₦airaland Forum

National leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday urged those who love Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Bode George, to prevail on him to keep silent and stop embarrassing himself in public.

Tinubu, who was reacting to an interview in Daily Sun in which George claimed that the former Lagos governor was responsible for his imprisonment, described George’s allegation as a product of “post-prison and pre-reintegration dementia.”
In a statement, signed by his chief press secretary, Olakunle Abimbola, Tinubu noted that notwithstanding George’s present misfortunes, the PDP chieftain still owed his fatherland a decent public conduct commensurate to his status as an elder statesman, former military governor and retired naval chief.

The statement said George’s claim of Tinubu’s involvement in his travails was absolutely illogical since the former Lagos governor was already two years out of office when the PDP chieftain ran into trouble. Tinubu wondered how George could claim that he was “convicted by Lagos State Government headed by Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu.”

The statement reads: “In Yoruba tradition, and indeed in the tradition of any decent society, you do not kick who is already down. But what if he who is down viciously kicks you to force just any reaction? That is what Chief George is doing. But if he expects Asiwaju Tinubu to gloat over his misfortune, then Chief George has a long time to wait because he will not,” he said, adding: “But the moral in all of this is simple: those who crave to destroy others often end up destroying themselves.”

“The scandalous statement by Chief George, the indecorous language he deployed (‘It was made by Tinubu and his gang’), the ludicrous living in denial (‘It is a politically motivated conviction’), not to talk of the claim that Lagos State made a law to entrap erring federal officials, would appear to have issued from bitterness. For the sake of what is left of the George Family name and honour, Chief George should be prevailed upon to let himself go so as to earn a second chance. He fell into a prison ditch he, from the way he spoke, would have wished others would fall into. He should learn his lessons and realise that evil thoughts and actions eventually come back to destroy those who harbour or do them.

“Instead of trying to lay ridiculous charges on his perceived enemies, therefore, he should thank God for having saved him from his enemies. It is his so-called friends he must contend with. One of them, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, thought nothing of rubbing the face of a fallen George in the mud. Did Chief George realise how ridiculous he sounded when he said some ‘cabal’ wanted to ‘create fiction between Obasanjo and I’, only to realise that Obasanjo had already gone public with disowning George’s carnival-like reception?

“Another, a nameless collective that simply called themselves ‘Friends of Olabode George,’ launched into a tirade against Justice Joseph Oyewole, who tried the case, referring to the judge as one of Bode George’s ‘persecutors.’ Why a judge doing his work would want to ‘persecute’ a fellow citizen beggars belief. But it would appear a continuation of the dangerous trend by some elements in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to discredit the judiciary, each time a case goes against them. With all their wild allegations, they discredit no one but Chief George himself, after all they are an anonymous group hiding behind his face!
“Let those who dearly love Chief George prevail on him to stop these embarrassing tantrums, warts and all; he is an elder and, but for his prison stain, something close to an aristocrat in the Nigerian establishment, having been a military governor before. He was also not your run-of-the-mill naval officer, having earned a degree in engineering before enlisting in the Nigerian Navy, from which he retired as Air Commodore.

“Despite his current misfortune, he owes his country a lot – least of which is public decency. He can best achieve this by keeping a golden silence. After all, as the Yorubas say, if you crave not to be disgraced and you are, you pray for long life so that you can rectify the disgrace. Golden and dignified silence is what Chief George needs, not wild tantrums.”




http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/mar/08/national-08-03-2011-01.htm

The supremacy battle between former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, took a new dimension on Monday as their groups vowed to defeat each other in the forthcoming elections.



The governorship candidate of Daniel’s faction, Mr. Gboyega Isiaka, said the Peoples Democratic Party would not win the state in the April elections.



In an interview with journalists in Abeokuta, Isiaka, who defected to the Peoples Party of Nigeria, explained why Daniel’s faction dumped the PDP.



Investigations showed that although the governor did not leave the PDP, Isiaka and other candidates of the faction left the ruling party with his permission.



Isiaka said that though he will contest the governorship poll on the platform of the PPN, his group would support President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential election.



But his rival and PDP governorship candidate, Gen. Tunji Olurin (retd.) and his running mate, Mr. Tunde Oladunjoye, dismissed Isiaka’s threat, saying no party could defeat the PDP in Ogun State.



Olurin, reacting to the defection of the members of Daniel’s faction, described the development as unfortunate.



The governorship candidate, who spoke through the Chairman of Media and Publicity of his campaign organisation, Layi Olabode, said, “The development is very unfortunate. Olurin is a man of peace and has extended hands of fellowship to all.



“But to us in the PDP, we see the development as a storm in a cup of tea as it will have no effect on the fortunes of the party.”



Oladunjoye said, “The chicken has come home to roost. We have been suspecting their anti-party activities. Like their sponsors did to the Alliance for Democracy, they want to destroy the PDP.



“Unfortunately, the PDP is too big for them to destroy. In the next few days, you will see that there are no big names going with them. Their plan to win the state is wishful thinking.”



But Isiaka blamed the national leadership of the PDP and the judiciary for the group’s decision to dump the party.



He said, “I maintain that the PPN will defeat the PDP at the governorship elections, and other levels of elections.



“We have our structures on ground and we are moving our political structures with us to the new party. In the forthcoming elections, we will see who is who.”



Isiaka said, “Our decision to dump the party was borne out of the need to realise our political ambitions in the face of injustice being perpetrated against us by the party’s national leadership in collaboration with the judiciary.



“We feel aggrieved because we believe that the election that threw us up as the party’s candidates was free and fair, in line with the party’s constitution and the process was monitored by relevant bodies, so we see no reason why it should be upturned in favour of a group of people.”



Isiaka stated that the group was able to beat the INEC deadline for substitution and withdrawal of candidates as the PPN had been part of the many options the faction had been considering. He noted that, “It is not something that just happened overnight.”



One of Daniel’s aides, who is now the Ogun State Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Party of Nigeria, Mr. Ajayi Raheem, said, “ Yes, we are now in the PPN, a party with good motive and with responsive governance. Members of the PDP that are loyal to Daniel are now in PPN.”



Investigations by our correspondent revealed that apart from Daniel, Mrs. Lola Edewor-Abiola, the daughter of the widely acclaimed winner of the June 12 1993 presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, who is also a senatorial candidate of the faction, had not left the PDP.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103083515970

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Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, and the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Chief Iyiola Omisore, have traded words over a destabilisation plot levelled by the state government against the legislator.



A statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, on Sunday evening in Osogbo, accused the Peoples Democratic Party chieftain of plotting to destablise the 20-year-old state.



It claimed that the plot was planned by top PDP members in the Senate and House of Representatives.



It said the PDP leadership “is unhappy about the peace reigning in Osun and the way Governor Rauf Aregbesola is administering the state progressively.”



The statement also accused some other PDP chieftains of involvement in the alleged plot and called on security agents not to treat the allegation with levity.



It said, “Part of the plot is to use fake uniforms of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme to commit crimes in order to discredit the 20,000 volunteers of the empowerment programme put in place by the Rauf Aregbesola administration to ease the unemployment problem created by the do-nothing administration of the Peoples Democratic Party usurpers in the state.”



Reacting, Omisore said on the telephone on Sunday evening that the ACN was made up of ‘an unserious set of people’, bent on causing confusion.



He said, “The ACN is afraid of the oncoming elections and that is why it is causing a distraction; the ACN is jittery.



“They should go and sit down and plan for the elections.”











“Elections are just a few weeks away; who do they want to distract with this childish ploy? They are unserious. This allegation has been their singsong since they assumed office. They should find another song to sing because they are already sounding hoarse, telling the same lies every time.”



http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103076475837

The hostility that some Peoples Democratic Party governors have exhibited against the campaign rallies and other activities of opposition parties in their states has become a source of great worry to the party, investigations by our correspondents have shown.



Investigations by our correspondents showed that the party was concerned that the growing intolerance of some governors would affect the image of the party and make a mess of the rule of law posture of President Goodluck Jonathan. It was learnt that the PDP was acutely aware that more than before, the international community was interested in campaigns and the forthcoming elections.



Meanwhile, some opposition parties, including the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change, on Sunday said the temperament of the PDP governors indicated that they were “afraid” and “desperate.”



The opposition parties spoke in reaction to the arrest of the governorship candidate of the CPC in Katsina State, Senator Yakubu Lado, in Katsina, on Saturday.



According to some newspapers’ reports, the arrest of Lado, was allegedly ordered by the state Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema, last Wednesday after a clash between the PDP and the CPC supporters at Makauraci Village in Rimi Local Government Area of the state.



Shema had said, “We are not afraid of anybody. We are ready to protect lives and properties and deal with troublemakers. We shall invoke Sections 119, 128 and 131 of the constitution which gives us power to deal with any trouble maker.”



Lado’s arrest led to a protest by CPC members, who were later dispersed by the police with tear gas. A sister of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Mario Tafida, who was said to be asthmatic was said to have been affected by the tear gas.



Last week, the Ebonyi State Governor, Mr. Martin Elechi, had disallowed the ANPP from holding its rally in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state capital, on the grounds that the party Chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who hails from the state, had a “nefarious agenda.”



In Benue State, the ACN accused the Benue State Government of preventing it from holding its presidential campaign at the IBB Square, Markudi. But the state government denied the allegation.



A national official of the PDP, who pleaded anonymity, said the party was not happy about what he described as intolerant atitude of some of its governors.



He said, “The PDP, as the largest political party in Africa, has the responsibility to allow democracy to go on and this can only grow if all parties are allowed to ventilate their positions to the public. So, it is not the policy of the PDP for any party to be denied the use of facilities. It is not excusable, whatever the technical limitations that might exist in the use of a public facility, it is difficult to sell it to the public that you are not denying the use of that facility to a party because of political differences.



“So, there should be no attempt to deny any party the use of public facilities within the state. Once a particular political party has made use of that public facility, all other parties must have access to the use of it.”



Condemning the PDP governors, the ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, “It does not only show desperation and frustration on their part, it also shows that they are jittery.”



Mohammed said that if the PDP had done well in the last 12 years, it ought not to report to “underhand tactics.”



The ACN national publicity secretary said that the ruling party was heating the polity, adding it should not endanger the forthcoming elections.



Also, the ANPP on Sunday that the wave of violence being pursued by the PDP was as a result of the fear of its imminent failure at the polls.



The ANPP said it had been complaining before now to the whole world about the antics of the PDP.



ANPP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emma Eneukwu, said the desperation of the PDP had become obvious for all to see.



“We have been telling the whole world that if there is a free-and-fair election in Nigeria to today, the PDP will fail woefully. They have devised a means to coerce the opposition into submission, so that they can write the results (of the election) as usual,” he said.



Eneukwu said the PDP was aware that if it permitted a free and fair election and also allowed the opposition to campaign, it would fail.



He said, “The PDP threw the 12 years Nigerians gave it into the dustbin. They have no campaign issues. What issue will you tell someone who gave you 12 years and you did nothing?”



The spokesman of the CPC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said that the governors’ intolerance was “a sign of the end time of the PDP.”



He said, “The PDP has never won any election. It is now sacred because it sees that its defeat is imminent.”



Buhari urged Nigerians and the international community to prevail on Jonathan’s administration to ensure free and fair elections. He said credibility elections begin with campaigns.



The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties also said it was not surprised at the PDP’s resort to violence.



The CNPP warned Nigerians not to be carried away by the assurances of the government on the safety of lives and property in the country ahead of the elections.



The CNPP said the fear of failure at the polls was responsible for the PDP’s resort to violence and intimidation of the opposition.



CNPP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, told The PUNCH the PDP had “an incurable electoral phobia.”



“Any time they see signs of free and fair elections, they resort to violence and intimidation. They will do anything to prevent a free and fair election in the country,” he said



Okechukwu urged Nigerians to disregard President Goodluck Jonathan’s assurances on safety and security of lives and property in the country.



“What has Jonathan said in the past that he has followed up? These promises are mere pronouncements that will have no effects whatsoever,” he said.



The President of the Campaign, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, who spoke with one of our correspondents, said the PDP governors had something to hide from the public.



Okei-Odumakin said, “It is like there is no end to these challenges. It portends grave danger for the present democratic dispensation. There is also no will on the parts of political leaders, for instance, the PDP that is referred to as the largest party in Africa should give freedom to other politics.”

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103073161221

Religious leaders and a civil society group in Lagos yesterday condemned former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, over his comments on the reception held for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Olabode George.

Obasanjo, in an interview with journalists in Abeokuta last Friday, shortly after a public lecture to mark his 74th anniversary, said he was tricked to attend the reception organised for George, describing it as a celebration of criminality, as he roundly condemned the released politician.

While condemning Obasanjo’s criticism in a statement yesterday, a Lagos-based group, Human Rights and Justice Vanguard (HRJV), said: “What Obasanjo did was a very wrong and harsh rehabilitation of Bode George into the society.”

According to the leader of the group, Pastor Richard Kolapo, once a person has served a prison term, “he must be integrated and accepted into the society. Why are leaders of the society behaving like this? You don’t break the laws and regulations that you have made. God doesn’t want the death of a sinner but repentance.” The Chief Imam of Dairy Farm Muslim Community Mosque, Agege, Alhaji Dawood Adelodun, also condemned Obasanjo’s utterances, explaining that in Islam “we don’t discriminate against anyone who has served prison term and has been reformed.”

Citing passages from the Holy Quran about how Prophet Yusuf went to prison and came back, Adelodun said, “it can happen to anybody. You have to pray for him and learn from him; you’re not to isolate him. We should thank God for him and rejoice with him that he is out.”

George and five others were arraigned on August 8, 2008 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 163-count charge, concerning his activities as board chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority. He was later convicted in October 2009 by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja and jailed for two years alongside others on a seven-count charge of abuse of office and six months each on another 27-count charge of disobedience to constituted authority.

A rousing reception was held for George by a committee of friends as he regained freedom penultimate Saturday. Pastor Kolapo warned Obasanjo’s associates to be wary of the former president, pointing out that all those who had been too close to him politically ended up having their political image dented.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/mar/07/national-07-03-2011-002.htm

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and a strong pillar of the rulling party in Lagos State, Chief Bode George, seems to have put his recent jail experience behind him. He has returned to the political turf and resumed the battle for the soul of Lagos. In this interview with Magazine Editor, SOLA OSHUNKEYE, he talks about his recent travails and reveals that former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, master-minded his journey to Kirikiri Prisons. Excerpts:

In your first interaction with the press, you said that you went to the University of life
Absolutely.

What were the subjects that you took and passed?
Perseverance, Patience, human behaviour, because I saw the best, the worst and the most ugly of Human being. I saw people who didn’t commit any crime were roped in there. I saw those who committed crime there also going through spiritual cleansing.

And so, having being at the helms of affairs of this country, and also have the rare privilege to have being to the bottom of the worst valley, it further strengthens my faith in the almightiness of our creator the Almighty God. He showed the almightiness in him. That in the same environment, He could use people of all sorts. And you know, to be a political leader, a policy maker, I never knew what could happen at the lowest level. I cannot do a complete work without being there. So it was a very rare privilege and I’ll tell my experience to people.

You’ll write a PhD thesis on it?
Absolutely. It will even be more than PhD. It is not somewhere you go and come back and you don’t appreciate something.
In your friend ex- president Obasanjo book entitled: This animal call man, which side of this animal called man did you rediscover in prison?
The only thing I could discover while in prison was God.

When we were young, in my language Olodunmare nikan leyan le soro si. My parents kept telling me that, but I took it for granted. When I found myself in that kind of condition, I looked round and wondered: what did I do? What did I do to deserve this? Of course, I was so angry initially. I would say what the hell! But then, in my dream and my spiritual devotional time, I also learned the Almightiness of God. He gave me that grace to survive. I have reached the highest level of life, sat in president’s bedroom and have also seen the worst.
It is a rare privilege. You know I am not the first and will not be the last to be politically railroaded to jail.

What do you mean by politically railroaded to jail?
Simply put, we were charged with a disobedient to federal circular, Federal circular by the board of Nigerian Port Authority (NPA). NPA is a Federal parastatal. I was a part-time chairman. The Federal circular, which we never got, which they never operated in NPA. This so called circular that they are claiming, if you talk about a federal circular, an administrative instruction, codified criminal code; can the executive arm make law?
Now the man who railroaded us was Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It wasn’t the Federal Government. We were convicted by Lagos State Government headed by Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. It wasn’t the Federal government.

Wasn’t it a Federal Court?
No, it was Tinubu and his gang
How can you substantiate that?
The law they charged us with was law of Lagos State made by the state Assembly for their own civil servants.
…. But not made by Tinubu

It was made by Tinubu and his gang. Made during his time. It is a politically motivated conviction. For now, when I look at the noise: Bode stole 100 billion naira where is the money? They said we split contract, splitting contract of a parastatal of that stature, a multi-billion naira corporation in this country? The legal department prepared their requirement. It has to go through different levels before it would come to the board for consideration. The executive director (engineering) who also was aboard member by virtue of his appointment presented the memo and the requirement, the whole board deliberated. It wasn’t a secret society. They deliberated on it on it and even after that, the approval will have to go to the ministry of transport. If they didn’t agree with it, they would have stopped it, but they didn’t. They were waiting for Bode George to be crucified. Of course fine, they went into their cubicle, they went into their net, and we were railroaded. Convicted.

How would you say you, a Federal officer working for the Federal Government on part-time, would now be convicted because of disobeying a federal circular? I did that for providence. That experience of going down there, like I said, was a rare privilege. They’ve been shouting over the pages of the newspapers and they are the same people, a gang of cali-cabal talking Bode George, Bode George. I was even shocked to hear that when I left the prison, there was a lavish party. These bunch of devilish people. Of course I know that fellow, the emperor little of Bourdillion. The emperor without gown.

Who could that be?
Bola Tinubu. He is the emperor without the gown. We need to go back to our creator. We are running in a fast track to oblivion. The misinformation that is perpetually pumped into the mind and heart of our people.
They are not fair. Those who came to welcome me, they branded as celebrating corruption. What a joke. They call me ex-convict, look; I won’t be the first and won’t be the last. Mandela was an ex-convict, Baba Awolowo was an ex-convict, and these are great men. They made it look like you being there, you are finished. If you don’t go through fire, you can never rise beyond mediocrity and ideology. You cannot!

For me, I thank God. I was the grand patron of the church there. There is a non-denominational church there where we worshiped. You meet with the people relaxing themselves there seeking forgiveness from God. I want to thank some of the governors who came, who examined the situation of some prisoners and granted them pardon through my intervention there.

So, God used you in a way to even offer service.
I tell you a story if you go into my own book. Every Sunday, there was this section, Ololade was in charge. During service, anytime it was time for praise and worship, he was always in the front dancing. You see him internally full of joy dancing and it was like the spirit of God was all over him. So one day, as he finished the service, I called him. I said where do you come from? He said Ondo State. What did you do? He said he’s been there for 28th years. On the death row. So everyday when he hears call from the warder, he thinks that it is time for him. So every Sunday, he will come to worship and thank God.

You could see his appreciation of the Almighty God. What did he do? He said he was a hunter. When hunting one night, he shot, it was an antelope and by the time he went there, it was a human being that he shot. It was also in prison they removed one of his eyes. Why will he not be grateful to God? The Governor of Ondo State, Agagu, Oyinlola, Akala came they gave him amnesty, he couldn’t even find the way to his house, so the governor had to send car to pick him. When you see that kind of experience and you get back to the high mountain, you’ll remember those good people down below. That was a real privileged for me to be true.

When the trial was going on, what was going on in your mind? I remember I was in Abuja then, when EFCC under Ribadu began investigation, after they submitted the report, President Obasanjo directed that they should go and re-investigate. When all these things were going on, and granting your pivotal roll In whe PDP especially in the Southern West, considering president Obasanjo, what was going on in your mind?
I don’t know, I swear to God Almighty, I don’t know.

Do you know where the tide was going?
I never, until EFCC stormed my house in Abuja to arrest me. I didn’t know what was going on.
Do you know they were investigating you?
I know they were investigating. They came back and said it was a system problem. I knew very little about it. Why would they ask me? As part time chairman I didn’t even know how many bank accounts they had, I don’t even know who sign the cheque. It was just for you to direct their affairs during the board meeting. I don’t even know all their contractors. I thank God one thing came out by Justice Oyewole the young man. I remember Papa Awolowo judgment in the court. I shook my head.

What is all this hullabaloo? My interpretation when he said the court sentenced me. The court said it was misdemeanor. Now, there was no penalty, no option of bail. But one thing came out of it, that nobody, none of those sentenced benefited financially from the said fraud. At least God will look at this and forgive them. I said this at the court, so why these pundits are now shouting corruption, corruption. If you did not benefit financially from them where is the stolen money?

My brother, I want to stop this whole thing now because we are still going to have so much. I just want Nigerians to have a deep breath, look at what is prudent. The same group, these cabals! They are the same cabal, their media people and their spokes persons are the same people who have been orchestrating it. But I pay that Almighty God will let them get to my age, because he is awesome God and He will work his wonders. All my faculties are even more razor-sharp than even when I went to university.

When this trial started, Obviously, some people rejoiced, they said ‘Olorun mu’, you know, they felt you are being paid for the conquest of the South-west. In 2003, how do you respond to that?
Everybody will have their opinion. If members of the cabal that organized and orchestrated my ordeals are thinking that this man must be punished, they are not God. Judge not so that you shall not be judged. Even God the Almighty says in Proverb 25:15 if you did something that is bad to human being, it is God that will judge.
How would you react to Obasanjo comment that he was tricked into coming to your reception and that PDP should distance itself from you?

I didn’t know about that and I didn’t think he said that. Obasanjo was at the reception. It is the same cabal that is saying all this nonsense. We were at the rally together. You saw Baba, and Baba came to the rally. What about millions of others that came? Were they also tricked to come to the church? They want to create friction between Obasanjo and I. (Obj’s statement was not yet public when George spoke)

Are you bitter about the whole saga?
No, I said it that day, why would I be bitter? When I saw the crowd? You know that was the people’s verdict. The voice of other political party is a tribal party and we are going to move away from the Nobody is going to take me away from PDP. It was by providence that PDP came up. Remember immediately after Abacha’s death, there was formation of G19 and it metamorphosized into political party. For the first time, North, South, West communicating without hindrance.

The only party that gave a man from the minority South-South to have a shot at the presidency. Wouldn’t you like to be in tune with the party rather than the type being run like a private company, by people who have no believe in democracy? Listen to Bisi Akande, what they said in their convention that they do selection, if you don’t like their party, get out. They don’t believe in primaries. Where in the world would you say you don’t believe in primary?

You see, this people are fake. They don’t believe in democracy. And if we want to move from party of perfidy to a civilized party, like what is practiced in civilized countries, then we must move away from the party of Tinubu to his wife, daughter, family, his in-law. What are they doing? Is it now familyotrocracy?

No, let them go. Those who left haven’t they come back? They went there and they drove them. Let them go to the other political party and find out what they do there. It is one man sitting there. Emperor little, emperor without a gown, cap. Emperor Bourdillon. He is distributing, moving people from Ebute-Meta, to Ikorodu, to Yaba, is that what we call democracy Nigerians must know what is happening.

Those who are falsifying and misinforming the public, if they fear the Almighty God, have to be careful because the prayer of the common people, those people who are being hounded, will get to God. Okada men are being maltreated. You are not a limitary governor. Even those of you who serve under military government never do those to your fellow Nigerian.

The time for those people to have their ballot. The electorate are the employers of those people. Let us tell the people the truth. Bode George is not contesting for governor, senate, but I believe in the cause of this party. I will work and fight for this party. We’ll educate the public that the party to follow is the party that is truly Nigeria. All other party is tribalistic. How many other states have they been to? That is my take on the issue.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/mar/07/national-07-03-2011-001.htm

The Lagos State Government has opposed plans by the Federal Government through the National Tax Policy to reduce income tax rates.



It said such a move would adversely affect the revenue of the state government without giving it any opportunity to make up for the loss.



The state government is also seeking the alteration of the present Revenue Allocation Formula to enable states and local governments to get a bigger share.



These demands formed a seven-point communiqué issued on Friday at the end of the sixth Executive/Legislative parley on ‘Good Governance and Strategic Planning’ in Lagos.



The state government also sought the amendment of the Value Added Tax Act to preserve the revenues exclusively for states and local governments. It said this would enable them to cope with the increasing challenges of governance.



In the communiqué read at the end of the session by a member of the House of Representatives from Surulere Federal Constituency I, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, the state government argued that even though the National Tax Policy was seeking an increase in indirect tax rates and decrease in income tax rates, experience had shown that only the rate reduction could easily achieved.



The parley recalled the crisis generated by the attempt to increase VAT rates through the VAT Order 2007, saying it clearly illustrated the difficulty that would be encountered should there be an attempt to increase indirect taxes.



Furthermore, it noted that despite the National Assembly reserving the legislative authority over Personal Income Tax, the importance of the state government cannot be jettisoned as the PIT revenues belong exclusively to the state.



“It is important for states to be given an enabling environment to collect all forms of sales and consumption taxes as these are not on the exclusive legislative list and are regarded as residual matters for the State House of Assembly,” the summit declared.



In his keynote address, Governor Babatunde Fashola argued that the visible progress being made by the state was largely due to its commitment to an effective tax policy and budget implementation in the last three years.





http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103076471751

Indications have emerged that the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party may stun the five governors, whose tenures was elongated on the orders of a court.



Investigations by our correspondent showed that the party would insist on fresh primaries for the governors after they might have completed their tenure in 2012 as ordered by the court.



A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had recently held that the terms of the governors would not end on May 29, 2011



The governors are those of Sokoto (Aliyu Wamako), Bayelsa(Timipre Sylva) Adamawa (Alhaji Murtala Nyako), Liyel Imoke(Cross River) and Kogi (Alhaji Ibrahim Idris).



Four of the governors are seeking second term election with the exception of Idris.



The four, alongside others, had won the governorship primaries conducted in their respective states, even as the exercise was characterised by irregularities that made some aspirants defect to other parties.



In Adamawa State, for example, a former military administrator of Lagos State, Gen. Buba Marwa(retd.) left the PDP for the Congress for Progressive Change where he is now the party’s governorship candidate.



Also, in Bayelsa State, a former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Timi Alaibe, had to defect to the Labour Party when he realised that the leadership of the PDP in the state would not allow a level-playing field for all governorship aspirants.



In Cross River State, all the political office holders loyal to Imoke were said to have been returned unopposed, a decision that pitched the state chapter of the party against the Independent National Electoral Commission.



However, a member of the PDP National Working Committee, who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja, said with the way the primaries were conducted across the states, which he said had attracted public condemnations the four governors would have to join other aspirants in future to partake in transparent primaries.



The source said if the court said the tenure of the governors was yet to come to an end, then what that implied was primaries were not supposed to have been conducted in the first place.



He said, “Now, the court has ruled that the tenure of these governors is yet to come to an end. That is good.



“What the court has said was that abinitio, we ought not to have conducted any primary at all. Therefore, all those who claimed to have won now, would not be known to us when the time comes because the court had spoken.



“Whatever we might have done now or in the past, if the judgment still stands because INEC says it would appeal, would become a nullity before the law.”



He added that the party did the same with a former Special Assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Andy Uba, who was the party’s governorship candidate in Anambra State in 2007.



He noted that as soon as the Supreme Court sacked Uba, the party decided to throw the position open to all aspirants.



He further explained, “Uba was not only our candidate; he was already a governor when the Supreme Court sent him packing. But when it was time to have the election, we picked Prof. Charles Soludo.



“So, anyone talking about holding our flag is doing so at his own peril. When the time comes, we would throw the contest open.”



Efforts to speak with the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali, on the matter were not successful.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103065365185

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday said that an African continent devoid of ethno-religious crises, poverty and leadership problems among other challenges would make him laugh louder.



The former president, who made the remark at the Second Biennial Conference organised by Centre for Human Security, held at Chapel of Christ the Glorious King, Abeokuta, noted that the statement, “I dey laugh o,” had been associated with him, adding that he wished to laugh louder when the continent was free of all its challenges.



He said, “I wish I could laugh louder, I know that soon Africa will be free from these entire crises, then I will laugh louder.”



Obasanjo, who spoke on the topic “Enhancing Human Security for Africa in a changing world through partnership and cooperation,” expressed confidence that Africa’s problem would soon become a thing of the past.



The co-chairman of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Foundation, Mr. Carl Masters, in his welcome address canvassed the need for African leaders to include youths in decision making and implementation.



He maintained that the youths had a stake in whatever was happening in the society, adding that they must be allowed to play major roles in decision formulations and implementations.



Masters described the ongoing revolution in some African countries as an indication that the youths were standing up to defend their rights.



He said, ‘“What is relevant today is to make the youths speak out in matters that concern them; youths in different parts today are now challenging dynasty and established authority.”







http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103065483640

D’Banj’s decision to feature popular American act, Snoop Dogg, in his remix of Endowed is a good joker







Hip hop star D’Banj had enjoyed stardom in the best parts of the last decade, but his latest move has particularly been very rewarding and instructive. This is his decision to feature Snoop Dogg in the remix of his song, Endowed. Since it got on air about a month ago, it has been topping most of the charts.



Of course, the appearance of Dogg in Endowed has injected a surprise and something different into the videos that have been produced in recent years. There is no doubt that music video production has generally witnessed a lot of improvement in Nigeria.



Artistes, producers and directors had upped the scales. But monotony appears to have also been struggling to creep in, as many musicians would either go on liquor spree, casually dance round a pile of dollars or just continue the tradition of a male dancing round a female in a good number of videos produced in the past three years or so.



For D’Banj as an artiste, collaborating with a musician of Dogg’s status not only re-invents his status, it also instantly boosts his profile. Many will not find it difficult to believe that if Dogg did not recognise him to be a worthy performer, he would not have acceded to featuring in Endowed.



The leverage the collab brings is, however, mutually rewarding as it appears to have rekindled the interest of many Nigerian lovers of music in the dangling Dogg too.



The success also sheds light on the potential of remixing or repackaging a song in whatever form. Especially if it has the right substance, a song will always come out new and win new friends when the artiste takes it to the market in another robe.



It is the same tradition that shot the likes of Paul Dairo and Musiliu Haruna Isola into limelight, when they respectively reproduced Mo S’oriire and Soyoyo, originally produced by their late fathers, I. K. Dairo and Haruna Isola.



Trust Nigerians, though, it will not be surprising if some other artistes begin to scout for big foreign artistes to feature.



A similar thing happened when it became the in-thing for Naija musicians to go to South Africa, US and UK to shoot videos. Of, course, not all of such succeeded since what guarantees success goes beyond the contraption of a handful of foreign images. As demonstrated in Endowed, self confidence, which is even more or less the centre of D B’anj’s message in the song – matters a lot, just as stage acumen, which ensure that Dogg’s image and actions do not swallow his, are parts of what determined the success of the collaboration.





http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103060394846

Twins sell for N1m; Baby boy N500,000; Girl N350,000


Until recently, the Ayodele Omosuyi Natural Clinic in Ugwuaku, Okigwe, Imo State, was believed to be the ‘solution ground’ for baby-seeking habitué. But behind the high fenced walls, all manner of the absurd takes place, away from the prying eyes of the public and law enforcement agents.
Unknown to many, this was a hugely thriving baby factory, where women who pretend to be heavily pregnant deliver their ‘babies.’ But not without a price!

Depending on what a woman wants, twins go for about N1 million, male babies are sold for N500,000, while females are sold for between N350,000 and N450,000. Whichever child you desire, she collects cash and not cheque.

Behind the illicit baby trade is one Mrs. Ayodele Omosuyi, popularly known as Iyawo in the community. It is not difficult locating her ‘clinic.’ Anyone, especially the commercial motorcycle riders at the Okigwe junction along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, would readily take you to her rendezvous.
She is seen as lord in the community and nobody in the rural community of Ugwuaku dares cross her path. The police were believed to know about her activities, but apparently looked the other way until soldiers burst the ring last December when they raided the place with officials of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

Decayed human bodies that had turned into skeletons were among the things allegedly discovered during the raid. NAPTIP suspects that some of the children and even adults might have been used for rituals at the clinic.
During Sunday Sun checks at the village, a commercial motorcyclist told our reporter that the community does not know half of the things that go on in the village.
“It is a Mecca of sorts and people come here for very many different purposes.”
He alleged that people from far and near, vehicles of all shapes, sizes and brands, some marked with Federal Government number plates as well as other special numbers from different parts of the country visit the woman, whom he described as very powerful.

He narrated the story of a passenger he often carried to the clinic.
“One day she confessed to me that she was in trouble. She said her sister-in-law, who had been scheming for her to be chased away from the family due to her inability to have a baby, suddenly changed after she visited Iyawo.
“She said after taking the substance given to her she started noticing something growing in her womb and that her baby actually moved to the admiration of her sister-in-law and other members of her family. She, however, confessed that it was just that once; that nothing happened again until she visited Iyawo again.
“When it was nine months and time for her to be delivered of her baby, Iyawo had to postpone the delivery date by four months to enable her complete the N1 million fee she was charged for twins.”

How the bubble burst
NAPTIP explained how investigation into the child racketeering started. According to the agency, operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) had arrested some women who came to Enugu through the airport only to return days after with newborn babies. The women were handed over to the agency, where they revealed how the suspect (Mrs. Omosuyi) assisted them to get the babies.
NAPTIP revealed that Mrs. Omosuyi had agents that are paid for each pregnant girl brought to the clinic. The girls are paid between N70,000 and N90,000 after delivery, depending on the sex of the baby.

While girls who successfully deliver are given a token, those who lose their babies are reportedly forced to serve Mrs. Omosuyi for a long time. During this period, male adults were paid to impregnate the girls, who are not allowed to leave the clinic.
Four pregnant teenage girls were found during the raid and handed over to NAPTIP
A woman from Switzerland, who is married to a Cameroonian, was also found at the clinic. She claimed that her sister had got her children through the same source.

Fake pregnancy
Investigation revealed that the suspect administers certain substance on her patients that form a sort of tumour in the womb of the ‘expectant’ mothers, making them believe they were pregnant. The women warned not to go to any hospital or undergo ultra-sound or any sort of scan as they could lose the ‘pregnancy’ or ‘baby’ in the process.
When it is time for ‘delivery,’ another substance is administered on the woman, which gives a false impression of labour. Part of the sex organ is cut as well as the growing tumour to discharge the necessary blood and make it look as though there was actual delivery. A baby is then sneaked in and made to cry. The woman is also made to believe she had been delivered of a baby.

Spirited defence
Recently, Iyawo attempted to whip up public sentiment when she appeared on a national television station and accused the soldiers and NAPTIP officials of various human right abuses.
She alleged that she was manhandled, raped and brutalised by the soldiers and NAPTIP officials during the raid.
She said she was pregnant and had a miscarriage in the process of her arrest and detention.
She also claimed to have discovered herbs that can make a barren woman pregnant and had successfully used it for years to assist women in dire need of babies.

Days later, a NAPTIP official appeared on the same television station to respond to the allegations. Head of the South-East zonal office of the agency, Ijeoma Okoronkwo, described Omosuyi as a notorious woman who harbours teenage girls, sell their babies at delivery and settle the young mothers with between N70,000 and N90,000, depending on the sex of the baby.
The NAPTIP official revealed that they took time to investigate the suspect and that some of her victims were ready to testify against her in court.

The agency said Mrs Omosuyi’s clinic was one of the two major baby factories in the South East raided by the soldiers. The other involved one Nma in Abia State, who is being remanded at the Aba Prisons. Skeletons were reportedly found in both homes.

Trial
Last week, the second accused, Mrs. Ann Okafor, who is standing trial with Mrs. Omosuyi at an Enugu Federal High Court, failed in her attempt to regain custody of her three-month-old twins.
The court could not entertain the application on grounds that the motion was not properly filed.
Counsel to the second accused, Daniel Alumo, told our reporter that his team would go back and put their house in order to re-file their application for custody of the twins.

The trial judge, Justice Mohammed, was however, furious with the parties for going to the media when the matter was still in court and warned them to desist from speaking further to the press.
He advised the first accused (Mrs. Omosuyi), who claimed that the issue she took to the media bordered on abuse of her fundamental human rights, and to engage a lawyer to pursue such case in the court.
The matter has been adjourned to March 10, 2011.



http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2011/mar/06/newsbreak-06-03-2011-001.htm

, Where prayer is monetised
•Divine wealth –N300,000
•Favour –N75,000
•Breaking curses – N50,000
•Tithe – 20% of income


The consequences of the quest for quick results and the gullible nature of some Nigerians to believe any word spoken by self-proclaimed prophets and preachers came to the fore recently in Onitsha, Anambra State. Sunday Sun discovered a church where members are hypnotised into parting with their hard-earned money in exchange for “miracles”.
Located at Oraukwu community town hall, Silas Works Road, Fegge, Onitsha, is a new generation church, Land of Canaan and Calvary Deliverance Church, where God’s blessings are ‘bought’ for a fee.
Members of the congregation are brainwashed to make special offerings so as to attract God’s blessings.
At the Land of Canaan and Calvary Deliverance Ministry, the unofficial slogan of the pastor in charge is “pray, pray, pray, fast, fast, fast; God’s favours doesn’t go with praying and fasting, he goes by the price you pay. Pay the price and God will surprise you.”
Fed with this strange orthodoxy, members of the church pay different amounts of money to receive God’s favour. While the pastor smiles to the bank, the congregation wallow in poverty, hoping their moment of abundant wealth is around the corner.
Sunday Sun reporter gathered that prayers for breaking of ancestral curses in the church attracts a fee of N50,000 and above; special prayers for God’s favour, often done by selected “prayer warriors”, who are strict vegetarians, goes for N75,000; sowing of seed for abundant wealth costs N200,000, while fortification of a worshipper against misfortunes and accidents goes for N100,000, among other sundry charges members of the congregation are made to pay.
The Bible, in the book of Malachi, admonishes Christians to give 10 per cent of their earnings to God as tithe so as to attract more blessings, but in the House of Canaan and Calvary Deliverance Ministry, tithe is 20 per cent of one’s income so that “God will answer prayers and requests very fast.”
A former member of the church, Uche Nnebedum, is currently engaged in a mother of all battles with owner of the church, Pastor Ekenechukwu Chukwumerem, in his quest to recover N3.5 million he was allegedly fleeced by the church.
Narrating his ordeal, Nnebedum, who is the Director of Divine Favour Transport Company, said he had made a vow to recover everything the pastor deceitfully collected from him and also to expose the antics of other warehouse churches so that more people would not fall victim.

Encounter with the pastor
Nnebedum told Sunday Sun that he had met Pastor Chukwumerem in the quest for solution to some financial misfortunes he had suffered in his business.
“I was directed to the church by my own blood relation, Amaechi Nnebedum, who did not know that the pastor was not genuine. I told the pastor that I was looking for solution to my problems and he laid his hands on my head and later said that I was now at the final bus stop. He told me that if I wanted my problems solved, the church would embark on special prayers for me. The prayers, according to him, would be held by a band of dedicated prayer warriors at GRA, Onitsha. The group, he told me, eats selected fruits only and the price is N75,000. I foolishly paid the money and that was the beginning of my ordeal.”
‘You need a voice for God to hear you’
Continuing, Nnebedum said: “After paying N75,000, my problems increased, and when I told the pastor, again, he told me that I needed a voice that would speak for me so that God would hear me quickly. By this, he meant that God had directed that I should buy a complete set of loud speakers and public address system for the church.
“I bought a set of made-in-Nigeria speakers, but he rejected it until I bought imported ones, then he said the heavens had accepted my offering. He continued to brainwash me, telling me that if I could imagine how bright my future was, then I should not relent in doing whatever God said I should do. I know people who hear my story now will blame me or even ask whether I’m a fool, but they won’t know that I was under a spell then. He continued giving me false hopes and I continued sowing seeds and paying special tithes believing that things would soon get better, all to no avail.”

I borrowed money to pay tithe
“I continued to suffer in silence, to the extent that I sold my household items and started borrowing money to pay tithes. The pastor told me again that the next step was for breaking ancestral curses, which will cost N50,000. I paid the money and not quite long after that a friend gave me a luxury bus to manage. When I informed the pastor, he said I should sow a seed of N20,000 so that the heart of the friend who gave me the bus will be tender towards me.
“He also instructed me to surrender the first cash proceeds from the bus on its first trip. I did all these only for the vehicle to suffer brake failure on the first trip. It took three weeks before that bus made it to Abuja from Onitsha.

“If you are a good sheep, seek counsel from the shepherd”
According to Nnebedum, the pastor always tells the congregation to share everything about their private lives with him so that he could seek God’s view and tell them the outcome, and those who obey this injunction paid dearly for heeding this advice.
“Our greatest mistake was accepting to tell him everything about our lives. Whenever you told him about any problem you are having, he always found a way to convince you to part with more money.
“He convinced me that the luxury bus was a tool for greatness, which God sent to me. Even when the bus continued to break down, I was still spending money on it and also giving more money to him. The bus broke down again while on a second trip to Abuja after I had repaired it. The engine knocked. I complained to him. He became furious and said that I had offended the Holy Spirit by questioning its authority. As a punishment, he said I should do another thanksgiving of N50,000 if I ever want the vehicle to move again so as to placate the Holy Spirit.

‘Every word of mine is holyghostic’
“To confirm the efficacy of the pastor’s power, Nnebedum said he defied his directive to do another thanksgiving and borrowed money to repair the vehicle.
“Immediately the vehicle was put in order, my boys loaded passengers from Abuja to Onitsha only for the vehicle to suffer brake failure again. It lost control and rammed into a culvert in Zuba. Four other vehicles were also hit in the process and I came back to the pastor crying. He told me that every word that came out of his mouth was ‘Holyghostic’ and to solve that problem, I must do a grand thanksgiving.
“Still blinded by the spell cast on me, I borrowed money to buy a cow, household items, bags of rice, a television set, tubers of yam and another two giant loud speakers. He told me to monetise the cow for N60,000, so instead of presenting a live cow, I enclosed the cash equivalent in an envelope.”

The last straw that broke the camel’s back
“After presenting all the items, the pastor was very happy. Out of excitement, due to the abundant gifts, he declared to the congregation that God had accepted my offering and that henceforth, my bus would now be called “good night Onitsha, good morning Minna /Abuja”, meaning that our journey would be hitch-free.
“After opening the envelope, he later called my brother on phone to inform me that I should bring extra N30,000 to balance the money for the cow, since, according to him, N60,000 was not enough to buy a cow. The next day, the vehicle was loaded in Minna, heading for Onitsha only for the engine block to blow into pieces in Delta State.
“At that moment, I felt like dying. I had lost the will to live and the people I’m indebted to were already chasing me around because cumulatively, the so-called man of God had drained me to the tune of N3.5 million.
“My wife, who had been warning me to flee from that church, then saw my condition and invited her pastor to our home to speak to me. After counseling me, her pastor told me to run away from that church because the pastor was a fake man of God. There and then, an inner power came into me and I made up my mind to go and demand a refund of all I had given him. When I went to his house in Asaba, Delta State, and confronted him, his wife reprimanded me for talking to a man of God that way. When I told her to watch her tongue, she entered into the inner room and suddenly brandished an empty bottle and broke it on my head. With blood gushing from my head, I went to a nearby police station to lodge a report against him. I narrated everything to the police and he was arrested. After interrogation, he agreed to an amicable settlement and promised to refund everything to me. We fixed a date to meet for a final settlement.

Complainant became accused
“While Nnebedum was hoping to collect the cash and items given to the pastor within the one week as agreed, the matter took a dramatic turn when Ekene petitioned the Delta State Police Command headquarters and alleged that Nnebedum and policemen from B Division invaded his house and threatened his life, ordering him to surrender all the items Nnebedum had used for thanksgiving. He also questioned whether perishable or imperishable items brought to the house of God for thanksgiving could be reclaimed after weeks from the church.
“Though, I was the complainant in this matter, I was later summoned to appear at the Delta State Police Command headquarters. I was detained and later released on bail; but the pastor wasn’t done yet. He went further to sue me and the police at an Asaba High Court, asking for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights and an order restraining us from harassing him and his ministry. The matter has lingered because he has not appeared in court, but we are not perturbed.

Nemesis on its way
Investigation by Sunday Sun revealed that other members of the church are currently up in arms against the pastor.
As at the time of filing this report, the pastor has removed the signpost in front of the church and has gone underground. When this reporter called him on his mobile phone, the pastor, after acknowledging that he is the pastor in charge of the church, later denied himself. He said he was the pastor’s neighbour when the reporter identified himself and mentioned Nnebedum’s name. He refused to disclose his location and promised to get back to this reporter when the “pastor” returns. But he never did. Subsequent calls to his line were not answered.




http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/mar/06/national-06-03-2011-001.htm

The battle for the political soul of Lagos got fiercer on Saturday as the Action Congress of Nigeria maintained that the party would still emerge victorious in the forthcoming poll in the state.



The party also said it would capture the over 14 million votes in the South-West, leaving the Peoples Democratic Party, its major challengers in the zone, empty-handed in the coming poll.



Among ACN chieftains who stated this at the party’s colourful rally held at the Tafawa Balewa Square on Saturday were the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, his successor, Babatunde Fashola, and the party’s presidential candidate, Nuhu Ribadu.



Specifically, Tinubu, who urged the electorate to shun the PDP overtures, said the party had nothing to offer the people of Lagos and the West in general.



Describing the party as Poverty Developing Party, Tinubu added that its leaders were synonymous with failure.



He said, “They cannot get Lagos. They are nothing. They are babalawos, baba-aladiyes and baba-oniros. They are mosquitos and yamuyamus. They cannot get Lagos. Be ready to defend your votes. The purpose of electing Fashola is being served.



“Their own leaders have left a legacy of failure, and inept leadership. Their own democracy is government of the greedy by the greedy and for the greedy. They are wicked and selfish. Please, I beg you, don’t vote for them. This is the Broom Revolution; sweep them, clean them.”



Fashola, who, nonetheless, acknowledged that forthcoming elections would be tough, noted that the ACN would not only win, but must do so overwhelmingly.



He also said the PDP had nothing to offer, especially as it had failed to impact on the citizenry in the past 12 years.



He said, “They threaten us. They want to take over but cannot provide power for one building. They rent a generator for N150,000. You can even see their performance at the live debate. They want to manage the lives of 18 million Lagosians yet cannot manage power.



“Four weeks to the elections, they started fixing the airport road, something they have neglected for four years. They say they love Lagosians yet we do not have a minister who represents us in Abuja. They are offering you electoral carrot, but we are providing democracy dividends.



“This place we are now, they sold it to their friends but we fought them to a standstill. We said as long as we are here, we will not allow them to sell a national monument. Is that the party you will vote for?”



If re-elected, Fashola promised that he would continue to serve the people well as well as provide them with the needed infrastructure.



He said, “We will complete the first light rain in West Africa and the Lekki seaport which are capable of providing 120,000 jobs. We will accelerate implementation of the Lagos Mortgage Scheme and start delivering houses to people before the election. We have increased water supply by 130m gallons in the past four years and our agricultural scheme is empowering 1,000 farmers.”



Fashola, who arrived at the campaign grounds around 1.07pm with Ribadu and his running mate, Fola Adeola, in an open air vehicle, acknowledged the cheers of thousands of broom waving supporters who jammed the venue in carnival mood and various outfit to show support for their various candidates.



Ribadu, who also promised the party supporters to return soon for the presidential rally, said change had come to Nigeria.







http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103065503673

Oyo State Governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, has turned down an invitation to participate in a debate being organised for the governorship candidates of all political parties in the state.



The governor is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the April poll.



The debate being organised by an Ibadan-based private radio station, Splash FM, is scheduled to hold on March 9, 2011 at the Trenchard Hall of the University of Ibadan.



The organisers had said that the aim of the debate was to afford the stakeholders an opportunity to engage the candidates on their programmes for the state.



But Alao-Akala, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Public Communications, Mr. Dotun Oyelade, on Saturday said he was turning down the invitation because it clashed with his campaign schedule which had been planned and accepted by stakeholders and also because the date for it (the debate) was unilaterally fixed by the organisers without inputs from his campaign organisation.







http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110306542560

“Nigerians should make sure that they take the comment by the former president seriously. He said so the other time (2007)and we all saw what followed.”







A broad spectrum of the opposition riled by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s reported attempt to resurrect “do-or-die” approach to the April general elections have carpeted him, describing him as a man still living in the past.



However, they said the opposition was more than ever prepared to checkmate him and stave-off bid to manipulate the electoral process this time unlike what happened in 2007.



According to them, a desperate politician like him has no place in the current democratic dispensation.



Consequently, they urged Nigerians to be vigilant so that only the electorate would decide where the political pendulum would swing to in the April elections.



Those who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH on the issue are the Action Congress of Nigeria; Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation; Congress for Progressive Change, led by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari; Conference of Nigeria Political Parties; the Labour Party and Conference of Nigeria Political Parties.



At a PDP presidential rally in Lagos, the former president had voiced in Yoruba language, “Obasanjo would resist if we vote and we don’t win,” which was interpreted by observers as an attempt to restart his do-or-die mentality to elections.



The do-or-die philosophy characterised the 2007 polls, and has since remained a negative lexicon in the country’s democracy for which Obasanjo is infamously remembered.



Obasanjo had even on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, denied his alleged “do-or-die” comment, saying that he was misquoted. The denial came even as he said that the PDP won Lagos in 2003, just as he alleged that the ACN was using the judiciary to win elections.



He said, “We had suffered it before. In 2003, the PDP won in Lagos and that was stolen. Now, the PDP will not stand for a stolen election. They have moved from direct stealing to stealing through the judiciary and you said that I should accept that, aren’t you part of that, don’t you know that?”



However, reacting to this on Saturday, the ACN through its Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, said the PDP was synonymous with rigging.



He said, “On the contrary, PDP never won anywhere without rigging. If there is any party synonymous with rigging and fraud, it is the PDP. You must know by now that PDP is so synonymous with rigging and fraud that football fans all over Nigeria today call any crooked referee PDP.”



The CPC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, said that Obasanjo’s statement was unfortunate.



Buhari, who reacted through his spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said, “It is a repetition of the Obasanjo mantra of do–or-die elections. It shows he has not learnt anything from the past.



“It also manifests the high level of desperation of the PDP to win elections and lack of regard for the electorate.



“They (PDP members) want to ride roughshod on people, but people should be prepared for them too. They should not be allowed to manipulate people’s electoral will.”



The Secretary-General of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Dr. Femi Okurounmu, said, “Given all the promises of Jega (the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Obasanjo obviously is still living in the past.”



He said that as a former president, Obasanjo should sit down at home and offer good advice to Nigerians.



Also, the National Chairman of Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, lampooned Obasanjo for re-echoing his belief in do-or-die politics.



Nwanyanwu, who spoke in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, however, said the former president was living in the past.



He said since the leopard would not change its spot, Nigerians should know that it would be difficult for the former president to change from his beliefs.



He said, “Anyway, you know that a leopard will not change its spot no matter its age. Unfortunately, Obasanjo did not know that we have passed those dark days.



“He is still living in the past. And Nigerians are ready to discard politics of old, which is outdated. What happened in 2007 when peoples’ votes did not count will never happen in this country again.



“That was why Obasanjo when he was in government, supervised the stolen of mandate of people. That will not happen again.



“In 2007, we had Obasanjo. In 2011, we have President Goodluck Jonathan who does not share such archaic belief of the former president.



“In 2007, we had Prof. Maurice Iwu, who did not believe in credible election. But in 2011, we have Prof. Attahiru Jega, who is ready to do everything in order to allow votes count.



“So, you can see that there are lots of changes in the system. If he wants to do do-or-die politics, I am sorry for him because Nigerians are interested in do-and-live politics.”



Similarly, the CNPP asked Nigerians and members of the opposition political parties to take Obasanjo’s comment seriously.



The CNPP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, however, assured that members of the opposition were ready to make sure that their votes counted.



He said, “Nigerians should make sure that they take the comment by the former president seriously. He said so the other time and we all saw what followed.



“But this time around, we would make sure that what happened during the inglorious days of Prof. Maurice Iwu did not repeat itself.



“It was a bad history and we would make sure that we do not allow that to happen again.



“It is unfortunate that while Nigerians and the international community are working towards a peaceful election, Obasanjo is busy preaching violence. God will not allow him to succeed.”



The CPC Publicity Secretary, Geidam Almajiri, said Obasanjo was obviously out of tune with reality.



“Obasanjo from all indications is still living in the past. People don’t expect anything good from the Peoples Democratic Party,” he said.



“When you look at the campaigns you only see contractors and opportunists at PDP rallies,” he said.



The former President had in Abeokuta during a meeting of PDP members on February 10, 2007, said elections of that year would be a do-or-die affair; the word has since become a negative refrain in the country’s democratic experiment.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2011030663142

A few weeks to the presidential election, former Lagos military administrator, Brigadier-General Muhammed Buba Marwa, has said that the combination of ex-head of state, Major General Mohammadu Buhari and Pastor Tunde Bakare is a masterstroke of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to clinch the president.

The retired General, who was chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on the platform he aspired to rule the nation as a president in 2007 and who recently quit his job as Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa, said that Nigerians would soon know the potency of the Buhari-Bakare team.

In this interview, Marwa explained the changes of CPC in the election as well as why he had to quit the PDP to actualise his dream of becoming governor of Adamawa State. He also spoke on the recent court judgment extending the tenure of five governors, including his home state governor, Murtala Nyako, over rerun elections.

Recently, a court ruled that governors, who got their mandate through rerun should be in office beyond May 29 this year.

How do you react to that?
My views are clear. I disagree with the judgment totally, but certainly not with the judge. We will appeal it. I have respect for the judiciary, but this kind of judgment must not be taking lying low; it just cannot stand.

If you say the tenure started from when a new oath of office is taken, what of the activities taken during the periods before the new oath, the commitment of the state, loans taken and all action taken by the governor? Are we to unwind it and pretend nothing has happened? The people would like to know. These are the issues our lawyers would take up. This week, our lawyers will take it up. We will appeal.

How can somebody spend three and half years committing the states into all manner of things, including debt, spending public fund, then you say he has to start afresh?
Some of us, the affected aspirants are talking and our lawyers are putting heads together. We are all moving in one direction and we may have to consolidate the appeal. All I want to say is that our supporters should remain calm, we have expended efforts; we can’t just allow it go like that. The people desire a change.

Why are you aspiring to be governor after taking a shot at the presidency?
Well, quite a lot of people will be wondering why I am contesting governorship after attempting to contest the presidency, more so, when I had occupied the position before, though in military capacity. I must confess that It was a hard decision to come back to contest a position I occupied 20 years ago. I wanted to contest presidency but for some reasons, I have to go for the governorship.

I want to offer my people real service, as I did as a military administrator of Borno and Lagos states. People are saying Marwa, come and serve your people at home. You have done it before, the terrain will not be strange to you. True, in Borno and Lagos, where I served before, the records are there; we provided amenities that people thought were not easy to come by. I tarred roads; we provided water and renovated public infrastructure. That has been my credential. These are the feats that I want to replicate in Adamawa State.

Though, Adamawa has its own challenges and no matter what those challenges are, they cannot compare to Lagos, where we delivered service. If I say free education, people will believe, because we did it before; it’s not a matter of whether he can. But have they done it before? I was the first military governor to pay WAEC fees for pupils, in 1990. We did 700 road networks in Lagos; 500 communities were linked with public water. All these, we can replicate.

What are your chances in Adamawa, as you would be running against an incumbent governor; that’s if governorship election holds this year?
You need to go to Adamawa to hear from the people themselves. My past records have been greatest weapon. In Adamawa, I can tell you (Murtala) Nyako has lost it already. There is a clear indication that power of incumbency, through rigging, won’t work. The people are wiser and they know that taking money won’t help. That is why they are looking for tenure elongation through other means other than people’s mandate.
We have monitoring units to ensure rigging doesn’t work. The president has promised that votes will count. We believe him, because he is a man of honour and all he has been doing have pointed to the fact that he is on the side of the people that votes must count. So I have bright chances in Adamawa.

Why did you leave PDP when you were appointed ambassador by a government controlled by the party?
I ran for the office of the president. When I ran for the president, it was on the platform of PDP. When I lost, I didn’t leave PDP. When I wanted to be governor, I ran for congress and delegates voted for me, three days after, the congress was cancelled. I consulted my people; those who asked me to come back from South Africa to run, over 300 of them, to ask them if I should go back; they said no. So, they took the decision that we should seek another platform. I have no enemy anywhere. I relate with even other parties and I shake hands with their candidates whenever I see them campaigning, but tell them I’m a better candidate.

We learnt you are close to President Goodluck Jonathan. How did he react to your resigning as ambassador?
I told President Jonathan that I was quitting the job, even before I left South Africa. He accepted my explanations. He was informed. There is no way I would have abandoned the ambassadorial job without first and foremost intimating him.

There were talk among opposition for an alliance against the PDP. Nothing came out of it. what happened?
We all wished the alliance between the CPC and others sailed through, but as you can see, it turned out not to work. As I said, we all wished it worked. But I am in full agreement with Gen. Muhammadu Buhari over his position. CPC is a national party, whatever the party does is to ensure they offer the people credible alternative by winning the election in April.

What is your view about Pastor Tunde Bakare’s choice as running mate to Buhari?
I am in total agreement with General Buhari over the decision to pick Pastor Bakare as his running mate. Many of you are wondering why, but wait and see. The combination is a master stroke; you will know when we get there.




http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/mar/05/national-05-03-2011-0010.htm

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday at 74 was full of praises to God for sparing his life despite the vicissitudes of life. That was in a lecture to mark his birthday. But Chief Obasanjo would not be found lacking in controversy even on such a happy day. He found an avenue to court and vent controversy by embarking on a somersault on a reception he attended to welcome back Chief Olabode George from prison.

On the outing that has been generally condemned, the ex-president said he was tricked into attending a church service for the released former chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA)
The reception had Obasanjo, his political rival and Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, and a minister representing President Goodluck Jonathan swelling the event.
Baba, as he is fondly called lamented his attendance at the ceremony which he said was in error and regrettable.

In his reaction to questions from journalists shortly after the lecture on why he attended the reception for George on the day he was released from prison, Obasanjo put up a defence.
“You got it wrong. I was not part of the celebration of Bode George’s release. And let’s get a few things right. When Bode George went to prison, the first thing that I did was to find out things from his lawyer, what really went wrong. What I found out eventually was that as far as I am concerned, Bode George did not conduct himself properly in the task that he was assigned.”

On my attendance of the reception, he sent me a passionate message from prison urging me to attend a family church thanksgiving. I believe that for whatever any family is giving thanks in the church or in the mosque and invites me and I am able to go there, I will go.”
He adds: “Whether it was for marriage, for burial, house warming or christening of a child or otherwise, I didn’t know before then. But when I got to the church, the atmosphere I found was more than a family affair.
The chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees stated further: “I even asked the state PDP chairman whether that was a PDP affair and he told me it was not. When I asked the state chairman, he said well, ‘you know Area Boys. They do hijack things like this. If it is for the Area Boys, leave it to the Area Boys and not to PDP.”

“I said so because I don’t see why PDP as a national party, as a party that is trying to form a government in Lagos State, as a party that formed government at the national level and in at least 27 states in the country would be celebrating criminality.
“Whatever we may say, the reason Bode went to prison should be condemned by everybody and I have condemned it but he did not go to prison for political offence. If he had been sent to prison for political offence, then he comes back and all his political associates may get round him and PDP must do something noble and wholesome but in this case, PDP as a party must dissociate itself from celebrating
criminality.”

The PDP chieftain who also reacted to the Abuja High Court judgment that upheld the nomination of Chief Adetunji Olurin as the Ogun State gubernatorial candidate urged members of the party to unite and work for the progress of the party in the forthcoming elections.
To achieve this, he said he had advised Olurin to extend his hands of fellowship to other people in Governor Gbenga Daniel’s faction. “I have told him to set up a reconciliation committee even before the court ruled.”

“Don’t forget that PDP is a family; there may be little misunderstanding but we have to go to court for adjudication; the court adjudicates but as soon as possible, the family should come together and forge ahead.
PDP nationally is a family; at the zone is a family; state-wise it is a family; local govt. wise, it is a family; so the members in Ogun State should put behind them whatever might be their bone of contention.

“I am the Chairman of BOT of the PDP. As the chairman of the BOT, I am supposed to be the conscience of the party. Whatever, be a rift, I am supposed to find amicable settlement. I have done it in other states, why not in my state?
On the statement credited to him as saying that he canvassed a ‘’Do-or-die politics, Obasanjo lampooned the press. “No you see, people in the press, you must be either deliberately ignorant or misinformed or uneducated or mischievous. Whichever one, I think it is not good. I went to a campaign and I sang ‘’Lau erebe……

The PDP chieftain who urged Nigerians to vote and defend their votes asked: ‘’How can I vote and you stole my vote and you will expect me to accept that and you said that is a do or die. If you want to do, go and do; if you want to die, go and die. I stand by what I mean and what I say, that if I vote my party’s vote must not be stolen. We had

suffered it before. In 2003, PDP won in Lagos and that was stolen. Now PDP will not stand for stolen election. Now they have moved from direct stealing to stealing through the judiciary and you said that I should accept that, aren’t you part of that, don’t you know that’’, he asked rhetorically.
Asked why he always keeps quiet on issues when he is supposed to speak out, the former president said: ‘I keep quiet because when you say something about me or against me, I find who said it and what his motive was. When the motive was unwholesome, then I keep quiet because the Bible says don’t answer a fool, otherwise, you may be taken for a fool yourself. So the next verse – Proverbs 26:5 says answer back a fool otherwise, he may think that he is a wise man.”

He continues: “Now, the question is at what point do you know when to answer back a fool and when to keep quiet and let the fool continue to fool himself. So when people are fooling themselves, I just keep quiet and when there is an occasion that I believe that I should answer them back, I answer them back.”
Responding to a question on why he had not being replying those who abuse him, he said: ‘’I have not replied to the abuses because I don’t think they are wise men. When people abuse me I don’t answer them because I am still laughing, and I will keep laughing over them.”


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/mar/05/national-05-03-2011-001.htm

Like the previously posted comment, this is really incredible and a master piece by all standard. OBJ is truly a special gift to the world, long live EBORA OWU, ! One of my greatest wish in life now as it stands is to have a 24hrs with OBJ, I hpe this come true.

Bashorun Adedoja Adewolu, a former executive secretary of the Psychiatric Hospitals Management Board, tells ADEMOLA ONI and ADEOLA BALOGUN about his career and his view on the crisis that has engulfed Ogun State for some time now



You studied law, but you ended up being the executive secretary of the Psychiatric Hospitals Management Board. What is the correlation between the two?



The correlation is that when I went to England to study law and personnel management, I decided to build my career in hospital management. I was lucky I attended Abeokuta Grammar School when my colleagues went to Baptist Boys High School, but I was lucky at Abeokuta Grammar School; I was in a class that was specially selected by Rev. Ramsome-Kuti himself. It was a class of the 60 brightest students. I entered the school in 1951 and my classmates were Fela Ransome-Kuti, his brother, Beko, Dapo Tejuoso, now Oba of Okeona, Siji Soetan, the first permanent secretary and legal draftsman at the justice ministry and a lot of them like that. When we were in school, the Oyewoles came from England to uplift AGS. Today, those the Oyewoles taught science then are found in high places. The Oyewoles took us to the University of Ibadan on excursion in 1954 and when we got there, we were divided into two groups; some to go to the University of Ibadan and some to go to UCH. I happened to be in the latter group that went to UCH and when we got there, we met the first director, the house governor, as they were called then, Chief SL Ladeinde, a first class brain who was in charge of the college hospital. At that time, UCH was responsible for the whole of West Africa and UI was one of the best universities in Africa at that time. And because I saw that man and what he was doing, I developed interest in that area and when I went to England, I decided to specialise in hospital administration and management and today, I thank God for being gracious to me. I rose through the ranks. I came back from England in 1971 and worked in Wusasa Hospital in Zaria, which was the hometown of the then Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon. I was very close to his parents and they were angels. At that time, the Anglican Mission wanted me to run the hospital and the church and the school – St. Bartholomew – and I told them I was not cut to run the church or the school, but was constrained to run the hospital. I then said I could use the hospital to support the church and the school and that was what I did. At that time, the late Prof. Ishaya Audu was the VC of ABU, a first class paediatrician and I went to discuss with him to come and do clinic in our hospital and he was coming once in a week and the university was raising funds to support us and with that, we were able to support the church and the school. And that made me close to Gowon. There were only three telephones in Wusasa then, one in my house, one in Gowon’s house and the other one in the hospital. When the telephone in the hospital was locked at 6 pm, and Gowon’s house could not be reached, the head of state had to phone me in my house to tell me that he wanted to speak with his mother, because his brother, Daniel, would be on the phone for hours. So, I had to go and bring Gowon’s mother to my house to speak with her son. So that made me very close to them and till today, we are still very close.



You mentioned quite a lot of people as your classmates; did that friendship continue after school?



Yes, it did. I still have Siji Soetan, who was the first legal draftsman that took over from the white man. Of course, the late Balogun of Egbaland, Chief Femi Esuruoso was one of us. We have also Dr. Ishola Abudu an orthopaedic surgeon, who is practising in London; then we have Oba Dapo Tejuoso, a medical doctor.



What of Fela?



Fela was my classmate and he was a genius by every standard. When we were in school, at the age of 11, Fela could play any musical instrument and could read music. And it is on record that Fela was one of the best at Imperial College in England where he had first class in music. It was the same thing with Beko. Beko qualified as a medical doctor at the age of 21 at Manchester University, which is a record till today. And I thank God for his life and I’m very happy for what Fashola did in his memory in Lagos. I’m not a politician, but I like people who appreciate. Look at the park named after Gani Fawehinmi too in Lagos. Fawehinmi and I were very close friends from 1957 and he was an honest lawyer.



Did Fela show any sign of activism while you were all in AGS?



Oh, from day one he showed it. At AGS, your trait was easily seen in you. Fela was in a class by himself in music. Fela would tell you, let us follow (Oba) Dapo Tejuoso to the chemistry class but when it comes to music class, you all follow me because when we were given a test for three hours, Fela would finish in one hour, while all of us would be struggling that the time was not enough. When we went to China in 1985 with Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, they had to introduce the professor by Fela, saying this is Fela’s brother and they were playing his record in China. And Olikoye was a professor of paediatrics on WHO study tour. The same thing with Beko, from childhood, they showed the traits and I’m happy that AGS had wonderful people. Oba Sijuade too was in AGS. In 1952, when he was there, Kuti used to accord him special respect. When everybody committed an offence, and Sijuade was there, he would say why did you join so so and so group? He had seen it then that the man had something special in him and that is why he was never flogged in school and because of him, Kuti would set the whole class free. Another one of us is Chief Robert Clark, who we used to call Oyinbo. One thing I cherish most about the school is that you were given the opportunity to detect and develop your talent.



There used to be rivalry between your school and BBHS where your friend, Olusegun Obasanjo attended. I don’t think he would want to agree with you that AGS is the best.



Let me tell you this: it is divine that I found myself at AGS. I was at Owu Baptist Day School with Obasanjo, Ajibola, Onaolapo Soleye and when we were in school, to go to BBHS was just like a promotion exercise. In a class of 30, the first 20 must go to BBHS; it was automatic. Bola Ajibola and I, we were there and we took the entrance examination to go to BBHS and we went there to collect the list of books and stuff, but the oyinbos decided to do what they liked to do. Then, if you were four feet 10, you were too tall for the school. And at that time, Bola Ajibola and I were above four feet 10 in 1950. We had to go and read Standard Six but instead of that, I went to AGS, while Bola went back to do the BBHS entrance and when it was time to measure his height, he stooped and shaved his hair to hide his real height and he was admitted. He and Oba Adegboyega Dosumu were classmates at BBHS and you can see the height thing today. But I thank God I went to AGS, and they still came to visit me and I would warn them when they were coming on Saturday because I was a boarder, that they should be very careful not to walk on the lawn, nor touch the wall because if they did, Kuti could appear anywhere to punish them irrespective of who they were. That is why (Wole) Soyinka didn’t come to AGS because he came to visit somebody and when he saw the way people were flogged, he ran away. But his younger brother, Femi, who is a professor of dermatology came; their sister who became the head of nursing at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Mrs. Tinu Aina, attended AGS. And in those days, AGS was also known for sports and we won major competitions. Our school fees were higher than BBHS’ because of sporting and other activities. Then, Kuti’s philosophy was, ‘my brain is better than my books’ and the motto then was the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. I thank God that as part of Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International, I have had the opportunity to minister to mankind.



I’m sure some people would wonder that you are talking about your days in secondary school as if you are discussing your undergraduate days. So, it can as well be right to say that going to secondary school then was equivalent to attending the university today.



No, you people are lucky. The other day I was discussing with former President Obasanjo; I said can you imagine, when we were in school in the ’50s, you could count the number of secondary schools in Ogun on your finger tips and the only university around was UI, which also had to take care of students from other West African countries. So, the admission there was competitive and that is why many of us had to go abroad to study after secondary school. That is one area many of us have to thank Chief Obafemi Awolowo because apart from starting free education in the ’50s, he encouraged people from the Western Region to go abroad for training in major professions with scholarships. Somebody like Chief Alamutu was the first Nigerian to have a scholarship to study hotel management abroad and when he came back, he started running Ikoyi Hotels for many years. Today, we have more universities in Ogun State than most African countries.



But in terms of quality, can we compare the education you had then with what is obtainable now?



No. The education we had at AGS was far better than what obtains in some universities today, which is very sad. When last did they open the Olabisi Onabanjo University, which has now become the centre of cult activities? Yet, we have UNAAB, which is clean of cultism and that is why it is one of the best universities without any industrial action. I will tell you that the multiplication of universities is not for quality at all and this is something that is worrying some of us. Most of my children attended Ife; today, about four of them are lawyers but they practise abroad and I can’t blame them for staying back there because of the condition at home. I have never in my life stayed without employment for one week and I thank God that I can account for everyday of my life from when I left school till today, so it can’t be possible for any of my children to roam about without a job.



How was your experience in England at that time or was your father very rich to support your education?



My father was a very rich man in his time as a cocoa farmer and a very close friend of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. But what he was giving me was not sufficient to maintain me because at that time, for him to give me £25 a month was a lot to him and for me in England, it was the minimum to survive, so it wasn’t easy. My wife and I, we did the same school certificate in 1956 and when I insisted that we must struggle together, she came over and we did A-levels together at Woolwich Polytechnic; we started studying law together and of course, she wanted to go and be a practising lawyer and she went to the Bar and came back and joined the judiciary. They were the first set of legal officers in 1976 when Ogun State started and she was first a magistrate and she rose in rank and became a High Court judge before she retired. But I studied hospital administration in a ddition and because God had more or less ordained that for me. Again, because my wife wanted to practise law, so I didn’t want the two of us to do the same thing, hence hospital management. When I left Zaria, I went to UCH where I spent three years and later left for Ife to head the teaching hospital at inception in 1977. I left Ife to go and head the psychiatric hospitals board from 1978 to 1985. From 1985, I became the chairman of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital and in 2000, I became the chairman of Maiduguri Psychiatric Hospital and between 2005 and 2009, I became the chairman of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, which was established the same year as the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria). Today, I’m the chairman of the board of trustees of the Institute of Health Service Administration of Nigeria and we have 32 university teaching hospitals in the country and all the directors of administrations and all the administrators, we meet yearly where we map out the management and health development of Nigeria and we have an organisation that can assist government in health policy matters.



What then became of your law degree?



My law degree has given me advantage to do some of what I do, but I just decided not to practise law. My brother was an attorney-general; my wife a retired high court judge and four of my children are lawyers.



Did you influence your children to study law?



No, it was their own choice. My daughter was the one I wanted to influence into studying dentistry and I took her to Benin to do that but she did only one session and decided to quit. She is now an employer of labour and a consultant to Guinness on labour relations and employment and she got married to an Igbo guy.



We learnt that you wanted to scuttle the relationship between her and the husband.



Yes, I did but I sincerely don’t know what became of me because by that time, I was in Rotary. I was apprehensive for her because of some traditions in Igboland, which I had seen. So, the day my daughter said he wanted to bring someone home, I was happy but I was disappointed that she brought a young man called Amaechi. At that time, I was the first Agoro of Egbaland, the first Akinlagun of Okeona, Osi of Orile Owu; I thought, how could my daughter marry an Igbo guy? At that time, I was the president of the National Council of Owu People, which consists of 32 Owu crowned obas, who were supposed to attend the wedding of my children. What I did was I sent her abroad for study and as soon as she got to England, I told my son to keep an eye on her. After she finished the one-year study, I thought it would be a good idea to extend her stay there so that she would have met someone else instead of Amaechi. But as things would happen, despite all her stay abroad, when she was bringing in someone, it was the same Amaechi. But the guy was smart and he broke into fluent Yoruba and told me that he was born and bred in Lagos, that Toun and he were in school together and even when I sent her to Baltimore in America, he had also been there and I was helpless. But I thank God that their marriage has been very wonderful and they are blessed with beautiful children. In fact, the joy I have is that one of my grandchildren has the best result in his school in England and that would be published in a newspaper with his picture in England. He had 13 As at a go.



Has your closeness to former President Obasanjo influenced your personal life?



It has because Obasanjo is a special creature of God and we have come a long way. For eight years that Obasanjo was president, there was not a week that we did not speak on the phone and anything I objected, he would look at it twice even if he would go ahead with it. From childhood, Obasanjo has always been a gifted person. Let me tell you a story; in our own days, there was no football as we have today. We used grape orange as balls. Whenever we wanted to play, we would divide ourselves into teams and Obasanjo would not know which side or wing to play. But any group that he decided to join eventually would win. It was a mystery. Obasanjo is one man that is very hard working. When he was military head of state, he was writing his own speech and he is very talented. In 1998 when he came out of prison, he and Beko were released together by Abubakar. The day they were to arrest Beko, I was lucky to escape being caught in his house and probably got arrested together. He had asked me to go to his house and have a look at a document which was to be used in nailing Obasanjo during the phantom coup trial. I read the document in which they had implicated Obasanjo in Beko’s bedroom. The SSS (State Security Service) descended on Beko about five minutes after I left. So, when they were released and were told they were pardoned, Beko did not like that and he vowed to protest that he never committed any offence for which to be pardoned. Through me, he and Obasanjo met and they struck a deal to reject pardon and to demand that the other guys they left behind in jail be released. Beko wrote the document which Obasanjo signed and sent forward to the authorities which was treated with dispatch. Today, if there is anything I want from Obasanjo, I can easily walk up to him and ask him.



As someone who has the ears of Obasanjo, what efforts have you made to address the crisis in Ogun State as an elder statesman?



I can tell you that I talk to Obasanjo a lot about it. I was the one who took Gbenga Daniel to Obasanjo in the first instance in 2002. Obasanjo did not come across Daniel from anywhere and both of them are alive today. At that time, Osoba was in the AD (Alliance for Democracy), even Daniel too was in AD, but I went to Obasanjo who insisted that I should be attending the central senatorial meetings in Tunde Osunrinde’s house in Ikija and Obasanjo funded it. Whatever we discussed there, I would go and brief Obasanjo the following day. One day, I was going to Maiduguri and called at the Villa and he asked about our meeting. I told him that we were planning to come out with Doyin Okupe as governor but he said it would not work. Then, Okupe was his media man. Obasanjo warned me not to be party to the arrangement and went further to say that one word from him would sink Okupe. At that time, Okupe had spent a lot of money to sell his candidacy. So, after our next general meeting, I organised another one with Alani Bankole, Femi Coker, Titi Ajanaku, Tunde Osunrinde, Sule Onabiyi, Derin Adebiyi and Col. Raji, where I told them what Obasanjo told me. While we were looking for an alternative, Ibikunle Amosun came in and when he learnt about what happened, he left that day to bring in Gbenga Daniel in Maryland, Lagos and put down N5m as support for him. Daniel had to join the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and I had to bring him to Obasanjo for endorsement at Ake Palace and that was how he was adopted. It is just that all what Daniel is doing is very unfortunate because even when he won the election, he was still very close to me and would visit me and we would discuss. The first place Gbenga Daniel ever visited as governor was Coker Farm settlement because before that time, I had been telling him that look, the thing you can do is to be the Awolowo of our time. I gave him the idea that he should start with agriculture. We advised him to serve just for four years and he agreed. He went to Coker Farm and I told him that that was where Awolowo started making his name and most of the land there was donated by my father. Gbenga is alive today, Niran Malaolu is alive today. Gbenga called Malaolu to come and talk to me how Awolowo started the Coker Farm settlement programme and that was going to be his priority. He said he would focus on agriculture and employment and I introduced Maria Sokenu, an Owu lady, to him and that lady worked so hard to fight unemployment in Ogun State.



So, at what point did he start disagreeing with you?



The turning point between us was the day I called him and asked him to do whatever he had to do in four years and leave. Despite all Awolowo did as premier, he refused to go for a second term because if he had done that, they would have rubbished him. I told him that Amosun was supporting him with the understanding that when he too wanted to take over from him after four years, he would also support him. But the moment he got there, he turned around. It is on record that when Gbenga Daniel wanted to start his campaign, he had no money. Oba Odeleye was the one who gave him the highest donation and it was sent through Taiwo Odesina. By October 2003, Gbenga had started shifting ground and had started changing. The person I introduced to him, Biodun Oduwole, who he promised to make the commissioner for health on the account of what the person did for him during the campaign, he didn’t make him. Instead, he chose Iyabo Obasanjo.



Maybe he probably did that to please Obasanjo.



No, he wanted to do a psychological thing even though I had nothing against that. He did that because of the incident that happened. You know Iyabo came to Ibogun with her friend when they were attacked by gunmen and Iyabo was very shocked. Daniel should have told us why he did what he did. I went to him to tell him to help those he said he would help but he didn’t do anything. The truth about the matter is that Gbenga began to tell lies, which is unbecoming of a governor. Gbenga Daniel derailed and the day we met at Obasanjo’s sitting room, he greeted me but I refused to answer him. When Obasanjo asked why, I told him that the guy had derailed the day he started planning for a second term and I told him that he would leave with disgrace because he had betrayed the hand that fed him. He did the same thing with Obasanjo; without him, Daniel would not have made it as governor. I happened to know that Obasanjo used to increase the security vote for Ogun State because of his own personal security in his home state.



What is the way out of the crisis?



The truth of the matter is that the decision has been taken concerning Obasanjo’s stance and that is the end. Obasanjo is the chairman of the BOT and a former head of state and you can’t ignore him. Not only that, Obasanjo told me before anybody that (Goodluck) Jonathan would take over from (Umaru) Yar’Adua; he would win the primaries, he would win election. And if you look at his projection, most of what he said has come to pass and that is why Obasanjo is the Ebora Owu (Owu divinity) and I am the only one who praises him with that.



http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110305215268

Following his alleged refusal to denounce the FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed, the Coordinator of Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation in Bauchi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar, may have incurred the wrath of the state government.

According to sources, following the minister’s accusation of the governor of poor leadership, Umar and other members of the campaign organization were ordered to condemn the minister for anti-party activities. But the coordinator reportedly refused to carry out the order, saying it was against his conscience.

The minister last week while receiving members of the state House of Assembly, stated that he would not campaign for Governor Isa Yuguda, but limit his efforts to President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo. He said Yuguda has failed by turning Bauchi into a pariah state and therefore does not deserve his support for his re-election plan.

He stated that the governor excluded him and many other PDP stakeholders in the state from participation in the state’s political process. Others allegedly sidelined by the governor include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed and the immediate past governor, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.

Angered by the minister’s allegation, people believed to be agents of the state government allegedly summoned Umar, and directed him to refute the statement and lambasted him for working against the President’s interest. But Umar was said to have spoken out against the directive, saying that the minister had not done anything against the PDP or the President.

Umar said that the minister made it clear that he would work hard to ensure that the President recorded at least 70 per cent of the votes in the state. Umar said this did not amount to anti-party activities.
Sources said the agents of government promised that they would make sure that he (Umar) and his supporters did not have a space to operate in the state for daring to disobey the order.

Umar threatened to resign his position. He said that rather than condemn Mohammed who has been supporting the Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation, he would resign and leave the rest to Allah. He accused the state government of starving the organization of funds, and sabotaging campaign efforts.

Umar was said to have fled the state following serious threats to his life allegedly from the same agents of government. The minister has since set up an independent committee to coordinate the Goodluck/Sambo campaign group, having realized that the state government was not doing anything to improve the political fortunes of the President in the state.


Link;http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/mar/04/national-04-03-2011-005.htm

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday said listed President Goodluck Jonathan (Peoples Democratic Party); Maj.-Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (retd.) (Congress for Progressive Change); Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (Action Congress of Nigeria) and 16 others as candidates for the April 9 presidential election.



The names of the 19 candidates and their running mates were listed on INEC’s website.



This is in contrast to the figure of 21 candidates that INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said on February 28 in Abuja would run in the poll. It could not be confirmed why two candidates dropped out of the list.



The running mates of Jonathan, Buhari and Ribadu were listed as Vice- President Namadi Sambo, Pastor Tunde Bakare and Mr. Fola Adeola respectively.



The others and their running mates are Prof. Pat Utomi and Alhaji Lawal Funtua (Social Democratic Mega Party); Rev. Uchenna Nwangwu and Mani Ahmed (African Democratic Congress); Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau and Dr. John Odigie-Oyegun (All Nigeria Peoples Party); Sir Lawrence Adedoyin and Alhaji Tanko Yakassai (African Political System); Yahaya Ndu and Rose Yakubu (African Renaissance Party); Godswill Nnaji and Kadijat Abubakar (Better Nigeria Peoples Party); Rev. Chris Okotie and Fela Akinola (FRESH Democratic Party); and Chief Ambrose Owuru and Ibrahim Abdullahi (Hope Democratic Party).



Others include Hamisu Santuraki and Rasheed Shitta-Bey (Mega Peoples Progressive Party); Dele Momodu and Yunusa Tanko (National Conscience Party); and John Dara and Bilikisu Magogo (National Transformation Party).


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103046304257

Manchester City have suspended defender Kolo Toure after he failed a drug test.



Toure, 29, will take no part in first-team and reserve matches until the investigation is complete.



A club statement read, “Manchester City confirm that the FA has informed Kolo Toure that an ‘A-sample’ provided by him has tested positive for a specified substance.



“As a result of this, he has been suspended from participating in all first team and non-first team matches pending the outcome of the legal process.



“There will be no further comment from the football club at this stage.”



A ‘specified substance’ is, as the World Anti-Doping Agency defines it, one that is “more susceptible to a credible, non-doping explanation”. The punishment for a positive test ranges from a warning to a two-year ban.



Toure joined City in a £14 million deal from Arsenal in 2009 and served as the club’s captain until Carlos Tevez in the summer.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110304227273

Two major opposition political parties, the Action Congress of Nigeria and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, have petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan to stop the use of state instruments to intimidate the opposition ahead of THE April general elections.



While the national body of the acn attributed the recent questioning of its chieftain, Bola Tinubu, by the State Security Service to attempts to silence the party, the ANPP complained about the stoppage of its presidential rally in Ebonyi State by the state governor, Martin Elechi.



The ACN, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Thursday, said that Jonathan should abide by his promise not to intimidate the opposition.



It said, ‘’It is instructive that the President was making his pledge during his campaign rally in Ondo State, a day after the SSS officials quizzed our leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Abuja, supposedly over his comments on the soap box.’’



‘’What has Asiwaju said that President Jonathan has not said more of? Who introduced incendiary rhetoric into the campaign by abusing a whole people and tagging their leaders as rascals? If that characterisation was not considered inciting, why should Asiwaju’s reactions and comments on the campaign trail be a reason to summon him to Abuja for questioning?”



The party recalled that the governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change in Nasarawa State, Ahaji Al Makura, was harassed after the reported stoning of the President’s convoy in Lafia, the state capital.



The party warned that today’s Nigeria would not be a platform for such a primitive persecution of the political opposition, adding that Nigerians are determined that next month’s elections would not only be free and fair, but that the processes leading to the polls must also be transparent.



It said the summoning of Asiwaju to Abuja by the SSS was just the latest in the acts of intimidation that would have shaken lesser mortals.



The party said there was no doubt that the rising profile of the ACN was sending jitters into the camp of the PDP, but warned that true power belongs to the people, irrespective of the antics of those who find themselves in power today.



‘’Our party’s profile is rising because our message of hope is resonating with Nigerians. Our rallies are attracting huge crowds because the people believe in us. That explains why many of our leaders, including Asiwaju, had to ride Okadas to the venue of our rally in Ibadan, when the packed venue became inaccessible. We did not need armoured tanks because the people protected us,” it noted.



The party appealed to its supporters, many of whom he said had expressed outrage at the glaring partisanship of the SSS, to continue to be peaceful before, during and after the elections



In Ebonyi, Elechi had on Wednesday announced the stoppage of the ANPP’s presidential rally in Abakaliki, the state capital.



The leadership of the ANPP had earlier announced that the kick-off of the party’s presidential campaign would be in Abakaliki, the state capital.



Elechi, however, said he would not allow the rally to hold, alleging that the leadership of the opposition party was planning to foment trouble in the state.



But speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the National Chairman of ANPP, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who also hails from the state, denounced the position of the governor.



Onu said that since the President had sworn to an oath to defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he should rise above party politics by calling Elechi, who is a member of the President’s PDP, to order



He said, “The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in both his Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office swore to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’“The President should with a sense of urgency, act with speed to call the Governor of Ebonyi State to order. The governor of Ebonyi State should be made to subject himself to both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution which he too swore to preserve, protect and defend.



“Governor Elechi’s pronouncement is completely in bad faith, unfair and totally unacceptable to our great party. Accordingly, we call on the various agencies to take due notice of this dangerous trend emanating from a serving state governor.



“We recall that on Wednesday, there was no problem when sister political party kicked off its presidential campaign in Kaduna, the home state of the vice-president, who belongs to the PDP.”



http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110304746046

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday struck a suit by a Peoples Democratic Party delegate, Mr. Oluwo Adeyeri, challenging the candidacy of the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos State, Dr. Ade Dosunmu.



In her judgment, Justice Binta Murtala- Nyako held that by virtue of section 87 of the Electoral Act, Adeyeri lacked the locus standi to file the suit. She further upheld the preliminary objection by Dosunmu.



The judge said, “ The plaintiff’s case is hereby struck out for lack of locus standi . Consequently, I cannot touch the originating summons as this will be without jurisdiction”



But Justice Murtala-Nyako berated Dosunmu for flouting the court order, saying that it was wrong for the PDP governorship candidate to carry on as if there was no court order, asking the parties to maintain the status quo.



She said, “ It is a fundamental doctrine of the law , right from the university to the Law School and set by plethora of authorities, that once a case is filed, the parties must maintain the status quo. Anything done during the pendency of the suit is done at the peril of the concerned party.”



The judge further expressed disgust on the conduct of Dosunmu during the pendency of the suit and cited the landmark decision in Ojukwu v. Lagos State Government to buttress her pronouncement .



According to the judge, if this is the attitude the older generation is going to bequeath to the younger generation, only God will save the country.



She said, “ It is very easy to point accusing fingers at the judiciary but least we thought that it is the party that instituted the action before the court . And once it is done, the law must take its course.



“It is sad that even when this court make pronouncement and solicited that counsel should advice their clients on the need to exercise restraint by maintaining the status quo.



“And I also made an order that the parties should not do anything touching on the res (subject matter) of the litigation, the respondents (Dosunmu and the PDP)) decided to do otherwise in flagrant disrespect to the court order and went about with their business in flagrant disobedience to court orders. All I have to say is that what goes around comes around”.



Attempt by the lawyer to Dosunmu, Mr. Oluyele Delano (SAN), to pacify judge on the issue further elicited harsh response from Justice Murtala- Nyako who told him that if his client could not obey simple court order, what did he expect from people with lesser authority.





http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103046325476

Although Christianity and the constitution substantially outlaw polygamy, it is still a popular system of marriage as Islam and traditional religion encourage it at various levels. While Kogi State-based Abubakar Masaba is, however, currently the reference point with his 86 wives, a study has highlighted how the practice shortchanges women, reports Eniola Akinkotu







In modern society, the conventional system of marriage is the union between a man and a woman. In fact, many scientists, feminists and activists support monogamy, not only because it represents gender equality, but because it also promotes intimacy between spouses. Many claim that in a world plagued with HIV/AIDS and many other sexually transmitted diseases, monogamy is the best form of marriage. However, a new research has shown that men who practise monogamy experience less sexual pleasure than men who practise polygamy.



The research reveals that scientifically, polygamy is good for men but bad for women. The research shows that while polygamists have many children, polygamy has a contrary effect on women involved. For every wife added to the fold, the average number of children per wife dropped by one. This implies that women who are married into polygamous homes have fewer children than women in monogamous ones.



”The more wives a woman‘s husband has, the fewer children she is going to have personally,” says Michael Wade, a biologist at Indiana University Bloomington, who conducted the research. ”That‘s interesting, and evolutionary biologists would say then that polygamy is good for males and may be not so good for females.”



Wade and his colleagues reported their findings in the March 2011 issue of the journal, Evolution and Human Behaviour. Wade conducted the research by studying the history of members of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity most commonly known as Mormons. Wade observed the Mormon shift from polygamy to monogamy in the 1800s and concluded that the decision by these Christians to eschew polygamy and practise monogamy reduced sexual pressures on men by more than half.



The change closed the reproductive gap between men with many wives and men with none. It also brought men‘s competition for wives in line with wives‘ competition for husbands.



According to Wade, Mormons make an excellent test case for evolutionary biologists for two reasons. First, they keep precise genealogical records. Second, Mormons are a rare example of a group of people who changed their mating practices.



In 1862, the United States made polygamy illegal in its territories, including the Mormon stronghold of Utah. In 1890, the Mormon church issued a declaration ending the practice of polygamy. Of married Utah men born in 1833, almost 18 per cent had multiple wives, Wade and his colleagues estimated. But a few decades later, less than one per cent of married men were in polygamous relationships.



”Here, with this single population there‘s a change, an externally driven change, in the system of mating from polygamous to monogamous,” Wade says. ”And even better, nothing else changes. They don‘t change their lifestyle, they don‘t change what they eat, or where they live.”



The researchers decided to find out how the change affected the evolutionary pressures on Mormon men and women, particularly sexual selection, in which there is competition between males (or females) to win a mate. It‘s this pressure that explains a male peacock‘s glitzy tail. Polygamy exacerbates such sexual selection. After all, for every man with five wives, there are four men with no wives at all. Thus, the multiple-wife system separates men into those with huge amounts of offspring and those with no children at all.



”The bigger that difference, the stronger selection is,” Wade said.



To measure selection, the researchers pulled genealogical data on almost 150,000 men and women born between 1830 and 1894 and almost 635,000 of their offspring from the Utah Population Database — a sample size 18 times larger than those of all previous studies on the topic combined. The researchers used US Census Bureau data to round out their estimates of the number of people who never had children. They also corrected for ”serial monogamists,” or people who had been widowed and remarried, but weren‘t involved in polygamous relationships.



Predictably, the men who acquired lots of wives also produced more children. For each additional spouse, a man could expect about six more children. Each wife in the relationship could expect to produce an average of one fewer child for every additional wife.



When polygamy was outlawed, the reproductive gap between successful polygamous men and wife-less singletons plummeted by 58 per cent, the researchers found.



”If you only have one partner, the maximum number of offspring for the male is going to be the same as the maximum for the females,” Wade says. So the end of polygamy brought the genders into line, he adds. ”The variation from one male to the next with monogamy becomes almost equal to the variation from one woman to the next with monogamy.”



That‘s no surprise, said Henry Harpending, a professor of anthropology at the University of Utah, who was not involved in the research. Historical Mormons are particularly interesting to study, Harpending told LiveScience, because there is little question as to the paternity of offspring. In other polygamous cultures, Harpending adds, marriage doesn‘t always mean sexual exclusivity, making similar studies difficult.



”This is the best that has ever been done, and it‘s very impressive,” Harpending says of the study. However, he cautions, the variation in reproductive success seen in the Mormon population doesn‘t necessarily mean that evolutionary selection is taking place.



”The guys that have three wives may have three wives because it‘s simply random or because they‘re better at something,” Harpending notes. ”If it‘s because they‘re better at something, then that‘s changing the gene pool and that‘s selection. If it‘s just random — my Uncle Charlie helped me buy a farm and I got three wives — then that doesn‘t change the gene pool.”



There are other details in the findings - like the cost of extra wives for women, Harpending says. Perhaps, those women‘s husbands are older and less fertile, or perhaps, they‘d previously been widowed and had thus missed a potentially fertile year, he explains.



”What I‘d like to see done is life histories of women, so we could ask, ‘What‘s the effect of being widowed?‘ ‘What is the per-year birth rate for a woman, age-corrected and correct for husband‘s age?‘” he notes. ”There are so many questions.”







http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110304358050

The return of a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, has further polarised the party in Lagos State.



Investigations by our correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday showed that some PDP stalwarts and aspirants, who lost to the party’s governorship candidate, Dr. Ade Dosunmu, were not comfortable with his closeness to George.



It was learnt that the fresh crisis in the PDP in the state was also caused by the former Chairman of Nigeria Port Authority’s stronghold on the party.



Our correspondent learnt that before the primaries, the PDP in the state had been divided into three major groups, namely Network, headed by George; Harmony, led by an elder of the party, Dr. Abayomi Finnih and Lagos Solidarity Forum, led by Mrs. Modupe Sasore, among others.



However, Dosunmu, who belongs to George’s group, emerged as the governorship candidate of the party because most members of the state executive were loyalists of the former NPA chairman.



Investigations also revealed that while in prison, George was in firm control of the structure of the party in the state.



A member of the party executive in the state said, “It is an open secret that George controls the party structure. While he was in prison, he was dictating to the executive. Everybody knows that Ade Dosunmu is his anointed child.”



After his emergence as the party’s governorship candidate in December, Dosunmu had promised to reconcile with aspirants that lost the primaries.



Those, who contested with Dosunmu were a former Minister of State for Defence, Mr. Demola Seriki; former deputy governor of Lagos State, Mr. Femi Pedro; Mr. Tokunbo Kamson, Mr. Owolabi Salis, Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi and Mr. Qudus Folami.



Investigations showed that the PDP governorship candidate put the reconciliatory move on hold after a directive from his godfather, who was calling the shot from prison.



It was learnt that because of the failure of Dosunmu to reach out to them, many of the aspirants had vowed not to work for his success in the governorship poll.



One of the aspirants for instance, said since the primaries, neither Dosunmu nor leaders of the party had called him.



Folami said he had not been participating in the party activities because Dosunmu had not reached him. He expressed hope that the difference would be resolved before the elections.



The crisis in the party came to the fore penultimate Friday (February 19) when the party started its governorship campaign. The aspirants and members of the party’s Elders’ Council led by Dr. Abayomi Finnih, were absent from the campaign held at the National Stadium.



Other absentees, who are staunch members of the party, include Dr. Wahab Dosunmu, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, among others.



A source, who pleaded anonymity said, “George is the singular reason why there was no unity and there is none in existence at present. Dosunmu had actually after the election thought of reconciling with other aspirants and their followers, it was George that told him not to do so. George told him that he did not need the other aspirants to win the April poll.



“That is why one of the top contenders in the governorship primaries instituted a case against him (George) in court.”




http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103044432439

Zaragoza striker Ikechukwu Uche was reduced to tears on Wednesday after scoring his first goal since returning from a serious knee injury to give his team a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.



The Nigeria striker raced free into Athletic Bilbao’s area before beating goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz with a curling shot inside the near post for the winner in the 55th minute.



After being mobbed by teammates, Uche picked himself up off the ground with tears streaming down his face after his first goal since May 2009.



It was Uche’s first start – and third appearance – since undergoing an operation in August. Uche tore ligaments in the same left knee he had previously injured which forced him to miss most of the previous season, including the World Cup.






Link;http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103042383093

Final figures of eligible voters for the April elections released by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday showed that the population of registrants have jumped from the provisional 67.7 million issued last week to 73 million.



INEC released the figure in Abuja, which also showed that a total of 870,612 persons were involved in double registration.



INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, told newsmen in Abuja that the increase arose from an error of calculation by its personnel.



He said, “It is evident that the figures before were incomplete; we put our people under pressure. Most of the figures that had been provided for us provisionally were actually incomplete.”



He assured that duplications had been removed, adding that copies of the voter register would be made available to party chairmen or their representatives on hard disks. Jega noted that printing it on paper would be cumbersome because millions of pieces of paper would be required.



Figures of Benue and Niger State were significantly increased. Niger State, which had protested its provisional figure of 721,485 voters and threatened to sue INEC, had its figure adjusted to 2,175,421. But unlike Niger State, Lagos State’s voter figure dropped to 6,108,069 from 6,247,845.



This means that the state had 139,776 as double registrants, instead of the 13,932 on INEC’s list, which does not add up. Other states with higher figures are Katsina 3.1m from 2.9 million; Delta, two million from 1.9m; Benue, 2.3 million from 1.4 million; Bauchi, 2.5 million from 1.4 million; Anambra, two million as against 1.7 million; Jigawa, two million from 1.8 million; Kaduna 3.9 million as against 3.5 million.



Others are Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Federal Capital Territory, Gombe, Imo and Plateau with 2.2 million from 1.9m. On states with double registration, Niger topped the list with 142,040, followed by Lagos with 139,776 and Katsina 132,062.



On the contrary, the FCT recorded the lowest figure of 953 double registrants.



Despite anomalies across the 36 states and Abuja, Lagos State still maintained its lead with 6,108,069, followed by Kano State with 5,027,297 voters and Kaduna State with 3,905,387. But the bottom three states are FCT, 943,473; Bayelsa 591,870; and Ekiti, 764,726.



Jega said, “With this (final figure), I can now say that in compliance with the provisions of the law, I have certified the register for the elections.”



Consequently, he announced that chairmen of political parties were free to collect copies of the voter register from Tuesday. INEC had on Wednesday said it would begin the prosecution of double registrants.



Jega, who spoke at a forum in Abuja, said unnamed prominent Nigerians were involved in the misconduct.



Meanwhile, in a zonal breakdown, the North-West now has 19,803,689 as against 18,900,543 while the North-Central has jumped from 7.6 million to 10.6 million. The zone comprises Benue, Kwara, Plateau, Kogi, Niger and Nasarawa states.



South-West moved from 14, 298, 356 to 14,296,163; North-East from 10,038, 119 to 10, 749,059; South-South from 8,937,057 to 9, 465,427; South-East from 7,028,560 to 7, 577,212; and FCT from 886,323 to 943,473.



http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103046201875

senatorial aspirant in Ogun West Senatorial District, Mr. Deji Adeleye, has initiated a suit before a Federal High Court in Abeokuta against the Peoples Democratic Party, the senatorial candidate of the area, Mr. Babatunde Fadun, and the Independent National Electoral Commission over alleged malpractices in the conduct of the party’s primaries.



When the matter came up on Thursday before Justice Rita Offili-Ajumogobia, the lead lawyer to the plaintiff, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), urged the court to grant an interim order restraining Fadun from parading himself as the candidate of the party for the election.



The plaintiff is further asking the court to declare him the winner of the PDP primaries held on January 7, 2011 at Ansar Udeen Primary School, Ilaro to select the candidate for Ogun West.



He claimed that the poll was marred by various irregularities and electoral malpractices and urged the court to invalidate it.



“Being dissatisfied with the conduct of the primaries, the plaintiff reported the matter to the police where the official admitted that it was the second defendant (Fadun) that gave them the red bag used for the election.



“They said that without the knowledge of the plaintiff, they appointed two men to write for the illiterate voters their choice of candidate. But they could not produce the two men when demanded by the police.”



The lead lawyer to the second defendant, Mr. O. Amoo, urged the court not to grant the injunction.



The case has been adjourned till March 14 for ruling on the interlocutory injunction.







http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103046271585

It is unfortunate that General Buhari has not spread his message through out Nigeria.because of his past antecedents of being strict , discipline and loyalty to Nigeria, he has shown that he possibly has what is takes [if age has not taken the bite out of him ].he has not been seriously campaigning and perhaps because of that singular fact , he is likely to lose the next presidential election .