the courts, Vice-President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCON, shall act and assume full presidential powers as acting president, pending the return of the president, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, to office.”

Before arriving at the conclusion, the leadership had to deploy its chairman of Rules and Business Committee, Honour-able Ita Enang, to obtain information on the Senate proceeding on the same issue.

By implication, therefore, the Senate’s position propelled the House to eventually resolve to align by redrafting its resolution to favour the take over of government by the vice-president in acting capacity.

A week earlier, the House leadership had demonstrated support for President Yar’Adua when the Speaker, Honourable Bankole, discouraged a motion calling on the president to sent a vacation letter to the National Assembly for the vice-president to take over.

Also at the National Assembly was the Kwara State governor, Dr Bukola Saraki, who led other state governors on a visit to the Speaker.

He congratulated the House of Representatives on the resolution it took to end the brewing political crisis in Nigeria.

Saraki, who declared support for the legislature on the resolution, recalled that governors had met at the weekend and resolved to urge members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to accord the vice-president full support as he took charge of national affairs with full presidential power.

Addressing the media after the parley with Representatives, the Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam, said “what we came for is to give solidarity to the National Assembly and I am happy that it has risen up to save the situation. Our democracy is no longer nascent.”

Opposition mounts against Jonathan
Kano politican, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, is heading a new group which includes former Minister of Justice, Alhaji Bashir Dal-hatu; former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Paschal Bafyau and Senator Paul Ukpo, seeking to prevent the confirmation of Vice-President Jonathan as acting president.

The group, Forum for the Defence of Democracy and Rule of Law (FORDRUL), was of the view that there was no need to hand over power to Jonathan as acting president, since, in its view, the constitution of Nigeria was still functioning.

While addressing a press conference in Abuja, on Tuesday, the group stated its opposition to what it said was the “emerging threats of veiled attempts to cripple our hard-earned nascent democracy.”

The group also condemned the recent pronouncement of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) demanding for the transfer of executive powers to the vice-president.

It noted that though the association had the right to its opinion, it could not “arrogate to itself, the sole authority to dictate how a democratically-elected government in Nigeria must operate.”

PDP leaders failed to scuttle Senate’s motion
Facts emerged, on Tuesday, that the leadership of the PDP moved to scuttle the motion passed by the Senate, which empowered Vice-President Jonathan as acting president.
It was gathered that the leadership of the party sent words to a meeting of the Senate leadership on Monday evening and insisted that the Senate sitting of Tuesday should not debate the issue of acting president.

While the Senate leadership was meeting on the motion, the pressure was said to have started coming from the party leaders, a source said, adding that the Senate leadership was, however, monitoring a meeting of the National Interest Group (NIG), the group of senators who started the agitation to confirm Jonathan as acting president.

It was gathered that the leadership of the party had also reached out to the House of Representatives and assured them that the Senate would not debate the issue of acting president.

But sources said the leadership of the Senate had concluded that it was necessary to debate the issue and that the leadership would first gauge the feelings of the members through a closed session.

At the closed session, it was concluded that the motion should go ahead in view of the overwhelming sentiment on the floor.

Sources in the House of Representatives, however, indicated that the leadership of the House was stampeded to agree to the debate after Honourable Dino Melaye had caused a lot of discomfort with continuous calls for the motion on acting president.

The House had to go into closed sessions twice, following the insistence of some members that the motion on acting president must be taken.

What the senators say
Some senators, on Tuesday, reacted to the resolution as passed by the Senate.

In his reaction, Senator Dahiru Kuta, Vice Chairman of the Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes Committee, described the resolution as a “triumph for the constitution and a triumph for the rule of law.”

Also, Senator Enyin-naya Abaribe said it was the best way to get out of a bad situation and it went to show that our democracy was maturing.

Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, while reacting to the resolution, said “if anybody is saying that there was no vacuum, that person doesn’t know what he’s saying. If there’s no power vacuum, what about the post-amnesty programme?

“If there was no power vacuum, why did they take the 2009 Supplementary Appropriation Bill across the shores of Nigeria to give to Mr President to sign?

“Please, don’t confuse executive powers with presidential powers. All presidential powers are executive powers but not all executive powers are presidential powers. Executive powers is delegative but presidential powers cannot be delegated.”

Senator Ayo Arise said Nigerians sent us here to resolve thorny issues like this, adding that the Senate decided to take the bull by the horn.

“We asked ourselves how the Americans solved similar situations when they were confronted with a situation not envisaged by the constitution.

“For example, they never anticipated that their president could die in office initially but it happened,” he said.

Senator Odion Ugbesia said “it is a good day for democracy as far as it can lead to the resolution of the political situation. It is a political situation that should diffuse the tension in the land. We have to support the motion and act in the interest of the nation.”

What S/South govs say
The South-South governors have commended the resolution of the National Assembly asking Vice-President Jonathan to assume full powers of the president on acting capacity.

The governors said the move had created stability in the country.

Speaking during a visit to Jonathan on Tuesday, Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta; Liyel Imoke of Cross Rivers and Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa said whatever might have been said about the procedure of transfer of power, it had taken care of exigency that had arisen.

truely hilarious, Salu u 2 much, kesekese ni won ti ri, kasakasa baba kesekese nbo lonaa, i mean u try men , see aiyez ole video, 6fit below, u try

I wonder who call this guy to Bar in the 1st instance, i wonder

@ Beaf, Yesssssooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

pls lets appreciate his courage and stop abusing our selves

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/02/09/an-appeal-to-mend/
An appeal to MEND
National News Feb 9, 2010

LAST November, barely a month after the Federal Government rounded off its amnesty programme, complaints began about the programme.

“We are tired of attending these meetings. The way and manner we have been attending meetings, I am aware that from 2007 till date, we have exhausted whatever is needed to be said and we are beginning to wonder why we accepted having this meeting,” said Dr. Chris Ekiyor, President of the Ijaw Youth Council.

“Thirty days after our people surrendered our arms we have not seen any progress. We are tired of having these meetings. Today you call this group, tomorrow you call another group and nothing is being said.”

His complaints are not much different from the same reasons that the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, gave when it called off its ceasefire on January 30. MEND had stopped fighting against government forces and sabotaging oil installations since last October 25. In an elaborate statement, MEND complained about the slow pace of development of the Niger Delta and government’s interest that rests more in securing enough oil and gas resources to keep the economy humming.

Impatience of the leaders of the Niger Delta is understandable. The amnesty programme has not translated to the fast development programme of their dreams. Complaints but the speed of the development abound. Government can definitely do more for the region.

There can be explanations for these, among them the absence of the President. The amnesty was concluded four months ago, the President has been away for two of those months. The critical decisions about the Niger Delta could have also suffered from the ailing President.

MEND has, however, raised new issues with derivation and the new definition of oil producing states. MEND objects to the inclusion of states through which pipelines for evacuating crude or refined products as beneficiaries of funds for oil producing communities.

Government since the cessation of sabotage of oil and gas facilities late last year has earned better revenue from oil and gas. MEND had expected the amnesty would have meant that promises made to the oil producing communities would have been met with the improved revenue.

Doubts are creeping in again about the willingness of government to keep its words. MEND does not believe government will. Similar fears have been expressed by other groups that complained about the paucity of allocations to projects in the region.

We appeal to MEND to adopt a peaceful approach to pressing its demands for improvements in infrastructure that would make the Niger Delta more suitable for habitation. The issues MEND raised are tenable, but war cannot be the best way to address them.

MEND should aid a deepening of the gains of the amnesty through collaboration with other groups seeking peaceful solutions to the issues. Another round of hostilities would only set the region further back.

wetin dem wan talk?

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=166011
Obi: Cat With Nine Lives
By Tokunbo Adedoja, 02.08.2010

Until 2003, little or nothing was known about Mr Peter Obi in the nation’s political circles. He emerged on the nation’s political scene after the 2003 governorship election in Anambra State. In that election he was the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Though, he was widely believed to have won the election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Dr. Chris Ngige of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner. It took him almost three years of litigations, threading through all levels of courts, to upturn that declaration. On March 15, 2006, the Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling, sacked Ngige and declared Obi the winner of the 2003 election. He was sworn in two days later.

He had barely settled down when it dawned on him that, though, he may have won a judicial victory, he had just started a political battle. The state House of Assembly was firmly in the hand of the PDP. Eight months later, the import of that arrangement in the legislature was felt as Obi was impeached on November 2, 2006 by the PDP-controlled Assembly and replaced with his deputy, Dame Virginia Etiaba. Again, Obi began another round of judicial battle which ended with the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Enugu, that voided his impeachment on the basis of non-compliance with constitutional stipulations on impeachment by the Assembly. He was returned to office on February 9, 2007.

But that was not the end of his political and judicial battles. The duration of his tenure was soon brought to the front-burner of national discourse. While the PDP, INEC and governorship aspirants on the platform of other political parties claimed that his abridged tenure would end in May 2007 when new leadership would be sworn in at the state and federal levels, Obi, insisted that he had a four-year tenure and must run its full course.

Sure of his conviction, he again sought refuge in the court. Worried that the 2007 election was fast approaching, Obi filed a suit at the Supreme Court seeking to stop INEC from conducting election in Anambra in 2007 and a declaration that his tenure would end in 2010. But the apex court threw out the suit on the ground that it could not be the court of first instance in that case. Obi had to begin his litigation from the High Court at a time the election he was seeking to stop was just within a hauling distance.

While his litigation was on, Mr Andy Uba (PDP), a former presidential aide, was elected governor and assumed office on May 29, 2007, thus terminating Obi’s tenure. With renewed vigour, he continued with the pursuit of his case and on June 14, 2007, the Supreme Court, in another landmark judgment declared Uba’s election a nullity and upheld Obi’s contention that his four-year tenure started from February 17, 2006 when he took oath of office.

Not long after his judicial victory, he was back in the trench battling to secure his political platform-APGA. Two factions had emerged in the party. One headed by Chief Chekwas Okorie, the founder of the party, and the other led by Chief Victor Umeh, who was the national treasurer. Obi pitched his tent with the Umeh faction which also had the backing of former Biafran Leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. But surprisingly, INEC, under the leadership of Prof. Maurice Iwu glaringly took sides with the Okorie faction, even in spite of the fact that he had been expelled from the party and his expulsion, endorsed by the courts.

In the build up to last Saturday’s election, Obi’s political battles became intense as INEC gave the party’s governorship nomination forms to the Okorie faction, a development, which would have put an end to his aspiration on the platform of APGA. It however took another court pronouncement for INEC to officially recognise Umeh’s leadership, thus paving the way for Obi’s participation in the election. He came first in that poll.

With a tenure which had been abridged twice and his re-election, in last Saturday’s poll that had been adjudged free and fair, and violence-free in spite of all odds, Obi has proved that he is a cat with nine lives.

Born on July 19, 1961, Obi, who hails from Agulu in Anaocha Local Government Area, attended Christ the King College, Onitsha where he completed his secondary school education. He holds a B.A. (Hons) degree in Philosophy. Surely, when the story of electoral development of the nation would be told, Obi’s contributions, through the dogged pursuit of his political rights using the courts, which led to various landmark judicial rulings that had helped to strengthen the nation’s democracy and improved her jurispudence, would occupy a chapter.

RoadStar:
Peter Obi wins

Doesn't surprise me, a state where a moronic, imbecilic coward like Ojukwu is celebrated.

It means they are happy with the status-quo in the state.

Well they will remain a backward Igbo state for the foreseable future.

RUBBISH !

why the hatred for Ojukwu, what about Awolowo?

i think all should know that no matter what power must change hand

weather u like am or u no like after election!!!

Obi don win,

i wished either Ngige or Obi but it goes to Obi, Congrat Peter Obi

pls let us know wetin dey happen for anambra state

@ All note that issue of juju was formally discussed and issue raised were so fierce and burning, which lead to blocking of the thread before it was reopen, please lets talk about Anambra Election not Juju,

please update us on the Election,

@ Topic, This is the first time since joining the P.D.P train that Dora will speak the mind of common Nigeria, i think she got my commendation for that action

Hope she will not be another Felicia Etteh?

igbo extraction of Anambra,  note this that any body with PDP blood stream will surely Bleep up,  cee Dora Akuyilli

am not to talk about faith now, but tribal diff. i lived and grow to discover that am not a yoruba boy neither igbo or hausa coz i was and still discriminated against. just live with what u have i am a minority with men but with God am a majority coz he lives iin me,


life is God with CHRIST,

Born Again today, my brothers and Sister, born again

Ekiti tribunal: Oni drilled for 4 hours
…As he closes defence
From BOLU-OLU ESHO, Ado-Ekiti
Thurday, January 21, 2010
• Oni


The sitting of the Election Petitions tribunal in Ado-Ekiti was took place in a tense atmosphere as Governor Segun Oni, the first respondent in the case filed by the governorship candidate of Action Congress (AC), Dr. Kayode Fayemi, challenging the results of the April 25, 2009 and May 5, 2009 rerun election in Ekiti State entered the dock, yesterday.

Dr. Fayemi had challenged the declaration of Engr. Oni as the winner of the rerun election in the 10 out of the 16 local governments in the state by the National Electoral Commission (INEC), praying that he should be declared the winner.

Governor Oni was invited to the dock around 9:45am to be cross-examined by the attorneys to (AC) and Dr. Fayemi immediately after the Chairman of Oye Local Government Area, Mr.Babatunde Ogunmilugba had been crossed-examined.

Wearing white flowing agbada regalia with a lilac cap, Oni was accompanied into the court by his deputy, Dr. Sikiru Lawal, the former acting Governor, who is the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Tunji Odeyemi and other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains.
The governor, who denied Fayemi’s allegations that he (Oni) collaborated with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to manipulate the results of the elections, adding that; “in truth, Dr. Kayode Fayemi lost the election.”

During cross examination by Chief Anthony Adeniyi, counsel to the petitioners on where he went after casting his vote on April 25, 2009, Governor Oni told the tribunal that; “I went straight to my hotel room at Celiat Hotel after casting my vote at Unit 006, Town-Hall, Ogbonyin, Ifaki Ekiti.”
When Adeniyi pointed to the duplicate of exhibit 116 (INEC Form EC8A for Unit 006) as being blank, the governor quickly retorted; “I want to crave your indulgence, My Lords. This is a discipline I had spent two decades on, I mean in the area of documents. Most especially carbon-copies. As carbon-copies multiply, the first would be less clear, the second would also be less clear. The weight of the pressure of the pen will determine how the duplicate will be. If there is no alteration and there is a duplicate, and it is not clear, so long as it is not altered, you can confirm from the original.

“As far as duplication is concern, it will continue to be fainter and fainter.”
Adeniyi also said to Oni that; “Take a look at exhibit 116, the column designed for the signature of the Presiding officer is not there,” the governor replied; “Do I need to also show him (Adeniyi) that there are some traces of ink here, which means there is an impression on the duplicate. And this also means that it was signed.”
Governor Oni also said that having realised the overwhelming support he enjoys from the people of Ido-Osi Local Government, the AC had planned to discredit the elections in the Local Government long before the election was held.

The governor noted that AC’s sinister plot eventually resulted in the destruction of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Ido-Osi Local Government on April 25, 2009 by agents of the party in order to forestall the collation of results from the Ward Collation Centres.

Describing Fayemi as a first timer in the State’s politics, Governor Oni, who dwelled on the ‘Home boy Advantage’ said “Before I contested the elections, I was for successive years personally responsible for the provision of free JAMB forms and free coaching classes for eligible candidates in the entire Ekiti State as well as the provision of scholarships for all eligible indigenes of the State.

Addressing the court after Oni left the witness box at 12:20pm, Chief Adenipekun announced the closure of the case of the first respondent, Oni. The report of nongovernmental Election Monitoring Group was however, admitted by the court as one of the evidence presented by the first respondent after the attorney to the first respondent, who presented the document had earlier objected to its admissibility.

However, the court adjourned to Friday for PDP to open its case before the tribunal. The date was agreed upon after the court turned down the request of the second respondent’s attorney, Paul Erokoro seeking for Monday to open case. He noted he would invite 48 witnesses and also subpoena some people as well while the case begins.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/jan/21/national-21-01-2010-20.htm

Yar’Adua’s worse condition stalls Turai’s return - More family members relocate to Saudi Arabia - Northern traditional rulers, politicians set up committee on president’s health - May extract commitment from Jonathan

From Tinu Ayanniyi and Taiwo Adisa - 14.12.2009

FIRST Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, had to change her plan to travel home from Saudi Arabia at the weekend, when the state of her husband’s health took a turn for the worse.

Turai, who had engineered the return of many of the close aides of the president, who initially accompanied them on the Saudi trip, was billed to return to Nigeria last Saturday.

Sources indicated that when the health of her husband, President Umaru Yar’Adua, improved earlier last week, the decision was taken for her to embark on the trip to Nigeria to fine-tune the wedding plans of her daughter, Aisha, to the wealthy Sokoto businessman, Alhaji Tukur Abubakar (Rahamanniya).

But things changed by midweek, when the president’s condition relapsed and by Thursday, it could not be categorically said that the first lady would embark on the trip.

Sources said that the uncertainty made the Presidency to place its officials on 24-hour alert up till Saturday morning but that the health situation could not really guarantee the trip home.

Sources had said that the president’s family was planning to go ahead with the wedding plans, in spite of the health condition of Yar’Adua. The plan, according to sources, is to ensure the wedding plans are not stalled because of the president’s state of health.

But the wedding originally fixed for late January may have to be shifted, following the relocation of most members of the president’s immediate family to Saudi Arabia at the weekend.

Also on Sunday, the president of the Senate, Mr. David Mark, renewed his call on Nigerians to pray for the health of the president. Mark, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Paul Mumeh, said that in spite of the anxious moments in the country, Nigerians should stay steadfast and pray for their leader.

The statement quoted Mark as speaking at this year’s thanksgiving service of the St. Mulumba’s Chaplaincy, Apo Legislative Quarters in Abuja. He said: “We are in difficult times in the life and history of our country. We should all continue to pray for the quick recovery of the president for him to return and continue the governance of our nation.

“Tongues are wagging, comments from both sides and across the divide. But whichever position one holds, we must remember that we are all created by God and none of us can claim to have the power to make or unmake another.

“Times like this call for sober reflection; we must pause and ponder on the positive way forward. Above all, we should be rational in our behaviour and utterances; we must remain our brother’s keeper.”

He also stated that inspite of the challenges, Nigerians had every reason to thank God and renew faith in the Almighty. The statement also quoted Reverend Father Paul Zion as saying in a homily that Nigerians must put hope in God.

The clergyman was quoted as saying: “Thanksgiving is the only time when we pay back what God has done or given to us all through the year.

Meanwhile, top traditional rulers and politicians from the North met in Abuja, last week, to discuss the state of health of President Yar'Adua. The well-attended meeting, it was learnt, raised a contact committee that will find out the exact state of health of the president so as to determine the next step to be taken by the region.

The meeting, it was learnt, resolved that the committee should find out if President Yar'Adua could continue till 2011 and if he could, would be backed by the region to do so.

The North, it was however learnt from deliberations at the meeting, would not back him for another term of four years. The rulers and elders, it was gathered, noted that if the contact committee's report said the president's state of health could not carry him till 2011, the meeting would prevail on him to resign and hand over to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to complete his term.

They are, however, poised to extract a commitment from the vice-president that he would only complete Yar'Adua's tenure and not become a candidate in 2011. The meeting, it was reliably gathered, said it would not accept any candidate presented by the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for the 2011 presidential election.

They are of the belief that it was the former president that brought the North to this sorry pass. Meanwhile, it was learnt that they decided that they would shop for their 2011 presidential candidate themselves and Chief Obasanjo would not be allowed to have any imput because he already caused the problem they are facing at the moment.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/14122009/news/news1.html

Tinubu, Fashola rift: AC Chairman, Akande, blames fifth columnists
By Tunde Abatan, Sunny Igboanugo and Akinwunmi King, Lagos

• Assembly’s grouse against governor


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Fifth columnists are to blame for the rift between Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, and his predecessor, Bola Tinubu, Action Congress (AC) National Chairman, Bisi Akande, fired back on Wednesday.

He was reacting to the story published in Daily Independent that the relationship between the two men has deteriorated in recent times as a result of what a source described as the “over bearing attitude of Tinubu.”

It was learnt that things got so bad that plans have reportedly been concluded by the Lagos AC, headed by Tinubu, to field another candidate for the Governorship ballot in 2011.

However, Akande argued in Lagos on Wednesday that mischief makers in and outside the camps of Fashola and Tinubu use the media to create the impression of a feud between them.

While playing down the import of the rift, Akande, himself former Osun State Governor, said the fifth columnists want to distract attention from the incapacity of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

“By yesterday (Tuesday) when the news of the feud was being carried about in the press,” he noted, “the two men were at a meeting at the Bourdilon Road residence of (Tinubu), and by the evening Tinubu also had dinner with Fashola at his Marina official residence.

“If there is a serious feud between the duo as being speculated it would not have been resolved to the extent that they would eat together from the same plate, on the same day when news of their disagreement broke.

“If the feud is as serious as being bandied about, it wouldn’t have been easily resolved the day it broke in the media.”

Akande reiterated that while it is normal to have disputes between the executive and the legislature in a democracy, such are not limited to the AC or any other party.

“If the legislature is complaining about something the executive has done there is no big deal in it, and there is nothing to intervene about, as they have resolved the issue between themselves.

“This is what democracy is all about; it is not about agreeing on several issues all the time.”

He insisted that there is nothing to intervene about, because “the report of the fight is a non issue. There could be arguments and disagreements here and there on an issue but I can assure you that it is the work of the fifth columnists who want to divide (Fashola) and (Tinubu) and to use the media to achieve their goal.”

However, another source said AC elders have been meeting over the sudden turn of events between both men, and are making efforts to resolve the dispute.

“Neither of them needs the crisis now and we are making efforts to nib it in the bud. We cannot afford to allow them to fight, as doing so would undermine the interest of the party, and the state in particular,” the source added.

Tinubu loyalists in the Lagos legislature were said to have earlier in the week compiled signatures to begin the impeachment process of Fashola over his refusal to dance to the tune of their godfather.

On Tuesday, both Assembly Majority Leader, Taiwo Kolawole, and Information, Security and Strategy Committee Chairman, Ipoola Omisore, flatly denied plans to impeach Fashola.

But more disclosures by other sources show that all is not well between him and the legislature.

A source in the AC recounted that it was Sikiru Osinowo from Kosofe Constituency who mooted Fashola’s impeachment at a recent Parliamentary caucus meeting.

When Fashola presented the 2010 budget to the Assembly on November 17, Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji had warned him in a speech not to get carried away by those who sing his praises.

Sources close to Tinubu said Ikuforiji delivered the speech at the behest of Tinubu.

Ikuforiji is said to be angling for Governor, and Tinubu is reportedly ready to hand pick him or Environment Commissioner, Muiz Banire, for the post, as he did Fashola in 2007, who was then his Chief of Staff.

However, Ikuforiji has rejected suggestion that he had targeted Fashola.

His words: “This is my government, a government I laboured for, and if you remember, four years ago, there was an assassination attempt on my life just because I refused to impeach Tinubu when he was Governor.

“If I had impeached him then, we would not have had Fashola today.

“So, it can be traced back that I have put my own life on the line for this government. If I had done that, why would I want the government to fail?

“We won’t allow those who claim to love us but don’t love Lagosians to hijack our government from us. I can’t allow some people to hijack Fashola from the system that produced him.

“Three years ago, they didn’t see anything good in Fashola, how come it is these people that will now say he is the best and we’ll allow them to get away with murder?

“The speech was not a fight; it was meant to challenge the government so as to be the Centre of Excellence that we are supposed to be. If people are not willing to criticise us, we must be ready to look inward and criticise ourselves.”

Ikuforiji may have denied having a grudge against Fashola, but it was glaring at a retreat recently organised by the Assembly at Eko Resorts in Akodo, Lagos that he and some other lawmakers are not happy with him.

There, Ikuforiji referred to the Self Accounting Law, which Fashola has refused to implement.

The law gives independence to the Assembly in spending money, but Fashola suspects that its implementation would engender financial recklessness by lawmakers.

At the retreat, Ikuforiji recalled that, “last year, (Fashola) refused to implement the Self Accounting Law. We had to ask him why, but the whole world was on our neck that we should let Fashola be.

“A law is a law, whether good or bad. Once a Bill has been passed into law it must be implemented.

“Our budget performance in the state has always been at 70 per cent. I see no reason why we can’t target 100 per cent. This year we won’t allow any budget re-ordering. We must not budget money we can’t realise.”

It is said that part of the lawmakers’ grouses against Fashola is his refusal to allocate free houses to them under a new housing scheme.

“The Lagos State Government has just finished building 70 units of luxury three bedroom flats in Gbagada to be sold at N30 million each to the public. The lawmakers say (Fashola) should allocate 40 units to them free. That is the basis of their impeachment move,” a source disclosed.

Gbagada is an affluent suburbia in Lagos.

Daily Independent also learnt that Fashola may resshuffle his cabinet soon, in an attempt to weed out some Tinubu loyalists who “send text messages to their benefactor even while the executive meeting is in progress.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2009/nov/22/newsbreak-22-11-2009-001.htm

PDP wanted Ngige dead –Audu Ogbeh
From Kenny Ashaka, Abuja
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Photo: Sun News Publishing

When Audu Ogbeh became the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and consequently an inner member of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government, many Nigerians wondered how he would survive the onslaught of the President. There was a familiar ring to this. The Chairmen before him had left office in controversial circumstances and here was a man who had retired from politics into farming. As people would say then, Obasanjo has brought a “weather beaten” man he can lead by the nose. But they were wrong because subsequent events proved them so.

What Ogbeh’s critics did not realise was that the former Minister of Communications under President Shehu Shagari was following a beaten path. He has always been an odd man out in his crusade for social justice, fairness and harmonious living. These principles countered the inner workings of the Obasanjo regime. “I was party Chairman. I came under pressure to do certain things but I refused, including changing the nomination of people who had won their primaries. I told Mr. President that it’s not feasible. I can name names like Senator Ben Obi, Joy Emordi and Uka Chukwude.

They won their primaries and I was under pressure to change their names when I told the man that it can’t happen. When one of the reporters asked him what would happen if the 2011 polls are not credible; if imposition of candidates predominates party primaries, Ogbeh reclined on his seat. Again, he sat straight, leaned towards the edge of his right hand and began to cut the air. As he gesticulated, his voice rose as he was answering the question. Occasionally, he paused to choose his words.

“I think there will be a great deal of frustration leading to near anarchy. I don’t want to predict doom but quite frankly, I think we must try and hold a free and fair election in 2011. I’m therefore saying to the Assembly people that the matter isn’t as simple as it looks. Let them do everything to do those amendments necessary. Let nobody feel so secured that we can get away with it,” he said.
In this interview, he speaks on a wide range of issues.

How did we get to this sorry pass?
When the structural adjustment began in 1986, I was in Hong Kong. That was when we began the first auction of the naira. The pressure on Nigeria to devalue began when (Shehu) Shagari was in office. (Obafemi) Awolowo then said it was madness to think of devaluing. Shagari refused. (Muhammadu) Buhari too refused. They got hold of IBB (Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida) and his government then and they said we had no choice. So, we began this indirect thing of auctioning the naira. The day it started, I was in Hong Kong with a friend, Chief Godwin Okoye, and I said this is the beginning of Nigeria ’s journey to doom. The economic pressure is turning Nigerians wild.

The only industry is political power. People are grossly overpaid and hopelessly under-used. If you know the salaries of some of these guys, a councillor walks away with N700,000 a month. Then you ask, who invented this fiction? They said it is because they want to attract the best minds. Go to your local government and ask if any new road has been graded in the last five years or a school rebuilt or a market constructed. Some of these local governments receive N70 million and N80 million a month. Where is this money?
As the pressure mounts, the naira is losing value and we are so import-dependent. Everybody is getting desperate and the only guys with the courage to say no are maybe you guys in the media and maybe one or two Nigerians. The rest of us have decided to keep quiet. Where in the world will such bizarre thing happen? Just walk to a school, carry children and behead them? If that doesn’t shock us, then I don’t know. Till now, I have been waiting to read something in the papers about what government will do about this but nothing. All I hear is that in Suleja, many parents have withdrawn their children from schools and schools are closed. They are scared to death. It is very bad.

You are a stakeholder in this country and you should suggest where we should go from here
Quite frankly, sometimes one is so confused and you just ask, is it hopeless? Can we do anything about it? There are those who tell you the situation is perfect and they are in charge. This is why some Nigerians are making rather extreme statements. But you can’t blame them because they have reasons to be extremely troubled. Where would this happen on this planet now that people will park a van in front of a school, wait for children, carry them, take them away and the next thing is the parents find their headless bodies in the bush.

Do you think these things are really political?
They are ritual things. What are they doing with the heads of the children?

Probably for money-making?
Maybe there are those who believe in it. So, they go and do it. But how does a country sleep with this kind of thing happening in our very midst and we want God to bless us?

You have access to the President and you discuss with him…
I have met him only once since he came in and I haven’t tried since then. Maybe one will try. It may take a while to get there but you can. I’m so troubled by this and I just thought I should ask you guys to share my views. I will probably try to talk to him because I find this as a very terrible sign that our country can start going down this way. How many more children are they going to kidnap and kill? Like I said about the kidnapping, the technology is everywhere for monitoring calls. What are we waiting for? We don’t have the money or the matter is not serious enough? Somebody carries you and he says N10 million. What is this?

This thing is actually linked to politics and boils down to the issue of reforms. Do you think reforms will ever bring credible elections?
I don’t even know if there is anybody willing to carry out the necessary reforms. Like I said somewhere, we are cheating at elections so blatantly and we are telling children not to cheat in examinations. What is the difference? It’s the same thing. In the school certificate result this year, we got only 27 per cent pass nationwide. If you discount those who did honestly from those who got people to write for them, you may find that the real figure is well below the 27 per cent. So, all our younger people are learning corruption from us. The only thing in life is cheat as much as you can, buy good cars, live a good life and be in control. It’s all the example we are setting from these elections. Ghana is now more attractive to everybody than Nigeria is. Companies are packing out and going there. We are begging Senegal to refine crude oil for us. Officially begging. Senegalese will take our crude and refine and then bring for us to buy. We like importing.

Where did we get it wrong as a nation?
Over the years and after the first coup; though I’m not saying that the First Republic was perfect. Political victimization was the extent of intolerance for opposition. It has always been there. But over the years, as the military stayed on, we all learnt this strategy of using force to achieve objectives. But the worst one was the moment the economy crashed in 1986 because Jeffrey Sacks, who was the Economic Adviser to Kofi Anan, came here at the Hilton and gave a lecture and Paul Kubmon, the current economic Nobel Prize winner in the U.S., both of them denounced the structural adjustment as the biggest crime against Africa since the slave trade. They crashed our currencies.

Due to the anxiety to survive, some of our sons and daughters are into prostitution and slavery in Mauritania and Mali, trying to cross the desert through Libya to go to Europe. Nigerians are in prisons everywhere in a desperate attempt to make money because life is getting too costly here and the economy really, the only area of growth is in oil and gas. I’m not very sure that the banking sector has added anything to growth in the last three years. The only industry is politics. If you can get in, life is nice. You hang in there and don’t leave. We had a third term agenda here and there are many third terms all over now – Senators and Governors who would like to stay forever if the Constitution doesn’t bar them.

That’s exactly why the Senate wants to review the Constitution so that we can have the people’s Constitution. Do you believe in the present effort to review the Constitution?
There are lots of weaknesses in the Constitution. But how do you manage the review when there are many powerful interests that would rather not have things changed? Ideally, there are those who want to see us as other nations, but there are individuals who would rather have it as it is. Take one issue like the creation of states, which may be another story for you. There are about 40 demands and many more. Forty new states in Nigeria would be a huge joke because we don’t have the resources to sustain them. The cost of governance is too high and the wages are crazy. I must also say that the pressure on the politicians is also high, because people see them as the only guys with the wherewithal. So, state creation may not be feasible. But there is also intensive marginalization in many states where a big ethnic group doesn’t believe that a smaller ethnic group should ever access the governorship. So, one may not be too parochial if you say rotate the governorship in Senatorial Districts. They say no; that it’s not democratic. Which is democratic? Marginalization of a segment or rotating the governorship because that’s where the tension is coming from?

But they will tell you that politics is a game of numbers…
That same ethnic group forgets that no single ethnic group has the numbers to make a President in Nigeria without the support of others. Neither Hausa-Fulani alone nor the Igbo and Yoruba can say that our votes alone will make us President. So, they need everybody and the give and take. But if you go to a state or local government, a large group says no, you don’t qualify because we have the number. It’s part of that African thing in all of us.

Last night I was watching the legislators on TV. What is it about where the budget is read? The House of Reps has more space, so they have always sat there. But the original design of the National Assembly had a neutral chamber that could accommodate the two of them. But then, many people said why waste it because it will only be used three or four times in a year. So, why do you waste such a hall? In the larger chamber, everybody comes, they read the budget and you go back. But it’s now an ego matter. Is that the issue? Is that what concerns Nigerians now? Is that more serious than the abduction of four children and the cutting of their heads or a weaker Naira that you have and the lack of production at home or all the killings and the kidnappings? All the time, it’s getting worse by the day.

I’m an elder now and I have been in this business of politics for over 30 years. Is it getting better? What is it that makes us so trivial in our approach to issues? If I drop dead today, nobody will say I died too young. But, for God’s sake, I have children and grandchildren. All of you are much younger brothers. What future for the economy, power supply, interest rate. I’m trying to build a factory. I can’t get there and I get stuck halfway and the bank gave you small money because they wouldn’t give you enough. So, you can’t create the jobs you want to create for younger people. We have been talking about interest rate and it can’t come down from 24 per cent. So, we can’t generate jobs and there are one hundred and something universities and almost another hundred Colleges of Education with about 60 or 70 polytechnics; sixteen million children in secondary schools. Only one per cent enters the university.
We met once and they asked me to return to the party and I said I’m not coming back. We are in the same country. Let’s do a housing programme for a million apartments per annum so that mortgages can begin to happen. We all came.

We got a good apartment in Utako and they said it’s N10 million and that we have 15 years to pay. You know you are paying towards ownership, not to a shark of a landlord who is asking you N1.5 million. Tomorrow, he says he has doubled it and if you don’t like, you pack. Which young man in London goes looking for a plot? He looks for an apartment. In Germany, France and the U.S., it’s out of date looking for plot. Even the plot now is too difficult to get. You buy your apartment and you have 15 years to pay at maybe 5 per cent interest. They said it was a great idea. We worked it out to create 27 million jobs. I said 200,000 in Lagos, 200,000 in Abuja, 200,000 in Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Onitsha a hundred thousand each. The rest of the place, at least 20,000 and 30,000, including university hostels. Imagine the jobs for those delivering sharp sand, laterite, tipper drivers, quarries, tillers, electricians, architects, painters.

That’s how Singapore grew. Last month, they gave N2 billion to governors to share. On the other hand, if that money had gone into housing, you can imagine the boom. Add that to agric and you would have mopped up all the unemployment and reduced the crime rate. But right now, there is nobody to talk to. There is nobody that I can walk to in the system now and say let’s talk.

Is there something the legislators have not done very well that you expect them to do?
I must be fair to them that they are trying. But they must also keep away from trivial issues, which demean their status, like all these quarrels about who is Chairman. It’s not necessary. Secondly, I think there must be more robust debates on some of the issues. Even if the debate is not necessarily within the legislature, a real debate on education, on housing and even on defense. How come all those weapons came into the Niger Delta and nobody saw them. You have 900 kilometres of coastline. How strong is your Navy to patrol the place? How many warships do they have? How strong is your Airforce? I’m not a military man, but how many planes do they have now? They will tell you this is secret but it’s not because it concerns all of us.

On internal security, the Police are short of equipment. Don’t you know where to get them? England has over 2.2 million cameras monitoring the entire country. One time, they tried to buy cameras in FCT here. Nobody knows whether they were ever bought. The Assembly should question the Executive where these votes are. At the State level, of course the State assemblies have absolutely no control over their governors. The local governments are simply not functioning. Go home and check around in your local government whether anything new is going on? Where is the money? When I was chairman, I summoned all our governors to the Secretariat to ask them what they were doing dabbling with the local government funds. They were so angry with me that they sent a delegation here to protest that I was too harsh on them. Votes are going, but where is the cash? They ought to dig deeper into these things so that the democratic machine can work. If it works, there would be no need for these extreme views about revolution and so on. But people are frustrated and angry and they say maybe that’s the answer. Democracy is wonderful, but we need to get down and question each other.
But the other thing is that the common people, we don’t say anything. Nobody talks now, except the media. You guys write and write. You take all the risks. But the leaders are all quiet because what is the use in talking. That’s what they say.

Do you think we need a revolution in this country?
I don’t wish for it because I don’t like to think of the scenario. This country is a huge dam. If it breaks lose, it will sweep everything. We are too many and it will be fuelled by frustration and hunger.
May it never come! If it comes, many will go who probably are not responsible for the situation. If you are riding a decent car on the street, you are one of them. If you live in a decent house, you are one of them. If you are perceived to be comfortable, you are one of them. The calls are coming out of anger but it’s not something to wish for. We should be able, through dialogue, to correct the system to recognize that things are not good enough. I’m not saying this to help my friends who are in office. They are my friends. I’m not attacking them to say you are bad or good. A few of them will be honest enough to know that what I am saying is real and I’m not alone. If you guys can do opinion polls on the streets, you will hear anger. I’m saying lets find a way of doing it before it gets out of hand. Let’s take this step or the other. These calls are coming because there is no internal democracy even in the political parties.

I don’t want to go back to my time as Chairman when I started seeing these things and trying to raise alarm within the party. But every night, they went to the President and told him lies that Audu is an Atiku man, Audu is living in affluence; he has this and that. They worked very hard and told him that I was an enemy, especially when I told him that the Third Term wasn’t safe for Nigeria . The other tragedy of course is that if you hold a contrary view, then they hack you out because there are no men in this country left.
They are very few. The Idoma people have a name called Acheme, meaning that men are finished. There are too many cowards. Apart from you guys in the media, even the women are more courageous. They will walk up to you, abuse you thoroughly, go and cry and apologize later.

Everybody is hoping to get some benefit for himself. Otherwise, what’s wrong? We used to have stakeholders meetings at the party level where we talk frankly at night. I remember we had one that Na’Abba was so rude to the President that I even had to call Na’Abba to order. But he was blunt. At such gathering, we say Mr. President, the people are angry. There is danger here. Let’s do this. Let’s not do that. At least the message will be there. The Board of Trustees used to meet with the President where we sit down and talk seriously, even though they said stubbornness and arrogance didn’t allow people to listen. I don’t know how it works now. But you said, at all party levels, if you start a party today, there is a big guy who tells you his candidate must be this or must be that. He will say after all, he is funding the party. Some of us, frankly, are even withdrawing. I’m tired of taking the blame.

The Transparency International recently released their result and Nigeria keeps sliding further down.
I think the banking thing really worsened it. Otherwise, I would have thought that now that the EFCC is beginning to prosecute, they would recognize their efforts. That’s not to say that corruption has reduced, but that somebody is addressing it with a certain degree of seriousness. Corruption can’t be cured because the factors, which force corruption on society are increasing. There is hardship and economy is not working. You want to earn a decent living, but all the doorways are closed. So, desperate people will do anything. Once they are in government and they can take what they can for their lifetime and their great-grandchildren, they are okay. In Nigeria too, if you pass through and you don’t do it, later in your family, they will say you are a useless man; they will say ‘you went there and you were speaking grammar when XYZ took plenty for themselves. That’s the other side of it. On the other hand, if this economy were free and we say we are doing a million houses and two of you decide to form a company making doors. You are producing 50,000 doors a year at N25,000; that’s good money. You don’t need to see any governor or Minister because you would be busy. If a governor wants to see you, what is it about because you have a schedule. Your products are in demand; you have distributors waiting and you want your boys to work three shifts.

You don’t have time looking for Senator XYZ or former this and that because you are busy. We are spending over a billion dollars importing tiles every year from Switzerland, Spain and Portugal and Italy. There is clay, there is kaolin and water to make tiles here, make paint and make nails. Imagine the boom. But you can’t do it. You can’t raise a bank loan and the opportunities are just closed. You have no electricity. Greece is a country of nine million people. They have 10 refineries. Abu Dhabi is the capital of United Arab Emirates.

There are 1.5 million people there. They have 11,000 megawatts for 1.5 million people. We are trying to get 6,000 megawatts for 130 million. We are now at the manufacturing levels of 1960 in this country. Go to Ogba and Ikeja in Lagos and see factories that are shut down. Go to the Southeast where the Igbo really wanted to manufacture. Go through there and see carcasses of industries.

Many owners have died.
Then the textile industries in the North are finished. We haven’t any programme for reviving industries here. So, you sit down and wonder what we are leaving behind. I’m over 60. When I go, what do I say to God, that we did a wonderful job or we ruined the country? What else can God do for Nigeria that He hasn’t done?

The international media is saying that this country is a failed nation,
I hope we will all recognize the need to do a very decent election in 2011, including those who are in office now. The danger is that some people in office today just believe that the situation is perfect and that nothing can go wrong. That excessive confidence is dangerous. People shouldn’t feel too secured by believing that everything is perfect. How do we cure ourselves of this desperation for sitting there? There are some people in office today threatening everybody and saying if you run against me, I will kill you. I want to remain there for 30 years. It’s just for them to know that this thing can bring the roof down; how to convince them that we should all try to be open about it. Those who predict doom have their reasons.

I personally will just pray that it doesn’t come because if it does, where will Nigerian refugees flee to? The Camerouns, into Niger or the Republic of Benin? We are too many. In two hours, we will overwhelm these countries. What’s the population of Ghana if you cross Benin and Togo? It’s the population of Lagos alone. So, it’s not good for us. I used to tell legislators that everyone of them should have a second address so that you don’t hang on to this too much. If this isn’t working or you haven’t won your election, you go back to what you were doing. The situation is very frightening and the degree of frustration and economic hardship is the one really bothering everybody because that’s where the real danger lies.

You are an insider and you are with the politicians,
I think there will be a great deal of frustration leading to near anarchy. I don’t want to predict doom but quite frankly, I think we must try and hold a free and fair election in 2011. I’m therefore saying to the Assembly people that the matter isn’t as simple as it looks. Let them do everything to do those amendments necessary. Let nobody feel so secured as to think that we can get away with it. I’m glad about the Senate retreat in Enugu. They are beginning to see the sense in clearing all cases before anybody is sworn in. I don’t see anywhere in the world that two and a half years later, election petitions are still disqualifying and Judges are still tied down by the fate that the political crisis is pumping out. Election can’t be forever in a country. It happens and goes and people, government sit down and face what they have to do. Ours is endless; from one election to the other. Nothing but petitions, court cases and politicians doing their best to corrupt the judiciary. Let me put it this way that the prospects of a bad election in 2011 is scary.

I was going to ask you whether you think that the appointment of the INEC Chairman by the President is proper, considering the proposal by the Uwais panel.
In many other countries, the INEC Chairman is appointed by the President. In some places like Bangladesh and some parts of Southeast Asia , they have a structure like the one recommended by the Uwais panel. The big question is: where are the men in this country? If the President makes you INEC Chairman, tell him, Mr. President, I will do the job well or I will quit. If he wouldn’t let you do your job, you leave. But there are too many men in this country that would say how could I argue with him. He appointed me. There is too much at stake at a personal level. What of the one in Ghana? He’s still there since 1992. Nobody is quarrelling with him. Why don’t any Nigerian say no to the person who appointed him? Why are we so peculiar as a people? That’s the problem.
If you get there, you must please the man in whatever he does. He put you there and you are making money. Since we can’t trust the ones named by the President, we must do what Uwais said so that we can say Mr. INEC Chairman, if you don’t do this job well, don’t tell us that they called you from the Villa or they did this and that. I was party Chairman.

I came under pressure to do certain things but I refused, including changing the nomination of people who had won their primaries. I told Mr. President that it was not feasible. I can name names like Senator Ben Obi, Joy Emordi and Uka Chukwude. They won their primaries and I was under pressure to change their names but I told the man that it couldn’t happen. I can’t deputize for the constituency in Anambra.

I was in no position to replace them. I said Mr. President, I sent people there, they conducted the primaries and everything was okay. Nobody protested. My style then was that if there was a process, bring all the parties together and let’s hear them out. Somehow, Obasanjo didn’t like Ben Obi and he said I should replace him but I said no. I went to the Working Committee and said gentlemen, if you insist, you have my resignation. I can’t do it. If you win your primary, even if you were a small teacher in the village and the people say we like him to represent us, what right do I have before God and man to sit here and change it? I can’t and I shouldn’t. A guy loses an election, they phone you up and say declare results immediately. They go upstairs and do a Press Conference. You are a husband and you will go to your house and tell your wife that the soup is not nice whereas another man is sitting on your head.

You think the President took it in good faith?
Of course he didn’t. What followed thereafter were crises until the terminal end of this matter.

On a lighter note because you are being too serious now, I want you to reflect on the day the President came to your house to eat pounded yam.
You mean the day we ate Egusi and bush meat cooked by my dear wife? When we left the place, I think he was like let’s go and settle this matter. But then, there were the hawks – the Bode Georges, the Anenihs and the others who said you must remove him. He’s very arrogant. Who is he? He caved in. He said I’m sorry I can’t work with you anymore. I said no problem. You will have my resignation in 30 minutes. I don’t like hanging on to this job because it’s nothing. I wasn’t born a PDP Chairman. I knew I wasn’t going to die a PDP Chairman.

Did you submit your resignation while you were eating the pounded yam?
It was the second night after the Thursday we ate together. Over the weekend, he said no, I’m sorry, this and that. On Saturday evening, I said here it is. Give it to NEC.

So you consider the pounded yam eating as the last supper?
In my place, if you eat in a man’s place and you turn around to wrong him, it’s a kind of oath. But I don’t have any quarrels with him. He did what he thought was best. I did what I thought was best because at that time, I had ample information that they were going to kill Ngige before Christmas 2004 and that was the subject of my letter. I didn’t think I could sit down and supervise another death in the PDP. Bola Ige had gone, Dikibo, Harry Marshall. I thought it was too much.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/11/22/senatorsreps-face-off-claims-first-victims/
Senators/Reps face-off claims first victims
Headlines Nov 22, 2009

By Jide Ajani & Emmanuel Aziken

THE proposed constitution amendment and electoral reforms are the immediate victims of the current face-off between the Senate and the House of Representatives over supremacy.

A joint session of the two chambers is required in resolving issues on the two subjects, but flowing from reactions on the matters, it is unlikely that they will see eye to eye until the expiration of Senators / Reps’ term in 2011.

Why amendment of 1999 Constitution is stalled
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the move to stall the amendment of the 1999 Constitution has its roots in the pursuit of a perpetual state of discord between the two chambers of the national assembly.

Senreps

This seed of discord was first planted when the leadership of the House of Representatives insisted on an equality of status with the Chairman of the National Assembly Joint Committee for the amendment of the constitution which, naturally, is the Deputy Senate President.

For two weeks the leadership of each arm of the national assembly bickered on the propriety or otherwise of the equality status. The matter has never really been resolved.

The second point of discord was the alleged instigation of the leadership of the House of Representatives to dump an agreement reached between it and the leadership of the Senate to speedily pass the 2009 Appropriation Bill with minimal amendments.

Consigning itself to the agreement, the Senate speedily passed the bill and returned it to the President. It was after the Senate had forwarded the bill to the President that the leadership of the House reneged and went ahead to begin a full legislative examination of the 2009 Appropriation Act.This, it is believed, was to infuriate the leadership of the Senate. It did as the leadership of the senate, felt bruised.

Senate President David Mark, saw in the action of the House an attempt to embarrass the senate. Sunday Vanguard was reliably informed that the House had attempted to carry out a pay parity between it and the senate and actually went ahead to insert same in the 2008 Appropriation Act.

Senate President Mark kicked against it. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua went ahead to reject the action, insisting that there was no basis for members of the House of Representatives to earn the same pay as their
counterparts in the Senate.

The House was said not to have taken this lightly and it went ahead to push for equality of status during the commencement of the attempt to amend the Constitution. Drawing from examples in the United Kingdom and Canada, David Mark is insisting that he, as chairman of the national assembly reserves the right to determine where the joint session would hold.

Why Senators / Reps are feuding - Mark

The Senate President said the House of Representatives has a history of disrespect for the Senate. He expressed dismay at the negligence of the leadership of the PDP in calling the PDP leadership to order in the face of alleged infractions. Senator Mark particularly cited the failure of the PDP to call the House of Representatives to order when the House walked out of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review (JCCR) on the insistence that they (House members) would be co-chairmen with Senators in the committees.Besides, he cited what he described as betrayal by the House leadership of an agreement reached last year that both chambers would pass the 2009 budget before last December. Senator Mark’s letter dated November 20, 2009 was in response to Chief Anenih’s letter of appeal to Mark and Speaker Bankole calling on both presiding officers to reach a truce for the good of the country.Mark in his letter found common ground with Anenih in faulting the leadership of
the PDP for allowing the matter to deteriorate.

Affirming that he had no particular selfish interest in prolonging the
matter, Senator Mark in the letter said:“I feel the that matter should not be reduced to or simplified as a dispute between Senate and the House of Representatives on the venue of a joint sitting of the National Assembly.

For the avoidance of doubt, what is at stake is Section 53(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which states inter alia:At any joint sitting of the Senate and the House of Representativesa) The President of the Senate shall preside and in his absence the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall preside;(b) In the absence of the persons mentioned in paragraph (a) of the subsection, the Deputy President of the Senate shall preside and in his absence the Deputy Speaker shall preside.

I am disturbed by the silence of the party ‘elders’ when members of the House of Representatives openly flouted Section 53(2) of the Constitution which we have all sworn to uphold.

Your Excellency may recall that members of the House of Representatives openly flouted Section 53(2) at the Joint Constitution Review Committee session held in Minna when they walked out on the Deputy Senate President. One would have expected the intervention of Party elders in order to put a stop to the flagrant disregard and abuse of the supremacy of the Constitution.Let me state emphatically that I have no “peculiar
interest” in the matter but feel strongly that a stand has to be taken to protect the institution of the Legislature for posterity.

The interest of the Legislature is an integral part of the national interest. I am however sympathetic to the patriotic fervor that has compelled you to write to me and I thank you for your concern.It is my wish and that of the
Senate that this budget presentation was done yesterday (November 19). I would like to take the time to remind Your Excellency that last year, the Senate promised to pass the budget before the December recess and we
honored that pledge.

Despite this patriotic commitment Party ‘elders’ failed to commend the Senate for abiding by its pledge.However, I acknowledge and appreciate that the time you have taken to express your views to me but I reiterate that for us to make meaningful progress as a nation, and establish a firm foundation for our democracy, we must uphold every letter of the Constitution. This is even more imperative since the current administration is predicated on the “rule of law” and guided by the sanctity of the Constitution.

May I once again re-affirm my faith, loyalty and commitment to our great party and to also thank you immensely for your concern.”

Yar’Adua may not address joint NASS session
It was gathered yesterday that President Yar’Adua might not formally address a joint session of the National Assembly on the budget proposals for 2010 afterall. Sources said he might send the proposals separately to both chambers through his special adviser on the National Assembly, Alhaji Abba Aji

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/nov/20/310.html
FG begins payment of N65,000 monthly allowance to ex-militants
By Jimitota Onoyume, with Agency reports
Friday, November 20, 2009

PORT HARCOURT — THE Federal Government has commenced payment of arrears of allowances owed former militants in various camps in the Niger Delta.


Each repentant militant is entitled to an allowance of N65,000 per month for the period of rehabilitation.

There are two rehabilitation camps in Rivers and Delta States.

Former militants camped at Aluu, near the University of Port Harcourt, staged a protest on November 16 over non-payment of the arrears of their allowances and alleged neglect by government.

The Media Coordinator of the Amnesty Implementation Committee, Dr Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, said yesterday on phone that the payment commenced earlier in the day.

“As I speak to you, the Federal Government has commenced payment of the arrears owed former militants at various camps in the Niger Delta region.

“Normalcy has also been restored at the Aluu camp, near Port Harcourt,’’ she added.

Koripamo-Agary said government was resolutely committed to the implementation of the post-amnesty programme and would ensure that the former militants were properly rehabilitated.

She declared: “The delay in commencing the rehabilitation programme was caused by the leaders of the former militants.

“At a meeting we held with their leaders, they asked for time to enable them to study the programme. They have not responded and we are still waiting for them,’’ she said.

The Coordinator urged the former militants to exercise restraint and patience, stressing that violence would not achieve anything.

“The former militants should adopt peaceful means of conveying their grievances to government. We appeal to them to remain calm, because the programme is on course,’’ she added.

Ex-militants clash

Meanwhile, some ex-militants yesterday clashed at their Aluu rehabilitation camp yesterday. But for the timely intervention of soldiers on ground, the development would have recorded casualties, some of the ex-militants told Vanguard.

According to the ex-militants, there are about five different groups being quartered at the rehabilitation centre.

They are boys loyal to Prince Amachree aka General Adekunle; boys of General J.J.; Osama Bin-Laden; Soboma George and others.

They said the clash erupted after one of the ex-militant leaders led about 20 boys loyal to him to attack another ex-militant leader at a drinking spot in front of the rehabilitation centre.

According to them, the situation almost degenerated to an orgy of violence but for the timely intervention of soldiers on ground who stepped in to calm frayed nerves.

They said the rehabilitation centre has already been divided along lines. They therefore urged the soldiers on ground to beef up security to avert a repeat of the clash.

Meanwhile, at press time, the ex-militants at the camp were still expecting their allowances.

They said they were assured that they would be paid that yesterday, but as at 5pm when Vanguard called, they said the Major who does the payment was yet to come to the rehabilitation centre.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/22112009/news/news1.html

Budget impasse: Bankole’s sins - Senators - Mark replies Anenih - Eseme Eyiboh speaks - Yar’Adua may only send budget copies to N/A - The Impasse has been resolved - House

By Dipo Ogunsola - 22.11.2009

The on-going rift between the Senate and the House of Representatives over the presentation of the 2010 budget took another dimension at the weekend as some aggrieved Senators took time out to chronicle the alleged sins of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, in the past years.

The Senators, who resolutely stood by the decisions taken by the Senate President, Senator David Mark, said that it was high time the excesses of the Speaker were curbed.

It was gathered that some of the Senators, who had often advocated open confrontation at every juncture the Speaker was reported to have taken some perceived derogatory steps against the Upper Chamber, felt further aggrieved that conciliatory moves by the Senate President were never reciprocated by the Speaker.

It was gathered that the Senators were unhappy that Bankole had been fingered as the brain behind the division that had crept into the workings of the Senate and the House since November 2007.

Senators said that it has become clear that Bankole was deliberately steering the House on the path of confrontation with the Senate since he took over.

One of the alleged sins was the insistence of the Speaker that the House’s recess must not coincide with the Senate’s recess, thereby, permanently altering the nation’s legislative calendar.

A source said that the Senators, who had submitted the list of offences to the Senate President had asked him to seek a separate audience with President Umaru Yar’Adua to discuss the excesses of the House.

The document prepared by the Senators, traced the genesis of the relationship between the Senate President and the Speaker to November 1, 2007.

A source said that immediately Bankole emerged the Speaker, Mark, who was in Port Harcourt with Senators for that year’s retreat of the Senate, put a call through to Bankole and assured him of his support.

Mark was also said to have promised to visit Bankole as soon as he got back to Abuja but it was gathered that Bankole asked the Senate President not to worry and that he Bankole) was supposed to pay homage to the Senate President.

It was also learnt that Bankole actually kept the promise and visited the Apo Mansion, but soon after that visit, sources said that the Speaker began to take antagonistic posture against the Senate.

One of the alleged offences, according to the aggrieved Senators, is the decision by the House to for the first time in history, cut the budget of the Senate in the 2008 Appropriation.

The House, on the other hand, nearly doubled its own budget. The row also attracted the attention of President Yar’Adua, who rejected the 78 per cent increase in the National Assembly budget that year.

The senators said that after they had diplomatically resolved the 2008, budget crisis, Bankole led the House to take another affront at the Senate when the House members reneged on an agreement which would have facilitated the implementation of the 2009 budget.

The senators and members of the House of Representatives had reached an agreement with President Yar’Adua to facilitate an early passage of the 2009 budget in December 2008, to ensure delivery of dividends of democracy in 2009, but while the senators kept the agreement, they claimed that Bankole led the House to deride them by reneging on the agreement and thereby laid the foundation for the failure of the 2009 budget.

A major sin of the Bankole House, according to the senators, is the affront that led to the dissolution of the Joint Committee on Constitution Review (JCCR), where the House members insisted that the Deputy Speaker be named co-chairman of the committee against the tradition of the National Assembly, where members of the House usually served as Vice chairman or deputy to the senator.

The senators believed that the decision by the Bankole-led House to head for the court on such a trivial matter was treated with kid gloves by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“We have always suspected that Bankole and members of his House have been at the forefront of the derailment of the Constitution Amendment process and even the Electoral Reform process and that they have been collaborating with fifth columnists to thwart every peace move aimed at resolving our differences on issues.

Also, the President of the Senate, Senator Mark, on Saturday, made public the reply he earlier sent to the former chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, who had written the two chambers seeking peace in the budget logjam.

Senator Mark said in his response to Anenih’s letter that the Senate was bent on ensuring that the provisions of the 1999 Constitution were not continuously breached by members of the House of Representatives.

The feud between the two chambers has so far stalled the presentation of 2010 budget by President Yar’Adua.

Mark, in a letter dated November 20, 2009 and addressed to the former Minister of Works, who is the Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Chief Tony Anenih, said that the Senate was worried that the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had looked the other way all the while when members of the House of Representatives had breached provisions of the Constitution in their relation to the Senate.

Mark’s letter was a reply to Anenih’s earlier letter dated November 19, 2009, which called for a ceasefire between the Senate and the House on the budget impasse.

The Senate President said that the Senate was compelled to take the decision it took in order to protect the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which he said all public officers had sworn to protect.

Mark’s letter read: “I feel that the matter should not be reduced to or simplified as a dispute between the Senate and the House of Representatives on the venue of a joint sitting of the National Assembly.

For the avoidance of doubt, what is at stake is Section 53(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which states inter alia:
“At any joint sitting of the Senate and the House of Representatives:
(a) The President of the Senate shall preside and in his absence the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall preside;
(b) In the absence of the persons mentioned in paragraph (a) of the subsection, the Deputy President of the Senate shall preside and in his absence the Deputy Speaker shall preside.

“I am disturbed by the silence of the party ‘elders’ when members of the House of Representatives openly flouted Section 53(2) of the Constitution which we have all sworn to uphold.

“Your Excellency may recall that members of the House of Representatives openly flouted Section 53 (2) at the Joint Constitution Review Committee Session held in Minna when they walked out on the Deputy Senate President.

“However, I acknowledge and appreciate that the time you have taken to express your views to me, but I reiterate that for us to make meaningful progress as a nation, and establish a firm foundation for our democracy, we must uphold every letter of the Constitution.”

It was gathered on Saturday that the PDP was seeking a middle course in the impasse as its leaders had continued to appeal to the Senate and the House for peace.

At the meeting its leaders held with Senators and members of the House on Thursday, it was gathered that the PDP pleaded with the Senate not to humiliate members of the lower House by forcing them to attend the budget session inside the smaller Senate chamber.

A leader of the PDP told the meeting that if the budget was presented in the Senate chamber, many of the House members would be forced to stand throughout the session and that such would take away a lot from the ego of the lawmakers.

But a source said that the meeting agreed with Senator Mark that the constitutional provision which indicated that he will preside over joint sessions must be respected and that previous sitting arrangements, which saw the Senate President and the Speaker seat on the presiding table would not hold this time around.

It was gathered that if President Yar’Adua will present the budget, only Mark will sit at the presiding table, while Bankole and others will sit on the floor.

But another option on the table right now is that Yar’Adua may be forced to send copies of the budget to the separate chambers as the lawmakers have also highlighted that the constitution does not make it mandatory for him to present the budget at joint sittings of the Assembly.

The president had in the letter copied to the President of the Senate and the Speaker which was read on Tuesday asked to be allowed to present the 2010 budget at a joint sitting of the Assembly on Thursday. He said that his request was in compliance with Section 81(1) of the 1999 Constitution.

When contacted, a close aide of the speaker, who pleaded anonymity stated that the said letter from the Senate President, did not refer to Speaker Bankole as a person, but the House. The House Chairman on Media, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh is the right person to speak on the issue.”

Moreover, Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, said on Saturday that the needless row between the Senate and the House over the presentation of the 2010 budget had been resolved.

He said that the resolution would now pave the way for the presentation of the budget at “an agreeable chamber, and date,” which will be announced later.

Eyiboh, who responded to the charges leveled against the House by the Senate, said that the House of Representatives had not breached any constitutional provision in its conduct on the processes for the amendment of 1999 Constitution.

Eyiboh said: “If they said that we breached the Constitution on the budget issue, what does the constitution say? The House will pass its version of the budget and the Senate will pass its own. There is no provision for agreement.

“In Minna, there was no constitutional breach. The House constituted a 44-member committee to review the constitution and the Senate constituted a 44-member committee. The committees have conducted public hearings and they are at the stage of presenting reports. There will still be a stage where the two chambers will work together on the amendment bill. Nobody has breached any constitutional provision at all.

“The controversy (over the budget) is needless. I know that the leadership of the Senate and the leadership of the House enjoy a robust working relationship and after a meeting at the headquarters of the PDP, the needless controversy has been resolved. The two chambers have agreed that the budget will definitely be presented at an agreeable location and date.”

If to say we win tunisia here in Nigeria, may be Kenya for beat us and Tunisia for win and we for just dey cry now,, and some one was talking Bleep T.B Josua , check and see what God is using this man to tell the blind people of Nigeria

May the prof self don collect from the loot, Iborigate

SSS Smashes Kidnap Gang - Rescues Perm Sec; NBA Chairman - Recovers $130,000, N10m

Uchechukwu Olisah, Benin City - 14.11.2009

The State Security Service (SSS) in Benin City, the Edo State capital, on Friday, announced the smashing of a kidnap gang and the rescuing of 11 victims.

Besides, the SSS announced the recovery of $130,000 and N10 million in cash.

The state director of the SSS, Mr. Olukayode Oduneye, who made the announcement while parading four suspected kidnappers, said the victims were abducted from different parts of the country, particularly the South West, Niger Delta, Niger, Benue and Adamawa states.

The rescued victims were Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youths Affairs and Strategy, Adamu Umar, who was abducted at Dikko Junction, near Suleja in Niger State; Managing Director ABS Gorminers, Abubakar Tarfa, who was kidnapped on Abaji Road and Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Abdulganiyu Abubakar, who was forcefully taken with his driver, Abioye Tajudeen, on Okene-Auchi Road.

Others included the chairman of Ekpoma branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) with his three children.

The SSS director said the suspects were arrested at different locations in Warri and Benin, and that their arrests were made possible because of the cooperation of members of the public and good intelligence work.

He added that the arrests led to the release of the victims between November 12 and 13.

Mr. Oduneye said the SSS worked in cooperation with the police in Benin City and the military in Warri, Delta State.

One of the victims, Abubakar Tarfa, 52, who spoke with journalists, said he and 10 others, including the lawyer and his three children, were held hostage for eight days.
http://www.tribune.com.ng/14112009/news/news4.html