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President inaugurates 25 new rail coaches ... says move 'II bait pressure on roads BY DANliOL IDONOR , Logos
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L-R: The Remo Diocesan Bishop, Rt. (Revd) Abiodun Taiwo shaking Lady Ebun Somorin to the deligh( 0/ her husband, Pro/ ssor Owoiabi Somorin, i1 redpient 0/ an award at the 2011 Annual Synod 0/ the Remo Diocese, Methodist Church of Nigeria hosted by the lkenne-Remo circuit of the ch urch, recently.
Debate: Fashola, Dosumu, Akele differ over tax BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI, Log-os
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E gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Lagos State, Governor Babatunde Fashola, and his counterparts in other parties : Dr. Ade Dos u mu (PDP), Dr. Michael Dominic (APGA), Mr. Abayomi Asuni (NTP), Chief Yomi Tokoya (ANPP) and Mr. Ayodele Akele (NCP), engaged, yesterday, in a hot debate with the candidates criticising Ule current tax regime in the state. The candidates spoke at the gubernatorial debate organised by the Diocese of Lagos West, Anglican Communion (Church of Nigeria) , Ikeja, aimed at articulating programmes and plans the 路c.andidates for the people of the state if voted in to office next month . The opponents of the incumbent governor condemned the 15 per cent cut from the IGR by Alpha Beta tax consultants and Terma tax consultants, clients of the state government on tax. According to Tokoya , "15 per cent cut on taxalion is a gross abuse of o[fice; if voted into office, ANPP shall scrap it. " Dosumu, who excused himself [rom the debate mid-way to attend to the visiting wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience , who was in the state on an official assignment, said, "we will be g uided by basic philosoo hy, transparency, aclOllntability and redllced wastages in government 1[ voted into office." Responding , Fashola explained that the company never collected tax for the state but only looked at the paper work to ensure that sharp practices
were discouraged. He said, "Belore I came on board, there were a lot of loopholes th rough which people who were supposed to be collecting revenues lor the state siphoned money; they were not remitting money into the state coffers but when Alp ha Beta came on board, it h elped moved our internal generated revenue (IGR) from N600 million to over N14 bil-
lion . ''!be outfit set up to collect tax is the state Inland Revenue Services (URS) , Alpha Beta only helped to verily all documents issued hy the LlRS; they helped us to issue electronic tax clearance. If they helped us to generate this hU\je money, I illst leel it is latr to appreaate them with the controversial 10 per cent."
uck Jonathan, yesterday, inaugurated 25 new railway diesel locomotive engines at the Nigerian Railway Corporation Headquarters , EbuteM e ta, Lagos. At the event, Jonathan restated his strong commitment to the revitalisation of rail transportation as a means of improving public transport system in the country. The President was accompanied to commissioning by Vice-President Namadi Sambo ; Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Banko le; Ogun State Governor, Olunba Gbenga Daniel; Information and Communications Minis ter, M r. Labaran Maku and many other top government functionaries. Jonathan assured that be would focus on improving transport infras t ructure, noting tbat sucb e fforts were necessary to red uce pressure on tbe road network.
Court orders Lagos pollee to reopen factory Lagos High Court Sitting in Ikeja has ordered the po lice to unseal To p Star Chemical and Allied Industries Limited ilt Isberi-Olofin, Lagos .The collrt also ordered tbe immediate release to the company its Renault Clio car im pounded by the police. The court gave the orders while ruling in a case instituted by the firm against the Com-
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missioner of Police, Lagos State and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), in which it sougbt to enforce its fundamental rights . The case arose from the police sealing 01 the company's premises after it was alleged that it was being used to illegally siphon petroleum products from the NNPC pipelines while the firm claimed that the traces 01 the products lound in its
well was simply a case of leakage in the pip elin es . Hand i n g down the orders on February 28 , the court said they were to be carried out within seven days . Justice A.O. Opesanwo said the preliminary objection 01 the 2'" delendant (NNPC) to the plaintiff's prayer for the unsealing 01 its premises and the police vacating the place lailed and "accordingly dismissed it ."
What Ndigbo want from Jonathan, by IYM BY TONY NWANKWO, Enugu
expect justice, equity, security and religious tolerance in the country. Speaking in Enugu, President, Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), Evangelist Elliot Uko, said it had become necessary lor the Ndiflbo to make their positions clear, less than five weeks to the general elections. According to him, the massive sU\lport N djgbo had committed to give President Goodlu ck Jo n athan was no t because he is Ijaw, but be-
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cause the people believed he is capable of giving the country good leadership . "Ndjgbo do not care lrom which section 01 the
country our president hails from, we want a good man who will transform Nigeria lor good ," the IYM leader said .
NUT flays killings of teachers in Bauchi
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HE Nigeria Union 01 Teachers (NUT), has condenmed the killing of four principals from Taraba State in last Wednesday's crisis in the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State. In a statement, Mr. Ikpe Obong, NUT's
Secretary Ge neral, described tbe act as dastardly. He sais: "It is high time government stamped its leet and put an end to the senseless crises, unprovoked attacks and wanton destruction 01 human lives an d prope rty in the country."
"With train transport gradually coming back, pressure on our roads w ill be reduced," he said. Tbe 25 new diesel coaches were brough t into the country last March by the corporation as part of efforts to improve rail transport service in the country. The President said he was com mitted to the rehabilitation 01 coa ches
and tracks, espeCially in Lagos, Jebba and Kano, and called on the corporation's workers to ensure proper mainte'nance of the rail facilities t o preserve their life span. Alter the brief ceremony, Jonathan and his entourage took a ride in the new train to Aheokuta for the PDP presidential campaign.
New book on oil & gas
cases launched BY BASHIR ADEFAKA, Logos
boOk, Nigerion Oil and Gas Cas s, aut bored by Mr. Uche Nwokedi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, bas been launched in Lagos. At the launch w h ich was witnessed by judges and legal p ractitioners, the b ook was desribed as a reference book for lawyers a n d ot h er stakeholders in the petroleum and oil and gas sector. In his forward to the five-volume book, launched at MUSON Centre on Thesday, Chief Justice of Nigeria, J ustice Aloysius KatsinaAlu, noted tbat the book
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is a collection of oil and gas -related cases from 1961 till date. In a statement, the author described the book as a compendium of over 100 oil and gas cases from 1961 to the present day, which "clearly defines oil and gas law and practice in Nigeria, and shows the attitude of the Nigerian courts to many issues in this area." In his closing remarks, chairman of the occasion and SupremeCo\lrt J\lStice, J\lStice Rhodes Vivus, noted that Nigerian lawyers rated among the highest in the world and that in spite of the fact that judges in the country operated under the most strenuo\lS situation, they still managed to perform well.
IITA to partner Osun on food production E International Institute for lIop ical Agriculture (UTA), Ibadan, Oyo State, has pledged to partner with tbe Osun State Government to acbieve its agenda on food security. IITA:s Director-General, Dr. Peter Hartmann, said this while excbanging views with Governor Rauf Aregbesola , wbo was at the institute on a fact-finding mission on ways to actualise the state's agricultural scheme. He stated tbat the institute'~ vast knowledge in improved agricultural metbods needed to be exploited by government and private investors to belp reduce hunger and diseases in Nigeria and Africa as a wbole. Aregbesolatold the DG and other experts at the
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institute that his administration's intention was to restore conlidence ( into farmers and show them that government would no longer dump them to lose their investments . The governor add'ed that he does not intend to achieve food security for the state alone, but also generate employment for the teem ing populace 01 the state, as well as wealth creation through agricultural revolution. Expatiating on the administration's policies on agriculture, the state team leader on planning and advisory, Dr. Charles Akinola, stressed that the state was also involved in creating a market place lor the farm produce to help reduce wastage.