reports from Rivers State indicate that sporadic gunshots are being fired in front of the government house in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Media reports indicate that the shots are being fired by thugs backed up by police officers.

Witnesses also report that armoured tanks have been deployed to the state assembly complex, venue of Tuesday’s violence where about five of the 32 state lawmakers tried to impeach the speaker.

Both Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the Rivers Commissioner for Information, Ibim Semenitari, could not be reached for comments. They did not answer or return calls to their mobile telephones.

Details later…

kael: See story source here:http://premiumtimesng.com/news/140270-gay-activist-hacks-nigerian-governments-website-over-countrys-anti-gay-law.html

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said on Thursday that the ages of its National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Tony Anenih do not negatively impact on the party’s progress, but that the two men have contributed immensely to the development, peace and progress of Nigeria.

The ruling party stated this in a statement by the office of its National Chairman and signed by his media aide, Oliver Okpala, in reaction to a recent remark by E.O Chukwuma, an Anglican Bishop of Enugu, who described Messrs Tukur and Anenih as too old to be in politics.

The clergyman also asked them to quit politics in order to pave way for the young people.

Both Messrs Tukur and Anenih are over 70 years.

The party, which specifically defended Mr Tukur’s position, said God had used the national chairman to bless Nigeria abundantly, adding that he was not in politics to make money but to serve the people.

“God uses all persons both young and old to bless His people. It is therefore beyond dispute that God has blessed our Nation abundantly through the good work and activities of Alhaji Dr Bamanga Tukur, the National Chairman of PDP. He should know that Alhaji Bamanga Tukur is not in politics to make money,” the party said.

The party asked the clergyman to realize that Mr. Tukur had over the years made his name and contributed to the stability and peace the country enjoys today having served it in different capacities.

It added that the national chairman had decided to use his wealth of experience and knowledge to move Nigeria forward and to impact on the wisdom of her senior citizens, stressing that there was no country in the world that dispenses with such experiences.

It said, “He should realize that Dr. Bamanga Tukur has over the years made his name and contributed to the stability and peace we enjoy today in Nigeria having served Nigeria in different outstanding capacities.

“He is in politics as a patriot, nationalist and elder statesman who have decided to use his wealth of experience and knowledge to move this Country forward and to impact wisdom and knowledge to the younger generation.

“There is no country in the world which dispenses with the experience, knowledge and wisdom of her Senior Citizens. On the contrary the Elder Statesmen are respected, revered, honoured and appreciated.

“Nelson Mandela is a case in point as he has been honoured and respected at home and abroad even as a nonagenarian. Nobody has written him off as a dead wood simply because he is old and sick.”

The PDP berated Mr Chukwuma over his comments, saying they were not only careless but also suggested ignorance, hatred and absolute lack of knowledge of the rudiments of politics.

“It therefore behoves on us to correct this wrong impression especially coming from an Anglican Communion Bishop whose statements bother on falsity implicit on careless utterances portraying him as a politician in the cassock of a Reverend,” the ruling party stressed.

“Clearly, these comments attributed to the Bishop are absolute hogwash and absolute nonsense by referring to the two elder statesmen who have contributed immensely to the development, peace and progress of this country as too old to be in politics.

“The bishop has revealed by his utterances against the two elder statesmen an innate hatred for them yet, the Bible which ought to be the fulcrum and pivot of Bishop Chukwuma’s religion as a man of God abhors and condemn hatred. The Bible even teaches us further that one should love his neighbour like himself.”

“It is therefore amazing and bizarre that a man of God like Bishop Chukwuma who recently met and danced off his 24 years episcopacy should cash off his cassock to descend into the political fray. Respect for elders is part of our African heritage and tradition. Therefore, a supposed man of God who has no respect for elders is not worth his calling and shouldn’t have made those unguided statements.

“It is not a crime to be old because in the Bible, God used old people such as Abraham, Sarah and David to manifest His goodness and greatness. At 50 years, Bishop Chukwuma himself is not exactly a spring chicken. His utterances therefore are a clear manifestation of a man who does not practice or abide by what he preaches.”

The party appealed to the authorities of Anglican Church to call Mr. Chukwuma to order, saying, “We finally entreat the Primate and metropolitan of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria, Rt. Rev. Nicholas Okoh to order and restrain Bishop Chukwuma from further tarnishing the image of the Anglican Communion and her priests in Nigeria.”

Three days ago, news website, SaharaReporters, published a story suggesting that Nigeria was broke and was now planning to dip its hand in the country’s N3.4 trillion pension funds to enable it to finance its deficits. .

In response, Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, faulted the report and accused the paper of peddling falsehood about the administration. But the publication says it’s standing by its report, insisting that the Nigerian economy is indeed in shamble.

Read a statement by the minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Paul Nwabuikwu, below. And below that is Saharaeporter’s reaction to the statement.

ECONOMY: THE LIES OF SAHARAREPORTERS



We have received several enquiries about a story titled “Nigerian Government broke; targets pension savings” posted on the website of Saharareporters.

The story, like many other recent articles by Saharareporters purporting to be exclusive stories on various aspects of the Nigerian economy, is a complete fabrication.



As Nigerians know, the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan recently presented its mid-term report which is a forthright account of the achievements as well as challenges facing the economy.

The country has $48 billion in reserves, including N5 billion in the Excess Crude Account to help shore up the economy. So the idea that the country is broke is alarmist.

It is true that the country is experiencing some revenue shortfalls that everyone knows about due to oil theft for which the President is taking some serious measures.



Also, contrary to the claim in the story that the country has borrowed from local and international banks to finance recurrent spending, the Jonathan administration has in fact reversed the tendency of borrowing to finance recurrent as was the practice in the past.

Also untrue is the claim that the country has been downgraded by international ratings agencies. In fact the truth is the exact opposite; ratings agencies and international investors have consistently stated, through various platforms, that the Nigerian economy is a well-managed one with good prospects in the medium and long term.



Regarding the country’s debt situation, the overall picture is positive as the Coordinating Minister showed clearly in her recent well publicized statement. The multi-dimensional strategy adopted by the Jonathan administration is leading to positive outcomes.

The level of borrowing has been brought down, bonds are being paid off through a sinking fund and the country is not taking the kind of high interest loans that led to the debt burden which existed before the historic Paris Club debt deal. The Borrowing Plan which was approved by State Governors and the National Assembly is focused on financing power transmission projects, inter and intra city rail projects, dams and other key infrastructure.

The notion that the Jonathan government is “eyeing” the N3.4 trillion pension funds to finance deficits underscores the desperation of this “activist” medium and its sponsors. It is a total invention. In fact, the government is currently engaged in strengthening institutions and critical processes in the sector to enhance security and stability of the funds.



With this latest outing, Saharareporters has reinforced its well-earned reputation as a discredited purveyor of falsehood.



Paul C. Nwabuikwu
Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister

Saharareporters has now responded to this statement, insisting that the economy is indeed in trouble and questioning the economic stats and indices being showcased by the administration. The paper says the claim by government that the economy is growing is contradictory to the growing unemployment, deteriorating infrastructure and worsening standard of living in the country.

Read the full statement below.

Saharareporters received a statement signed by Paul C. Nwabuikwu, a senior aide to Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in response to our recent report on the dire financial crisis in Nigeria.

Instead of addressing our factual reporting of the declining fortune of the Nigerian economy, the minister resorted to her accustomed pettiness and name-calling.

She recently exhibited the same trait when she got Yushau Shuiab, a spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), fired from his job after he wrote an article questioning her lopsided appointments and accusing her of abuse of office.

Ms. Okonjo-Iweala comes across as intolerant of facts, blinded by an ambition to be hailed in foreign circles as the answer to Nigeria’s economic woes, and driven by an excessive opportunism that disdains stark reality. 

We affirm that our recent report, like others in the past focusing on the Nigerian economy, was the product of painstaking investigation, undertaken to expose corruption, lies and deceit perpetrated by Nigerian officials to hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians that a transformation was taking place in their lives. This website speaks to numerous knowledgeable and reliable sources, in government and out, within Nigeria and abroad.

Their conclusion is that the so-called transformation trumpeted by Ms. Okonjo-Iweala and other functionaries of the Goodluck Jonathan administration is phony. Using their insight into the policies and actions of the government, they insist that Nigerians are materially worse off today than at any time in the recent past as a result of economic mismanagement and large scale graft, the hallmarks of the Jonathan regime.

During Ms. Okonjo-Iweala first tour of duty as finance minister under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, she pursued an aggressive debt repayment agenda, handing over more than $12 billion of Nigeria’s scarce funds to repay debts of doubtful origin. To justify that scam against the Nigerian people, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala boasted that, with the debt payment accomplished, Nigeria was in a position to save $1 billion per year, pledging that the monies would be invested in developing infrastructure.

Nigerians now wonder: Where are the $1 billion annual savings Ms. Okonjo-Iweala promised Nigerians in 2006? Where are the roads? Where are the new hospitals? Where are the significant improvements in the state of maternity care she promised Nigerians in 2006?

In 2007, when Ms. Okonjo-Iweala was giving esoteric speeches about the economic magic she and her colleagues were achieving for Nigerians, the exchange rate of the naira to the US dollar was 120 to one; today it is 160 naira to a dollar.

At a 2007 TED conference, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that Nigeria had 40 billion in foreign reserves. Today, with rising oil prices in the international market, she admits that Nigeria only has $48 billion in the reserve.

Ms. Okonjo-Iweala has stepped into the role of chief obfuscator on the economy, encouraged no doubt by her ability to get away for so long with deception on and misrepresentation of the true condition of the Nigerian economy. We, however, refuse to be impressed by her steady string of fictional claims about a supposedly vibrant Nigerian economy.

It ought to be recorded that Ms. Okonjo-Iweala oversaw an era of some of the most reckless acts of corruption and heists of the Nigerian commonwealth in her first four years as finance minister under Mr. Obasanjo’s hypocritical administration. Under her watch, Nigeria attained bogus economic progress where numbers, charts and fake stats were frequently displayed and deployed to fool the unwary and the gullible. 
 
Meanwhile, under Mr. Obasanjo’s and her noses, billions of dollars of public funds were stolen in the name of “investments” to upgrade Nigeria’s electric grid. She helped to dispense import waivers to dubious businessmen and churches, an exercise that cost Nigeria a fortune.
 
Since Ms. Okonjo-Iweala’s second coming as minister, complete with the bizarre title of “coordinating” minister she crafted for herself, Nigeria’s economic condition has worsened.

Tell, where is the evidence of economic growth and buoyancy when almost six states of the Nigerian federation have been paralyzed by Islamist insurgency? Where is the sign of economic vitality when half of Nigeria’s oil production is stolen by crude robbers, most of them elements close to President Jonathan? Which foreign investors are pouring money into a country where the electrical grid has nearly collapsed and at a time when the few local industries are moving to countries like Ghana and Benin?

Does Ms. Okonjo-Iweala calculate that most of the “vulture capital” operations run by some of her former colleagues that are selling bonds to Nigeria at cut throat prices can be considered investors even when they are already pulling out their funds and ripping Nigeria apart?

Where else in the world would an economy grow at 6.5% and yet fail to provide jobs for more than half of its youths? How is the economy working when Nigerian soldiers participating in peacekeeping operations in neighboring countries have to beg locals for food? If the Nigerian economy is “sound,” how come workers are being owed salaries? Why have many pensioners not been paid their entitlements after retirement? What explains the fact that ministries and parastatals have lately not received their allocations? 

If the economy is sparkling, why are Nigerian roads so bad? Why were they not fixed in the years Ms. Okonjo-Iweala has been practicing her economic wizardry? Which economy can survive the greed of a President Jonathan and his inner circle? Today, Mr. Jonathan has pardoned corrupt former governors and other officials that Ms. Okonjo-Iweala condemned in 2007; the pardoned men now sit across the table from the president and his cabinet to further destroy Nigeria.

Which economy can survive such full-throttle promotion of corruption?

The questions for Ms. Okonjo-Iweala are many, but we are content to ask her to provide to the public a profile of the last four years of Nigeria’s so-called foreign reserves? If Nigeria has $48 billion in such reserves and it is a sign that our economy is buoyant, why does Nigeria have to borrow, even if interest-free loans?

Why does the minister designate the foreign reserve in US dollars but the so-called “Excess Crude” account in naira? And if the excess crude account was N5 billion, what was it when Ms. Okonjo-Iweala became finance minister?
 
We are surprised that it took Ms. Okonjo-Iweala several years to understand that Saharareporters is “activist media,” a tag we wear as a badge of honor. Our mode of reporting scrutinizes official versions of events; we question the actions and policies of government officials; we have developed an ever-growing network of sources who avail us of the innermost secrets and deals of those in power because they trust us to report fearlessly and to protect their identity; we believe in speaking truth to power; and we always crosscheck statements made by sources before publishing accounts. We continue to demand openness and transparency in the conduct of governmental affairs; and we demand that Nigerians be allowed to feel the impact of any so-called economic growth, not in carefully manipulated press statements, bar charts and economic ratings and projections, but in the manner it impacts positively on their daily lives.

Ms. Okonjo-Iweala may lash out all she wants and choose to operate as an economic hit-woman, but we are not fazed. We will continue to beam a searchlight on her handling of the economy, including calling attention to her hypocritical role in empowering a cartel in the fuel import business, a cartel whose depredations she criticizes in the media when it suits her agenda.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru Jega, on Tuesday assured that the Commission will improve on its performance in the 2015 general elections.

Mr. Jega stated this during the public presentation of INEC Strategic Plan (2012-2016) in Abuja where the Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, Alkali Jajere, ruled out electronic voting in the 2015 polls.

Mr. Jega, who was responding to the suggestions made by the leaders of some of the political parties that INEC should sit up in order to ensure smooth and successful polls, come 2015, said the Commission would be transparent and accountable to retain the confidence stakeholders have in it.

He said INEC junior staff as well the ad-hoc ones would be monitored to ensure they do not give the commission a bad name during the election.

The INEC chairman recalled that upon assumption of duties, he made it clear his administration would not condone violation of the electoral laws and other rules by any staff, adding that the principles have so far helped tremendously.

“We made it very, very clear when we came in, I think in one of the first interactive sessions we had with the staff of INEC, that we have drawn the line,” he said.

“We will not investigate any crass violation that we have met but we have said that we are not going to be looking for fault but we are drawing the line.

“We will not ask anybody to do anything wrong and whoever does anything wrong will have him or herself to blame. That has been our guiding principles and it has helped tremendously.

“No doubt, I must tell you that my own perception of what has happened is that certainly there are few bad eggs and the things that they have done have not impinge on the image of the entire members of the Commission.

“It is very clear that substantial majority of INEC staff are always okay, all they require is motivation and encouragement,” he added.

Mr. Jega said the Commission has not carried out any major purge of its staff, though a few of them have been retired or dismissed. According to him, most of the commission’s staff that conducted the 2007 elections also conducted those of 2011.

“We have not done a massive retrenchment of INEC staff. So, it is the same people, for example, who conducted the 2007 who also conducted the 2011 elections,” he stated.

“So really I think we should appreciate the fact that all we need to do is to put mechanism, programme of action and motivation and inspiration that we have to do to get the best of the staff in INEC. We will continue to do our best to justify the confidence that stakeholders have in us.”

The Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe, said on Monday that it will be impossible to have free potable water in Nigeria.

Speaking at the Ministerial platform in Abuja, Mrs. Ochekpe said it will not be possible to have potable water due to the cost of distribution and maintenance of equipment

“It is not possible for water to be free, because water is so expensive to process, there’s the use of reservoir, building treatment plants, chemicals, payment of professionals and also channeling water to homes; all these cost money,” Mrs. Ochekpe said

The minister also spoke on the river basins in various parts of Nigeria. She said they cannot be privatised because the lands do not belong to the Federal Government and cannot be taken away from the farmers. The federal government can only partner with private professionals to bring their expertise to strengthen the skills of the local farmers on irrigation, she said.

Mrs. Ochekpe said the government has done more in the past three years than in previous years in the use of irrigation to increase food production and enhance food security; and also completed nine additional dams in the country.

The minister also said that provision of water supply to rural and municipal areas is not a federal responsibility but that of states and local governments. She said the Federal Government has strengthened its relationship with states and local governments in water provision. She also discouraged the drilling of water boreholes by individuals to avoid sinking of the earth’s surface while she advised individuals to seek recommendations from drilling regulators before any water borehole drilling.

Mrs. Ochekpe identified challenges of her ministry as low budget, inadequate and untimely release of budget, and security challenges.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said on Wednesday that it has reviewed the blueprint of the All Progressives Congress, APC, unfolded on Monday by one of its leaders, Bola Tinubu, at the British House of Commons; and described it as “a basket of empty shells.”

The ruling party also described the event as an attempt to deodorize the stench of inadequacies that have dogged the yet to be registered party and challenged it to a debate on alternative programmes to those of the current federal administration.

At the event organized by the British Africa Diaspora Conference in London, Mr. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State unveiled the policy direction of the APC, a merger of some opposition parties, including ACN, just as he dismissed the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration as a failure.

But in a statement in Abuja, the PDP spokesman, Olisa Metuh, said the APC agenda as enunciated by Mr. Tinubu is not only devoid of originality but also a promise filled with shells.

“It was a letdown yesterday as the leader of the ACN, Bola Tinubu, stunned an international audience with the emptiness he unveiled as the emancipation package of the APC,” Mr. Metuh said.

“It is an agenda grossly lacking in essentials, in fundamentals; deep in cosmetics, devoid of originality, laced with half truths and outright lies and grittily divorced from the substance and incidentals that ginger national growth. It is a basket of promise filled with shells.”

The party argued that nothing exposed the un-seriousness of Mr. Tinubu’s presentation than his loud silence on corruption and the alternative road map to the extant security challenges which the opposition coalition has made so much noise about.

It said, “Members of the British parliament must have giggled and waited in vain for Mr. Tinubu to unveil the much vaunted opposition agenda on anti-terrorism and corruption. Is it that the APC has no answers to these or that Tinubu deliberately skipped them?”

“Here, curious minds reflect on two things. The PDP led Federal Government has applied the master strategy that is already yielding results; thus leaving the opposition bereft of fresh, better dimension as an alternative or that the man who appeared in the British House of Commons is the least qualified to speak on corruption and terrorism before such a self respecting and well meaning assembly with an in-depth grip on happenings in Nigeria.”

“Indeed, the leader of the ACN as we speak has unsettled issues of corruption and questionable credentials while it is obvious to all Nigerians that the leaders of the opposition are the chief promoters of insurgency in the country. This voyage of ridicule turned full circle as in Tinubu’s entourage was also, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, a man currently standing trial for acts of corruption. How then could the delegation have made a presentation on corruption?”

On the issue of National Social Security, the ruling party wondered why the states under the opposition have not been implementing it if it is such a laudable programme; knowing that under Nigeria’s federalism, the states suffer no restriction over such matters.

“Why is the opposition waiting to get to the centre before implementing this? Why did Tinubu not implement this as Lagos State Governor for eight years? Why are the six ACN states over which Tinubu is the overlord not implementing this? Promises are easily made.

“If Tinubu as Lagos Governor denied workers wage increment and denied pensioners the benefits of decades of service, how could the APC government which he canvasses take care of the aged and the vulnerable under the social security programme? Nigerians need eggs no doubt but not their empty shells!

“Similarly, the school feeding programme which the APC paraded as one of its cardinal agenda is in fact a programme under various stages of implementation since it was launched in September 2005 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. In fact, some of the PDP states have gone beyond meal-a-day to other accompaniments that make learning easy for the Nigerian child.”

According to the PDP, “While Tinubu was in the UK unfolding the opposition agenda on education, teachers in Ogun, an opposition state locked the classrooms and chased school children home in strike over lingering issues of service. In Ekiti and Osun states also under the ACN, strikes have been the order of school curriculum for over a year now. Who then takes the opposition serious?”

PDP reminded the former Lagos governor that the same international community before which he tried to demonize Nigerian electoral process had adjudged the 2011 general elections as the most credible in the history of the country.

It recalled that Mr. Jonathan was in Edo State prior to the election won by Mr. Tinubu’s party to assure the people of credible poll and delivered same.

“Tinubu’s sermon on credible election and the state of democracy in Nigeria flies in the face of consistent knockings of the shenanigans that play out in the opposition states as local government elections.

“What then is credible election? Who listens to the hyperactive lies of the Nigerian opposition than those of their hue who already know they don’t have the structures and the unity (already seen in wide division APC leadership slots) to win the 2015 general elections and are therefore fashioning out reasons well ahead of time.”

The ruling party challenged the opposition parties to a debate on the alternative roadmap to the programmes of the current administration, saying, “We once more challenge the opposition to a debate on the alternative roadmap to what the PDP led Federal Government is doing at present.

“With an empirical comparison of the pace of development at the centre and the states under the opposition on one hand and these states against those under the PDP on the other, Nigerians are no doubt a better judge of who enjoys their mandate in 2015.”