₦airaland Forum

Allegation Of Fraud Against Me Political -lagos Speaker

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Written by Soji Ajibola, Lagos
Monday, 05 September 2011
The embattled Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Kuforiji, has said the allegation of perjury and stealing of over N7 billion state funds contained in a petition written against him and forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was politically motivated.

While stating that he was neither arrested nor detained by the commission as was reported by some national dailies, he  added that he was at the office of the EFCC to  honour  an invitation.

Speaking with journalists at his Ikeja GRA residence,  shortly after his release, the lawmaker said, “the House of Assembly had a budget of about N6billion. How can just one person appropriate the whole sum to himself? The Speaker  is just one among the 40 lawmakers, how he is able to steal N7billion out of N6billion is a question for the petitioners and the authorities to answer.

“As for me, I know there was no N7billion at anytime in the House, not over a period of one year though. There is no way I could have stolen N7billion. I don’t even steal at all.

“ It is nonsense. We all know it is political; for me, it is madness and for me as a believer, I don’t bother myself about those things because it is one of those things you go through as a leader.”

On his reported arrest by the EFCC, he said, “ I got their invitation on my way to the airport.I was going to Saudi Arabia for the lesser hajj and I sent a note to the executive chairman of the commission that I received their letter late and because it is Ramadan period, I will honour their invitation on Thursday, September 1.

“When I came back last Thursday, I called them that morning and the officer I spoke with told me that I should come in the afternoon and I went. On getting to Abuja, there was heavy traffic because of the Boko Haram issue.

“The soldiers mounted road blocks and there was  heavy traffic. So I had to call them again that I am in the traffic and the officer I spoke with said since it was getting late, I should come on Friday morning. So I went there to honour the invitation of the EFCC. I was not at anytime arrested by the commission.”

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/27706-allegation-of-fraud-against-me-political-lagos-speaker

As Serious As A Heart Attack!

Thursday, 01 September 2011 19:48

Written By Abraham Idowu


Just this week we learnt from Bart Nnaji, the power minister, that Nigeria would at long last be installing the last four turbines for Kainji hydro power station which was initially commissioned in 1968. Yep. After only four decades of operation Kainji would be finally getting its full design complement of turbines. We learnt too that the sixth turbine at the Egbin thermal power station, Nigeria’s power flagship, a role it took over from Kainji, will soon be repaired after years of being cannibalized to keep the other turbines working. The cost of ‘completing’ Kainji and fixing its other turbines is $82m while Egbin would become whole again for less than $10m (N1.5b). Maybe those pittance amounts explain why these first things have been left till last. Maybe having a professional like Nnaji in charge makes the difference. Or maybe we just haven’t been taking this whole powerlessness seriously enough.

Between returning to Nigeria from a near four year sojourn in Ghana in mid 2009 and the end of 2010 I expended about N5m in ensuring I had 24/7 power at home. That was the cost of a 17kva diesel generator, a 10kva inverter and a 7kva backup petrol generator plus fuel and servicing costs over less than 18 months. Power was my largest budget subhead. It beat food, education, rent, locomotion and everything else. It essentially made the difference between buying a house with a mortgage and renting. It was as serious as a heart attack for me.

Back in 2006 Ghana had a power ‘crisis’. I wrote ‘crisis’ because having your neighbourhood programmed for a power outage for 12 hours every two days wouldn’t be seen as a crisis in Nigeria. It was brought on by a multi year drought which reduced Akosombo dam water levels below safe operating levels at a time crude oil prices were ramping up to record levels (Ghana’s second most important power plant was the Takoradi thermal station which ran on liquid fuel) and VALCO’s (the aluminium smelter which was the biggest energy consumer in Ghana) restarting. A perfect storm one could say. Even though the government knew the rains would eventually come and that the West African Gas Pipeline which was then being built would bring relief with cheap gas, it still pulled out all the stops in dealing with what its Nigerian counterpart would have waved off as a temporary and minor glitch.

VALCO’s operation was stopped. Power supply to Togo was rationalized. At this time our Obasanjo volunteered to take up the burden of supplying power to Togo and ‘donating’ about 80MW to Ghana itself. Ghanaians have not stopped laughing since that joke. Ghana’s government also brought in a few million CFL bulbs (energy savers) which were given free of charge to Ghanaians to replace incandescent bulbs that were in use and effectively reduce demand by over 100MWs. Lastly the government published the power rationing schedule which changed every two weeks AND it published daily the vital statistics of the vital Akosombo dam!

Every day, at the top of the Daily Graphic was a small table detailing the water level the previous day, the minimum level the dam could operate at, the maximum level of water the dam could hold and the level of water the dam had same day the previous year. These data were used by laymen, experts and the opposition in vigorously debating the various issues surrounding the power crisis. The opposition of course accused the government of various shenanigans including restarting VALCO as a political gimmick despite the power supply challenges but no one could deny that it all helped in shaping policy including the eventual temporary mothballing of VALCO. That was a country that realized an energy crisis was as serious as a heart attack to the national economy.



Nigeria’s economy suffered an energy sector induced massive heart attack three decades ago and has been on life support since at incalculable cost to individual, commercial and government pockets. Somehow we have failed to give this potentially life threatening situation the attention it deserves. In the last 12 years we have of course given it enough budgetary attention but this has been without any sincerity or consistency. This is the only reason obvious, indeed blatant, low hanging fruit have been left hanging till date. Nnaji has made a good start with his moves on Kainji and Egbin but there are still too many easy opportunities lying around. I enumerate a few below:

Can Nnaji confirm that Kainji and other hydro power plants like Shiroro have been dredged since they were built? If they haven’t been how can the basins capture and retain the maximum amount of water? By the way this is probably a question we should be asking of the Ogun river basin authority that has recently acquired a habit of annual wanton destruction by releasing excess water from its dam. Two obvious questions come to my mind: Why does the river basin authority wait each year until the dam is threatened by collapse before releasing levels of water that create destruction downstream when it should have anticipated the inflow during the rainy season and released water ahead of the deluge? And why is this just a recent development? Could it be that the basin has lost much of its water holding capacity due to silting? In the last week the Eleyele Waterworks has been, hopefully falsely, accused of the same practice and being culpable in the flood that took about 100 lives in Ibadan. Conversely, as part of its water basin management efforts, the Volta River Authority (VRA), managers of the Akosombo dam, recently sold the trees that were drowned when the dam was first filled in the 1960s. Apart from the income made from harvesting the timber one can imagine the level of focus on dam management VRA has.

Can Nnaji tell us when Nigeria will start managing down power consumption via a government mandated switch from incandescent bulbs to Compact Flourescent Lights (CFL)? Virtually every nation on earth has a policy on this for efficiency and environmental reasons. I wrote a piece on this years ago and even managed to share it with one of the energy committees where it was reportedly well received but nothing has come from on high yet. Ghana not only reduced effective demand by over 100MWs through an investment of less than $10m in a few million CFLs but it gained a CFL factory at Tema in the process. Their bulbs are of such high quality that I use them in Nigeria in preference to the Chinese junk available in our market.

Can Nnaji tell us when we shall start being informed about how the little inadequate power we do produce is rationed? If I am only getting power 25% of the time it is crucial for me to know when to expect that fractional supply so that I can arrange my affairs accordingly. If I am a welder, tailor or similar artisan or even if I only have a small generator that cannot power my electrical iron, having such information would buffer me to an extent against the deleterious effects of our decades old deadly affliction. In addition can we get a weekly scorecard on all our capital power plants, say 100MW and above, both operational and under construction? We want to see in simple tabular form just what’s up with each and every one of them. In other lands it is called accountability. If more than half our capital investment is going into the power sector then we need to be kept abreast of what is being done with our money.

Can Nnaji tell us why we do not have an LNG receiving terminal at Egbin yet? While he is answering this he can tell us too what has delayed the second Escravos to Lagos gas line till date. I know with gas fields just hundreds of kilometers away from Egbin it makes most economic sense to pipe gas to the plant but since the hunters in the Western Niger Delta have learnt to shoot without missing shouldn’t Egbin learn to fly without perching? Shell and Chevron’s gas pipelines are vandalized several times annually with supply outages required once or more a year to fix the lines. For such a major component in our national power infrastructure we need a fallback. Such a fallback will even help the Koreans or whoever finally acquires Egbin to consider building capacity at Egbin to 5,000MW or thereabouts to meet a major part of the energy demand in the Lagos axis.

Can Nnaji tell us why the Ijora power station has lain fallow for so long? Shouldn’t this plant have been used as a pilot for the privatization process a long time ago just as we have with his, Nnaji’s, company’s dedicated supply to Abuja? I believe a private investor given the mandate could easily install anything up to 1,000MW of thermal turbines at Ijora dedicated to supplying Lagos Island, Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Lekki. This would be cherry picking some of the best customers in the land but it would also help prove that privatized power can be made to work in Nigeria and go a long way to make the rollout across the rest of the country possible. Of course a wise investor would put in place backup LNG supply and not only depend on just extending gas supply from Gaslink’s Ijora / Apapa loop.

I am sure there are a lot more bite sized ideas one could challenge Nnaji on but this essay got me out of bed at 3am and I truly trust the good Prof is, for once, a square peg in the Power minister square hole. He knows what all the issues are and hopefully has 1001 solutions up his sleeves. He must go round all power plants nationwide and not depend on reports sent to Abuja by the likes of the reportedly clueless erstwhile administrator of the Olorunshogo thermal plant. I am sure he has a lot more people in critical positions who might be better off pushing files in Abuja or pushing their grandkids’ prams back at home. In addition to rooting all such misfits out the minister must engage with the nation. A monthly parley with the national press wouldn’t be too much considering what is at stake. I wish him well in his job and hope that he will succeed in finally getting his patient out of the intensive care unit.

Abraham Idowu

biodunid04@yahoo.com

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/guest-articles/as-serious-as-a-heart-attack.html

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http://saharareporters.com/photo/photonews-deplorable-conditions-delta-state-schools

These are photos of several educational institutions in Delta State despite the huge oil revenues accruing to the state. Delta State is noted for corruption and official graft.

A former governor of the state, James Ibori is currently in the UK facing fraud charges. Sahara Reporters has also written several stories on the corrupt practices of the current governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, who is a cousin of former Governor Ibori.

Tragic Road Accident Claims The Life Of Former Ambassador
Posted: August 31, 2011 - 20:53

Late Saidu Pindar
By Sahara Reporters New York
Sahara Reporters has just learnt of the death of the one time Director Of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and the former Ambassador to Sao Tome, Saidu Shettima Pindar in an auto accident which occurred along the Kaduna-Zaria road on Wednesday.

Pindar was the recently embattled deputy gubernatorial candidate of PDP for Borno State to Mohammed Goni. He will be buried according to Muslim rites.

Click on link to see photos -

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigerian-security-services-release-photo-un-house-bomb-plotters?page=1

President Jonathan as a Feudal Pawn
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Salisu Suleiman
August 31, 2011
President Jonathan as a Feudal Pawn

By: Salisu Suleiman

Are there any connections with the fact that the more feudal a system, the poorer and less educated the majority of people within those systems usually are? Consider this – two of the most feudal institutions in Nigeria – the Sokoto Sultanate and the Borno Emirate have significantly lower western literacy levels than is common. But these examples apart, President Goodluck Jonathan, in his attempt to win the April 2011 elections has inadvertently waddled into a decades old social and political struggle for the soul of the North.

Before the British conquest in the early 20th century, the major Emirates in the north had developed highly efficient social and political systems. Numerous European explorers who visited those places commented on orderliness of the societies they saw. Literacy was widespread. The justice system, based on the Sharia, worked and there was seeming harmony in the social and mostly class based system. And then it all fell apart.

The British took over political control of the region, but largely left the day to day administration to emirs – there weren’t as many unemployed Brits then as there are today. In northern Nigeria as in other places in Africa, when the colonial masters introduced western education, the emirs and chiefs sent only the children of commoners. It wasn’t long before they realized that the western educated ‘commoners’ were soon giving them orders – as colonial clerks and messengers. So they also began to send their children out for western education as well - and without a stated policy, started to deny ‘commoners’ access to western education.

It was the beginning of a largely undeclared class struggle in the north that a hundred years later, still persists. Most good schools in the region that survive to this day were built on the foundations of the colonial heritage and its immediate aftermath, courtesy of Sir Ahmadu Bello who devoted 47% of the region’s entire budget to education. But the products of these schools threw their weights behind the feudal system – as born members or wannabes of a structure that sought to restrict opportunities - in government and business to a privileged few. The thought of expanding the playing ground to accommodate more people was simply beyond them.



And when a few ambitious ones from the north, against all odds, went ahead to excel in various fields, the feudal system felt threatened and, again, through an unspoken policy began to systematically underfund education for the majority, emasculate the few functional institutions, while at the same time, they began to send their own wards to the best schools in the world. This explains why the north has the lowest literacy levels in Nigeria, but at the same time, some of the best educated people in the world. It was reported that two princes of Sokoto – Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji and Shehu Malami regularly holidayed in Buckingham Palace as students in the United Kingdom in the 1960s.

The struggle has been relentless. From the 1950s up to his death in 1983, Mallam Aminu Kano led the fight against the feudal establishment. The two states his Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) controlled in the Second Republic introduced policies that tried to level the playing field. Late Kano State governor, Abubakar Rimi clashed constantly with the Kano emirate council, and Balarabe Musa knew no peace in Kaduna. In the end, Musa was impeached in Kaduna while Rimi lost re-election in Kano: indeed, not many people know that the aristocrat Shehu Shagari was the feudalists’ choice against ‘commoner’ Maitama Sule in the NPN primaries in 1979.

After the coup of 1983, former Head of State Muhammadu Buhari took a stand against the feudal system – and actually suspended the powerful Emir of Kano. The elite connived to ensure his removal and replacement with Ibrahim Babangida who did their bidding and has remained at their beck and call ever since. This underscores why traditional institutions and the so-called power brokers in the north have consistently opposed Buhari’s presidential ambition; they know he will serve the common man. And this is the reason why the poor, uneducated masses in the region see Buhari as the only beacon of hope in a system that is corrupt, uncaring and largely self-serving.

But the struggle is getting to a head. Even from within the elite, a few people are hitting out again, whatever their motivations may be. Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso – again of Kano - this last Sallah banned the traditional Durbar where all District Heads and Royalty traditionally pledged allegiance to the Emir. It is a small part of an ongoing struggle and is just one manifest example of a largely latent and undeclared conflict between the traditional and the modern.

The most far reaching movement – and ultimate death knell for feudalism in the north has started. The die was cast when the palaces of some previously revered emirs were attacked and destroyed in the aftermath of April’s elections; an important psychological barrier had been breached.

But the feudal systems and their clients are fighting back. And their most important weapon today is the hapless President Goodluck Jonathan. There is widespread belief that the president expended huge resources to secure the support of the northern oligarchy; he didn’t have to. For them, the fear of Buhari is the beginning of wisdom. They would have supported anyone against Buhari.

So when Nigerians criticise President Jonathan’s ineffectual approach to decision making and governance, they miss the point. The man is so beholden to the feudal class and other vested interests that brought him to power that cannot take any decisions inimical to their interests, real or imagined. The fact is, Nigerians who voted ‘Jonathan, not the PDP’ have become unwitting pawns in this long struggle.

Incidentally, most of the problems associated with the North’s long domination of government were not caused by the itinerant cobbler or the illiterate sugarcane hawker and other northerners we have learnt to hate. By electing Jonathan, Nigerians have strengthened the same people that plundered our resources and pauperized the nation. The ‘Jonathanians’ may be in a frenzy today, dancing to the possessed rhythms of power. It is sweet.

But do they know who is beating the drums?

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/salisu-suleiman/president-jonathan-as-a-feudal-pawn.html

Governor Okorocha, Imo Speaker And The 10,000 Disengaged Workers
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Kenneth Uwadi
August 29, 2011

Governor Okorocha,Imo State Assembly Speaker and the 10,000 disengaged workers

Some Nigerian politicians play the ostrich game; hard to hear, hard to see and hard to smell trouble brewing in the air. Days ago, Invitation started spreading round for a 50,000 man march In Owerri in solidarity for the 10,000 disengaged Imo State graduate workers. But Governor Okorocha is not losing sleep. He sticks to his usual posture. What is it? Pay no heed to the hypocritical sanctimony of these 10,000 job folks .He got into a plane and jets out of the country on a two week visit to Asia. To him,the 10,000 sacked workers should go to hell for they deserve unemployment.

On this trip, we are told that Okorocha intends to attract foreign investors to Imo State to develop the areas of power, agriculture and tourism. Oga Patapata, thank you for gracing the Asian countries with your saintly presence. Did I hear anyone say he is out there to attract foreign investors to Imo State ? For where? Oga Patapata Okorocha has no intention to draw investors from anywhere. He is just unnecessarily indulging in junketing not giving a damn about the problems in Imo State.

Okorocha has increased the number of Nigerian Governors that have turned their office into a tourism ministry by going on too many travels out of the country.He is failing to attend to pressing issues in Imo State because he is always traveling out of the country. It is disappointing that Governor Okorocha has decided to pay a blind eye to the challenges the 10,000 disengaged workers are facing and has instead focused on attending to every international event that comes up in his diary.Maybe this time he has gone to Saudi Arabia and Iran to help resolve the differences between the two countries or gone to Pakistan to talk about ways to resolve the Boko Haram menace in Nigeria with Al Qaeda. Oga Patapata,please stop this your useless foreign trips.

Can someone help me tell Owelle to first try to resolve the problems in his home State of Imo. He should make himself a welfare conscious governor by re-engaging the 10,000 Imo state citizens that he sacked from work since June 6th this year rather than junketing round the globe.Here is a Governor who during electioneering campaigns promised that before his first 100 days in office, he would create jobs for youths. Sadly just three months of his government, he has thrown back into the labor market 10,000 highly qualified youths. The Governor’s actions are callous.

You may write me down with your bitter, twisted lies.You may trod me in the very dirt.But still, like dust, I'll rise and continue to say it that Okorocha has no reason to sack the workers other than he is anti-people and anti-workers conscious. Does my assessment of the governor upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? You may shoot me with your words. You may cut me with your eyes.You may arrest me with your hatefulness ,but still, like air, the truth must be told. last week, over 8,500 Imo state graduates applied for 20 police cadet positions assigned to Imo State. You can see that the situation is very pathetic and we must speak to help these poor graduates.

Dr Emenike Nwankwo said in an article I read earlier ‘Imo State was a war zone and these poor kids worked hard to do whatever was legal under Ohakim to get their jobs. If the new body did not like how they got it, they should quickly make changes that does not affect those who must work by impoverishing them the more. They need jobs whether by Ohakim or any other”

All these are happening in Imo state because the Imo House of Assembly has refused to do their jobs. Dr Emenike Nwankwo also said “what regulations and what steps have theImo House of Assembly taking to protect the interest of the powerless 10,000 workers. Saying they are not qualified does not create a job for them. We elected a new governor and house to give them jobs or make their jobs legitimate.”

It is true that a Speaker of a State House of Assembly plays a key role in the governance of a State and has a very big stake too but Oga Yafunyafu Uwajumogu has totally made himself a Yes man to governor Okorocha that we from outside the corridors of power see him as a weak Speaker

In his Acceptance Speech as Speaker , Rt. Hon. Benjamin Uwajumogu pledged that the House will enact people’s oriented laws and motions through effective legislative responsibility which will put smiles on the faces of Imo people in a bid to bring to the grassroots the impact of the “Rescue our pocket mission” of the government of His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

But we are yet to see laws sponsored and approved by the Speaker that is of help to the growth of Imo state. All what we hear in Imo State is dissolution upon dissolution. We are yet to know the notable things that the speaker has done beside receiving one politician or one traditional ruler or paying empty courtesy visits . Sir, na your turn ooooo. It is good and commendable that you spend valuable hours on courtesy visits, instead of wasting your time attending to the need of Imo state. The more courtesy calls the more developed Imo will become.

When I read Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha’s defense of the Imo Assembly Speaker on the 10,000 job issue,I laughed.Iwuoha is an activist gone soft. If it were those days,Iwuoha would have been in the forefront of the fight for the re-engagement of the 10,000 workers.Iwuoha told us that so far the present government has taken back about 4,500 people out of the 10,000 into the system. I immediately made phone calls to some of the 2035 workers that the government shortlisted their names on paper but refuse to fix them on payroll to ascertain Iwuoha’s story.

In Umuapu, 28-year-old Ukachukwu said he is still at home without a job since his sack in June . Ukachukwu has had "on-and-off jobs" since losing his job, most recently driving taxi cab for his uncle.He is one of the 2035 workers shortlisted but has not been asked to resume work.In Emekuku, Nta, 26, has also worked for a short period of three months with the Imo State Civil Service before receiving the shocker sack from Governor Okorocha.Now he work for a gardening contractor to feed himself and his aged mother but is still hoping that Governor Okorocha will reinstate the 10,000 workers so that he can go back to work

Last week, Imo state alone received over N14.5 billion in allocation for the month of July excluding local government allocations. What about the allocation for excess crude for Imo State? Then, tell me why we can't help these poor youths. I join others to call on the government of Imo State to immediately and unconditionally recall the 10,000 workers who have been unjustly sacked by the government since June 2011. We do not want 10000 youths in kidnapping and armed robbery .I also join others in calling on the leadership of NLC in Imo state to defend the rights of the 10,000 workers.

Kenneth Uwadi writes from Mmahu-Egbema,Imo State,Nigeria

http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/guest-articles/governor-okorocha-imo-speaker-and-the-10000-disengaged-workers.html

‘Nigerians should expect more bombings’
By Ousola Fabiyi and Olalekan Adetayo
Monday, 29 Aug 2011

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Nigerians should expect more bombings in the months ahead, sources in the nation’s security services have said.


Top security officials who spoke to our correspondents on Sunday said the security agencies were not capable of stemming the tide of terrorism in the country.


A source said sensitive positions in the country’s security establishment were occupied by agents who were not properly recruited, were poorly trained and lacked the competencies needed to gather actionable intelligence.


“We are not making any attempt to stop bombings in the country. We simply lack what it takes to do so,” a senior official in one of the security services told one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.


The shocking revelation came on the heels of the death of at least 18 people in last Friday’s bombing of the United Nations office in Abuja. The fundamentalist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for the bombing which has attracted condemnation globally.


The source, who pleaded anonymity, said, “One would have thought that by now, the security agencies would have been able to find a lasting solution to the bombings.


“Then, we would expect that security agencies would also have been able to infiltrate the ranks of those responsible for the attacks.


“But I can tell you that there is nothing like that here. We are practically not doing anything either to stop the bombings or to even infiltrate the ranks of the bombers.


“The thinking in the security circle is that the bombing is a phase that would soon fade away. What we are doing now is what we call ‘fire brigade approach’.


“When bomb explodes somewhere, we go there with guns, metal detectors and other minor equipment. But after that, what else do you see? We leave after a few days and the old order continues.”


Another source in the security establishment said the government appeared not to be interested in making the agencies in charge of the nation effective. The source, who also requested anonymity, said government was only “interested in playing politics with everything.”


The source added, “When last did our people go for training? Even the so-called Anti-Terrorism Squad in the Police, where were they trained? Majority of them were drawn from the riot police without being given further training.


“It will be interesting to note that most security agencies rely on newspaper reports to get information. It is like we are being trained by investigative journalists now.”


The source and others bemoaned the fact that the government often sacrificed experience and competence for other considerations while making appointments into key positions in the security sector. They added that this situation had turned otherwise brilliant agents into frustrated personnel.


According to the sources, ethnicity, religion, political affiliations, personal relationships and other irrelevant factors are considered before merit.


One of the sources cited the appointment of one of the security chiefs as an example. He said when it was time to find a replacement for the former head of one of the security agencies, one of his deputies who had been prepared to succeed him “was dropped at the last minute because he was suspected in some quarters to be sympathetic to an opposition party.”


The US in a recent security appraisal report titled, “Country Reports on Terrorism 2010,” an annual congressional report that provides trends and events on global terrorism, states that Nigeria lacks the security apparatus and capacity to combat terrorism.

http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201108292394298

FBI takes over investigations, sidelines Police, SSS
By Adelani Adepegba, Femi Makinde and James Azania
Monday, 29 Aug 2011

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OPERATIVES of the United States’ domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have taken over the investigations of Friday’s bombing of the UN building in Abuja.


Sources told THE PUNCH that the FBI agents probing the bombing had sidelined investigators from the Nigeria Police and the State Security Service.


A source in one of the security agencies, who requested anonymity, said the takeover had the support of the Federal Government. The source added that the government might have lost confidence in the Police, SSS and other security agencies for their alleged failure to halt the bombings in the country.


At least 18 people died in the bombing of the UN building last Friday. The violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for the attack which attracted condemnation worldwide.


Although a few members of the police intelligence unit were said to be part of the investigation of the latest bombing in the federal capital territory, our correspondents gathered that the nation’s security agencies had indeed been asked to take the back seat.


Our correspondent gathered that there was grumbling among the top security and intelligence officers who felt “embarrassed and ridiculed” by the development.


Top security agents in the country also believed that the FBI’s efforts were bound to achieve little “due to the unfamiliar terrain and peculiar Nigerian environment.”


A senior police officer who spoke to our correspondent on Sunday attributed their skepticism to the failure of the foreign experts to provide tangible clues to past bombings in the country which they also investigated.


“FBI operatives and other foreign experts have been taking part in investigations into the bombings in the country from the October 1, 2010 incident to the June 16, 2011 Force Headquarters blast. Yet, they have not been able to provide any useful lead that could help us to apprehend the masterminds.


“Remember that after the two incidents, the team gathered some evidence from the blast scene which they took to their labs in the United States, but nothing has been heard about the result of the analyses till date,” the police officer said.


The security chief explained that the results of forensic analysis usually did not take more than 24 hours, adding that the nation’s security agencies had been kept in the dark since then.


On the speculation that the security agencies had advance warning of the bombing, the police officer said he was not aware, but added that security agencies would have foiled it if it was true that they had advance warning.


The Force Public Relations Officer, Olusola Amore, declined to comment on the development. He said he was on leave. When contacted, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, also declined to speak on the investigation, stressing that releasing information might jeopardize the ongoing probe.


When asked if the investigators had traced the owner of the car that was used for the bombing, he said, “All I can tell you is that we are making progress in the investigation. I can’t reveal anything now because it may jeopardise investigations, but we have opened information desks at the UN building and Transcorp Hilton Hotel to help members of the public seeking information on their missing relatives and loved ones.”


The UN attack came on the heels of series of bomb attacks by Boko Haram which claimed to be fighting for the institution of Sharia, in the country.


Founded in 2002, the sect has been engaged in a bombing campaign targeted at hurting the Federal Government and its agencies. On June 16, a lone bomber suspected to be an operative of the sect attacked the Abuja headquarters of the Police. The lone bomber and one policeman died in the attack while 70 vehicles were either burnt or destroyed.


Boko Haram had also carried out a series of bombings in Maiduguri, Borno State, where the sect was founded, and in a number of Northern cities, attacking police facilities, military barracks and drinking joints.


On Sunday, in a release, INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble condemned the attack. He offered to issue the organisation’s colour-coded international notices to alert law enforcement around the world about the attackers’ modus operandi, to obtain additional information about individuals in relation to the investigation, and to seek the arrest of persons wanted in connection with the attack.


Meanwhile, Senator Babafemi Ojudu has said in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State on Sunday that the nation’s security agencies lacks the intelligence capacity to halt Boko Haram attacks.


Ojudu said it was worrisome that security agencies were always taken unawares on every occasion that the sect had attacked the country.


The Senator who described the attack on the UN building as an affront to the international community, asked the Ministry of Defence to sit up and justify the increase in its allocation.


He said, “It has become a pattern for authorities and security agencies to threaten fire and brimstone after attacks, but so far no meaningful progress has been made.


“Security agencies should focus their efforts on preventing attacks on effective intelligence gathering in a bid to prevent the attacks; waiting for attacks to occur before swinging into action is a clear vote of no confidence on the ability of security agencies.”

http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201108292403178

UN House Car Bombing: The Slow Motion Giant

Posted: August 28, 2011 - 17:01

By Chinedu Igwe

Nigeria has gone into slow motion inaction since last Friday’s attack on the UN building in Abuja. The airwaves are abuzz. Aso Rock is heaving with confusion. Newspapers splash frightening headlines on their front pages. Nigerians in cyberspace are locked in intense debates on twitter, facebook and online newspaper forums.

These robust at times insane debates are the sort expected from Nigeria’s over paid and spoilt officials. Slowly the world reacts. A trail of condemnations perched on disgust. President Jonathan releases a statement. It is the usual official stuff. A terse, bland tepid sermon that verges on a retching masterpiece of Schwäche.

As if on a theatrical cue, top dogs on the Nigerian political cavement race to make follow-follow statements to the press. It is a comical dance of relevante. The politicians whose voice in our memory has since been deleted heard only in the sinkhole of the anus must renew their relevance with this tragedy. It is like the relevance enjoyed by a coffin maker in a period of sudden epidemic of deaths. As expected they had nothing useful to say. They bicker about the attack in Abuja choosing to blame some unintelligible reasons rather than themselves. There was no remark of their monumental gang rape of the nation’s resources being solely responsible for running the country into the valley of death. The senate president moaned about suicide bombing being alien to our culture. No one bothered to remind him earning ridiculous amounts for work not done is equally alien to our culture. This is a ravaging example of the terrifying obsoleteness that permeates Nigeria’s political class. They thrive on ignorance and poor reasoning.

The national security adviser (all hail NSA!) the giant iroko in the deadwood Machiavellian jungle of Nigerian security forces is all over the place labouring to be on top of the security situation in Abuja. Someone inquires excitedly whether ‘Cnn and Al Jazeera are in town? Owoye Azazi stands with the president. But like an old woman who has slipped several times on the same crag, he must pick himself up and pretend it never happened. Nigeria always pretends it never happened. The next page in the NSA and Jonathan’s predictable script: play tough and invite all the service chiefs and police IG to Abuja. Dr Abati will issue the letters: The president requests that you report to Council chambers Abuja (not facebook) for an urgent meeting. Sitting allowance provided in advance. Free accommodation at Hilton Hotels. Maximum of 3 concubines allowed per lodging. No Mobile phones. Thank You.


As part of the fallout of the NSA’s meetings, Nigeria’s rag tag bribe addicted, 20 naira police force run by Hafiz Ringim will be blamed for everything that went wrong in Abuja last Friday. After all last June Boko Haram demolished police head office in Abuja, the command and control centre of police operations without any resistance. The SSS in its little corner of oblivion suddenly regales us with its gallantry against Boko Haram. Out of the blue we learn of hundreds if not thousands of the sect’s members it has arrested but never prosecuted. We also learn of the tomes of intelligence in the possession of the SSS of faceless individuals financing the activities of the terror group. Finally Marilyn Ogar wearing a wry smile like a stop-motion animation prop promises an explosive exposé of names of eminent politicians tunnelling funds to Boko Haram. Farida Waziri somewhere in the void eats her nails lusting for such 15 minutes in the spot light!

The citizens wait for news of breakthrough as days turn to months. The airwaves simmer with fresh misfortune propelled by a gouging spell of emotion. New hardships force open new chapters. Old pains fade into the labyrinthine cesspit of oblivion.

The sympathy of spectators turns to disenchantment. The dead have long been buried. Their grave stones of our government’s giant failures sit by the grief of our shredded prosperity. Anger melts and breeds disinterest. Bloody Friday is only a chapter in Nigeria’s diary of preventable tragedies. It is a boubous gown of a blood stained fabric. This government like the ones before it is a depressing tragedy of phenomenal failures and shocking ineptitude. Jonathan’s government is a glaring burden on the citizens. The idiots in government gasp in ponderous inaction as these Boko Haram swine that value neither god nor man celebrate an immoral victory of murder of innocent people aware Nigeria lacks the government to go after them.

http://saharareporters.com/article/un-house-car-bombing-slow-motion-giant

Boko Haram Kills Former LGA Chair In Maiduguri; Bombs Home of Former Police Affairs Minister In Bauchi
Posted: August 28, 2011 - 23:22

Police and Soldiers putting out a bomb fire
By SaharaReporters, New York
Unknown gunmen invaded the Bauchi home of a former minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Ibrahim Lame, leaving the structure partially damaged. The attack was carried near the Bauchi club area, it is not known if the attack affected the elite club.

No loss of life was reported according to eyewitnesses. Saharareporters learns that Boko Haram elements that attacked Dr. Lame's residence said they were exerting revenge on the minister over the killing of their charismatic leader, Muhammad Yusuf. Dr. Lame was the police affairs minister during the Umaru Yar'adua regime when police officers arrested and later extra-judicially killed the leader of the islamist group.


Dr. Lame is reportedly attending the lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia.

In Maiduguri suspected members of the militant islamist movement also shot and killed the former chairman of Kukawa local government area at his residence in Bulabulin Ngarannam area of Maiduguri on Sunday.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/boko-haram-kills-former-lga-chair-maiduguri-bombs-home-former-police-affairs-minister-bauc

THE UN BUILDING BOMBING-MATTERS ARISING-IS THERE A COVER UP?
Every sane thinking person from all over the country and outside, including many world leaders have condemned in no small measure, the dastardly bombing of the UN building in Abuja, the FCT about 2 days ago, the area where the building is located is said to be where many Embassies are located, and with the ease with which the suicide bomber was able to do his job, evading security officials before slamming into the building, and by that causing many deaths-official claims says 18 deaths and over 60+ seriously injured, then everyone most especially the embassies needs to be on the alert. Pro-Islamic sect Boko Haram has already claimed responsibility for the ungodly act.

We would like to ask a question, which we already think, defies any answer, what kind of God, is it that would support violence or the taking of another life for reasons of agitations, what gives any other human-being the right to end another man's life for whatever reason(s),, are this people in any way normal, are they human-beings at all?.

Why ask, if there is a cover up?, it's because a statement was released on FB by the former Minister for Aviation in the regime of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in the person of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who said and we quote him--

Dr. David Edward, a young and brilliant Nigerian U.S-based medical practitioner (who has a 10 year old son) and who had just flown in from the U.S. for the programme was one of the speakers at the conference on the 3rd floor of the UN building. He was speaking at the conference when the bomb went off and he died instantly. They say only 18 people died. This is not true. Out of the 300 people that attended that conference on the 3rd floor of the UN building alone at least 150 were killed. And yet they will tell you that only 18 people died. This is an ungodly lie and it is disrespectful to those who had to pay the supreme price and that lost their lives. In the National Hospital mortuary alone over one hundred dead bodies were deposited and many other bodies were rushed to other mortuaries in the city of Abuja. Please ask your people to go and ask those that work at Abuja National hospital if you doubt this. What about the 20 children that were killed in the creche? There was no mention of them by the media or our government either.
What type of country is this? These 150 people are not being honoured in death because no-one knows that they were killed as well. They have not even been acknowledged as a number let alone by name. Is it now a crime to tell the world the amount of harm, evil and damage that Boko Haram has carried out? We lost many innocent souls yesterday and not just the 18 that are being reported in the press.The Nigerian people have a right to know the truth and this government had better start getting serious about security before it is too late and the whole country falls apart. Boko Haram must be crushed. Utterly crushed. They must be wiped out.
FEMI FANI-KAYODE

If what he has tried to say to all is to be believed, it then brings the question to mind, WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THE COVER UP, is there something to be gained by some one or some people, by not revealing the truth as it were, WHY COVER UP THE CASUALTIES OF SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME FOR WHAT GAIN?


http://maestromedia..com/2011/08/un-building-bombing-matters-arising-is.html

Why President Jonathan Cannot Lead By Pius Adesanmi

Posted: August 27, 2011 - 03:10

Columnist: Pius Adesanmi

“Gentlemen, welcome to this emergency meeting. Today is a sad day for our country, as you all know. Apart from the lives we lost, the bombing of the UN building is a source of great embarrassment for Nigeria. I have summoned you all so we can quickly agree on the president’s immediate response.”

“Thank you, Oronto. As the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, I swung into action immediately. I have already drafted a press statement. In fact, I was on my way to secure presidential clearance to release the statement when I got your summon.”

“Em… Ken, what do you think?”

“Thanks, Oronto. Well, it’s a good thing that Reuben has acted so quickly. His reflexes are good. But the country has just suffered a major terrorist attack. We are talking the UN here. This is huge international stuff. Should Nigerians and the international community be comforted by a presidential messenger?”

“Ken, take time. Seriously, take your time. Who is a messenger? Look, Oronto did not summon us here to insult each other o”

“Sorry, Reuben, it came out wrongly. Reno, what do you think? What would Trippi advice that we do?”

“Em, cool temper gentlemen. I think Ken has a point. Once a country is hit by a major international tragedy, the management of that tragedy becomes the yardstick for measuring the quality of its leadership. Look at the recent Norway bombings. Within minutes of the tragedy, the Norwegian Prime Minister was all over the world’s airwaves - from CNN to BBC via Aljazeera – comforting his citizens and reassuring the international community. Spectacle and perception are crucial in this business. Nothing beats the image of a hands-on leader getting to the trenches to comfort his people and the world.”

“Exactly! My sentiments, Reno! We also saw the British Prime Minister in action during the recent London riots. He cut short his vacation and returned home to lead. He was constantly in the street, addressing his country and the world.”

“Yes o, Ken, it was reassuring seeing the British Prime Minister. Not to mention what an American President would do in these circumstances: rousing and reassuring speeches to Americans and the world atop the rubble within minutes of an attack. Reuben, do you understand what we are talking about now?

“Ok, Reno, you and Ken have a point. So what do we do, Oronto?”

“Well, if I understand you guys, you seem to be suggesting that instead of Reuben’s press statement, we should throw the President out there so he can address Nigerians and the world in front of cameras?”

“Not only that, Oronto, he should also rush to the scene of the tragedy with little or no siren. He should be dressed in jeans or khaki and should go there to lead rescue workers for five minutes and reassure a traumatized nation. BBC, CNN, Aljazeera, and Reuters are all there. Even NTA is there. Let him stop in front of their microphones to take questions and comfort the Nigerian people.”

“Are you guys serious?”

“Oronto, do we look like we are joking?”

“Either you are joking or you have forgotten the problem”

“The problem?”

“Yes, the problem. I will jolt your memories. Ken, do you remember your recent interview with that Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail?”

“Ah, yes, I remember.”

“Good, what did you tell them about the President’s stage presence?”

“Ah, yes, I said that’s the only area he needs to work on. Em… I mean, I praised him so much it was looking ridiculous so I had to throw in something that at least looks like a weakness to make him human. So I said that he needs to improve his stage presence”




“Don’t worry, Ken, we are not blaming you. You guys are here talking about young, charismatic, and energetic world leaders who are masters of oratory. People who can give unscripted, impromptu speeches and electrify their audience. And you want us to throw oga out there and make him perform like those people? Are we miracle workers? Reuben, are you a miracle worker?”

“Well guys, you know I am new here and Reno told me last week that I am not paid to think the things I used to think when I was outside. It’s not that I haven’t thought of that little problem”

“Little problem? Reuben, you call that little problem? Look, we are all talking strictly off the record here. Nothing said will ever leave this room. Not a word will leak. This is a we-we situation and we can talk frankly and freely. Ken, tell Reuben.”

“I should tell him?”

“Yes, tell him”

“Well, Reuben, the truth is that it takes us 1000 hours of coaching and practicing to prepare Oga to read a five-minute speech on TV. And you know what Nigerians and the world still think of his performance with all that effort. Whenever Oga is going abroad, we do nearly 3000 hours of coaching. That CNN interview with Christian Amanpour, you have no idea how many hours we sweated to prepare Oga. And you know the result. So, truth is, Oga just doesn’t have it. He will never electrify an audience. He will never not look sleepy, lost, and uninspiring in public. There is just no way to improve Oga’s stage presence. That’s the truth we all whisper to ourselves around here but our job is to protect him from that glaring weakness. ”

“That’s the truth gentlemen. If after thousands of hours of coaching, we only manage to get Oga to perform below average in scripted interviews and public speeches, imagine the disaster of throwing him in front of the world’s cameras unscripted today of all days. It will worsen the tragedy we have on our hands. We lost eighteen lives today. This is no time to add to Nigerians’ anguish by reminding them of words like clueless and lost when they see their president on TV.”

“Ok, Oronto, I guess we need to take a vote on how to proceed. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs has already spoken on BBC. Ban Ki-Moon has already spoken. And the world still hasn’t heard from the President. There is no time to waste.”

“Ok, all in favour of Reuben acting in loco parentis for the president say ‘aye’
Reno: Aye!
Ken: Aye!
Oronto: Aye!
Reuben: Aye!

“Gentlemen, we have a decision. Reuben, go and release the statement. I’ll go and brief the President.”

Presidential Press Statement

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria utterly condemn the barbaric, senseless and cowardly attack on the United Nation’s Building in Abuja this morning.

The President believes that the attack is a most despicable assault on the United Nations’ objectives of global peace and security, and the sanctity of human life to which Nigeria wholly subscribes.

He extends his sincere condolences to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon and all members of the United Nations family who have lost loved ones in the heinous attack.

President Jonathan reaffirms the Federal Government’s total commitment to vigorously combat the incursion of all forms of terrorism into Nigeria, and wishes to reassure all Nigerians and the international community that his Administration will spare no effort to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The President has also directed all relevant government agencies to assist in the search and rescue effort at the UN Building, and ordered heightened security across the Federal Capital Territory.

He urges all Nigerians to cooperate fully with the government in its efforts to expose the desperate elements who promote violence, terrorism and division in the country.
While noting that by today’s attack, we are once again reminded of the international character of terrorism and its indiscriminate targeting of innocent civilians, President Jonathan affirms Nigeria’s determination to continue to play its part in the global effort to eradicate the scourge of terrorism in all its ramifications.

He urges all Nigerians and foreigners resident in the country to go about their normal affairs with the full assurance that the Federal Government and its law enforcement agencies will continue working diligently to ensure the full protection of lives and property in the country.

Signed:
Reuben Abati, Ph.D
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
August 26, 2011

http://saharareporters.com/column/why-president-jonathan-cannot-lead-pius-adesanmi

"Nigeria Is Not A Failed Nation; Nigeria’s Leaders Have Failed The Nation", MEND Replies The Movement For New Nigeria

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigeria-not-failed-nation-nigeria%E2%80%99s-leaders-have-failed-nation-mend-replies-movement-new-n

Posted: August 24, 2011 - 15:09

By Jomo Gbomo

After careful perusal of the above titled document released by the group calling itself the Movement for New Nigeria, The Movement for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.(MEND) deems it appropriate and perhaps crucial for two(2) reasons, to voice our position on this document. Firstly the authors of this release purport to have co-opted the people of the Niger Delta in a scheme of which we Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) are ignorant. Additionally, the caliber of persons signatory to this document, presents a source of concern. Our simple understanding of the beliefs and intentions of this organization and our response accordingly, is as follows;

Movement for new Nigeria: Nigeria is an amalgam of several ethnically dissimilar nationalities coaxed and coerced into co-existing in a federation by our colonial conquerors. The amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914 and later unification of all ethnic nationalities by Nigeria’s colonial conquerors was a grave error, the effects of which are still being felt in Nigeria.

Movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta: Regarding the forced unification of tribes in Nigeria, that is a truism not peculiar to Nigeria but all nations occupied at some point by colonial power. Historically, borders of most nations were shaped by conflict coercion and providence. Nearly all nations of the world are a product of these processes. Israel finds itself stuck with an Arab Muslim population, the United States with a growing Muslim and immigrant population and many European countries with the Romany whose origins are traceable to as far as Asia.

What the movement for new Nigeria blames on colonial conquerors that physically departed our shores more than half a century ago, we The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) attribute to providence.

By providence, Nigerians like people of other nations find ourselves inseparable from our compatriots with dissimilar beliefs and cultures. The development of the new nation upon independence and the ultimate survival of Nigeria as a nation depended heavily on the respect of the conciliatory agreement which brought together divers ethnic nationalities in the creation of Nigeria. This agreement was represented by the independence constitution. Like all agreement, this constitution upon creation was subject to continuous generally acceptable revisions. All ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria must be bound by these facts.

Movement for New Nigeria: On independence from Britain, Nigeria was “inherited” by the natives of the former Northern protectorate, in particular the Hausa-Fulani.

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta: The assertion that Northern Nigeria “inherited” the new nation of Nigeria upon its independence from its colonial conquerors is a gross misconception. After the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta, the British reluctantly granted independence to Nigerians but only from direct British rule.

The largely uneducated and unexposed Northern Nigerians were considered most pliable by the departing colonial masters and therefore susceptible to manipulation and control from far away England. Every ruler in Nigeria from independence to date has faithfully and gladly consented to servitude in their relationship with Britain and the rest of the western world ruling Nigeria by proxy, in total disregard of the interests and well-being of the Nigerian populace.

Colonial rule by proxy accounts for the maladministration of most African countries and the plight of millions of Africans from potentially rich countries such as Ivory Coast where Alassane Ouattara is now a ruling servant of France which will force him before the ICC for atrocities committed by his troops in his quest for power, should he ever dare to step out of line with his masters. Mobutu a ruthless despot, who enslaved his people and “bled” his nation, did so at the behest of the United States.

The argument  that the North is holding on to power for the sake of the betterment of the people of the North, is disingenuous considering that Northern Nigeria with the exception of Abuja which lies within the middle belt, remains noticeably infrastructural disadvantaged.

Nigeria before independence was ruled by our colonial conquerors and after independence by stooges elevated to power by our former colonial masters and other western nations. With exception of General Yakubu Gowon, every Nigerian leader has besides serving western nations, catered solely for family and friends.

Movement for New Nigeria: The refusal of certain northerners to accept the result of the recently concluded presidential elections in Nigeria is directly related to Northern abhorrence of Goodluck Jonathan who like all southerners is looked upon as a “slave boy” in line with Ahmadu Bello`s admonition to descendants of Uthman danfodio which promotes an idea of perpetual Northern rule of Nigeria and servitude of the south and minority tribes in the North.

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta: The recently concluded presidential election is accepted by most Nigerians to have been a farce. How then can legitimate and peaceful objection to this dubious selection of a president be construed as discrimination?

Objection to election results is common in many parts of the world especially Africa and is indeed, a part of the democratic process which is why such objections are permitted by every democracy. The allusion to Goodluck Jonathan being a “slave boy” is a statement of an obvious fact.

Jonathan is a SLAVE BOY. Goodluck Jonathan is a slave to the western world, oil companies, Northern elements and Obasanjo and anyone who can assure his stay in power.

President Jonathan has occupied the highest office in the land for close to two(2) years now and has nothing to show for his time in office except for the billions of us dollars he has looted from the national treasury in order to fraudulently remain in office.

In Bayelsa state, Jonathan and his wife Patience emptied the state coffers stealing billions of Naira. He was the most ineffectual and corrupt leader in the history of his state.

This theft of state funds by Dr & Mrs. Jonathan is the fuel for Jonathan’s passion to retain Timipre Sylva as governor of Bayelsa state. This, Jonathan intends to achieve through rigging the forthcoming elections in that state to the consternation of more than 99% of  the indigenes of Bayelsa state who can not wait another day to see the back of Sylva.

Sylva’s use to Jonathan which is now serving as a tool of blackmail is the continued cover-up of the theft of Bayelsa state funds by Goodluck Jonathan and his wife in his brief tenure as governor of that State.

As first lady of Bayelsa state, Patience was noted for her greed and implicated in       laundering millions of pounds to England, the same offence for which James Ibori is facing trial in England. Has the government of England forgotten about Patience Jonathan so soon?

Contrary to urban myth, the arrest of D.S.P. Alamieseigha by the British government was the catalyst for the 2005 insurrection as Alamieseigha at that time was very voluble on the subject of resource control by the people of the Niger Delta. Asari, by chance found himself in the same boat as Alamieseigha. The Movement for the Emancipation for the Niger Delta (MEND) has never had any working relationship with Asari or the group he once led. Both groups differ in ideology as night is to day.

Regarding the arrest of Alamieseigha, the British governments realized too late what their actions would result in, releasing him and pretending he escaped from custody. Most Nigerian leaders have stashed away in England, billions of pounds and the British government will be well advised to prosecute all these rulers, Obasanjo inclusive, and return their loot to Nigeria or else the British government will be forced again to spew those they choose to hold for political benefits. The government of Britain like South Africa allows itself to be used as thugs in order to consolidate the position of its selected stooge as president of Nigeria.

Two (2) years in power is sufficient time to have put Obasanjo and his band of thieves in prison where they belong, provide basic necessities such as electricity; generally improve the daily lives of Nigerians. Setting aside ethnic and religious sentiments, Jonathan’s administration of Nigeria is desultory and his presence at the helm of affairs is nugatory to the Niger Delta in particular and Nigeria in general. His presidency can only be explained as the fulfillment of a curse upon the people of Nigeria. The ignorant, unguided and thoughtless utterances of the likes of Ahmadu Bello, have no place in a new Nigeria.

It should be remembered as well that equally provoking statements emerged from the Niger Delta from where powerless miscreants threatened the disintegration of Nigeria if Jonathan was not returned to office by any means. For as long as the negative ideology of Ahmadu Bello is absent in any form from the Nigerian constitution, and non-Muslim, non northern Nigerians have held the reins of the most powerful office in the nation, the admonition of Ahmadu Bello should be taken for what it is; the ranting  of a small and sick mind. All such asinine comments would best be relegated to the annals of Nigerian history. Its mention decades later by the authors of document are a crafty and despicable attempt to whip-up anti- North sentiments.

4. Movement for New Nigeria: Our forebears acquiesced in the brand of federal system of government that succeeded colonial direct rule and with the exception of northern Nigeria; all are suffering the effect of the cowardice of our ancestors.

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta: This assertion is entirely untrue as Nigerians have since the first military coup, being robbed of the rights to which our forebears appended their signatures. This conciliatory agreement which was the independence constitution would have sufficed if respected and strictly adhered to by all parties. The former colonial masters intervened time and again through the military in order to secure control of the resources of all ethnic nationalities especially the people of the Niger Delta mutilating the independence constitution.

5. Movement for New Nigeria: The Oligarchy which “inherited” Nigeria from Britain refuses to negotiate the issue of the mutilated independence constitution and subsequent injustice which has granted the North a majority of states and local governments. This also led to the usurpation of land, sovereignties, water ways and theft of resources by the central government. The 1999 constitution was foist on all Nigerians in breach of our sovereignties in a Nigeria presently run of the basis of a master – servant relationship. This argument by implication further negates all laws binding the different ethnic nationalities rendering these laws unenforceable and granting authority to all parties to Nigeria to secede at will. The proffered solution under these dire circumstances, is the division of Nigeria into four countries with the people of the NIGER DELTA apportioned to one of these units now referred to as the lower Niger Federation.

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta: The movement for New Nigeria has failed to appreciate that the mutilation of the Nigerian constitution by its military leaders of Northern origin was only possible with the collaboration of numerous southerners who benefited immensely from these illegitimate military governments. These southerners at that time like southern legislators of today were presented as representing the interest of other ethnic nationalities. Nigerians have forgotten how Ernest Shonekan assisted Northern military elements in hijacking the most successful election in Nigeria.

Prof. Tam David-West in an interview with Yinka Fabowale, stated “silly. He should look at the law, the oil belongs to Nigeria”. This supposedly learned indigene of the Niger Delta supports the parasitic existence of many state in Nigeria on the resources of the Niger Delta. He claimed people will die if the revenue accrued from petroleum sales is not shared amongst the states of the federation encouraging states with potentially viable resources and economies to sit back and enjoy the oil revenue until the wells run dry.

He later in this interview proceeds to extol the virtues of Isaac Boro. This is a strange contradiction as Isaac Boro in all likelihood would have had the professor shot for his utterances which effectively concedes the lands of the people of the Niger Delta to the central government.

Prof. David-West was a collaborator in an illegitimate government headed by General Buhari and he shamelessly states in the same interview that pleaded with this illegitimate ruler to execute all indigenes of the Niger Delta who “stole oil”. If David-west had his way, “bunkering” would have been punishable by death. David-west takes a further step into madness by claiming without substantiating that all militia leaders in today’s Niger Delta are involved in self-enriching criminal ventures.

All self proclaimed elders of Niger Delta origin, from chief E.K. Clark to the lowest, never contributed one kobo to the fight for justice and do not have a clue as to how weapons, equipment and finances are being sourced to sustain our quest for justice. The revered mentor of every militant group in the delta, MEND inclusive, Isaac Boro like Ken Saro-wiwa was a prophet on whose words and actions we have all drawn inspiration to challenge the might of the Nigerian government. Isaac Boro’s prowess as a soldier and strategist were untested but Boro served his purpose as a prophet bringing to the people of the delta a message of hope.

Prof. David-West and others from the delta should weigh their utterances and show respect for the thousands, from Ken Saro-wiwa to the young men who have paid the ultimate price fighting to actualize the dreams and visions of Isaac Boro. A critical examination of the 1999 constitution and earlier mutilations will no doubt expose the collaboration of southerners in the conspiracy to rob all Nigerians of their land and resources.

In an attempt to further distort the Nigerian constitution and grant him a third term in office, Obasanjo, a Christian southerner, stole and spent billions of us dollars bribing legislators to amend the Nigerian constitution to suit his selfish purpose. How much effort and money Obasanjo in his eight ( years in office put towards addressing the injustices contained in the 1999 constitution? Another example of southern collaboration with the north on unjust and contentious issues was the acrimonious competition between Timi Sylva and Aliabe in the fraudulent disarmament process. The price offered to who would disarm more militans by the late president Yar Adua was the governorship of Bayelsa state. This led both sides to purchase weapons to bolster their numbers. Neither of these morons (Sylva nor Alaibe) was interested in the just resolution of the Niger delta issue which has plagued Nigeria for decades. They were satisfied in collaborating with what was a futile attempt at emasculating the people of the Niger delta, for selfish reasons.

6. Movement for New Nigeria: The failure of General Gowon to abide by agreements which would have resulted in the secession of the Biafran republic was resultant upon the norths disdain for colonel Ojukwu who like Goodluck Jonathan, they regarded as a slave boy.

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger delta: This argument is unstable and untenable for several reasons. Ojukwu is a very intelligent, articulate and self confident man who unlike Jonathan can not be described by anyone as possessing slave-like qualities. Prior to the Nigerian civil war, the minority tribes of the eastern region were disgruntled by the discriminatory treatment meted out to them by the majority Igbo tribe.

The minority tribes of the eastern region were not adequately and respectfully consulted before Ojukwu embarked on his journey to secession. At the inception of war, Ojukwu could best be described as young, arrogant, egotistic and tribalistic. Impeccable qualities for a potential dictator.

Realizing that life in the new Biafran republic would have been dictated by a master-servant relationship, the minority tribes of the eastern region sided with the federal government to resist the break- away. The movement for new Nigeria is attempting to repeat history by claiming plenipotentiary powers without extensively consulting with all who may be required to sacrifice their lives in the event of war. They have renamed the republic of Biafra, the lower Niger without asking themselves the all-important question; will the people of the Niger delta accept to form a new federation with eastern Nigerians without extensive consultation and sober reflection? The answer to this question is a resounding NO!!! We will not be accused by posterity of acquiescing in the participation of a new union just as our progenitors now stand accused by The Movement of a new Nigeria.

General Gowon’s meetings and agreements with colonel Ojukwu were a time wasting and tactically sound judgment based upon Gowon’s realization that Ojukwu lacked the support of all minority tribes and was therefore not in full control of Biafra. This had nothing to do with a disdain for Ojukwu who is deserving of nothing but respect for his courage and determination. If we must return to a pre-colonial dispensation as this document proposes, Nigeria must fragment into ethnically harmonious units which can at free-will forge alliances. This suggestion is a recipe for anarchy as is witnessed in Somalia.

7. Movement for New Nigeria: Islamic northerners have the right impose sharia law within the confines of their homelands provided such laws are not extended to Christian communities’ habituating within close proximity of these Islamic northern homelands and after all said. The Movement for New Nigeria expresses its willingness to abide by any internationally sanctioned apportioning of land and sovereignties of present day Nigeria.

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger delta: The right to freedom of worship and expression must be enshrined in any constitution and remain non-negotiable. Religion is a personal relationship between man and his creator and should be restricted to places of worship, homes and our hearts.

God requires voluntary worship and respect for his commandments and as such, Muslims in the south should not be compelled to abandon their faith just as well as Christian in the north must not face persecution on account of their faith, neither should any faithful be bullied into conforming with practices of contrary to ones beliefs.

It is insane for any society live by both sharia and secular laws which are diametrically opposed. Two Muslims preferring to go before a sharia motivated adjudicator should be free to do just as Christian take disputes before church elders. Whatever decisions reached by such arbitration can then be registered in a court of law, rendering it binding upon parties involved.

The “almajari’s” of the north and masses of the south are sick and tired of maladministration and corruption in government. The upsurge in radicalism nationwide is directly related to corruption and theft of public funds with impunity, diminishing the quality of life of the people of Nigeria in general. Leaders in the north do not lead sharia compliant lives and if they were to be judged by the laws they preach and publicly advocate would all be limbless.

Juxtaposing Nigerian leaders with their counterparts in developed countries helps in creating a clearer picture of how deep in trouble Nigeria is. From the local government chairman to his governor, on to the legislators through to the president, Nigeria is administered by common criminals. Even if present day Nigeria is divided into ten (10) new nations, each country will go with its fair share of criminals who will continue with plundering, tribalism, nepotism and all social ills afflicting our society.

The USA has a greater population than Nigeria and if Americans are to be classified by tribe, the USA would certainly have more tribes than exist in Nigeria yet Americans live in relative harmony and when compared with situation in Nigeria, bliss!

The Movement for New Nigeria appears to be under the illusion that the international community cares for the oppressed and will faithfully work towards an equitable and generally acceptable division of Nigeria. In this dog eat dog world, it is every nation for itself. Alliances are cosmetics and founded mostly on selfish interests. President Obama is responsible only to the people of the United States and will cease to be president the moment he places the interests of the Niger delta or Nigeria before that of the United States. To Obama, it is okay for the despoiling of the Niger delta to continue as long as western oil companies conduct this plunder in a “civilized” and discrete manner. The United states claims to be championing the rights of the oppressed worldwide yet they have killed more Afghan civilians than the Taliban and more Iraqi civilians than Sadam Hussen.

Israel in one episode murdered more Lebanese civilian than all the Jews killed by right wing Islamic terrorist groups since the existence of Israel yet no one from any of these countries has appeared before the ICC on war crimes charges. The French intervention in Ivory Coast was solely to safeguard its interests and land-locked Burkina Faso.

Whether the governments of Iran and Syria realize this or not, it is in their interest to support the Libyan government, Taliban, IRA, and insurgent groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and worldwide where western forces are present as if they (western nations) get rest from the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, they will turn their attention to bombing and occupying Iran and Syria.

The bane of Nigeria is bad leadership in all spheres of governance. Nigeria must be “destroyed from foundation level” by Nigerians and re-built. Just as the people of Tunisia and Egypt took their destinies into their hands, the people of Nigeria must rise up and rid our land of the scum who have held millions to ransom since the physical departure of our colonial masters.

All Nigerian leaders before and after General Yakubu Gowon have vulgarized the highest office in the land thus encouraging thieves and thugs to aspire to the office of president of Nigeria.

Nigeria is in dire need, not of division but quality leaders. Men and women of integrity armed with courage to resign when the burden of responsible leadership proves too much to bear. Nigeria is in need of and ripe for a revolution which will cleanse these criminal leaders from society.

When we have responsible leaders who care about those they are supposed to serve, providing good infrastructure, jobs, housing, security, electricity, and portable water, equitable distribution of wealth and opportunities, then radicalism will fade into oblivion and no one will care for who is king in Abuja. Leaders who realize that they are servants of the people and not masters.  If such leadership can be produced by a southerner, he will be embraced by the North and vice versa.

Inept, corrupt and power hungry leaders from both sides of the divide have contributed to the failure of Nigeria. These people continue to blind Nigerians to their inadequacies over plying the tribal and religious cards to divide and rule.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) will continue to pursue vigorously the emancipation of the people of the Niger Delta from corrupt leadership and the grip of western oil companies. Where possible, we will assist and collaborate with groups and individuals in Nigeria willing to uproot the corrupt leaderships of states and federal government. We will do this only towards the realization of ONE NIGERIA where there will be justice, respect for rule of law and independence of the judiciary, intolerance of religious bigotry and nepotism. ONE NIGERIA where fairness to all citizens regardless of tribe, gender or religion will reign supreme!

The sole motive of this utterly abhorrent diatribe on the failure of Nigeria as a state by the Movement for new Nigeria is the actualization of the impossible dream of a state of Biafra under any guise. The people of the Niger Delta and indeed all Nigerians must resist this selfish plot by any means necessary.

Nigeria is not a failed nation; Nigeria’s leaders have failed the nation.

-Jomo Gbomo

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigeria-not-failed-nation-nigeria%E2%80%99s-leaders-have-failed-nation-mend-replies-movement-new-n

Salami’s Removal Is Untenable And Ominous By Bamidele Aturu

Posted: August 22, 2011 - 19:55

By Bamidele Aturu

One is lost for words to describe the decision of the President to ratify the recommendation of some members of the National Judicial Council that the President of the Court of Appeal be retired or suspended. The decision is clearly not in the best interest of the country and will certainly strengthen the enemies of the rule of law. It is unclear to me why the President chose to side with the judicial anarchists and terrorists who made the recommendation in the first place.

What is clear is that many people who had assumed that the President is a gentleman who will not do anything to confer undue advantage on himself and his political party would be forgiven if they think that he was part of the game-plan right from the beginning and that it is all about getting Salami out of the Presidential election Tribunal hearing the CPC case against the President’s election.

The President ought to know that Justice Salami had submitted the case before a court of competent jurisdiction. He should have been advised by his Attorney General not to foist on the court a situation of complete helplessness. If the Attorney General did not give the proper advise, that is quite regrettable. For me I think that the President should start to look for another Attorney General of the Federation. The quality of advice the President is getting is quite doubtful
The Nigeria Bar Association must transcend routine press statement sloganeering in this case and ask the President in clear terms to reverse the erroneous and ominous retirement of Justice Salami. If he does not, the Bar should take decisive steps to make it clear to the President that his decision is both intolerable and unacceptable. Immediate boycott of the courts is clearly unavoidable, as we cannot have a situation in which the President is placed in a position to choose his judges

http://saharareporters.com/article/salami%E2%80%99s-removal-untenable-and-ominous-bamidele-aturu

President Jonathan’s Dictatorship Unfolding-CNPP

Posted: August 22, 2011 - 14:30

By Osita Okechukwu

Conference of Nigerian Political Parties {CNPP} regrets that President Goodluck Jonathan’s dictatorship tendency is unfolding too early in the day; for the executive fiat adopted by him in the recommendation of the National Judicial Council is subjudice, arbitrary and meant to frustrate the suit filed by Justice Ayo Salami.

We are at a loss if heaven will fall if President Jonathan had not descended into the arena, assert the age old independence of the judiciary and allow time for the court process to run its full course.

It is our considered view that by descending into the arena, Mr President has not only violated the Constitution; but has exposed his interest in manipulating the Presidential and Governorship Elections Tribunal, where the President of the Court of Appeal is a key actor.

For instance, in the tradition of African Big Men, out of myriads of competing issues single tenure topped his priority, today against rational legal advice from the Nigeria Bar Association, CNPP, Civil Society Organisations and legal experts he choose to descend into the murky arena of the dark cloud hanging over the top echelon of the judiciary.

CNPP is yet to locate the vacancy, which Section 238 he relied on is predicated upon; when Justice Ayo Salami has not resigned as the President of the Court of Appeal and the President cannot adopt the recommendation of a Kangaroo National Judicial Council without the express address of the two-thirds of the Senate, as stipulated in Section 292{!}?

Section 238 is not an ouster clause and cannot be relied upon, when there is no vacancy; therefore Mr President is only exhibiting dictatorship tendency.

Is not paradoxical and a contradiction for President Jonathan, who with executive fait appointed Hon. Justice Dalhatu Adamu as acting President of the Court of Appeal, to in all honesty expect that equity; justice and fairness shall prevail in the circumstance? Who is that Federal Judge who will deliver the case in favour of Justice Ayo Salami, when the Imperial President has taken side?
In sum, as President Jonathan has defied all rational advice not to descend into the murky arena of the judiciary; we consequently, calls on all patriots to brace up for the struggle ahead, for non-violent Mass Action to stop the Dictator on his tracks.

Finally, we salute the Nigeria Bar Association for unlike President Jonathan, avoided the temptation to be dragged into the arena of corrupt judges. History will vindicate the NBA.


Osita Okechukwu
National Publicity Secretary
CNPP

http://saharareporters.com/press-release/president-jonathan%E2%80%99s-dictatorship-unfolding-cnpp

DEEPENING DEMOCRACY: Judicial recklessness and undermining the rule of law

By Jibrin Ibrahim

August 21, 2011 02:50AMT


At its meeting on Thursday, the National Judicial Council suspended Ayo Salami, the President of the Court of Appeal from office and sent a recommendation to the President that he should be compulsorily retired from the judiciary. They acted in spite of the fact that two days previously, they had been served court summons on a case filed by Justice Salami seeking perpetual injunction restraining them from acting on the Umaru Abdullahi and Justice Auta Panels.

Even more scandalous is the fact that the National Judicial Council made concerted efforts to evade service of a legitimate court summons and only accepted it after their action was exposed by the media and they were ridiculed for their illegal and unethical conduct that they ordinarily have the constitutional responsibility to checkmate when others engage in it. The blatant disregard for the rule of law they displayed is a reckless attitude that has huge potential for undermining the rule of law in our society. By their action, they are encouraging others to avoid court summons with flimsy excuses.

For the Council to receive the court summons on Tuesday and still disregard it on Thursday and take the actions they took is a clear message that the rule of law does not apply to them. Black’s Law Dictionary defines the rule of law as: “A principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and all entities, public and private, including the state itself are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated.” It is the responsibility of the National Judicial Council to protect and enforce the rule of law so when they breach it willfully, it means the entire Council is not fit for purpose.

The Council not only evaded court summons but went ahead to consider and make a definitive pronouncement on a matter that is pending in court. This act of lawlessness must be resisted by all citizens interested in the edification of democracy and the rule of law. They must immediately withdraw their decision or face a national mobilisation aimed at forcing all those who participated in the decision out of the institution.

It is so clear that they were out to do a hatchet job before their boss, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, retires in a few days time. The fact that they set up the Justice Auta Panel when they failed to get what they wanted from the Justice Abdullahi Panel means they had taken an a priori decision and were shopping for a mechanism to implement it. The entire matter had been sordid from the very beginning. The Supreme Court had intervened in a matter that was not before it on the Sokoto State gubernatorial elections after allegedly surreptitiously trying to manipulate the President of the Court of Appeal. They had tried to promote him out of the Court of Appeal for reasons we can only speculate on. As most members of the National Judicial Council are appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria who is the accused in the original case, shopping for mechanisms to deal with his accuser compromises every principle of justice.

There are many cases of judicial misconduct that have been before the National Judicial Council for years awaiting deliberations. Why did they set everything aside and act in what in judicial circles would be considered the speed of light in removing Justice Salami from the bench. They even refused to await the return of Justice Musdapher, who was supposed to chair the meeting.

As Justice Salami had been cleared of the allegations against him emanating from the Ekiti and Osun States Appeal Courts, asking him to apologies is meaningless. If he has perjured as they stated, he should be punished as the law says after a legitimate court process. To simply ask to make an apology is wrong.

The recklessness of the National Judicial Council can easily lead us to a constitutional crisis because when the apex judicial organ violates its mandate and our law, then the other branches, the Executive and the Legislature might have to intervene thus breaking the principle of the separation of powers in our Constitution. The way forward is to the Nigerian Bar Association to take the leadership in getting them to rescind their decision, and if they fail, citizens should embark on a public campaign to disband the present membership of the Council.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/5739433-182/story.csp

By SaharaReporters, New York
As President Goodluck Jonathan announced his approval of the controversial decision by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to suspend the President of the Federal Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) today in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, proposed to the members of the Bar that they begin a boycott of the courts until further notice. The boycott is to protest the decision of the NJC on Salami and the approval of the recommendation by the president.

The mood at the on-going National Conference of the NBA, sources at the conference told Saharareporters is “foul,” as members received news of Jonathan’s approval of what described as the “scandalous decision” of the NJC.

The NBA President, J. B. Daudu, told the conference that the NBA would boycott the courts to show its total objection to the controversial decision by the NJC, a council which many believe was acting out the script prepared for it by the outgoing and embattled Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Katsina-Alu.

After the NBA President spoke today in Port Harcourt, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, took the floor. The audience booed him. Adoke gave what many lawyers regarded as a “shameful” speech, which attracted their contempt. Adoke, who is becoming as embarrassing to the office of the AGF, just like his predecessor, Michael Aondoakaa, attempted to provide justification for the unnecessary crisis instigated by the CJN who was accused by Salami of allegedly interfering with the process of dispensing justice.

The NBA will debate and adopt Dauda’s proposal for the boycott on Thursday. Sources at the conference disclosed that the proposal would be unanimously adopted by the affronted bar. Some lawyers at the conference told Sahareporters that some judges have already indicated their preparedness to support the proposed action of the bar, so as to protect the judiciary from the “unprecedented abasement, which the outgoing Justice Katsina-Alu is prepared to throw the bench before he vacates office.”

More details on the conference follow.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/salami%E2%80%99s-suspension-lawyers-boo-agf-adoke-going-nba-conference

ACN scorns Bankole, Oyinlola, Omisore’s acceptance of defeat

By Olalekan Adetayo, Ibadan

Wednesday, 13 Apr 2011

The Action Congress of Nigeria, South West Caucus, has called on Nigerians not to be deceived by the statements of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole; a former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; and Senator Iyiola Omisore, accepting defeats in the National Assembly elections.


The caucus described the statements as “the deceit of the serpent.”


The party’s position was contained in a statement made available to our correspondent in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, on Tuesday by the caucus’ Director of Publicity, Mr. Ayo Afolabi.


ACN said that laudable as the concession statements of the politicians that Saturday’s election was a reflection of the wishes of the people, the people should not be deceived by the statements.


The caucus wants Bankole, Oyinlola and Omisore to go a step further by confessing that they rigged past elections in the country to enable them to occupy public offices.


The statement read, “We appeal to our people not to be taken in by their concession statements; it is the deceit of the serpent.


“Let them confess that they rigged past elections. We should keep our eyes and ears open. Let the current political tsunami consume all of them.”


The caucus commended the people of the South West for trooping out to vote for the ACN in the last election and urged them not to relent until all the elections were concluded.


The caucus also urged party faithful in Ekiti State to be encouraged by the ACN victories in other South West states in the National Assembly elections and replicate same in their state during the rescheduled National Assembly polls and other elections in the state.

http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?datex=11/25/ReportComment.aspx?com=277691&theartic=Art201104136253396

APRIL 12, 2011

By Jide Ajani, Editor, Northern Operations

Botched NASS Polls: Disagreement over alleged kickback linked to postponement

ABUJA – Fresh facts emerging suggest that the postponement of penultimate Saturday’s National Assembly elections may have been caused by a disagreement over the percentage of kickback from the contract cost.

The kickback, it is also being alleged, was meant to be paid by the Nigerian front who packaged the foreign companies that got the contract, for the purposes of funding the campaign of a political party.

These allegations were contained in a petition sent to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, by a group, Electoral Integrity Group.

The petition which was stamped April 11, 2011, and dated April 7, 2011, reads:
“Dear Madam,
“INVESTIGATION OF INEC BALLOT PAPERS CONTRACTORS
“Please recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission awarded the printing of ballot papers for the April 2011 elections to six contractors:

Messrs Tip 3, Graphic Inline, Kalamazoo, Aero-Vote, Sanfrano and VI Solutions. These six companies. Though foreign based have their Nigerian fronts packaged jointly by another Nigerian.

“The deal here was that, if and when they secure these contracts, part of the money should be used clandestinely to fund a particular political party that ‘has a vibrant head but lacks resources to carry on its campaigns’.

“Consequently, there were brickerings on ‘percentage of funding’ which some of them thought was ‘high’ but subsequently paid, though reluctantly. This we believe impacted negatively on the execution of these jobs, thus leading to late arrival of materials and outright rejection of offers midway into execution.

“Our Prayers: The chairman is hereby called upon to investigate the circumstances of these fundings; To unearth the name of the political party; Determine who influenced who in the diversion of funds; Determine the volume of funds involved; Establish the linkage between these diversions and the botched elections of April 02, 2011; Prosecute those found to be involved in this rape of the nation and sabotage.”

The petition was signed by the group’s national president, Alhaji Sani Yakubu.
It wöuld be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and indeed the nation was thrown into confusion penultimate Saturday when some materials for elections into the National Assembly did not arrive, forcing a postponement of the elections.

This development, if established, would be reminiscent of another arrangement in 1979/1980 in the contract award for some parts of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex to the Nigerian office of an European Construction firm with a view to using part of the contract money for the settlement of a debt owed to one of the leaders of leading political party in the country.

The party leader had actually advanced some millions of naira to his political party for election campaigns and was promised of repayment from the funds of the contract.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/04/disagreement-over-alleged-kickback-linked-to-postponement/

Spokesperson threatens NEXT editor over story on petroleum minister

April 11, 2011 03:23PM

The Group General Manager, Public Affairs, of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Levi Ajuonuma, on Saturday evening threatened to unleash agents of the nation's security agencies on NEXT's Enterprise Editor over a story in our newspaper which uncovered the elaborate bribery scheme in the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.

At 5.45 pm, shortly after a promo of the story went live on twitter, a livid Mr. Ajuonuma telephoned Mr. Musikilu Mojeed on his mobile telephone, telling him to be ready to be a guest of the security agencies to explain why NEXT went ahead with the story despite his (Mr. Ajuonuma's) counsel.

"I hope you have enough evidence to present to the security agencies if you are asked to justify the damaging story you have done," the NNPC spokesperson raged. "What protection do you have? What machinery do you have around yourself to have gone ahead with the story?"

Mr. Ajuonuma continued, "I really have no reason talking to you because you have already done the damage. If security agencies invite you, are you going to recall the story or what are you going to do. I told you to leave the minister out of the story and just concentrate on the PPRA. Now, you have gone ahead. You want to destroy the woman with a single story."

The NNPC spokesperson, who doubles as publicist for the petroleum minister, proceeded to lambast Mr. Mojeed describing him as irresponsible and unprofessional.

He accused the NEXT editor of doing a hatchet job for an aggrieved cabal in the PPRA and the oil industry. "How come you did not do this story when Olunleye (former PPRA executive secretary) was there? Why are you just doing the story just two months after the PPRA was put under the petroleum ministry and a new man was put in charge of the agency?"

Mr. Mojeed had met Mr. Ajuonuma in his office at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Thursday night to get his reaction to a story filed by two of his reporters.

The story had named the petroleum minister in a N2.2billion bribe-for-oil scandal going on at the PPRA.

During the meeting, Mr. Ajuonuma requested that the story be dropped because it might damage Mrs. Alison Maduekwe's career and cause instability in the oil industry. After Mr. Mojeed insisted that the stories would not be killed, the NNPC spokesperson pleaded that the minister should at least be left out of the report.

But the NEXT editor again explained to him that the allegation against the minister was central to the story and could not be blanked out. Apparently frustrated that Mr. Mojeed did not accede to his requests, Mr. Ajuonuma reluctantly provided an official reaction to the story, which was well reflected in the report as published this Sunday.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5688426-146/spokesperson_threatens_next_editor_over_story.csp

Exclusive: Funny Business Again With Nigerian Ballots


Dr Gary K. Busch
April 08, 2011

More from this author


In the last ten days a request has been made by INEC to fly 67 tons of Nigerian electoral ballot papers which are sitting in a warehouse off the major airport in Johannesburg. It has been ascertained that these materials are from the last election.

They were paid for earlier but never shipped. Over half of the money to ship these materials has disappeared so they might not get to Nigeria. In addition there are five twenty-foot containers of current materials in Lagos.

INEC has been getting quotes on moving them to Abuja by air. This morning INEC told the air companies that they had no money to move the materials to Abuja. How and when these materials will arrive in not known.

It sounds like a rerun of the Wuruwuru election of fame.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/dr-gary-k-busch/funny-business-again-with-nigerian-ballots.html

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/justice-salami%E2%80%99s-call-logs-senior-lawyers-sue-libel-pm-news-lagos

Justice Salami’s Call Logs: Senior Lawyers To Sue For Libel-PM News, Lagos

Posted: February 23, 2011 - 18:51

Some senior lawyers accused of engaging in telephone conversations with the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Isa Salami, during hearings in the governorship appeal cases in Ekiti and Osun states have threatened to drag the petitioners and the newspapers that published the petitions to court.

Some national dailies, including Nigerian Compass, Nigerian Tribune and ThisDay yesterday published the petitions sent to the presidency and the National Judicial Council, NJC, by former governors Olusegun Oni and Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Ekiti and Osun states respectively, accusing Justice Salami of engaging in telephone conversations with chieftains of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and their lawyers while the appeal cases were being heard.

The senior lawyers whose telephone numbers were published in the newspapers not only denied the allegations but threatened to sue the petitioners and the newspapers to court for wrong allegations.

Reacting to the publications, one of the senior lawyers whose telephone number was published, Chief Niyi Akintola, SAN, said the publication came as a surprise to him and vowed to take legal action against the newspapers.

Akintola described himself as a responsible lawyer who will not do anything to pervert justice, adding that it was crass ignorance to read meanings into conversation between a lawyer and a judge. “I have never spoken with any judge on a matter pending in court,” he stated categorically.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said the only time he met Justice Salami was last year August in Kaduna at a seminar chaired by the judge.

Akintola disclosed that he only also spoke with Justice Salami during his recent tango with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu and expressed disappointment with former Governor Segun Oni for involving him or any lawyer in the petition.

“I have handled many cases. I was the lead counsel to the Abia State matter and I handled many other cases. Human memory is very short I am highly disappointed in Oni, if not other people. I was not even a counsel in the Osun matter. The records of the court speak well of the writer of the petition. They would be joking to think they can use mind-slinging to get their cases reviewed,” Akintola stated.

He confirmed that he and others mentioned in the reports will look at the matter and take legal action. It won’t be funny because we will make example of all of them, the writers and the newspapers. All of us will take legal action against them.

“We have no apology for standing for Salami. They can’t intimidate or scare us,” he added.

Mr. Ricky Tarfa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, whose name and telephone numbers were also mentioned in the reports denied his involvement in the cases and described the reports as baseless. “I don’t know anything about the case,” he stated.

In his own reaction, Yusuf Alli, SAN, whose telephone number, 08033340330, was also published as having interacted with Justice Salami when the appeals were being heard, vowed to take legal action against the newspapers that published the petition.

He said people can’t just sit down somewhere to write rubbish against another person.

“People know me and they know my antecedents. They can vouch for me. I was lead counsel for PDP’s former governors, Oyinlola of Osun State and Olusegun Oni of Ekiti State. I won’t do what they said against my clients. I don’t do underhand dealings with anybody,” he said defiantly.

A close associate of Justice Salami, Mr. Tunji Ijaya, who the report identified as the linkman between the Appeal Court President and ACN chieftains also denied the allegations and blamed stalwarts of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for trying to frame him up.

Another senior lawyer mentioned in the scandal, Emeka Ngige also denied the allegations, describing it as baseless.

Ayo Fagbemi, SAN, whose telephone number was also published denied the allegation and threatened to sue the newspapers.

In its reaction to the publications, spokesman of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described the allegations as an attempt to throw the country into avoidable crisis “over their desperation on the Ekiti and Osun governorship election petitions.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/justice-salami%E2%80%99s-call-logs-senior-lawyers-sue-libel-pm-news-lagos

Babangida: Jonathan Must Go by 2015

By Chuks Okocha
23 Feb 2011


Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, Tuesday opened what may become a subject of legal fireworks, declaring that President Goodluck Jonathan is constitutionally barred from seeking another term in office by 2015 if he wins the forthcoming presidential election.

In a statement denying reports that he had struck a deal with Jonathan ahead of the general election, Babangida said the president’s promise of doing only one term and quitting in 2015 was unnecessary because he would be “statute-barred” from running at that time.
“It should be understood that the idea being sold out that President Jonathan would serve one term as a precondition for getting the Northern support is non-applicable.

“By law, if President Goodluck Jonathan gets re-elected, he would be statute-barred from contesting in 2015 having been sworn in twice,” the statement, issued by his spokesman, Prince Kassim Afegbua, declared.
Although the statement did not quote a specific provision in the constitution, Babangida is believed to be referring to Section 137 which states: “(1) A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if… (b) he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections.”

But prominent lawyers have picked holes in Babangida’s claim, pointing out that the constitution is specific about election into office and not swearing-in.

Jonathan, then vice-president, was sworn in as president in May 2010 after the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
If Jonathan wins the April presidential poll, he will be sworn in as president for the second time, but he will only have contested for the position of president once.

Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), faulted Babangida’s position, saying it was not the position of the law.

Olanipekun said because Jonathan had not been elected into office before, he has the constitutional right to contest the 2015 presidential election.

He warned against misinterpreting the constitution, saying the emphasis of the constitution is when the person had been elected and not sworn into office.

The former NBA boss said what Jonathan was currently doing was to serve out the tenure of the late Yar’Adua which could not be counted for him.

He said the first term of President Jonathan would begin to count the moment he is sworn on May 29, 2011 if he wins the presidential election.

“There is no law that bars President Jonathan from contesting the 2015 election if he so desires. He has the right to contest again in 2015 if he so desires and the nation wants him back in office. Let us stop to misinterpret the constitution. The intention of the framers of the constitution is ‘if elected’. It is on May 29, 2011 that President Jonathan’s first term would begin to run,” he said.
Another former President of the NBA, OCJ Okocha (SAN), wondered if Babangida is a lawyer to be interpreting the constitution.
Okocha equally warned the former military president to desist from comments that are the exclusive preserve of the courts.
He noted that what should preoccupy Nigerians at this moment is how to conduct peaceful and credible elections.
“Is Babangida a lawyer? He should not make comments that are reserved for the courts. What should be uppermost in the mind and that of other Nigerians should be how to conduct a free and fair elections,” he said.

On his part, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN) described the statement credited to Babangida as a mistake, adding that Jonathan before now had not contested for an elective presidential office in the country, apart from the one that he would partake in come April.
Fagbohungbe corroborated the views of Olanipekun, saying the intention of the framers of the constitution is when a person is elected.

Another eminent lawyer, Yusuf Ali (SAN), said because President Jonathan had promised that he would quit power by 2015, Nigerians should not debate whether or not he could contest in 2015 but should let him be a man of his words.
“He told the world that he would not contest again in 2015. Why not let him be a man of his words instead of this debate?” he asked.
However, another former NBA President, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), said the debate would really be “an interesting issue” as the time goes on.

Agbakoba though stated that he does not have a clear answer to the debate, added that the issue should ultimately be reserved for the courts to decide.

Meanwhile, Babangida has emphatically denied claims that he has struck a deal with President Jonathan along with the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) to support his quest to remain in office.

Babangida also stated that he still believes in the principles of zoning which led to the setting up of the NPLF, stating however that he is open to dialogue.

The statement issued by Afegbua read: “We have been inundated with telephone calls and text messages from our numerous supporters nationwide over the news report that indicated that a deal had been sealed between President Goodluck Jonathan and former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. On behalf of General Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR, I wish to state that up till this date, Tuesday, 22nd February, 2011, no deal has been sealed.”

Babangida confirmed that there were overtures by the Jonathan/Sambo Campaigns to the NPLF “but that is not to suggest that a deal has been struck”.

The statement further said: “There is a clear distinction between General Ibrahim Babangida as a private citizen and the Northern Political Leaders Forum led by Mallam Adamu Ciroma. This distinction must be properly understood each time the media try to draw its conclusions. It should also be noted that General IBB has access to Mr. President and can engage him anytime in the interest of the country.

“Expectedly, any Presidential Candidate should ordinarily reach out to those he feels could enrich his campaigns and support base. It is a usual democratic and electoral practice that is not peculiar to us in Nigeria. It is also expected that when such a candidate is reaching out, certain convincing reasons would be advanced to woo his potential supporters.

“While it is not out of place for President Jonathan to reach out to people he feels could enrich his campaigns, it is out of place for the media to run into premature conclusion that a deal has been struck as if the object of political participation is to appropriate the collective destinies of Nigeria in naira and kobo. General Ibrahim Babangida is not a dealer.

“He has never been a dealer and he does not intend to be one. He is a distinguished elder statesman who is not persuaded by pecuniary benefits but a leader who is genuinely concerned about the development, unity and stability of the country.

“General Ibrahim Babangida’s understanding of the dynamics of democracy is that rule of law, collective bargaining and constructive engagement should prevail in a manner that puts the national interest far and above personal interest. He still believes in the principles and philosophy of zoning which prompted the setting up of the Northern Political Leaders Forum in the first place.”

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