₦airaland Forum

^these kind of stories make me a prouder Nigerian,

When Hausa/Fulani is mentioned, an average southerner will think of not so smart, illiterate, barbaric , etc. just take a look of how two hausas are changing the world of pharmaceutical,

http://www.cp-africa.com/2011/05/04/changing-the-face-of-pharmaceuticals-amina-and-isa-odidi-cnn-african-voices/

Culled from the sun newspaper

What in your opinion will cause Nigeria to break up?
It is the continuous act of impunity, on the part of the people from the North West, the Hausa Fulani and those who have been collaborating with them. The act of impunity has continued. They cancelled an election that was widely believed to have been won by a South western, MKO Abiola, in 1993, murdered him and we accepted it. They committed pogrom with the Igbo, in the civil war and there is a continued act of genocide every time. But we cannot continue to condone this, because they are signs that they cannot continue to be with us. This was what Gideon Orkar said in his attempted coup. We cannot continue to condone people who think that they would continue to rule us. They think that they have better right to lead us and this has nothing to do with religion.
I don’t know how many northerners are better Muslims than my children and I. The only way to stay together is to see us as equals. So, there are people who talk about Zaria and others, but in a federal nations, where there are many nations, in a heterogeneous nation, like ours, every one would be allowed to practise his beliefs. And where the Muslims are in the majority they have a right to sharia. No law can be imposed on theirs. So, it is mutual respect that is lacking with these people in the North West and the North East.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/apr/30/national-30-04-2011-001.htm

Any result from Benue state?

i am ashmed to be a northern Nigerian. we should know we are not the only people in Nigeria. the idea that rulership belongs to the north is a rubbish mindset created by the clueless and visionless leaders of ours, if the hausa cant stay with others then they should cut out and join Niger or mali even though i am a hausa by birth but i am redeemed from such barbaric and inhumane act.  Join my fellow Nigerian from the south,east, west and liberated north  to say long live nigeria. the north should go put their heads in the sand. we ruled for how many years and what do we have to show? nothing except almagiris and uther ignorance, our schools have become breeding grounds for militants. I am just sick and tired of all this nonsense.

Very sensible write up, I like the heading instead of generalising all northerners, which has been my headache with many NLanders. we the christian in the north are not spared as well! members of my own family tried killing me sometimes ago because i am a christian but what can i do i am still and will continue to be a northerner, I believe there are many like me that are not happy with the whole thing.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja Friday affirmed the judgment of a Federal High Court which barred the Independent National Electoral Commission from holding governorship election in five states because the tenure of the governors had not yet come to an end.

In a judgment that was read for close to two hours, five justices of the appeal court commended the trial judge, Justice Adamu Bello , for coming to the right conclusion when it held that the earlier oath of office taken by the governors had been nullified with the election.

The court said its duty was to apply the law as it was and not sentiment.

The affected governors are Alhaji Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Liyel Imoke (Cross Rivers) and Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa).

With the affirmation of the high court judgment , the tenure of the five governors will expire at various times other than May 29 this year.

By the judgment Idris will leave office on April 5th, 2012, Wamako will vacate office on 28th May, 2012, Nyako will leave on 30th April 2012, Sylva on 29th May 2012 while Imoke will vacate office on 28 August 2012. But INEC was dissatisfied and lodged an appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

In the lead judgment read by Justice Paul Galinje, he pointed out that the implication of the nullification of the governors’ April 2007 election was that no election ever took place and that they were never governors for the purpose of determining when their tenure would expire.

He explained that when an election had been nullified, it meant that that election never took place and therefore did not exist. He then asked the question how the governors’ tenure would be computed from an election that never took place in the eyes of the law.

He said: “The earlier oath taken by the governors cannot be used a reference point when determining when the tenure of the governors will end. This is because the election upon which they took the oath was not held in accordance with law.”

According to him, nobody can be validly elected in an invalid election. He said prior to their re-election, the position of law was that the governors were not governors.

He said the interpretation of Section 180 (2) (a) given by the trial judge was correct in law and was in line with the interpretation given by the Supreme Court in Peter Obi Vs INEC.

“The judge should be commended for applying the law as expounded by the Supreme Court. He should not be condemned,” he added.

Justice Galinje rejected INEC’s argument that the number of years already spent in office by the governors before their elections were nullified should be taken into account.

He said: “In law, there were no elections in the five states in April 2007. In the eyes of the law, the governors were not elected governors in April , 2007.”

The court also said the case of former governor of Oyo State, Adewolu Ladoja did not apply because when his impeachment was nullified, he did not take a new oath and besides, his election was never nullified rather it was his impeachment that was nullified.

The court also said the amendment to the 1999 Constitution could not operate retroactively so as to deny the governors their right to complete their tenure.

“In conclusion, the appeal is hereby dismissed. The judgment of the lower court is hereby affirmed,” Justice Gallinge said.

In his judgment in the consolidated suits filed by the five governors, Justice Adamu Bello held that the tenure of the governors legally started in 2008 when they took fresh oath of office and allegiance following the nullification of their April 14, 2007 elections by the courts.

The court held that since the 2007 elections were nullified and set aside by competent courts, the oath of office and allegiance subscribed to by the five governors had all been nullified and set aside along with the elections.

Justice Bello held that in line with section 180 of the 1999 constitution, the tenure of the governors legally commenced in 2008 and not in 2007 since the 2007 election that brought them into office in the first instance had been declared a nullity.

The judge said the 2007 elections being used by INEC to determine the tenure of the governors did not exist in the eyes of the law having been legally declared null and void by competent courts of law. The Judge said nothing could stand on nothing.

However, Justice Bello said although, section 180 of the 1999 constitution was amended in 2010 by the National Assembly and signed into law by the President, the amendment had no effect on the five governors since their re-run election had taken place before the amendment.

Justice Bello said there was nowhere in the world where a constitution took retroactive effect as erroneously held by the INEC adding that the said amendment could not be used to determine the tenure of the governors who took oath of office in 2008.

Consequently, the court quashed the preparations by INEC and PDP to conduct elections in the affected states and ordered that elections would only take place in the states next year.

But INEC was dissatisfied with the decision and filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

In the appeal, INEC said Justice Bello was wrong when it granted the governors' claim. The commission argued that the 1999 Constitution did not envisage a situation where a governor would spend more than for years on a single term.

Before the appellate court reserved the appeal for judgment, all the parties stated their respective positions.

While adopting his briefs, INEC’s lawyer, A.B. Mahmud SAN asked the court to set aside the judgment of the high court.

He argued that the governors’ tenure should be counted from the day they took the first oath of office.

According to him , the amendment of the 1999 constitution has affected the governors’ terms in office since new elections would be conducted under the amended constitution.

He said the trial judge was wrong when he held that the first oath of office taken by the governors had been nullified with the election.

He submitted that the lower court was wrong in arriving at the conclusion that the first oath of office taken was irrelevant and that the amended constitution did not affect them.

Counsel to PDP, Chief Olusola Oke, urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit.

He argued that once a court nullifies an election, everything including the oath of office taken would be deemed nullified.

Oke added that the calculation of the term of office started from the date of the second oath of office in as much as the first oath had been nullified by a competent court.

He further added that the amended constitution could not take retroactive effect.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/

10cirenoh:
Lol, if he wanted to be GEJ's vp, all he needed to do was to walk up to OBJ, OBJ is the one writing the script that GEJ use in running the country, so sorry, come up with any propaganda. By the way, which useless constitution are you talking about? the same Constitution that OGD and the whole of Ogun state legislators have no pint of respect or value for? the same constitution that GEJ didn't respect when he order the flying in or murder suspect Folarin straight from prison to Abuja because of the fear of him losing some votes?

Beaf:
Ok, for the sake of stone throwers, lets assume GEJ has no manifesto, just that things like 1% of GDP being marked out for Research and Development somehow make it into the news (but stone throwers no get need for news, so no biggies ).

Lets forget about manifestos for one minute, cos they are mere words (empty in Buhari's case) and concentrate on the man, Buhari. His antisocial nature has caused him to fail woefully in a civilian setting.
He is an ex-head of states who has been a serial contestant at the presidential level; buhari was there in:

[list]
[li]1999 elections as presidential candidate[/li]
[li]2003 elections as presidential candidate[/li]
[li]2007 elections as presidential candidate[/li]
[li]2011 elections as presidential candidate[/li]
[/list]

. . .Yet, he is unkown to the youth in the South!!!!!!
[size=33pt]Lol![/size]

. . .Anyways, We fully expect him to say, "present sir" in the following elections too (with manifesto). Lol, the man just can't read the signs!

[list]
[li]2015 elections as presidential candidate[/li]
[li]2019 elections as presidential candidate[/li]
[li]2023 elections as presidential candidate[/li]
[li]2027 elections as presidential candidate[/li]
[li]. . .and so on![/li]
[/list]

I expected somebody like you to be well informed not misinforming people. because Buhari was not a presidential candidate 1999

Forty five percent of the total number of management positions in the recent promotion exercise conducted by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) went to officers from the South-South geopolitical zone, documents obtained by ­ Daily Trust showed yesterday.


The home region of both President Goodluck Jonathan and Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Allison-Madueke grabbed 17 new management staff positions out of the 38 on offer.



The documents indicated that six out of the top eight management positions of Group General Manager (GGMs) are occupied by South-South indigenes, as is the new Coordinator, Corporate Planning and Strategy [equivalent to Group Executive Director, which is now occupied by Timothy Effiong Okon from Akwa Ibom State.

In the promotion list, South East came second with seven posts equivalent to 18 percent while North West came third with 5 new posts or 13 percent. South West and North Central zones occupied the fourth position with 4 new posts each which or 10.5 percent, while the North East was left holding the hat with only one post.

The list shows that the position of GGM and Senior Technical Assistant to the Minister is held by Gabiddon Meheux from Rivers State, while the new Managing Director, Warri Refinery and Petrochemicals Company, Simon Itua Ehiemua is from Edo State. Managing Director of the National Engineering and Technical Company Limited is Lewis Ochuko Binitie-Cassidy from Delta state.

Other top management staffers are GGM Special Projects, Obeley Paul from Rivers State and GGM, Power, Ayebaemi Opuene from Bayelsa State.

In all, the North has only 10 new posts out of 38 and the remaining 28 went to the southern part of the country.

NNPC’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division Dr Levi Ajounuma did not respond to the text messages sent to him for comment.

The Corporation also announced a redeployment of some top management staff that involved 23 persons. Key among them are GGM NNCP service, Maikanti Kacalla Baru who is now the GGM, Liquefied Natural Gas. GGM, Finance is now Managing Director, Pension and the former MD, Pension is now the MD, Hyson, a company that operates in the upstream sector.

Bashir Abdullahi Suleiman, younger brother of the former first Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, who was on overseas development assignment is now the Managing Director of Nigaz- a Joint Venture company between NNPC and Gazprom of Russia. Former GGM, LNG Bello Mohammed Buhari is now the GGM, New Business Development, while former GGM, Special Service Auwalu Abubakar is now the GGM Regulatory Compliance. Another GGM, Special Service, Umar Faruk Bello is now MD, NNPC Retail Limited.

Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan approved the extension of the tenure of NNPC’s Group Managing Director Mr Augustin Oniwon beyond April 2011, when he was due to retire.The president also approved the appointment and redeployment of Group Executive Directors of the Corporation. The affected GEDs are Mr Philip O. Chukwu, GED (Exploration and Production) who was re-assigned to Refining and Petrochemicals; Chukwu hails from Imo State.

Also appointed is Mr Andrew Laah Yakubu, Managing Director Warri Refinery who is now GED Exploration and Production. He hails from Kaduna State.

Dr David Oluseyi Ige, Group General Manager Gas Master Plan has been appointed the GED Gas and Power. Ige hails from Oyo State. Also, Mr Haruna Omoye Momoh, who was before now the Group General Manager and Senior Technical Assistant to the Minister, is now the Managing Director of Pipelines and Products Marketing Company Ltd (PPMC). Momoh hails from Edo State.

Mr Goody Chike Egbuji, General Manager, Projects of NNPC has been appointed Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). Egbuji hails from Enugu State.

Dr Timothy Effiong Okon, Group General Manager, Corporate Planning & Strategy (CP&S) has been appointed the Corporate Coordinator, Corporate Planning & Strategy. Dr Okon hails from Akwa Ibom State.

A new Group Directorate has been created namely the Business Development Directorate of the NNPC, which subsumes the functions of the current Special Services Directorate. Aminu Baba-Kusa has been deployed to head the new Directorate. He hails from Kano State.

http://dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12331:nnpc-promotionss-south-45-nwnenc-28&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8

^^^^ This makes sense I agree with you. But I am not talking of tribalism here rather the possibility of change without taking up arms or killing innocent lives all in the name of freedom fight.

donjon:
@yiboboy,

d muslim brotherhood is watz next!
I hope egypt doesnt turn into d nxt iran!

But a breath of fresh air is always welcomed!

I think they said they are not interested in taking over and according to the reports they are just 20% so they cannot just take over in free and fair election.

This tells us that change is possible without taking up arms. Human resilience is more powerful than weapons when it comes to change. MEND, Boko haram, MOSSOB and ODUA take note.

He handed power to the military council

Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down as president of Egypt.

In an announcement on state TV, Vice-President Omar Suleiman said Mr Mubarak had handed power to the military.

It came as thousands massed in Cairo and other Egyptian cities for an 18th day of protest to demand Mr Mubarak's resignation.

Protesters responded by cheering, waving flags, embracing and sounding car horns. "The people have brought down the regime," they chanted.

Mr Suleiman said Mr Mubarak had handed power to the high command of the armed forces.

"In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate, citizens, during these very difficult circumstances Egypt is going through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down from the office of president of the republic and has charged the high council of the armed forces to administer the affairs of the country," he said.

"May God help everybody."

Mr Mubarak has already left Cairo and is in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where he has a residence, officials say.

In Cairo, thousands of people are gathered outside the presidential palace, in Tahrir Square and at state TV.

They came out in anger following an address by Mr Mubarak on Thursday. He had been expected to announce his resignation but instead stopped short of stepping down, transferring most powers to Mr Suleiman.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo said the announcement caught everyone by surprise, and all over the city drivers honked their horns and people fired guns into the air.

But the army takeover looks very much like a military coup, our correspondent adds.

The constitution has been breached, he says, because officially it should be the speaker of parliament who takes over, not the army leadership.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12433045

Live on CNN

^^^ it amazes whenever i see people with epileptic brain posting comments on this forum. simple i am sure you have clubs either football or other sports you praise, why don't you and play for them or be with them. i dnt even understand the point you are trying to make. pls when you learn how to post let me know, mumu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed57WhR5ouQ&feature=player_embedded
I was thrilled by this man's reaction to the corruption in their ports. I wish our dear GEJ can follow his steps!

SSS Intercepts $10 million Cash at Lagos Airport

By Idowu Sowunmi

05 Feb 2011

The State Security Service (SSS) Friday intercepted huge cash -$10 million and I million euros - parked in four Ghana-Must-Go bags at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

THISDAY learnt that the money was brought in from Kano by two men who were said to be heading for Dubai. The two men have already been arrested.

It was learnt that the men arrived at the local airport and were moving towards the international airport to board Emirate Airlines to Dubai when they were intercepted.

The SSS men who intercepted them were said to have quickly alerted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the matter.

Sources said EFCC has established two possible leads. One, that it may have been a case of money laundering or two, a possible case of terrorism financing.

It was feared that the money could be remnants of campaign funds by some politicians or being deployed to buy arms for terrorism financing and that the two men involved could be mere couriers.

THISDAY, however, learnt that the police have been involved in the matter and that the EFCC has already approached the police to have the case transferred to it since money laundering and terrorism financing falls under its purview.

Contacted over the matter, EFCC Spokesman Femi Babafemi said the commission was aware of the case.

He said: “We are aware of the development. The Chairman (Mrs. Farida Waziri) has asked our team in Lagos to liase with the Police to transfer the case to EFCC with a view to unravelling those behind the illegal movement of such huge cash so we can prosecute them.”

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/sss-intercepts-10-million-cash-at-lagos-airport/85813/

I think Aganga is as clueless as our president knew nothing about his job. He is the Aaondoka of GEJ

Soludo blasts Aganga
•Says minister is either ignorant or lying
By Prof. Chukwuma C. Soludo, CFR
Monday, January 31, 2011
• Soludo
Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section

I have read, with amazement, the totally unprovoked diatribe of the Hon. Minister of Finance, Mr. Segun Aganga (published in the Nation newspaper of January 22, 2011) on my person while he was responding to a letter written by Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on the economy.

I left office almost two years ago, and for Mr. Aganga, it was not until he suspected that I may be ‘advising’ Atiku on the economy that he quickly conjured that I should be in jail for what he believes I said or did not do about the banking system.

So much for democracy and freedom of opinion and speech! I have mulled over the decision to respond or not. Some friends suggested I should ignore Aganga in consideration that I might be misconstrued as “attacking Government”. This has nothing to do with Government. Indeed, I am pained to be forced to join issues with the Minister.

Initially, I agreed that it was better to dismiss it, just as I had dismissed other commentaries and misrepresentations of my tenure in the past. As everyone holding public office knows, once you leave, there is often a tendency for your record to be rubbished and, if care is not taken, for you to be treated as a common criminal. After reading two nasty books on the globally revered former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, Alan Greenspan, I was sobered to temper my expectations of the judgment of history.

No matter what you do, and especially for those who have tried to undertake revolutions in history, there must be enough people who judge you harshly. But what really matters is that one does his utmost best for his people, and leaves the rest to God and the history books. Obviously, I am not God, and cannot claim to have been perfect in public service. Therefore, I welcome criticisms and comments on my stewardship. But when Mr. Aganga, out of desperation to save his job, throws decency to the ground, and decides that the only way to burnish his uneventful tenure is to use his high office to throw mud at Soludo, then a sense of duty beckons on us to respond.

I love my country, Nigeria, and believe in its future. After gallivanting around the world for a decade as an itinerant scholar and consultant to 18 international institutions, I returned end of 2000 to serve my country. At the end of my tenure in 2009, I joined partisan politics out of my passion and impatience to see Nigeria as leader of the black race. I know that in a democracy there is hardly any other way of changing society other than through the political process.

The only way Nigeria can move forward is for all those who have anything to offer to get involved. As I did so, I was aware of the enormous risks that await me, especially as I express views on sundry national issues. I have been repeatedly warned, and four newspapers had reported that Government might come after me, hang anything on my neck just to silence me. Perhaps, that is what Aganga was alluding to. If the Finance Minister commented in his personal capacity as Mr. Aganga, I would not have given it a minute of my time.

But since he was speaking as Minister of Finance of Nigeria (except perhaps he forgot that he was speaking as one given the uncouth language), I have come to the conclusion that it would be inappropriate to ignore such comments, however uninformed. Furthermore, I decided to give him at least a week to retract the statement credited to him in case he was misquoted. So far, he has not done so, and I have therefore elected to respond briefly. At least, we need to straighten the record.

I would for the moment ignore his emotional outbursts. I will not descend to that level. I will instead briefly respond to two issues he raised and directed at me: (1) his rather evasive ‘response’ on the state of the economy, and allegation that we were ‘talking down the economy’, and (2) that during the global crisis I said that Nigerian economy was ‘isolated’ from the crisis and that there were no non-performing loans in the banks but that after I left, the lid was opened and they saw that ‘everything was rotten’. For these ‘offences’, according to Hon. Aganga, I should go to jail. Permit me, at the outset, Hon. Minister, to state that you are clearly wrong on both issues. Let me elaborate further as follows:

Economy:
In fact, the more you try to defend the indefensible on the economy, the more you expose and confirm what many people talk about—the palpable lack of capacity to understand, let alone take steps to move the economy forward. By trying to respond to the former Vice President, you ended up avoiding 90 percent of the weighty issues raised in that letter; and by attempting to provide laughable excuses, you make people shudder in disbelief.

On a positive note however, I must congratulate you, if what DG- DMO was quoted as saying is true that the Federal Government has now agreed to borrow or issue bonds only for specific projects. At least, you have taken the first step out of at least six components of what must constitute a sensible debt strategy for Nigeria instead of trying to defend useless debt-to-GDP ratios. Furthermore, to start defending debt accumulation on the basis that countries like US, UK, and European countries undertook ‘stimulus packages’ and ran high deficits during the crisis makes us a laughing stock.

Hon. Minister, these countries you cite were all in recession and the Treasury had to bailout their banks by recapitalizing them. Except if your figures are wrong, Nigeria was neither in recession nor did the Ministry of Finance spend a kobo to bailout banks. If the figures you bandy on GDP growth (at over 7.5%) is right, then Nigerian economy must be ‘booming’ and the idea of a ‘stimulus package’ and hence high deficit is a contradiction in terms.

This is Macroeconomics 101, sir! Please stop shocking Nigerians by trying to excuse the depletion of our foreign reserves at a time of export boom on the grounds that what is left would still meet more than three months of imports. This is new Economics by your Economic Team. Perhaps, you should become economic adviser to China and all other countries to fritter away their foreign reserves until it can finance three months of imports, and for Nigeria, when oil price crashes we can then use water to pay for imports. Nigerians expect you to sit down and find solutions to the other issues and stop the shadow boxing. Congrats also for setting up a Committee to review public finance. These are part of the issues we raised in our earlier article in September 2010. I can notice other feeble actions being taken. That is how it should be in a democracy.

But you must get serious, Hon. Minister. When you look Nigerians in the face and point to flattering comments on Nigeria’s prospects by some people in some conferences as your proof that Nigerian economy is doing well, it does not make you look well informed; especially in the face of hard evidence to the contrary. As you were busy blaming people for ‘talking down the economy’, the UNCTAD report released in Geneva on January 17, 2011 slammed you again with a red card: foreign direct investment (FDI) into Nigeria dropped by 62% in 2010 (from $6 billion in 2009 to $2.3 billion in 2010)—again the worst in many years, and even worse than during the global crisis. While developing and transition economies increased their FDI inflows by 10% in 2010, Nigeria’s FDI fell by a whopping 62%. During our tenure, FDI was more than doubling every year, and even at the peak of the global crisis in 2008, stood at about $8.5 billion. Do you get the point, sir? The international investors are sending a strong message to you, Sir. You need to get your act together.

Before you issued Nigeria’s $500m Eurobond, Atiku indicated that it would only be oversubscribed because “,  you are offering foreigners attractive returns on the bond, ”. You got angry. Now, who is right: you or Atiku? Think about this, Hon. Minister: Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio is about 17% (using your numbers, and external debt less than 3%), with proven oil reserves of about 36billion barrels and high oil price and output, strong GDP growth as you claim, and yet the yield on the bond is as high as 7% (higher than South Africa at 5.5%; Ghana at 6.2%, etc). Mr. Minister, can you point to other countries with similar “fundamentals” that are priced as risky as Nigeria? Put differently, are you not worried that even with the ‘fundamentals’ and high return to investors, the bond is not oversubscribed more than 10 times?

The point, Hon. Minister, is that given Nigeria’s potentials, there is no reason (other than mismanagement) why even at 6% or less, the bond would not be oversubscribed more than 10 times. Did you read the front page of the London Financial Times last week, specifically the January 21, 2011 edition, regarding your economic management? What further proof do you require to know what the international community thinks of your handling of the Nigerian economy?

Again, in the said publication, you spent so much energy trying to convince Nigerians that the AVERAGE interest rate on Nigeria’s debt is 7%. Haba, Hon. Minister! With a total debt stock of $34.6 billion (domestic and external), your total debt service payment in 2010 at N542 billion ($3.61 billion) and yet you claim the AVERAGE interest rate is 7%? Even after adjusting for amortizations and new issues, you know that you cannot be right; otherwise publish the amount for debt repayment and we will see who is right at the end of the year! Enough said!

You continue to bandy GDP growth rates which essentially show the obvious: we are lifting more barrels of crude oil, and the weather has been very clement to spur agricultural growth! You clearly lie with the GDP figures. Hon. Minister, seven years before 2010 is 2003- 2009, and NOT 2004- 2009: so your figures are wrong, sir. The fact remains that over a seven year period up to 2009 (that is, since Obasanjo’s second term and because data for 2010 are still estimates), GDP growth rate (appropriately adjusted for the oil sector) has been the worst under you as head of the Economic Team, at a time of oil boom!

By the way, Hon. Minister, are you aware that the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) now agrees with our position on your budget? Several newspaper editorials and informed analysts agree with us as well. The PAC has just called on you to reduce recurrent expenditure to 40% (down from the current 114% of estimated revenue). Certainly, Hon. Minister, there is a strong message both Nigerians and international community are sending to you. Just listen!

Hon. Minister sir, while I should languish in jail for laying the foundation for a new financial system and for largely saving the economy from the global crisis, you should be celebrated for making it into the Guinness Book of records on many fronts, three notable ones being: (1) You assumed office when oil price was about $75 per barrel and external reserves stood at about $42 billion: within 9 months you have earned a world record as the Head of an Economic Management Team (EMT) that lost about $10 billion in foreign reserves at a time of unprecedented export boom, with oil price now over $90 per barrel;

(2) While the EMT I belonged to got Nigeria debt relief, you will get the world record as the Finance Minister who had the fastest rate of debt accumulation in Nigeria’s history, even at a time of oil boom and presented a budget where not a kobo of oil revenue is spent on infrastructure, power, etc but 114% of revenue spent on consumption; and (3) as head of the Economic Team when literally all international ratings for Nigeria worsened, even worse than during the global crisis of 2008 and 2009, and for the first time in several years, the outlook for the economy is adjudged NEGATIVE, with FDI collapsing (a clear indication of loss of confidence by international investors), etc. Congrats Hon. Minister on these world records!

My candid advice to you, Hon. Minister, is for you and your colleagues at the EMT to note that you need serious help on the economy. It is our collective destiny that is at stake. Threatening me with imprisonment or even imprisoning me will not solve the problem sir. But if you are convinced that you know what you are talking about in respect of the economy, and/or that you are sure of what you said about my regime, I challenge you to a 2-3 hour televised national debate on these issues. Indeed, within the month of February, 2011, I will publish a synopsis of the highlights of my tenure at the CBN—just for the record—- and I will challenge you to debate them live on national TV with me, Hon. Minister!

What I said or did not say about the global crisis and the Nigerian economy
I have had time to review what we did and what we did not do during my tenure and I can say that except in a few cases that I would have wished we did things differently, I remain proud of our vision for the financial system and Nigerian economy, our strategy, and the accomplishments during the period. I am proud of the Board, Management and Staff of the CBN that I worked with, and thank immensely the two Presidents I worked under for their political support and encouragement. I also thank members of the Economic Management Team during my tenure in government for the support.

We came with an agenda to CREATE and DEVELOP a new financial system to power the new private sector-led economy; to put our financial system on the world map and over time become Africa’s financial hub. We also had an agenda for the Naira (to become the de facto currency for West Africa), to create the largest foreign reserves in Sub Saharan Africa as a guarantor for both the Naira and the economic prosperity; achieve a single digit inflation (from 23% as at end of 2003); restructure the CBN to become the monetary and macroeconomic policy hub of the nation, as well as act as effective financial and economic adviser to the Federal Government. We also set out to rescue and restructure a largely bankrupt Nigeria Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) Plc into a world class institution to meet the needs of Nigeria and West and Central Africa; envisioned and established Africa’s first private sector-led investment bank (Africa Finance Corporation); etc.

In barely three years, we were on course to laying the solid foundation to attain these ambitious goals (within the limits of the political space allowed us by the political leadership) before the unprecedented global financial and economic crisis hit Nigeria and the world. More on these later!

As a member of the Commission of Experts set up by the United Nations General Assembly to work out options for dealing with the crisis and reforming the global financial system, as well as an informal adviser to about 11 other Governors of Central Banks around the world, I believe I knew a few things and was in a great position to help my country/financial system navigate through the crisis (details of how Nigeria was saved several times from tipping over during that crisis are in my forthcoming book on the crisis).

We responded to the crisis with a strategy that I believe helped to save the Nigerian financial system and economy from total collapse. Both the late President Yar’Adua, and the Senate President, David Mark, acknowledged that without our banking consolidation and the skilful manner we managed our foreign reserves, the global crisis would have swept our economy away.

The hitherto booming banking system that was for the first time ranked in the same category as Israel, China, India, Russia, etc, and with non-performing loans down from 22% in 2003 to 6% before the crisis (due to rigorous regulatory and supervisory regime in place) was buffeted by four major EXOGENOUS shocks simultaneously and yet none was allowed to fail. I knew that the Federal Government could not bailout the banking system if it collapsed, except through “printing money” and/or issuance of debt (bonds) which would be bought by the same banking system.

We therefore had a strategy to quietly, (as other leading central bankers around the world were doing at the time), but systematically navigate the system through the turbulence, clean up and restructure the balance sheet of the banks that had challenges before end of 2009—without recourse to the Treasury for assistance. With the benefit of hindsight, I remain proud of that strategy!

Like a pilot of an aeroplane that experiences an unprecedented turbulence, what you say to passengers and how you say it might largely determine whether or not some passengers will pass out or die of frightful shock before you navigate through the turbulence and stabilise the plane to reach your destination. We were candid to Nigerians in communicating the severity of the crisis, but as would be expected of any responsible Governor of Central Bank in such circumstances, remained the voice of confidence to the economic agents. We assured Nigerians that we would survive the crisis, laid out the steps we were taking to do so, and thank God, we have not been proved wrong till date!

Despite the massive outflow of about $16.6 billion out of the economy due to the crisis within less than three months, we still conserved our foreign reserves to about $45 billion as at the time I left office—which was still the highest in Sub Saharan Africa. Despite the collapse of major banks in the world, Nigeria did not lose one penny of our foreign reserves, and no bank was allowed to fail. Hon. Minister, we deliberately (within less than three years) CREATED banks as Nigeria’s dominant multinational corporations, and without what we did, you cannot be talking about infrastructure concessioning, private power plants, local content in oil and gas, and indeed a truly private sector-led economy as there was no domestic banking system to fund them.

Let me even assert that there would have been no banking system to be absorbing all the debt (borrowing) that you have been issuing. Before the banking revolution, it was the CBN that took up a chunk of government debt instruments (monetization of deficits was the norm, with all the inflationary consequences). Today, there are still about five Nigerian banks in top 10 African banks, and still more than 10 Nigerian banks in the top 1000 banks in the world: there were none when I took over as CBN Governor. Even at the peak of the global crisis in 2008, non-oil GDP still grew at 9% and FDI into Nigeria was still almost FOUR times what it is under you today. Hon. Minister, what pains me the most is that our worst performance in any year is still better than your best performance. Nigeria should be going forward, not backwards!

We shall return to these at a later date.
Hon. Minister, perhaps you are not aware that the Financial Sector Regulatory Coordinating Committee (FSRCC) under my chairmanship ordered for a consolidated examination (audit) of all the banks in early March 2009. At a stakeholders seminar in Lagos on 30th March, 2009 I made a PowerPoint presentation to the stakeholders gathered at the Eko Hotel on the state of the banking system, our responses so far including details on tightening of regulation and supervision, and spelt out CBN’s action plan to resolve any systemic distress as follows (I quote slides 13 and 14, and slide 20 of the presentation):

Strengthen CBN’s contingency planning framework for systemic distress
•Keep vigilance on early warning signals through rigorous examinations
•If chronic liquidity problems—- provide term loans; target examination, and seek restructuring of balance sheet and management
•If solvency problem: Could change Management, and strategic plan to recapitalize bank, including possibility of merger with/acquisition by stronger bank.
•Encourage banks to strengthen/ review bank-specific contingency plans
•Asked banks with signs of liquidity pressures to present plans for restructuring of their balance sheet
•Reviewing the draft Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) bill—- to be established to buy up toxic assets of banks.

In the same public presentation, I outlined to stakeholders steps we had taken to tighten and strengthen regulation and supervision of the banks as follows:
•Greater emphasis on enforcement of Code of Corporate Governance
•Resident Examiners have been deployed to banks since January 2009
•Standby teams of target examiners being deployed to any bank at any time to ensure timely regulatory actions if necessary
•Review of Contingency Planning Framework for Systemic Distress in Banks
•Introduction of Credit Bureau
•Advice to banks on risk management—-call for extra conservatism during time of crisis—- capital conservation, cost minimization, de-emphasis on size, salaries/bonuses, etc
•Strengthening of institutional coordination through the Financial Sector Regulatory Coordinating Committee (FSRCC)

•Greater emphasis on e-FASS as a tool for banks’ returns analysis for speedy identification of early warning signals
Consolidated Supervision and Risk Based Supervision have been adopted and arrangements are being made to migrate from the current fragmented sub-sectoral supervision to all-inclusive financial sector supervision
All banks are to be examined in 2009 by consolidated teams of CBN, NDIC, SEC, NAICOM
Adoption of common accounting year end for all banks with effect from end-Dec. 2009, aimed at improving data integrity and comparability
Adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
Review of BOFIA to strengthen regulatory capacity

I therefore challenge you, Hon. Minister, to show what has happened, since I left office, to strengthen regulation and supervision that is not part of the continuing implementation of the above agenda.
Hon. Minister, in the same presentation, we once again publicly announced the total banks’ exposure to the capital market to be about N800 billion. We also presented the result of our survey of how much of their ‘toxic assets’ banks were willing to hand over to the AMCON, and the total was about N400 billion as at that date. The CAMELS rating of the banks as at end December 2008 showed an average composite score of 62%—- a ‘satisfactory’ score. That was the score for the banking SYSTEM, and I stand by it. We will return to these issues later!

Hon. Minister, is it not instructive that if “everything was rotten”, the banking system could not have been declaring profits in 2009 and 2010 even when not one kobo of new capital had been injected into the system, and despite the shocks the banks passed through? The only new money into the system was the ‘term loan’ as I had prescribed as part of our contingency planning framework (which is a routine LIQUIDITY SUPPORT by central banks to commercial banks) and which in substance, was similar to the expanded discount window we provided to the banks. Enough said!

Thus, Hon. Minister, our record in respect of the banking sector is that we built a new system which was one of the fastest growing in the world and powering a new private sector-led economy, successfully navigated the system through the unprecedented financial turbulence in the world without allowing any one of them to collapse; designed and were quietly implementing an agenda to clean up and restructure the banks that had challenges as a result of the crisis before the end of 2009, so that the system could resume its momentum from 2010. Of course, we are aware that following the global crisis and the collapse of banks all over the world, the immediate populist response globally was to blame “loose regulation and supervision” for the banking crisis.

Everywhere in the world, regulators were blamed for lax regulation. I have been a part of this debate globally, and the jury is still out on many issues, and whether/how ‘regulation and supervision’ will be different after the crisis. The fad is fading. I will elaborate more on the nature of Nigeria’s regulation/supervision and the extent to which it had or had nothing to do with the state of some banks following the crisis. Details are in the follow ups. But Hon. Minister, perhaps I should remind you that banking regulation/supervision is just about 20 percent of the central bank’s mandate. We will return to these matters later.

Hon. Minister sir, I NEVER EVER said that the Nigerian economy or the banking/financial system was “immune” or “insulated” from the global crisis. Aside from the usual sensational headlines of some newspapers (designed to sell their newspapers) and of course some misrepresentations by some commentators, the records show that I was the most vocal public official in articulating the nature and causes of the crisis and the consequences for the Nigerian economy as well as the remedial actions. Disprove this point if you can, Hon. Minister! When a section of the media tried to insinuate that my assurances that we would survive the crisis meant that Nigeria was ‘insulated’ from the crisis, I issued clarifications (as advertorial) through my Special Assistant (media) in early 2009.

I have the transcripts and video copies of my public presentations on the crisis. Indeed, when most analysts were busy looking for the domestic causes of the crash of the capital market, I was the first public official to link the woes of the capital market to the global financial crisis, and also laid out the proactive measures we took at the CBN. The Guardian newspaper, 5th October, 2008, while reporting my presentation at Thisday newspaper’s seminar on the capital market crisis quoted me as saying: “We now begin to have cross-border contagion”,  “Given the credit crunch in the advanced industrial world, several of the institutional investors from those markets began to pull out of our markets”,

“We have taken a lot of actions in terms of liquidity,  Our doors are open, we are free and open to lend to the banks, our discount windows are open, our liquidity ratios are down, our monetary policy rate is down, and the minimum cash reserve requirement is down”.

Do these sound like someone saying that Nigeria was “insulated” or to use Aganga’s term “isolated”?
On 21st October, 2008, I appeared at the plenary session of the Senate with Minister of Finance, Dr. Usman; Minister of National Planning, Senator Daggash; and Chief Economic Adviser, Mallam Tanimu Yakubu. While reporting the session, Tribune newspaper of 22 October, 2008 reported that “‘They, however, agreed that the economy was not immune to the effects of the global financial meltdown as they said that banks in the country might have to recapitalize to fence off the effects of the meltdown”. Quoting me directly, the Tribune reported me as saying:

“I assure you that our foreign reserves are safe. That is the first round effect. On the second round effects, some of the assets of the banks could potentially deteriorate. It’s a potential risk because they are exposed to the capital market. We have done something proactively because we didn’t wait for them to collapse,  We insist that no bank will fail. We have also restricted foreign ownership of our banks. With the benefit of hindsight, it was a good move. We have also suspended mop-up operations.

There’s liquidity surge. Banks should reduce exposure to the capital market,  As a lender of last resort, no Nigerian bank would be allowed to fail, but we need to recapitalize to make the sector more vibrant. We are not likely to go into a recession”. Reporting the same Senate appearance (which was televised live on NTA), Thisday newspaper of 22nd October, 2008 (p.1 and p.7) reported me as follows:

“No Nigerian bank will be allowed to fail,  He said the CBN was ready to take any necessary step to save the banks in the event of distress—- including taking over ‘toxic assets’ in the banks’ balance sheets,  ‘We proposed an Asset Management Company during consolidation programme, but it was not passed by the National Assembly.

This is the time, President of the Senate, most distinguished senators, to pass the Asset Management Company where banks and other financial institutions could go to sell or deposit some of their distressed assets,  But in order to pre-empt and make sure that the contagion does not wipe out our own system, we have also taken proactive measures by making sure that the system is as liquid as possible, and we have opened our lending window to be able to extend credit to any bank that needs it as much as it can,  But there are challenges going forward and that is the responsibility of the Senate.

I think there are several bills before the National Assembly that need to be passed like yesterday that are needed to strengthen the financial system’. He listed the bills to include the Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Act, which he said had been in the National Assembly since early 2006. ‘It still requires amendments to strengthen the regulatory capacity.

There is also a bill for Consumer credit. It is before the National Assembly; there is the bill for mortgage reforms before the national Assembly. ‘These bills need to be passed urgently because they are required to unleash the boom in Nigeria’s financial system and also useful for moving the economy forward”,  He, however, agreed while rounding off his presentation to the Senate, that “this is not the time to be complacent; it is the time to take action; it is the time for patience and it is the time to be vigilant”.

Do I need to say more? I thank the National Assembly for finally passing the AMCON Act. Are you still there, Hon. Minister, or are you embarrassed to learn that even the AMCON you taunt as the ‘saviour of the banks’ happens to be one of Soludo’s initiatives?

In conclusion Hon. Minister, I make bold to say that I personally wish you well. I wish the Government and my country well. I have had my day, and I wish you success because it is our commonwealth that is at stake. Every group of public servants must pray that those who succeed them should take Nigeria to a higher pedestal. That is the only way to guarantee prosperity for future generations.

All Nigerians will be better off if you can quickly find your bearing in an office which for now seems too overwhelming for you. I extend my hand of fellowship. But if you choose, as you set out to do, for us to have this engagement in the public domain, I assure you that even in prison, I will be ready to take you on, at least for the future of our children!

http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/jan/31/national-31-01-2011-007.htm

If I were an Igboman, I would not find the current political calculations funny at all. Look at the fact: from an enviable height in the First and Second Republics, when Igbos held key positions in government, the reality today is that the highest-ranking Igbo is Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweramadu. And guess what? He is No. 5 in the hierarchy! For an ethnic group that is one of the biggest three, this is not something to cheer. If the last four years did not offer anything noteworthy to them, how can the next four years be different? That, to me, should be the focus of Ndigbo politics ahead of the April polls.


Let’s start with the most difficult question: when will an Igbo man or woman become President of Nigeria? The South East Leaders Forum, in a statement issued last Thursday, proposed 2015. Now this is very tricky. A major issue in the polity today is the return of power to the North this year to, as the saying goes, “allow the North complete its eight-year term truncated by Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s death”. Assuming President Goodluck Jonathan wins the presidential election and quits after only one term in 2015, the coming presidential battle then would be between the North and the South-east. It does not promise to be exciting.


On paper, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar made the best offer to the South-east before the PDP presidential primary election. He promised to complete the “North’s term” by serving only one term and vacating the seat for an Igbo president in 2015. Under this proposal, an Igbo president could emerge in just four years. That, I would say, was very attractive. It would be, for Ndigbo, a dream come true. Jonathan had nothing solid to offer the South-east. His own VP slot was automatically for the North, while the Senate Presidency was not available. In other words, Jonathan could only offer Ndigbo the status quo: No. 5 position.


At the level of making a tantalising offer, therefore, Atiku had an advantage over Jonathan. But for whatever reason, the South-east did not take his offer; of the 446 delegate votes from the zone, only 23 voted for Atiku. The rest chose Jonathan (a friend jocularly told me: “Jonathan is Ebele. We voted for him because he is our son!”) Did the South-east throw away a golden opportunity by not supporting Atiku? The counter argument is that even if the entire South-east had voted for Atiku, Jonathan would still have won. And the zone could have been considered as “opposition” by the president for not supporting his bid. That would have political implications.


With the Atiku offer now gone, what next for Ndigbo? There are two options, obviously: to support Jonathan or pitch tent with the opposition. If the alliance talks between ACN and CPC had worked out, Ndigbo could have pushed for the VP slot, hoping that in 2015 or 2019, the chance for No. 1 would finally come. But the opposition parties have behaved typically by failing to reach an agreement. The implication for Ndigbo is that their selling point is now at risk. What’s the selling point? Getting the VP slot with the hope of delivering the South-east votes to the opposition alliance in April.


Many Igbo opinion leaders believe that the unenviable position of Ndigbo in national politics today is a product of conspiracy. They argue that Ndigbo are still paying the price for the civil war—that, indeed, there is a deliberate plan to keep them out of power. On the other hand, some argue that Igbo themselves are yet to move away from the war and are always playing the victim instead of tackling the enemies within and taking their rightful place in the scheme of things. I don’t want to be involved in this sort of argument because it is neither here nor there. It is about opinions—everyone has one. I would say, however, that even if there is conspiracy against Ndigbo, it is not beyond redemption. Deft group politicking is a critical antidote. It requires strategic planning.


Putting the conspiracy theory aside for now, I would suggest that two key developments have contributed to pushing Ndigbo down the pecking order of national politics: (1) the mainstreaming of the South-west and (2) the rise of the Niger Delta. The failure of Chief Obafemi Awolowo-led South-west to join forces with the centre in the First and Second Republics meant the South-east had an advantage over them. Dr. Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) went into coalition with the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and formed government in the Independence era. In the Second Republic, Azikiwe’s Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) also had an understanding with the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN), while Dr. Alex Ekwueme (an Igbo) was Vice-President to Alhaji Shehu Shagari. It appeared as if it was a matter of time for an Igbo to become president (I still believe if the military had not struck in 1983, Ekwueme was in line to succeed Shagari in 1987—but we would never know).


Ironically, Yoruba’s route to “centre politics” was through an unusual source: Bashorun MKO Abiola. Derided for “selling out” because he did not support Awolowo in the Second Republic, Abiola began building bridges across the country. When he eventually had a shot at the presidency in 1993, he won hands down. The annulment of the election created a serious national crisis; the powers that be decided they had to appease the Yoruba by zoning the presidency to them in 1999. The beneficiary? Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, another Yoruba reviled at home for “selling out” because he did not support Awolowo and the Yoruba cause in 1979.


With a Southerner occupying the No. 1 position from 1999-2007, it was expected that power would return to the North going by our political mathematics and sociology. The Igbo could neither take the VP slot under Obasanjo nor realistically have a go at the presidency in 2007. It’s a zero-sum game: my gain is your loss. If a Southern zone gets something, other Southern zones are automatically “zoned out” until the next time around. To compound matters, the South-south had become a big political force as a result of militancy in the oil-producing region. The politicians had also established a claim that the zone had never produced the No. 1 citizen, even for one minute. It became a movement. Militants were firing on one side, politicians on the other.


Suddenly, Nigeria was no longer seen as a tripod of Hausa-Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba; the Niger Delta had assumed a life of its own, making a somewhat convincing claim to the presidency as the “hewers of stone and fetchers of water” for the country. With the Niger Delta now thrown into the equation, Ndigbo lost the most. They would logically have expected to produce the VP to Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, thereby positioning an Igbo to succeed the Fulani man from Katsina. But the powers that be decided to pacify the South-south by picking an Ijaw man. (Remember, the decision to appease the Yoruba in 1999 also effectively ended Ekwueme’s quest).


These two factors—mainstreaming of the South-west and the rise of the Niger Delta—did not favour Ndigbo in any way. However, they could still have got the No. 3 position—Senate Presidency—in 2007, but the nature of Nigeria meant the Middle Belt also needed to be accommodated. So the No. 3 position, held by the South-east from 1999-2007, went to another Northern bloc—the North-central. The least I expected was that the South-east would get the Speaker (No. 4); it went to the South-west instead. The South-east could only get Deputy Senate President, the No. 5 slot.

What next then? Ahead of the polls, the South-east leaders need to sit down, strategise and negotiate the zone’s interest with regards to projects and positions, irrespective of who they support. Truly, going forward, they are faced with difficult choices: one, to go with the ruling party and negotiate their interests in concrete terms; two, to pitch tent with the opposition and aim for the VP slot, hoping that power would change hands in April. It’s not an enviable situation, I conclude.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ndigbo-in-the-fourth-republic/85573/

Day dreaming, wake up when u finish supporting GEJ

well me i don't mind taking over his baby girl, sorry wife.

^^^^ yea ure right, by end of registration thousands or even hundreds of thousands of evil spirits and ghosts would have registered, lol God have mercy ooo

Registration centres in evil forest
• Deputy Gov, REC shocked
• INEC gets extention nod as
Reps amend Electoral Act
From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
• INEC boss Jega
More Stories on This Section

Shock and disbelief could best describe the mood of Anambra State Deputy Governor, Mr. Emeka Sibeudu and the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the state, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, yesterday when the duo led security operatives to discover four registration centres located at a shrine in a deep forest.

The four centres which are in the deep Nziko forest at Nteje in Oyi Local Government Area, were manned by registration officers and had, at the time of the discovery, registered only about 200 voters since the commencement of the exercise 10 days ago.
Following security reports made available to Governor Peter Obi, his deputy and the REC led security operatives to the forest where the startling revelation of the four centres with the accompanying Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines was made.
On arrival at the forest which took about 40 minutes drive from the nearest residential area, the registration officers, mainly corps members, were idle and gazing at the machines with virtually nobody to register.

Reacting to the incident, the shock-stricken Prof. Onukaogu, described as painful, the discovery of four centres serving nobody in a thick forest when there were not enough machines for potential voters in places like Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, Adazi, Agulu and others.
He said: “I have heard of floating/flying polling booths. Today, I have seen one. I am sad that there are four machines wasting here, whereas there are no machines in Onitsha, Eke Awka, Ozubulu, Nnewi and parts of Anaocha where thousands of people are waiting to be registered.”

Onukaogu noted that the four centres had registered only about 200 voters since the exercise started 10 days ago, when the same machines would have registered several thousands had they been located in densely-populated areas.
He said the irregular location of the centres also posed grave risk to the registration officers and the machines, questioning, “how will I evacuate men and machines in the event of danger?”
The REC boss alleged that the centres have been secured by an influential politician from the area, who would want to use it to rig election, but assured that he would remove three machines and leave one behind, just as he would need to meet with the registration officials before taking action.

Onukaogu stressed that he was constrained by the fact that the “floating registration centres” deep in the forest were documented from the INEC Abuja headquarters and assured it would be corrected. Also speaking, the Deputy Governor, who expressed shock at the location of the registration centres, said: “We have shortfalls in machines. But in the forest here, there are four machines lying idle. All the people we met here are not up to 10. But if you go to some other places, you will find thousands of people waiting to be registered”.

Describing such registration centres as what people use to perpetuate electoral fraud, the deputy governor said: “This, I can assure you, is part of the rascality of the past which the present government under Mr. Peter Obi is trying hard to stamp out of the state.”
However, a former deputy chairman of Oyi Local Government, Chief Samuel Offorkansi, who is overseeing affairs at the voting centres, insisted that the place had been serving as voting and registration centres since 1998, stressing that contrary to what the people think, the centres were in the midst of densely populated villages.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/jan/26/national-26-01-2011-01.htm

Igbo Kwenu!!!!lol

Mai Suya:
My broda, I dey fine. na work no let me see road. That your answer funny o!

keep firing that job bro, haha that answer is true

Kalu Akanu:
Look you dammn goat, I said what I had to say for a reason. You see people mocking Igbo with posting this picture. You think I am going to be alright with that pile of crap? You take your words and shove where the sun doesn't shine.

I hate you hypocritical bastarrds like yourself. Trying to act all high and mighty, but don't see that t[b]his dammn thread is mockery to all those who lost loved ones.[/b]

If more Igbos were like me, maybe we would be taken more seriously. I have no love for those who mock my people. I only wish death on my enemies. Sooner or later, the Igbos that share my view will take over and you better run. Because we take no prisoners.

So its true that there are animals in the form of human? my friend sharrap this your unbridled tongue before you say something that will consume you and your family's carcasses. How can Igbos be like you when they are wiser than in the sixties OJukwu made the same mouth and ran away just like you are doing now and i am sure they are not as foolish as you are.

^^^ Maisuya i thought u vamoose from NL, how are u man? the reason why they fed boys was because Ojukwu wanted to use them as sacrificial lambs, lol

^^^ Did Awo cage these children? was Awo part of Biafra? nna you better blame your Dim no put sand for Awo garri oooo

^^^^ I am telling you my brother and the guy went and marry young woman come  dey enjoy himself at old age, kai sai a hankali

Chai see head Ojukwu punished these people no bi small,

may be Dede1 can tell us who the person is,