THE INSTITUTE OF SOFTWARE PRACTITIONERS OF NIGERIA, ISPON, DINNER ISPON held a dinner on the theme, National Software Policy - Imperatives for Venture Capital and Incentives tor the Developer Community, at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, weekend. PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez.
(1) Mr. Chris Uwaje, ISPON's President, delivering a speech.
(2) From right: Mr. Uwaje, Mr. Odo Effiong, Special Adviser on ICT Development to Senator Liyel Imoke, Governor of Cross River State, Chairman of the day, and Mrs. Karin Uwaje. (3) From left: Deremi Atanda, Executive Director, Systempess; Mr. Thnji Gafar and ~le Okeremi MD/CEO, Precise Financials. (4) Prof. Charles Uwadia, President (left), and Mr. John Tani Obaro, Vice President, both of NCS. (5) Engr. Titi Omo Ettu, President ATCON (left), and Mr. Luqman Balogun, Group Director e-Banking, UBA, representing GMD/CEO, UBA. (6) Prof. Cleopas Angaye, Director,NITDA, {right} and Mr. Ladi Ogunneye, Provost, NCS COllege of Fellows.
EFCC vs Bafarawa: Court adjourns indefinitely BYABDALLAH EL-KUREBE OKOTO-THE lingering case between the S Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, and former Governor ofSokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Balarawa and nine others, was yesterday. adjourned sine die, until judgment being reserved on an appeal filed
before the Court of Appeal is delivered. The case, which is before Justice Bello Abbas of the Sokoto State High Court came up yesterday after being adjourned on February 8, to enable lead de-
fense counsel to Bafarawa, Rickey Tarfa (SAN), to respond to an application for severance. At the resumed sitting, EFCC counsel, Adeniyi
Akintolii(SAN), maintained that since the case had suffered several adjournments at the instance of a single accused person, whose appeal was still pending at the Court of Appeal, the trial court should rely on the powers conferred on it by Section272 (i) of the 1999 Constitution and severe the case, and continue with the trial of the remaining accused persons.
He explained thatin a matterwhere there were many accusedpersons, the whole case should not suffer adjournments at the instance of one accused person. Tarfa, however, insisted that it was only proper that since the appeal filed by one of the accused person, Chief Mike tJmeh, '~s still before the Sokoto Court of Appeal, and for which judgement is reserved, the trial court stays trial until judgement at the Appeal Court is delivered." According to him, the case was jointly filed to include the appellant, Muke Umeh Federal Government to in- and therefore must be tried tervene and save the socio- 'jointly, after.the.determinaeconomic lives of the peo- tion of the appeal at the ple of the area." CQurt of Appeal. The farmers called on the After the arguments from Federal Government to con- both sides, the trial judge, struct226 kilometres of roads Justice Bello Abbas, stood linking Damasak-Gajiarm down the case for two hours and Cross-Kauwa, Malam after which he ruled on the Fatori roads to ease the trans- stay of prosecution. portation problem of the pe0The trial judge observed ple of the area. They lamented that that the case had suffered "Malam Fatori is the only several adjournments in orlocal government in the der to allow those at large country that is not linked to present themselves for triwith a tarred road despite its al and several other adcontributions to the econom- journments to allow for inicdeve1opmenttothestateand terlocutory Injunctions from the Appeal Court. the country at large."
Farmers petition FG over Kafi Zaki Dam BYNDAHI MARAMA
M
AIDUGURI-A group of farmers, under the aegis of Mallam Fatori Multi Purpose Society Union, has petitioned the Federal Government, urging government to stop the lingering crisis surrounding the construction of the proposed Kalin Zaki Dam in Bauchi State. The group, in a petition to President Goodluck Jonathan, claimed that "the construction of Kalin Zaki Dam is capable of rendering over 15 million people, who are predominantly
farmers, jobless." In a petition by the chairman and secretary of the group, Alhaji Kyari Gambo and Alhaji Laminu Mustapha, respectively, the group appealed to the Federal Govemmentto consid-路 er the negative impact that the construction of the Dam might cause the entire people of Jigawa, Yobe, Borno and the neighboring communities of Niger and Chad republics. They claimed that "the construction of the dam will only serve the interest of few individuals, adding that there is need for the
8auchi bans campaign posters display BY SUZAN EDEH AUCHI State Governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda has placed a ban on the pasting of posters, billboards and banners in all the 20 local government areas of the state, According to a press statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Sanusi Mohammed, Yuguda stated that the ban followed the rampart abuse and display of posters in the state capital and local govern-
B
ment headquarters which, according to him, His posing security problems in the state. Any interested politician who wants his posters, banners and billboards to be placed, should do so 20 kilometres away from the state capital and local government headquarters. Politicians are allowed to display posters, banners and billboard in their houses or shops but not outside." The ban includes all posters, banners and bill boards of all contest"'1ts. .., .. f '"
Thugs attack lawmaker BY PETER DURU
M
AKURDI-FEW days after raising alarm over rising waves of political violence in Benue State, a federal lawmaker representing Katsina-Alal Logo/Ukum Federal Constituency, Mt Mzenda Iho, narrowly escaped death atter a group of alleged Peoples Democratic Party, PDp, thugs attacked him and his entourage in Katsina-Ala. Iho, who recently decamped from PDP to the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, escape the attack un-
hurt. However, he lost one of his followers to the assail-, ants who used machette on him before taking him away. Narrating the incident to newsmen at the state Police headquatres, the lawmaker explained that he was on his way to Tor Donga for the burial of a close relative when his entourage ran into a group of PDP thugs. He said they banicaded the road at the Radio Benue substation in Katsina-Ala few minutes after he drovepast the caretaker chairman of Kastina-Ala Local Government Council, Mt AugustinAvaan.