THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13,2012
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NEWS $382,000 for floo d victims From Auguilin. Ehlkloya. Abuja E EconomiC Community of Wesl Afrinn States (ECOW AS)Commission yesterday donated $382,{XX110 nood Vlclims. Issuing the cheque, the Presick-nt of the ('QfTUIUSSIon, ...". """"-."..,.,.,.,... with the victims and their relatives He Slid: looay, on behalf of the CommISSion. I wish to preent a cheque to ~ Nigenans Iffectedby thfo flood
TI
-nus donalJQn of SJ82.(XXI
IS withm the frllmework of supportmg our member-stale to alleviate the suffering of the peorle .HWe hoft! thai thiS fund Will come 10 addition to thfo support given by the Nigeriiln Government and enhan(e delivery or aSSISlan(e to the vktlms. wil is an expression of sohdanlv, goodwill and <=oncem for the suffering of the affecled ~Ie.w Rl'i:en'ins tho.' ch~ue on behalf of Nlr.ena. Minister of
~~~~k~r5~~~Fc: ~i:~emon IS a true demoostrabon of tl,e fact that
we are our brothers' keeper. In thfo true Splnt of our Afn"In tradition where the misfortune of one becomes the 5hared rniSforhme of the communily-
Sy lva'S ex-C hi ef of Staff arrested From Yusuj Alii, Managing Editor. Northern Operation
IE Ec:onomlc and Finan(lal Cnmes Comnussion (Er-cq yesterday arrested Sam Ogbuku, the former Chief of Staff to e",-Bayelsa State Governor, TImlpre Sylva. Accordmg to a sour(e In EFCC, Ogbuku was picked up at his residence in Lekki Phil51!!' I, Lagee, by operatives of the commis5ion. 1lIe!QU~ said: "'The arTl"5t IS in ~on With the ongOing mvestigation into the tenure of Sylva as governor of Bayelsa Stlte. wWe need to interact with Ogbuku because several payments to Bureau de Oiange operalol"!l from the B.ilyelSa State treasury were traced to
T:
"So.suc
thfo has made useful statement but we are still in-
t~~~~d:~ that we midlt detain him.w SYlva is faring a six<aunt dWg< oI><ra1ing .... """"'Y laundering to the tune of N2billion befo re a Federal His;, Coun in Ab . Ill' was alIcg...d t~,·e ronnive<! with some stale offidais to defraud the stale of N2 billion while he _ goyernor. ~ he Will an-aigned on June 5, further Investigation by the- anti-gnft a~ established mot"e evIdence of gnth .gili~t Sylva and his
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Among the &S&I!ts traced to the former ~ovlI'mor in the Federal upill.l TlI'ITitory is a dupkJ: 011 CM:he:t Esta~, valued at N310miIhon. Another is • N700million mansion in Wuse Abuja. allegedly acquired in the name orMarlin Maritime Umited, a company, owned by Sylva.
Why we chose
Okereke-Onyiuke: Hearing in appeal stalled By Joseph Jlbuele
Olanct:'un {SAN), lold Jus-
~ ~ S!'''.i:":a::?or he~~ lln
TI
E absence of Judges al the Court of Appeal, Lagos, yesterday slalk>d lhe hearmg of an appeal by fonner Dir«ior-General of the Nigerian Stock ElI(hange (NSE) prof Ndldi Okereke-<:>nyiuke_ Ms Okerll'ke--Onyiuke 15 challenging the Ihgh Court'~
~~Nf~hlhi~t~t~ha'r I~
brought against her by t~e Lagos State GovernmenL The prosecution i1(("Used her of s lealing the money from the N!8enan Stock Eli· change (NSE). Her lawyer, Woh.'
mg yesterday TIle ludge, wruJe d15missmg her application for a 5tay of prtJCft'dmg. said he would allow iKJITle tune to enable the appell to be heard before fur· ther proceedmgs resume. However, no CilSf!S came up for heanng yesterdilY as Ihe Judgl'!5 were !Wild to be away. The Lagos State Government filed two charges, i!C'
"" OI..,....·O."uike.
~epuly.
Lance" Musa Elakama and SIX ~ of alleged NJ.J billion thef. while on thfo Exchange The others are CreatIVe Anandal Servin's Limited, Mining System Limited, OPOC Properties Llmlle<!, OAK Buslllt'Sli and Fm~nce Company I.lmill"d. Uloma
Ileruy OnyekurtJ and KillS ' dom Secunhes and Fmana' Compan)' Llmlled In one of the charges, tht' stale said the fOf"lN!f DG iU1d Elakama on or about June 20, 20)8 conspired 10 stcal various sums, property of the Exchange Ms Okerl'ke-Ort)·luke had ~ught to ,tily proceedmgs In ilie matter pendmg the aetemllnabon of the appeal 8uI Juslice Balogun held that Section 273 of the stilte's Admmistration of Cnmmal JUSll(e Lilw {ACJL), 2011. prohibits suspen5lon of proceoedmgs In a Crlmmal Inal lie said the poISllion of the law was Ihnt a court must treat a statute as it 15 without addmg or subtractmg lush(e Balogun s;ud h(' was not entitled 10 remove or add anything 10 the law Accordlng to Ihe judge, the w0ni5 II5i-d. in the sectton
MM2, by Med-View
are ~deaf and uJ\amblguous, ~ therefore the rourt would not NdeTo&ilte from the proviSl0n5 01 the law. lie staled that gomg by. the letters of the law, no cnmmal matter can be s~ed both at the !I.·laglSlrales' Courts and at the I \iSh Courl In Lag05 -rillS IS Ih(' poslborl Of Ihe 101..... 111 Llgoo; Siale a5 regards crmunal matlers 1ht- applicabon 101" ~Ia}' of procttrlings brought br defendant, dated Mav I. is thereby refu~ed arid disJJUSSed," he dt·odtod Justice Balogun, however, Solid he wa..c aware that thede-(l."Odanls had filed an appeal at the Court of Appe.11, Lagos, asamst hIS assumphOl"l of IUrisCitctlOO on Mardi 23 He '5illd he would defer 10 the Court of Appeal by continuing hearing In tht" case N
,h.
IMer. lusli(!!' Balogun adiourned heanng till DecembeT 4
Access to land for housing still a problem, says Jonathan ESIDENT Goodluck onathan has said eqUitable IKCe:55 10 limd fo{ housing development and adequacy of hausmg remauns a challeJIge. JOC\iIthan spoke at the ~ ing of thfo Presidcnual Stakeholders' Retreat on Housing and Urban Devdopmeot held at Ihe Pre!iidcnhill VIlla. Abll)ol. He said If ttusdcfiotlS to be brtdSed. the country must cttllmue to seck wafS to provide aHordable housing.. especiall)' to the no-inrome, lowincome, lower·medium 10rome, and the mformal sector
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From Vlne"nt Ikuomola, Abuj. workers lhe P!l'SIdent sa.Jd a vanely of housing delivery !;Chemes, including ~ocial hOUSing,. rental schemes, reo generalton and housmg moperall\'e§ must be evah..I.IIt>d. "InJWlC, the Federal E>.ecubve Coundl (FEe) appnn"ed both Ih.. National Rousing Polity and the National Urban Devclopmenr:::~' as the umbreJfa ITa for a (oordma ted response to meebng the thaUenge'lln tlus sector.
WIcommend the Minister of Lands, HOUSing and Urban Developmenl and all stakehokders who parllClPilted In the development of the two approved policies. for thetr n;'mIIrkable efforts. - We <=annat bul recogruse !has Important slt"p, bearing In mmd Ihat prtor to the approval, the housing and urban devdopment sector oper.!oted Without enabling policy instruments Ihat would po5l' tively hames the potential,tICS QI the sedor -rlu'SE' poliCies are to be t.rnns.Iated Into ocuon through
a mad map for thehou.smgand urban development sectur
!he rood map will. address the ch.allenge'l of adllevmg a ttousmg revolullOn In our na0.00
"II will al....'provide the pathway for tnmsfomung our ot· mto livable and funchonal human settlements.· Miruster QlllOUSlOg and Urban Development Ms . Ama Pepple <'Ind Iwr Finance rounterpart, Dr Ngozi OkonJo· I ....-eala. saKi to avtc'l1 a housing crlSis. the countrv ~ one million hollsmg umi.'!' y('arly for the Jle:ICt eight }"eat5. le;
Wike to b
pay
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beauS(' of the ~effKlE'Il t faciliht"l' IhereIts ""dn<'lgmg DlTedl'r. AlhaJi Milneer Bankole. told th~ management tedm of a,.courtnev A\"IalJon ServI('l'!S limited (BASL), operatOI"!l of ~iMA2. that II considered ad\'antagl'" and dio;advanlages of other oUet! before (hoosmg MMA2
IITA to produce Osun soil map TIlE Intemallonal Inslltute of Tropical At;fI(ultufl' (IlTA)nas agrt't'd 10 produce a (our-Y('ilr proposal on how to get a ..... orkable SOil map for it1(TC'a.o;eli food proclUChOO in ()o;un State Its Deputy lJn('(1or General. Kenton Dash.. !. siud hiS orgamsatlon would lead Kientists from the Minlstr)" or Agricul\me and Food Secunty. Marhn Luther Umver<lt~· In HalleWIItC'llberA, C-.eTInany and the State Umver.;lty, {)o;(lgbo. to product- the 5011 proposdl Da<;hlel Silld the VJII mar ..... a.~ ~r.' til ffihaoce food proouctioo llle Semor Sf't'CIill A~lStant to Govern"r Rauf Areg~la on QUIck Impacl Intervenllon I?rogramme {Qllf'l. Delt' Ogundlpt', told the IITA bos.s that the gm'emment wa~ try1n,6 to e<Otabhsh a Bell PnlChce Demonstrahon farm backed up With it Food and 5011 Laboratory
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• Wi"" lui) Ind P""'..'n~t Sf!e~I ..,. Ministry tl f Ed llallon, Dr. l'oheJohn N..aobi.l ••1 thor: mHti ni ,"tf!nla,. In AbllJa. tractor!; fN!d up with lhet!){.pectaUons of lhe Federal Govemmmt. He said: -For one week, work cannot be done by Sil!V-
UlG05 "".. Hi. . Court. ...... yesterday fum NOvember 26 for the te--.lIrraignment of Mamman Ali, son of former ~leI Democntk P;uty (PDP) ClIairman. Mmadu Ali and. thn!oe otheI"!I for alleguf N4_4 billion fuel subsidy fr.rud.. The defendants Weft scheduled to be re'lrnlllgned before Justice Ademyi Oni~ yesterday but the rourI ~ to SlL No I"eAAOfl was giVen. Mamman All was ariaigned on July 26 with 0u1stian Ta lor Nas;una,n 0.1 Scrvio:5 for an ~ N2.2 billion fuel
ana
TI,e .llrhn.., .... hlch began
~lttl:I~~ r;u~~k
From Augustine Ehlkloya. AbuJa n IE Independenl National Electoral Commlo;filon (INEe) will ronvene a stakeholders' meellng to validate its on$,olng
entl c:ontnctOr!; due to the non--paymenl by the banks. .. rna:IJe decided to follow thi5 issue d08ely becausewe must deJiver on schedule.
WThe5e are government funds. 'J1Iey arenot funds borrowed from the banks and must be released accordingly without impediment.-
Trial of Ali's son, others fixed for Nov 26
A
b.~
INEe to meet for 2015
RolStat-efor
Eduation Nyeso01 Wike ha:; ",Oed_Of' banks worldng With the Fed· eral Government on the exKUbon of projects in the boIsit educallon sector to pay contrac::tOI'5 prompUx. The ministe.r hailed the managerIlCOt 01 the Univer&aJ &skEducation COlnlJlt5.ion. (UBEe) on the improvement In the! execution o f Q/mujiri schools, Special Gi rl-ChiJd Schools and library projects in Ihe.counby. Wilic spoke in AbUJII at"" eeting With bl\nks, rontraclors and UBEe managell"ienl. He regretted that the 0:' ecuHon Olse\'era..l boIsic eduC<llion projects have been ,talIed due 10 delayed paymenl5 by banks. Wike ur~ the bank!! to
NIGERIA'S newe<;\ .mlme Med-VIO~'\Y has e~plllilled why II chO!it' Iht- Murtala Muhammed Alr~rt Tt'nmnal Two rMMA2), LagO!!, as IL~ (lperall(ln.ll
By AdoebI.t onanug. subsid fraud.. AI ~ wi silting on October 30, thfo Economic and Fmaoolll Crimes ComlJ'li.Won (ERX) informed the court of ilS intentioo to reo-an-a.lgn the defendants on M_","= EKC counsel. f'nlIlCis Usani said thfo amended ~ would enable them to join anOlher oil ma rketer, OIUWil5eun Ogunbambo, iI!I a (o-defendan t in the malter. In the amended charge now brfore the rourt. the defendants would be facing a
l3<oun t 01 fuel sub$dy fraud... The EKC. in the new charge, aUegftt that the def~ts weT involVed in subsidy fraud amounting to about NH billion. The commission alleged that the defendants hitd conspire(! to obtain the money from It.- mleral Government for the purported importation of 3O.5miU.an IiIr'l'5 of Premium Motor Spint (PMS). The EFCC said th~ 1I1Ieged off~ rontTi'wened Section 1(3) or the Advance' Fer Fraud and Other Fraud ~ated Offet'"lC:e!l Act 012006
Attahlru Jega said this in Abufil ye.'iteroay wken a tu.m,alllnited Stales International Foundahon for Electoral Sp'lem (IFES) led by its President. Williams Sweeney, \'ISlted hIm. III!' $iUd. -We have sli1rted PrepMiltion for 2015 ami Wf! have started our sttategit planning process wWe have vtrtually dOOl!' 0111 the in-hOUSot" ~ulta nons And our h~ 15 that by the first week of Decembe- we will bI!' able 10 have ..... hat we caU stake-holders' input for the vaJidiinon of thfo strategi( plannmg.-In 2013, we will 5larl thfo process of impl~hllg thfo plan and we Will be ~eine~~~~o y!.'al'S bl!'fore "lYe want to be one of the
=i:~i~n:a~~~e:e~ working hard to achle\·!.' that. ~
Sweeney said: -We are here 10 compliment (NEC for delivering world-dass e!«tlon to Nigenal\S.-