₦airaland Forum

Following the interception of 13 containers, loaded with explosives and other dangerous weapons, Tuesday and his visit to Lagos to get first hand information, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Andrew Azazi (retd), was yesterday locked in over five- hour security meeting with the nation’s top security chiefs.

The containers, according to a security source, contained rockets, launchers, hand grenades and ammunition. The inscription on the rocket launchers has manufacturing date 2008, LOT: 353 and 107 å rocket and other inscriptions on some of the containers are Sole 786681 (9) (2291), Sole 786653 (1) (2261), Sole 786961 (2) (2261), Sole 786870 (7) (2261), Sole 786877 (1).

Daily Sun gathered that those present at the meeting were Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petirin, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azuka Ihejirika, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sa’ad Ibrahim, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar, the Director-General of the State Security Services (SSS), Ita Ekpeyong, the DG National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Oladeji Olaniyi, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Hafiz Ringim, among others. The meeting, security sources said, centred more on the arms seizure.

Though details of the meeting were still sketchy as at press time, it was gathered that following the arms haul, the Federal Government had directed stricter security presence at the Apapa Ports, the Onne Port and other major ports across the country to forestall the use of such routes for arms shipments into the country.
It was further learnt that the government had also directed security to be beefed up in all the nation’s airports while the army, the air force and the navy had been put on the alert.

A top security source revealed that the Nigerian Navy had been instructed to ensure the dreaded routes in the nation’s waterways were policed round the clock to stem any possible shipment of arms into the country through such routes.

“The Navy is put on the alert and has been instructed to strictly monitor all the waterways so that nobody can ship any arm into the country. The President is very concerned over the development and he wants everything possible to be done to reduce it.” President Jonathan had told the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month that Nigeria would spearhead the campaign against the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, stressing that the presence of such small arms in the continent of Africa had led to the deaths of millions of people.



http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/oct/29/national-29-10-2010-001.htm

Former military president and presidential aspirant on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), has said Nigeria may be heading for serious crisis if the PDP zoning arrangement is jettisoned. The former president gave the warning through his campaign director, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, who made presentation to Kogi State governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, and natives of the state at the banquet hall of government house.

Babangida reminded the governor of the expanded meeting in 2002 where it was agreed that the South should have the presidential slot for eight years, a decision he said was later ratified by the party’s Board of Trustees headed by Chief Tony Anenih. He said it was the decision that gave the then president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo the second term in 2003.

According to him, “Your Excellency, you were at the expanded meeting in 2002 where an agreement was reached that the south should have two terms of eight years, the decision then gave president Obasanjo the second term of office, and later in 2002 section 142 c indicated the reality of the rotation in the party because the then chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, presented this decision, which was ratified by the party.”

He added that the issue of zoning was what made PDP strong, “because it gives equal right to everyone and if the party jettison this path it is only trying to bring misfortune and disadvantage to the nation.”

“Already, USA warned that the nation may disintegrate in 2015 and I think we are not paving way for this,” the campaign coordinator warned as he said the present administration had failed the nation, stressing that the ominous sign in the country had shown that the nation’s security was porous, citing the October 1 Bomb explosion in Abuja.

Babangida, who later spoke stated that everything said by his campaign coordinator was his true representation, however, said his visit to the state was to solicit the support of the state delegates during the coming party primaries. He said they were aware of the media report that the governor had already taken position on a certain aspirant but Governor Idris quickly responded that Allah crowned King and gave position to whom He desired .





http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/oct/28/national-28-10-2010-026.htm

The Senate yesterday effected the second alteration of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution to pave way for the conduct of election between March and April 2011 through an overwhelming vote with the use of the electronic voting system of the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

The House of Representatives similarly endorsed the alteration through a unanimous voice vote at it’s sitting on Wednesday. This was even as President of the Senate, David Mark enjoined would be losers in the forthcoming general elections to learn to accept their fate in order not to stress the judiciary beyond limits.

The Senate last week threw out President Goodluck Jonathan’s Bill that sought an amendment to the Electoral Act 2010 to allow political appointees be recognized as automatic delegates to party convention.

The new amendment that were effected in ten clauses provide for elections to be held not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days as part of efforts at meeting the request of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) for an extension of time for the conduct of the 2011 general election.
In his lead debate, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu explained that with the amendment, INEC could decide in the future to hold election in January of an election year, saying that there would be no need for further amendment of the Constitution for the purpose of elections alone.

In the words of Senator Ekweremadu: “The Constitution of a country is the fundamental law of that country, we must resist the temptation of frequent amendments especially on the same subject matter.” The amended sections that were effected in the second alteration of the 1999 Constitution included 5, 10, 11 and 17 of the Constitution (1st alteration) Act and Sections 76, 116, 132 and 178 of the 1999 Constitution respectively.

The amended Sections has now succeeded in the removal of the original jurisdiction in the hearing of Governorship election petitions from Appeal Court as contained in Clause 7; the reinstatement of Governorship election tribunal which was hitherto expunged in the 1st Amendment as contained in Clause 8 thereby provided for an extension of appeal for Governorship election petition to the Supreme Court for final determination as contained in Sections 233(2) and 24 of the 1st amendment of the Constitution.In his remarks, the conclusion of voting on the amendment of the second alteration of the Constitution, Senate President Mark regretted what he described as the non acceptance of defeat by politicians who he noted were in the act of going to court.




http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/oct/28/national-28-10-2010-001.htm

Happy centenarian celebration papa.I pray God gives me the same long life grace. May you continually be blessed with more years and good health in Jesus name.Amen.

murderer!!!! murderer!!!! murderer!!!. Fool, don’t you know that you actually murdered yourself when you murdered your fellow man?? Lowlife, you murdered for money, food and political position. Your wife left you and ran away when she saw you turned to a beast.

The Economic and Financial Crimes on Wednesday re-arraigned a former Enugu State Governor Chimaroke Nnamani and 11 others before a Federal High Court in Lagos.



The accused persons have been standing trial over alleged money laundering since 2007.



The EFCC had filed a 124-count charge of alleged money laundering to the tune of about N5.5bn against Nnamani and 11 others before Justice Charles Archibong.



Justice Tijani Abubakar had previously handed the case before he was transferred to Port Harcourt Division of the FHC, while the case file was reassigned to Justice Archibong by the Chief Judge of the FHC, Justice Dan Abutu.



Also standing trial with Nnamani are the former commissioners for Finance, Peter Mbah; Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Sam Ejiofor; and a consultant to the state government, Victor Udeh.



Others are the personal assistant to Nnamani, Sunday Anyaogu, and a permanent secretary, Sylvia Onwuebemeli.



Also joined in the suit are Rainbownet Nig. Ltd, Hillgate Nig. Ltd, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital, Mea Mater Elizabeth High School and Capital City Automobiles.



When the charge was read to the accused, they pleaded not guilty to the offence.



The lead lawyer to the accused, Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN), urged the court to allow the accused to continue to enjoy their former bail conditions.



But the EFCC’s lawyer, Mr. Oladeji Fakunle (SAN), did not oppose the applications, saying that he would leave the development at the discretion of the court.



Justice Charles Archibong later ruled that the accused should continue to enjoy their bail conditions.



The case has been adjourned till January 25, 2011.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010284451464

Bassey, do have the decency to at least add an apology as an addendum to your tissue of lies. No right thinking Nigerian, not even a tout as suggested would slap a military man in Nigeria because we all know what the end will be in that case. Shame on you and a bigger shame on Admiral Porbeni for not even making a call to Tekena, regardless of the lies you and his aides told him.

Mr. Paul Bassey, Special Assistant on Media to a former Minister of Transport, Rear Admiral Festus Porbeni (retd.), has accused Mr. Lawson Tekena of slapping one of Porbeni’s workers when he was accosted by naval ratings for wrong parking of his car.



Tekena was said to have been brutalised for making a U-turn in front of Porbeni’s house when some security aides of the retired naval chief gave him the beating of his life.



But Bassey, in an electronic mail sent to our correspondent on Tuesday said Tekena’s account that he was only trying to make a U-turn in front of Porbeni’s house was misleading.



The ex-minister’s aide insisted that Tekena parked his car in front of Porbeni’s house, blocked the entrance gate and left the vicinity.



Bassey said, “As a disciplined and responsible retired naval officer, Admiral Porbeni in his usual characteristic does not condone any act of lawlessness, and therefore could not have allowed his security details to brutalise a harmless and innocent civilian.



“Porbeni’s men are not brutes. They understand the principles he (Porbeni) stands for and cannot carry out acts that are clearly contrary to those principles. The Admiral is so simple and civil that even the navy sentries in his house are always in mufti.



“When the civilian security staff of the Admiral discovered that a strange car parked right in front of the gate, they made desperate efforts to ‘fish out’ the owner.



“When Tekena was found, he was politely asked to remove his car, a request he bluntly rebuffed. When an argument ensued, he was said to have slapped one of the Admiral’s member of staff.”



Bassey said due to the security situation in the Niger Delta and the recurring bomb blasts in the country, it was necessary for one to be security conscious.



He said, “That (security situation) should put every right-thinking person on red alert. Because of his (Tekena’s) refusal to remove the car, the security operatives felt that a bomb might have been planted in it and they forced him to enter the car.



“The naval ratings in this case were as civil as possible but Mr. Tekena acted like a criminal.”



But Tekena faulted the ex-minister’s aide’s claim, saying Bassey’s position was an afterthought.



The brutalised man demanded an apology from the Nigerian Navy and Porbeni, warning that if this was not done within 10 days, he would sue Porbeni and the Nigerian Navy.



Tekena said, “I am a graduate of the University of Wales. I am not a tout and I will not slap a military man. It is a blatant lie that I parked my car and left the vicinity because as at the time they stopped me and began to assault me, my car engine was still running.



“It is surprising that in all this, they have not thought of apologising to me. With the way they are going about it, it means that they have not repented. It is unfortunate that they are lying against me.”



He vowed to go the extra mile to get justice, adding that since Porbeni’s aides had resorted to lying, he might have no option but to take the matter to court.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010281531931

All politician at the national level,state or local government aspiring for one post or the other .u should endeavour to fear God,fear ur family image and ur own personal dignity.after getting to the office,u steal money,promote corruption and many other scandal.if u escape nigeria efcc or icpc ,u will never escape God Almighty efcc or icpc.fear God.

A former deputy governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarunmi, has advised the state Governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, to bury his dream of winning the 2011 election.



He said the governor would leave the Government House quietly at the expiration of his first term next year.



Gbolarunmi, who is also a Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship aspirant in the state made the remarks while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, on Wednesday.



Alleging that the governor had offended people from nearly all sectors in the state, the ex-deputy governor argued that fielding such a candidate would be a risk to any serious political party.



He said it was unfortunate that Alao- Akala in the last three years has succeeded in offending prominent citizens of the state such as like the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi; the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odugade; and the Soun of Ogbomosho, Oba Jimoh Oyewunmi, and many labour unions.



He said, “I can assure you that Governor Alao-Akala will leave Oyo State Government House quietly. There is no way for him to came back to office in 2011, you just wait and see.



“He cannot hold the Adedibu political empire. Tell me who among the notable members of the Adedibu political empire who are still in his camp, even his so-called chairman, political camp is cracking.”



He claimed the governor had destroyed the Adedibu political structure that brought him to limelight.



Accusing the governor of accepting only 20 per cent of the followers of the late politician in the appointment of political office, holders in the state, Gbolarunmi said this was tantamount to gross betrayal of the his former benefactor.



He, therefore, told Akala not to waste time campaigning for reelection as no previous governor had ever broken the second term jinx.



But in his response, the governor’s Special Adviser on Public Communication, Mr. Dotun Oyelade, said Gbolarumi’s comment were statistically and constitutionally wrong.



Oyelade warned the former deputy governor who he claimed his only qualification is being an Ibadan man, not to insult the people of the state.



“Akala will run and win with the votes of the entire people in the state who are proud of his achievements,” he declared.








http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010282485446

maybe the nigeria police needs to tow the mexican line for real change to take place in the force

The entire police force of a small northern Mexican town quit after gunmen attacked their recently inaugurated headquarters, according to local reports on Wednesday, Associated Press reports.



Los Ramones Mayor, Santos Salinas said nobody was injured in Monday night‘s attack, during which gunmen fired more than 1,000 bullets at the building‘s facade, according to Noroeste newspaper‘s website. Six grenades, of which three detonated, were also flung at the building, the newspaper reported.



“Fortunately, those who were inside the building threw themselves on the ground and nobody was hurt,” Salinas told the newspaper.



All 14 members of the force reportedly resigned Tuesday. Nobody answered the phones at Salinas‘ offices, according to The Associated Press.



The new police headquarters had been inaugurated three days earlier.



Los Ramones is in Nuevo Leon, a state torn by fighting between the Gulf and Zetas drug gangs. Police stations in small northeastern Mexican towns are frequently attacked, and several mayors have been assassinated.



Mexico‘s ill-equipped municipal forces often quit after cartel attacks. President Felipe Calderon has proposed eliminating Mexico‘s municipal forces and replacing them with one force per state.



According to Salinas, at 9:30 p.m. on Monday unknown assailants arrived at the police station and launched a 20-minute attack, Noroeste reported. Police backup arrived shortly after.



While the mayor had not received threats leading up to the attack, police earlier noticed suspicious men driving luxury pickups in the area, the newspaper reported. Fearing a strike, policemen lined up their patrol cars in front of the building in order to create a barricade, the newspaper added.



It was the second attack in less than a week against police installations in the state of Nuevo Leon. On Oct. 19, two grenades were thrown at a police shelter in the town of Sabinas Hidalgo, Noroeste reported.






http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010280183131

Kudos to the lawmakers,INEC should be inform that subsquent elections should be conducted earlier.although the lawmakers are the major culprit here because the first alteration bill came too late,anyway life continues,that is Naija for you.anything can happen. Babsalam

The Senate, in the Second Alteration to the 1999 Constitution it passed on Wednesday, limited the duration of adjudication on appeals on governorship and presidential election petitions to 60 days.



But the duration of cases at election petition tribunals was pegged at 180 days.



The pegging of the duration of appeals was one of the 10 clauses of the Second Alteration Bill to the 1999 Constitution passed by the upper chamber of the National Assembly during its sitting in Abuja.



In the House of Representatives, the 276 members at Wednesday’s plenary also unanimously voted to amend the constitution (2nd Alteration).



Sections 5, 10, 11, and 17 of the constitution were altered in the House by the lawmakers during the voting that witnessed a mild drama.



Another aspect of the bill okayed by the Senate is the extension of appeals on governorship election petitions from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.



In the First Alteration to the Constitution, the Court of Appeal was listed as the last court for governorship election petitions.



The Second Alteration to the constitution also provides for the conduct of general elections not earlier than 150 and not later than 30 days to the expiration of the tenure of the holder of an elective office.



Presenting the bill before members voted on each of the clauses, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said the objective of the piece of legislation was to provide new timelines for the conduct of elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission.



He said the amendment also reinstated the governorship election tribunal, which the first alteration abrogated, and extended appeals arising from the exercise (elections) to the Supreme Court.



According to him, Section 29 of the First Alteration Act or Section 285 of the Constitution was amended, paving the way for appeals on election cases to be dispensed with within 60 days.



The amendment states, “An appeal from a decision of an election tribunal or Court of Appeal in an election matter shall be heard and disposed of within 60 days from the date of the delivery of judgment of the tribunal.”



Also, Section 233, sub-section 2e (iv) was amended to pave the way for the Supreme Court to receive appeals on petitions arising from governorship elections.



The section states, “An appeal shall lie from decisions of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court as of right in the following cases: decisions on any question, whether any person has been validly elected to the office of governor or deputy governor under this constitution.”



In altering Sections 76, 116, 132, and 178, the bill provided for the conduct of the general elections “on the date not earlier than 150 and not later than 30 days to the expiration of the tenure of the holder of an elective office.”



The bill retained the provisions requiring election petitions to be dispensed of within 180 days from the time of filing a petition.























On the restoration of the Governorship Election Tribunal, the document provided a new Section 246 of the constitution and deleted the old one, to make provisions that election petitions arising from governorship elections would begin from the tribunal.



The senators, numbering about 81, voted overwhelmingly for the passage, having achieved over two-thirds (73) required to okay each section of the bill.



The voting, which was conducted electronically, suffered several hitches as some senators initially could not vote.



A number of them changed their seats before their voting cards could read. Senator John Shagaya had his votes taken manually.



Sub-section 1(c) states, “An appeal to the Court of Appeal shall lie as of right from decisions of the governorship election tribunal…”



The President of the Senate, David Mark, while commenting on the passage of bills, advised losers at elections to always learn to accept defeat.



“They should always accept that they lost in a gallant fight, and that is the only way we can have fewer election petitions going to the tribunals,” he said.



Also in Abuja on Monday, the House of Representatives altered Sections 5, 10, 11, and 17 of the constitution. By this development, the House has approved INEC’s request to extend the dates of the 2011 elections to April from January.



The amendment gave INEC the opportunity to conduct the elections not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the May 29 handover date.



Previously, the 1999 Constitution (1st Alteration), gave a time frame of 150 days to 120 days, which would have required INEC to conduct the poll in January.



Following the commission’s complaint that it was pressed for time, it approached the National Assembly for legal backing by seeking for the extension of the dates of the poll.



However, voting on the alteration did not scale through at the House without some drama, as what was expected to be a simple decision, dragged till 5.23pm.



The House was billed to sit at 2pm, as it is the tradition on Wednesdays, but this was delayed till about 3pm.



Findings indicated that there were ‘grey issues’ agitating the minds of some lawmakers.



The Speaker, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, shortly after proceedings started, called for an executive session, which lasted for over 45 minutes.



It was learnt that some lawmakers used the session to seek clarification on the level of implementation of the 2010 budget, particularly the non-release of capital votes for projects by the Ministry of Finance.



On resumption from the executive session, voting was delayed further because the electronic voting system had failed.



After technicians spent several minutes trying to reactivate it without success, Bankole called for the votes to be taken manually.



With 276 members sitting, each of the clauses for alteration was called and a voice vote was taken. There was no dissenting voice.



The bill for the alteration of the constitution was read for the third time and passed immediately.



Only 240 of the 360 members were required to pass the amendment; 240 being two-thirds of 360 as provided by the constitution.



The document, after concurrence by the Senate, will now be forwarded to the 36 state houses of assembly for endorsement.



Two-thirds (24) of the assemblies must approve the amendment in line with Section 9 of the constitution.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010283471159

It was a great shock that ekiti people lost adeoti after the whole struggle. May the lord give his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.sun re o

Deputy Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr. Saliu Abayomi Adeoti, died on Wednesday of an undisclosed ailment at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. He was aged 39.



Adeoti, who was last seen at the inauguration ceremony of Governor Kayode Fayemi on Saturday, October 16, 2010, and appeared pale and unhealthy, was said to have been ill for a very long time.



A member of the family, who preferred anonymity, told our correspondent that the late Adeoti’s health suffered a devastating set-back since February this year when his wife died of cancer.



The source said the late speaker had not enjoyed a perfect health since then. The nature of his ailment could not be ascertained as at press time.



Sources within his family, however, hinted that he might have suffered the same fate with his late wife, being a heavy smoker.



A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Fayemi on Media, Mr. Mojeed Jamiu, on Wednesday, said the state government regretted the death of the deputy speaker.



Jamiu said the remains of the late deputy speaker would be buried today (Thursday) in his home town according to Islamic injunction.



Chairman of the state chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Chief Jide Awe, in his reaction to the death of the deputy speaker, said the party had lost a vibrant grassroot mobiliser and leader.



He said, “It’s unfortunate that we lost him. He was one of my foot soldiers. He had demonstrated to a very high degree the quality of a good leader and a dependable one for that matter, because throughout our struggle, he remained in his post.



“It’s an irony of fate that one of the generals would just waste away like that, but death is a necessary end and it will come when it will come. The bottom line is what he had done when alive. And today we can see he had imprinted his footprints in the sand of time.



“We have been on top of this crisis for the past two weeks when the sickness changed drastically. We took him to UCH and stationed some of our able lieutenants with some members of his family with him.



“But as early as 7:00am today (Wednesday), I was told he had died. We have got across to his home town, Moba, and we have started making arrangement for his burial,” Awe stated.



The late deputy speaker, from the Moba 1 state constituency, ably championed the victory recorded by the ACN by resisting the pressure mounted by the Peoples Democratic Party to conquer Ido-Ekiti.



A member of the state assembly, Mr. Gbenga Odebunmi, who represents Ekiti West 1 constituency, said he could not travel to Germany with his colleagues last week because he had to stay back to monitor the deteriorating health of the late Adeoti.



The lying-in-state of the remains of the late deputy speaker would take place today (Thursday) at the Assembly complex.



His colleagues are expected to join the family for the eighth day Fidau prayer to pay him the last respect.



The Speaker of the assembly, Mr. Tunji Odeyemi, who is away in Germany, in a statement on Wednesday, described the demise of his deputy as a big shock.



He said the vacuum created by the death of Adeoti would be difficult to fill.



Chairman of the state PDP, Chief Bola Olu-Ojo, said Adeoti’s death was tragic.



“We in the PDP commiserate with leaders and members of the ACN in Ekiti State in particular and the entire people of the state in general,” he said.



Also, the sacked governor, Mr. Segun Oni, and his deputy, Dr. Sikiru Lawal, in their reactions, described Adeoti’s death as “shocking and unbelievable.”



A statement issued on their behalf by Oni’s spokesman, Mr. Wale Ojo-Lanre, in Ado Ekiti, said the late deputy speaker would be missed by all.



“Though the Deputy Speaker died in his prime, his family and the entire people of Mobaland should be consoled by the fact that death is the ultimate end of all mortals and it will come when it will come.



“It is also our prayer that tragic incident like this will not be witnessed in the family again,” they said.





http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010282463823

Security watch is everyone’s duty. We keep asking how mend get their weapons if these weapons of destruction had passed through our ports undetected, what would we be saying tomorrow on the safety of our people and the nation at large? If de importers of these weapons are Nigerians, what are their intentions? Myriads of questions but for space. GOD BLESS NIGERIA. `

Two persons have been arrested by security operatives in connection with the discovery of rockets, grenades and explosives in 13 containers impounded at Apapa Wharf, Lagos on Tuesday.



Although details of the arrest were not made public by the State Security Service, THE PUNCH gathered that the suspects were as at Wednesday night undergoing interrogation.



The SSS Assistant Director of Public Relations, Mrs. Marylin Ogar, confirmed the arrest just as the National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi (retd.), assured that all those involved in the importation of the arms and ammunition would be arrested.



Shortly after Azazi and Ogar spoke, President Goodluck Jonathan said the importers of the weapons described as those used by insurgents in Afghanistan, had sinister motives.



The NSA, who inspected the seized arms and ammunition, said the ‘very good procedure,’ in place at the port made their interception possible.



He added that it was too early to make conclusions on where the weapons originated and their destination.



The NSA said, “At this point, the only thing we can say is that we have some armament we discovered at the port by the security agencies. We don’t want to make any conclusions about where they are going or where they are coming from.



“We need a lot of verifications and at the end of the day, Nigerians will know this is what it is all about. Let’s not jump to conclusion. We will find them and do whatever is required to make sure that everybody is protected.



“If weapons were passing through unchecked, you will probably find out that these ones would also have passed through; I mean they have a very good procedure at the port and that is why they ensured that this arms vessel did not go unchecked.”



Asked whether the importation of the weapons had connection with the 2011 elections, Azazi replied, “I don’t know; I don’t want to jump to conclusions, until we get more information.”



The Comptroller–General, Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, said in a statement that the exporter and importer of the arms and ammunition had no fixed addresses.



“This particular importation had no form ‘M’ and Risk Assessment Report. The importer and exporter had no addresses on the system, and we have reasons to believe that the importer’s name in the import documents is fictitious,” he said.



The statement by the NCS Public Relations Officer, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, disclosed that the containers were brought in by a vessel named MV CMA-CGM Everest.



Dikko, who added that the vessel sailed into Nigeria from India on July 10 and sailed out on July 15, 2010, also said that inspection on four of the containers revealed that they had “rocket launchers, assorted ammunitions, cartridges and other weapons.”



But he said that the service would “not speculate on the contents of the rest of the containers until the ongoing Joint Physical Inspection of all containers by customs and other security agencies is finalised.”



Abdullahi also said that 754 packages of glass wool and stones were declared on the ship’s manifest as contents of the 13 containers.



One of our correspondents, who visited the port, reported that people were frisked before being allowed to get close to the spot where the 13 containers bearing the weapons were off-loaded.



A police armoured vehicle marked Area C, Police (SWAT 15) was stationed at the inspection ground.



Sources said that operatives of the SSS, Nigerian Army, NCS, Nigerian Ports Authority security, Nigerian Air Force and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the scene were directed to keep sealed lips on the seizure.



The third and fourth containers inspected before our correspondent left the Wharf at about 4.30pm on Wednesday had 48 wooden crates.



The crates, which contained explosives, hand grenades, rockets, cartridges and marble tiles were wrapped with cellophane tapes. The rockets had inscriptions N.N: 18Kg ; Manufactured in 2008; Lot 353; 107MM.



Jonathan had in a statement by his campaign organisation in Abuja, commended security agencies for intercepting the items.



The statement by the organisation’s Director of Media and Publicity, Mr. Sully Abu, said the agencies had by the seizure saved Nigeria from “mortal danger.”



Abu said, “The Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation has commended officials of the nation’s security services, the Police, SSS, Military and Naval intelligence, for the interception of an illegal arms shipment of rocket launchers, grenades and explosives at the Apapa Wharf in Lagos.



“By this interception, the Security services have saved Nigerians from mortal danger. It is obvious that the evil minds behind the importation of these arms have their sinister agenda.”



He added that “it was obvious that the evil minds behind the importation of these arms had their sinister agenda, and urged the security agencies to quickly expose them.



Abu quoted Jonathan as having called on all security agencies and “Nigerians at large to be very vigilant at this time in order to expose the few desperate ones who are hell-bent on disrupting the peace and orderliness of our land.”



Imploring all Nigerians to eschew violence as “we move towards a critical period in our nation’s history,” he said the 2011 elections must be seen as another phase in Nigeria’s development and not a desperate struggle for power.






http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101028345490

Disenchanted with the news that the Lagos State Government is borrowing money from the World Bank to repair roads, 26 political parties under the aegis of Coalition of Lagos State Opposition Parties (CLASOPP) are calling on Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola to resign.

The coalition alleged that the decision was a sign that he had lost grip of what was required to govern a cosmopolitan state like Lagos.

A statement signed by Dr. Adegbola Dominic, leader of the coalition berated the spate of borrowing by the state government despite the huge resources available to it through the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and the Federation Account.
The statement read in part: “The Chief Executive of the Lagos Metropolitan Transport (LAMATA). Mr. Olufunso Olulade recently disclosed that LAMATA obtained another loan of 190,000,000,00dollars from the World Bank. The people of Lagos were not told how much was borrowed before now. The LAMATA boss did not also disclose to the people exactly how much debt LAMATA has incurred.

“While it is true that the Lagos roads are bad, why should Lagos resort to borrowing to repair roads? Borrowing huge sums of foreign money and squandering it to purchase BRT buses and repair roads is reckless and irresponsible. It will surely mortgage the future of generations yet unborn, “ the statement said.

Pointing at the fact that hospitals are not functioning while educational institutions are being shut down, COLASOPP said Governor Fashola has continued to administer the state as if nothing is going wrong. The group wondered what the governor had done with the huge revenue that accrue to the state on a monthly basis adding that he should at least be more sensitive to the plight of the poor masses.

“ In any case, can’t Fashola see that the problem of transportation in Lagos State is not the shortage of buses? This fact has been appreciated as far back as three decades ago when Alhaji Lateef Jakande as the governor of Lagos State began the process of establishing the Metro line,” the coalition said.
The coalition pointed out that the present traffic situation in Lagos is chaotic and the worst ever in the history of the state. It added that thirty years after Alhaji Jakande set out a clear standard on the solution to traffic problems, Fashola wants to buy more buses and he had to borrow more money from the World Bank.


The solution to Lagos problems today, the coalition of parties concluded, is for Fashola to resign as the governor of the State of Excellence.




http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/oct/27/national-27-10-2010-0020.htm

By recent court ruling, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state would be in office for 43 instead of 48 months. Someone had usurped his position for five months prior to the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court, which handed the position to Amaechi. Now the courts ruled that since the usurper was from the same party, it was a continuous mandate. They argue that the mandate was to the party and not to an individual. Rotimi has appealed the ruling but says he would always abide by whatever the courts finally say especially given the circumstance of his emergence. The implication is that he may face the electorate next year.

But Amaechi has ran at a neck-breaking pace in governance, which is why he has confidence in the verdict of the people. Whether they are roads into such riverine communities, where roads never existed or secondary schools that look like universities or Primary Health Care centres or the first monorail system in Africa or several others, the man has etched his name in the sands of time. But one hurdle Amaechi has yet to cross is the erroneous perception that his loyalties for the 2011 presidential elections lie elsewhere other than the Niger Delta. Such views make Amaechi rather furious given that he hosted the meeting of South- south Governors where a unanimous decision was taken that, being a son of the Niger Delta President Goodluck Jonathan remains endorsed by all governors from the zone. In a recent interaction with the media Amaechi spoke on the matter among other issues. Excerpts

On previous restiveness in Niger Delta
What we had was not ideological. What we had was outright criminality and the only solution is social security. It is only when you have that in place that you can then talk about physical security. I thought Nigerians were listening to me when I said that the problem we have in the country is that government is unable to provide legitimate means of livelihood for people, which means that citizens will develop their own illegitimate means of survival. And it is the class one belongs to that defines what is legitimate or criminal. Meanwhile the inability of government to provide a legitimate means is not described as criminal. The point to be made, really, is that if what was happening in the Niger Delta was ideological you cannot suppress it. You can never suppress ideas. You cannot stop ideas. What you saw in Niger Delta was that there was inequity or injustice if you like, being visited against the people of the area and then some people leveraged on it to victimise even their own relations just to get money into their pockets. If you want to fight for the Niger Delta people then you take actions that will liberate the people you are fighting for. No such thing was happening both in theory and in practice, it was just a confused atmosphere.

Did they have sponsors?
I don’t know if they had sponsors but, as I have said, what they were doing was not ideological. The mere fact that Governor Amaechi is working with the police and Army cannot suppress an idea. An idea will always germinate and take its root. The fact that we were able to fight them successfully is a clear indication that it was not an ideology.

What gave you courage to fight them?
When I was in school, I wrote my thesis on violence. One of the things you learn is that you do not stop violence by waving the olive branch. The only way to achieve peace in a violent atmosphere is to let the perpetrator know that you are fully equipped to take him on. In this case the Federal government had the Army, police, Navy etc. you don’t negotiate return of peace. It is a vital function of government. I want everybody to know that I support the Niger Delta struggle but the Niger Delta struggle should not repeat the same mistake Nigeria made against the Niger Delta people. My anger is that Nigeria visited violence on us, then why will the Niger Delta people now visit violence on themselves.

The Niger Delta people have to agree on how to pursue the struggle. I was Speaker of the state Assembly, there was never a time we agreed to carry arms against Nigeria. So why should people now carry arms to terrorize their own people. In spite of all the challenges there has never been a time that the Nigerian state agreed that we should go our separate ways, I would always join our people to protest the injustice but what I would not tolerate is some illiterate young men who do not even understand what injustice means doing harm to the Niger Delta. By the time we came businesses had relocated to a large extent from Port Harcourt. Nightlife was dying, something that was the hallmark of a typical Rivers man, all because of the activities of these people who are just exhibiting criminal tendencies for personal gains. I now asked some basic questions to the security operatives and they told me they could restore peace to Port Harcourt if I gave them materials and also have the political will. So I gave them double portion of political will.

On Amnesty
I never said the amnesty did not succeed. If for anything it has taken a lot of these boys off the streets. Somehow it has achieved some level of peace. While we commend the federal government on that, we still need to make the point that there are millions of youths who are saying that the whole thing is unfair since it now appears as if crime is being rewarded. It is a dicey thing. When the militants asked for an extension of time for the amnesty, the late president called for a meeting, I was abroad at that time so I sent my deputy to tell them that Rivers state will not support an extension.

What is motivating these your projects especially in the area of education where you have built secondary schools that look like universities and primary schools that have no rivals anywhere in the country. Is it your background?
If you look at it from my background then you will only appreciate it from point of view of poverty. Any time I talk about it I cry. The last time such tears came was when I was addressing NUPENG and PENGASSIN people. I broke down because I remembered my background, how poor it was. In the place we lived, we were the only family living in two rooms.

The rest were living with wives and children in one room. All the occupants had just one toilet and bathroom. You can imagine how early you have to be awake to go to toilet, take your bath before going to school. That is the motivation for free education and free health care. As for the vision for the primary schools, it came with my visit to Australia in 2001 where I saw this very beautiful primary school and I said this is what a primary school should look like. For the secondary school I was motivated by my children’s school in the United Kingdom and if you go to their school you will see how beautiful it is, so I said why can we not have this kind of school in Rivers. And when we eventually completed ours, they are even better than the schools in the U.K. I think the reason is that we provided for one thousand students in each school where there will be two students in one room. Now I have a proposal before me from Educom in India on how to manage the schools.

I have not finished reading it before you came but I have found that there is nothing in the paper that I have not thought about. I had already mentioned it in the exco meeting for instance that each school should have a board of governors just as Educom is proposing in this paper. Teachers, parents and pupils will be involved. That board will make regulations for the school. Then government will serve as parents for the pupils in terms of paying whatever charges the board will fix as school fees, we will lift the money from our purse and pay for each child. From that money both the management and board of governors will run the school. It is still free education because government will pay the fees for each child to the board and they will now run the school with the money.

How will the board operate
They will just meet from time to time to decide on what happens. If I am to be a member I will propose that a member should go there every week to see what is happening and that would take care of the inability of government to send inspectors

What about the curriculum
That’s where we are now. We are having a retreat at the end of October to trash the matter. The state education summit will be held in calabar. I have asked the commissioner of education to give me enrolment figures so that we can determine whether to phase out the old schools. I also want to know what capacity each school can take because we have told them that we do not want more than 25 students in a class. We want to equip each child with a computer at both primary and secondary school levels. I have now seen that the Indians are giving me something cheaper in terms of computers. I had earlier told them not to bother with computers but going through their proposal I now find that they are giving me something more affordable. So I will deal with them and scale down the contract we initially gave out for laptops. This year we won the best state in the education sector. Those are things we are determined to sustain.

What about sustaining these things
My take on it is that I should just build the institutions and make laws to sustain them. The Board of Trustees will be there to manage what we are getting from the social welfare contributory levy. At least the successors will know that there is something they are collecting from the people. Although, as things stand, even the levy cannot take care of a third of the expenditure on education. But the government will know that in spite of the huge expenditure there is something being contributed by the people. So for it to be sustainable the first thing we have done is to get people to participate in contributing something towards the sustenance of those schools. Some people are paying 100, 200, 300; some are paying 500, 1000.

But nobody is paying more than 5000 Naira per annum except political office holders who are paying 10,000. We are also trying to see whether we can get the companies to make their own contributions. No matter what they contribute it may not even take care of feeding alone because we have said that the new secondary schools must be full boarding schools. The idea is to take some of these children away from their parents because these parents do not seem to be in a position to manage their children because of the harsh economic realities.

When we were growing up my father will give you a beating of your life if you did not come back home by 6pm. You don’t see that happening these days. The parents are not even at home themselves. So we are trying to see how many children we can take and keep in the school for at least nine months in a year. Maintenance is key to these schools. Currently we have out sourced the maintenance of primary schools. I think that will go a long way towards sustaining these things. But you never can tell who the next governor would be and how brilliant he would be, he might even be better and more brilliant than I am and so have better ideas on how to sustain these things. Someone talked about how to power those schools.

They all have generators but we are changing then into solar power. As for the internet facility, it will only be available in the secondary schools for now. with the functional primary schools we notice that people are pulling their children from private schools and bringing them to the public schools. I had to shut down admission into the one at Elekahia. I said these schools are for the poor. Those who can afford private schools should not come and deny children of poor people good and quality education.

Apart from the issue of sustainability, wont there be a lowering of standards at some point. At a point in lagos they did not have enough schools to take care of those who were coming to enjoy free education as you now have here. Again are you not getting into big government in terms all these provisions. Most people now advocate small government.

If I was in Britain or America I wont get involved in big government, you have a government here where people do not even thank you for what you are doing. Before I came,by this time [8.30pm] you won’t find any body on the street, now we have restored security and night life and people have easily forgotten what used to obtain before we came. Nobody is even saying please do not disturb my governor, we can now move about freely without fear. The same thing is happening in education.

People will complain about poor standards and all that but now we are about to get it right, once we do that, they will forget how it was in the past. Believe me I am not doing these things for people to praise me and say oh Amaechi is trying, If I wanted that I would just build the fine structure and not bother about the content and management. I would have achieved popularity because I can say boldly that in the history of this state no government has built 24 secondary schools at the same time. I am not even talking about the high quality but just the number . No one has built or even proposed to build 750 primary schools at the same time as we are doing.

Where are getting the money for these things, excess crude?
I don’t know about excess crude, in fact we were saving it before Akwa Ibom took our money. By the time we started touching excess crude we had gone far with the primary and secondary schools. It is not that. Maybe when I leave government I will ask myself where I got the spirit driving me to do all these things because some times I see that the wallet is empty yet I still go ahead with projects.

So how are you funding them?
There are two ways. First is that we are extremely prudent. When you hear EFCC talk about corruption in River state, I ask myself ‘where are they coming from’. I do not believe in commissioning projects but because of this EFCC thing we now have set up a committee for our three years anniversary. They have come up with what they call 60-in-60, which means that for 60 days we shall commission 60 of our brand new functional health centres. I told them that we have more than 60, they said it does not rhyme well to take any other number.

They said later we shall go into another phase and I have suggested to them that we could do 150-in-150 for primary schools for people to see. Non of these primary schools or health centres is below one hundred million naira. So how can any body say that we are mismanaging funds? We are disciplining ourselves to ensure that we deliver. Ask the commissioners. They all say the governor is too stingy and I ask them when I was Speaker, was I this stingy? Now I am faced with the stark reality of the fact that at this age and stage in the life of this state, we are still building primary schools, rather than maintaining existing ones. We are compelled to build 750 primary schools and demolish the so-called existing primary schools. The worst period was last year when I was getting only 10 billion naira monthly.

The revenue fell from 25billion to 15billion and then 10billion. My salary bill is over five billion naira. This is because when I came salaries had been increased by 50 percent but not implemented. I had to implement. When I came the state had only 200 medical doctors to look after 5.6 million people in the state. I had to hire another 200 doctors. We found that you cannot succeed in the Secondary Health care without getting the Primary Health care right. So also in education, you cannot get the Secondary schools right without fixing the Primary schools. we began trying to fix these things because they are fundamental. By the kind of training we want to give these secondary school children, they will compete with any body in the world.

Are these projects not adversely affecting finances in the state?
They are but we have to bear it. Sometimes we find that we have nothing in our purse. But we can see where the money is deployed. The good thing for me is that I don’t like money. We have been rated high by all monitoring groups.

You seem not to have godfathers that’s why you are performing so well
Did you read Femi Adesina in The Sun recently? He saw one or two of our projects, especially the monorail, which I don’t think you people saw. That is going to be the first in Africa. Femi went and wrote what he saw and some politicians took paid adverstisement to attack him. The truth is that you have to be able to separate interest of party members and godfathers from the interest of the people. You will not succeed in achieving your objectives if you keep feeding these other interests. Quite honestly the PDP in Rivers has been very supportive and quite understanding and I thank God for that. They know that if we want to remain in power for long , then we have to impact the lives of people.

Whats your take on the court ruling that your tenure has to end in May next year
We have gone on appeal but as you know we are born by the rule of law so we have to abide by the law.
But the difference is not much you would only be losing five months
Five months of being in government is long [General laughter]

What about the Assembly, which will now have tenure different from yours
I don’t see any problem there. You just have to learn how to manage your Assemly. The Assembly people themselves know that the people’s interest should be paramount. I have been working with an Assembly that I did not help to put in place. They have been wonderful because they know that we are working for Rivers people. I don’t see how that becomes a challenge for a governor.

Local Government funds
You can ask the local government chairmen. Instead of taking their money, I am the one giving them. Even in this our social welfare contributory fund where they said they would bring two percent of their income, I did not want it but the state Assembly insisted that they must contribute something because the two responsibilities we want to take over actually belongs to the local councils.

2011 polls
Presiden Jonathan has promised free and fair polls and I believe him because I have discussed one-on-one with him and I believe him. He told me the only reason people abuse Nigerians everywhere we go is the inability of the country to conduct free and fair elections. He has therefore said the attainment of credible elections is one thing that is uppermost in his mind. But then he would not have to go out and tell people to go and vote. What he needs to do is to set up the institutions. He has set up INEC and for me he has set up a credible INEC. The President has played his role. The National Assembly should also play their role towards that credible process. We governors should also play our role. Nobody should be seen to be denying the people their right to choose their governor.

Opposition politicians within
I have long said that if anybody is expecting me to share money, I will not. It as simple as that.
Considering all these projects you are putting in place, what kind of feedback are you getting from the people
In matters like this I am very pessimistic. I say so because I have been in government under Rufus Ada George and Odili. When you are in power people sing your praise. They will say oh Amaechi you are doing so well that since after Spiff no one has done well like you. I also heard people tell Odili and George that kind of thing. I am getting those kinds of feedbacks but they don’t mean anything to me. I go through the streets and people wave, they also waved my former boss like that, I have seen all that. My focus is to do my beat. All I want is to do something that my children and generations to come will be proud of and leave a legacy.

Do you see yourself getting a second term?
The people will decide. I am not a seer. When I was in the university I used to have this room mate who was very popular in the campus. He ran for the position of sports secretary and he lost. In politics it is not necessarily about popularity. If it was, the first black president would have been Collin Powel. When they urged him to run for office he told them that there was a difference between popularity and winning election.

On Jonatahn and 2011
I was at the Eagle Square the day he declared and I did say that President Jonathan is a son of the Niger Delta and that we cannot afford not to support him. I don’t know why this is so difficult for people to understand. I don’t fight shy. If I don’t support the President you don’t need to guess about where I stand. I hardly fear to state my position. I had said to everybody that the President comes from our zone and governors from the zone have taken a position to support him. The meeting where we agreed to support him was hosted by me here in Port Harcourt.




http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2010/oct/27/newsbreak-27-10-2010-001.htm

Security agents have intercepted 15 containers of dangerous weapons illegally imported into the country.
Daily Sun gathered that the illicit cargo, which contained rocket launchers, mortar bombs, small light arms and ammunition, were impounded at the Apapa Port in Lagos.

The containers had a Bill of Laden indicating that the contents were building materials, but a search by the State Security Service (SSS) officials revealed they were arms and ammunition.

Confirming the discovery, Assistant Director, Public Relations of the SSS, Marilyn Ogar did not disclose if any arrest had been made. She said a thorough investigation had begun with a view to unraveling those behind the illegal importation.

A police source also confirmed that the 15 containers were laden with mortar bombs, AK 47 rifles and ammunition.
The source said immediately the containers were discovered, all relevant agencies were informed.
As at press time, a combined team of Army, Navy, Police, SSS, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and Customs Service were still inspecting the containers.

Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo and the Commissioner of Police in-charge of Anti-Bomb Unit, Mr. Chris Olakpe were also at the port. The area had been cordoned off while operatives were still inspecting the containers.
A senior police officer said the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Hafiz Ringim had ordered that the Lagos State command, Anti Bomb Unit and the Port Police command should remain at the scene till further directives.

When Daily Sun visited the scene, the Nigerian Navy were seen moving in equipment to the scene to secure the cargo.
Also, the Federal and Lagos State fire fighters were moving in fire equipment to the scene for safety.
The senior police officer, who spoke to Daily Sun said for security reasons, the source of the arms and ammunition was being kept under wraps so as not to mar investigations.




Link;http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/oct/27/national-27-10-2010-001.htm

PDP Share the money

Factions of the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa and Oyo states on Tuesday said they were still awaiting directives from the headquarters of the party on fresh congresses.



The dissolution of the PDP executive committees in Delta, Oyo, Bayelsa, Enugu, Imo, Anambra and Plateau states is one of the reasons why the National Working Committee on the party is allegedly plotting the removal the National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo.



The PDP national headquarters had ordered the dissolution of the state executive committees, following the insistence of the Independent National Electoral Commission on the conduct of fresh congresses.



While the PDP-based factional chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter, Chief Dairus Obiene, said the party was awaiting a directive on the date of the congress, his Abuja based-rival, Chief Fred Agbedi, said his executive remained the valid one.



Obiene said INEC lacked the constitutional powers to dissolve the executive of any party’s state chapter.



Agbedi, however, countered that only his executive was known to INEC, adding that without it, there would be no PDP in Bayelsa State.



“If INEC says their executive is not known, it is an illegal. An illegal body cannot conduct congress. It is the national body that will conduct elections,” he said.



Agbedi said a caretaker committee would have to be appointed by the PDP national headquarters on the conduct of the congress.



“If anybody says anything to the contrary, that person does not understand the dynamics of administration,” he said.




http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101027117445

If Nigeria is rated 134th most corrupt out of 178 countries and president Jonathan’s utmost concern is how the criminals being investigated feel about the publicity of their heineous infractions,then there is little hope for the country.If the president does not place cronnism and a desperate reelection bid over national interest,one expects him to have distanced the presidency from the operation of the EFCC.The argument that the controversial publicity could suggest a connivance of the presiden

THE Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), has cautioned the leadership of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission against actions capable of overheating the polity and embarrassing the Federal Government.



A source in the AGF office told our correspondent on Tuesday that Adoke had already written to the Farida Waziri-led anti-graft agency over its advisory list of persons with corruption cases against them.



The publication of the list on Monday by a national daily (not THE PUNCH) attracted mixed reactions from politicians and groups across the country. Some of the politicians, who condemned the list, described it as an attempt to intimidate the opposition.



They also said it was not the duty of the EFCC to decide who would contest the 2011 elections.



Before our correspondent obtained a copy of Adoke’s letter to Waziri on Tuesday, the commission had earlier tried to douse the controversy generated by the list. It admitted that it had no power to bar candidates from contesting elections.



The letter by Adoke, whose office supervises the EFCC, has Ref No. HAGF/EFCC/2010/Vol. 1/10). It is titled ‘Re: Incessant political statements capable of embarrassing the Federal Government of Nigeria and unduly heating up the polity.’



The AGF, said our source, informed Waziri in the letter dated October 24, 2010 that there was the need for her and other agencies to act within the law.



According to him, Adoke told her that the action of the EFCC might be construed as an attempt by the Federal Government to exclude certain politicians from the 2011 poll.



The source said, “I can tell you that the Federal Government is not happy with the EFCC boss’ utterances. The government views the action as embarrassing and capable of sending wrong signals to the stakeholders.



“The AGF views the development as unhealthy and insists that it has the tendency of heating up the polity ahead of 2011 poll. The situation explains why the AGF had to write a letter to the EFCC chairman to that effect.”



The AGF’s letter reads, “My attention has been drawn to recent disturbing reports of political statements credited to the leadership of the EFCC which are capable of embarrassing the government and unduly heating up the polity.



“The recent comments credited to the chairman of the EFCC, which was widely reported in the print and electronic media, to the effect that the Commission had compiled names of people under investigation for the purposes of sensitising political parties to exclude such persons from the political process is a case in point.



‘As we approach the 2010 General Elections, I wish to advise that all agencies of government must moderate their public utterances and refrain from making statements likely to cause apprehension in the minds of the public that this administration is taking measures aimed at excluding some people or its perceived political opponents from the political process.



“While it is important for anti-corruption agencies to continue to pursue their statutory mandate with vigour, care must be taken to ensure that no negative feeling or perception is unwittingly created that government is complicit in any grand design or scheme to ‘witch-hunt’ people.



“Furthermore, I wish to reiterate that the grounds for disqualification of candidates for political offices and those empowered to exercise the power to disqualify candidates are clearly set out in the Electoral Act, 2010. Our jurispudence on the issue of disqualification of candidates as enunciated upon by the courts is also well settled. Anti-corruption agencies must therefore respect this position and refrain from making pronouncements to the contrary.”



Continued from page 2







Adoke, however, commended the EFCC “for the notable achievements so far recorded in the fight against corruption and economic crimes, especially with respect to the investigation and prosecution of bank executives.”



He urged the commission to sustain the momentum by ensuring that all its actions and pronouncements came within the “confines of due process.”



the EFCC had earlier on Tuesday said it had no power to bar candidates from contesting elections.



But it wondered why “a mere publication of a list of cases being prosecuted in courts by newspapers has generated so much reactions from those who are yet to discharge their burden of corruption charges, as well as their fans and agents alike.”



The commission, in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said the innocent needed not be jittery.



It explained that its clarification on the list was meant to enlighten “members of the public who might be misled by the selfish arguments of some hired commentators who are desperate to stifle the nation’s anti-graft war.



“For the avoidance of doubt, the EFCC has repeatedly emphasised that it does not have the power to bar or disqualify any person from contesting for a public office and does not intend to embark on actions outside its responsibility,” Babafemi said.



He added that the leadership of the anti-corruption agency was fully committed to working strictly within the rule of law.



Babafemi said, “It is disturbing, given the fact that the list that has elicited the flurry of reactions has been on the commission’s website since 2008; and all the facts therein have been in the public domain since the trial of the accused persons began.



“The list is neither a covert nor overt strategy, intention, ploy nor agenda of the EFCC to arrogate to itself the power of a law court. Thus, it is patently assumptive and speculative of anyone or any group to accuse the commission of using its power to stop aspirants.”



“The commission never states or pretends that it has any power to stop aspirants. What the list simply represents is a public disclosure of the gamut of its prosecutorial efforts in the war against corrupt practices, information that has since remained in the public domain for several months.”



Explaining that the EFCC was not seeking to convict aspirants currently standing trial, Babafemi asked, “In what way will a list that has been in the public sphere achieve the purpose of a conviction?



“What parallel or similar effects will mere information on our cases in court have with a conviction? What pronouncement has been made on the list that can be equated with a conviction?”



Saying that the commission also had no power to “determine who a political party fields for an election, ” Babafemi said it was unfortunate that at a time when all efforts should be geared towards raising the bar against corruption in Nigeria, “some persons can still be found to be taking sides with the cankerworm that has given our nation so much negative publicity.”





http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2010102739989

What the EFCC should have done is to give us the list of politicians that are not corrupt and let the people judge by themselves, their assignment are not complete and unacceptable because we only get 1% of the list.

FOLLOWING the inclusion of his name in the list of politicians that have pending criminal cases with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Chief of Staff to the Rivers State Governor, Chief Ezebunwo Wike, said on Tuesday he had no case with the anti-graft body.



Wike expressed dissatisfaction over the inclusion of his name in the EFCC advisory list, which was reportedly submitted to the Peoples Democratic Party.



Speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Wike recalled how he was invited and detained for over a week by the EFCC, which accused him of converting state funds in a Government House account to his personal account with a new generation bank in 2009.



Wike wondered why the EFCC still included his name in the advisory list, even after, according to him, the court had dismissed the charge against him.



He described the inclusion of his name on the list as sponsored, adding that the action was aimed at stopping some politicians from holding state power at all cost.



He said, “The trial court dismissed the application whereupon, I appealed to the Court of Appeal. I filed the appeal because I was confident that I had performed my duties as the chief of staff, Government House with dignity and that in truth, I had no case to answer.



“The Court of Appeal upheld my appeal, dismissed the charges and discharged and acquitted me. It appears to me that the objective of the EFCC at the behest of its sponsors is to stop some of us from holding state power at all cost.”



Wike noted that contrary to another claim by the commission that he was charged with laundering and cashing huge sums of money across the counter, the only charge brought by the EFCC was the conversion of government account to his personal account.



The governor’s aide alleged that the EFCC chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, was deliberately distorting facts and misinforming the public with malicious motives.



Reacting, the spokesman of the commission, Mr. Femi Babafemi, maintained that the EFCC had no power to ban or disqualify any person from contesting for a public office.



Babafemi added that the anti-graft agency had no intention to embark on actions outside its responsibility, adding that the EFCC under its current leadership was fully committed to working strictly within the ambit of the law.



“The list is neither a covert or overt strategy, intention, ploy nor agenda of the EFCC to arrogate to itself the power of a law court. Thus, it is patently assumptive and speculative of anyone or any group to accuse the commission of using its power to stop aspirants.



“The commission never states or pretends that it has any power to stop aspirants. What the list simply represents is a public disclosure of the gamut of its prosecutorial efforts in the war against corrupt practices, an information that has since remained in the public domain for several months.”





http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101027322218

Mr President Nwodo has to go he has shown he is nt fit to be a leader. He doesnt have the support of his members so he is nt fit 2 be there. Ur Presidential ambition is under threat if u keep him in that seat.

The timely intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday night saved the job of the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo.



The President met with a delegation made up of members of the party’s National Working Committee at the State House, Abuja on Monday night. The delegation had gone to the President to complain about how Nwodo was running the affairs of the party.



Those at the meeting included Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Enugu State Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime; Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; PDP Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Haliru Bello; National Secretary, Alhaji Kawu Baraje; and the National Legal Adviser, Chief Olusola Oke.



THE PUNCH learnt that the members of the NWC told the President that the decision to dissolve the Enugu State chapter of the party was taken by Nwodo alone. They told the President that the NWC did not meet at any point to take a decision on the matter.



They said that since Nwodo was still on holiday in the United States, he should explain where the decision for the dissolution was taken and those that attended the meeting.



They also said that any decision taken by the NWC was usually relayed to the media through the National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali, adding that Nwodo should also tell the President why his media aide, Mr. Ike Abonyi, was the one that signed the statement announcing the dissolution of the Enugu executive.



The NWC members were said to have also told the President that they could not explain to the governor how the decision to dissolve his state executive was taken, since it was not the only state listed by the Independent National Electoral Commission where the congresses were being queried.



Our correspondent gathered that the President then put a call through to Nwodo, asking him to justify his action. It was also learnt that Nwodo tried in vain to explain why the action was taken, which was said not to be convincing.



The President then reportedly ordered that the action be reversed, since the state was not the only one mentioned in INEC’s directive. He also directed that the congress committee set up by Nwodo be disbanded.



Abonyi had on Saturday, in a terse statement, announced that the NWC had ordered the “immediate dissolution of the executive of the Enugu chapter of the party.”



The dissolution order also announced the setting up of an eight-member congress panel to conduct a fresh congress in the state, beginning from next week Saturday.



The commission had in the letter to the party threatened that it would not accept any list sent to the commission by the executives of these states. Our correspondent, however, gathered that the senatorial ambition of Nwodo’s wife, Dorothy, might have been responsible for his step on the Enugu executive.



Dorothy is aspiring to replace Ekweremadu, who is representing Enugu West in the Senate. A former national chairman of the party, Senator Ahmadu Ali, had imposed his wife as the party’ senatorial candidate in Delta North during the 2007 general election.



Meanwhile, Nwodo has said that only accredited delegates of the party can determine the fate of all aspirants. Nwodo said the era of the leadership of the party determining the choice of delegates at primaries was gone for good.






http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010271162539

A United States Court has sentenced a Nigerian, Ademola Adegoke, to eight and a half years imprisonment for using stolen credit card numbers to steal more than $400,000 from the US citizens.



The convict, who pleaded guilty, to wire fraud and aggravated theft on July 30, 2010, has, however, agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $696,026.



According to the US Department of Justice, a District Court Judge, Liam O’Grady, also ordered 43-year-old-Adegoke, who is a Ghanaian resident to serve two years of supervised release following his prison term.



According to the Department of Justice, court documents had shown that, “Adegoke is a Nigerian national who was living in Accra. Adegoke used local Internet cafes in Accra to access e-mail accounts and voice over IP services, which made it appear that he was calling from the United States even though he was physically in Ghana.



“He used e-mail and VOIP to purchase stolen credit card information online and then used those numbers to purchase airline tickets from travel agencies in the US and Canada as well as directly from airlines.



“Adegoke sent e-mail or faxed copies of fraudulent passports and drivers licenses as well as images of credit cards with the stolen credit card number transposed over a blank card to the travel agency or airline.



“ If he was able to convince the travel agency or airline to issue a ticket, he would call back, speak to the same agent and purchase additional tickets for customers who would pay him a fraction of the cost of the full fare.



“In all, Adegoke purchased more than 5,000 stolen credit card numbers and was responsible for more than $400,000 in losses as a result of this scheme.”










http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101027394853

Thanks to the Nigerian customs and other security agencies for not accepting money at the expense of the safety of the poor Nigerians.The federal govt must at all cost fih out those behind this devilish act.GEJ must act quickly as some criminals and detractors are perfecting their plans on destabilising his administration.