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Jonathan has changed Nigeria's political history, says Buhari

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Time for action

EDITORIAL

sworn in today by the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mahmud Mohammed as the fifth elected president of the country. Like General Olusegun Obasanjo, who also became a transformed democrat, President Buhari is returning to a position he knows only too well, having served as mili-

tary head-of-state between December 1983 andAugust 1985. Buhari promises to leverage on his experience to transform Nigeria which is in the middle of an economic downturn that has been complicated by instability in the price of petroleum on which the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soul depends. CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

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gainst all doomsday predictions, the largest black democracy in the world successfully held general elections in the country. As part of preparations for a transition to a democratically-elected government, Presidentelect, General Muhammadu Buhari, will be

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Mr. President! lThe Muhammadu Buhari

presidency begins today amidst high expectations lThe man, Buhari lChange: Can he? Will he? lNew First Lady, Aisha Buhari lNew helmsmen in states lGoodbye, Jonathan }5 20 bumper pages on the incoming administration }13 Inside: Adesina wins AfDB presidency I'm not afraid of Buhari's probe, says Okonjo-Iweala Court dismisses suit to stop inauguration

}7 }6 }9

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Buhari: Jonathan changed Nigeria's history

lReceives handover notes, confab report lOutgoing president leaves for Otuoke today Onwuka Nzeshi, Anule Emmanuel and Yekeen Nurudeen

Abuja

new epoch opens in Nigeria today as the Presidentelect, Muhammadu Buhari, assumes power. As part of the process for the transfer of power to the President-elect, outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday gave him the official handover notes and reports of the National Conference. Major General Buhari said the outgoing president had changed the political history of the country

with the way he handled his defeat in the March 28 presidential election. Buhari, who was at Aso Rock for a guided tour of facilities, said that the singular decision by Jonathan to have conceded defeat to him through a telephone call by 5:15pm on March 29 earned him the respect not only in the country, but among world leaders. Buhari, who was accompanied to the occasion by a delegation comprising All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains, including the party's National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, described Jonathan as a stabilizer of the nation's politics. The President-elect

added that Jonathan's action of conceding victory to him saved the nation the bloodshed that would have accompanied his refusal to do so. "Since the telephone call you made, you have changed the course of Nigeria’s political history. For that, you have earned yourself a place in our history for stabilizing this system of multi-party democracy and you have earned the respect of not only Nigerians, but world leaders. "All the leaders that spoke to me and congratulated us for arriving at the point we arrived, mentioned this and I could understand a lot of relief in

their voices that Nigeria has made it after all and this is largely owed to a situation. "If you had attempted to make things difficult; you could have made things difficult, and that would have been at the expense of the lives of poor Nigerians. But you choose the part of honour and may God help all of us. Thank you very much, Your Excellency." Buhari declined to make any categorical statement on the handover notes and the conference report. He said: "Until I read and digest these notes from the president, I don’t think I will be in a position

President Goodluck Jonathan (left) presenting the report of the National Conference to the President-elect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, at the handover ceremony in Abuja…yesterday. PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN.

Inauguration: We'll forestall security breach –DHQ

lTroops arrest bomb making experts in Gombe Emmanuel Onani Abuja

he Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has assured that the military was undertaking operations to forestall likely security breach by Boko Haram or other criminal elements during today's inauguration of General Muhammadu Buhari as President. It also announced that troops on cordon and search operation in Gombe State have arrested three bomb making experts who were members

of Boko Haram in search of soft targets for possible attacks. The disclosures were contained in a statement signed by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major General Chris Olukolade. "A cordon and search operation conducted by troops in Gombe has yielded the arrest of three bomb making experts. The arrested persons are suspected to be members of the terrorists group in search of soft targets for attack after being dislodged from the stronghold in Sambisa forest and

other enclaves. "Items recovered from the apprehended include a tricycle and materials for making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The suspects are currently undergoing interrogation. "Cordon and search is continuing in certain localities and will be intensified along with mopping up operations in locations where offensive operations are being conducted. The essence is to apprehend the terrorists who have been dislodged from their sanctuaries and are in search of escape routes

or resorting to attacking soft targets. "In line with this development, the public is enjoined to be extra vigilant and to report suspicious movements or activities within their environs. The military is poised to ensure that the ongoing operations are duly aligned with security arrangement nationwide towards forestalling any attempt by terrorists or other criminal groups planning to breach security or disrupt the inaugurations activities anywhere in the country," the statement reads.

to make any strong contribution." Before handing over the documents to Buhari, the president stressed the importance of the conference report, saying that the recommendations therein will help in resolving many of the challenges facing the nation if looked into by the incoming administration. He said: "This will give you a mission statement of the commitment of this government for the past five years and the directions we are going that will help you to navigate. "So, it's my pleasure on behalf of the vice-president, members of the executive council and other senior functionaries to formally hand over these handover notes to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the President-elect, who will assume office tomorrow. "There is another document that I will hand over to you. To me, this is more important than the handover notes. The handover notes are the activities of an administration showing where we started, where we are going, in some of the cases you'll follow; in other cases, you may take other angle. "But this is a document that was compiled by Nigerians; the report of the National Conference, 2014. We gathered almost 500 Nigerians from all walks of life. They were not influenced by government in any way. And most of the recommendations here, if they are followed, most of the grey areas even in our politics will be smoothened out. Most of the areas where people complain bitterly (about) corruption; everything, this document deals with them. "We were unable to implement because of the shortness of time. We have sent a copy to the National Assembly, but it's a document that we are very hopeful that your government will look into and give the attention it requires." It is also my pleasure on behalf of the vice president, members of the executive council and other senior functionaries and especially the conference members that developed this report, the baby of the nation, to hand over this also to you." Jonathan, in a 50-paragraph speech, also outlined some of the achievements of his administration in all sectors of the economy in the last five years. According to him, reforms in the financial system, which included the Treasury Single Account

(TSA) that united the structure of government accounts for all Ministries Department and Agencies MDAs, the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System GIFMIS that assisted in plugging leakages and waste of resources, have yielded dividends. He said the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) weeded out 60,450 ghost workers in 359 out of MDAs, yielding N185.4billion in savings to government. Vice-President Namadi Sambo who headed the Federal Government’s presidential transition committee told the gathering that both members of the APC transition committee and that of the government carried out their assignments patriotically. Earlier, Chairman of the APC Presidential Transition Committee, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, said there was a harmonious working relationship between his committee and that of the Federal Government. Also, in preparations for Buhari's inauguration today, the Eagle Square venue of the ceremony, is already wearing a new look. When New Telegraph visited the venue yesterday, workers were seen putting final touches to the decorations while canopies and stages had already been put up. Civil servants in the two Federal Secretariat buildings were also directed to close early to enable the security operatives to conduct adequate search of the area for any explosive device. The Eagle Square car park was also closed to the public. While there is maximum security in place at the square provided by a combined team of the army, the police and men of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), ambulances were also stationed at different locations within and around the venue. Ahead of the inauguration, the United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry and other foreign dignitaries yesterday arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The airport witnessed an unusual heavy passenger traffic as diplomatic staff from the various foreign embassies temporarily moved their offices to there to receive the representatives of their respective countries to the CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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I'm not afraid of Buhari's probe, says Okonjo-Iweala lMinister: Oshiomhole’s statement lacks fact and logic Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

utgoing Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, has said that she is not afraid of probe by the new administration of Muhammadu Buhari over the running of the state’s

economy. To her, only those who cannot convincingly explain how they dispensed states' resources entrusted in their care have cause to fear. The minister stated this yesterday in a statement by her Special Adviser on Media, Paul Nwabiukwu, in response to Wednesday's article by Edo State governor, Adams Osh-

Spain probes Shekau over attack on nun

pain has begun a probe of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, on suspicion of terrorism and crimes against humanity, under the legal principle of universal justice. A report yesterday by the Associated Press (AP) quoted National Court Judge Fernando Andreu as saying in a ruling that the probe refers to an attack by Boko Haram on Ganye in 2013 when a Spanish nun was molested. The ruling said the nun managed to escape. The court ruling asked

authorities to locate the nun and requested information on Boko Haram from the United Nations. Spain tightened its law on universal justice last year, with a legal reform stipulating a Spanish victim must be involved. Before that, the principle was famously used by former judge, Baltasar Garzon in his attempts to prosecute former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet.

iomhole, accusing her of "grossly mismanaging nation's economy in the last four years and feeding Nigerians with half-truth.” “The most laughable part of Oshiomhole’s article is the claim that Okonjo-Iweala has been speaking out lately because of the “fear of Buhari”. Nigerians know this is ridiculous. If there is any minister whose voice has been strong on the right issues over the past four years it is Okonjo-Iweala. “Okonjo-Iweala combines a stalwart integrity, a mastery of her mandate and the courage of her convictions. She therefore has no reason to fear. Those who cannot adequately explain what they did with the resources of their states and are begging for bailout are those who should to be scared,” Nwabiukwu. In the article titled “Economy: OkonjoIweala’s hidden figures,” Governor Oshiomhole accused the minister of running the Excess Crude Account (ECA) in the last

four years as a one-man show business, noting that Okonjo-Iweala’s recent outburst against oil marketers was to avert a possible probe by the incoming Muhammadu Buhari administration. But Okonjo-Iweala said Oshiomhole's article was full of gaping holes, both in facts and logic. "Like previous baseless allegations by some governors, the motive behind Oshiomhole’s attack is clear: to deflect public attention away from the manner in which they have run the finances of their states and make Okonjo-Iweala the scapegoat," she said. The minister described Oshiomhole’s claim that state governors were not properly briefed as unfounded because the status of ECA was periodically discussed at Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) which had in attendance all commissioners of finance. "Governor Oshiomhole’s statement that Okonjo-Iweala “must

disclose to the nation the full details of subsidy payments made to oil marketers in the last four years” is therefore astonishing given the fact that every payment made to the marketers has been published in the media and widely disseminated through all news channels. “Oshiomhole’s allegation that Okonjo-Iweala has not been transparent is ridiculous and totally lacking in merit. Apart from the monthly publication of allocations to the federal, state and local governments, the Federal Ministry of Finance under Okonjo-Iweala also publishes SURE-P receipts and distribution to different tiers, details of payments to oil marketers and other information," the statement added. The minister accused the governor of failing to prudently manage the economy of his state well. “Has Governor Oshiomhole demonstrated the same level of openness in his management of the affairs of Edo State? Can

Oshiomhole also go public with all the information showing what he has received from various sources and the uses to which he has deployed them? “How can Governor Oshiomhole claim that state governors were not properly briefed on the status of the ECA when his commissioner of finance attends all the FAAC meetings where decisions are taken and communicated to the nation?” she asked. The minister also denied involvement in an unholy alliance with oil marketers. “Oshiomhole’s allegation that the minister is involved in “an unholy alliance” with government agencies and the marketers is therefore manifestly untrue and totally irresponsible. How can a minister against whom the oil marketers have conducted a very public campaign of calumny be in league with them? A decent public official should not make such scurrilous and unsubstantiated statements,” the minister said.

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST LAGOS

ABUJA

PORT HARCOURT

KANO

ENUGU

IBADAN

CALABAR

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ONITSHA

30o C 26oC Thunder Storms

32oC 24oC Partially Cloudy

22oC 19oC Storm

41oC 27oC Mostly Sunny

31o C 23oC Thunder Storms

31oC 21oC Partially Cloudy

28oC 23oC Storm

41oC 28oC Mostly Sunny

29o C 23oC Thunder Storms

L-R: Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Aliyu Gusau (rtd); Minister of State for Defence, Col. Augustine Akobundu; Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh and his wife, Mary, during the public presentation of a book on Combating Terrorism and Insurgency in Contemporary Times in Abuja …yesterday

Buhari receives handover notes, confab report CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

historic occasion. Kerry, who led the United States’ delegation, has on his entourage Hon. Linda Thomas-Greenfield and several others. They were shortly followed by the delegation from Venezuela led by Mr. Jorge Arreaza and accompanied by the country’s Vice Minister of Africa, Mr. Renaldo and the West African Coordinator of the Ministry, Mr. Luiz Paz. Director of Protocol,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Abdul Karim, confirmed the arrival of other delegations at different times but could not give the exact number of countries that had arrived for the occasion. New Telegraph learnt that delegations from several African countries started arriving early yesterday. As at the last count, delegations from Liberia, Cote D' Ivoire, Togo and Gambia had arrived in Abuja.

Meanwhile, Jonathan will, today, finally vacate his official residence to give way for its occupation by the President-elect. The outgoing president, his wife and other family members will head straight to his village in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, after the inauguration of the President-elect, by the Chief Justice Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed. Jonathan is expected to rest in Yenagoa for a few

days before jetting out of the country on a short vacation. After attending the inauguration ceremony, which will last for about two-and-a-half hours, the outgoing president will be driven amidst tight security and escorted to the city gate. The pool of presidential security guards will withdraw from there and allow just a few to accompany him to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International

Airport, Abuja where he will fly the Nigerian Air Force presidential jet 001, a Boeing 737, for the last time to his home state, Bayelsa. While Jonathan will proceed to Otuoke, Sambo has been scheduled to also travel immediately to Kaduna, his home state. The source also confirmed that Sambo will stay in Kaduna before going on a two-week vacation to the United Kingdom (UK).

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Adesina wins AfDB presidency T Tony Chukwunyem

he outgoing Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, has been elected president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) after a keenly contested election. He defeated seven other candidates to emerge as the eighth president of the bank. Adesina, 55, who will assume office on September 1, succeeds Donald Kaberuka, whose second term as president of the bank ends in August, a statement from the bank said yesterday. This is the first time a Nigerian will head the AfDB in the bank’s 51-year history. Analysts had predicted that the election would be close with a likely extension of the process if no clear winner emerged. But by 6pm yesterday, the result was already out that Adesina had won. The minister was widely regarded as the poster boy of the outgoing Jonathan administration based on his achievements in the agricultural sector. He introduced reforms, which significantly reduced corruption in the sector by improving transparency in the supply and distribution of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs.

He achieved this through a nationwide implementation of an innovative electronic wallet system, which directly provides farmers with subsidized farm inputs, using their mobile phones. The ministry’s figures show that within the first four years of its launch, the electronic wallet system reached 14.5 million farmers, empowering them and transforming their livelihoods. For his achievements, Adesina has received several awards. In 2012, he was conferred with Nigeria’s second highest National Honours, the Commander of the Order of Niger (COON), for his outstanding service to his country. The following year, he won the Forbes Africa Person of the Year award for his bold reforms in the agricultural sector. He was the first public sector minister in Africa to win the award. Also in 2014, he was selected as Anti-corruption Man of the Year and Most Transparent and Accountable Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Foundation for Transparency and Accountability. The British-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce also selected him as the Most Outstanding Minister in Nigeria. Prior to the election, Adesina had said if he

were elected as the next president of the AfDB, his priority areas would include strategic investment in infrastructure, increased involvement of the private sector, job growth, particularly for youths and women, reviving rural economies for inclusive growth, and increased regional integration for shared prosperity. He also said he would fo-

cus on the importance of expansive, but inclusive, economic growth and development that directly impacts on peace and stability across the continent. He laid out his five strategic priorities for the continent, which include integrated infrastructure, private sector growth, creating jobs for youths and women, reviving the rural economy, and regional in-

tegration for shared prosperity. According to his vision statement, his approach will feature specific interventions under those priorities. Adesina's victory immediately elicited reaction from a former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, who described it as a victory for his personal goodness and for Nigeria.

Obi, in a statement, said it was a positive commentary on the presidency of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, which, he noted, has through many positive acts, restored confidence in Nigeria and Nigerians. Expressing optimism that Africa will benefit from Adesina presidency, he urged him to remain a good ambassador of Nigeria.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (right), presenting his handover notes to the Governor-elect, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, in Lagos…yesterday.

Dangote Foundation commits N906m to Ebola fight

ith over N900 million already committed to the fight against the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Africa, the Dangote Foundation has again risen up to the challenges after it offered to defray the cost of quarantining the Nigeria’s returnee health worker volunteers from the Ebola ravaged countries, who arrived the country after six months in the West African countries. The Foundation, which has been playing a leading role in partnership with relevant authorities in the fight against the dreaded disease in Nigeria and the rest of Africa is expending about N60 million on the accommodation of the 200 returning volunteers delegation that travelled to support the containment effort in the Ebola infested West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The Federal government has acknowledged the enormous infrastructural and financial assistance rendered by the

foremost Foundation in tackling the scourge of Ebola in Nigeria. Director of Port Health Services, Ministry of Health, Dr.NasiruSaniGwarzo commended Dangote Foundation for its patriotic assistance saying “the intervention of the Dangote Foundation in the containment of the Ebola Virus is unprecedented in the history of intervention efforts in Nigeria by a single business entity. “Dangote Foundation has foot the bill all the way through in the fight against the Ebola Disease in Nigeria. The Foundation provided 12 state of the art thermal Cameras for the airports, trained 160 staff of the federal Ministry of Health and paid for workers to manage the 200 returnees currently in our custody and spent millions more. I must say our thank you is with a difference,” Dr.Gwarzo enthused. In his own remark, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Professor

AbdulsalamNasidi said the role of the Dangote in the containment of the Ebola Disease is immeasurable.” “We ran an emergency centre with virtually little or nothing. It was the Dangote Foundation that empowered our centre. I don’t have words to use. The Foundation provided funds for procurement of facilities to run case management, infection, prevention, control and communication which are the major response of disease control centre,” he said. The Health Workers Team Leader, Dr. Joshua OlusegunObasanya said the Dangote Foundation has been supporting the volunteers financially and technically, adding that the Foundation has been facilitating their integration back to the Nigerian society since their arrived the country on Sunday. Said he; “With this kind of support the Dangote Foundation is helping to keep the Nigerian society safe. We are being camped for 21 days during which

we would be monitoring ourselves. My message to AlhajiAliko Dangote is that he is wonderful man. We have seen his hand in everything. I will also want him to apply the same advocacy to tuberculosis because it is also another deadly disease.” Dr.Obasanya explained that the six months contract will lapsed on June 1, 2015, having spent five months in Liberia and Sierra Leone.He said every volunteer was insured, adding that before the team left Nigeria, the Dangote Foundation provided immediate intervention by mobilizing human resources. The Dangote Foundation said the latest gesture was part of its commitment to continue to partner governments at all levels to ensure African countries are rid of preventable diseases. It would be recalled that an outbreak of Ebola last year in Nigeria had seen the Dangote foundation contributing a sum of N153million for the estab-

lishment of the National Ebola Emergency Operations Centre (EEOC) in Yaba, Lagos and paid salaries of select staff and volunteers for six months. Justifying the decision then, Chairman of the Foundation, AlikoDangote said: “The national response to the unfortunate outbreak of Ebola in our country has been impressive. We have therefore decided to lend our support to the effort. The Ebola EOC is an important innovation that will strengthen our health system, even long after this particular health crisis has abated.” Also, in the heat of the spread of the virus in Liberia and Sierra-Leone, the Foundation donated a sum of $3 Million to the Africa Against Ebola Solidarity Trust (AAEST), a Trust was established by the African Union Commission headed by the AU chairperson, Dr.NkosazanaDlamini-Zuma, to mobilize resources from the African private sector to fight the scourge of the Ebola Virus Disease

in the three most affected West African Countries-Liberia, Guinea and SierraLeone. Fielding questions from newsmen on the Foundation’s involvement in the health sector transformation, Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou described the Foundation’s interventions as a swift and massive philanthropic intervention on the African continent. The Foundation, according to herexpended N66million in acquiring 12 units of state-of-the-art thermal scanning systems and cameras being used for fever scanning at Nigeria’s four international airports (Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt). “In addition, the Foundation provided podiums for each camera and also paid for the training of 160 staff of FMOH, Port Health Services across the four airports by the vendors on the use of the thermal scanners”, Youssoufou stated.

News

Fashola presents handover notes, leaves N418bn debt

he outgoing Gover nor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday presented handover notes to the Governor-elect, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode ahead of today’s official inauguration ceremony. Fashola not only promised to stand by his successor always, but left a debt of N418.2b for him. Fashola, whose eight years tenure came to an end today, presented the handover note at a brief ceremony held at the Lagos House, Ikeja. The ceremony was witnessed by party members and chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by its Chairman in Lagos, Henry

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Ajomale; Women Leader, Kemi Nelson and Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, traditional rulers led by the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu I, as well as some aides of the Governorelect. Presenting the notes, Fashola promised to always be available to provide support and assistance to the incoming administration, assuring that he would not abandon the new governor, especially at the time of need. Fashola said:“The time is now winding down and I just did a quick check at my watch and I see that it is eight hours and 30 more minutes and thereabout. “But before that time winds up, let me con-

gratulate you again for a very well run campaign, fiercely contested election; let me congratulate our chairman for the support and the for the victory. “Let me also assure you of my best wishes from family, Executive Council, public servants who served with me and our prayers will be with you and our wish would be for your outstanding success. “And I would always be one phone call away, so will all members of our team to provide any support and assistance in any assignment you wish us to undertake in order to give our support. Be assured that every day I would continue to pray for your success.

Responding, an elated Ambode, who was decked in blue native attire, commended Fashola for his support and the working experience garnered under his administration, saying that the experience prepared him better for job. According to the New Lagos State Governor,“I have had the greatest honour and opportunity to have worked under his Excellency. I have been his student; he has been a teacher, a mentor and again we are here today to do some transition from one office to the other.” The Ambode administration will inherit N418.2 billion from the Fashola administration, New Telegraph has learnt.

N’Assembly staff desert work ahead of Democracy Day ChukwuDavid Abuja

dministrative and legislative activities were grounded at the National Assembly yesterday, as most workers stayed away from their offices for fear of harassment by security operatives, who were to barricade the various routes and entrances to the Three Arms Zone ahead of today’s inauguration of President-elect, Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari. The Senate and the House of Representatives had adjourned plenary on Wednesday to Tuesday next week to enable their members travel to their various states to participate in the inauguration

Why I was removed as SURE-P chairman –Agwai Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

L-R: Company Secretary, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Mr. Emmanuel Amade; Chairman/Managing Director, Mr. Adetunji Oyebanji and Executive Director, Mr. Alastair Macnaughton, during the company’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos...yesterday. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Subscription: Courts strikes out suit against DSTV Akeem Nafiu

suit filed by two Lagos-based lawyers, Osasuyi Adebayo and Oluyinka Oyeniji, to challenge the increase in monthly subscription rates payable to Multi Choice across board was yesterday struck out by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Federal High Court in Lagos. The lawyers had dragged Multi Choice to the court to challenge the increase in the subscription rates which took effect from April 1, 2015. In a ruling over the preliminary objection raised by MultiChoice to the eligibility of the court to entertain the suit, the judge upheld the two issues raised by the

company’s lawyer, Moyosore Onigbanjo(SAN) in his arguments. One of the two main issues raised by Onigbanjo in his arguments is that the plaintiffs did not comply with Sections 96, 97 and 98 of the Sheriff and Civil Processes Act which makes it mandatory for them to obtain the leave of court before filing the processes and then, have their writs of summons endorsed by the court. The other one is that the suit did not disclose a reasonable cause of action. Onigbanjo had argued that that the Sheriff and Civil Processes Act was superior to the rules of the court and that as it is, there was no law upon which the cause of action was predicated upon.

According to him, it is not the business of the court to re-write the existing agreement between his client and its customers. “There is an existing agreement between MultiChoice and its customers. Neither the government nor the court can regulate prices in a free market economy like that of Nigeria “, he said. However, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Yemi Salma, in his arguments, said MultiChoice does not deserve to be heard because it is already in contempt of court. The court had on April 2, restrained MultiChoice from going ahead with the implementation of the new rates and increase in tariffs. This was a day after the company had

started the implementation of the new rates. The lawyer added that the plaintiffs does not violate any part of Sections 96, 97 and 98 of the Sheriff and Civil Processes Act. According to him, the Federal High Court only has one jurisdiction and so there should be no issue with effecting service of the writ of summons on any defendant outside Lagos. However, in his ruling on the preliminary objection, Justice Aneke, overruled the plaintiffs on the submission that MultiChoice does not deserve to be heard. Justice Aneke said the court was bound to entertain arguments from all parties before it, irrespective of the alleged violation of the court order.

that will be taking place today at the different state headquarters. While announcing the adjournment to Tuesday, the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, who presided over the session, explained that it was obvious that most members of the Upper Chamber would travel to observe the inauguration of new governors in their respective states, and therefore, the need to give them time to do so. He also noted that security operatives would barricade the vicinities of the National Assembly in respect of the hand over ceremony at the Eagle Square, which is just about one kilometre away from the legislative complex.

ormer Chief of Defence Staff, (CDS) and the immediate past Chairman of SURE- P, retired General Martin Luther Agwai has said that his prediction of change in the country which forecasted the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) cost him his job. The former SURE P chairman, who chaired the 2015 inaugural Lecture of the new APC-led government of Kaduna State yesterday, also said that he did not regret what he said last March which cost him his job as Chairman of SURE-P. Agwai said that he ‘’predicted that there will be change and some people did not like it but whatever I say today, nobody will sack me again”.

It will be recalled that Agwai was fired for allegedly flouting a presidential instruction that no government official or member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP)should attend the birthday event of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. At the event, Agwai also gave a controversial lecture where he said that ‘’in life, you find out that everything needs change, if that is what the community wants, what the people want, you must give it to them and as such, it becomes inevitable. “You can have everything nice, but if you don’t have the right leadership to propel it, it cannot go anywhere. Integrity matters, doing what is good for the larger society, and not just what you want to do for a narrow society to please yourself.”

Court restrains NERC from raising electricity tariff AkeemNafiu

ustice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court in Lagos, yesterday restrained the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) from implementing the new electricity tarif f billed to be effective from June 1, 2015. The judge, in a ruling on an ex-parte application filed by a Lagos lawyer, Toluwani Adebiyi, barred the NERC and the electricity distribution companies from effecting any increment in electricity tariff pending the hearing and determination of the suit. Adebiyi, who argued the ex-parte application in person, urged the court to re-

strain NERC and the electricity distribution companies from foisting further hardship and unjustifiable tariff increment on Nigerians. It would be recalled that NERC Chairman, Dr Sam Amadi, had at a news conference in Abuja, announced plans by the Commission to implement the upward review in electricity tariff effective from June 1. Amadi had further said that with the review, most electricity companies will retain the N750 fixed charge. However, Justice Idris, after entertaining arguments from Adebiyi, ordered the NERC to maintain status quo as far as the planned upward review of electricity tariff was concern.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY,MAY 29, 2015

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NATIONAL

Court dismisses suit to stop Buhari’s inauguration Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

he Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday dismissed an application seeking to stop the swearing-in of Presidentelect, Muhammadu Buhari. Delivering a benchruling on an ex-parte ap-

plication brought by a civil society organisation, the Incorporated Trustees of Advocacy for Societal Rights Advancement and Development Initiative, the trial judge, Justice A.R Mohammed described the application as “self-induced urgency”, owing to the plaintiff’s failure to challenge Buhari’s emergence as president-elect after two months of the presidential

election. He noted that in law, an ex-parte application seeking an order of injunction presupposes the existence of a real case of urgency not self-induced urgency. According to the judge, “Motion ex-parte dated and filed on 26 of May, is a clear case of self-induced urgency. “This court is therefore of the view that the plain-

tiff applicant’s motion dated and filed on May 26 is devoid of any merit and the same is accordingly dismissed”. The court later adjourned the suit till June 26 for further mention. The court also ordered the applicant to serve all originating processes and hearing notice on the defendants. The plaintiff, the Incorporated Trustees of Ad-

vocacy for Societal Rights Advancement and Development Initiative had applied to the court to stop the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed from swearing the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari as president on May 29. In a suit filed by its counsel, Philip Ekpo, the group said that Buhari did not meet the qualification en-

shrined in the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act to have contested the position of the president of Nigeria at the 2015 general elections. At yesterday’s proceedings, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), leading two other Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Chief Akin Olujimi and Kola Awodein announced memorandum of conditional appearance for the first defendant, Mohammadu Buhari.

72 police officers promoted Emmanuel Onani ABUJA

Vice-President Namadi Sambo (right), with Vice-President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, during their tour of Aguda House, Presidential Villa in Abuja…yesterday.

NLC gives fresh conditions for removal of oil subsidy Babatope Okeowo AKURE

resident of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba has given conditions for the removal of oil subsidy, which included the transparency in the importation and exportation of oil into the country and the removal of corruption inherent in the subsidy issue. Wabba who was in Akure, the Ondo State capital, for the National delegate conference of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service and Recreational Employee (AUPCTRE) yesterday, said the subsidy issue in the country is “synonymous with corruption”. In order to ensure that the issue of subsidy is finally resolved, Wabba said: “The first thing to be done is to ensure that there is transparent process of importation and exportation of petroleum product. Once that process is made transparent, we can then look at whether there is subsidy or not. But the first thing is we must address the issue of inherent corruption in the system which everybody can attest to it that there is corruption.” Also, the Labour leader

said the federal government must implement all the previous reports that tackled the issue of corruption in the petroleum sector, saying if those reports are implemented, it would ensure transparency in the oil sector. “Up till now, none of those reports have been implemented. Remember the Farouk Lawan committee report, Nuhu Ribadu Committee Report; you remember the missing funds with NNPC. All of these have not been addressed. And therefore for us to make any progress, those issues must be addressed and they will form the bases for us to look at the issue of subsidy. “Don’t also forget that labour has given a condition in the past on how the issue of subsidy can be considered.”

Nigeria’s democracy on track, says Kalu

minent businessman and former governor of Abia State Dr. Orji Kalu, has described the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria as a developmental stride towards greatness. He noted that the nation’s democracy is stabilising, as the will of the people now counts during elections. According to Kalu, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Kunle Oyewumi, gone are the days when people sold their votes in exchange for money. The 2015 general election is a clear indication that the only way to sustain elective positions is by meeting the yearnings and aspirations of the people. “Elected officials should know that if they perform below expectations, the same votes that brought them into office will show

them the exit door. The people elect leaders to govern them so as to make the country a better place to live. “Even though there were riggings in some South East states, nationally the Independent National Electoral Commission must be commended for conducting credible polls,” he said. According to the former governor, Nigeria is bound to achieve its full potential if only policy makers can take the bold step of nation building by promoting good governance in all their endeavours. “As a nation, Nigerians must join hands with other international stakeholders to sustain Nigeria’s democracy,” he said, noting that it is only through genuine democracy that meaningful transformation can take place.

he Police Service Commission (PSC) has announced the promotion of 72 senior officers to the next ranks. A statement from the Commission yesterday, stated that it approved the promotion of 14 Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP), 20 Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), 30 DSPs and one ASP, adding that the promotion was part of the decisions of the Commission at its 12th Plenary Meeting. The statement reads: “The Police Service Commission has approved the promotion of 72 senior police officers. The promotion was part of the decisions of the Commission at its 12th Plenary Meeting held in Abuja

on Wednesday, May 26th 2015 and presided by its Chairman Sir Dr. Mike Okiro, a retired Inspector General of Police. “The Commission approved the promotion of 14 Deputy Commissioners of Police to the next rank of Commissioners of Police after they appeared before the Commissions Plenary and were interviewed. “Twenty ACPs were promoted to the rank of DCP while two CSPs were promoted to the rank of ACP. Another three CSPs were appointed acting ACP, one SP promoted to CSP. The Commission also approved the promotion of 30 DSPs to SP, one ASP to the next rank of DSP. One Inspector was appointed acting ASP.” “The promotions take immediate effect.”

Mark tasks Nigerians on enduring democracy resident of the Sen“All Nigerians deserve P ate, Senator David commendation. .We have Mark, yesterday took done well so far. We must stock of 16 years of uninterrupted democratic rule in Nigeria and urged citizens to persevere more for the continued sustenance of the system of government. Mark, in a goodwill message to Nigerians marking the Democracy day, said “ all hands must be on deck where everyone plays his or her role to ensure that our democracy endures.

strive more to make democracy a way of life.

“As an active participant in our democratic journey since 1999, I can say without any fear of contradiction that our democracy has endured . The successes recorded so far, especially with the last general elections clearly shows the unwavering commitment of Nigerians to its fruition”.

Students protest siege on Kashamu’s home Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

cores of tertiary institution students yesterday besieged the office of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Abeokuta, protesting the attempt to extradite the Senator-elect for Ogun East, Prince Buruji Kashamu.

The protesters, under the aegis of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Joint Campus Committee, were drawn from 13 tertiary institutions in the state. Chanting various slogans, the students faulted the continued siege on the Lekki, Lagos residence of Kashamu by NDLEA operatives de-

spite a court order. A Federal High Court in Lagos had on Wednesday restrained security agencies in Nigeria, including NDLEA, from unlawfully arresting and forcibly transporting Kashamu to the United States to stand trial for alleged drug-trafficking offences. The court, presided over by Justice Okon

Abang, in a judgment, also ordered the unfettered swearing-in of Kashamu, who won senatorial election on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Similarly on Tuesday, another judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba, had in a contempt proceedings filed against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Moham-

med Adoke and NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade, ordered the antinarcotic agency to vacate the home of the Senatorelect immediately. But aggrieved students, who stormed the Ibara GRA office of NDLEA in Abeokuta, condemned the treatment meted out to Kashamu, describing it as “unjust.”

FRIDAY,MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Metro I led N6.8m robbery on HEIST

A 31-year-old welder leads N6.8m robbery on a filling station

Juliana Francis

insider’s information –Welder

suspected armed robber, who had been on the wanted list for four years, has told the police that his gang acted on an insider’s information that led to a raid on a fuel station in Lagos. The suspect, Wahab Hassan, said his gang attacked De-Sholly Filling Station at Morogbo area, based on the information from the manager of the station. During the attack on the station, the robbers shot the owner and went away with N6.8 million heist. Investigation showed that the manager told his brother, identified as Lucky Egoaho, to assist him to organise armed robbers to snatch his master’s money. Egoaho then got in touch with Hassan and his gang. The police said that several suspects arrested for armed robbery and cultism in the Badagry axis had often mentioned Hassan. He was said to be the leader of different gangs and had remained elusive until his arrest. The suspect was apprehended after some of his arrested gang members gave police infor mation about his secret hideout. A police source said: “Whenever the police have an encounter with his gang along the Badagry axis, his members would be arrested, while he would escape. He was like a spirit.” According to the police, Hassan has a penchant for

Taiwo Jimoh

he Chairman of Arewa Perishable Food Stuff Market Association, Mile 12 Market, Alhaji Haruna Muhammed, and his executives, have disclosed why

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com

Hassan

attacking fast food joints, business people heading to Benin Republic. His gang also enjoys robbing filling stations. Singing like a bird while in the net of the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja,

Lagos State, the 31-year-old welder said that he and his gang had carried out attacks at Okokomaiko, Ajamgbadi, Agbara, Morogbo and Badagry areas. On February 23, Hassan’s eight-man gang attacked DeSholly Filling Station at Mo-

rogbo. Hassan said: “The manager of the filling station gave us information about the large sum of money in the company. He said that his boss was about to take the money to the bank. I swiftly mobilised my members

for the robbery attack which was successful. It was the manager’s brother, Lucky, who contacted me.” The gang stormed the filling station with four locally-made pistols and four Bajaj motorcycles. The suspects converged on Agbara Motorcycle Park, posing as if they were passengers. It was at the motor park that Hassan stealthily distributed guns to his members. He and his gang members hid, while Lucky communicated to them the movement of the filling station owner as he headed to the bank. They shot him and seized the money he was taking to the bank. Hassan added: “I’m the third born of seven children. We robbed De-Sholly Filling Station. I got N800,000 as my share. In fact, I was the one that shared the money. I used part of my share to rent a house on Ifo Road, along Cele bus stop in Ogun State. The house was a room and parlour. I bought a motorcycle also. We have carried out six robbery operations. “We also operated after attending a function at Gateway Polytechnic in Ogun State. Some of our friends invited us to the school matriculation. Our friends are cult members. I’m also a member of Eiye Confraternity. In ranking, I’m the fourth man in the cult group. “When we were coming back, we entered a car wash in Ogun State and robbed them of N6,000 and one phone. I feel bad for taking part and leading a robbery gang. The cult I belong to led me into this mess.”

‘Why Mile 12 Market is peaceful’ traders and shoppers now experience peace in the market. Speaking after his re-election for another four-yearterm, Mohammed said that he and members of his executive stopped fighting and brokered peace by ensuring that all tribes were represented in the decision-making process. The executives were re-elected on Tuesday by the various sections in the market. The Financial Secretary, Alhaji Shehu Usman, described the election as free and fair, adding that in the last 40 years that the market

was relocated to its present place, traders had never had it so good in terms of conducting elections. He said: “That was why we wrote to the police, the Army and the Department of State Services (DSS) to provide security in the market in order to prevent security lapses during the election. “In a small community like Mile 12 Market, we were able to conduct such election without any rancor. When we came in four years ago, the market was in a shambles. But with a visionary leader, we set up a committee

among the various tribes in the market in order to bring development and peace. “We were once having challenges of insecurity and traffic congestion on the road, but with our leadership, we were able manage the traffic successfully.” Mohammed defeated his opponent, Alhaji Tsoh Babangida, with 104 to 15 votes. The candidates for the office of vice-chair man, general secretary, assistant general secretary, treasurer, financial secretary, welfare secretary, auditor and the public relations officer were

returned unopposed. Many traders expressed joy over Mohammed’s re-election. “My team and I are going to consolidate on our past track record which made the traders to re-elect us. Mile 12 Market belongs to everybody, whether you are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Ibibio, Fulani or even foreigners, we are all one. Once anyone steps into the market to trade, he or she immediately becomes a member of our family,” Mohammed said. Babangida, who lost to Mohammed, commended the electoral officers and the various delegates.

Metro 11

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY,MAY 29, 2015

City Briefs Anambra oil dealer abducted Okegwo Kenechukwu

Onitsha

our gunmen have kidnapped the 65-year-old owner of a filling station at ‘33’ area, Onitsha, Anambra State. The victim, Abu Okafor, was reportedly kidnapped about 8pm on Wednesday at a local bar on Enugu Road, GRA, Onitsha when went out to urinate. It was gathered that his assailants might have been trailing him to the place. It was also learnt that the vehicle used to whisk him away was seen at a compound at ‘33’ area. A joint team of the policemen and soldiers stormed the compound, recovered the vehicle and arrested seven suspects, without the victim. The Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Central Police Station, Onitsha, Mr Isa Abubakar, could not be reached as he was said to have gone to the scene of the incident.

Four hospitalised over Uduaghan’s largesse Gabriel Choba

Ughelli

our persons were hospitalised yesterday after they sustained injuries during a stampede at the inauguration of the reconstructed Dom DomMingos Secondary School, Warri, Delta State. The people were injured while youths were struggling over the sharing of the money allegedly given to them by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. The youth, who are from Edjeba and Okere-Urhobo communities, expressed displeasure over the way the governor gave them the money because it led to a crisis between the two neighbouring communities. “The governor should have put the money in the hands of the leaders of the various communities instead of dropping it in the crowd. So it would have been better if he did not give us anything,” said a youth.

Group offers Ikoyi Prison inmates free legal service Ruth Okocha

he Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA) has promised to give free legal services to some inmates of Ikoyi Prison. National Coordinator, HURMA, Comrade Buna Isiak, made the pledge during a visit to the prison. The visit, according to him, was part of efforts to address the challenges of human rights abuse and the plight of those who have spent several months in detention without trial. The visit, led by Isiak, also featured other rights activists including representatives of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Academic Stand Against Poverty (ASAP), and Centre For Legislative Agenda, among others. Welcoming them, the Deputy Comptroller of Ikoyi Prison, Emmanuel Bamidele, commended the groups for deeming it fit to care for the inmates, saying the prison had put in place facilities that would make life more bearable for its occupants.

‘We always trail victims from banking halls’ John Edu

robbery suspect, Chinedu Okeke, now in the custody of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State, has disclosed how his gang used to monitor customers in banking halls, trail and rob them. The 32-year-old suspect, who was also accused of murder, said he shot a victim while attempting to snatch his money. He said: “I had to shoot him because he refused to obey order and drop the money he had just withdrawn from the bank.” A police source said: “Okeke belonged to a threeman gang. The robbers specialised in going into banking halls to monitor customers withdrawing huge sums of money. They would later attack such customers while they are heading to their destinations from the bank. The gang also used to embark on house-to-house robbery.” Okeke and his partner, Kolawole, were arrested on April 24 around 11am. They were said to have been ap-

prehended by policemen moments after they had carried out a robbery operation. They robbed a man who just left the banking hall of a new generation bank at 21 Road, Festac, of N500,000. According to the police, the gang leader, Ben, was right inside the banking hall, monitoring customers coming in to make withdrawals when he noticed the victim going out of the bank with the money. Ben quickly alerted other members waiting outside the bank. He described the victim to them. As the man was driving towards the direction of Orile Police Station, Okeke doublecrossed him with the gang’s operational car. Okeke jumped out from their car and pointed a gun at the victim. He ordered him to handover the money to him. The man, however, refused. Infuriated, Okeke shot the man, snatched the money and drove away with Kolawole in the man’s car, while Ben and others followed in their car. Ben took N200,000 while Okeke and Kolawole shared N300,000. The incident was reported

Okeke (left) and Kolawole

to the Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, who ordered SARS men to investigate it. A trap was set for the gang by SARS men, in an operation led by Officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari. Okeke was the first person to be caught in the trap.

He was said to have resisted arrest and exchanged blows with the operatives. The suspect was later overpowered and an AK47 rifle and ammunition were recovered from him. He was used as bait to catch Kolawole. Ben escaped by scaling the fence of their hideout.

Ajimobi inaugurates 7.3km roads Gunmen abduct teacher over students’ fight Cajetan Mmuta Benin

Ajimobi (middle), his deputy, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo (left) and Kolade unveiling the plaque shortly after inaugurating the Dugbe-Magazine-Eleiyele Road. PHOTO: GOVERNMENT HOUSE

overnor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State yesterday inaugurated the newly ‘dualised’ 7.3-km DugbeMagazine-Eleiyele Road, with spurs to AleshinloyeOnireke-Agbarigo Road in Ibadan. Ajimobi also promised that his administration would continue to open up the state to further enhance the socio-economic development of the state. The ‘dualisation’ of the roads, with all their attendant furniture, started in

August 2012 with a view to solving the perennial traffic snarl which used to characterise that axis of the Ibadan metropolis. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, which was held at the Jericho Roundabout, the governor said that his administration was able to envision the project and actualise it within 18 months. Ajimobi, who expressed satisfaction with the quality of the roads, said they would contribute to the

infrastructural, social and economic development of the state. He said: “The aesthetics that this project has brought to Oyo State is a precursor to the influx of investors. This is part of the engineering that must be done to reposition our state to be at par among the comity of developed states in Nigeria.’’ Besides, Ajimobi said the roads would serve as a platform for the emancipation of people.

rmed men yesterday stormed Uselu Secondary School in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State and abducted a teacher. The abduction caused pandemonium as both students and teachers took to their heels while operation lasted. It was learnt that the gunmen arrived the school in a vehicle at 12:05 pm and shot sporadically into the air to scare people away. They forced the unsuspecting teacher into their waiting vehicle and zoomed off. Three students were reportedly stabbed by the kidnappers for trying to prevent them from taking the teacher away. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. But surprisingly, the abducted teacher returned to the school about 2pm. This threw the students and other teachers into jubilation. The victim, identified as Iguodala Chosen, said that gunmen told him that he was abducted because of a fight between two students in the school. The leaders of the gang, according to him, ordered his release.

C’River rehabilitates 201 streets children Clement James Calabar

he administration of Governor Liyel Imoke said it had rehabilitated about 201 street children, popularly known in the state as “Scolombo boys”. Similarly, about 199 abandoned

children were given out for adoption as part of the social welfare scheme of the Cross River State Government to better the lot of children. The Commissioner for Social Welfare and Community Development, Mrs Patricia Endeley, gave the figures in Calabar yesterday

in what she called “valedictory briefing”. The commissioner said that 144 women were treated for Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) disease and integrated back into their families after being sensitised to the need to abstain from sex for six months to ensure complete treatment.

Imoke

News

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

SOUTH-WEST

Ekiti APC lawmakers to attend valedictory session Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

espite the current face-off between the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose and the All Progressives Congress (APC), members of the House of Assembly, the legislators will join their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) colleagues for the valedictory session

of the Assembly. Barring any unforeseen development, the session has been fixed for June 5, 2015, New Telegraph gathered. However, it was gathered that the mode of payment is delaying the lawmakers’ collection of their accumulated salaries which they have not received since November last year. Findings by our cor-

respondent showed that after last Monday’s meeting between Governor Fayose and the five APC lawmakers led by Dr Adewale Omirin, in Akure, Ondo State, the state government had prepared the salary, but the issue of how to collect it arose. The five APC lawmakers who attended the meeting were Omirin, Tunji Orisalade, Bunmi Oriniowo, Churchill

Adedipe and Gbenga Odebunmi. It was learnt that the money would have been credited into their accounts, but some of the legislators do not want that because of the facilities they have taken from their banks and that banks would not hesitate to deduct those funds which could leave the legislators cash strapped.

A source said the lawmakers then suggested cheques being drawn in their names, which the state government agreed to. However, the snag in the development was the appropriate office to collect, where the lawmakers would receive their cheques, as there has apprehension over their safety. There are fears in

some quarters in the state that the first week of June, could witness a return of serious hostility between Fayose and the APC assembly members. This is because some APC members are said to be banking on the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, to get the needed support to impeach Fayose.

Supreme Court’s verdict on Aregbesola, end of Omisore’s ambition – APC Adeolu Adeyemo OSOGBO

sun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday described the Supreme Court’s judgement that pronounced Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the winner in the last governorship election in the state as an indication that the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore’s political ambition has ended. The party, in a statement made available by its Director of Publicity and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi in Osogbo, stated that the judgement was a coup-degrace to Omisore’s political ambition to become governor of the state. He noted, “the judgement depicted Omisore as a politician who lacked the wisdom of leadership to know when to stop pressing a futile cause”. “Such politician, like Omisore, would have been a complete disaster in office. So Omisore’s defeat at the polls last August was the best thing to have happened to Osun”, the party declared. The APC said that politicians like Omisore, who had exploited impunity and lawlessness in the last 16 years of PDP’s ruining the Nigerian political space were on their way to becoming extinct as a result of the wind of change that is sweeping through Nigeria’s political atmosphere.

Supporters of Buruji Kashamu, protesting his illegal house arrest by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officials in Lekki…yesterday

Oni, Fayemi, Alake battle for Ekiti’s ministerial slot Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

battle is currently ragging on among leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, over who emerges the minister that will represent the state in the cabinet of the in-coming President Muhammadu Buhari. The three contenders are former Governors Olusegun Oni, Kayode Fayemi and former Commissioner for Information in Lagos State, Mr.

Dele Alake. Checks by our correspondent revealed that the trio were pressing different buttons to ensure that they emerged as candidate for the slot. Oni, whose election into office on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was voided by the court to pave the way for Fayemi to emerge as governor of the state, is said to be enjoying the support of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. It was gathered that for his support for the APC and Buhari, Obasanjo

was given three slots in the yet-to-be constituted cabinet. He has reportedly chosen Oni, the former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and former National Auditor of the PDP, Bode Mustapha. The trio were his main men in the PDP before they left the party. Members of Oni’s group in the Ekiti State chapter of the APC, Irewolede, are said to be making the knowledge of the prospect of their leader’s appointment a top secret.

Ondo oil producing communities jostle for NDDC’s top positions Babatope Okeowo Akure

il producing communities in Ondo State yesterday asked the in-coming president, Mohammadu Buhari, and the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that

one of the key positions on the incoming board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was given to the state.. The positions being sought by the communities include the Managing Director, Executive Director Projects (EDP) and Executive Director Finance

(EDFA) of the commission. The oil communities charged Buhari to ensure that only credible people with impeccable characters were appointed to serve on the board of the intervention agency. The communities, in a statement issued on their behalf by the Ondo State

Oil Producing Communities Leaders’ Forum (OSOPCLF), said the decision of the leadership of APC to zone the Managing Director or Executive Director, Projects position to the state was a welcome development as it justifies the principle of equity and fair play.

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

Kingmakers insist on choice of monarch-elect in Ikere-Ekiti Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

leven out of the 14 kingmakers in IkereEkiti, Ekiti State, have said their selection of Prince Samuel Adejimi Adu, as the Oba-elect for the town followed due process and was in line with extant laws on chieftaincy matters in the state. The kingmakers, who flayed media reports that claimed that the screening process for the Ogoga stool was fraught with irregularities, said the selection was done after due consultations with the (Ifa) oracle. Addressing journalists in Ikere-Ekiti, on the issue yesterday, with the other 10 kingmakers in attendance, the head of the kingmakers, the Sao of Ikere-Ekiti, Chief Omotosho James, noted that the appointment of an Oba was a sacred matter, as he condemned the use of the media by some disgruntled elements bent

on installing the protégé on the Ogoga stool. He noted that such move was satanic and aimed at truncating the existing peace in the community for selfish reasons. “Fighting a sacred war which one has failed to win through the due process by hiring the media is an insult to our tradition and this belittles our revered throne before the whole world. lf anyone is boasting of any media affiliation, he should use such connection to recruit our teeming unemployed youths into the media rather than use it to steal his way into a position God has not given to him,” he said. He also stated that the claim that the 14 kingmakers which presided over the screening exercise that produced Adejimi, were not the authentic kingmakers was baseless, as no one could attain the position of a kingmaker by favour or any form of manipulation.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

Presidency

Profile

Buhari’s men

Transition 41

From General to General

New helmsmen in states

The dream makers

EC SP IAL

Bumpy road to inauguration

INAUGU

EDI

TIO RA N

Politics

TION

Enters the Buhari presidency A new chapter opens in Nigeria’s polity today as a former military ruler, General Muhammadu Buhari, is sworn in as the country’s 15th Head of State and sixth democratically-elected President. FELIX NWANERI writes

oday’s inauguration of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency crowns weeklong activities to herald the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government after the opposition party defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that has been in power since 1999, when the country returned to civil rule. Buhari made history with his defeat of an incumbent president (Goodluck Jonathan – 15.4 million to 12.8 million votes) for the first time in Nigeria’s political history, and becomes Nigeria’s second former military ruler after Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (1999 - 2007) to return to the presidency through the ballot. Obasanjo was elected president in 1999 after relinquishing power in 1979. He had emerged in 1976 after the botched coup that claimed the life of the then Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed. For Buhari, he returns to the seat he vacated three decades ago following the overthrow of the then military regime he headed between 1983 and 1985 by General Ibrahim Babangida. While Buhari’s victory in the March 28 presidential election and Jonathan’s consequent conceding of defeat have been described as turning points in Nigeria’s electoral process, the Buhari presidency is however coming at a time high level dissatisfaction and discontent in the polity have compelled most Nigerians to seek for a new beginning. The quest is not out of place given the high hopes Africa’s most populous nation held at indepen-

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY EDITOR, PoLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

dence from colonial rule in 1960. Nigeria was then expected to be in the vanguard of black renaissance as the citizenry were fired by the zeal to make a mark in the world space within the shortest possible time. This optimism was further boosted by the commitment of nationalists like Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa to nation building as well as the country’s abundant human and natural resources. But, five decades after self-rule, Nigeria remains a land of poverty and insecurity despite her huge potential. This, many believe, was made possible by several factors, particularly inefficient leadership, which has in turn forced many to lose hope in the country’s leadership. It is against this backdrop that the Buhari presidency comes on board amidst great expectation from the populace and no doubt, the former military leader is not unaware of the heavy burden he must shoulder between now and 2019 to turn the tide. Road to presidency For Buhari, it is a long road to the presidency. The journey began in 2003, when he took the first shot on the platform of the defunct All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP), but was defeated by Obasanjo of the PDP. He was back in 2007, also on the platform of the ANPP, but was this time defeated by late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who hailed from the same state, Katsina, with him. In March 2010, he left the ANPP to form the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). It was on this platform that he contested the 2011 presidential election against Jonathan but lost for the third time. He polled 12 million votes against the out-going president’s 22.3 million. The intrigues and power play that characterised the election, especially the collapse of an alliance between the CPC and defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led by a former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, forced him to

Buhari declare at the eve of the presidential poll that he will not run for any elective office again. His words: “This campaign is the third and last one for me. I will not offer myself again for election into the office of

president.” He however made a detour in 2013, when he said: “I am still in active politics until the polity is sanitised and people enjoy the fruits CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

Politics

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

A new era takes off C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

of democracy at all levels of government.” The volte-face unsettled many Northern political elements, who had been on the standby to step into his shoes, but the stern Buhari, like the soldier that he is, stuck to his gun and resolved not to quit politics, even when some of his contemporaries have taken the back stage. He hinged his resolution on two compelling objectives – need to sanitise the polity, and to ensure that Nigerians enjoy the dividends of democracy at all levels of government. Dateline 2015 Despite three unsuccessful attempts, Buhari never gave up on his presidential ambition. It is on record that he was among the first to declare for the 2015 presidency as early as in 2013, although many saw his quest then as another “political gamble.” The bid, however, gained momentum shortly after the formalisation of the merger of leading opposition parties –ACN, CPC, ANPP and a faction of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which led to the formation and registration of APC by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on July 31, 2013. Expectedly, Buhari’s aspiration received the endorsement of APC’s delegates at the party’s National Convention in Lagos between November 10 and 11, 2014. He defeated four other aspirants – former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar; Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso; Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha and the publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah to clinch the presidential ticket. He polled 4,430 votes to beat Kwankwaso to the second position. The Kano State governor had 974 votes. Shockingly, Atiku, who many had thought would give the former military ruler a good run, came a distant third with 954 votes, while Okorocha came fourth with 624 votes. Nda-Isaiah, a new comer to the race had 10 votes. The outcome of the primaries drew the battle line for the 2015 presidency between Buhari and Jonathan, though it was not the first time both men would square

each other for the country’s plum job. They first met in the 2011 presidential election, which Buhari contested on the CPC platform but lost.

Popularity as strength There is no doubt that the APC national leadership was able to build formidable structures across the country between 2013 when the party was registered and the 2015 elections, but it is incontrovertible that Buhari rode on his popularity to power, particularly in the North, where he enjoys a kind of cult-followership. Buhari’s popularity, perhaps, explained the support his ambition got from APC governors even when two of them –Kwankwaso and Okorocha contested the party’s presidential primaries. His electoral strength as demonstrated in previous elections, especially in 2011 that he garnered about 12 million votes, convinced the governors of his ability to defeat Jonathan in the 2015 poll. The CPC platform, on which he contested the 2011 presidential election, it would be recalled, was formed less than six months to the election and his campaign never extended beyond the North. He also lacked the financial strength, which plays a great role in determining electoral victories in the country. Despite these limitations, he was able to win 12 out of the 19 Northern states of Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Borno, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara, while Jonathan’s PDP won in the rest seven states of Kwara, Kogi, Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Adamawa. It was therefore understandable when APC chieftains, including those who lost out in the presidential primaries threw all they had in support of the Buhari candidature in the March 28 election. The backing was informed by the belief that a Buhari candidature will guarantee substantial votes for the party in the North-West and North-East zones as well as the South-West, where Tinubu holds sway, politically. The calculation paid off with the party’s victory in 21 out of the country’s 36 states. The states are Ogun, Kogi, Osun, Ondo, Oyo, Kano, Jigawa, Niger, Bauchi, So-

Buhari

koto, Adamawa, Katsina, Kwara, Kaduna, Benue, Borno, Kebbi, Lagos, Yobe, Gombe and Zamfara.

I am still in active politics until the polity is sanitised

L-R: Vice-President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; his wife, Dolapo; Hajiya Aisha Buhari and General Buhari at a rally.

Catalogue of promises The dynamism Buhari and the APC leadership introduced in the 2015 presidential campaign saw the former military ruler extending his campaign beyond the northern part of the country, perhaps for the first time since 2003. In the previous polls, he rarely campaigned outside his NorthWest home zone, apparently due to paucity of funds unlike his PDP counterparts, whose party has been in power since 1999 with structures across the country and enormous financial resources at their disposal. The reason for the boost in Buhari’s campaign is not far-fetched. The coming together of the various opposition parties and defection of some members of the ruling party, the PDP, particularly five of its governors to the APC offered Buhari, not only a broader platform but resources to campaign across the country. Little wonder his campaign train which took off from Port Harcourt, Rivers State on January 6, criss-crossed 35 out of the 36 states in the country and the Federal Capital Territory except Yobe due to the security situation in the North-East. Adding colour to the rallies, Buhari appeared in the traditional attires of the respective states he visited, apparently to prove that he is at home with the locals. He made several promises, which he said will bring positive changes in the lives of Nigerians within two years as his desire for

change has not diminished. The promises revolve around three issues – fight against corruption, insecurity and job creation. According to his blueprint, part of his strategies and plans, especially in the area of corruption, is to draw a line to ensure that the cankerworm, which has remained bane of Nigeria’s development, is dealt with. His words: “Corruption has assumed such a high proportion. It stands for our culture in Nigeria. I have gone through so much to know this. If we say we are going to look back, we will never move forward. We will try and draw a line. What is in the courts, we will allow to go on.” He added: “Whoever has misappropriated public resources knows. He should also know how to cough them up because a line will be drawn from May 30. Henceforth, whoever is trusted with public office and betrays the trust would be dealt with.” On the economy, he said: “We have lined up programmes on how to tackle unemployment. We are going to assemble a team of professionals for wealth creation and employment for our teeming youths. We will also put a mechanism in place to improve on the economy. Our main objective is to make sure that agriculture and other non-oil sectors get priority to create opportunities for Nigerians, so that whether educated or not, they have gainful employment.” He also assured on security, saying: “Whatever we are going to do, we have to secure Nigeria first. What we are witnessing in the North-East where people are being killed is not acceptable. We

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Buhari weeping on the eve of 2011 elections

know that the Nigerian military is capable of bringing peace and stability to this country. They need to be given the leadership and that is what I promise, if elected.” He also promised to bring about positive changes in the lives of Nigerians within two years as his desire for change has not diminished. Unrepentant disciplinarian Undeniably, Buhari is admired by many for his uprightness and anti-corruption stand, but the fame did not come that easy. The moral revolution anchored on the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), which he introduced as a military leader had remained a national phenomenon and reference point for decades. Though military governments were aberration at the time he and the late Brig. General Tunde Idiagbon sacked the then government of President Shehu Shagari; history had been fair to him for the high level of discipline and patriotism, which he exhibited in leading the nation. Till date, Buhari is yet to allow that anti-corruption posture to wane. His government was revered for its ability to keep the country afloat by making progress through sheer economic ingenuity even when it

Politics

L-R: Buhari; APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun and Dr. Kayode Fayemi at the party’s convention in Lagos.

rejected the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan; refused to devalue the Naira; curbed imports of needless goods; curtailed oil theft and used a counter trade policy to barter seized illegally bunkered crude oil for needful goods like machineries. His administrative style and transparency was also lauded by many Nigerians when he headed the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). The agency (though scrapped) is still credited for impacting on the lives of the people through implementation of several developmental projects. The man Buhari Born in Daura, Katsina State, on December 17, 1942 to Adamu and Zulaihat Buhari, Buhari is the 23rd child of his father. He was raised by his mother after his father died when he was about four years old. He attended primary school in Daura and Mai’adua before proceeding to Katsina Model School in 1953, and Katsina Provincial Secondary School (now Government College Katsina) from 1956 to 1961. He later joined the Nigerian Military Training School Kaduna in 1963 and also attended Officer’s

This campaign is the third and last one for me. I will not offer myself again for election into the office of president

Cadet School in Aldershot (United Kingdom), October 1963. In 1964, he was at the Nigerian Military College, Kaduna for Platoon Commanders’ course and later attended Mechanical Transport Officer’s course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden (United Kingdom), 1965. He also studied at the Defence Services’ Staff College, Wellington (India), 1973 and the United States Army War College, 1979-1980. He first came to limelight following his appointment as governor of the then newly created North-East State during General Muhammed’s regime and later to national focus in 1975, when he was appointed by the regime of General Obasanjo as Minister (then Federal Commissioner) for Petroleum and Natural Resources. He became the first chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at its creation in 1977. Among the several positions he held during his military career include Platoon Commander, 2nd Infantry battalion, 1963-1964; Mechanical Transport Officer, Lagos Garrison, 1964-1965; Transport Company Commander, 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1965-1966; Battalion Adjutant/ Commander, 2nd Infantry Division,

1967-1968 and Brigade Major, 2nd sector, 1st Infantry Division, 1967; Others are Brigade Major, 3rd Infantry Division, 1967-1968; Acting Commander, 4th Sector, 1st Division, 1968-1970; Commander, 31st Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, 1970-1971; Assistant Adjutant-General, 1st Infantry Division Headquarters, 1971-1972; Colonel, General Staff, 3rd Infantry Division Headquarters, 1974. He was also Acting Director Supply and Transport, Nigerian Army Corps, Headquarters, 1974-1975; Military Secretary, Army Headquarters, 1978 – 1979; Member, Supreme Military Council, 1978-1979; General Officer Commanding, 4th Infantry Division, 1980-1981; General Officer Commanding, 3rd Armoured Division, 1981-1983; Executive Chairman, Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), 1995-1999. Buhari has received several awards and medals including, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (GCFR); Defence Service Medal (DSM); National Service Medal (NSM); General Service Medal (GSM) Loyal Service and Good Conduct Medal (LSGCM); Forces Service Star (FSS) and the Congo Medal (CM) among others.

Buhari’s memorable quotes “This generation of Nigerians and indeed the future generation have no country other than Nigeria; we shall stay and salvage it together!” “This campaign is the third and last one for me. I will not offer myself again for election into the office of president.” “Because they can’t attack our record, they accuse me falsely of ethnic jingoism; they accuse me falsely of religious fundamentalism. Because they cannot attack our record, they accuse us falsely of calling for election violence – when we have only insisted on peace. Even as Head of State, we never imposed Sharia.” “I have a house each in Kaduna, Kano, Daura, and one in Abuja, which I borrowed money to build. I never had a foreign account since I finished my courses in the USA, India and the UK. I never

owned any property outside Nigeria. Never!” “Religion must never be used as an excuse to divide us, oppress others or gain unfair advantage. All my life I have expressed the belief that all Nigerians must worship God according to their wish.”

the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration.” “There shall no more be a ruling party; All Progressives Congress (APC), will now be your governing party.”

“No government can hope to enjoy the trust and respect of its citizens as long as it continues to fail in protecting the people.”

“You are all my people; I will treat you all as mine. I will work for those who voted for me, voted against me and those who didn’t vote at all.”

“Because of greed, profligacy and corruption, Nigeria’s wealth has not translated to human development.”

“President Jonathan has nothing to fear of me; we might not agree on the same methodology of governance… he is a great Nigerian leader, who made it possible for democracy to thrive. I will extend my hands of fellowship to Jonathan and his team.”

“Any war waged on corruption should not be misconstrued as settling old scores or a witch-hunt.” “On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and

“Along the way there will be success and setbacks; mistakes will be made but we will not take you for granted.”

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FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

From General to General Chukwu David

t is very interesting to note that, though Nigeria has checkered history in the process of her political development, the democracy, which came to stay since 1999 is making impressive progress. This is evident in the smooth and successful transition from one civilian government to another in the last 16 years. It is also thrilling to observe that the present democratic dispensation started on May 29, 1999 with a retired military General, Olusegun Obasanjo, as the elected civilian President, and interestingly, another retired military General, Muhammadu Buhari, got elected and will be sworn in today, to pilot the affairs of the country for the next four year. However, in-between these two generals, are also two civilians, who were democratically elected to man the throne as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They are late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan. Olusegun Obasanjo General Obasanjo became the military Head of State of Nigeria after the assassination of Gen. Murtala Muhammed in a failed coup in 1976. He served as Nigeria’s military ruler between 1976 and 1979. He handed over power to Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who was declared the winner of the 1979 presidential election. Shagari won his second term election in 1983 but was toppled by Major General Muhammadu Buhari in a coup d’état in December 1983. This derailed the nation’s democracy until 1998, when the then maximum dictator, General Sani Abacha died. After the death of Abacha in 1998, Nigeria started what can be rightly described as a genuine transition to civil rule, which eluded the country for 15 years. It is pertinent to note that during the dictatorship of Abacha (1993–1998), Obasanjo was one of those who spoke against the human rights abuses of the regime, and was subsequently imprisoned for his alleged participation in an aborted coup. In fact, a death sentence was initially passed on him but later converted to life imprisonment. By providence, he regained his freedom after Abacha’s sudden death on June 8, 1998. General Abdusalami Abubakar came on board. The military ruler promised to hand over power by holding democratic elections. Obasanjo immediately announced his intention to run for president as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He contested and was declared the winner of the 1999 election with some 63 per cent of the votes against Olu Falae. Accordingly, in the first term of Obasanjo as civilian leader, he made sincere attempts to fight the rots in the system by reducing corruption in government and establish a democratic system where the affairs of government would be run with transparency, justice and fairness. So, he created the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Offences

Obasanjo and Abdulsalami... on May 29, 1999

Commission (ICPC) to fight graft in the country. Apart from this, Obasanjo also pledged to reform the military and the police in order to bring high level of professionalism and proficiency to these institutions and their operations. Obasanjo spent most of his time in the first term travelling abroad. He succeeded in winning at least some Western support for strengthening Nigeria’s nascent democracy. Britain and the United States, in particular, were excited to have an African ally who was openly critical of abuses committed in Robert Mugabe-led Zimbabwe at a time when many other African nations (including South Africa) did not take these issues seriously. Obasanjo was re-elected President in 2003. His main opponent was Buhari. He defeated Buhari, with more than 11 million votes, capturing 61.8 per cent of the total votes cast. Obasanjo was embroiled in controversy regarding his “Third Term Agenda,” a plan to modify the constitution so that he could serve a third four-year term as president. This resulted in a serious political furore in Nigeria. The National Assembly consequently killed the bill to that effect. As a result of this, Obasanjo had no choice than to step down after the April 2007 general elections. Umaru Yar’Adua On December 17, 2006, the then Governor of Katsina State, Umaru Yar’Adua was chosen as the presidential candidate of the ruling PDP for the April 2007 election. He got 3,024 votes from party delegates to defeat his closest challenger, Rochas Okorocha, who secured 372 votes. The success of Yar’Adua in the primary election was attributed to the support of incumbent President Obasanjo, who actually anointed him. At the time of his nomination, Yar’Adua was virtually an un-

known figure at the national level. Many described him as a “stooge” of Obasanjo, who could not have won the nomination if a level playing ground was provided for other contenders to participate. After winning the ticket for the presidential race, Yar’Adua chose the then Governor of Bayelsa State, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, as his running mate. In the presidential election, held on April 21, 2007, Yar’Adua won with 70 per cent of the votes (24.6 million) according to official results released on April 23. The election was highly controversial. Strongly criticized by observers, as well as the two primary opposition candidates, Buhari of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Action Congress (AC), its results were largely rejected as having been rigged in Yar’Adua’s favour. After the election, Yar’Adua proposed a Government of National Unity. In late June 2007, two opposition parties, the ANPP and the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), agreed to join Yar’Adua’s government. On June 28, 2007, Yar’Adua publicly declared his assets. He was the first Nigerian leader to openly declare his assets. The disclosure, which fulfilled a pre-election promise he made, was intended to set an example for other Nigerian politicians and discourage corruption. On assumption of office on May 29, 2007, President Yar’Adua rolled out his election covenant with the people of Nigeria, which he entitled the Seven-Point Agenda. The agenda was properly conceptualised and comprehensively articulated and the implementation strategies laid out, to ensure the realisation of Vision 20:2020. The agenda laid emphasis on Power, Agriculture, Education, Communication, Health, Transport and Food Security. Buhari and Abubakar filed petitions to have the results of the 2007 presidential election invalidated due to alleged electoral malpractices, but on February 26, 2008, a court

Obasanjo... made sincere attempts to fight the rots in the system by reducing corruption in government

rejected the petitions. When his health deteriorated, President Yar’Adua left Nigeria on November 23, 2009, and was reported to be receiving treatment for pericarditis at a clinic in Saudi Arabia. He was not seen in public again, and his absence created a dangerous power vacuum in Nigeria because he did not formally hand over to his vice, Jonathan. On January 22, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had 14 days to decide on whether Yar’Adua was “incapable of discharging the functions of his office”. The ruling also stated that the FEC should hear testimony of five doctors, one of whom should be Yar’Adua’s personal physician. On February 9, 2010, the Senate in its wisdom and determination to resolve the stalemate evolved what it called the “Doctrine of Necessity” to transfer presidential powers to Vice President Jonathan, and declared him Acting President, with all the accompanying powers, until Yar’Adua returned to full health. The power transfer, considered illegal by some people, was described as a “coup without the word” by opposition lawyers and lawmakers. On February 9, 2010, Yar’Adua returned to Abuja but passed on May 5, at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa. Goodluck Jonathan Jonathan’s political career began when he joined the PDP in the late 1990s. He was elected deputy governor of Bayelsa State in 1999 under the PDP’s platform. He served as deputy governor until 2005, when he was sworn in to replace Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was impeached by the Bayelsa State Assembly after being charged with money laundering in the United Kingdom. In 2007, he was selected as vice presidential running mate to Yar’Adua. He and Yar’Adua were elected in April and inaugurated

Yar’Adua

in May. His profile rose considerably in early 2010 when Yar’Adua’s health deteriorated and he travelled out of the country for medical treatment. On February 9, 2010, Jonathan became acting president. When Yar’Adua returned to Nigeria, he remained as acting president while Yar’Adua continued to recuperate. In March 2010, Jonathan asserted his power by replacing Yar’Adua’s cabinet. Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010, and Jonathan was sworn in as president the following day. There was much speculation as to how Jonathan’s unexpected term as president would affect the PDP’s unofficial policy of rotating the presidency between candidates from the predominantly Christian south and the predominantly Muslim north. Jonathan’s declaration in September 2010 of his intent to stand in the 2011 presidential election immediately generated controversy, as many argued that the North was still owed another term in office. In the PDP’s January 2011 primaries, Jonathan was elected to be the party’s candidate for the presidency. He eventually emerged victorious in the presidential election, held on April 16, 2011. He won about 59 per cent of the votes, securing an outright victory against Buhari. On assumption of office, President Jonathan set up an Economic

Jonathan

Management Team as the driving force of his Transformation Agenda. The agenda is a policy package that proposes to reposition the economy by addressing issues of poverty, unemployment, insecurity and most particularly, the diversification of the entire economy from total dependence on oil to a significant reliance on non-oil driven economy. In the build up to the 2015 general elections, Jonathan was once again nominated to be the PDP presidential candidate. In the election, Jonathan faced more than a dozen candidates, but his strongest challenger was Buhari, who was the flag bearer for the All Progressives Congress (APC). The election, held on March 28, proved to be the most closely fought race ever held in Nigeria. As most of the results were tabulated, it became clear that Jonathan would finish behind Buhari, and he quickly conceded defeat. It marked the first time in Nigeria’s history that an incumbent had been defeated.

espite the myriads of challenge for the new government, a majority of Nigerians believe that General Muhammadu Buhari has what it takes to lift Nigeria out of the woods given his track record. This conviction perhaps is predicated on the fact that Buhari, unlike other past leaders since independence, is prepared for the Herculean task of leadership given his relentless efforts since 2003. The circumstances behind the ascension of many to the throne showed that they were less prepared for the Herculean task of leadership. In the First Republic, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, a onetime headmaster of the Bauchi Middle School emerged as leader of government business in the First Republic parliament, courtesy of an arrangement that he should hold forth for the

Buhari

Nigerians are eagerly waiting with high expectations, that he will usher in drastic and radical changes in the style of governance

Muhammadu Buhari Major General Buhari was one of the leaders of the military coup of December 31, 1983 that overthrew the democratically elected government of President Shagari. At the time of the coup, Buhari was the General Officer Commanding

Felix Nwaneri

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(GOC), Third Armoured Division in Jos. With the successful execution of the coup, General Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto No. 2 in the administration). Buhari justified the military’s seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt and promptly suspended Nigeria’s 1979 Constitution. His military regime was brought to an end in a coup in December 1984 by General Ibrahim Babangida who was his Chief of Army Staff. In 2003, Buhari contested the presidential election as the candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). He was defeated by Obasanjo, by a margin of more than 11 million votes. On December 18, 2006, Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the ANPP. His main challenger in the April 2007 polls was Yar’Adua, who is also a native of Katsina State. In the election, Buhari officially took 18 per cent of the vote against 70 per cent of Yar’Adua’s. But Buhari rejected these results. After Yar’Adua took office, the ANPP agreed to join his government, but Buhari rejected the agreement. In March 2010, Buhari left the ANPP for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which he founded, having been disappointed by some of the principles of the

ANPP. He was the CPC presidential candidate in the April 2011 general elections, when he ran against incumbent President Jonathan of the PDP, Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and Ibrahim Shekarau of ANPP. They were the major contenders among 20 contestants. Buhari polled 12,214,853 votes, coming second to Jonathan of the PDP, who polled 22,495,187 votes and was declared the winner. Buhari ran in the 2015 presidential election as a candidate of the APC. His platform is built around his image as a strong anti-corruption fighter and his incorruptible and honest reputation. Buhari won the March 28 presidential election, which was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. As the former military head of state is being sworn in today, Nigerians are eagerly waiting with high expectations, that he will usher in drastic and radical changes in the style of governance, which will reposition the country on the path of rapid socio-economic development. It is the wish of Nigerians that he will quickly take steps to address sundry issues of power failure, unemployment, insecurity, infrastructural decay, corruption in public office, and high cost of governance, amongst others.

Nigeria’s unprepared leaders Sardauna of Sokoto (Sir Ahmadu Bello) as Prime Minister in Lagos. Six years after, the five army majors led by Kaduna Nzeogwu who drew the blueprint for the first military coup that sacked the First Republic, ended up in jail, while Major General Aguiyi Ironsi became the surprise beneficiary of the mutiny. Ironsi was still grappling with the challenges of the bad blood generated by the coup when a counter-coup claimed his life, just six months after he assumed office and General Yakubu Gowon (then a Lieutenant Colonel), who was not actively involved in events until that point, was named Head of State. The leader of the counter-coup and who later succeeded Gowon was General Murtala

Muhammed. General Olusegun Obasanjo, who took over from Muhammed after his assassination in 1976, was equally unprepared for the job at the time, and he gave very graphic details of his lack of readiness in his book “Not My Will.” It was the same story when he emerged as a civilian president in 1999. He was just out of prison over an alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow the then regime of late General Sani Abacha, when he was “conscripted” by some serving and retired military officers for the 1999 presidential election. But unlike in his first coming, Obasanjo demonstrated that he learnt some leadership lessons between 1999 and 2007 that he was in office.

For Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the first Executive President of Nigeria, he only wanted a seat in the Senate before he was drafted to run for the Presidency in 1979. What later became of his government, especially his inability to control some ministers in his cabinet proved that he was not prepared for the job. The same story goes for late President Umar Yar’Adua and his then deputy, and outgoing president, Jonathan, as many believe they were singlehandedly handpicked in 2007 by Obasanjo, when his “third term bid” failed. While Yar’Adua never showed interest in the job until he was drafted, Jonathan was set to contest the governorship election of his home state – Bayelsa before he was picked as Yar’Adua’s running mate.

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion Obi/Obiano: No to another Orji/Orji Emissary EMEKA OBASI

emobas2003@yahoo.com 08094457557 (sms only)

ur politicians just have to grow up, to whom much is given much is also expected. He who wants to be admired at a festival, should be prepared to dance well. We need statesmen not statements, all the South-East governors should be ready to receive the judgement of the people, henceforth. Chief Willie Maduabuchi Obiano, the former Fidelity banker who sits today as governor of Anambra state, must find a way to make peace with his predecessor, Mr. Gregory Peter Obi. I do not know when the rain began to fall, I cannot say what the problem is, all I want is peace between the duo. Obiano, Akpokuodike,is about 14 months old in the saddle. I would not say Obi installed him as governor, power comes from God, I am certain there was the hand of Okwute in his emergence as governor. There is no denying the fact that even Obiano’s rise to the position of Executive Director, Fidelity bank, had the support of the former Anambra governor. The kind of hate mails and opinion articles that emanate from both camps is nauseating. It has been going on for so long. At a time, both men pretended all was well. They continued to deceive us in public while their aides kept firing from both sides of the pen. It does appear to me that the two camps sides are giving as much as they are getting. Those who are fuelling the feud are also benefitting, the more they fight, the more the cash. It is such a painful experience. We need peace in Igboland for development to come. Our young ones are enterprising so we must create a conducive environment for them to thrive. We turn out thousands

of graduates every year, they have no jobs waiting for them. It is more difficult for these our sons and daughters, because while we produce some of the best brains in the country, those who get the jobs are the ones whose tribesmen and women are in power. By power, I do not just mean political power. The economy is controlled by the South-West, so I always tell our people that what most of them do in Lagos is not business , they are just traders. The businessmen are those who own conglomerates. They also control the multinationals. The big bucks are controlled by the companies within the South-West axis. The Igbo like to operate in a free world, we are always on the move. We do not have Lagos like the Yoruba, we do not have Kano and Abuja like the Hausa Fulani[forget all the talk about Federal Territory].We can also not boast of Port Harcourt and Warri, like the Niger Deltans. With all these, we need leaders in Igboland who will take the people to the next level. Obiano, with his banking background, must just find away to accommodate the presence of Obi in Anambra state. That is why we say egbe bere, ugo bere (live and let live). Everyone should be accommodated. There are things your siblings would do and you move on, blood is thicker than water. Today, Chief Theodore Ahamefula Orji, Ochendo Global, ceases to reign as governor of Abia state. The import is that he is going to join Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu in the book of ex-governors. That is the way we live. According to Jimmy Cliff, the Jamaican pop-reggae singer, that’s the way life goes. While in government, Dr. Kalu had Chief Orji as his right hand man. The latter was Chief-of-Staff. He knew so much about the Kalu regime and he benefitted immensely. To cap it all, he became governor, stepping into Kalu’s shoes. Ochendo was in gaol while the governorship campaigns lasted. He was never a politician. But he became one. To make sure that Ochendo became governor, his predecessor relinquished power , a few days to May

29, 2007. It was a battle well fought, victory was sweet, until 2010. Predecessor became successor’s number one enemy. In fact, the greatest achievement of Chief Orji is Dr. Orji Kalu. He spent all the precious time that should have been used to develop the state battling the man who helped him to the throne. I did not like it one bit. I was involved somehow and I prayed for peace. Dr. Kalu is not a saint, he does not claim to be one either. As a human being, he has his shortcomings. One thing I know is that he has no permanent enemies. He is ever so willing to make peace. Even if Ochendo felt somebody must be given his compliments as the new governor in town, he came on too hard on Kalu. It was so bad that everything Kalu, was going to be wiped away from the records of Abia state. The money the Abia state government spent pilloring Kalu in the media was enough to tar some of the bad roads in Aba. Kalu fought back no doubt ,but he left one door open, for peace. His successor slammed the door. An example will suffice. The Sun newspapers had been blacklisted by the Theodore Orji administration. When New Telegraph was born in 2013, Dr. Kalu made it clear that we should not fight the Abia state governor. We did more than that. We even gave Ochendo more attention than other governors. Commissioner for Justice, Umeh Kalu is a friend. I was in touch with him. The idea was to show that Dr. Orji Kalu gave us a free hand. And we did just that. Ochendo was not going to change. He never believed it was possible, so from day one, he was aggressive. Eventually he did not want to see anything Sun or New Telegraph around him. Peter Obi says Ochendo is a defender of Igbo rights. I want to be convinced. Kalu, give it to him, has offered more jobs to Nigerians, than any other living Igbo man. Obi himself fights for Ndigbo too. Obiano is learning the ropes. Now where are the elders? These men cannot continue to be apart. I have a word for Rochas Okorocha, Dave Umahi, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Okezie Ikpeazu, Ifeanyi Okowa and Nyesom Wike. Ndigbo need to move to the next level. This is our time, this is your chance.

Buhari’s tough challenge in Nigeria Nnamdi Obasi

hen Muhammadu Buhari assumes office as Nigeria’s president today, he will take the reins of a country in serious distress. Insecurity poses a towering challenge, the economy is in dire straits, and corruption and impunity are rife. Buhari, who won the election on the promise of change, must now urgently make good on that promise, starting by rallying Nigerians around that which they have lost: a common vision for the future. The killings by the radical Islamist Boko Haram may have ebbed following recent offensives by forces from Nigeria and her neighbours, but the insurgency is not yet ended. Over the last four years, the group has killed at least 16,000 people, displaced over 1.5 million and laid waste to many communities in the north east. The country is also plagued by diverse lowerintensity conflicts, and unacceptable levels of criminal violence. The economy has slumped over the past year, following an over 50 per cent plunge in the price of crude oil whose export accounts for over 70 per cent of government’s revenue. Economic growth slowed to 4.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year, down from

6.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014. In recent months, the federal government has had to borrow just to pay workers. Eighteen of the 36 state governments currently owe employees back pay, some for up to nine months. Infrastructure is in disrepair, and public utilities are hopelessly unreliable. Last week, electricity generation dropped to an unprecedented low of 1,327 megawatts for Nigeria’s 180 million people, compared to 44,175 megawatts generated for South Africa’s 51 million people. During this inauguration week, acute scarcity of refined petroleum products has created mileslong queues of vehicles outside filling stations, grounded numerous flights, and seriously damaged commercial life. Unemployment remains pervasive: officially 22 million are jobless, but many believe the real figure is much higher. The country still has 10.5 million out-of-school children the world’s highest number -- many of whom may be future candidates for insurgency and organized crime. Corruption and economic crimes have brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy. Crude oil is stolen on an industrial scale. The chief of Nigeria’s navy, Vice-Admiral Usman Jibrin, recently estimated that $2.18 billion worth of petroleum is siphoned off annually. The proceeds could fuel

a new phase of violence in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Early statements by Buhari and his transitional team suggest keen awareness of the gravity of the crises and some urgency towards engaging with them. Yet Buhari’s first task must be to persuade all Nigerians that he is president for the entire country and rally them around a common vision for the future. Although the recent elections ended without the widely feared violent protests, the campaign before it revealed a country deeply fractured along regional, religious and ethnic lines. The latent contradictions and gaping discontent, between and even within major interest groups, threaten to frustrate even the most well-meaning plans for progress. Buhari, who is from northern Katsina state, needs to constitute a competent but also inclusive government, with credible representation from all major regional, ethnic and religious blocs. More importantly, the new government must devote great efforts to policies and programmes that will address major grievances, reconcile differences, build social cohesion and provide better security against the likes of Boko Haram. It also needs to engage positively with states where the outgoing People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won, particularly in the

Niger Delta, where long-standing economic and environmental grievances have been aggravated by the ousting of the first-ever president from the region (Goodluck Jonathan) after only one term. In seeking to reconcile, stabilize, secure and revitalize the country, the administration will need all the support and assistance it can get from international partners, including African countries. Such assistance should include military training and equipment, intelligence sharing, humanitarian support in the North East, bridging loans, technical assistance and bilateral cooperation in tracking corrupt proceeds. Investments towards security and stability could greatly benefit not only Nigeria, but indeed the entire Africa region. Support in deepening democracy in Nigeria could also have positive spill-over effects on democracy across Africa. If Buhari succeeds in delivering on his promise of change, he will have achieved a historic reversal of Nigeria’s long slide towards degradation. If he fails, the country will slide deeper into ruin. The stakes could not be higher. • Nnamdi Obasi is Senior Analyst, Nigeria, for International Crisis Group, the independent conflictprevention organization.

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Notwithstanding last-ditch efforts by a civil society organization, the Incoporated Trustees of Advocacy for Societal Rights Advancement and Development Initiative to stop the inauguration, we are convinced that the majority of economicallytraumatised citizens are more interested in how the in-coming president can and will fix the battered economy than in whatever legal gobbeldegook that they can hardly comprehend. It is on record that President Buhari is taking over leadership when the nation is not only in deep pains but also at a period when several tiers of government, including the federal, are owing a backlog of salaries. Apart from this backlog of unpaid salaries which run into several months in some cases, this is occurring at a time when statutory allocations to these tiers of government have always been forthcoming. He is also taking over as president when the external debt stock of the country, according to Vice-President-elect Yemi Osibanjo, hovers over S60billion dollars. Curiously though, the vice-president-elect, who is a professor of law, conveniently side-stepped the fact that states controlled by the All Progres-

sives Congress (APC), are responsible for the bulk of this huge debt profile. But most Nigerians are just not interested in who accumulated what debt as in how the system could be fixed and made workable enough to guarantee food on their empty tables. Various economic experts have offered suggestions on how to make this feasible as quickly as possible. In this regard, one of the strongest arguments on how to turn the economy around -diversification- may not be new but promises to be the simplest solution regarding how to re-fix the battered economy within the shortest possible time. According to this argument, until the strangle-hold exercised by petroleum over the country’s economy

They recommend that if these areas of leakages are dutifully plugged, the finances of government will improve drastically

is broken through well-thought out economic diversification, the country’s heath will continue to be banged by shocks generated in the global oil market. According to this argument, blessed with some of the most arable lands in the world, the country has no business being poor or constantly grappling with ripples generated by instability in crude oil prices when all she requires to do is to articulate a well-defined programme of economic diversification. Under this recommended programme of diversification, government should partner with the private sector to build mechanized farm reserves which should be able to upstage petroleum as the major foreign exchange earner within a few years. Relying on a rich population of idle but capable young men and women that is already available, agriculture can replace petroleum as the major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in less than no time. Under this programme of economic diversification, experts advocate genuine commitment on the part of government. This is in addition to rigorously ensuring that the authorities in the reserves pay stipends to youth volunteers and workers promptly to sustain their inter-

est in agriculture which had since been diverted elsewhere. In addition, experts have also identified various areas of leakages in the revenue accruing to government. According to them, hardly does any revenuegenerating agency remit such monies to government. They recommend that if these areas of leakages are dutifully plugged, the finances of government will improve drastically. They list such revenue-generating agencies of government as the Nigeria Customs Excise (NCS), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), among others. They advocate that if these moneyspinning agencies properly remit their revenues to government, there is no justifiable reason why government should be beggarly each time there is perceivable instability in the global crude oil market. On our own, we are also convinced that if this wellarticulated regime of economic diversification is pursued to its logical conclusion, there should be a significant improvement in revenue available to the incoming administration to justify the confidence reposed in it by Nigerians.

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Politics

Anule Emmanuel Abuja

resident Goodlcuk Jonathan is indeed a lucky man as his name connotes. But luck they say comes with preparedness combined with opportunity. This is why, despite his seemingly unknown background, coming from Otueke, a small community in Bayelsa State, his ascendancy to national limelight has been gradual but steady. Born to a canoe-making family in 1957 in the oil-rich Niger Delta, President Jonathan is of the Ijaw ethnic group and obviously has a humble background too. Ignited by determination and courage, from the shelve, he moved to study Zoology at the university. President Jonathan on graduation from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State worked as an education inspector, lecturer and environmental protection officer before going into politics in 1998 as member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Just as his rapid rise to power as president is owed to luck, so too did his promotion to state governor. Elected as deputy governor for his home state, Bayelsa, in 1999, he became governor when his boss was impeached on corruption charges. President Jonathan took over as governor and two years later was hand-picked by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to run on the PDP’s ticket as vice-presidential candidate in 2007. PDP insiders have often times regarded him as a politician without a political base and more of an administrator than a leader. A few analysts also believe that but for some groups of power brokers, Jonathan only became acting president because he was not seen as a threat. It was however not any easy journey for him. Following the controversy surrounding the health of the then President Umaru Yar’Adua and his subsequent travel to Saudi Arabia where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness, the country became tensed regarding the im-

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

Good bye Jonathan

Jonathan

plications and consequences of being indefinitely absent from duty post without officially transferring power to his duly authorized deputy, (then Vice President) as required by Section 145 of the Nigerian Constitution. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) was also in a fix and could not exercise its own constitutional obligation either by declaring the president incapable of remaining in office on the grounds of ill-health. Nigeria and Nigerians found themselves in a political quagmire since no constitutional provision existed, countering Section 145 that would automatically trigger the empowerment of the vice-president to assume the duties

Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

n this dispensation, few politicians are as lucky as Architect Namadi Sambo, the vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In

Sambo

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

of the office of President under the prevailing situation and condition. Thus, after 78 days of the president’s continuing absence, the country found itself adrift with no leadership in view and none directly in-charge of the ship of state. Finally, on February 9, 2010, the Senate President, David Mark, and the entire National Assembly, placed a resolution on record, conferring on the vice-president (Jonathan) the rights and privileges enabling him to become “Acting President.” According to Mark, the National Assembly reached that decision relying on the “Doctrine of Necessity”. This singular act prepared the Otueke born academics turned

politician to gather grounds and gear up for the Herculean challenge ahead. Yar’Adua later died on May 5, 2010 and Jonathan became the president. Aside piloting effectively the ship of state, he would later indicate interest and throw a shot at the presidency proper. His success in the 2011 presidential elections after having acted as President is attributed largely to the support of former President Obasanjo who mobilised northern politicians and a few powerbrokers from the South-West to back his candidacy. President Jonathan shortly after being elected as substantive President in the 2011 general elections was seen to have abandoned the powers that brought him into relevance. The defection of the five PDP governors – Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdulfattah Ahmed (Kwara) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and his disagreement with Obasanjo are parts of what cost him the March 28 presidential election which he lost to General Muhammadu Buhari. Perhaps, he has displaced some character of a true democrat with early concession of defeat to Buhari, a few of his kinsmen however felt disappointed with his action. President Jonathan has since packed his personal belongings and those of his family out of the presidential villa and would handover the instrument of power to General Buhari today. President Jonathan, no doubt, has made history as the first defeated incumbent president in Nigeria and indeed the first to concede defeat. A number of organisations have already commenced presentation and recommendation of several awards to him as a peace maker and a true democrat who deserves global recognition as well. As he vacates the presidential villa to Otueke, President Jonathan himself interestingly has declared that he would venture into peace advocacy as an ambassador in Nigeria and around the African continent during which he is expected to carry on the message of peace particularly as it relates to the unity of Nigeria.

Sambo: The accidental vice-president 2007, his friend and business associate, Governor Ahmed Makarfi of Kaduna State, drafted him to the gubernatorial race, mobilised state machinery behind him and railroaded him to victory. In the primaries, Sambo defeated ‘professional politicians’, old war horses and front runners like Mr. Isaiah Balat of blessed memory. However, between Sambo and Balat, there was a run-off election to determine the PDP flag bearer. Thereafter, from relative obscurity, Sambo clinched the governorship of Kaduna State. With time, Sambo and Makarfi fell out and some political elites, smarting from the earlier defeat, ganged up against the then governor. Increasingly, Sambo’s political naiveté, the feud within PDP and the agitation from Southern Kaduna for power shift, made him vulnerable to defeat. At once, Sambo was seen as a onetime governor, a lame duck that will fall in the 2011 election. However, the happy-golucky governor never lost his cool and by divine intervention, Sambo moved

up the political ladder. On May 6, 2010, following President Umaru Yar’Adua’s demise, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan ascended the presidency. Similarly, he had picked Sambo as vice president and since then, the duo’s relationship had been a rosy one. However, before the last election, some fifth columnists tried to put them asunder. In part, some hawks wanted Jonathan to replace Sambo and they cited his light political weight, PDP’s woes in the North and the stiff opposition to the party in his constituency, as hurdles to Jonathan’s re-election. Specifically, Sambo’s Kaduna North Local Government, his federal constituency and senatorial zone are all APC-controlled. In addition, Kano, Sokoto and Zamfara states, out of the seven North-Western states, are being controlled by the opposition. Similarly, PDP is not popular in the entire North and rightly or wrongly, critics had cited Sambo’s alleged ineptitude as reason for the party’s poor showing in his primary constituency.

Consequently, some elements rooted for Barrister Ibrahim Shema, the outgoing Katsina State governor, to replace Sambo as vice president. Largely, this rumour was denied and Sambo weathered the storm. However, in the last election, PDP got trounced by APC in all but two states in the north. As from today, Sambo ceases to be vice president and all his plans of succeeding Jonathan in 2019 has fizzled out. However, it is doubtful if he will go into the trenches and become the rallying point of the opposition in the North. Similarly, unlike his boss who promised to continue as a statesman, Sambo is not just cut out for that. In addition, he is unlikely to return to his Nalado Nigerian Limited, an omnibus contracting company. Given his age, Sambo’s bustling energy will not allow him to retire quietly in Kaduna or elsewhere. Very likely, the former vice president will be shuttling all over the world taking care of his investments.

Anule Emmanuel

ut-going First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan remains one person that would be remembered in the history of democracy in Nigeria. Since her husband’s defeat, she has been on a silent mode. The First Lady now hardly makes headlines with her amusing personality nowadays. No more grammatical blunders. Many believe that her silence speaks volumes of unhappiness over her husband’s defeat at the March 28 presidential election. Silence they say speaks louder than actions. The analogy could be telling on both members of the first family. Unfortunately too, President Jonathan himself recently expressed his fears that he hopes his wife will not abandon him for not interfering in the electoral process. Obviously, in the history of Nigeria, she will be remembered for her display of power and uncharacteristic manner of expressing her views. The fight against the perceived excesses of Rivers State governor, Chibuike Amaechi, is one good example. Analysts argue that she has had more impact on the Nigerian polity than her husband, the president. Dame Patience served as the chairperson of the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) pursuing women agenda and the affirmative action initiative during the period. Nigerian women particularly would miss her for the pushing for their full inclusion in leadership at the highest level in the Federal Executive Council (FEC). At some point, in the administration of her husband, there were about 13 female ministers holding key portfolios. The First Lady has been active in various causes particularly those that concern the welfare of women, the girl child and worked hard on lowering infant mortality in the country. Her effort to enhance the condition of widows

Politics

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

Missing Mama Peace

Mrs. Jonathan

endeared her to many women in the country and placed her in a position to rally them around her various initiatives of which the flagship was the “Women for Change Initiative” launched in July 2010. The idea was that working with state governors’ wives, more women would be appointed into high government positions through encouraging the state chief executives to create such opportunities. She was thought to be behind the move to institutionalise 35 per cent affirmative action for women in government posts implemented by President Jonathan. Through the Women for Change Initiative, Mrs. Jonathan was intent on the total restoration of the dignity of womanhood in the

Mrs. Jonathan

The first lady had a way of putting smiles on the faces of Nigerians, or causing them some lightheated embarrassment

country. She wanted violence, all forms of discrimination against women, be it religious or ethnic, to be done away with and consequently utilised her years in the Villa working towards the actualisation of that objective. Members of the Women for Change Initiative have played a prominent role in the present administration as they have often acted as the clearing house for whatever the First Lady wanted to implement in parts of the country, not least, the campaign to get her husband elected in 2011 and more recently, this past ill-fated presidential election. She has been a great mobiliser of Nigerian women especially the more illustrious ones like Bola Shagaya, Kema Chikwe, Zainab Maina, Onyeka

Onwenu and many others who were constantly by her side in Aso Rock, sharing and pressing for her vision of a life more abundant for the Nigerian womenfolk. She has been an inspiration to many. From her speeches to her grammar, from her twining glasses to her dance moves, the first lady had a way of putting smiles on the faces of Nigerians, or causing them some light-heated embarrassment. The now popularised “Na only you waka come?”; “There is God oh; “My fellow widows” and “I want to commend the doctors and nurses for responding to treatment” are some of Nigerians’ alltime favourite quotes. Aside these, there will be no forgetting Dame Patience.

Osinbajo: Professor of Law in the Villa

Osinbajo

Foluso Ogunmodede

ntil his elevation to the nation’s second topmost position- Vice Presidency, Professor Oluyemi Oluleke

Osinbajo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria was a senior partner at Simmons Cooper Partners. Osinbajo a professor of law and former Lagos Justice Commissioner and Attorney-General, will be sworn in alongside General Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President-elect today. Osinbajo although a Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God is not a neophyte, his stint as Lagos Justice Commissioner remains a reference point in the nation’s justice delivery system as Judges and major stakeholders in Nigeria’s justice administration will remain euphoric at the attendant successes his tenure witnessed in the Centre of Excellence and the nation at large. Osinbajo was born into the family of Adeyemi Osinbajo on March 8, 1957 in Lagos. He married Dolapo, one of the granddaughters of the late sage and former Premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Osinbajo began his education career at the Corona Primary School in Lagos between 1969 and 1975. He was at the Igbobi College Yaba, Lagos between 1975

and 1978 before he headed for the University of Lagos where he obtained his LLB degree in 1978 and LLM in 1980 at the London School of Economics. He was however admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1979 having attended the Nigerian Law School between 1979 and 1980. His legal career began between 1979 and1980 when he served the compulsory one year youth services as a legal officer with the defunct Bendel Development and Planning Authority (BDPA). In 1981, Osinbajo became a lecturer at his alma mata, the University of Lagos where he rose to position of a Senior Lecturer in 1986. Two years after, he was named the Adviser (legal advice and litigation) to the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola ( SAN). Barely 10 years after he became an Adviser to the nation’s Justice Minister, Osinbajo became a Professor of Law and Head of Department of Public Law, University of Lagos. And in 1999, the erudite Professor became the Lagos State Attorney-General

and Commissioner for Justice. After serving two terms in office as Lagos Justice Commissioner in the Bola Tinubu administration in 2007, he returned to the University of Lagos. Also in 2007, Osinbajo was made a Senior Partner, Simmons Cooper Partners (Barristers and Solicitors). In 2013, after the formation of the APC, Osinbajo alongside others designed and produced a manifesto for the new political party. This however culminated in the presentation of the “Roadmap to a New Nigeria,” a document published by APC as its manifesto if elected to power . The highlights of the Roadmap included a free schools meal plan, a conditional cash transfer to the 25 million poorest Nigerians if they enrol children in school and immunise them. There were also a number of programmes designed to create economic opportunities for Nigeria’s massive youth population. This, Osinbajo among others has assured Nigerians that his party would implement to the fullest in the next four years. His has published and edited many publications.

Politics

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Blessed are the peacemakers Onwuka Nzeshi Prologue Several months before the 2015 general elections, there were a lot of negative predictions, unsavoury projections and scary permutations about how the polls would go. These rather dangerous postulations came from people within and outside Nigeria and were largely hinged on the report of an earlier study conducted by a United States-based group which said Nigeria might be heading for disintegration by the year 2015. Around the world, the picture painted about Nigeria was that the country was hanging at the edge of a cliff about to crash into the abyss. In various crisis situation rooms across Europe and America, the verdict was that Nigeria was at the brink of a major implosion. In their crystal balls, they saw nothing but an apocalypse. The Apocalypse These doomsday prophets reasoned that Nigeria having been bugged down by insecurity for about six years and the Boko Haram insurgents threatening to overrun the country, the general elections would most probably be the last straw that would break the camel’s back. In a bid to draw a more vivid picture, some analysts said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which had been on power Abdulsalami Abubakar General Abubakar was born on June 13,1942 in Minna, Niger State. He had his earlier education at the Native Authority Primary School in Minna; Provincial Secondary School, Bida before proceeding to the Technical Institute, Kaduna. Abubakar enlisted first into the Nigeria Airforce but later switched over to the Nigeria Army. While in military service, he had opportunities for both local and foreign trainings. He was appointed Commander of the 3rd Mechanised Brigade in Kano between 1969 and 1979. He also served as part of a Nigerian contingent to the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon between 1981 and 1982 after which he was promoted to Colonel in August 1984. Later, he was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Enugu, and became a member of the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC). He was transferred to Kaduna, as GOC of the One Mechanized Division of the Nigeria Army and subsequently appointed Chief of Defence Staff on November 18, 1993. Abubakar became Nigeria’s eighth military Head of State following the death of General Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s seventh military ruler, on June 8, 1998. Abubakar put in place a very brief political transition programme that saw the military withdraw from politics to usher in a civilian rule on May 29, 1999. Since he handed over power to a democratically elected govern-

for an unbroken 16 years, will not allow itself to be beaten by the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and that victory for the ruling party may trigger violence in the Northern part of the country. In another scenario, some said that the PDP had become so unpopular that it would be easily beaten at the polls and when that happens, the old mentality of African leaders not wanting to give up power willingly would play out. They expected that the incumbent, President Jonathan would want to cling to power while the supporters of the main opposition party would pour out on the streets in mass revolt. They reasoned that the electioneering had already opened so many old wounds as well as renewed ethnic and regional rivalries so much so that it won’t be difficult for a post-election violence to degenerate into another civil war. As a result of these fears, the international community showed an uncommon interest in the election and on Nigeria. Apart from sending various election observation missions to monitor the party primaries and election campaigns, the global community was fully represented in Nigeria during the election. Behind the scene, many Western nations had made arrangements for emergency evacuation of their citizens in the event that their worst fears came upon Nigeria. ment, Abubakar has devoted his time to supporting democracy and resolving conflicts across Africa. As Chairman of the National Peace Committee on the 2015 Elections, he mobilised other eminent personalities to ensure that the last general elections in Nigeria held under a peaceful atmosphere. For this, he once summoned the national chairmen of the two main political parties following concerns about hate campaigns and the drift towards anarchy in the build up to the elections. He personally held private counselling sessions for the two main contenders in the 2015 presidential race, Jonathan and Buhari, to prepare their minds on the eventuality of a win or loss at the polls. Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe Born on October 26, 1940 in Abiriba, Abia State, a retired officer of the Nigeria Navy, Ukiwe served as Chief of General Staff (de facto Vice President) during the General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime. Ukiwe joined the Nigerian Navy in 1960 as a Cadet Officer with the rank of Sub-Lieutenant. During the Nigeria Civil War (1967-1970) he fought on the side of Biafra but was readmitted into the Nigerian Navy after the war. He became a member of the Supreme Military Council during the era of General Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State and was the Military Governor of Niger State and later Lagos State besides other military postings. He retired from the military in 1987 after he fell out with Babangida over hierarchy squabbles in the service.

Jonathan and Buhari after signing a peace accord before the March 28 presidential election.

However, it turned out to be a bundle of surprises. The elections were largely peaceful except in some notorious flashpoints. Although, the ruling party was eventually trounced at the polls, it was relatively a gallant loss. As if this was not enough, President Goodluck

Jonathan proved the doomsday prophets wrong when he conceded defeat even before the final results were made public. It was an unprecedented action that took even the winners of the election by surprise. The APC and their supporters had expected some resistance from

Jonathan and the PDP as the results of the election rolled out. This would have set the stage for the much-awaited crisis. In a rare show of statesmanship, Jonathan called and congratulated his opponent, thus disarming those who

The unsung heroes

Abdulsalami

Kukah

On retirement, he joined the pro-democracy movement, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and fought for the revaluation of the results of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. He was among eminent Nigerians who were incarcerated by the Abacha government for their support for Chief MKO Abiola who was widely believed to had won the controversial June 12 election. Ukiwe regained his freedom following the death of Abacha and once again joined politics. In 2006, he contested for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but the bid was unsuccessful. He worked closely with others to ensure that key political actors conducted themselves in accordance with the principles guiding the Abuja Accord.

Onaiyekan

Cardinal Onaiyekan John Cardinal Onaiyekan is a cleric of the Roman Catholic Church and currently the Archbishop of Abuja Diocese. He was born on January 29, 1994 in Kabba, Kogi State. He attended St. Mary’s Catholic School, Kabba, St. Michael’s Secondary School, Aliade, Benue State and SS Peter& Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan. John completed his religious studies in Rome and was ordained a priest on August 3, 1969. He was Bishop of the Illorin Diocese between 1984 and 1990 and was appointed Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI on November 24, 2012. He was President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria.

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

were poised to go to pull down the house on account of the election. Peacemakers It is imperative to understand that this feat was not achieved by magic. Apart from the fact that millions of Nigerians had been praying and seeking divine intervention ahead of these crucial elections, the tranquility that eventually prevailed had the deliberate inputs of some eminent Nigerians. As the elections drew near, these eminent personalities took it upon themselves to work for peace behind the scene. These peacemakers worked under the auspices of the National Peace Committee on 2015 Elections. The Committee had a former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar as Chairman. Other eminent personalities in the Committee included a former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe; John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja; the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Sa’ad Abubakar; Special Adviser to the President on InterParty Affairs, Senator Ben Obi; Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto; a former Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Roseline Ukeje; Alhaji Tanko Yunusa and Mr. Sam Pemu Amuka, Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers. They constituted the nucleus of a peace building group whose primary assignment was to bring the major actors in the 2015 elections together and explore how to manage the process peacefully. Peace Workshop The foundation was laid at a

workshop organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Office Special Adviser to the President on Inter-party Affairs working in close collaboration with the National Peace Committee on 2015 Elections. The workshop was convened to sensitise the political parties and their candidates on the need to work towards violence-free elections. In order to give the workshop international clout, its organisers invited a former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Anan and a former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku as resource persons. The sensitisation workshop brought together the two main contenders in the presidential race namely, President Jonathan of the PDP and General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC. The presidential candidates of the other 12 political parties participating in the election were also in attendance. They were engaged in a dialogue which produced a consensus in the form of a declaration called the Abuja Accord.

All persons, agencies and institutions involved in the conduct of the elections must remain neutral

The Abuja Accord The declaration which was signed by the presidential candidates and the leadership of their parties on January 14, 2015 read thus: 1) To run issue-based campaigns at national, state and local government levels. In this, we pledge to refrain from campaigns that will involve religious incitements, ethnic or tribal profiling both by ourselves and by all agents acting in our names.

of 2015 elections

Ukiwe

Sultan

Cardinal Onaiyekan played a leading role in ensuring that peace reigned in Nigeria during and after the 2015 elections. He was a visible face at the meetings of the National Peace Committee and helped in dousing the tension brewing then across the polity. Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar His Eminence, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar IV is the 20th Sultan of Sokoto, the titular of Sokoto Emirate, the seat of the Caliphate in northern Nigeria. He is the head of Ja’matu Nasril Islam and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. Born on August 24, 1954, Abubakar attended the Sultan’s Ward Primary School, Sokoto and Barewa College, Zaria. He enlisted in the Nigeria Army in June 1975 as a member of Regular Course

Obi

18 of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna. He was commissioned into the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps on December 17, 1977 and subsequently attended various military courses and trainings including the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Nigeria and the Senior Executive Course 28,National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru. Abubakar retired from the Nigerian Army on the rank of Brigadier General and ascended the throne of his forefathers on November 2, 2006, following the tragic death of his elder brother, Sultan Muhammad Maccido in a plane crash. Like Onaiyekan, the Sultan is a member of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) and they both used their privileged positions as religious leaders to prevail on their followers to maintain peace during the recent elections

2) To refrain from making or causing to make in our names or that of our party, any public statement, pronouncement, declarations or speeches that have the capacity to incite any form of violence before, during and after the elections. 3) To publicly and forcefully speak out against provocative utterances and oppose all acts of electoral violence whether perpetrated by our supporters and or opponents. 4) To commit ourselves and our political parties to the monitoring of adherence to this accord if necessary by a National Peace Committee made up of respected statesmen and women, traditional and religious leaders. 5) That all persons, agencies and institutions involved in the conduct of the elections must remain neutral and must be seen to be impartial in playing their roles. Accord Renewal Beyond the signing of this accord, the National Peace Committee (NPC) monitored the campaigns and held regular meetings with the key political actors during which they offered advice on how they could keep the spirit of the Abuja Accord alive. Even when the elections were postponed for six weeks on account of insecurity, the NPC kept its focus on building peace among the political actors. At each of the peace meetings, General Abubakar drew the attention of the politicians to the fact that they had a responsibility to consciously work for peace. Twenty four hours to the March 28 presidential election, General Abubakar led the National Peace in the country. Senator Ben Ndi Obi Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs, Senator Ben Obi, hails from Awka, Anambra State. He was born on January 3, 1956 in Ibadan, Oyo State. He was a founding member of the Nigeria Advancement Party (NAP) in 1978 and later a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). At the commencement of the current political dispensation, Obi joined the PDp and won the election to represent the Anambra Central Senatorial District. In 2006, he was among those PDP members that were de-registered by the party which led them into founding the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) on which platform he ended up as the Vice Presidential candidate in 2007. As Special Adviser to the President on Inter-party Affairs, Obi worked closely with the National Peace Committee in organising the foundation workshop that resulted in the Abuja Accord. He made efforts to ensure that Nigeria successfully passed through the difficult periods of the 2015 elections. Matthew Hassan Kukah Rev. Monsignor Matthew Hassan Kukah is the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto and founder of the Kukah Centre for Faith and Leadership Research, Abuja. Kukah was born on August 31, 1952 in Kulu, Zango Kataf Local Government Area, Kaduna State. He attended St. Augustine’s Major Seminary, Jos where he completed his studies in Philosophy and The-

Politics

Committee to another meeting where President Jonathan met with his main rival, the presidential candidate of the APC, Buhari, and renewed their commitment to a free, fair and peace polls. Besides publicly renewing the Abuja Accord, Abdulsalami also met separately with President Jonathan and later with Buhari in his bid to ensure they remained committed to peace no matter the outcome of the polls. In a nutshell, the Abdulsalami Committee worked round the clock, building the confidence of the contestants in the electoral process and revving up their psychology to accept the outcome of the elections no matter who won at the end of the day. The committee received the assurances of the two leading candidates, President Jonathan and General Buhari, that they were willing to cooperate with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) so long as the electoral process was transparent. With that assurance, the National Peace Committee did everything within its power to ensure that Nigeria crossed the difficult political bridge and proved the doomsday prophets wrong. Thus when the history of Nigeria will be written and a chapter devoted to the 2015 general elections, Buhari would be the man of perseverance who triumphed after several attempts; Jonathan would surely be the statesman who won the heart of the world by saving his country from avoidable bloodbath, but Abdulsalami and his colleagues in the National Peace Committee would truly be regarded as the unsung heroes. ology (1970-1976). He was ordained a priest on December 19, 1976. Kukah later obtained a Master’s Degree in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, England. Upon his return to Nigeria, he was appointed Rector of the Minor Seminary in Zaria (1982-1986) before he bagged a Doctorate Degree (PhD) at the University of London, England in 1993. He has held various religious positions and national assignment including being the General Secretary of the Episcopal Conference (1999-2001); Member of the Investigation Commission of Human Rights Violations of the Federal Government in Nigeria (1999-2006) and Consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Inter-religious Dialogue, Vatican (2001-2003). In 2005, Bishop Kukah was Secretary of the National Political Reform Conference of the Federal Government of Nigeria and later, was appointed Chairman of the Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation Committee by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Between 2007 and 2009, Kukah was a member of the Justice Mohammed Uwais Committee on Electoral Reforms in Nigeria. Kukah’s wealth of experience within the religious and political circles helped to co-ordinate the meetings of the National Peace Committee from the Kukah Centre for Faith and Leadership. His dream is that the Centre will gradually grow into a policy think tank where successive government would rely on its faculty and quality research to navigate the difficult terrains of governance in Nigeria.

Politics

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Ambode

Ajimobi

Amosun

Emmanuel

Ayade

Okowa

Wike

Okorocha

Ikpeazu

Ugwuanyi

New helmsmen in states On April 11, 2015 Nigerians in 29 states gave their mandates to new state governors that will pilot the affairs of the second tier government for the next four years. As the new state executives are being inaugurated today, WALE ELEGBEDE chronicles their profiles Akinwunmi Ambode Ambode, born on June 14, 1963 was elected as the 14th governor of Lagos State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Epe born chartered accountant began his primary education at St. Jude’s Primary School, Ebute-Meta, Lagos. He passed the National Common Entrance in Primary 5 and gained admission into Federal Government College, Warri, where he made history recording the second best result in the entire West Africa in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examination in the Social Sciences in 1981. He attended the University of Lagos, from where he graduated with honours in Accounting at the age of 21 in 1984. He became a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) at 24 and had a Masters’ degree in Accounting specialising in Financial Management. He became the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance in 2005 and was in 2006 given additional responsibility as Accountant-General for Lagos State, thus putting him in charge of all the state’s financial activities. Ambode voluntarily retired from the Lagos State Civil Service in 2012 as the first ever Permanent Secretary/Accountant-General to do so and upon retirement, founded Brandsmiths Consulting Limited, a public finance management consulting firm providing

public finance and management consulting services to government at all levels. He is married with children. Abiola Ajimobi Ajimobi was born in Ibadan on December 16, 1949, He was educated at St. Patrick Primary School, Abebi; ICC Primary School, Aperin; Lagelu Grammar School; the State University, Buffalo, New York; and the Governor’s State University, Park Forest, Illinois. Ajimobi has a B.Sc. in Business Administration and Finance and an MBA in Operations Research and Marketing. He has worked with National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company, Shell International Oil Company, Shell International Storage Company of Togo, and Shell Marketing Company in Togo. In 2003, he voluntarily retired after 26 years of service in the oil and gas industry, and went into politics Ajimobi became a senator in 2003, when he was Deputy Minority Leader. Ajimobi was returned as governor after a stiff contest with two former governors in the state. Ibikunle Amosun Born in Abeokuta on January 25, 1958, Amosun is a chartered accountant. He was in the Senate as senator for Ogun Central senatorial district between 2003 and 2007. Amosun attended African Church Primary School, Abeokuta; African Church

Grammar School, Abeokuta; Ogun State Polytechnic (now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic), Abeokuta; and the University of Westminster, London, where he got an MA in International Finance. He started his career in 1984 as an Audit Trainee with Messrs J.A.A. Adeniyi & Co. (Chartered Accountants) and later joined Lanre Aremu & Co. (Chartered Accountants), where he rose to become a manager in 1989. He was also with XtraEdge Consulting as a senior consultant. In 1990, he became an Associate Member of ICAN. In the same year, he established the Accounting Firm of Ibikunle Amosun & Co. (Chartered Accountants). In 2003, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) and the Institute of Taxation (FITN). He is on his second term on the platform of APC. Udom Emmanuel Born on July 11, 1966, in Awa Iman, in Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel is an alumnus of the University of Lagos, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting in 1988. He also attended the Advanced Management Proelramme at INSEAD, France. A corporate strategist and an experienced private sector player, Emmanuel has wide experience in various blue chip organisations that spans over two decades. The organisations include Price Water House, Diamond Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc. He was Audit Manager at Price Waterhouse Coopers; Chief Financial Officer, Zenith Bank Plc; Group Head, Income Optimization, Financial Control & Strategic Planning Department and General Manager, Zenith Bank Plc. He was an Executive Director on the Board of Zenith Bank Plc from December

2006 until his appointment as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) of Akwa Ibom State in July 2013. He is on his first term on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Ben Ayade Prof. Ayade is the senator representing Cross River North in the National Assembly. He won the April 11 governorship election on the platform of the PDP. The academic-turned politician is the ViceChairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology. He is also a member of the Senate Committees on Education, Marine Transport, Petroleum Downstream, and Drugs/Narcotics/ Crime. Born on March 2, 1969, Ayade studied at the University of Ibadan; Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma and Delta State University, before becoming a lecturer. An environmental consultant, he was at different times chairman of the Ecological Fund and International Institute of Environmental Research. He worked on Groundwater Remediation in Nigeria, and invented a sewage treatment plant based on solar energy and won an award from the government of Japan for outstanding research on Global Warming in Africa. He was also member of the Nigeria Association of Petroleum Engineers and the Cross River State Poverty Alleviation Board. Before his election into the Senate in 2011, Ayade served as a member of the Strategy Committee in the government of Senator Liyel Imoke. Ifeanyi Okowa Born in Owa-Alero, Ika North-East Local Government Area of Delta State on July 8, 1959, Okowa attended Edo College, Benin City (1970-1976) before proceeding to the University of Ibadan where he studied Medicine and Surgery, graduat-

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

Labour

Oil reform, workers’ welfare top agenda for new govt

Agric Budget increase, others top schema for Buhari

Business What's news

Fuel crisis: Investors in stocks lose N214bn

Investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) lost about N214 billion as the country groaned under a harsh operating environment triggered by fuel scarcity.

p.26

PwC sees brighter economy for Nigeria despite oil rout Despite threats posed by oil price volatility, renowned economic analyst, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has reassured that the Nigerian economy will continue to grow even if oil prices fall to $35 per barrel and average $45 per barrel in 2015, but with a caveat. This can only come to fruition if there is no deterioration of the political and security landscape.

p.26

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

Deputy Editor (Business)

Bayo Akomolafe

Asst. Editor (Maritime)

Sunday Ojeme

L-R: Former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Tunde Lemo, Director General/CEO, Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD), Victor Banjo, Managing Partner/CEO, Brandzone Consulting LLC, Mrs. Chizor Malize; Chairman, IoD Centre for Corporate Governance (IoD CCG), Alhaji Ahmed Rufai Mohammed and former Chairman, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, at the Corporate Governance workshop organised by IoD Centre for Corporate Governance in Lagos.

Agro-allied operators decry unpaid N175bn export grants BURDENED

Government’s lukewarm attitude towards boosting non-oil sector retards growth

Asst. Editor (Insurance)

Tony Chukwunyem

Asst. Editor (Money Market)

Dele Alao

Industry & Agric Editor

Dayo Ayeyemi Property Editor

Adeola Yusuf Energy Editor

Wole Shadare Aviation Editor

Chris Ugwu

Capital Market Editor

Abdulwahab Isa

Dele Alao

ey operators in the nation’s agricultural sector have lamented Federal Government’s failure to fully implement the policies of Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and Negotiable Duty Credit Certification (NDCC), which were fashioned out by President

Finance Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst. Production Editor

Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to boost the nation’s rice value chain. In a letter to the outgoing president, copied the immediate past Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the operators, under the auspices of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), regretted that government reneged on the agreement to implement the EEG policy framework for 2014 as announced by the Finance Ministry. FACAN, in a letter dated May 11, 2015 and signed by its National President, Dr. Victor Iyama, noted that member-companies and organisations in the

agriculture and agro-allied sector form the bulk of the non-oil exporters in the country and contribute over 80 per cent of the nation’s non-oil export earnings. The group said that government’s lukewarm attitude towards boosting the non-oil sector has continued to negatively affect sustained economic growth.

N125bn

Value of Negotiable Duty Credit Certification (NDCC) stuck with the exporters over the years

The memo read in part: “Our members have relied on the EEG and NDCC policies to plan their investments and make their pricing decisions. Now, government has been foot-dragging on the issue of implementation of these policies. It is rather saddening that while the Federal Government regularly pays fuel subsidy to marketers with interests and exchange rate adjustments, it is refusing to allow the utilisation of NDCCs, which has been signed by the Federal Ministry of Finance and disbursed to the exporters as a ‘legal tender.’ Our members have been patient, but CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE April 2015................................8.7% March 2015.............................8.5% February 2015.........................8.4%

LENDING RATE InterBank Rate....................12.57% Prime Lending Rate...........17.93% Maximum Lending Rate...26.83%

EXCHANGE RATE (BDC as at May 22)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N222 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N340 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N245

l Foreign Reserves – $29.789bn as at 21/05/2015

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Interbank as at May 22)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N200 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N301 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N214

Business | News

BLOCKAGE

Fuel shortage is making distribution of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) difficult Chris Ugwu

nvestors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) lost about N214 billion as the country groaned under a harsh operating environment triggered by fuel scarcity. The unpleasant trend had led to many companies cutting short their operations in the last one week with an attendant loss of revenue to the quoted firms who were forced to operate at less than half of their capacities. With most companies and dealing firms scaling down operations to cope with the fuel crisis, investigation by New Telegraph showed that investors on the Exchange lost N214 billion in market capitalisation in the last one week. The market capitalisation of the NSE, which measures the value of listed stocks, stood at N11.603 trillion at the close of trading last Monday as against the opening figure of N11.817 trillion at the close of trading on April 18. Analysts at Renaissance Capital Limited had said that Nigerian consumer stocks are

Fuel crisis: Investors in stocks lose N214bn struggling through a “lost year” as a slump in oil prices buffets Africa’s largest economy. Fuel shortage is making it harder to distribute goods as companies such as Guinness Nigeria Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc grapple with a slowing economy and weaker local currency, said head of

have been subjected to continued neglect,” FACAN declared. The group disclosed that two official files on EEG Implementation Committee meeting have been awaiting approval of the Ministry of Finance since 2014, adding that the documents deal with the approved EEG claims of various exporters up to 2013. It was, however, learnt that the Federal Ministry of Finance was part of the committee that scrutinised and approved the claims. FACAN president, Iyama, disclosed that investigations showed that owing to the undue delay, exporters face hard times in view of their EEG claims still pending for processing and approval by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). He added: “No EEG Inter-Ministerial Committee meeting has been done for the past 18 months. The EEG Inter-Ministerial Committee is chaired by

equities at the Moscowbased investment bank that focuses on emerging markets, Benjamin Samuels. Investors will also shun the country’s banks until there is more clarity on how they’re responding to the risk of higher defaults because of lower crude prices, he said. “Some see 2015 as a lost

year for growth and margins” in consumer stocks, he said in an interview in Lagos. “The cost of imports has gone through the roof with the decline of the naira. Companies are facing challenges around distribution and weaker sales,” Samuels said. According to Bloomberg News, growth slowed to four per cent in the first

quarter from 5.9 per cent in the last three months of 2014. Nigeria, which derives 90 per cent of export earnings from oil, has been hit by the Brent variety’s 40 per cent drop since June. The naira has depreciated 19 per cent against the dollar over the past 12 months. Nigerians have faced long queues for fuel in re-

cent weeks in a country that relies on imports to meet over 70 per cent of its domestic needs. While government guarantees cheaper fuel by subsidising gasoline, it’s struggling to pay marketers the difference between the landing price of refined oil and the fixed domestic rate as low crude prices deplete revenue. Nestle’s net income fell 51 per cent to N2.95 billion ($15 million) in the first quarter from a year earlier. The stock has lost 18 per cent in the last 12 months, while Guinness’s shares are down 11 per cent and Unilever 8.2 per cent.

L-R: Legal & External Affairs Director, British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN), Freddy Messanvi; President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs; Managing Director, BATN, Chris McAllister and Operations Director, Charles Kyalo, during the courtesy visit by the officials of MAN to BAT, Ibadan factory.

Agro-allied operators flay unpaid export grants CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Ministry of Finance and it is the final decision making body for the EEG Scheme. There are many important issues on which decision is still pending, some of which are 300 days rule for repatriation of export proceeds – to be extended to 360 days for exports done during 2009 and 2010 owing to the prevailing global financial crisis; Timeline for NEPC to complete the processing of pending claims within a specified period; EEG claims to be processed on FIFO (First In First Out) basis so that it is transparent and fair to every exporter. “At present, the claims are taken up for processing on an ad-hoc basis and this has resulted in a situation where some exporters have got almost their entire claims approved and disbursed while many others have substantial claims stuck at NEPC for years; we believe that over N50billion of EEG claims of exporters are pending for the period up to 2013.”

CAVEAT

There should be no deterioration of Nigeria’s political and security landscape Sunday Ojeme

espite threats posed by oil price volatility, renowned economic analyst, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has reassured that the Nigerian economy will continue to grow even if oil prices fall to $35 per barrel and average $45 per barrel in 2015, but with a caveat. This can only come to fruition if there is no deterioration of the political and security landscape. In its latest report on: “What next for Nigeria’s economy? Navigating the rocky road ahead, PwC economic scenarios for 2015 and 2016,” the analyst pointed out that although the economy would continue to grow, a more resilient long-term economic model is needed. It noted that in the long-term, however, Nigeria’s policymakers must encourage a more resilient economic model, fit to harness the country’s strong growth fundamentals. According to the study, a large services and agriculture

PwC sees brighter economy for Nigeria despite oil rout sector has developed independently of the oil sector and this should help to insulate the real economy from a downturn in oil prices. However, any deterioration of the political and security landscape could unnerve investors and tip the country into recession. If a ‘medium’ political shock occurs against the backdrop of a severe oil price scenario, the report predicts that Nigeria’s economy could see zero growth or even contract in 2015 and again in 2016. Partner and Chief Economist at PwC Nigeria, Dr. Andrew S. Nevin, said: “We explored two types of shocks in the report: an oil price shock and a political shock. The first scenario looks at oil price averaging $55/ bbl over 2015 and stabilising at $70/bbl in 2016 with a smooth transition and maintenance of political stability in the country. “Scenario 2 envisages the reemergence of Iran oil production in Q2 of 2015, which could drive oil prices to as low as $35/ bbl and reaching a new equilibrium level of $60/bbl in 2016 consistent with the most bearish forecasts from analysis. The third scenario follows a similar pattern as Scenario 2 with oil

prices averaging $45/bbl in 2016 in addition to severe political or security shock arising from escalation of Boko Haram insurgency and/or resurgence of restiveness in the Niger Delta. “Our modelling and forecasts show that while the economy will continue to struggle even under the most benign scenario, it will be able to realise growth averaging 4.0 per cent for the period. “These scenarios present important issues to consider for all organisations exposed to Nigeria. We are already supporting several public and private clients across a range of sectors to help them understand what these scenarios could mean for them and how they can build preparedness through their business planning processes. ” Commenting on why further fall in the oil price even to as low as $35/bbl will not slow the economy, Nevin noted: “Despite oil’s importance to Nigerian exchequer, the real economy is largely insulated against falling oil prices. This is driven by the fundamental structure of Nigeria’s economy and how the oil and public sectors interact with the non-oil sector.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

TUC warns Buhari against romance with oil cartel p.32 GREAT EXPECTATIONS Change of guard in the nation’s leadership opens a window of expectations

Labour

Oil reform, workers’ welfare top agenda for new govt

s the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, takes over the reins of leadership today, it is obvious he would be confronted with myriad of challenges especially considering the level the economy has been battered. Coming at a time that some workers in the civil service are battling with their employers to defray their arrears of salaries, the atmosphere of transition has provided a good opportunity for the various labour unions to speak out and remind the new government of what it should do to rebuild the economy for the benefit of all. Workers’ welfare/cost of governance As a matter of urgent necessity, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria among other suggestions in its agenda for the Buhari administration wants the government to bring down the high cost of governance. According to the President of the congress, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, there is need for the new administration to cut down on political appointments, as well as discourage and discontinue the process whereby lawmakers fix their own salaries and allowances. While noting that the state of the country required surgical, politico-economic operation to return it to normalcy, the TUC leaders also expressed worries over the high cost of living vis-a-vis the current N18,000 minimum wage. He said that the incoming government should review the salaries and allowances of workers. To put an end to perennial fuel crisis, he also observed the need for concrete steps be taken on the issue of local refining to put a stop to the issue of importation of petroleum products and payment of subsidy. He also called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, pay serious attention to ailing industry, particularly the textile sector of the economy that used to be the second largest employer of labour after government. “Efforts should be made to collaborate with the stakeholders to see to its survival. Equally, the paper industry needs immediate intervention if the government is serious towards the creation of jobs for Nigerians,” the congress noted. The president also frowned at the way and manner the public office holders are paying themselves severance benefits running into billions of naira without addressing the legitimate concerns of the workers on the issue of pension and gratuity. He

entire people of Nigeria. “These challenges are as result of past neglects, wrong policies and policy summersault in some areas of the subsectors. All these are inflicting pains on Nigerians who ought to be enjoying the benefits of the natural resources that God bequeathed to the country.” He listed some of the challenges to include pipeline vandalisation, crude oil theft, state of the refineries, intractable and persistent scarcity of petroleum products, subsidy payment controversies, divestment, illegal transfer or allocation of oil blocks, irregular Joint Venture (JV) funding with emphasis on delay in cash call payment, inadequate funding of government agencies in the oil and gas sector and undue interference in the management of government agencies.

Kaigama

Johnson

therefore called on the incoming government to restore payment of gratuity along with pension. Separation of powers As regards insecurity, the TUC leadership recommended that efforts be made to halt killings and kidnapping in the country by adequately equipping and motivating the armed forces. Kaigama also called on the government to strengthen the war against corruption by maintaining the principle of separation of power, and making the judiciary independent of the executive. “The Chief Justice of the Federation and Chief Judge of each state should not be appointed by President and Governors; and Judges should not stay in the office at the pleasure of the President or Governors. Government should strengthen the policies and institutional framework and put in place credible individuals to curb all forms of anti-corruption practices,” he added. The president also called on the government to immediately halt and reverse the last minutes transfers of the operatorship of some oil mining licences. Industrial revolution He noted, “The Federal Government as a matter of urgency should pay serious attention to ailing industry, particularly the textile sector of the economy that use to be the second largest employer of labour after govern-

Government should strengthen the policies and institutional framework and put in place credible individuals

ment. Efforts should be made to collaborate with the stakeholders to see to its survival. Equally, the Paper & Paper Industry needs immediate intervention if the government is serious towards the creation of jobs for Nigerians. On its part, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) called on the new government to declare a state of emergency in the oil and gas sector of the economy to address the plethora of issues bedeviling the sector. The workers argued that all sub-sectors of the oil and gas industry were going through one problem or currently drawing down the entire economy. The President of the association, Comrade Francis Johnson, said that there were many issues, which required urgent attention from the incoming government to reposition the industry for efficient and effective delivery of its benefits to Nigerians. He advised the new government to call an all-inclusive stakeholders’ forum of those involved in operations in the sector to critically examine and proffer workable and enduring solutions to all the problems in the larger interest of the Nigerian nation. He said, “All the sub-sectors of the oil and gas industry have one challenge or the other and all these challenges are affecting the deliveries of the benefits of our God-given hydrocarbon resources to the country and the

PIB passage Recalling the failure of the past National assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law, he said there was need for an all-inclusive stakeholders summit – of the industry operators/players, presidency reps, National Assembly members, security and service chiefs, state governments, MDAs reps, NNPC, NEITI, revenue offices, NLC/ TUC, NUPENG/PENGASSAN to harmonise the grey areas and ensure accelerated passage of the PIB in a fair and equitable manner. “While the PIB is being attended, government must resolve the foggy issues in fiscal stability and predictability of the extant laws and the regulatory framework, certainty around the portfolio assets leasing to allow the operators the first right of renewal and pending cash call on JV operations expenditure and improved funding of capital projects,” he added. He suggested, “Government should declare a state of emergency in the downstream oil and gas sector and summon all stakeholders forum to come up with concrete and sustainable steps with reliable timeline for achieving demand-supply equilibrium through local refining. The strategy must be able to guarantee a total stoppage of both petroleum products importation and fuel subsidy. “Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) for which N21 billion is provided in the 2015 Budget should be scrapped. SURE-P largesse is at the whims of the party in power to settle those it wishes to favour with a lot of integrity issues around the programme regarding fostering balance and accountability.”

Business | Labour

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

TUC warns Buhari against romance with oil cartel ECONOMY The oil workers’ strikes have often grounded economic activities Stories by Sunday Ojeme

he incoming government of General Muhammadu Buhari has been advised to avoid any form of unpatriotic romance with the oil cabal. This stemmed from the criminal grip on the nation’s oil sector by members of the cabal, resulting sometimes in the scarcity of petroleum products. The Trade Union Congress (TUC), gave this advice to Buhari in a statement made available to New Telegraph in Lagos. It said it had become necessary as the cartel has held the country hostage and grounded the economy on several previous occasions. The President, TUC, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, and the Secretary General, Comrade Musa Lawal, in the statement, also demanded thorough probe of the Ministries of Finance and Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and the Department of Petroleum Resources. The congress called on the Federal Government to urgently resolve the scarcity of fuel,

especially diesel and premium motor spirit (PMS), in the country. It stressed that it was urgent to end the ugly development whereby workers have been trekking long distances to their respective workplaces since the catastrophic fuel scarcity started some two weeks ago. The Congress also lamented the series of scarcity, which it described as totally uncalled for, a needless pain, with transport fares and prices of goods sky-rocketing to unprecedented levels. The statement noted, “Indeed the unsavoury situation is biting harder as commercial activities across the country have been grounded. Unfortunately there appears to be no end in sight to the nightmare. “The situation became so bad that some domestic airlines cancelled or rescheduled their flights as a result of their inability to source aviation fuel. Prominent banks and media houses also alerted the nation that they would be closing their daily operations at 1:00 pm. until further notice. Telecommunications outfits also gave notice of likely shutdown of some of their base stations because of the scarcity of diesel to power their generators. “Even the public power supply has been rendered comatose for want of fuel to sustain it, thus occasioning total black-out that has crippled the economy in most parts of the country. It is as though there is no government in place.

Technical school gets facility from ITF/NECA A Lagos-based technical school, Government Technical College, Ikorodu, has been given a carpentry workshop by Industrial Training Fund and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association. Presenting the facility to the technical school, the Director, Technical Skill Development Project, NECA, Mrs. Helen Jemerigbe, said that the furniture craft workshop was constructed to enable the students have a place to learn and carry out practical. She said that the donation was done to create a lasting impact on the present and future generations of technical students, adding that before the expiration of the Memorandum of Understanding the group would provide furniture and equipment to complement the facility. On her part, the Lagos State Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, expressed delight at the achievement which had been made possible through publicprivate partnership. She emphasised the benefits the partnership had brought to the technical

and vocational skills sector of education, saying it was the assistance needed for self-empowerment and for bridging the gap in the supply of needed manpower to the industries. She said, “I stand here today, fulfilled that this administration is moving the technical and vocational education sub-sector forward. This we have achieved most especially in the area of private partnership intervention in the education sector. The support of our school initiative continues to attract the participation of individuals, corporate bodies, foundations and religious organisations. “The task of a brighter future for our children involves parents, communities, teachers and such support from the organised private sector. It is therefore with immense pleasure that I recognise and acknowledge this partnership through Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board on behalf of the Lagos State Government and the ITF-NECA under the technical skills development project.”

How else does one rationalise the fact that the inhabitants of the sixth largest oil-producing nation in the world are suddenly buying fuel at between N250 and N600 per litre? “We are particularly dismayed that many lives have been lost as a result of the scarcity. It is no news that we live in a society where most people contend with unbelievably overwhelming pressure that has often given rise to high blood pressure and other health challenges, and this is in a nation whose health system has been very dysfunctional within the last three decades. Nigerians are suffering and dying in their hundreds.” The Congress advised that the twilight of the outgoing administration should not translate to a total dislocation of the economy and mortgaging of the people’s wellbeing. TUC said: “For the fact that

the administration is still in power, it is duty-bound to arrest the nationwide fuel scarcity, and we expect that this be done immediately. The average Nigerian is not interested in anything contrary, not even in the claims and counter-claims between the Finance Minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and oil marketers over the so-called N159 billion or balance N200 billion subsidy payment. All Nigerians want is to see the by-products of the black gold made readily available at the approved pump prices and at every filling station in the land. “We have also noted recent media reports quoting a group as saying that the current fuel scarcity in the country might persist beyond May 29 unless Federal Government liquidates the outstanding N200 billion allegedly owed oil marketers. We advise the Government to avert the threat by meeting its obli-

gation to the marketers. This crisis cannot happen in other climes. It cannot happen where there is probity and sense of accountability. The Government should meet its contractual obligations and salvage the situation. Our people must not continue to suffer in the midst of plenty. The fuel scarcity must be stopped immediately.” The Congress counseled the marketers to shelve their threat and opt for a more peoplefriendly solution based on fruitful dialogue with the Government, saying that any contrary action would needlessly harm 170 million innocent Nigerians. “We also implore all Nigerians to remain calm and keep hope alive, even as we anticipate that the incoming government of General Muhammadu Buhari would promptly tackle the issues satisfactorily if the present administration fails to do so,” it added.

L-R: Leader, VGC Branch, Fidelity Bank Plc, Isaac Usanga; Executive Director, Lagos and South West, Ikemuefuna Mbagwu and representative of the Education Secretary, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, T. O. Lawal, at the commissioning of Home Economics, Arts and Crafts centre donated by the bank to Ikota Primary School, Ikota, Lagos.

Chemstar Paints rewards workers at 20

hemstar Paints Industry Nigeria Limited, manufacturer of Finecoat and Shield Paints products, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary by rewarding some of its workers amid praise worship and prayer session. The occasion also provided the an opportunity for the Group Managing Director (GMD) and Executive Chairman of the company, Mr. Aderemi Emmanuel Awode, to reassure the workers that their welfare would always remain management’s top priority. While tracing the journey of the company, which began operations in a one-room apartment in Mushin, Lagos in May 1995, with only three members of staff, Awode said the company had every cause to glorify the Almighty God for its success story and for reaching its present heights. Awode, who described the workers as the greatest assets of the company, however, said the

management would continue to motivate and reward them. “I want to appreciate you our workers and for this reason the management has declared today a work-free day for us to rejoice and celebrate together,” he said. To commemorate the anniversary each of the over 1,000 workers went home N10,000 as anniversary bonus and a LG Home Theatre. Leading the praise worship and prayer session, the Deputy Managing Director (DMD), Pastor Adedayo Paseda, expressed the determination of the company to meet the paint needs of the country through quality products and services. While stressing that the company has a crop of dedicated work force, Awode noted that the over 1,000 workers would be adequately rewarded as the need arises. Other activities lined up to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the company

include the GMD Award day, billed for May 30 and a thanksgiving service on Sunday May 31 at the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, Chapel of Divine Blessing, AIT Road, Alagbado, Lagos. The anniversary had since been flagged off in February with the annual Staff Week and the Customers’ Forum, which took place at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja. According to Awode, the workers would be rewarded and appropriately celebrated during the GMD Award billed for Saturday in various categories in recognition of their contributions to the growth and development of the industry. Other top management staff at the prayer and praise worship session include the AGM Strategic and Business Development, Dr. Tunde Olaniya; the general Manager Sales and Marketing, Mr. Fola Laguda and the Assistant Manager, Finance, Mr. Tiwalade Adebiyi, among others.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

Nigeria accounts for 1% of $61bn world’s agrochemicals p.34

As General Muhammadu Buhari assumes power today, stakeholders in the agriculture sector list what his administration needs to do to ensure food security. DELE ALAO writes

ith the recent showcasing of his farm in Daura, Katsina State, to some dignitaries, which included the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, General Muhammadu Buhari has proved that his government meant well for agriculture. Earlier at a meeting with some Northern elders, Buhari had promised to diversify the economy from oil to agriculture in addition to mining. However, some stakeholders have expressed their views on areas, which the new administration should focus on. In a chat with the New Telegraph, an architect, Kabir Ibrahim, of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), urged the incoming government to increase budgetary allocation for agriculture to 20 per cent, effective from 2016. “I call on the new government to increase agriculture allocation to 20 per cent starting with the 2016 budget,” Ibrahim said. Budget increase “Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is agriculture-friendly because he is a farmer. I know his farm. I am sure that he will help farmers. Following the dwindling fortunes in the oil sector, whoever is in power should give priority attention to agriculture. Our expectation is very high. We expect

Agric

Budget increase, others top schema for Buhari him to devote 20 per cent of the national budget to agriculture in order to harness all the potentials in the sector,” he added. Also, the Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos chapter, Otunba Femi Oke, said that a radical reviving of agriculture and the agro-processing value chain remain key to the nation’s economic transformation. Food security The Oyo State chapter chairman of AFAN, Olumide Ayinla, tasked the new government on the need to sustain the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). “The Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) has proved to be one of government’s programmes that could ensure food security in the country. I will, therefore, advice the new administration to continue with the ATA,” Ayinla said. The AFAN chairman urged the new administration to develop a national agricultural blueprint that would serve as a guide to the sector. He also advised the new government to ensure easy access to finance by farmers irrespective of their political leanings. On his part, the Chairman, Agric Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(LCCI) and the Managing Director, Bama Farms Limited, Mr. Wale Oyekoya, recommended that at least 10 per cent of the country’s annual budget should be devoted to agriculture.

African countries’ annual budgets to agriculture as against the current 3.5 per cent allocation to the sector in such countries since we are signatory to it. The administration must also make

Reforms He also called for the review of subsisting schemes and reforms to make them more supportive of farm output. “Others include to encourage family farming and capacitybuilding; encourage local production; ban the importation of foods that can be produced locally; tighten the nation’s porous borders; tackle corruption; facilitate access to funds with single-digit interest rate and less cumbersome requirements; access to farm lands; provision of modern farm equipment to farmers to boost production, processing and value chains and consistent local content policy,” he said. Technical Adviser, AFAN, Dr. Tunde Arosanyin, called on the new administration to drive Nigeria’s economy on agriculture as a means of combating the dwindling fortunes from the oil sector. Arosanyin, who noted that agriculture remained the most vibrant option for the country, said that Buhari would have to make this happen by making adequate budgetary allocations to the agricultural sector to make it more attractive to would-be farmers. “General Buhari must ensure that the agricultural sector get the basic budgetary requirements. We must respect the 2003 Maputo Declaration, which earmarked at least 10 per cent of

Agricultural Commodity Prices – Grains Commodity Wheat Corn Soybeans Soybean Meal Soybean Oil Oats Rough Rice Hard Red Wheat Spring Wheat

the sector attractive to farmers. Farming must not only be a source of feeding, but must be taken as serious business that stands to generate income for the country,” Arosanyin said.

Price 496-2 356-4 931-6 308.5 32.30 240-2 9.485 526-4 555-4

Change -5-2 -3-2 +3-0 +4.7 -0.31 -1-2 -0.020 -11-2 -6-0

Contract Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15

Time(ET) 10:56 10:56 10:56 10:56 10:56 10:54 10:51 10:56 10:56

Price 63.89 114.90 126.75 12.14 3155 24.85 1.2405 0.1196 3137.00 0.6347 275.60

Change +0.01 -1.40 +0.75 -0.23 -20 +0.12 -0.0290 -0.0018 -13.00 +0.0016 -1.80

Contract Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15 Jul 15

Time(ET) 10:56 10:53 10:56 10:56 10:56 10:12 05/26/15 10:46 08:24 10:22 10:54

Price 152.275 220.700 84.500

Change +0.325 +0.850 +0.500

Time(ET) 10:56 10:56 10:56

16.59

+0.18

Contract Jun 15 Aug 15 Jun 15 Jun 15

Softs Commodity Cotton #2 Orange Juice Coffee Sugar #11 Cocoa Sugar #16 CME Coffee CME Sugar #11 CME Cocoa CME Cotton #2 Lumber

Meats Commodity Live Cattle Feeder Cattle Lean Hogs Class III Milk

10:55

Commodities trade on different exchanges with different trading sessions. Change always shows from the previous close price. Quotes delayed, except where indicated otherwise. All prices in local currency. Time is ET. Source: Bloomberg

Business | Agric

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Nigeria accounts for 1% of $61bn world’s agrochemicals DISAPPOINTING No local production of crop protection agrochemicals in the country Stories by Dele Alao

ith a 2013 revenue of about $61 billion, Nigeria accounts for less than one per cent of the global agrochemical industry, while the whole of Africa’s share is just about four per cent. This was disclosed by the Chairman, Candel Group, manufacturers of agrochemicals, Charles Anudu, at the official commissioning of a multibillion naira manufacturing plant at Lekki Free Zone. The project, which is only in its first phase, when completed, will deliver a facility with capacity for 80 million litres of formulated products per annum. It will enable Candel to deliver solutions most suited to Ni-

geria’s tropical climate and peculiar farming systems. There is currently no local production of crop protection agrochemicals in Nigeria with over $400 million in foreign exchange expended yearly to import them. The chairman said: “Our facility is positioned both for Candel’s own distribution networks in Nigeria and Ghana and for contract manufacturing for other operators in Nigeria and abroad. We can produce and ship any order to reach any part of Nigeria within one week and anywhere within the West and Central African subregions within two weeks, barring any unforeseen logistics and regulatory problems, hence empowering our farmers and patrons to meet any demand opportunities promptly. “Crop protection chemicals shield crops from weeds, pests and diseases when on the field, during transportation and in store and also help the quest for increased crop yields and better preservation by Nigerian farmers. Our facility is configured

to produce products specially targeted at small scale farmers as well as customised formulations with different surfactant levels and packaging for large scale farmers. Specifically, this facility will enable Candel to deliver solutions most suited to West and Central Africa’s tropical climate and peculiar farming systems.” Also, the Managing Director, Candel Group, Mr. Emmanuel Kattie, said: “We are determined to restore the quality standard that has since declined in our industry by ensuring that every product that is made in our facility meets the highest international standard for such a product. Nigerian farmers will get peace of mind when they buy any of the products made in this factory.” Earlier, while commissioning the plant, outgoing governor of the state, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), commended the group for the initiative and urged other investors to take advantage of the opportunities in the LFZ.

BAT seeks cooperation to fight illegal tobacco trade ritish American Tobac- ment, which could have been B co (BAT) has reiterated higher. A crucial fact to also the need for greater under- note is that sales of illegal standing of the illegal tobacco trade, the criminals behind it and the need for cooperation and collaboration to fight it. This call to action was part of a new campaign developed by BAT to raise awareness of the facts around the illegal tobacco trade to coincide with the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s World No Tobacco Day on Sunday. BAT’s Legal and External Affairs Director, Freddy Messanvi, said: “The impact of illegal tobacco may not be felt as immediately and directly as other crimes, but the consequences are very real. By some estimates, illegal tobacco costs governments around the world $40 to $50 billion each year in unpaid tobacco taxes. In West Africa, it is estimated to cost about $774 million to governments across the region. Coming closer home, in Nigeria, this implies that illicit activities attributes to the shortfall in government revenue from tobacco sales by an underestimation of over N216 billion paid in taxes to the Nigerian govern-

tobacco have been reported to fund human trafficking, drug and arms trades as well as terrorist organisations’ activities globally. “British American Tobacco Nigeria has been operating here since 2003. In the 15 years of our operations in Nigeria, we have shown commitment to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Nigerian government to regularise the tobacco sector, support sustainable Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and contribute to socio- economic development in Nigeria.” He also noted that the partnerships with government agencies had yielded a significant reduction in incidence of illicit tobacco products in Nigeria, with a reduction from about 80 per cent share of market when BAT first came in to less than 20 per cent as at 2015, thereby supporting the reclaiming of government revenue lost through illegal tobacco marketing channels. Though a significant achievement, we believe that there is still work to be done in this area,” he added.

Mechanised irrigation system market to hit $4.8bn by 2019

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN); Chairman, Candel Company Limited, Mr. Charles Anudu; his wife Fidelma; Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce & Industry, Mrs. Olushola Oworu; and Managing Director, Candel Company Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Kattie, at the inauguration of the Candel Agrochemical Plant at the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos.

IFAD disburses N665m to 52,000 homes in Cross River

he International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has said that it has disbursed N665.7 million as grant to empower 52,000 rural household farmers in Cross River communities from 2007 till date. IFAD is a United Nations’ agency dedicated to eradicating poverty in developing countries. IFAD’s Coordinator in the state, Mr. Innocent Ogbin, said that the grant, under its Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme in the Niger Delta (CBNRMP-ND), was for various agricultural businesses that

would make them self-reliant. According to him, IFAD trained the beneficiaries on entrepreneurship, livestock, fishery, piggery, crop production as well as vegetable and pineapple production. He said: “As you can see from the projects inspected so far, you will understand that this money has been judiciously used by the beneficiaries. “Our projects are spread across 27 communities in 16 local government areas, out of the 18 in the state; Boki and Akamkpa local governments were not captured. “This programme effectively commenced in the state

in 2007 and, since then, we have trained and disbursed N665.7million to over 52,000 households and most of them are now employers of labour.” Also, IFAD National Coordinator, Mrs. Irene Jumbo, who encouraged youths to embrace farming, said that agriculture was too productive and selfsustaining to be ignored by the youths. “Beneficiaries of IFAD in Cross River have done marvellously well. Some of them are now benefiting from the sales of their produce while others have expanded their businesses and employing others,’’ she said.

he mechanised irrigation systems market is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.3 per cent between 2014 and 2019 and is expected to reach $4.8 billion by 2019. According to a report tagged: “Mechanised Irrigation Systems Market - Global Trends & Forecast to 2019”, the market was dominated by North America in 2013, which accounted for around 39 per cent of the total mechanised irrigation systems market. “The Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the fastestgrowing market during the period considered for this study, due to the growing demand for food and increasing awareness about the benefits of mechanised irrigation systems here. In terms of applications, agricultural crops are projected to be the largest segment from 2014 to 2019. The global

Tractors

market for mechanised irrigation systems has grown exponentially in the last few years. Water-scarce regions and agriculture-based countries are the primary targets of the industry. Increased crop yield and improved quality by using mechanised irrigation systems are driving the global mechanised irrigation systems market,” the report said. The report added: “The demand in developed nations is driven primarily by the newly developed technology profiles and the increasing convenience for farmers. The demand for mechanised irrigation systems is growing rapidly in the world’s most populous developing countries such as China and India. Extensive changes in climate have attracted the farmers of developing countries of the Asia-Pacific towards the use of mechanised irrigation systems.”

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, May 29, 2015

32 Special Features

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Abia in ruins as T. A. Orji quits Ebere Wabara

et me declare from the outset that eclipsing Theodore Ahamefula Orji of Abia State is the worst governor the country has ever produced and will never experience again for multitudinous reasons that border on incompetency, incapacity, surrogacy and power drunkenness. A vainglorious bloke that calls himself “Ochendo” who allowed his boyish son to run the state for him while he watched sleepily and sheepishly in holistic submission and haplessness! And to compound issues, outgoing Prsident Goodluck Jonathan protected this disastrous governor through pedestrian policies and patronages that misled the public into thinking that this man was doing creditably when in reality and from all indications he was unarguably the worst governor this country has ever had. There can never be another T. A. Orji in human history of public governance. Why on earth would President Jonathan embark on foreign trips with a non-performer like this fellow? The worst aspect of the presidential shield was the conferment of a national award on T. A. Orji. Why would he not be emboldened to go for the senate? Nigeria is indeed a circus show if the like of T. A. Orji will end up in the upper legislative chamber. This is the summit of infatalism. As this man quits in a few hours from now, different categories of workers are being owed between nine and 18 months’ salaries. All through his worthless tenure the judiciary was on intermittent strikes due to non-payment of emoluments. Monday, May 25, 2015, they embarked on another round of industrial action. Staff of tertiary institutions of learning have adjusted to a life of irregular salary payment or non-payment at all. This civil service irresponsibility never happened before in the history of the state. T. A. Orji’s government was founded and rooted in mass deception, lies and unparalleled propaganda. When Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State visited Abia State recently, his host took him to Bende road within the precincts of the Abia Tower, off Aba road and, typically, lied to him that his fatalistic administration transformed the major road from single to doubl carriageway up to Arochukwu, whereas the dual carriage access stopped at Isieke Ibeku Primary School— and not Arochukwu as Orji parroted—approximately a 10-kilometre distance from the tower. Another deceit is the interminable and viral placement of Secretariat road in multimedia channels as if that was the only road in the state. Just as most of the roads in the state are unmotorable at any speed, public schools are decrepit, appalling and hallmarks of Orji’s systemic ruination of God’s Own State. Scholastic pursuit here has taken a back seat, almost irredeemably with backlogs of unpaid salaries (including leave allowances) to various faculties and infrastructural decomposition! Anyone who thinks these are brainwaves from an oppositional press should visit Abia State today and see the state of rot before the monumental failure vacates office tomorrow. Such fact-finding trips and authentification exercises should start from Aba which signposts the worst dilapidation in human history. Whoever cares should visit Government College, Umuahia, Girls’ High School, Aba, and Ndume Otuka Secondary School, Umuahia, as benchmarks for any investigation. Ever heard of the hoax called “Legacy Projects”? These are fraudulent manipulations and re-engineering of existing

Orji

facilities that are whitewashed, rebranded and launched as novel structures in shambolic measures. The dubiosity covers all sectors of the state. Hardly can you see entirely new infrastructures. Most people have been hoodwinked overtime that they have come to believe the tissues of lies well packaged by Orji and his charlatanistic boys who held the state by the jugular for eight uneventful, locust years. Wherever you see any trace of “Legacy Project”, be cautious before the wool is pulled over your eyes. Lest I forget, what has become of “Ochendo Vanguard”? Yet another brainless, unproductive and combative creation of this man targetted at “oppositional renegades”. T. A. Orji’s despotism is unequalled in this vanishing dispensation. Arbitrariness characterised his wasted eight years as the governor of this unfortunate, nay cursed, state. All manner of oppositions were roundly subdued in the past inglorious years in the state amid allegations of killer-gangs who go after recalcitrant antagonists of the Orji government. The gross insentivity is usch that those who should have spoken up have either been cowed or compromised that they have turned a blind eye to Orji’s unprecedented misrule. A group of famished and nondescript Abians tagged “elders” go about endorsing the illegalities, ruination and desecration of Abia by Orji because of the handouts he gives them monthly. It will never be well with poverty which has mortgaged the conscience of this category of my people. When persons who are supposed to challenge the governor are on his miserly pay-roll, the man can get away with murder! Official thuggery and intimidation are celebrated here in government circles. Dissenters and opponents are routinely threatened and in some cases subjected to gruesome doses of inhumanities. Just before Orji vamooses, it should be instructive to know the identities of the owners of buildings on Aguiyi Ironsi Layout, owners of Benac Hotels (formerly Empire Hotels), luxury structures at Ochendo Estate, among other copious acquisitions here and choice homes abroad. Yet, the state was left to decompose on account of squandermania by its outgone manager. Can all those who were forced to sell/forefeit their houses and land to Orji come up now and let the public know why our comatose state could not advance beyond its prevaiing paralysis? How can a man with acquisitive tendencies that smack of kleptomania have resources and the time to run the state creditably and enthrone good governance?

There is every indication in this twilight that roads in the state will remain the way they had been in the past eight years. This is no airport fiction. Just visit Ikot Ekpene, Omuma, School, Clifford, Eziukwu, Kaduna, Saint Michael’s (close to the Central Police Station), Osusu, Urata, Obohia, Force, Nkwo Ngwa Market, Port Harcourt, Asa by Pound, Ngwa by Ohanku roads are mostly impassable as they have all been taken over by weeds and other eyesores. If there is superfluous money to buy posh and elitist houses in parts of the state, Abuja, Lagos and overseas, there should also be funds to fix these roads just as Governors Godswill Akpabio, Ibrahim Sehu Shema, Sule Lamido and Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan of Akwa Ibom, Katsina, Jigawa and Delta states, respectively, have done for their environments. Good governance is essentially the provision of basic amenities— and not crass insensitivity, wantonness, political sleaze and outright banditry that pigeon-holes integrity, character and reputation and throws up insurmountable and irredeemable perceptional problems that will trail Orji and his immediate and extended clan till eternity. And so shall it be! Despite the creation of the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA), headed by Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, the governorship stooge of Orji who is aspiring to take over from his benefactor, Abia State is today, unequivocally, the dirtiest state in the country. It is so bad that the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) coaches cannot move due to refuse blockages of tracks. The issue became so bad that Engr. Femi Sijuwade of the NRC had to recently cry out for intervention from concerned authorities. Yet, the compensation for this inefficiency is the reward of governorship ticket to Ikpeazu by Orji in perpetuation of his fiefdomand perpetration of mediocrity. From the foregoing and other issues coming up, it is easy to understand why Orji is always pelted with sachets water anytime he visits Aba. This explains why during the last prsidential campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan in the South East, Orji did not want the President to go to Aba but for the insistence of the like of Mr. Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State who ensured that the First Citizen stepped into Aba. If there was still time for Orji to constrainedly visit Aba, he would be stoned—no more kid-glove treatment with sachets of packaged water. One of the agencies that deceived Orji is the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia (BCA). This is probably one of the worst, if not the worst, public information outfit in the country. All that the BCA does from morning till night is to sing the praises of the governor and his wife. If any of them is constipated from gastronomical overindulgence the station announces it like a paid advertisement for as many times as the unprofessionals in the organsiation get to the point of imbecilic satiation with such idiocies. There can be no other newsy development other than Orji and his spouse, 24/7. I have never seen this kind of journalistic tragedy in my life. I am sure they will move over to whoever emerges the next governor and the life of stupidity goes on to the detriment of their tax-paying audiences. The same asininity plays out in the state-owned newspaper, The Ambassador. In the same breath, most of his commissioners, SAs and the entire media team were simply incompetent, ignorant and selfish officials who dug their employer’s grave ahead of tomorrow! My take in the T. A. Orji disastrous years (2007-2015) is that there was a visible lack of accountability, transparency and equity in the awful administration of the state. Orji carried on as if it was a family

business and rode roughshod above anyone resident in the state. And those outside the state like me were either abducted (I shall return to this presently) or cowed to silence, if not wasted! IN 2012, there was a budget of N12.06 billion and the next year N134.14 billion. Still, as you read this there is nothing to behold in the entire state—forget the photoshop pictures and documentaries splashed across multimedia platforms in ochestration of propagandistic governance. I have deliberately left out the 2014 budget as I learned that most of it was deployed in the emergence and potential enthronement of Orji’s puppet. Ikpeazu, at all costs by fire, by power, by pound sterling, by dollar, by naira, by any means, as the next governor of Abia State. I just hope the tribunal aborts this malarial dream! Otherwise, my state is doomed forever! The establishment of the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Commission by an act of parliament to ameliorate the privations of communities in the state that produce oil has turned out to be another drain pipe as such communities remain neglected while the funds for their rehabilitation are siphoned in cahoot with the regime of misappropriation, graft and thievishness. Unfortunately, the House of Assembly that should have checked some of these excesses has become a collusive partner in the wilful and bestial progress of the Executive. I have always insisted that what we have in Nigeria are rubber-stamp legislatures at all levels who cannot interrogate another arm of government because the so-called legislators have been mortally compromised. I can never forget the observation of Prince Arthur Eze not too long ago that Abia State was in a state of rot and needed a messianic intervention from the Presidency or any other liberator who can halt the drift. The Jonathan presidency that Prince Eze looked up to in the redemption of Abia State was indeed one of the greatest supporters/problems of Orji in his ledership vacuity, mediocrity and hopelessness. Of course, pedestrian attempts by Orji’s megaphones to burst into the mind and oupourings of Prince Eze and recreate verifiable facts on the ground ended in an embarrassing fiasco. Orji’s case should be left to God as he quits today to oblivion, karmic retributions and harvest of lethal seeds and landmines that await him either in Umuahia or Abuja—God forbid he succeeds in his warped and megalomaniac senatorial quest! I thought the Senate was meant for people with profound dignity, profuse honour, a deep sense of responsibility and a track record/profileof public service quintessence—not the obverse. Finally, for conniving with the Abia State Commisssioner of Police Hassan Adamu to abduct me by a combined team of 17 cops from Lagos to Umuahia handcuffed for 12 hours, driven on bumpy roads and clamped in virtually all the cells in Umuahia in unwarranted humiliation over frivilous charges of sedition, among other crazy counts, it will never be well with Theodore Ahamefula Orji, an amnesic, vainglorious and petty-minded mongrelous ingrate. As for his rudeness, disrespect, demonization, harassment, descration and futile dehumanization of Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, I leave the ingratitude to posterity. May Ochendo never find peace for the rest of his feeble life for his ruination of Abia State and other drunken atrocities against God and the human race. Amen. Here comes the end of ochendoistic stagnancy! To God be the glory.! •Wabara (ewabara@yahoo.com/08055001948) is the media adviser to Dr. Kalu.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

Politics

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

Umahi

Tambuwal

Al-Makura

Ahmed

el-Rufai

Ortom

Shettima

Ganduje

Dakwambo

Yari

ing in 1981 with an MBBS degree. After his National Youth Service, he worked with the then Bendel State Hospitals Management Board as a medical officer before he veered into private practice as director, Victory Medical Centre, Igbanke in 1986. He was secretary to Ika Local Government Area and later chairman of the Ika North-East Local Government Area (19911993). He was also Delta North coordinator of the Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM). He joined the PDP in 1998, and assisted former Governor James Ibori’s campaign in 1998/1999. He served as a Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources (1999-2001), Water Resources Development (2001-2003) and Health (2003-2006). In 2007, Okowa resigned to contest the PDP governorship primaries for Delta State, but did not succeed. After the elections, he was appointed SSG. In 2011, he was elected senator to represent Delta North.

of Companies in 1987. The group is a conglomerate with interests spanning real estate, construction, commerce, hospitality, pharmaceuticals, finance, aviation and banking. He made his debut in politics when he contested and won election as a member of the National Constitutional Conference in 1994 to represent Ideato North/ South Federal Constituency. In 2003, he ran for the presidency on the platform of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) but could not go through the primary election. He was later invited to join the Federal Cabinet by President Olusegun Obasanjo. On leaving Obasanjo’s cabinet, Okorocha formed and registered a political party, Action Alliance (AA), but he left the party in 2007 to contest the PDP presidential primaries. He emerged runner-up to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He is on his second term on the platform of APC.

Nyesom Wike Born at Rumuepirikom community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State on August 24, 1967, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike is the immediate past Minister of State for Education. He had served as Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, and director-general of Governor Chibuike Amaechi’s re-election campaign organisation. Wike holds degrees in Political Science as well as Law. After a brief stint in private legal practice, he went into politics and was elected twice as chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. He is married to Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, a high court judge with the Rivers State judiciary.

Okezie Ikpeazu The former General Manager of the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) won the Abia governorship after a rerun on the platform of PDP. Born on October 18, 1964, Ikpeazu hails from Isialaukwu, Mbato Autonomous Community in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State. He graduated from the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) where he studied Clinical Biochemistry. From August 1984 to August 1985, he served as a clinical biochemist in the medical laboratory of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt for his national youth service. He returned to the University of Maiduguri for an MSc degree in Biochemical Toxicology and graduated in 1990 and obtained a PhD in Biochemical Pharmacology from the University of Calabar. Between 1994 and 1996, he served as Administrative Manager with Cash Bond Investments and Credits Ltd, Lagos. He later joined the services of Enugu State

Rochas Okorocha Born in Ogboko, Ideato South local government area of Imo State in 1962, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha was once a street trader. He was also once a teacher while on part-time studies at the University of Jos. He later left teaching and school management to set up the Rochas Group

University of Science and Technology (ESUT) as Lecturer 1 in the Department of Applied Biochemistry, Faculty of Applied Natural Sciences, and rose to Head of Department by 2001. He was also an Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Department of Biochemistry, Ebonyi State University College of Basic Medical Sciences, between 2000 and 2002. In 2002, Ikpeazu served as the Transition Committee (TC) Chairman for Obingwa Local Government Area. He also served as Special Adviser to the Governor of Abia State. He was appointed General Manager, Abia State Passengers Integrated Manifest and Safety Scheme (ASPIMSS) from 2007 to 2009. In 2010, he was appointed Chairman, Governing Council of Abia State College of Health Technology, Aba. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Popularly known as Gburugburu, Ugwuanyi is a three-term member of the House of Representatives. He represents Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency of Enugu State, Ugwuanyi holds a Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Business Administration from University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Before venturing into politics, Ugwuanyi was the General Manager of Premier Insurance Brokers Limited, Enugu. While in the Green chamber, he chaired the Committee on Marine Transport and served as deputy chairman of the Committee on Public Service Matters and Committee on Pensions. Ugwuanyi was a member of the committees on defence, population, aviation, privatisation, science and technology, and states and local government affairs. He is married to Mrs. Monica and they are blessed with children. Dave Umahi He was born on January 1964, and hails from Uburu Clan, Ohaozara Local Government Area. He was deputy governor before his inauguration as governor. He was general manager, Norman Engineering and Construction Nigeria Lim-

ited, 1990-1993; acting state chairman of PDP, 2007-2009; state PDP chairman; and chairman, Governing Board of the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Delta State, 2010-2011. He attended Umunaga Primary School, Uburu, 1971-1977; Ishiagu High School; Government Secondary School, Afikpo; and the Anambra State University of Science and Technology, where he graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1987. Abubakar Sani Bello Bello is the eldest child of former Military Governor of old Kano State, Col. Sani Bello (rtd). Born on December 17, 1967, Bello attended St. Louis Primary School, Kano and Nigerian Military School, Zaria for primary and post-primary education. He attended University of Maiduguri, where he obtained a BSc in Economics in 1991. He did his NYSC with NICOTES in Port Harcourt between 1991 and 1992. He was Commissioner for Commerce and Investment in the administration of Babangida Aliyu, from August 2009 to August 2010. He was alternate director, Broad Bank; board member, Broad Bank; alternate director, MTN; chairman/chief executive officer, Millennium Travels and Tours; chairman/chief executive officer, Properties and Estates Limited; director, Dornier Aviation Nigeria AIEP Limited (DANA); and chairman, Millennium Air. Tanko Al-Makura Governor Al-Makura, who ran on the platform of the APC, polled 309,746 votes to defeat the APGA candidate and former Minister of Information, Laraban Maku, who got 178,983 votes to be re-elected governor of Nasarawa State. Born in 1952 at Lafia, Nasarawa State, Al-Makura attended Dunama Primary School, Lafia (1959-1966), Keffi Teachers’ College (1967-1971) and former Government Teachers’ College of Education, Uyo (1972-75). He also bagged a Bachelor CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

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of Education from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1978. He started his career as a teacher at Government College, Makurdi, and later worked as Assistant News Producer at the then Broadcasting Corporation of Northern Nigeria after graduating from the university. He established Al-makura Nigeria Limited, a civil and building engineering company, in 1978. Joining mainstream politics in 1980 after years of responsibilities as a student leader, Al-Makura was elected as youth leader of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the old Plateau State. He was elected into the Constituent Assembly in 1988 to represent Lafia/ Obi Federal Constituency of the then Plateau State. Between 1990 and 1992, he served as secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention in the old Plateau State. Abdulfatah Ahmed Ahmed, a banker-turned politician, has been re-elected to govern Kwara State. He was first elected governor of the state in 2011 on the platform of the PDP. Ahmed was born on December 29, 1963 in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. He attended Government College, Funtua, Kastina (1973-1978) and the School of Basic Studies of Kwara State College of Technology (now Kwara State Polytechnic), Ilorin (1978-1980). He proceeded to University of Ilorin and earned a BSc in Chemistry (1986). He also has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). He started as a lecturer and later became Acting Head of Department at Federal College of Arts and Science, Sokoto between 1986 and 1990 before venturing into the banking profession. Among the financial institutions where he worked are District Savings and Loans, Guaranty Trust Bank and Societe Generale Bank. Ahmed served as Kwara State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development between 2003 and 2009, and later Commissioner for Planning and Economic Development. He was also Treasurer of the Forum of Commissioners for Finance in Nigeria for six years, and chairman, Budget Formulation Committee and Economic Team of Kwara State. He won the 2011 governorship and succeeded Dr. Bukola Saraki, his political godfather. Simon Lalong Born in Ajikamai village of Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State on May 5, 1963, Simon Bako Lalong, a lawyer, was elected on the platform of APC. He attended RCM Primary School, Shendam; Government Secondary School, Shendam; School of Preliminary Studies, Keffi; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he graduated with a degree in Law (LLB); and the Nigerian Law School. He has a Master’s degree in Law (LLM) from the University of Jos. He started his professional career with the T-Obot & Co, Legal Practitioners, Jos, after his NYSC programme at the legal unit of the FCDA, Abuja. He also worked with Victor Famwul & Co as managing partner. In 1999, Lalong was elected into the House of Assembly (Shendam Constituency), and he later became Speaker of the Assembly. He was chairman, Conference of Speakers, a forum of all the Assem-

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Tambuwal, Ambode, Wike, bly speakers across Nigeria, for two terms. He was on political sabbatical for a while before coming back to win the April 11 election.

signed to contest for the Governor of Gombe State in 2011. Popularly known as the Talban Gombe, Dankwambo was re-elected on April 11 on the PDP platform.

Samuel Ortom Dr. Ortom was born on April 23, 1961 in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. He attended St. John’s Primary School, Gboko and St. Catherine’s Primary School, Makurdi for his primary education and Idah Secondary Commercial College, Idah, in Kogi State. The immediate past Minister of State for Trade and Investment in the President Goodluck Jonathan government, Ortom was at various times chairman of Guma Local Government Area, Benue State secretary of PDP, and national auditor of PDP. He defected to the APC to get elected. He has a PhD from the Commonwealth University, Belize, via distant learning, and Advanced Diploma in Personnel Management and Master of Public Administration from the Benue State University.

Darius Ishaku A former Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Ishaku won the poll after a supplementary election. He scored 369,318 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Senator Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan who came second with 275,984 votes. The former minister was born on July 30, 1954 in Ussa Local Government Area of Taraba State. He was enrolled into St. Bartholomew’s Primary School, Wusasa, Zaria, in 1961, and obtained his First School Leaving Certificate in 1967. He proceeded to famous St. Paul’s College Kufena, Zaria, for his secondary education, in 1972 and passed out in flying colours, obtaining the West African Examination Certificate (WASC). He was admitted into Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1974 and graduated in 1977 with BSc in Architecture. He also bagged an MSc in Architecture with Distinction in 1979. He was admitted as a Registered Member of the Nigerian Institute of Architects in 1982 and became a fellow of the institute in June 2001. He is also a member of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners. He started his career as an architect in 1980 with Inter De-sign Partnership and work with various architectural companies until he established his own firm, Exchanger Partners, an architectural, planning and engineering firm. He was first appointed by President Jonathan in 2011 as Minister of State for Power. He was named acting Minister of Power in October 2012 and later Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs.

Kashim Shettima Born on September 2, 1966 in Maiduguri, Shettima attended Government Community Secondary School, Biu between 1978 to1980 and Government Science Secondary School Potiskum, Yobe from 1980 to 1983. He studied Agricultural Economics at the University of Maiduguri, graduating in 1989 and also obtained a Masters’ Degree in Agricultural Economics from University of Ibadan in 1991. Shettima served as commissioner in different ministries before becoming governor in 2011 – Finance and Economic Development; Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Education; Agriculture and later Health. He was elected on APC platform. Muhammad Abubakar Born in 1962 in Babura area of Jigawa State, Abubakar was elected on April 11 on the platform of APC. He is a graduate of Accounting from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Commerce of Nigeria. He is also a member of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru. A renowned philanthropist, businessman, and owner of the multinational Talamiz Group, Abubakar is president of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture. He is the second vice president of the Federation of West Africa Chambers of Commerce in the West African region. He holds the traditional titles of Sardaunan Ringim and Walin Jahun. Ibrahim Dakwambo Governor Dakwambo was born on April 4, 1962. He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1985 with a degree in Accounting and obtained a M.Sc in Economics from the University of Lagos in 1992. He began his career with Coopers & Lybrand in 1985, and worked at the Central Bank of Nigeria from 1988 to 1999. He was AccountantGeneral of Gombe State before he was appointed Accountant-General of the Federation on April 20, 2005. He held the office until he re-

Ishaku

Masari

Bello

Bindow

Abdul’aziz Yari Governor Yari has been re-elected as governor of Zamfara State and he is expected to steer the ship of the state for the next four years. Born on January 1, 1969, Yari has been politically active in Zamfara State since 1999. He was elected to represent Talata Mafara/Anka Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives during the 1999 elections. He was state chairman of the ANPP and a member of the cabinet of former Governor Ahmed Sani Yerima. On two occasion, he defeated his father-in-law, former Governor Aliyu Shinkafi, to emerge governor. Aminu Masari Born in Kafur town of Katsina State on May 29, 1950, Masari, was elected in 1999 to represent Malumfashi/Kafur Federal Constituency in the Green Chamber and served as Speaker of the House between 2003 and 2007. He was Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport, Katsina State, from 1991 to 1993, and elected member of the Constitutional Conference, 1994-1995. Masari attended Kafur/Malumfashi Primary School, Government Secondary School, Funtua, AWS Training School, Middlex Polytechnic, London, and the Administrative Staff College, Badagry. He has a Post Graduate Diploma in Water Quality Control and Management. Aminu Tambuwal Aminu Tambuwal was the immediate Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was born on January 10, 1966 in Tambuwal Village in Sokoto State. He attended Tambuwal Primary School, Sokoto State, where he obtained his First School Leaving

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

Politics

Masari, 25 others take over governance Certificate in 1979 and Government Teachers’ College, DogonDaji, where he obtained the Teachers’ Grade II Certificate in 1984. He then proceeded to Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, where he studied Law, graduating with an LLB (Hons) degree in 1991. He completed his one year compulsory legal studies at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos and was called to the Bar in 1992. Tambuwal began his law practice in Sokoto and served as public relations officer of the Nigerian Bar Association, Sokoto State chapter, between 1996 and 1997. He was a member of the Constitution Review Committee of the NBA between 1997 and 1998, Sokoto branch secretary of the NBA in 1998, and assistant national financial secretary of NBA (1998–2000). Tambuwal started learning the legislative ropes in 1999, while working as Personal Assistant on Legislative Affairs to Senator Abdullah Wali, the then Senate Leader whom he defeated in the governorship poll. In 2003, he decided to run for a legislative seat as representative of the Kebbi/ Tambuwal Federal Constituency and was elected into the House of Representatives on the platform of the then All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). In 2005, he became the Minority Leader of the House; Deputy Chief Whip in 2007 and became Speaker of the House in 2011. On October 28, 2014, Tambuwal formally defected from the PDP to the APC. He later took part in the APC governorship primaries and emerged as the party candidate. Jibrilla Bindow Born in Mubi on June 16, 1963, Senator Bindow represented Ad-

Gaidam

Lalong

amawa North senatorial district. A popular businessman, industrialist, and philanthropist before going into politics, he is currently the deputy chairman, Senate Committee on Army and Defence. He is also a member of the Committee on Science and Technology. Bindow holds a National Diploma. He is a first time winner of the governorship election.

Ibrahim Gaidam Born in Bukarti town, Yunusari Local Government Area of Yobe State, on September 15, 1956, Ibrahim Gaidam won his re-election on the platform of the APC. Gaidam attended Yunusari Primary School, Borno Teachers’ College, Maiduguri, and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. Gaidam is a member of the Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria and a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria. He has a public career that spans nearly 30 years, and rose from a classroom teacher to become audit officer and accountant in various government ministries in the old Borno State and present Yobe State. He was assistant director of finance in the defunct Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI) and acting director of finance and supplies in the Yobe State Information and Culture Ministry. Gaidam had served as Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Commissioner for Commerce and Industries, and director, Ministry of Finance, as well as Permanent Secretary in various ministries. In April 2007, he became deputy governor of Yobe State and served for 19 months before he was sworn in as governor on January 27, 2009

Bagudu

Abubakar

following the passing of Governor Mamman Ali.

Atiku Bagudu Born in Karaye, Maiyama Local Government Area of Kebbi State, on December 26, 1961, Bagudu was elected on APC platform. He started his career as a lecturer in the Department of Economics, Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto. He had a brief stint in banking before travelling to the United States for a post-graduate degree. Upon his return to Nigeria, the Kebbi governor-elect became special assistant to a finance minister during the late Gen. Sani Abacha regime. Bagudu later joined politics and was elected senator for Kebbi Central senatorial zone in a by-election after Senator Adamu Aliero was appointed Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He ran successfully for re-election in the April 2011 general election. Bagudu attended Karaye Primary School in Maiyama Local Government Area and Government Secondary School, Kontogora, in Niger State. He has a BSc in Economics from the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Jos. He also has an MA in International Affairs from the Columbia University in the United States of America. Nasir el-Rufai Mallam el-Rufai is the new Governor of Kaduna State. He won the April 11 governorship election on APC platform, scoring 1,117, 635 votes to defeat the incumbent governor and PDP candidate, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, who polled 485,833 votes. The governor was born on February 16, 1960. He attended the prestigious Barewa College for his secondary education and obtained a Bachelor in Quantity Surveying degree with First Class Honors from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He also had a LL.B degree from the University of London and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. el-Rufai started his career by establishing a Quantity Surveying and Project Management Consulting firm in 1982 with three other partners. From November 1999 to July 2003, he was the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Secretary of the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) where he spearheaded the privatisation of many governmentowned companies. He served as Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from July 16, 2003 to May 29, 2007, during the Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration. At various times during his tenure as minister, he oversaw the Ministries of Commerce (twice) and Interior. The administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua appointed el-Rufai to the National Energy Council in September 2007, due to the belief that he could contribute positively to the under-achieving power sector of the country. He resigned the appointment in June 2008. Muhammed Abubakar Born in Gombe on December 11, 1956, Abubakar, a lawyer, was

elected as Bauchi governor on the platform of APC. He joined the Bauchi State civil service as a Pupil State Counsel in the Ministry of Justice and rose through the ranks to the position of Senior Parliamentary Counsel and Head of Legal Drafting Department of Bauchi State House of Assembly in 1998. Abubakar is a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bauchi State branch, and ex-deputy national secretary of PDP. He was at various times Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kogi, Delta, Plateau, and Rivers states, before he was promoted to National Electoral Commissioner at the INEC headquarters, in charge of legal services, and supervisor of Borno, Jigawa, and Yobe states. Abubakar retired as INEC National Electoral Commissioner in 2008 and went back to private legal practice as managing partner of M A Abubakar & Co. (Fortuna Chambers). In June 2013, Abubakar was appointed member of the National Judicial Council. He attended Jos Native Authority Primary School; Tudun Wada Primary School, Kano; Government College, Kano (Rumfa College); Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; and the Nigerian Law School, Lagos. He did his NYSC as a lecturer at the Rivers State College of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt (currently Rivers State University of Science and Technology). Abdullahi Ganduje Born at Ganduje, in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State, on December 25, 1949, Dr. Ganduje was elected on the platform of the APC. Apart from serving twice as deputy governor, he had a stint in the academia and had also served as sole administrator of Abaji Area Council and chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, all in Abuja. During the military era, he also served as commissioner in various ministries in Kano State. In 2003, after their ouster from office as Kano State governor and deputy, Kwakwanso appointed Ganduje as Special Adviser (Political) when he was appointed Defence Minister by former President Obasanjo and later the Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad River Basin Commission. Ganduje holds a PhD in Public Administration from the University of Ibadan. He started his education at the Qur’anic and Islamiyya School at his village, Ganduje. He also attended Dawakin Tofa Primary School, Government Secondary School, Birnin Kudu; Advanced Teachers’ College, Kano, where he obtained the National Certificate of Education and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Science Education. He obtained his first Master’s degree in Applied Educational Psychology from Bayero University Kano in 1979 and later returned to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from 1984 to 1985 for a Master’s in Public Administration.

Politics

he emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari as the President was not without a price. Huge price was paid by many in different ways. Some were labelled saboteurs, some black ship of the family and others with different negative baggage. The quest of Buhari for the nation’s top job became a movement driven by some people across the country. Many brought out their financial muscles to support the candidature of the All Progressives Congress (APC) while others were saddled with mobilisation and other strategic functions such that Buhari, unlike in his three previous attempts to become the president, became a brand. Who are these men that made the dream possible? Indeed, the number is huge but some heavyweights played special roles in the emergence of Buhari as president. These personalities are also likely going to shape his incoming administration. Bola Tinubu: The stabiliser There is no doubt that former governor of Lagos State and national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu played a big role in Buhari’s victory in the presidential election. Tinubu and Buhari, it would be recalled, championed the merger of the leading opposition parties that led to the formation of the APC. Both men had to let go of their grip of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) which merged with the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). The former Lagos governor also had to forego his own ambition to work for Buhari’s victory. His support for Buhari stemmed from the party’s national convention where he mobilised other party stakeholders and APC governors to ensure that the former head of state was not muscled out by other presidential aspirants with huge financial war chest. Though the former Lagos governor did not get the vice presidential ticket, he remained in the forefront of the Buhari campaign, traversing the length and breadth of the country, canvassing for votes for his party’s presidential candidate, particularly in the South-West, where he holds sway politically. Tinubu’s political machinery ensured victory for the APC in five of the six states of the zone. Rotimi Amaechi: Rallying force The history of Buhari’s presidential election cannot be written without a chapter dedicated to Amaechi, the governor of Rivers State. Amaechi was elected governor in 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and in 2013 he led four other governors to defect to the APC due to irreconcilable differences between them and the leadership of the ruling party. Having succeeded to lead other governors to join the APC in 2013, Amaechi threw all he had into the struggle that power must be wrestled from the PDP. He sold the party to the South-South people as an alternative party that would develop the region, and canvassed support for the party in the North. Amaechi, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), was one of those behind the emergence of Buhari as the presidential candidate of APC at the National Convention of the party on December 10 and 11. It was when he resolved with Bola Tinubu on the preference of Gen. Buhari as the APC presidential candidate that the APC governors and their supporters queued behind Buhari. In the election proper, when he missed to secure the vice presidential ticket of the party, he did not rock the boat. He stood behind the party and its presidential candidate before he was made the Director General of the APC Presiden-

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The dream makers

Obasanjo

Tinubu

Amaechi

tial Campaign Organisation (APCPCO). He was all over the country campaigning for Buhari. He supported the party financially. Amaechi was accused of bringing the resources of the Niger Delta people including the state private jet to support Buhari. He was seen as the black ship of the Niger Delta. As the Director General of the APC presidential campaign organisation, Amaechi would be expected to be a member of the kitchen cabinet of Buhari and also influence key nominations.

that resulted in the party victory at the presidential poll conducted on March 28. Among the APC presidential candidates that lost at the national convention of the party, no one holds ill feelings towards Oyegun as they all joined the party to realise its presidential ambition.

he also delivered his state, Adamawa, with 374,701 votes against PDP’s 251, 664.

Obasanjo: Support from Ota farmer One of the most prominent personalities that gave Buhari’s momentum the greatest impetus was former President Olusegun Obasanjo. In the build-up to the March 28 presidential election, Obasanjo’s numerous public comments and posturing helped in creating a positive political perception for the APC candidate. When things fell apart between Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan, Buhari began to emerge as the favourite of the powers-that-be to step into the Presidency. Obasanjo overlooked his differences with the APC candidate, whom the PDP had roundly defeated in 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential elections. The former president became an agent provocateur of sorts for the opposition and his activities and criticisms went a long way in fostering public disdain against Jonathan. During one of his visits to Obasanjo, Buhari got a clean bill of health on his management of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). According to the ex-president, the APC presidential candidate never soiled his hands when he superintended over PTF between March 1995 and May 1999. He also disclosed that the probe launched by his administration never found Buhari wanting. John Odigie-Oyegun: A party stabiliser The National Chairman of APC was the former governor of Edo State. Oyegun’s strong character of integrity was brought to bear during the primaries of the party for the general elections. He stood his ground that internal democracy was going to be installed in the party and this almost reflected in all the states. His refusal to accept a consensus presidential candidate earned him some bad names. However, his forthrightness to produce a presidential candidate for APC through a National Convention gave the party a national acceptability

Atiku Abubakar: Not out of steam Former Vice-President Abubakar was one of the APC presidential aspirants. He brought glamour into APC and insisted that the choice of APC presidential candidate was going to be transparent. He visited all the states to woo the APC supporters and delegates for the National Convention of the party that produced the presidential candidate in December last year. Atiku lost the presidential ticket of APC to Gen. Buhari as he came third in that convention. After the convention of APC, many believed that Atiku was going to leave the party to push his presidential ambition on another political platform, but this did not happen. Even there were reports that Atiku was going to return to the PDP where he served as vice president for eight years. All these did not come to pass as Atiku donated his media team headed by Garba Shehu to the APC presidential campaign organisation. Although he was not so much prominent in the presidential campaign of APC, he was the National Vice Chairman (North) of the presidential campaign. He contributed immensely to the success of the APC presidential election as

He mobilised other party stakeholders and APC governors to ensure that the former head of state was not muscled out...

Rochas Okorocha Okorocha was among the five contestants for the APC presidential ticket, but came fourth with 624 votes. The loss did not dampen his resolve to work with other party chieftains to work for Buhari’s victory. He was virtually at all APC presidential rallies despite the fact that he was running for a second term and needed to be on the road in his state, soliciting for votes. Though the APC was routed by the PDP in Imo and other states of the SouthEast, the likes of Okorocha ensured a balance of power in the zone despite heavy military deployment during the election. This contributed to the not too impressive votes the ruling party had in the area although it won. For instance, while it was possible for the PDP to poll over 1.2 million votes in Imo State in the 2011 presidential election, it secured less than half of the figure in the March 28 poll. The ruling party polled 559,183 votes while APC had 133, 253. Bukola Saraki: Leading a revolt At the inception of the APC, its effect was not much felt at the Senate until Saraki led a sizeable number of serving PDP senators (then) to dump the PDP for the APC after aligning with the New PDP for weeks. From that moment, he has provided leadership nationwide. In the run up to the presidential ticket of the APC, Senator Saraki had reportedly rallied some governors, most of whom he had led as chairman of the once vibrant Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to take a common stand by beefing up the support base of Buhari. After Buhari’s emergence as presidential candidate, Saraki took it upon himself to pressurise his friend and Rivers governor, Rotimi Amaechi, to accept the position of the Campaign Director General. Not only did he do so, he actually contributed handsomely to initial campaign fund. Timipre Sylva: Working against kinsman Sylva became governor of Bayelsa State after President Jonathan was chosen as running mate to the late President Yar’Adua in the 2007 presidential election. In the permutations to the presidential primaries, Sylva started with Buhari and ended with Buhari. The pockets of support the APC has in the Ijaw speak-

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Politics

Buhari and what his election into office could mean for Nigerians. Oshiomhole made no pretences about his commitment to Buhari’s ambition and this often brought him in collision with the PDP. Although, the results from Edo State showed that Buhari was beaten by the PDP candidate, President Jonathan in the presidential election, Oshiomhole was consoled that his party triumphed on the overall scores. He described the victory as a new dawn in democratic process and declared a public holiday in Edo State to celebrate it.

Oyegun

Atiku

ing areas of the South-South are largely due to his influence. He had attempted to go to the Senate in the March 28 election but was unsuccessful. All the same, the political dynamics within the APC are such that an outright obliteration of Ijaw interests in the South-South is not mostly likely to be an option for the incoming government at the centre. Therefore, Sylva’s continued relevance can be assured if only to interface between the Buhari-led government and the fourth largest ethnic nationality from where President Jonathan hails.

by cold calculations, forced Malam Ibrahim Shekarau out of the party, killing his speculated presidential ambition. Buhari, by popular consensus, was the candidate of the legacy parties and the APC, according to reports, didn’t want Shekarau to disrupt this game plan. However, Kwankwaso had contested the presidential primaries but his aspiration, according to insiders, was largely to checkmate Atiku. In addition, Kwankwaso became APC’s poster boy for performance in the North. A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, ex-Special Envoy to Dafur and onetime Defence Minister, Kwankwaso has been an active player in the nation’s governance since the stillborn Third Republic. As senator, he will be an important gateway for the Buhari presidency, by leveraging on his wealth of experience during the horse trading that is characteristics of lawmaking. Kwankwaso will surely play a role in the Buhari presidency.

Nasir El Rufai: The brain box As a policy driver, Malam Nasir El Rufai, is a technocrat turn politician. In that regard, he will be one of the brain boxes of Buhari administration. First and foremost, he represented the former Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), one of the legacy parties, during the merger talks that gave birth to APC. Afterwards, El Rufai became APC’s Deputy National Secretary but the ex-minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) wanted to work directly with General Buhari. However, Buhari asked him to run for the governorship of Kaduna State and El Rufai, with that endorsement, threw his hat into the ring and won the primaries. Before now, the gubernatorial candidate had been shuttling between Kaduna and Abuja, in the heat of his own campaign, to attend party meetings, inner caucus parleys and strategy sessions. Significantly, the ex-FCT Minister helped in selling Buhari to the international community, using his contacts and various networks. El Rufai, with a private sector background, will not only play a big role in Buhari’s Economic Team but will feature prominently in the war against corruption. Rabiu Kwankwaso: The voters’ spinner By nature, Kwankwaso, the Kano State governor, does not sit on the fence: he is either for or against you. Similarly, his force of character, strong personality and record of achievements have endeared Kwankwaso to his people. In 2013, Kwankwaso and six other governors fell out with Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the PDP National Chairman. The feud, like a crack on the wall, had provided the necessary opening and Buhari, Tinubu and a host of other APC chieftains, cashed in on the internal division within PDP. Specifically, they went round the governors, lobbied them hard and five of them defected to APC. Kwankwaso became the biggest catch as subsequent events have shown. First, Kano State gave Buhari the highest number of votes in the presidential election. Secondly, Kwankwaso’s entry into APC,

Hameed Ali: The Chief of Staff Former Military Administrator of Kaduna State, Col Hameed Ali (rtd), is a no nonsense person who plays by the rules. Strict, austere and incorruptible, Ali shares certain traits with Buhari. In 1997, he plugged a lot of drain pipes as Military Administrator in Kaduna State, by leading by example. Specifically, recurrent expenditure and huge costs of running government were slashed. In addition, he sacked a lot of workers for going on strike, demanding a pay rise. Expectedly, this sack elicited mixed reactions as southern Kaduna indigenes, the zone with the highest number of civil servants, alleged a witch-hunt in the exercise. However, some people saw it as a way of pruning down a large, ineffective and money guzzling civil service. After retiring, Col Ali became Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), under the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, from 2003 to 2007. On that post, Ali ran a tight budget and brought discipline to the secretariat. In 2009, he chaired the Jamaátu Nasril Islam (JNI) ad hoc committee on relief for victims of Jos crisis. Since then, he has been contributing to community service and has been politically active. In 2011, Ali monitored the elections for the former CPC and in that regard, he kept vigil at the Camp Road Polling Unit, where Vice-President Namadi Sambo voted. Right now, Ali is Buhari’s Chief of Staff. Mamora’s role Senator Olorunnibe Mamora was the Deputy Director-General of the Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation.

Fayemi

The history of Buhari’s presidential election cannot be written without a chapter dedicated to Amaechi

Between 2003 and 2011, he represented Lagos East Senatorial District in the National Assembly. Before his ascension to the Senate, he was Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly. He served as Speaker from 1999 when he was elected till 2003. He was even appointed Chairman of the Conference of Speakers between 2000 and 2001. At the Senate, he was Deputy Minority Leader. In most of Buhari’s local and foreign trips as well as political engagements, Mamora was always around the retired general, giving strategic support.. Adams Oshiomhole: Labour leader Governor Oshiomhole of Edo State has been one of the arrowheads of the APC in the South-South geo-political zone. As a trade unionist and a former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Oshiomhole shares a common ideology with other associates in the opposition camp. In the build up to the elections, Oshiomhole was touted as one of the possible candidates that the APC was looking forward to fielding to ensure they dislodged President Jonathan and the PDP from Aso Rock. After the emergence of Buhari and the search for a running mate began, Oshiomhole was again one of the front runners before the party decided to pick Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for the race. Oshiomhole, a very vocal orator and mobiliser was made the zonal coordinator of the Buhari Campaign Organisation in the South-South, a region dominated by the PDP. Benin City, the Edo State capital hosted some of the most important campaigns of the main opposition party in the build up to the election. During those rallies, Oshiomhole took time to disabuse the minds of the people about certain negative perceptions of

Babatunde Fashola The Lagos State governor was the Director of the Buhari-Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Fundraising Committee, and he brought his ingenuity to bear by deploring several measures to raise funds for the presidential project. Besides raising funds, Fashola was also in the vanguard of the APC’s presidential campaign. There is hardly any of the party’s rallies that he is not seen marshalling out point why the electorate should vote out the PDP-led Federal Government. He was instrumental to raising fund for the Buhari campaign. Kayode Fayemi: The master strategist For former governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, nothing ruffles him. Even when he lost the governorship election, he was not ruffled. In fact, it could be said that he laid precedence for democratic ethos by conceding victory immediately after the election to his opponent, Governor Ayo Fayose of the PDP. After losing out in Ekiti State, Fayemi moved into the mainstream of party politics and was subsequently appointed as the chairman of the 24-member National Convention Planning Committee of the APC which held in Lagos. He was the Director of Policy of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation. Fayemi is regarded as a political technocrat and he is one of the think-tank that is expected to make the administration of Buhari tick. The former governor who possesses a Doctorate degree in War Studies from the prestigious Kings College, University of London, England, is vast and experienced in developmental governance. Garba Shehu: Erudite spokesman The Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation is a known name in the media. As the head of the former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar’s media office and onetime President of the Nigeria Guide of Editors (NGE), Shehu brought his wealth of experience to bear in the presidential campaign. He understood that the campaign was more of a media war, therefore was able to project the APC and character of its presidential candidate, Buhari, in good light. Lai Mohammed: PDP’s nemesis The National Publicity Secretary of APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, is also another media personality, who helped the cause of the APC. Mohammed has a tremendous reach in the media and he made use of it to prosecute the aspirations of the party in the last presidential election. He represented APC in all the debates organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) on good governance. Mohammed’s ability to bring the plots of the ruling party, the PDP, to the knowledge of Nigerians helped APC to avert so many hindrances that could have impacted negatively on the party in the presidential election. His propagandist machine was very positive to the party and Buhari. MoCONTINUED ON PAGE 41

Politics

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Changing fortunes of APC The All Progressives Congress (APC) victory at the last general elections was a long walk looking at the activities that culminated in the success. JOHNCHUKS ONUANYIM reports

s the mantle of leadership changes hands today, the All Progressives Congress (APC) moves from opposition party to ruling party while the hitherto rulling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) takes the opposition seat. The victory of the APC in the March 28 presidential election was not so expected, just as it is believed that it changed the political equation in the country suddenly. The political belief before then was that it would be difficult to defeat a ruling party at the national level, especially with the status of a political party like the PDP. But like it is being said that with patience and perseverance one can cook the stone and it would soften. APC was able to apply this principle and was able to get the expected result by winning elections both at the national and state levels. The victory of the party was a surprise to the APC and the PDP, which they defeated. It was a surprise to the parties and Nigerians that a ruling party could crash the way PDP did. The APC major target was winning the presidential election. But after the elections, surprisingly the APC won the presidential election, 60 seats out of the109 senatorial seats in the Senate, 214 seats out of the 360 House of Representatives’ seats, 22 state governors out of the 29 states governorship elections contested and many state House of Assemblies seats. For some people, the success of APC was premeditated as the party had taken time to conduct its primaries and national convention. Given the pressure and refusal of the national leadership of the party to adopt the Presidentelect, General Muhammadu Buhari as the consensus candidate until he (Buhari) on December 11, 2014 emerged as the presidential flag bearer of the party, the stake of the APC was raised. Also, the ability to conduct a free and fair primary election was replicated in the states as there were minimal rancour after the parties primaries that produced the candidates in the states. The only few states whose party chieftains had led protest to the National Headquarters of the party on the outcome of the primaries were Taraba and Benue states.

Oyegun

In his speech at the APC national convention, the Chairman of the Convention Committee and former governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi had given credence to convention, stating that the party was not interested on who becomes its flag bearer but was interested on the process that produced the flag bearer. The process that produced Buhari as flag bearer of the APC was said to be credible as none of the other aspirants has faulted it till date. The other four aspirants: Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Governor Rochas Okorocha and Publisher of the Leadership Newspapers, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah who came 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively at the convention congratulated Buhari for emerging as winner of the APC presidential convention. But before the Convention, other aspirants had played important role in making the convention competitive as Atiku was the first to embark on the state to state visit to canvass for the votes of delegates. Other aspirants including Buhari followed suit, which made the APC to become a household name in the 36 states including the federal capital territory. Beyond the success of the APC convention and primaries, the journey of the party started long ago but was actualised in 2013 when three legacy parties came together to merge and to face the ruling party, the PDP, in the last elections. According to records, the APC merger started far beyond 2013 as many opposition party chieftains had believed that it was only a merger of political parties that could wrest power from PDP. Buhari in one of his speeches as presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) in the 2011 presidential election had advocated for merger if opposition parties would take power from the PDP. And for this reason, an attempt was made in that 2011 by the CPC and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for an alliance that would produce a presidential candidate for the

Tinubu

Make no mistake about it; without the five governors that joined the APC in 2013, we would not be here today

two parties. That alliance couldn’t work as the two parties could not agree on the terms. And the result of that was that the political parties (including CPC and ACN) that went into the presidential election lost to the PDP. It was this loss of the 2011 elections that one could say strengthened the resolve for some political parties to come together and merge for the 2015 general elections. The move for some political parties to come together through merger and not alliance started way back in 2012 after the general elections in 2011. The CPC presidential candidate, Buhari, saw it that with his acceptability in the North, it would be difficult for him to win the presidential election. Although his outing in that election was reckoned with as he had scored 12 million votes against that of PDP presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, of over 22 million, CPC could not secure more than one state in the governorship election. The presidential candidate of ACN, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, came 3rd in that election, with the party retaining all its states in the SouthWest in the governorship election. However, the candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Malam Ibrahim Shekarau came fourth and ANPP retaining some of its states in the North. After the elections, the conviction that none of these parties could win beyond a particular geo-political zone became clear. So, after the conviction for a merger, the chieftains of the three major opposition parties became amiable to it and the parties set up a committee, headed by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, to work out the workability. Ikimi’s committee worked out how the parties would merge and commence the processes with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The conception of the merger of the three political parties with a fraction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was fraught with hiccups as another group laid

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

claim of the proposed name of the merged parties, APC. But this was later resolved by INEC as the three legacy parties were issued the certification of registration on July 23, 2013 after the electoral commission withdrew the certification of the CPC, ACN and ANPP. APGA could not submit its certificate since it was a faction that joined in the merger. Having achieved the status of merger and registration, the APC national leadership went on what could be described as a fishing. The party did not close its gates to new members but considered it pertinent to bring many more people on board. At the time APC was registered, was the time crisis was rocking the PDP, with G7 governors agitating for certain changes in the party administration. The governors were: Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano), Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa). These governors were approached by APC and because PDP could not accept their proposals for change, five of them joined APC and this brought more strength to the party. Only Aliyu and Lamido stayed back in the PDP. Followers of the governors both at the National Assembly and states Assembly joined the governors to defect to the APC. Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), Rochas Okorocha, partly attributed the success of the party to the defection of five PDP governors to the APC. His words: “But make no mistake about it; without the five governors that joined the APC in 2013, we would not be here today. Anyone who understands the power and might of the Federal Government, especially under a vindictive leadership knows the enormous risks taken by Governors Kwakwanso, Wamakko, Ahmed and the lion-heart, Ameachi. What happened to our colleague, Murtala Nyako, could have happened to anyone of them.” The governors having joined the national leadership of APC moved on to woo more members. They went to Atiku, for President Olusegun Obasanjo and many other politicians and chieftains of the PDP. While Atiku and others were able to join APC, Obasanjo decided to work with the party by the side. The strength of the APC grew day by day given the alleged corruption and insurgency in the country. To consolidate the achievements made so far, APC decided to embark on national convention to produce the national officers of the party. This was achieved in February 2014 with Chief John Odigie-Oyegun emerging as the National Chairman of the party. The national convention and Oyegun’s emergence almost caused a crack in the party as some members of the party left. Ikimi, Shekarau and Attahiru Bafarawa left the party over one reason or the other. However, APC forged ahead, stating that the bad eggs of the party had left. Like Buhari would say, the merger of the political parties was made possible by himself, former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu and the national chairman of the defunct ANPP, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu.

Politics

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PDP: From ruling to minority party The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will now play the role of opposition in the next four years, having failed to win the March 28 presidential election. ONYEKACHI EZE tells the story of a party that fell from grace to grass

he first president of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, in response to a critical remark on him by Dr. Ukpabi Asika, then Administrator of East Central State, noted that “no condition is permanent”. This is indeed true in the case of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which, until recently had been the ruling party in Nigeria. In the next four years, PDP will play the role of leading opposition party. This followed a reverse in its electoral fortune during the justconcluded general elections. PDP for the first time in 16 years, ceded the presidency to the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). It also lost the leadership of the National Assembly as well as control of majority of the state governments. Ironically, PDP came to power after 16 years of military rule; it also lost the leadership of the country after 16 years of uninterrupted democracy. Playing the opposition role was not what the party leaders bargained for as they went for the 2015 general elections. Some of them had boasted that PDP would rule Nigeria for 60 years. When it was formed in 1998, PDP was a pan-Nigerian political party. The circumstance of its formation and the political heavyweights associated with it attracted many Nigerians to the party. Little wonder it won majority seats in the National Assembly and was able to withstand the All People’s Party (APP) and Alliance for Democracy (AD) coalition during the 1999 presidential election. PDP was formed on August 31, 1998 by people drawn from mainly G-18 and G-34 political associations. These political groups had, at the height of General Sani Abacha’s dictatorship in 1998, openly opposed his planned transmution from military head of state to a civilian president. Among members of the groups were former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme; former Kano State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi; former director, Mass Mobilisation for Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER), Professor Jerry Gana; former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallm Adamu Ciroma, and former governor of Plateau State, Chief Solomon Lar among others. They were later joined by another political group, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), a political machinery of late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. This later group was led by former National Chairman of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Tony

Mu’azu

Anenih, and Yar’Adua’s adopted political son, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. PDP was also popular among some traditional rulers, members of the academia and business communities as well as retired senior military personnel. This resulted in the drafting of former military head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo to the presidential race on the platform of the party in 1998. PDP was therefore a conglomerate of politicians with both progressive and conservative leanings. One can therefore, attribute its many crises to this ‘unblended’ associations. The party adopts conservatism and economic liberalism as its ideology. Its political philosophy is centre-right to right-wing. But how many members of the party still remember these or practice them? PDP said its political objective is “to build and sustain a nation with a vibrant economy designed to serve the people’s interest, in which good governance, market forces and transparent institutions combine to enthrone a free and democratic society that will guarantee equity, justice and equal opportunity for all citizens.” This is far from what Nigerians witnessed these past 16 years PDP has been in power. Though it has attempted to liberalise the economy with its privatisation and deregulation programmes, the processes were less than transparent. Again, while the debasing of the economy has placed Nigeria first in Africa, the gains did not impact positively on the citizens. This helped to announce the death knell of the PDP. Despite the shortcomings, PDP won four successive elections in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011. It also won majority seats in the National Assembly and was in control of more than half of the 36 states of the country. When PDP went into the general elections in 1999, it secured control of 21 states, while the defunct APP had nine and the AD six states. The party also won majority seats in the National Assembly resulting in its leadership of the two chambers of parliament. PDP was to increase the haul of states under its control to 27 after the 2003 general elections. It made in-road to the South-West, the AD stronghold, winning five of the six states in the region. The party equally reduced the number of states con-

Lar

Its winning streaks failed. PDP not only lost the presidential election, it equally lost control of the states and the National Assembly

Tukur

trol by the now All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), winning three of the states previously won by APP in North Central and North East. It however, lost Anambra State to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) through the court. By 2007, Nigeria was inching towards a one-party state with PDP firmly in control of 28 states immediately after the general elections. This number later increased to 30 with the defections of three opposition party governors to the party while it lost Edo State at the tribunal to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Though, there was upset in 2011 general elections with ACN beating PDP squarely in the South-West, PDP still maintained the lead in the number of states under its control. The party won 24 states including Kano, which was controlled by ANPP for eight years. Also, against the agitation from the North that the presidency should return to the region after the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, PDP still won the presidential election with a wide margin. Despite the defection of five of its governors to APC in 2013 and its nearly loss of majority in the National Assembly in 2014, PDP expressed no fear of its dominance of the Nigerian politics beyond 2015. Its quick recovery of the majority in the National Assembly further bolstered this confidence. It was the same spirit that made the party enter the 2015 general elections with confidence. But unfortunately, its winning streaks failed. PDP not only lost the presidential election, it equally lost control of the states and the National Assembly. Presently, PDP is in control of 13 out of 36 states of the country. When the National Assembly is reconstituted in June, the party will cede leadership of the two chambers to APC A number of factors were believed to have contributed to the party’s successes in the previous elections. One of this was lack of credible opposition. Before the registration of APC as mega opposition party in 2013, Nigeria had no credible opposition party. What was in existence were amorphous opposition parties which often depended on the PDP-led Federal Government for survival. Most of these parties were not even strong

enough to field candidates to challenge PDP at presidential election. They, therefore, resort to adopting PDP candidate during elections. Another factor was the patronage PDP-led Federal Government was able to dispense. Those who were to give the party problem were bought over through mouth-watering contracts, allocation of oil blocks or appointments into federal establishments. In this way, the opposition was weakened, rendered impotent and ineffective. These tricks, however, failed to play out during the 2015 general elections. It is either PDP got its acts wrong or Nigerians were disenchanted with the party and its leaders. The matter was not helped with the formation of the APC. The registration of APC presented an alternative to the PDP. Though some major actors in the party came from PDP, Nigerians were ready to give APC a trial in the management of the country’s affairs. PDP did not help matters with the imposition and nomination of unpopular candidates at the primaries. The flood of defections to the APC by former PDP members immediately the party lost the presidential elections was evident of level of disenchantment of members on the state of affairs in the party. There is also the issue of disregard to the zoning principle adopted by PDP leaders. For instance, members of the party from the SouthWest were believed to have turned their back on the party after they were denied the speakership of the House of Representatives in 2011. Again, the North voted against PDP because Goodluck Jonathan from the South-South was adopted the presidential candidate of the party in 2015. This, they view as a breach of the zoning principle. Now that that PDP will play opposition role, party members are worried what will become of PDP in the next four years. This has led to the call for the restructuring of the party, which entails the sacking of the party leadership. The story of PDP, therefore, will be that of a party that once described itself as the largest in Africa, a party which boasted to rule the country for 60 uninterrupted years but which through self-inflicted destruction, failed to manage its successes well.

Politics

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Bumpy road to inauguration ONWUKA NZESHI writes that the road to today’s inauguration was laid with mines

Prologue In the heat of the election campaigns, the All Progressives Congress (APC) employed some simple tactics to let the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) know that it meant business and was not prepared for any hanky panky games. The opposition party threatened that it would form a parallel government if the presidential election was rigged and the ruling party declared winner at the end of the polls. The threat provoked a lot of negative reactions because it was premised on two assumptions. First that the APC had a foreknowledge that it was going to win the election. Secondly that it was not prepared to concede defeat if it lost the election. In other words, it was not prepared to play a fair game in which any party could be the winner. This rather arrogant disposition that one must win or else the election must have been rigged was perceived in many circles as an invitation to anarchy and APC was roundly condemned for attempting to overheat the polity. Some described the party as a band of anarchists and desperadoes seeking to plunge Nigeria into chaos. But the opposition party defended itself, claiming that its threat was not out of desperation for power but on reliable field information that its chances of winning were very bright and the PDP was allegedly plotting to manipulate the polls. It said it had intercepted intelligence signals in which the ruling party was plotting to recruit some foreign communication experts who were to launch some hidden devices to jam the telecommunication signals on the card reader machines so as to frustrate the voting process and pave way for fictitious results. As expected, the PDP debunked all these claims and warned the APC of the dire consequences of fomenting trouble during and after the polls. The ruling party said the thought of forming a parallel government was akin to treason. While the verbal cross fire lasted, a cloud of mutual suspicion hung on the political firmament as the results of the presidential election trickled in from across the country. Nigerians waited in anxiety as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the results. They waited in fear that the political transition might be truncated like it happened after the June 12, 1993 presidential polls. Hope Restored President Goodluck Jonathan’s phone call to General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC, congratulating him for his victory at the polls restored hope in the transition process. It was unprecedented that an incumbent

Vice-President Namadi Sambo presenting the handing over notes to Alhaji Ahmed Joda.

President would lose in an election and willingly concede defeat even before the final results were released. It was a rare political gesture that disarmed the opposition party which hitherto had been spoiling for war. By the time the electoral umpire presented the President- elect, Buhari, with his Certificate of Return as winner in the March 28 election, it was obvious that power had changed hands and the journey to a formal political transition had begun in Nigeria. Transition Committees After the preliminary meetings between Jonathan and Buhari, both men agreed on the need to set up transition committees at both ends to work towards the handover of power. The outgoing government inaugurated its Transition Committee headed by Vice-President Namadi Sambo and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim as scribe. Also on board the committee is the Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kifasi, ministers as well as a number of presidential advisers. The committee has a mandate to collect handover notes from all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government and subsequently to interface with the transition committee of the incoming government particularly where the latter group seeks clarifications on the briefs. The Federal Government first issued a memo to all MDAs to make sure their handover notes were ready by April 20th, but later issued another memo indicating that the handover notes will not be ready until May 14th. By this time, the incoming government had set up its transition committee headed by Mallam Ahmed Joda, a former Permanent Secretary with a lot of experience in the public service.

We take exceptions to some utterances and the terms of reference

Other members of the Committee include the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun; Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi; National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; former National Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; Doyin Salami, Adamu Adamu, Wale Edun, Bola Adesola, Festus Odimegwu, Nike Aboderin, Audu Ogbe, Boss Mustapha, Hadi Sirika, Abubakar Malami, Lawal Jafaru Isah, Mohammed Hayatudeen, Solomon Dalung and Prof. Tam David-West. It was learnt that the APC got worried with the seeming delay in the handover process. The anxiety grew even more as the few handover notes received were “too brief” and apparently lacked the necessary details needed by the incoming administration to plan its programmes. The Clash The real conflict arose when the incoming regime gave its committee certain terms of reference that clashed with the expectations of the government in power. While inaugurating the committee, the President- elect charged the committee to develop a clear framework for liaising with the outgoing administration for purposes of receiving the handover briefs and itemizing the most urgent issues which the incoming government must confront as soon as it hits the ground. If Buhari had stopped there, perhaps the government of the day would not have kicked. But he went further to ask the committee to immediately commence a review of the balance sheet of government with particular emphasis on the status of its assets and liabilities. He specifically told the committee to scrutinize the finances of the Federal Government with a view to ascertaining the cash flow situation, quantum of domestic and external debts of the government, outstanding contractual obligations and its

ability to meet such obligations; and the status of implementation of capital projects. The committee is also expected to undertake a preliminary assessment of the security challenges facing the country and the counter-insurgency measures taken by the government thus far; and the counter-policy measures being implemented in the Niger Delta to deal with unrests and major economic crimes in the area. In particular, the incoming regime wants to know the status of the Amnesty Programme, the readiness of the police and other national security and intelligence agencies in addressing threats to law and order. Similarly, the committee has been tasked with the responsibility of assessing the state of key institutions such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Above all, the committee was given a mandate to suggest some quick fix measures that would enable the incoming government achieve tangible results within a short period of assuming power. Parallel Government? President Jonathan and members of his cabinet were not pleased with the agenda of the incoming government as captured in the terms of reference it handed out to the Ahmed Joda Transition Committee. They saw the detailed briefs given to the Joda Committee as an attempt by the APC to constitute a parallel government to commence a probe of the sitting government. They saw it as an affront coming from a group that is yet to mount the saddle of state power. The outgoing government would rather prefer a situation where it hands over the bulky files containing records of its stewardship to the new government and walks away. In

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

Politics

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

have just succeeded in postponing the evil day.

General Buhari (6th right) with members of APC Transition Committee

that way, it would not be subjected to so much interrogation about the handover notes by its successors. The incumbent administration also expressed discomfort over some of the actions and utterances of Buhari and his party men since the elections ended and described them inimical to the image and development of the country. It took exception to the manner in which Buhari practically side-tracked the government of the day and sent former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to President Jacob Zuma of South Africa to lobby on behalf of Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adeshina for the headship of the African Development Bank (ADB). They also complained about the bid by Buhari to attend this year’s G8 meeting of heads of government in Berlin, Germany when he was yet to be sworn in as President. Jonathan and his men were unhappy with the apparent ploy of the incoming administration to stop the government of the day from performing its lawful duties such as award of contracts, inspection and commissioning of projects, appointments and redeployment of public officers in various MDAs. The Rejection The official position of the Jonathan administration was conveyed in clear terms at the end of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) a couple of weeks ago. Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, who briefed journalists on the bickering, said that through its actions and utterances, the incoming government was overheating the polity and carrying out actions which tends to undermine the powers of President Jonathan. Sulaiman disclosed that the Council rejected the terms of reference from the transition committee of the incoming government but assured that both parties would be meeting to harmonise plans and programmes for a seamless transition of power. Sulaiman said: “We did receive from in-coming government the transition committee some terms of reference which we looked at critically and council did agree that the Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan remains the current government of this country. The incoming government should avoid creating a parallel government while the government is still on. We take exceptions to some utterances and the terms of reference that look as if the current

government is being stampeded or intimidated. “Council frowned at most of the statements, most of the provisions and council members are advised to work in line with the terms of reference of the current government. When the incoming regime takes over government, they can come out with their programmes, they can come out with their own agenda, they can decide to come out with policies the way they feel like. This government remains resolute to the various programmes and projects it’s pursuing and the government will continue to do that until morning of May 29.” The minister said that the magnanimity of Jonathan should not be misconstrued as governmental cowardice, stressing that the government officials would continue to discharge their lawful duties without fear or intimidation from any quarter. Reconciliation Beyond the disagreements over the modus operandi of the handover, there were some moments of truth and truce. The incoming government realised that it was really not yet on the saddle and needed to cooperate with those in authority to understand the roadmap to power. So while the National Publicity Secretary of the APC was busy raising the alarm that the party was not receiving enough in terms of handover notes, the leadership of the transition committees said they were getting along pretty well and had accomplished almost eighty percent of their assignment. In one of his messages to the

The change from one government to another always involves complicated operational challenges

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

transition committee set up by the APC, Buhari admonished the members not to see their assignment as a witch-hunt on the Jonathan administration but an exercise to enable the new government understand the position of things as it takes over. “The change from one government to another always involves complicated operational challenges and we all know that government is a continuum but the incoming government needs to know where the previous government stopped so that it can know where to continue, “It is a simple matter but you must have the right information if you are to shape appropriate policy decisions. Needless to repeat that your committee and our government are not on a witch-hunt or engage in fault-finding. We want the facts and nothing but the facts. What has been done cannot be undone, our job is to learn from the mistakes of the past in an attempt to avoid similar errors,” he said. It would appear that both parties have realised what is desirable and what is practicable in a political transition process. The outgoing government might have opted for a simple handover of heaps of files to the incoming administration to go through thereafter and find its bearing. But the danger in that approach is that the new kids on the block might be tempted to probe every leaf in the handover notes as soon as it takes over. Except where there are no skeletons in the cupboards, this approach might eventually not produce palatable results for those who were in such a hurry to exit the stage that they had no time for detailed explanations. They might

Back to Reality One significant feature of this transition period has been the sudden realisation by all actors on the political stage that the battle had been won and lost. But while members of the PDP and their supporters seem to be finding it difficult to believe that they had lost the trophy and will no more be in power at least for the next four years, the APC fellows also appear not to have fully realised that soon, they would no longer have the luxury of throwing stones and complaining about everything under the sun. Instead of getting down to real planning, the APC has continued to lampoon the outgoing government about the state of the nation. The party appears to have underestimated the enormity of the challenges and has therefore commenced a psychological process of scaling down the high expectations of the people. Whereas the APC promised to tackle corruption, arrest insecurity, create millions of jobs and end the sufferings of the masses as soon as it assumes power, it is now making deliberate efforts to tone down the hype associated with its election campaign. The “common-sense revolution” rode on the crest of an intimidating propaganda, but as the chickens come home to roost, the APC is trying hard to let the electorate understand that the “change” mantra cannot be realised by magic and good governance, not a tea party. Although the party presented itself as having all the solutions, it seems to have suddenly realised that there was more to cooking the dish than the criticism of those in the kitchen. In order to beef up its arsenal of ideas, the incoming administration has received lots and lots of advice from well-meaning individuals and organisations within and outside Nigeria. It recently received the report of an independent research and policy analysis conducted by a think tank linked to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Presidential Library project. The document whose details have not been made public is believed to be a compass showing the APC the way to go. According to Obasanjo, it is a personal contribution to the current political transition but some analysts have labelled it a gimmick by Obasanjo and his associates to remain relevant in the coming dispensation. Either way, the incoming government must weigh all the options before deploying or abandoning any piece of advice offered at this season of transition.

The dream makers

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 7

hammed would not be Buhari’s government on the platform of state but on his person and contributions to the APC presidential campaign. George Akume: Leader of Benue’s revolt A two-time governor of Benue State and now a thirdtime senator, the Minority Leader of the Senate is not a neophyte to Nigeria’s political chicanery. His successes with the APC dates back to the ACN days as his defection to the

party, a few months to the 2011 general elections changed the party’s fortune in the state for good. Akume galvanised the party into a force to reckon and brought up Prof. Steve Ugbah, who gave Governor Gabriel Suswam sleepless nights. In fact, up till today, many still believe that the ACN won the gubernatorial election in 2011. He is now seen by many as the political leader of the Tivs and perhaps the Middle Belt. Through his popularity and widespread acceptance, the APC, an opposition party won the presidential and governor-

ship polls in the state. Akume’s leadership of the APC was able to deliver majority votes to Buhari and the APC. Ogbonnaya Onu: Sacrificed party chair Dr. Onu, the former governor of the old Abia State and former National Chairman of the defunct ANPP is from Ebonyi State. Although his person did not impact much in the presidential election in Ebonyi State as APC scored 19, 518 against that of PDP 323, 653 votes in the presidential election, Buhari holds Onu. He was

also the chairman of the APC presidential screening committee. Audu Ogbeh Former PDP National Chairman, Chief Ogbeh, is a political philosopher and one of those that made APC tick and the presidential victory of the party possible. He was first appointed as the coordinator of Buhari presidential campaign before Buhari emerged as APC presidential candidate and his campaign organisation was restructured.

FRIDAY, May 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION MUHAMMADU BUHARI (GCFR) 29th May, 2015

ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS SIGNED: ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED NATIONAL PUBLICITY SECRETARY

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, May 29, 2015

Congratulations GOVERNOR INAUGURATION 29th May, 2015

Bindow Jibrilla

Barr. Mohammed Abubakar Samuel Ortom

Dr Abdullahi Ganduje

Aminu Masari

Ibikunle Amosun

Atiku Bagudu

Kashim Shettima

Chief Rochas Okorocha Alhaji Badaru Abubakar

Abdulfatah Ahmed

Akinwumi Ambode

Abiola Ajimobi Hon. Simon Lalong

Hon. Aminu Tambuwal

Nasir El-Rufai

Umaru Al-Makura Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello

Ibrahim Gaidam

Abdulaziz Yari

ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS SIGNED: ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED NATIONAL PUBLICITY SECRETARY

Politics

Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

s Nigerians wait anxiously to witness the change of guards at the nation’s seat of power, Aso Rock, today, it is also expected that a new amazon would also take charge in the Villa. The new woman though not to be known as First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as her immediate predecessor, Dame Patience Jonathan, was known and addressed, but wife of the President of Nigeria, is no other person than Aisha ‘Gogo’ Buhari. Buhari married Hajiya Aisha Halilu in December 1989. His first wife was Hajiya Safinatu Buhari (nee Yusuf). He married her when she was 18. Aisha, now 44, has five children for Buhari who is now 72. After Buhari was released from jail, he divorced Safinatu over disagreement.

SPECIAL INAUGURATION EDITION

Behold Aisha ‘Gogo’ Buhari

that the office of the First Lady is not constitutional, the president’s wife believes that the glory of that office died with its originator, late Maryam Babangida. She is also discouraged from taking the title due to the opprobrium brought to it by the outgoing First Lady, Dame Jonathan. “I think the former first lady, may her soul rest in peace, Mrs. Maryam Babangida, she introduced the First Lady office, but I think she did that on a good faith but I’m feeling now that she died with the glory of the office. I think I would prefer to be called the wife of the Nigerian president than the First Lady of Nigeria,” she said. Though a very beautiful and elegant woman, it is obvious that Buhari’s wife will likely do away with the flamboyant lifestyle associated with the office of the First Lady having declined to be known and addressed as one. Perhaps, her Islamic background would also play a significant role in her style as the wife of the president. Before now, she has maintained a modest lifestyle and it is most unlikely that she would deviate from that bearing in mind the simple and modest appearance of her husband which has also endeared him to many Nigerians.

Background Aisha is a Fulani by tribe and was born in Adamawa State to the family of first Minister of Defence, Mohammed Ribadu. She had both Islamic and Western education as a child. “My growing up was like a normal Northern girl: going to Western education in the morning and then Islamic school in the afternoon,” she said. And contrary to deep seated sentiment that the girl child is denied education in Northern Nigeria, Aisha said: “I enjoyed going to school, and my favourite subject was Government.” She speaks English and Arabic fluently. Higher education The nation is about having a president’s wife who possesses many academic qualifications. Aisha is a very educated person. She graduated from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria where she earned a Bachelor Degree in Public Administration. She also possesses National Certificate in Education (NCE). Buhari’s wife, who also bagged a Master Degree in International Affairs and Strategic Studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), would have studied Mass Communication but she disclosed that her marriage to the retired General prevented her. “I was about to start university when I got married. In fact, I even got admission to study Mass Communication,” she stated. The General, according to her, was influential to her education, saying “he is a believer in the education of girl child. Actually, when I got married, I felt that I must continue with my education and he too wanted me to do

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Aisha

that.” She said her husband wrote a letter to her late uncle who was a lecturer at ABU, Zaria that he wanted her to continue her education and also be a very good housewife. She said: “Shortly after we married, he wrote a letter to my late uncle, Professor Isa Abba who was a lecturer at ABU for 30 years that he wanted me to continue with my education and also wanted me to be a good housewife.” She also has a post-graduate diploma in Cosmetology and Beauty, which she got in the Academy Esthetique Beauty Institute of France. Also she is an alumnus of the famous Carlton Institute of London. Nickname Gogo Gogo means aunt in Fulani

and step-mother in Hausa. “I think it is Hausa culture. That was how my husband introduced me to his children,” she said. Her daughter, Halima Buhari Sheriff, said anybody called Gogo in the North is a tolerant and accommodating person. “She has a very strong character,” she said.

cabinet because he is passionate about women. He knows that once a woman gets it right, everything is considered done,” Hajiya Buhari said. But in the course of electioneering, her convoy was attacked in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, by hoodlums. She came out unhurt.

On campaign train Before the March 28 presidential election, Buhari was largely seen by many Nigerians not only as a religious fundamentalist but also someone who believed that women must not be heard. Critics of Buhari believe that his religious disposition may make him relegate women in his government. This was indeed greatly used against him during the campaign. However, the active involvement of his wife, Aisha, in his presidential campaign did not only warm him into the hearts of many Nigerians but also contributed to his eventual success at the poll. This explains why she moved from state to state campaigning for her husband to allay fears by many Nigerians that women would not have a place in Buhari’s cabinet. The President, according to her, is passionate about women. “I don’t need to influence him to get women appointed into his

Women in key positions The president’s wife believes it is not enough to appoint a woman from a state as a minister. According to her, appointing one enlightened woman into the cabinet does not amount to a true representation of women. She said: “Picking one woman, one sophisticated woman to be a minister, I’m not going against female being a minister but I feel she may not have a rapport with the real rural women. That’s where it matters. “I think the best thing to do is to empower or give key positions to women from local governments where we feel they are very close to the grassroots. They can feel the masses pulse and know where it pinches.” First Lady title It will arguably shock many Nigerians especially women who adore and relish the glamour attached to the office of the First Lady that Aisha Buhari has dropped the title. Besides the fact

Pet Project Again, Aisha like her husband has chosen not to go with the crowd. Unlike her predecessors, she may end up not having a pet project. According to her, there could be several other women out with far better ideas that should be supported and promoted which if she has a project may be overshadowed by her own. Her words: “They normally ask me some questions concerning pet project because the past first ladies had their pet projects. For me, maybe I may have but I don’t have now because there are a lot of problems in the country and there are a good number of women with good ideas. “If I decide to come up with one programme, that would make everyone’s attention tilted to one area, I think the rest of the programme may not come up or survive because a lot of women have good ideas. If there is a genuine project from different people, I would help champion the programmes rather than me having only one pet programme.” But Aisha said she will still perform traditional duties as the president’s wife and hopes to support the development of Nigeria’s women and youth. “The wife of the president has some traditional roles, like receiving guests, visiting orphanages, helping the less privileged people. Also, leading the fight for the right of women and malnourished children, infant mortality rate, kidnapping and girl child trafficking,” she said.

Graphics

Timothy Akinleye Ugochukwu Nnakwe Raheem Rafiu

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY,MAY 29, 2015

Workers’ planned protest threatens Ikpeazu’s inauguration Steve Uzoechi

ndications emerged yesterday that the Abia State Governor-elect, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu’s inauguration could take place without the fanfare associated with such events at the Executive Chambers of the Abia state Government House, following a hatched plan by workers to stage a protest over the inability of the out-

going government to pay arrears of workers’ salaries. Impeccable sources in the Abia State Government House told New Telegraph that the decision wasto avoid the anticipated workers’ protest over the backlog of unpaid salary arrears by the out-going government. A source, who craved anonymity said, “Any major protest at this point in time would be

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SOUTH-EAST

an embarrassment to the state and could mar the entire exercise, giving the negative signals such could send to the public. So the organizing committee has been directed to consider holding the swearing-in ceremony first at the Executive Chambers, then Ikpeazu can thereafter go and address Abia people.” Continuing he explained: “Workers in the Abia state local

government system are owed no fewer than six months salary arrears, state civil service are owed upwards of two months. Not even the traditional rulers are spared; they have not been paid their allowances in the last two months. Pensioners also, are passing through a horrible time. So there is every reason to anticipate a protest march tomorrow.”

Abia NLC dismisses govt’s claim over salaries Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

he Abia State chapter of the Nigerian Labour Cogress (NLC) has described the state accountant general, Mr. Gabriel Onyedinefu’s claim that the state government was not owing workers as false, saying that he lied about the true position of the government indebtedness to the workers in the state. The accountant general was quoted in a national paper as saying that the state government has paid its workers up till May, a position the labour said was a complete falsehood as it maintained that the government still owes workers huge arrears of salaries. Commenting on the development yesterday

the state Chairman of NLC, Comrade Uchenna Obigwe, said the accountant general was deceptive, even as he insisted that the nine state parastatals were still being owed salary arrears ranging between three and eight months. He named the parastatals being owed to include: The Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba, which he said is being owed eight months, Hospital Management Board, seven months salaries; the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, four months and Abia State Universal Basic Education Board, six months. He also said, teachers in the state are being owed six months salary arrears, Local Government workers are being owed three months salaries, the state radio station, the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia), are being owed three months salaries.

Army officers’ wives immortalise soldiers killed by Boko Haram Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

T Enugu State governor-elect, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, with a group of Enugu indigenes, who came to visit him ahead of his inauguration … yesterday

Abia politicians urged to accept polls’ outcome Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

youth group, Abia North Youth Leaders Forum from the five local government areas of Abia North senatorial district, has appealed to politicians involved in the 2015 elections to exercise restraint and avoid comments that are capable of destroying the peace in the area. In a communiqué issued at the end of its meeting yesterday the group said that the election in the area has produced candidates and the elected poli-

ticians should be allowed to concentrate and serve the people of Abia North senatorial district, stating that any aggrieved person was free to approach the tribunal for redress, rather than making inflammatory comments. The group led by Comrade Chidiebere Uwagwu Kalu, said that the candidates including the senatorelect, Hon Mao Ohuabunwa and members of the House of Representativeselect and House of Assembly-elect would need to work for the zone with minimum distraction irrespective of their party affiliation.

Tribunal grants Nkwegu prayer to inspect poll materials Uchenna Inya ABAKALIKI

he governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow the governorship candidate of Labour Party(LP) in the 2015 general elections Chief Edward, his counsel or any forensic expert retained by him to inspect, scan and take copies of documents and electoral materials used in the elections. Chairman of the tribu-

nal, Justice Theresa Aladi Ikoje gave the order following ex-parte motion filed by the counsel to Chief Nkwegu, Chuma Ajaegbu. She also ordered INEC to issue to the petitioner or his counsel certify true copies of all ballot papers, result sheets, voters register, accreditation incident forms in entries of data in the INEC card reader machines, electoral materials received and return forms as well as detailed statistics and distribution of permanent voter cards in all the polling units in wards and local government areas.

‘Elechi emerged governor through guided process’ Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

bonyi State Deputy governor-elect Dr. Eric kelechi Igwe, has said that the outgoing governor of the state, Chief Martin Elechi, performed below expectations because he did not emerged as the gov-

ernor through a due political process. Igwe who spoke to Journalists yesterday in his country home town Ikwo local government area, stated that Elechi, was imposed on the people by the power that be, thereby depriving people of the state the privilege of choosing who govern them.

He noted that Elechi, did not under-go the processes of campaigning to get the acceptance of the electorate, resulting in his ignorance of the problems and needs of the people. According to him, if Elechi’s emergence in the election was a product of hard work and intensive campaign that

would have manifested in his administration in terms of comparison with past administrations. He assured that the in-coming administration of Engr. Dave Umahi, will make use of the of best brains in in the state, order to run the best administration in the history of the state.

he Nigerian Army Of ficers Wives Association(NAOWA), yesterday unveiled a plaque tagged “Heros Wall”, built to immortalized soldiers of the 103 Battalion of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army Enugu, killed by the Boko Haram insurgents. According to NAOWA, the monument was aimed at remembering the slain soldiers who lost their lives while defending the defenseless. Unveiling the monument at the 82 Division Barracks, the General Officer Commanding, GOC 82 Division, Enugu, Major General Shehu Yusuf, applauded the NAOWA ges-

ture. He also expressed happiness with the NAOWA members for building a magnificent children’s park, saying people in the barrack now have a place for relaxation. The monument was built inside a new children’s park also constructed by the association led by wife of the GOC, Mrs. Seeline Yusuf. The children’s park named “Dragon Children’s Park, 82 Division”, Yusuf explained was built as a mark of honour to the women whose husbands were lost to the fight against insurgency. She stated that such recreational centre would help in keeping the orphans of the killed soldiers busy.

Obiano’s agricultural investment hits $745m Pamela Eboh Awka

gricultural investment embarked upon by the Governor Willie Obiano’s administration through which agriculture is speedily gathering momentum in the State, has hit $754 million in the state. Speaking during the flag off ceremony to mark the 2015 farming season at Otuocha yesterday, the governor outlined the sources of investment inflow to the state to include the massive entry of Coched Farms Ltd, a subsid-

iary of Coscharis with an investment portfolio of $150m or N30bn and Joseph Agro Ltd with $200m or N40bn which he added has firmly secured the spot as a prominent producer of Rice. Similarly, the huge investments of $220m or N44bn made by Ekcel Farms in Umueje have given the “Light of the Nation’ state a strong foothold in Cassava and Tomato paste production. Other major investors are Delfarm which pumped in the sum of $75m or N15bn, Grains and Silos Ltd with $40m or N8 billion.

46 News

Uduaghan grants amnesty to four prisoners Dominic Adewole ASABA

ess than 24 hours to the end of his tenure, Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday granted pardon to four prisoners who are on the death and life imprisonment row of the state. They are, one Moses Akatugba, who bagged a total pardon, one Williams Aniretan, Onyeka Emordi, Martin Ishiekwene and Samuel Akpos. The governor further commuted the death sentences and life imprisonment of four prisoners to lesser punishments respectively. The governor ordered his immediate release in the exercise of his powers of Prerogative of Mercy under Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended). The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Charles Ajuyah (SAN), yesterday said the governor pardoned them on the grounds of age, health challenges and good conduct. According to Ajuyah, the governor acted in pursuant to his powers of Prerogative of Mercy in the spirit of Democracy Day celebrations. The Attorney-General listed the beneficiaries to include Williams Aniretan, whose death sentence was commuted to two years imprisonment and Onyeka Emordi, whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

Imoke recalls challenges of governing C'River Clement James Calabar

ut going governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke, has reminisced on his eight years leadership in the state and concluded that despite the challenges he faced, he had finished strong. In a valedictory broadcast to the people of the state, Imoke said he had tasted the good and the bad side of leadership during his tenure, but was inspired by the greatness of the state and has been uplifted by the ‘good of our people.’ “For me, it has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your governor. There have been good

BENIN

chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party and a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Samuel Ogbemudia, has tasked the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of Muhammadu Buhari to reposition the country and ensure good governance. Ogbemudia, a two time governor of the defunct Mid-West Region and Bendel State stated this while speaking with newsmen in Benin, the Edo State capital. He said Buhari would be able to reposition the country only if his administration avails itself of people reputed for organising formidable economic team

days and tough days. But every day, I have been inspired by the greatness of our state and uplifted by the goodness of our people,” the governor said. The governor said in order to recreate the state and make it a model to other states; he initiated a seven-point agenda which, according to him, has changed the face of the state. “In order to realise this, we propagated a seven-point agenda that was based on making agriculture more productive and rewarding, growing the tourism industry, expanding access to qualitative education and social services, institutionalising basic healthcare, developing a strong and private sector-driven economy,

building, upgrading and maintaining public infrastructure and preserving the natural environment through conservation,” he said. Looking back now, the governor said the sevenpoint agenda enunciated by his government has assisted in re-engineering the state and generating confidence in the people, notwithstanding the challenges. “Today, the evidence is there for all to see in every nook and cranny of our state. Despite the fiscal challenges that confronted my administration owing to the loss of 76 oil wells as a consequence of the loss of Bakassi to Cameroun and dwindling federal allocations, we stayed the course and kept alive the

dream; our modest efforts have transformed our state and improved the living standard of our people,” he posited. The out-going governor, however, appealed to those he offended in the course of leading the state to understand with him, saying such was not intended. “I am also aware that some of our policies may have left some of you holding onto the short end of the stick. It was not because we intended harm or ill-will. It was not also because you did not matter; it was because we were driven by the passion and burning desire to make a difference for the good of our dear state,” Imoke pleaded. He used the occasion to canvass support for

the governor-elect, Prof. Ben Ayade, noting that he has not only the capacity, but the vision and tenacity to sustain the effort to build a strong and virile economy for the people. “I'm very grateful to be handing over the reins of leadership to our governor-elect, Prof. Ben Ayade, who you overwhelmingly voted for. I have implicit confidence in the governor-elect and his team to push the frontiers of development further. “I beseech you to give him your support in the same way you gave to our administration, to ensure he succeeds. He has not only the capacity, but the vision and tenacity to sustain our effort to build a strong and virile economy for our people,” Imoke explained.

L-R: Delta State Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos Utuama; General Manager, Asaba Zone, Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Sunday Llegar; Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan; Special Adviser to the Governor on ICT, Princess Lilian Ofili; Secretary to the State Government, Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay and Delta State PDP Chairman, Mr. Edwin Uzor, at the inauguration/handover ceremony of the ICT Centre and commissioning of Zenith Bank, ICT branch…yesterday.

Ogbemudia tasks Buhari on governance Cajetan Mmuta

friday, may 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

south - south

to design for the nation a rapid socio-economic development programme. Besides, the former governor urged the Buharis administration to consider constituting a commission to look into whether parliament would be part time or full time with a view to reducing the high cost of governance, as well as the bogus salaries paid to appointed and elective political office holders in the country. He argued that such a commission would help fashion out how much should be paid to part time parliamentarians while stringent measures should be taken to address the control of fuel supply in the country by few cabals who are out to milk the nation dry and, in the process, visit the citizenry with repeated fuel scarcity.

JTF mediates in crisis between ‘Flow stations remain shut until disagreements are sorted out’ Agip, host community Chris Ejim Yenagoa

he Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield, has sent a 10-man team to mediate in the crisis between Agip and its host community, Egbebiri, which has disrupted oil production in the area. Egbebiri community in Yenagoa Local Government Area, had on Tuesday, shut down six oil wells belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), accusing the company of neglecting its corporate social responsibility to them. The aggrieved community members, comprising youths and women, cut down trees to block all access roads to the oil wells. A visit to the Idu Oil Fields yesterday showed

that the six wells that were shut by the community on Tuesday remained shut. Chairman of the Ijaw Youths Council in Egbebiri, Mr. John Aniedima, said the military personnel were already in the community to address the crisis. “The soldiers, numbering 10, are in the community to appeal that we open the blocked access roads and reopen the shut oil wells, they are not there to forcefully reopen the roads and wells, they are persuading. “We explained our position to them and the wells remain shut. “I am told that Agip had invited representatives of the community to a meeting at their Port Harcourt office, but we insisted that the meeting be held in our community."

Gabriel Choba Ughelli

he leadership of Host Communities of Nigeria Oil and Gas (HOSTCOM), Urhobo and Isoko chapters yesterday warned that flow stations presently shut by aggrieved staff of Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) will remain closed until disagreements over the pipeline surveillance contracts are resolved. This warning was contained in a joint statement signed by Mr. Efe Okovwurie, Morrister Idibra, Richard Erhurhore, John Obaro, Dr. Edegware David and Wilson Kokarhare, respectively. The group, however, vowed to pressurise the Federal Government and the management of the NNPC to decentralise the

Federal Pipeline Surveillance/Intelligent Gathering Contract for Urhobo and Isoko to enable them have separate contracts. The leaders lamented that HOSTCOM, which initiated the surveillance programme, was not given the contract to manage, despite having the blueprint to effectively implement it. According to them, indigenes of oil communities living with the oil and gas facilities were not recruited by the contractor awarded the project in Delta State and which is even too big for the contractor to manage on behalf of five ethnic nationalities in the state.” They said separate companies for Urhobo and Isoko had been registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, which should be awarded the surveillance contracts for both ethnic nationalities.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

News 47

NORTH

Transition committee: Kwankwaso leaves N379bn debt in Kano Muhammad Kabir KANO

he 93-man Transition Committee set up by the Deputy Governor and Governorelect of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, yesterday submitted its report with the outgoing administration of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso leaving behind over N379 billion liabilities and 4, 019 uncompleted

projects. Similarly, the committee submitted that Kwankwaso is leaving behind in the treasury N20 billion unpaid prepared vouchers and N14.042 billion pension liabilities, making the incoming administration confused as to where and how to start. The Deputy Governorelect, Hafiz Abubakar, who is the Chairman of the Transition Committee, told the Governorelect that in the last

four years, they have recorded 4, 019 projects, paid N140.120 billion for them with a balance of N4.5 billion, while 2,071 ongoing projects await Ganduje, which is about N313 billion. Similarly, Abubakar noted that so far, the government had paid N202.5 billion for the major projects out of a total of N313 billion that was supposed to be paid, having an outstanding payment of N105 billion.

In the same vein, the Chairman of the transition committee said the outgoing government had inherited 671 projects from the Ibrahim Shekarau government, whose cost was N72 billion and they paid N40 billion, remaining N33 billion to be paid. He noted that from May 2011, the outgoing government received from both the Federation Account and the local IGR N419.97 billion and spent N418.168 billion,

while in the local government, Kwankwaso collected as revenue for the 44 local government areas N346.591 billion in the last four years and spent N342.329 billion. The Governor-elect, while responding said: ‘I’m not surprised with the contents of the reports, because all areas that needed to be covered were fully covered and the challenges are enormous as to where to start and how to start.

‘We’ve made so many interventions in eight years’

MINNA

he Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, Prof. Musbau Akanji, has said that the output of seismic station established in the institution by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) will be of immense research benefit to many departments in the institution. Akanji, who spoke with our correspondent on telephone, said FUT Minna and NEMA since June 2009 have been in partnership to realise this dream. He said the establishment of the station will be of immense research benefit to academic departments such as Geology, Physics, Geophysics and other related disciplines both at the FUT Minna and other tertiary institutions in the country.

he outgoing governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, yesterday inaugurated an ultra-modern Government House complex built at the cost of N15 billion. It will be recalled that the incoming administration of Simon Lalong has said he will not make use of the edifice as the cost is outrageous. Governor Jang inaugurated other projects which his administration initiated, including road networks,z also named a 7.50km JUTH Road after former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

OWOLABI

Dan Atori

Jos

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Bauchi

Seismological station’ll boost research, says VC

Musa Pam

change of nameS

Alhassan Yusuf he Bauchi State government yesterday said its interventions in many areas of human and infrastructural development has yielded positive results in the last eight years. This was disclosed in a valedictory speech by the outgoing governor, Malam Isa Yuguda, at the Government House, Bauchi. Yuguda, in his message to the people of the state, said his administration achieved much and has been able to move the state forward due to the support and cooperation the people of the state accorded him during his eight years in office.

Jang inaugurates N15bn Govt House

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Out-going Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (right), presenting copies of hand over notes to the Governor-elect, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, at the Government House, Minna…yesterday

1, 000 policemen drafted for Ortom’s inauguration Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

t least 1, 000 policemen have been drafted to ensure a smooth transition programme and help forestall any break down of law and order during today’s inauguration ceremony in Benue State.

Outgoing governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam, will be handing over to Dr. Samuel Ortom, of the All Progressives Congress at a colourful ceremony in the state capital, Makurdi, today. Our correspondent, who also monitored activities leading to the ceremony, said dozens of riot policemen have been

Yuguda swears in three high court judges, grand khadi Alhassan Yusuf Bauchi

utgoing Governor of Bauchi State, Malam Isa Yuguda, yesterday sworn in three high court judges along with one grand khadi in the state. The judges are Justice Mu’azu Abubakar, Justice Sa’adu Abubakar and Justice Lamido Abubakar Umar, all from the Bauchi State High Court while Grand Khadi Dahiru Abubakar Ningi is from the Sharia Court of Appeal, Bauchi. The out-going gover-

nor charged them to bring their wealth of knowledge and experience into play in the discharge of their official responsibilities. The judges were sworn in, in line with section 271 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. Yuguda said: “I want to observe with appreciation that members of the state judiciary have lived up to expectation. I want to particularly appreciate the conduct of the high court judges and khadis for being impartial arbiters by dispensing justice without fair or favour.

deployed at strategic positions and major streets to help maintain peace. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Austin Ezeani, who spoke with New Telegraph on the level of preparedness for today’s historic event, said no fewer than 1, 000 police officers have been deployed at sensitive positions to ensure the protection of lives and property of citizens. He said anybody caught violating the law during the event will be arrested and prosecuted.

The police spokesman said the incoming governor had already inspected facilities at the event and also expressed satisfaction with the facilities put in place. New Telegraph gathered that Governor Suswam conducted his successor round the Government House as part of the transition process and later took him to the Governor’s Office, where he formally drew the curtain on his administration in the state.

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FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Fare thee well Jonathan, the future is ours

he one thing I miss as a writer is the unqualified support and encouragement from someone closest to my heart, yet these are things the world, my fans freely gave to me. I thank all of you who read and support my grounds on issues and also those who disagree with me like Tony from Port Harcourt and Nura from Katsina. One thing being a writer does is that it sets you apart from people who look forward to reading you, meeting you and sharing some thoughts but you never get to meet them, yet they inspire you with their prayers ,criticisms and words of encouragement. Many times you want to behold them too, shake their hands, share ideas, learn one or two things from them but it never happens. Yet, they are friends and at the same time strangers you may never get to meet even though they pray for you and blesses you. Some fans have asked me how I decide on what topic to write every week and I will explain thus; my environment inspires me. Over the years, I found this favourite spot, a window in my Silver Lake home from where I look out to the chirming birds, the blooming plants and trees and more importantly the people, many of whom never noticed my presence as they go about their daily shores. Besides, I have always known that no one gets honoured for what he received but for what he gave, hence I found giving as an essential part of my writing culture. As I spy on the people, I ask myself, ‘what do I say to them?’; ‘what do I give to them?’; ‘half truth or say it the way it is?’ This morning, as I stood on that same spot by my window, many thoughts raced through my mind; the fuel crisis and Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah’s (Capital Oil) heroic intervention. I have met with Ubah on more than one occasion but we really never became friends. But on this score, I must admit, I was impressed by his intervention especially that historic speech, only fit for revolutionaries. I placed a call to thank him for standing up for the masses and for reaching out to the hospitals and laboratories that were in desperate need of petrol and diesel. I was pleasantly surprised that he still recognized my phone number and name, and we spoke freely on what motivated his latest action. And then, the travails of Buruji Kashamu who many people mischievously present as President Jonathan’s friend. Kashamu was Obasanjo’s friend, alter ego, man Friday and confidant until ambition and struggle for political supremacy tore them apart. I never met Buruji Kashamu, I don’t know him. All I knew of him were what I read from the newspapers. I am aware that no court has found him guilty of any crime and that he has not violated any law in Nigeria; his alleged crime was not against Nigeria, nor was it perpetuated from the Nigerian soil yet we are too willing to hand him over to the Americans without allowing him the benefits of exhausting all legal options available to him as a citizen. Will the US be kind to hand over Dick Cheney so we can try him in our court for his roles in the Halliburton corruption case? At least, corruption has killed us in Nigeria more than drugs will ever do? How do I point out the flaws in NDLEA’s desperation to abduct and extradite Kashamu to the US without sounding supportive of his alleged crime? The rule of law must be patient and open minded. NDLEA as a government agency must respect obey court order irrespective of whose thug it has chosen to be. Conflicting with these thoughts was the parting but bitter sweet exit of Jona-

My Word CLEM AGUIYI

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Jonathan

Adesina Akinwumi

Ubah

Cheney

than as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which will happen today. I settled to write this ode in honour of Jonathan because this is the last time I will be privileged to write about him as President for a day after this publication he will become former president with limited roles to play in the affairs of the nation. I may not be saying anything new on this page because a lot has been said and written about the Jonathan presidency, about the 2015 Presidential Election, the how and why the election was lost. As an insider, I am in position to say some of what happened, essentially to debunk the unsubstantiated rumour that external influences compelled Jonathan to concede victory to Mohammadu Buhari. Except contradicted by his own memoir,

I can testify that neither his aides nor foreign powers influenced that historic decision. He acted on his own volition and without prompting placed that important call to Mr. Buhari. Very few presidents will see conspiracies against them the way Jonathan experienced it and remain calm. As president he was blessed with cabinet ministers and party chieftains most of whom were not loyal to the constitution, the nation nor to him but to their tribe, language and religion and he tolerated them. In the face of mounting evidence against INEC complicity in pre-election registration and distribution of PVCs, he allowed the matter to pass away the same way he was calm when the card reader refused to recognize and accredit him. If he was perturbed , he never showed it

when video evidence of senior police officers thumb printing and stuffing ballot boxes in favour of his opponent were presented to him, including INEC officials looking the other way while under age kids voted. Rather than declare martial law he smilingly enthused that nothing is perfect and that only the political class will make the political process credible by accepting the outcome of elections as declared by the umpire. Politicians who say what they mean or meant what they say are rare to find hence we wondered what manner of power seized the president few days to the election, but we were quickly reminded by those immortal and vintage words of his, that ‘no blood of any Nigerian is worth being wasted on account of my ambition’. Though often repeated, not many of us believed in the words which we saw as those fine lines and good sound bites that make great political speeches. But Jonathan was different; he was a citizen politician whose actions are not just based on words but on deeds, hence when that moment that made big meaning came he seized it. I mean that moment when he placed that very important phone call to Mr. Muhammadu Buhari; that moment when he gracefully conceded defeat and lavishly congratulated Buhari as President-Elect. That moment was my proudest moment of him because he put the nation first above self; he pushed back the country from the brink; he not only saved lives , he saved the nation from disintegration, he taught Africans a great lesson in political sportsmanship , he proved bookmakers wrong and gave the nation another chance to move on to become the great nation it is meant to be; he gave the nation a chance to remain the giant of Africa; he gave us a new beginning and a new hope to forge a great and prosperous nation. As a great nation our challenges will always be complex and it will always be that way. But like he said few weeks ago to those that are despaired, ‘don’t give up or lose hope’ for as long as we believe in our self and in Nigeria as a great nation, the future will always be ours. My President, I am honoured to thank you for your legacies. I recall your common sense transformation in Agriculture which made our food production to bloom. For the first time in decades we could beat our chest as a nation that will afford to feed her citizens. I witness the rejuvenation of our rail transported system, the upgrade of our universities and health care systems, the reconstruction of our roads and airports, respect for rule of law and human rights, youth oriented programmes and more. Granted that insecurity marred the achievements, but common sense told us that we cannot surrender to terror , that we need to rebuild , reequip and retrain our military. I am proudest of the exploits of our soldiers under your command. I can safely conclude that the capability of the terrorist to attack and cause mass civilian violence has been degraded. For the things that are left undone , I believe they are that way because we are a great nation and our challenges can always be complex and will always be like that but as long as we understand and remember the first and second principle – believe in our-self and the nation , the future will always be ours. My President and Commander in Chief, I wish you Goodluck in your future endeavours. May God bless you as you return home to Otuoke. I will always find reasons to stop by the country side. Fare thee well.

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

U-20 World Cup

Iheanacho upbeat about Flying Eagles’ chances

Tennis

Basketball

French Open: Serena, Djokovic, Nadal progress

DStv League: Union Bank sure of ‘arresting’ Police

Sport

Did you know? One English FA Cup finalist in the last two editions go down (relegation) the following season, Wigan (2013), Hull City (2014)

Sack Keshi if he fails – Obaseki Vincent Eboigbe

former Nigeria Football Federation vice president, Oyuki Obaseki, has urged the body to sack Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, if he fails to deliver on his assignments: qualifying for the 2017 African Cup of Nations being the most immediate. He admonished those not satisfied with the re-hiring of Keshi to “sheath their sword” and allow the beleaguered coach to either ‘hire or fire himself ’ going forward. Having failed to lead Nigeria to the 2015 AFCON, many followers of the game felt Keshi should have been sent packing as was the case with Samson Siasia when he was also unable to qualify the Eagles for the 2012 AFCON. But the federation, after a long period of dithering, finally gave Keshi the job, incurring the angst of fans who argued that the “Big Boss” had no business being given a second chance. “The NFF must have the

courage to hire and fire its coaches, that is the practice everywhere. If Keshi fails to deliver on his mandate, the federation should relieve him of the job without any fuss. His performances should either hire or fire him. So that is why I couldn’t understand all the hoopla when the contract negotiation dragged on,” noted Obaseki. “Those who were against his re-appointment had no say in the matter; what could they have done? Those in charge of the game have taken a decision but if it doesn’t turn out right in the end, they should also have the courage to fire the coach.” Obaseki, a former chairman of the Nigeria Premier

• Shuns Platini’s call for resignation

• Seeks fifth term in today’s election

Adekunle Salami Group Sport Editor

Assistant Editor, Sport

Ifeanyi Ibeh Sport Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan Sport Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sport Correspondent

Nigeria’s Ogenyi Onazi chasing South Africa’s Reneilwe Letsholonyane

Blatter refuses to quit

The Sport Team

Emmanuel Tobi

League, also alluded to the presidential patronage that Keshi enjoyed which made it impossible to sack him when he failed in his assignment. He noted that such cover should not stop the NFF from doing its duty in the future. “Whatever the situation, the football federation must be able to hire and fire its coaches without interference from any quarters. President Goodluck Jonathan obviously likes Keshi and that made if difficult for the NFF to do its job, but the situation is different now, Jonathan is on his way out. But again, this situation underlines the way politics has seeped into our football with its consequences,” said Obaseki.

Blatter

epp Blatter has refused to resign as FIFA president following a request from UEFA chief Michel Platini. The 79-year-old Swiss held an emergency meeting with key FIFA officials on Thursday after world football’s governing body was subjected to yet more damaging corruption claims. He then met Platini alone, at which point he was urged to quit. Platini said he addressed Blatter “like a friend” but that the FIFA boss had told him it

was “too late” to resign. Platini added that the latest crisis had left him “absolutely sickened” and said “people have had enough”. Blatter is seeking a fifth term as president when he takes on Prince Ali bin alHussein in Friday’s election. Several influential football figures had called for the vote delayed after seven FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich on Wednesday. But UEFA, which governs European football, decided on Thursday not to boycott the election and will continue to back Prince Ali, although some member associations, like Russia, have said they will back Blatter. FA chairman Greg Dyke: ‘’FIFA have got to be rid of Blatter’’ CAF, which looks after the interests of Africa, has also reiterated its support for Blatter.

So has the Asian Football Confederation, although one of its members, the Australian football federation, has announced its intention to vote for Prince Ali. “A big, big big majority of the European associations will vote for Prince Ali,” said Platini. “People have had enough, they don’t want this president any more.” FIFA was plunged into fresh crisis on Wednesday when United States authorities indicted 14 people and arrested seven senior football officials on bribery and racketeering charges. In a separate development, Swiss officials opening criminal proceedings into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid processes. Blatter’s decision to chair an emergency meeting with representatives from FIFA’s six confederations is signifi-

Plantini

cant. Such gatherings are rare. It also took place without two of its nominated members. Jeffrey Webb, president of the North, Central American and Caribbean Association, and Eugenio Figueredo, president of the South American confederation, were both absent after being arrested on Wednesday. Blatter, who has been in power since 1998, was widely expected to win a fifth term as president before the current crisis engulfed FIFA.

Sport

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

NFF travails and selective truth

ore often than not, I get amazed at the level some men in position of authority could go to in order to foist jaundiced truth on the society, in order to justify their unsustainable position. The time-tested fact we all know is that truth is ever constant and doesn’t vary, based on the dictates of situation and circumstance. Unfortunately, the above assertion is being sorely tested, and its validity daily challenged by the actions and inactions of people in positions of authority that the teeming masses look up to. Come to think of it, people now view truth from their myopic prism and based on their personal definition of what constitutes same. In other words, it’s all about what suits them and at what particular time. The irony is that the common man is now left in the lurch at the mercy of the ever powerful in the society. Incidentally, the common man and the rich, jointly share the ever binding love for the game of football, whose magnetic pull enjoys support across the divide. I’m not surprised that some soccer aficionadas in order to underscore the support it enjoys worldwide once described the game of football as the opium of the

Around the Stadia

joebooster391@yahoo.com

07039241156 (sms only)

people. In this context, none is left out of this all embracing affection the game commands. This position is highly germane in the country, considering the role football plays in further unifying the nation. It is on record, that whenever the national team is on duty, there is no Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, Ijaw, Ibibio, or Kanuri. All we have is one united Nigeria. To an average citizen, the ethnicity of the individual players seldom matters; so long they deliver on the pitch of play. Same attitude of oneness should be imbibed by all, particularly in other sectors of our national life to make for a truly great nation. This singular position of a unifier occupied by our sports and by extension our football, apparently, informed government’s obvious reluctance over the years in granting our football the much sought after autonomy, to be on their own. A cursory look at our previous experiments starting from

JOE BOOSTER

Decree 101 and other ancillary laws enacted ever since, shows clearly that government is adamant when it comes to issue of setting our football free. This is so, since the sport could be a dual coin that has the capacity to either unify a nation, or alternately serve as a tool of possible disintegration, when not properly managed. This is one notion our administrators ought to work assiduously to address in order to win the confidence of the powers that be; rather they concentrate all their efforts on selfish agenda that profits few. Ironically, none of the contending parties in the long-drawn out war of succession are thinking of how to win the confidence of the authorities, simply because they seldom appreciate the enormous role football plays in nation building. Ordinarily, the house of football should be the most vibrant of all sports federations, but the reverse appears

to be the case of late, simply because those saddled with the responsibility at the moment are yet to decipher the right strategy to apply to salvage our game. The sudden outburst of the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, recently to the effect that the Federation was broke is a pointer to the fact that all is not well. Here is a body that brings joy to millions of people on a daily basis, yet does not attract enough support in terms of funding or sponsorship from either individuals or greater number of the corporate world. It is a known fact that government alone cannot and will not be able to fund the game. Nigeria is one of the top nations in the world that participates in virtually all FIFA organised programmes, ranging from the under-age to the senior categories. These competitions no doubt, have impacted on the nation positively. But the fact is that time has come for us to tell ourselves the plain truth. The idea of taking part in all tournaments that are not sufficiently funded should be discountenanced for now. The thinking in most quarters either genuine or false is that the federation’s bigwigs enter for these tournaments merely for the attendant benefits they

would derive through the usual estacode allowance they get. Time has come for the federation to clean up the stable by learning to cut their activities, to avoid the usual embarrassment they are usually subjected to by the prying public. Their fund and sponsorship drive should be well packaged to earn the support of all, after completing a comprehensive in-house audit of their past activities. They need to prop up their public image that has been so battered by mounting allegations of corruption and cronyism, during the period of succession battle. This has made it almost impossible for most of corporate Nigeria to identify with their programme for fear of being tainted in the process. The federation needs to put its house in order through genuine reconciliation of all aggrieved parties and by extension, give the public firm guarantee that they are now born again by showing credible evidence of complete break from their sordid past. This is the only way out instead of indulging in throwing brick bats and dishing out selective truth. I have no doubt that Nigerian football needs to be massively supported by all and sundry like other nations do. Rest asssured that we will rise again.

U-20 World Cup (Flying Eagles news) Simon promises Iheanacho upbeat about goals in New Zealand Flying Eagles’ chances

anchester City starlet Kelechi Iheanacho has said he hopes the Flying Eagles match the high expectations from the Nigeria at the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand beginning with their opening game against Brazil. The African champions, who will also take on North Korea and Hungary in the first round, play their first match on Monday afternoon at the Taranaki Stadium against five-time winners Brazil and Iheanacho said they will go for broke against the team who finished fourth in the South American qualifiers. “We hope to scale through in our first game against Brazil and go on

from there,” he vowed. “Yes, they have won five times, but that time is past. This is a new generation and a new competition. It will be determined in 90 minutes. “We have to do well as a team, put in our best for us to beat them because they are also a very good team. And then take it on from there and face the other teams in our group. “It will be a very good experience for me and the team as well. We hope we will do much better than we did with the U-17s because we have grown up now and this is another level of football so we have to perfect many things we did not do with the U-17s and play more professionally.”

Moses Simon in action for Gent

‘No pressure on Eagles to win World Cup’

eneral Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Sanusi Mohammed, says the NFF did not set any targets for the Flying Eagles, even though they have high expectations of the reigning African champions. Sanusi said: “We have expectations that they will do well but we haven’t set any specific targets for them. “We believe they can win

the trophy but we don’t want to put them under any unnecessary pressure because that could be counter-productive. “The boys have done well so far and they have had a good preparation and it is our hope they will bring the trophy to Nigeria because a lot of people expect so much from them but at the same time I don’t think it is wise to put them under pressure.”

oses Simon has said he hopes to get his shooting boots firing again at the U-20 World Cup after he last scored for Belgian champions Gent on April 5. Simon and Granada striker Isaac Success were the last players to join the rest of the Nigeria squad for the World Cup in New Plymouth Wednesday evening. “Yes, the last time I scored was in April against Kortrijk, but the goals have not dried up. I believe I will be back scoring again, hopefully at this World Cup,” he said on arrival at the Flying Eagles hotel base. Simon, a January transfer signing, netted seven goals as Gent won a firstever Belgian league championship in 115 years. And he expressed his delight at the reception he got from the rest of the squad in New Plymouth. “It really feels good as I was accepted by the boys immediately on arrival,” said the left winger, who also featured at the 2013 tournament in Turkey. “I believe we will give Nigeria something good here.”

Nwakali downplays significance of Brazil tie

F Flying Eagles players during a training session

lying Eagles midfielder Chidiebere Nwakali has played down talks of their clash against Brazil being a ‘final before the final’, saying none of the teams will be thinking about the final just yet. Nigeria open their FIFA U-20 World Cup campaign on June 1 with a tie against Brazil in New

Plymouth, and Nwakali believes there won’t be anything particularly special about the fixture. “For me it’s going to be just a game because it’s our first in the competition and nobody would be thinking about the final at that stage. A lot of people always want to see Nigeria play Brazil and it will happen but it will be just our

first game and what we shall have in mind will be the maximum points. “You don’t want to start thinking about the final from the first game because you might get distracted. We will put in our best in the game but I don’t think there’s any significance to it beyond the three points we want to get,” Nwakali said.

Sport News 51

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

French Open: Serena, Djokovic, Nadal progress

op seed Serena Williams made swift progress into round two of the French Open on day three but last year’s semi-finalist Eugenie Bouchard was beaten. Williams, the champion at Roland Garros in 2002 and 2013, beat Czech Andrea Hlavackova 6-2 6-3. But Canadian sixth seed Bouchard lost 6-4 6-4 to France’s Kristina Mladenovic, the world number 44, her eighth defeat in nine matches. Also, reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and nine-time champion Rafael Nadal are all through to the round of 16 at the French Open. Two-time runner-up Djokovic defeated Luxembourg left-hander Gilles

Rangers explain Emetole’s suspension Charles Ogundiya

Muller 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, but the Serbian star required a medical timeout to loosen up the left side of his body. Up next for Djokovic will be promising young Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis. The third-seeded Murray improved to 12-0 on clay this year by holding off capable Portuguese Joao Sousa 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. The two-time Grand Slam champion was this year’s Aussie Open runner-up to Djokovic. Former world No. 1 Nadal blew away fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 on Court Chatrier. The 14-time Grand Slam champion has now won his last 37 matches at Roland Garros, where he’s won the last five titles. He captured four straight French Serena Open titles from 2005 to 2008.

he management of Nigeria Professional Football League side, Rangers FC of Enugu, has come out to clear the air on the “step aside” order given to the team’s Technical Adviser, Kelechi Emetole. Rangers FC on Tuesday after a joint meeting with the Technical crew directed Emetole to step aside. The Chief Coach, Imama Amapakabo, was also directed to take full charge of the technical crew till further notice. Speaking to New Telegraph on the telephone, the chairman of the club, Chidi Ofor, said there was need for the management to take a bold step after the lukewarm start of the team to the season. “We felt there is a problem in the team,” Ofor said. “The boys were well equipped, and we see no reason why the team should be languishing at the bottom half of the league table. “It is true that we owe them one or two months’ salary, but so many other clubs owe five to six months. But their bonuses and all other payments were up to date. “The management felt that the problem must be coming from somewhere and we asked the coach to step aside so that we can see where the problem is emanating from. “Right now we are thinking of the way forward, the management is trying to concentrate and look for a way to make the players more focused and ready for the task ahead.”

BBC award: Yakmut congratulates Oshoala, NFF

Oshoala

he Director General, National Sports Commission, Alhassan Yakmut, has congratulated Super Falcons forward Asisat Oshoala for emerging the British Broadcasting Corporation Women’s Player of the Year. Yakmut who also congratulated the Nigerian Football Federation for assisting the player achieve the enviable feat said: “Nigerians and the National Sports Commission are proud of the achievement recorded by Oshoala. By this singular and remarkable feat, she has written her name and that of Nigeria in gold”.

The DG also recalled the recent achievements recorded by Oshoala and re-affirmed that she did the nation proud recently by emerging the African Women Player of the Year and African Youth Player of the year at the GLOCAF African Football Awards. Oshoala was also named the Most Valuable Player of the FIFA U-20 Women World Cup in Canada where she also finished as the top scorer of the tournament. “As a goal scorer, she was the Most Valuable Player at the African Women’s Championship in Namibia last year when Nigeria clinched her seventh title,” he said.

Imoke lauds comprehensive sports programme

he Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke has said that the State’s Comprehensive Sports Development Programme is intended to bring back the glory of sports and reposition the country in both local, national and international tournaments. The governor who was speaking at a valedictory and appreciation reception held in his honour at the U. J. Esuene Sports Stadium by the Ministry of Youth Sports Development and the Sports Commission, said it was gratifying that all sports programmes initiated by his administration geared towards addressing youth

restiveness have to a large extent realised their goal. According to him, the overall objective of the Comprehensive Sports Development Programme is to make Cross River a destination of world champions and expressed

the hope that products of this programme will be celebrated stars in the future by the country and warned against allowing these talents to be taken away by other states and countries. In his remarks at the

ceremony, the out-gone Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Patrick Ugbe lauded the gains of the comprehensive sports programme, which he said was initiated by the present government in 2009.

Peace football final holds today

he finals of this year’s Peace Youth Football Championships will hold today inside the Abuja National Stadium. The competition organised by the Youth for Change Association in conjunction with Dynamic African Stars Limited will also witness the investiture of awards on some governors and sports ad-

ministrators. The governors to be honoured include Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano as the 2014 Youth Governor, Osun state governor Rauf Aregbesola who has been voted as the Peace Governor of the year while Alhaji Umar Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa state is rated the best Governor of the year.

Chairman of League Management Company, Alhaji Shehu Dikkko, and the General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Sanusi Mohammed, will receive sports administrators and sports person of the year awards respectively. Incoming President, Muhammadu Buhari, is the special guest of honour.

DStv League: Union Bank sure of ‘arresting’ Police Ifeanyi Ibeh

nion Bank Head Coach, Ayinla Johnson, is confident about his team’s chances when they take on Police Batons on Friday in the DStv Premier Basketball League. The Atlantic Conference tie will take place at the National Stadium, Lagos, and Johnson, who stated this on Thursday after his team’s training session, said the Police team is a team the Stallions know how to handle when it most matters. “All we need is to re-enact our winning formula against them and before you know it, we are home and dry,” said Johnson. “We are currently occupying the third position on the Atlantic Conference table with four wins and three losses and that is not enough for us to be comfortable because it is obvious that the positions for the Final-8 playoffs are still very much wide open. “That is why we must stop the Police this weekend,” added the former national team star.

UNICEF Charity Polo: Huawei Wins Access Bank Cup Emmanuel Tobi

uawei upstaged favourites Mar Air in the final to win the prestigious Access Bank Cup in the ongoing Access Bank UNICEF Charity Shield International Polo Tournament in Kaduna. The Mohammed Babangida powered Huawei who joined the race for the event’s second biggest trophy, jumped into the lead in the round robin face off after a slim 6-51/2 victory

in their opening game decided Monday and held on to earn their first ever Access Bank Cup title. The Access Bank Cup final was one the most competitive in years as the two teams went neck-to neck till the third chukka of the five chukkas clash, when Huawei came back from three goals down to grab a 5-4 lead with two chukkas to spare. “This is unbelievable. As late comers nobody gave us a chance, but

by sheer determination and the overwhelming support of our fans, we made it to the final and produced a stunning performance that overhauled the defending champions and secured us the glittering Access Bank Cup,” declared Fifth Huawei Captain, Babangida. Babangida commended Access Bank Plc for providing the Charity Shield platform for the teams to showcase their talents while dedicating their

first Access Bank Cup title to the teeming less privileged children across the country, whose plights fired Huawei throughout their victorious campaign. The internationally acclaimed Access Bank UNICEF Charity Polo tournament which entered its grand finale this weekend had earlier produced its first champion, Fifth Chukker team that defeated Kangimi 3-2 to win the Argentine Ambassador’s Cup.

Action at the on-going Access Bank UNICEF Charity Shield International Polo Tournament in Kaduna.

(N'bn)

^13.05 16-AUG-2016 ^15.10 27-APR-2017 9.85 27-JUL-2017 9.35 31-AUG-2017 10.70 30-MAY-2018 ^16.00 29-JUN-2019 7.00 23-OCT-2019 15.54 13-FEB-2020 ^16.39 27-JAN-2022 ^14.20 14-MAR-2024 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 ^10.00 23-JUL-2030 ^12.1493 18-JUL-2034

Business | Financial Market News

16-Aug-13 27-Apr-12 27-Jul-07 31-Aug-07 30-May-08 29-Jun-12 23-Oct-09 13-Feb-15 27-Jan-12 14-Mar-14 28-Nov-08 22-May-09 20-Nov-09 23-Jul-10 18-Jul-14

13.05 15.10 9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 15.54 16.39 14.20 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00 12.1493

(%)

581.39 476.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 193.73 600.00 573.14 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 299.50

16-Aug-16 27-Apr-17 27-Jul-17 31-Aug-17 30-May-18 29-Jun-19 23-Oct-19 13-Feb-20 27-Jan-22 14-Mar-24 28-Nov-28 22-May-29 20-Nov-29 23-Jul-30 18-Jul-34

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,746.32

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,414.64

1.22 1.92 2.17 2.26 3.01 4.09 4.41 4.71 6.67 8.80 13.50 13.98 14.48 15.15 19.14

13.76 13.86 13.88 13.88 13.93 13.97 13.97 13.96 13.86 13.81 16.97 17.47 18.05 15.54 14.03

13.62 13.77 13.79 13.80 13.79 13.88 13.86 13.87 13.80 13.75 16.91 17.40 17.95 15.47 13.98

99.17 101.99 92.65 91.42 92.29 106.12 77.61 105.28 110.70 101.90 89.69 74.23 51.42 68.00 87.57

99.32 102.14 92.80 91.57 92.59 106.42 77.91 105.58 111.00 102.20 89.99 74.53 51.72 68.30 87.87

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Modelled Price

2.27 2.19

16.31 15.99

100.87 100.00

99.37

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Stocks lose N16bn on profit taking Rating/Agency

Description

Issuer

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11

17.25 0.00/16.00

14.50 14.75

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

2.40 112.22

03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16

0.97 1.53

Agency Bonds

FMBN

ANXIETY

***LCRM

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

Sell pressure dominates market activities Sub-National Bonds TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

A/Agusto

KADUNA

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

Stories by Chris Ugwu ‡ /Agusto

*IMO

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

fter recording EDO signifi‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR *DELTA cant growth for two Bb-/Agusto; A-/GCR NIGER consecutive*EKITI days, the ‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR† Bb-/Agusto *NIGER stock market slowed ‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR *ONDO its momentum yesterday, as BBB+/Agusto; A-/GCR *GOMBE ‡ /Agusto

17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016

0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 the bears regained dominance 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017 following the losses recorded by some blue chip companies. This was due to profit taking by12.50 investors in the wake KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 that had of cautious optimism 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 pervaded the market. 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 Consequently, the All-Share 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 Index14.00 dropped 44.94 basis EDO 31-DEC-2017 30-SEP-2018 points14.00 orDELTA 013 per cent to close 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 at 34,310.37 as09-DEC-2018 against 34,355.31 14.50 EKITI 14.00 NIGER recorded theIII 12-DEC-2018 previous day, 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 while15.50 theGOMBE market capitalisa02-OCT-2019

0.00/16.50 tion of 20-Apr-12 equities depreciated 06-Jul-12 0.00/16.50 by N16 billion or 0.13 per cent to close at N11.658 trillion from N11.674 trillion. Meanwhile, a turnover of 31-Aug-10 12.50 30-Sep-10 711.2 million shares13.00 worth 30-Jun-11 14.00 N11.9 billion in 4,675 deals 30-Jun-09 15.50 was 19-Apr-10 10.00 recorded in the day’s trading. 30-Jun-10 13.75 The banking sub-sector of 30-Dec-10 14.00 30-Sep-11 services 14.00 the financial sector 04-Oct-11 14.00 was the 09-Dec-11 most active during 14.50 the 12-Dec-13 by turnover 14.00 volday (measured 14-Feb-12 15.50 ume); with 447.4 million15.50 shares 02-Oct-12

Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

BBB-/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019

22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12

BBB-/Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

13.50 LAGOS 27-NOV-2020

27-Nov-13

13.50

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020

31-Dec-13

15.00

‡ /Agusto A-/GCR

*EKITI *NASARAWA

14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

31-Dec-13

14.50

06-Jan-14

15.00

14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019

May & Baker shareholders get 5k dividend TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

*UPDC

17-Aug-10

10.00

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 hareholders of*FLOURMILLS May and management for a job profit. From a09-Dec-10 profit before 12.00 14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 BB/GCR 06-Jan-11 14.00 *CHELLARAMS &Baker Nigeria Plc well down. Though, the tax of N11.4 million in 2013, 13.00 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 A+/Agusto; A-/GCR 29-Sep-11 NAHCO 25-OCT-2016 A-/Agusto 25-Oct-13 a profit 14.25 yesterday at FSDH their dividend14.25 of FSDH 5 kobo is small the group recorded 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 A/GCR 30-Sep-10 13.00 UBA Annual General Meeting but if we18.00 look at where we of 101.1 million in 2014. 18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 BBB-/GCR 30-Nov-12 *C & I LEASING MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018 09-Apr-11 Nil *DANA (AGM) approved a dividend are coming from and the Profit after tax rose by 161 16.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 09-Sep-11 18.00 A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR project that the per cent from of 5 kobo per share *TOWER for the giganticMPR+7.00 negative of 16.00 MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 09-Sep-11 AAA/DataPro†; A/GCR *TOWER UBA II completed, 22-SEP-2018 A+/Agusto; A/GCR 22-Sep-11 company14.00just 2014 financial year. UBA N103 million to a positive of 14.00 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 BBB+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR 18-Oct-13 15.75 *LA CASERA need to appreci- N63 million, while This is coming after two then we15.75 turnover 18.00 MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 17-Feb-12 BBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR *CHELLARAMS 16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019 01-Apr-14 16.00 Nil years of non-payment of ate the management of the rose to N7 billion from N6.3 *DANA II 14-NOV-2020 A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO company15.25 . WeNAHCO hope that this billion in 2013,14-Nov-13 dividend, which according representing 15.25 14.25 FCMB I 20-NOV-2021 20-Nov-14 14.25 BBB/GCR FCMB will improve in the current to the company, was due to a growth of 10.3 per cent. 16.45 16.45 UBA I 30-DEC-2021 A/GCR 30-Dec-14 UBA 182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024 A/GCR 30-Sep-14 STANBIC IBTC financial13.25 year”. upgrading of the company’s Going forward, Danjuma 11.93 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024 A/GCR 30-Sep-14 13.25 STANBIC IBTC facilities and the construcChairman of the comsaid the company’s outlook TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE tion ofMARKET a World Health Or- pany, Gen. Theophilus remains bright and the TOTAL CAPITALISATION ganisation (WHO) certified Danjuma, said that the signs are already manifestSupranational Bond factory at Ota Ogun IFC State. company10.20 was to break ing with the firm’s return to 10.20 IFC able 11-FEB-2018 AAA/S&P 11-Feb-13 1-FEB-2021 Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P AfDB 10-Jul-14 The shareholders agreed the trend11.25 onAFDB non-payment profitability and dividend 11.25 TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE that their long wait for the of dividend because of the payment. TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION dividend had paid off as improvements recorded in “I am optimistic that as Description Rating/Agency Issue able Date Coupon (%) they can boost of a world- Issuerthe 2015 financial year. soon as we are to reclass pharmaceutical facHis words:” Despite the capitalise the business, we FGN Eurobonds shall take down the high fitory, which has increased harsh operating environ6.75 JAN 28, 2021 BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P 07-Oct-11 6.75 nancing cost, which is curthe returns on their investment, our company, May& BB-/Fitch; FGN 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 12-Jul-13 5.13 BB-/S&P ments. Baker Nigeria Plc, posted rently taking substantial BB-/Fitch; 6.38 JUL for 12, 2023 earnings off 12-Jul-13 Chairman, Progressive an impressive result the company. 6.38 BB-/S&P the year 2014. The chal- This will put us in a stronShareholders Association, TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Mr. Boniface Okezie, said lenges associated with the ger position to fully leverthe shareholders were hap- building and depreciation age our installed capacity, Corporate Eurobonds py that the company had gradupromote our 7.50 7.50 MAY 19, 2016 aggressively 19-May-11 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I of Pharmacentre is 7.25 25, 2017 existing brands, B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC 25-Jul-12 launch 7.25 returned to profit and that ally being taken care ofJULand 6.88 MAY 09, 2018 B/Fitch; B/S&P FIDELITY BANK PLC 09-May-13 very soon, the company our company has bounced the new products and busi- 6.88 6.00 NOV 08, 2018 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC 08-Nov-13 6.00 would begin to pay ZENITH higher back to profitability”. pipeline and 6.25 6.25 APR 22, 2019 nesses in our22-Apr-14 B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P BANK PLC 8.75 May 21, 2019 deliver better B/Fitch; B/S&P as the timeDIAMOND 21-May-14 dividend goes. BANK PLC The company recorded profits”, he 8.75 8.25 AUG 07, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P BANK PLC 07-Aug-13 8.25 “Let me thank theFIRST board a 990 per cent growth in said. 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC II 24-Jun-14 9.25 #{r}

#{r}

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK LTD

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

2.67 101.67 gainers’ table16.52 with an appreci2.85 16.72 97.92 ation of 10.00 per cent to close at N35.20 per share, while Total Nigeria Plc followed with a gain4.44of 9.43 per cent to close at 16.01 99.02 3.23Vono Products 15.50 N174. Plc99.13 added 4.46 18.16 97.69 4.973.48 per cent 17.18 to close at99.03 N1.69 14.85 92.21 per 1.00 share. 1.00 14.98 98.74 On hand, Forte 1.79the other 15.69 96.47 Oil 15.66 losers’97.30 Plc 1.80 led the price table, 1.00 14.87 98.53 dropping 4.8614.86 per cent each 1.00 99.41 to 4.78at N17618.64 92.98 close per share. Nei1.00 14.88 101.01 meth Plc followed with 1.00Nigeria 14.90 101.12 4.761.00 per cent 14.97 to close at98.50 N1.20 1.00 14.90 99.69 per 1.00 share, while Insur14.93 NEM 99.56 1.00 14.91 94.84 ance Plc followed with100.32 a loss 1.00 14.90 1.44 15.38 to close 97.88 of 4.71 per cent at 81 1.00 14.94 100.09 kobo per share.

452.88 439.73

Corporate Bonds

BBB+/Agusto BBB-/Agusto

116.70 N3.3 billion 19-Apr-17exchanged 1.89 worth 66.49 06-Jul-17 2.11 by investors in 1,687 deals. 297.82 Volume in the sub-sector 298.40 was largely driven by activities in the shares of Access 8.50 31-Aug-15 0.26 2.16 Plc and 30-Sep-15 0.34 Bank UBA Plc. 4.86 30-Jun-16 0.61 Insurance 30-Jun-16 sub-sector also 5.73 0.62 19-Apr-17 1.89 of 57.00 the financial services sec25.73 30-Jun-17 1.16 tor, boosted by31-Dec-17 activities in 2.59 the 25.00 30.81 30-Sep-18 shares of Wapic Insurance 1.97 Plc 9.00 04-Oct-18 1.99 followed with09-Dec-18 a turnover1.97 of 13.73 10.20 million shares 12-Dec-18 valued 1.97 105.1 at 27.00 14-Feb-19 2.16 N62.4 in 152 deals. 2.59 15.09 million 02-Oct-19 80.00 22-Nov-19 The number of gainers4.49 at 25.70 12-Dec-19 2.56 the close of trading session 10.78 10-Oct-20 3.10 87.50 5.50 was 30, while 27-Nov-20 decliners closed 5.00 31-Dec-20 5.59 4.55 31-Dec-20 3.25 at 27. 4.56 06-Jan-21 3.28 Presco Nigeria Plc led the

United Capital, CEO get global acknowledgment 2.50

17-Aug-15

0.22

1.00

12.76

18.75

09-Dec-15

0.28

1.00

12.77

99.78

0.42

06-Jan-16

0.37

2.63

15.09

99.64

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.34

1.00

14.88

97.74 98.82

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.41

1.34

15.18

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.34

1.00

14.89

96.33

0.64

30-Nov-17

1.36

1.88

15.75

103.41

09-Apr-18 1.62 nited Capital Plc, a finan2.54 09-Sep-18 1.78 cial and investment servic0.70 09-Sep-18 1.78 22-Sep-18 es35.00 firm has been awarded 3.32 the 2.10 18-Oct-18 1.89 2015 Banking & Finance Firm 0.36 17-Feb-19 1.97 01-Apr-19 by the 2.59 of 4.50 the Year (Nigeria) UK 2.05 14-Nov-20 5.47 based Corporate LiveWire. 26.00 20-Nov-21 6.48 The Corporate 30.50 30-Dec-21 LiveWire 6.59 0.10 30-Sep-24 9.34 Global Award,30-Sep-24 according to a 15.44 9.34 statement from United Capital 187.53 focuses on recognising global 182.00 excellence in the financial services 12.00 sector. 11-Feb-18 2.71 12.95 01-Feb-21 4.75 While presenting the 24.95 awards, Jake Powers, Pub21.77 lisher of Corporate LiveWire, Outstanding Value Bid and Yield (%) said, “This isMaturity ourDate biggest ($mm) most in-depth awards winner to date and we have honoured 500.00 28-Jan-21 5.79 some of the most well-known 500.00 12-Jul-18 advisory firms in the world4.66 in500.00 5.97 cluding PwC, 12-Jul-23 Clifford Chance and Morgan Stanley.” 1,500.00 He noted that the firm was 1,542.07 recognised as a result of its sustained leadership 500.00 19-May-16 in capital 6.31 350.00 7.35 market issues25-Jul-17 in both corpo300.00 02-May-18 10.69 rate and public sector as well 400.00 08-Nov-18 7.29 as500.00 its efforts 22-Apr-19 towards secur7.41 200.00 21-May-19 10.18 ing significant new mandate 07-Aug-20 8.76 in300.00 Asset Management and 400.00 24-Jun-21 10.40 5.40

1.00 14.81 101.57 Trusteeship. 1.00 14.84 104.56 United Capital, which has 1.00 14.84 101.64 3.00 16.94 92.69 received growing regional 16.14 99.33 and2.29 international recogni6.11 19.97 97.03 2.16reported 16.06 99.81 tion, a first quarter 2.76 16.67 95.01 PBT1.80growth15.65 of 44 percent, 94.42 compared to 15.66 its performance 1.82 103.12 1.00 15.03 84.62 in the first quarter of the pre1.00 15.03 91.14 vious year. The Group CEO, United Capital, Oluwatoyin Sanni, noted company’s 1.00 that the 14.91 89.77 se1.00 14.95 84.94 lection as the 2015 Banking & Finance Firm of the Year (Nigeria) reflects the consisOffer Yield (%) Bid Offer Priceto tent pursuit ofPrice its mission be the leading financial and Prices & Yields investment services group in 5.59 104.54 105.55 Africa. 4.32 101.32 102.31 “At United Capital, we are 5.81 103.59 committed to102.55 excellence and to helping our clients achieve superior results. Our dedicated staff embodies the vision and3.86 mission 101.09 of the organisa103.41 99.80 this everyday 99.80 tion.7.35We practice , 9.34 90.59 93.78 therefore receiving this award 6.78 96.15 97.65 is a7.41 true testimony to the 96.13 96.13cor9.75 culture 95.41 96.76 evporate we project 8.76 97.21 97.21 eryday,” she said. 9.89 95.00 97.25

8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

23-Jul-14

8.00

450.00

23-Jul-21

9.07

94.23

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

10.20

9.54

92.67

95.56

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

3,650.00

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

28-May-15

3,509.86

The DQL contains and instruments in the financial (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute **Treasury Bills^ data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities FIXINGS Moneymarket Market Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) professional,DTM financial or investment advice. We attempt to ensure the Information is accurate; theBidInformation is provided “AS IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE”Tenor basis and mayRate not(%) be accurate or up to date. We do not guarantee Maturity Bid Discount (%) Offer Discounthowever, (%) Yield (%) NIBOR 7 4-Jun-15 10.85 10.60 10.87 the accuracy,14 timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for a particular purpose of any of the Information, neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information. Bid ($/N) Offer ($/N) OBB 8.83 Tenor 11-Jun-15 11.59 11.34 11.64 Tenor Rate (%) 25-Jun-15 2-Jul-15 9-Jul-15 16-Jul-15 23-Jul-15 30-Jul-15 6-Aug-15 Issuer 13-Aug-15 27-Aug-15 3-Sep-15 10-Sep-15 24-Sep-15 1-Oct-15 15-Oct-15 29-Oct-15 12-Nov-15 3-Dec-15 17-Dec-15 7-Jan-16 NA 14-Jan-16 21-Jan-16 28-Jan-16 4-Feb-16 11-Feb-16 18-Feb-16 25-Feb-16 3-Mar-16

294

17-Mar-16

301

24-Mar-16 7-Apr-16

13.30

13.05

15.02

329

21-Apr-16

13.09

12.84

14.83

5-May-16 12.83 *for the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration

12.58

14.59

FGN Bonds

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE 315 TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION 343

12.76 13.33 12.00 13.35 11.72 12.34 11.98 Description 11.70 11.01 ^13.05 16-AUG-2016 9.37 13.14 ^15.10 27-APR-2017 12.46 9.85 27-JUL-2017 13.18 9.35 31-AUG-2017 13.40 13.44 10.70 30-MAY-2018 13.22 ^16.00 29-JUN-2019 12.81 7.00 23-OCT-2019 13.08 13.13 15.54 13-FEB-2020 13.57 ^16.39 27-JAN-2022 13.38 ^14.20 14-MAR-2024 13.78 13.39 15.00 28-NOV-2028 13.31 12.49 22-MAY-2029 13.22 8.50 20-NOV-2029 13.45 13.47 ^10.00 23-JUL-2030

13.21 ^12.1493 18-JUL-2034 13.37

12.51 13.08 11.75 13.10 11.47 12.09 11.73Date Issue 11.45 10.76 16-Aug-13 9.12 12.89 27-Apr-12 12.21 27-Jul-07 12.93 31-Aug-07 13.15 13.19 30-May-08 12.97 29-Jun-12 12.56 23-Oct-09 12.83 12.88 13-Feb-15 13.32 27-Jan-12 13.13 14-Mar-14 13.53 13.14 28-Nov-08 13.06 22-May-09 12.97 20-Nov-09 13.20 13.22 23-Jul-10

Bonds

28 35 42 49 56 63 70 Rating/Agency 77 91 98 105 119 126 140 154 168 189 203 224 NA 231 238 245 252 259 266 273 280

12.96 18-Jul-14 13.12

12.89 13.50 12.17 13.59 11.93 12.61 12.26 (%) Coupon 12.00 11.32 13.05 9.61 13.66 15.10 12.98 9.85 13.80 9.35 14.12 14.24 10.70 14.07 16.00 13.72 7.00 14.10 14.29 15.54 14.84 16.39 14.66 14.20 15.18 14.75 15.00 14.69 12.49 14.63 8.50 14.95 15.02 10.00 14.78 12.1493 15.03

O/N 1M 3M 6M

12.2500 15.4022 16.5661 17.5873

O/N Tenor Call 1M 3M (Yrs) TTM 6M

Outstanding Value Maturity Date (N'bn) NITTY Tenor 581.39 1M 2M 476.80 3M 20.00 6M 100.00 9M 12M 300.00

9.33

REPO

Rate (%) 16-Aug-16 12.9659 13.1250 27-Apr-17 13.4647 27-Jul-17 13.9052 31-Aug-17 14.6707 14.7661 30-May-18

351.30 29-Jun-19 233.90 23-Oct-19 NIFEX 193.73 13-Feb-20 Current Price ($/N) 600.00 27-Jan-22 BID($/N) 199.0000 573.14 14-Mar-24 OFFER ($/N) 199.1000 75.00 28-Nov-28 150.00 22-May-29 200.00 20-Nov-29 591.57 23-Jul-30 299.50 18-Jul-34

Rate (%) 8.75 9.00 Bid9.25 Yield 9.50

(%)

1.22 13.76 13.62 NOTE: 1.92 13.86 13.77 :Benchmarks 2.17 13.88 13.79 * :Amortising Bond 2.26Bond 13.88 13.80 µ :Convertible AMCON: Asset of Nigeria 3.01 Management Corporation 13.93 13.79 FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria 4.09 13.97 13.88 FMBN: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria 4.41 Finance Corporation 13.97 13.86 IFC: International LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables 4.71 13.96 Management 13.87 NAHCO: Nigerian Aviation Handling Company 6.67 13.86 13.80 O/N: Overnight 8.80 13.81Company 13.75 UPDC: UAC Property Development WAPCO:West 13.50Africa Portland Cement 16.97 Company16.91 13.98 17.47 17.40 14.48 18.05 17.95 15.15 15.54 15.47 19.14 14.03 13.98

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

FMBN Modified Duration ***LCRM Buckets

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

<3 3<5 >5 Market

17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016 Total Outstanding Porfolio Market Value(Bn) 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 Volume(Bn) 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

99.17 99.32 101.99 102.14 NA :Not 92.65 Applicable 92.80 ^ : Market Prices 91.42 91.57 # : Floating Rate Bond ***: Deferred 92.29coupon bonds 92.59 106.12 106.42 ‡ : Bond rating under review 77.91 †: Bond 77.61 rating expired N/A :Not105.28 Available 105.58 {r} :Issuer in receivership 110.70 111.00 101.90 102.20 NGC: Nigeria-German Company UBA: United 89.69Bank for Africa 89.99 74.23 74.53 51.42 51.72 68.00 68.30 87.57 87.87

4,414.64

Issue Date

Agency Bonds

197.83 197.93 201.81 201.93 202.13 202.28 Price 203.37 202.87 204.24 205.31 205.60 207.21 206.28 213.47Price Bid Price Offer 220.29 226.27

4,746.32

Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M 3M Yield Offer 6M (%) 1Y

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

FMDQ FGN BOND INDEX

03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 Weighting by 20-Apr-12 Outstanding Vol 06-Jul-12

41.39

17.25 0.00/16.00

Weighting by Mkt 0.00/16.50 Value

0.00/16.50

1,435.64

1,409.48

1,198.87

1,124.68

33.03

43.75 36.53

647.01

871.07

25.58

19.72

3,281.53

3,405.23

100.00

2.40 112.22 Bucket 116.70 Weighting 66.49

0.41

Maturity Date

03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16

% Exposure_ 19-Apr-17 Mod_Duration

06-Jul-17

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

0.97 1.53 Implied Yield 1.89 2.11

# Risk Premium (%)

2.27 2.19

Implied 2.67 Portfolio Price

2.85

Valuation Yield (%)

16.31 15.99 INDEX 16.52 16.72

100.87 100.00

YTD Return 101.67 (%)

97.92

297.820.33

18.98

13.88

105.2957

38.78

13.84

110.4242

1,101.82

298.400.26

42.24

14.94

78.1435

1,098.31

9.0661

100.00

14.31

100.0439

1,130.49

7.1366

1.00

1,179.73

Modelled Price

6.4881 8.8144

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.26

4.44

16.01

99.02

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

2.16

30-Sep-15

0.34

3.23

15.50

99.13

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.61

4.46

18.16

97.69

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.62

3.48

17.18

99.03

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

1.89

1.00

14.85

92.21

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.16

1.00

14.98

98.74

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.59

1.79

15.69

96.47

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

30.81

30-Sep-18

1.97

1.80

15.66

97.30

Business | Money Line 53

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

Currency dealers seek review of forex rules FLEXIBILITY Restrictions hinder trading Tony Chukwunyem with agency report

s currency traders await the inauguration of Presidentelect Muhammadu Buhari today, top of their wish list for the new administration is an overhaul of the nation’s foreign-exchange rules, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Price swings in the naira have plunged since curbs on speculation were introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last February and it’s now the most stable unpegged currency after Kenya’s shilling

among 37 peers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. That limits the volatility traders exploit for profit, prompting firms from Lagos-based Access Bank Plc to Bank of America Corp. to call for the rules to be softened or repealed. Talks are already underway with central bank officials and a new regime may be unveiled once Buhari is in place, people with knowledge of the discussions said. The trading curbs have stopped the naira weakening amid an Islamist insurgency in the north of Nigeria and a 43 per cent drop over the past year in oil, which accounts for two thirds of government revenue. Bloomberg quoted, Access Bank’s treasurer, Dapo Olagunju, as saying: “The market would love to see some restoration of foreign-exchange flexibility. The question is, when will there be a meeting

Nigeria is key market, says remittance firm boss Tony Chukwunyem

imbaPay launched a free remittance service to Nigeria because of the country’s ranking as the largest remittance destination on the continent, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nyasinga Onyancha, has said. He was quoted by the online publication, CoinTelegraph, as saying, “Remittances are a large part of Africa’s growth story and remain the largest source of international finance flows into the continent. Nigeria is the largest remittance destination in Africa. $21 billion is remitted annually to the West African country. So, it makes sense to have a presence in this key African market.” He said the firm is eyeing the whole of Africa, especially countries that have embraced mobile money. “This is because they have greater access to funds - via remittances,” he stated. The SimbaPay boss disclosed that in the coming months, the firm would launch

in some East African countries such as Kenya. He said: “We are driven by the vision to provide cost effective remittance services to Africa. We want our customers to send money to loved ones without the hindrance of high fees. SimbaPay allows transfers from UK to a mobile wallet or bank account in Kenya and now in Nigeria. We have built a proprietary cloud-based method of transferring money. This lowers our costs and ensures we can pass multiple transactions through in a matter of minutes.” He, however, pointed out that the firm charges a ‘slight’ difference between its forex rate and mid-market forex rates to compensate it for taking the forex risk. Onyancha said, “We are already seeing customers taking an interest in our services. Our proprietary cloud-based infrastructure is more than capable of handling hundreds of thousands of transactions each month, which is what we anticipate happening over the coming year.”

Bonds to take cue from new govt

igeria’s debt market is expected to take cue from policy changes under the new administration of presidentelect Muhammadu Buhari, who is due to be inaugurated today. Reuters reported traders as saying that most offshore investors remain on the sidelines waiting for the new government to state its economic agenda and a possible removal of tight controls on the forex market. “Investors will be watching out for clues on the policy direction of the incoming government as the president unveils his cabinet and major policy direction in the coming weeks before taking major leaps,” one dealer was quoted to have said.

Traders said the market was mixed this week with some sell-off seen after a spell of bearish trade earlier in the week, while yields trended up on some tenors. “We anticipate initial selloff by some investors booking profits, but largely the market will wait for a clear direction from the new government,” one dealer said. Yields on the benchmark debt maturing in 2024 rose to 13.83 per cent yesterday from 13.60 per cent last week. The 2022 paper traded at 13.86 per cent, up from 13.58 per cent last week, while the 2016 note fell to 13.78 per cent compared with 13.82 percent.

of minds?” The CBN started talks with dealers about how to loosen the trading restrictions at the beginning of May, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. “There’s no change” yet to the currency regime, CBN spokesman Ibrahim Mu’azu said by phone from Abuja last Wednesday. “We have to see the direction of the incoming government.” The naira has closed within a range of N197 to N200.7 per dollar everyday since the end of February, when authorities first prevented traders from buying greenbacks without matching orders from customers. It was at

N199 yesterday, after tumbling to a record-low of N206.32 on Feb. 12, the day before the new system was introduced. The trading curbs are the latest in a series of measures designed to shore up the naira, which in the first quarter was the fourth worst-performer among 24 African peers tracked by Bloomberg. The rules have left Nigeria’s currency “disconnected from reality,” with “fair value” at N215-N235, or at least 8 percent weaker than current levels, Bank of America economists Oyin Anubi and Turker Hamzaoglu, both based in London, wrote in a May 13 report. The naira’s perceived overvaluation is causing investors

to shun Nigeria. BlackRock Inc., Aberdeen Asset Management Plc and Investec Asset Management - which oversee a combined $5.5 trillion - have all said they’re holding off buying naira bonds and equities as they wait for the currency to weaken. That’s a further drag on an economy that’s already slowing. President-elect Buhari, a 72-year-old former military ruler, inherits a nation ravaged by the drop in the value of oil, which accounts for 90 percent of export earnings, and an uprising by Boko Haram militants. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its 2015 growth estimate for Nigeria to 4.8 per cent last January, from 7.3 per cent.

Interbank rates fall on rising liquidity

nterbank lending rate eased slightly to an average of 8.25 per cent yesterday from 8.5 per cent last week on the back of increased liquidity after the government paid public workers wages and joint venture partners. The Federal Government according to Reuters News, paid out a total of about N105 billion in wages and contributions to partners involved in joint oil production ventures with the government, boosting liquidity levels and forcing down lending rates, dealers said. Traders said though the

central bank withdrew around N45.7 billion to meet the new Cash Reserves Requirement (CRR) yesterday, the market had comfortable liquidity levels. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week harmonised the CRR on public and private sector deposits to 31 per cent. Previously the CRR on private sector deposits was 20 per cent and 75 per cent for public sector deposits. Traders said liquidity would also be adequate next week. “We are going to have a very liquid market next week

because of anticipated injection of additional cash from maturing treasury bills and a possible stable lending rates in the market,” one dealer said. Banks had a cash balance of about N300 billion at the central bank by Wednesday compared with N220 billion last week’s Thursday. The secured Open Buy Back was unchanged at 8 per cent, compared with the central bank’s 13 per cent benchmark rate. The overnight placement also fell to 8.5 per cent against 9 per cent last week.

Economic Indicators As at M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

N14,737,618.7m N16,509,472.5m 8.7 0.0000 13 10.899 7.96 17.01 US$109.9 US$29,798,389,889

Description

TTM

4.00% 23-Apr-2015 13.05% 16-Aug-2016 15.10% 27-Apr-2017 16.00% 29-Jun-2019 16.39% 27-Jan-2022 10.00% 23-Jul-2030

1.21 2.53 3.22 5.39 7.98 16.47

Tenor (Days) Call 7 30 60 90 180 365

Rate (%) 11.9167 12.3333 12.6667 12.9167 13.2167 13.5000 13.7500

NIBOR

Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 2/5/2014 1/20/2014 11/6/2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 1/20/2014 19/5/2015 Source:CBN

FGN Bonds Bid Price 90.20 99.25 104.10 109.35 114.15 76.60

Offer Yield 13.01 13.40 13.47 13.49 13.44 13.59

Price 90.35 99.40 104.40 109.65 114.45 76.90

Tenor (Months) 1 2 3 6 9 12

Rate (%) 12.1827 12.2737 12.3744 12.8521 12.8535 13.8443

Treasury Bills Maturity Date 08-May-14 07-Aug-14 22-Jan-15

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

Bid Spot ($/N) 163.28 THE FIXINGS –NIBOR,NITTY and NIFEX of February 6,2014

NITTY

Yield 12.86 13.33 13.35 13.42 13.38 13.53

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80 Offer 163.38

Open-Buy-Back (OBB) Overnight (O/N)

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

FRIDAY, May 29, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH FRIDAY, May 29, 2015

On Marble

“Women leave their marriages when they can’t take any more. Men leave when they find someone new.” – J. Courtney Sullivan

Clem Aguiyi

Sanctity of Truth

Fare thee well Jonathan, the future is ours

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015

}48

N150

Hurray! Change is here

ay 29, 2015 will always be remembered as one of the days that Nigerians looked forward to with much expectations. The last one month has been hellish for Nigerians, as they grappled with the scarcity of fuel, cooking gas, kerosene, aviation fuel and petrol. I don’t think any Nigerian adult will forget the terrible experience in a long time to come. I saw a man cuddling his baby by the side of the road as his wife inched their car forward on a long line of cars queuing for fuel. Will I forget the shocking experience I had on Thursday morning when my family and I drove into a cooking gas plant and we beheld so many cylinders of different sizes! The manager of the plan told me that the owners were resellers of cooking gas who dropped their cylinders for some days at the place, waiting for the product to arrive. The sight at Capital Oil outlets in the last few days has been heartrending. Long lines of jerry cans, cars, trucks and large crowds, all waiting to get fuel or diesel. It was the same at many other filling stations across the country. The desperation has been so pathetic. Why would any government surrender its authority to a bunch of businessmen known as oil marketers? I was taken aback when I heard the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, lamenting the situation some days ago. It was so ridiculous to hear her saying that “some things that happen in this country are inexplicable.” How could someone holding such a sensitive position be lamenting an act of crass opportunism by a group of profiteers? Had the Nigerian government become so powerless that it could not look the marketers, NUPENG and PENGASSAN in the face and tell them to go to blazes? What happened to our national buffer stock? What if we were at war with a foreign enemy? Would the nation grind to a halt because our territory had been invaded? Or had we been living under an illusion that we had a government? I believe President Goodluck Jonathan did his best. But he lacked sincerity of purpose, good judgment and courage. Despite attempts by some of his supporters to paint him in very nice colours, Jona than committed some terrible blunders that he could and should have avoided. There was no neeed getting cozy with people who never had the interest of the nation at heart. And to make matters worse, Jonathan’s mantra was always to blame others for the failings of his administration. To Jonathan, every challenge was an act of sabotage by imaginary enemies. No wonder former Ghanaian President, Jerry Rawlings, said in a statement after the March 28, 2015 Nigerian presidential election that he hoped never to see the pitiable sight of Jonathan walking up the stairs of the French President, Francois

Vantage

Point

EMEKA MADUNAGU emeka.madunagu@newtelegraphonline.com 08059757248 (sms only)

Buhari

Hollande’s office to make some complaints about Boko Haram. You don’t run a country as a pity party. You act as a President! How could Jonathan have handed over the Defence Ministry to Labaran Maku, who was the Minister of Information to oversee when it should have been the other way round? That was one of the wrong steps that emboldened Boko Haram. Infact, it also gave vent to the speculation that some elements in Jonathan’s administration who were behind Boko Haram. How come Jonathan’s trains did not come to the rescue of millions of Nigerians dur-

Nigerians will no longer brook such brazen lies about GDP, employment figures, oil production, security, education, etc. We must tell ourselves the truth

Osinbajo

ing the latest fuel scarcity? Where were the NNPC tankers that were supposed to serve as buffer against fuel scarcity? How come NNPC filling stations were selling fuel above N87? That confirms reports that they had been shared among people in power. Meanwhile, NNPC is supposed to be deployed in the service of the people. But,w e have wicked and godless leaders, who would rather see the people suffer instead of going the extra mile to succour them. What a shame of country! This is where President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘Change’ mantra comes in. as we welcome Buhari onto the leadership stage, Nigerians expect to see a tough yet humane leader. He has a simple task ahead of him – make Nigeria a liveable country. Never again should we defend our shameful poor positions on different global statistics. It doesn’t make sense for us to claim that these international agencies don’t like us. Far from it! They don’t need to like us. What we need to do is to make our nation a serious member of the international community and we will rightfully earn our respect. Buhari must show that he is in charge – no mistake about that. He should be ready to make public officers and service chiefs earn their positions. No more dancing around and churning out lies as statistics or

facts. Nigerians will no longer brook such brazen lies about GDP, employment figures, oil production, security, education, etc. We must tell ourselves the truth. Where the country is facing chaellenges, we expect our leaders to tell us the truth. If things are bright, they should not be seen on only the faces of friends of government. Nigerians want to see change in terms of service delivery and good governance. I know that the road ahead may not be easy but with honest leadership, we will surmount our challenges. It doesn’t take too much to get the best out of Nigerians. What our people need are good examples. You can’t be telling the people to tighten their belts while the faces of the leaders and their family members are shining and their tummies are getting rounder daily. Buhari must live up his promises. Nigerians won’t accept excuses from him on any of his campaign promises. It will make no sense for him to come and start blaming anyone for his inability to perform. True he has inherited a poor economy but that should make him choose high quality people as government officials. There should also be prudence in government expenditure. It cannot be business as usual any longer. Immediately Buhari is sworn in today, the clock starts ticking. Buhari has promised to work for all Nigerians – those who voted for him and those who didn’t. There should not be any discrimination against anyone or part of the nation for any reason. I also urge Buhari to look into Jonathan’s lastminute appointments and actions. He should look into the alleged corruption in MDAs and ensure that corrupt public officers are brought to book. I also urge all Nigerians to support our new President. It does not matter now that he came from APC. He is now the President of Nigeria. We owe him a duty to respect him and his office and proffer useful suggestions and ideas on how to make Nigeria great again. For those who have sustained a hate campaign against Buhari, you will only have yourselves to blame. If you think Nigerians will continue to suffer because you can’t get over the fact that Jonathan is out of power, that’s your problem. Nigeria will go on. Nigeria will be great again. Thank God for the election of Akinwunmi Adesina as the president of the African Development Bank few hours to the handover. Nigeria was instrumental to the establishment of the Bank and has played a big role in its sustenance over the years. It’s a good one for Buhari, having deployed the international influence of former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in Adesina’s favour. Nigerians would like to see more of such as the days go by. We must now play international politics and regain our rightful place in the comity of nations. Hurray! Change has come. May this change bring good things to the lives of all Nigerians. Amen

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