Rev Emeka is General Superintendent, Court rules by Advocate Nigeria

ONLINE Vol. 2 No. 107, December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

N150 Pg 8

Nwobodo disowns children for scuttling son's burial

Assemblies of God Church Crisis:

Rev Emeka is General Superintendent, Court rules Nullifies appointment of Okoroafor, others By Ted Peters

he Protracted leadership crisis in the Assemblies of God Church Nigeria may have been put to rest as an Enugu High Court has ruled that Rev Prof Paul Emeka remains the authentic General Superintendent of Church. The court declared as null, void and illegal the purported meeting held on March 6 this year which was presided over by the retired General Superintendent of the Church,

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Who killed Citizen Keke? Pg 7

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Assemblies of God Church Crisis: Rev Emeka remains General Superintendent

Rev. Dr Charles Osueke Continued from front page with Paul and disallow him from Rev. Charles Osueke where he Prof Emeka was allegedly suspended from office. It therefore ordered the acting General Superintendent, Chidi Okoroafor and all those occupying offices on account of the purported suspension of the General Superintendent to vacate with immediate effect. Ruling in a suit brought by Prof Emeka over the breach of his fundamental human rights resulting from the outcome of the March 6 meeting, the Court presided over by Justice Anthony Onovo, held that his office as the General Superintendent of the church remained intact, stressing that the meeting that took the decision was illegal as it was convoked without regard to the constitution of the church or existing law. The Judge also frowned seriously at the refusal of a faction of the church led by the Assistant General Superintendent, Rev Okoroafor to obey the injunction of the court granted on the matter on March 8, this year where it had ordered a return to status quo pending the determination of the suit. On March 6, this year, a meeting by a group of members of the church called Ambassadors of the Kingdom presided over by the retired General Superintendent of the Church; Osueke met and suspended Prof Emeka from office for alleged corruption and embezzlement. It went further to appoint Okoroafor the acting General Superintendent and advised branches of the church nationwide to severe dealings

using their pulpits anywhere to preach the gospel. They further accused him of taking the church to court contrary to the provisions of the church's constitution. Not satisfied with the purported suspension slammed on him, Prof Emeka on March 8 rushed to the Enugu High Court, where he filed a suit challenging the action of the group and prayed the court to order a return to status quo ante. The General Superintendent had described the actions of the splinter group as a breach of his fundamental rights to worship and fair hearing, stressing that the meeting where the action was taken was unconstitutional as it did not follow laid down rules. He further sought an order of court declaring every appointment made by the group as illegal as well as the restoration of his rights as the General Superintendent of the Church. Although the court had on March 8, ordered a return to status quo ante, that order was not obeyed as the Okoroafor group had gone further to announce the expulsion of Rev Emeka. Ruling on the matter Thursday, Justice Onovo agreed that the March 6 meeting was illegal, null and void, stressing that the retired General Superintendent (Osueke) “usurped the powers of the incumbent General Superintendent to preside over the meeting”. He agreed that Paul Emeka's constitutional and human rights were grossly violated, adding that the meeting called to suspend the General Superintendent was not based on any law including the constitution of the church.

Rev. Prof, Paul Emeka Justice Onovo said that those who called the meeting had no right to do so, adding that it was wrong for Ambassadors of the kingdom to be part of the decision to discipline Emeka when they (Ambassadors) were his accusers. “In like manner, people who call themselves Ambassadors of the Kingdom who participated in the decision to discipline the General Superintendent has no right whatsoever to participate in the council since they were all appointees of the retired General Superintendent who chaired the meeting. Osueke usurped the authority of the incumbent”, the Judge said. He continued: “I hereby declare the meeting of March 6 illegal, null and void and ordered all those who were appointed into offices as a result of the purported suspension of Emeka to vacate offices immediately. Paul Emeka was never removed or suspended. He remains the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church Nigeria. “In the circumstances, I would have awarded the cost of N30 million against the defendants because it is appropriate because it is a court matter; but it is better for both parties to go and maintain the peace of the church because the award of N30 million may aggravate the crisis”, Justice Onovo held. Reacting to the judgment, the General Superintendent, Rev. Emeka said: “Justice has been done and truth has triumphed. When it began, I aired my view; I objected to what they did, it was like truth has been buried, but today, the court in Enugu in its statement has justified my stand

Rev. Dr Chidi Okoroafor and made it known that God is God. So my reaction is, nobody should be crucified, but I am expecting all members of the Assemblies of God, all district heads, to come together so that we work ahead and rebuild this church that has been battered for a very long time. I don't think enmity is accepted by God and I w i l l n o t b e the one that will be vindictive. My own attitude is that I am their Pastor and they are my members. I want all of them to come together so that we keep working for God”. Counsel to Emeka, Mrs Justina Offia (SAN) while reacting after the judgment, called on the parties to embrace peace and respect the order of the court, saying that though his client (Emeka) had been subjected to various inhuman treatments, he had bored them all like an apostle o f G o d . She said: “On the other hand also, as a human being and Christian, I am concerned about the faith of the church. Right from the onset, I had spoken with my learned brother, who is appearing for the respondent and I insisted that I think the best thing that could happen to all the parties is for them to seek peace. “Now it is one thing to create a problem in a church, it is one thing resolving the issue legitimately in the court; it is also another thing coming back together under the umbrella of the same church to seek God. I am concerned about the numerous members of the Assemblies of God Church Nigeria who go to church everyday looking for God and these people are the people they

are looking at to lead them. True enough, the General Superintendent had been subjected to most unreasonable treatment by the respondent and I must tell you that he had borne it like a true Apostle of God. “He has been dragged to practically all the police stations in Enugu and Abuja between April and November this year. He had been locked up, his house has been constantly besieged but he had always remained calm. I will still advise both the respondent and others to give peace a chance.” Efforts to speak with Rev. Okoroafor on the decision of the court proved abortive as he could not be reached on his phone lines.

…Warring factions in bloody clash, 5 wounded, 4 cars burnt, 10 arrested It would be recalled that hell was let loose at the national headquarters of the church in Enugu on Wednesday, December 3, 2014 when members of the two warring factions engaged in a bloody clash that lasted for several hours. The clash followed the alleged invasion of the church by the Rev. Chidi Okoroafor-led faction in a bid to forcefully take over the national secretariat of the church which had been under the control of the embattled General Superintendent, Rev. Prof. Emeka and his loyalists. Although several policemen were drafted to the church to arrest the situation, no fewer than five

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December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Don't Parade Yourself as Enugu PDP Guber Candidate, Court Tells Sen. Ayogu Eze

n Enugu State High Court has granted and Ex-parte Order restraining a gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ayogu Eze from parading himself as the governorship candidate of the party pending the hearing and determination of a case filed by the Plaintiff and the PDP governorship candidate for Enugu State, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. It also restrained the PDP from recognising or submitting the name of any other person other than Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the party's gubernatorial candidate in Enugu State for the February 2015 general elections. The order was issued by Justice R. O Odogwu in Suit No. E/499/2014 with Senator Ayogu Eze and the PDP as the first and second Defendants, respectively. The order granted upon hearing the submissions of Ogochukwu Onyekwuluje Esq. with Tochukwu Maduka Esq. Counsel for the Plantiff, reads: “The 1st Defendant/Respondent (Senator Ayogu Eze) by himself, his principals, agents, supporters or any other person howsoever called is hereby restrained from holding himself out and/or parading himself and/or allowing himself to be held out and/paraded as the gubernatorial candidate of the 2ndDefendant for the February 2015 general election in Enugu State pending the determination of the Motion on Notice already filed in this suit/ “The 2nd Defendant/Respondent is hereby restrained from recognising or accepting the 1stDefendant as the person elected at the said gubernatorial primary election conducted by the 2ndDefendant in Enugu State on 8th December 2014, and/or the gubernatorial candidate of the

for the February 2015 general election in Enugu State pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice already filed in the suit”. T h e c o u r t adjourned till December 15, 2014 for the hearing of the Motion on Notice. It would be recalled that Senator Ayogu Eze had in a statement issued on Tuesday, November 9, 2014, after the PDP governorship primary election Senator Ayogu Eze claimed he was the duly elected candidate of the PDP. 2ndDefendant for the February However, the Enugu State 2015 general elections in Enugu Chapter of the party had in a swift State or forwarding the name of r e a c t i o n o n We d n e s d a y, the 1stDefendant to the November 10, 2014 denounced Independent National Electoral his claim, insisting that only one Commission as the gubernatorial gubernatorial primary election candidate of the 2nd Defendant

held in Enugu last Monday with Hon. Ugwuanyi as the duly elected candidate. In a statement issued by the State Publicity Secretary, Dr. Okey Eze, the party said: “The PDP Governorship Primary Election Panel from Abuja headed by King Asara Asara duly conducted the election with the official delegates list, ballot papers, and result sheets all obtained from the party headquarters and announced a result declaring Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the victor, he having obtained a total of 937 votes out of the 983 votes cast. Hon. Ugwuanyi was therefore issued with a certificate of return. “The PDP has an established procedure for electing gubernatorial candidates and has followed it religiously and methodically to a conclusive end, with Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi emerging as its candidate for Enugu State. The state Chapter of the PDP, therefore, calls on its faithful and members of the public to discountenance and treat as fallacious any information or posturing to the contrary”. The Enugu PDP said the hotel

where the Senator claimed to have been elected in another congress conducted by another set of delegates was not the official venue for the primary election, hence the absence of the PDP National Panel, the State party executives, and the INEC at the purported primary. The party queried: “Since the bodies authorized by the party, the 1999 Constitution, and the Electoral Act 2010 to o rg a n i s e / s u p e r v i s e / o b s e r v e primary elections were all absent, which ballot papers, result sheets, and certificate of return did Senator Ayogu Eze use? “Senator Eze also admitted that it was the delegates who were supposed to vote at the primary election that conducted his purported primary election. Who certified and accredited the delegates? Do our laws, party constitution and guidelines for primary elections permit aspirants to just assemble a handful of rented passers-by to assume both the roles of delegates, election organisers, returning officers, INEC, etc. and declare themselves winners?”

Ex-militant, Tompolo, buys six warships

former Niger Delta militant, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, has bought seven decommissioned Norwegian battleships. Reports by a Norwegian newspaper, Dagbladet, said that the fast-speed Hauk-class guided missile boats had been re-armed with new weaponry. The report also revealed that Ekpemupolo's most recent purchase is a KNM Horten, a fastattack craft now used in fighting piracy in Nigeria's waterways. It was learnt that in spite of his alleged history of violence,

Tompolo, now controls the G l o b a l We s t Ve s s e l Service, a privately owned contractor for maritime security for the Nigerian Maritime Safety Agency. Buying arms from Norway requires an export license from Nigeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ships were reportedly sold first to CAS Global, a British security company that has such a license, after which Ekpemupolo reportedly bought the ships from the British

company. Dagblade reported that the seven Norwegian ships are now part of

the company's maritime fleet patrolling under a contract for the Federal Government.

APGA concludes primaries in Enugu without Guber Candidate

he All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Enugu state chapter Wednesday concluded its primaries for the various political positions but failed to field a gubernatorial candidate for the 2015 general elections. The party however elected three senatorial candidates, four House of Representatives candidates and nine State House of Assembly candidates. In the primary elections conducted by a five-man electoral panel from the national secretariat of the party led by Barr. Obi Okoye, Chief Willie

Ezeugwu, Ebim Oguejiofor and Mrs. Ijeoma Chukwu emerged as candidates of the party for Enugu North, Enugu East and Enugu We s t s e n a t o r i a l e l e c t i o n s respectively. Similarly, four candidates emerged for House of Representatives seats, including: Mrs. Chuba Anakwudo (Enugu North-Enugu South), Odo Donatus (Enugu East-Isiuzo), Okwudili Itanyi (Igbo-Etiti-Uzo Uwani) and Victor Nwobodo (Nkanu East-Nkanu West). Among the nine House of Assembly candidates are; Chief Ben Alukwu (Aninri), and John

Ngene (Enugu South Constituency 1). Fielding questions from journalists, the State Chairman of their party, Chief Okechukwu Nkolagu commended the delegates and candidates for their peaceful conduct and that APGA will spring a surprise in the positions her members are contesting. He said that the candidates of the party emerged through confirmation as they were returned un-opposed. In his reaction the Senatorial candidate of the party for Enugu North district, Chief Willie

Ezeugwu pledged to designate 50 percent of salaries to a dedicated account to be managed by representatives of churches in his district if elected senator. He said that all the candidates aspiring for various positions should be able to tell the people what they have done for them in the past. “As a philanthropist, I have awarded a lot of scholarships without being in public office, without holding any public appointment. I have invested in a lot of church buildings in Enugu North. Even Boko Haram returnees from Enugu North, over

2000 men and women and their families, I'm their patron and I have done a lot; even to the youths, the students, the students union they can testify. “The Catholic Bishops with all the clergy in Nsukka invited all the aspirants to come and tell them what they will do. Before the Bishops in Enugu North, I told the Bishop that if I'm elected as the senator representing Enugu North, that 50 percent of my salary; that they should nominate an account where 50 percent of my salary will be going every month, to assist the less privileged,” he said

December 24, 2014

THE

NIGERIA

Two Bombs discovered in Imo restaurant

Chic T

ragedy was averted on Thursday in Imo state, as the police discovered two improvised explosive devices (IED) planted in a popular restaurant situated at Ikenegbu Layout, in Owerri, the state capital by unknown persons. The police said one of the explosive devices was planted in- between the split unit Air conditioners at the lobby (reception) of the restaurant while the second weapon was planted at the back of the restaurant close to the cooking gas cylinders.

Commissioner of police Imo state, Abudul Majid Ali while briefing journalist at the scene of the discovery said the command had received a distressed call from the Manager of the Eatery outlets at about 21:30 hours that there was a possibility that a bomb has been planted in the restaurant. This according to the police commissioner prompted the immediate deployment of our anti bomb squad who took the situation under control. He urged the general public to promptly report any suspicious movement or material around them.

DSS arrests Pastor, 2 Nurses, 13 Others for Child Trafficking, Kidnapping in Anambra

he Department of State Security (DSS), in Anambra has arrested a pastor of one of the new generation churches, two nurses and 13 others for alleged child trafficking and kidnapping in the state. The suspects were paraded Wednesday at DSS headquarters in Awka, by the state Director, Mr. Alex Okeiyi who said that the agency also rescued three children taken away from their parents by the suspects. According to the DSS Director, the rescued children include three year old Chinonso Oriuwa, two year old Chidera Abiara and seven month old Chinasa Abiara. Mr. Okeiyi, said there had been rampant cases of missing children in the state in recent times. He alleged that some churches, and their leaders “these days involved themselves in such unholy business” adding that the situation had become a source of worry to the society. He said: “This is beyond child trafficking, it is pure kidnap and they will be handed over to the relevant authorities for further action.” The DSS Director also disclosed that a total of 17 persons including some members of the syndicate and buyers of the children were arrested. The operation, according to Okeiyi was carried out by his command in

collaboration with her Abia state counterpart as well as the 144 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Asa in Abia state. He said Nnenna Nwachukwu, a neighbor to the family of the two of the children was alleged to have masterminded the kidnap of Chidera and Chinasa Abiara from the mother Chinonso on September 2nd 2014 at Uli in Ihiala local government area of Anambra state. Mother of the children the Director said, was injected with a substance by the suspects after they tied her legs and hands which made her to pass out. “After that, the children were taken to the kingpin of the syndicate, in Umuahia, Abia State, Eunice Uwakwe and then to Aba where Chidera was sold to a nurse Felicia Ebeh at the rate of 300,000 naira.” “Ebeh in turn sold him to Enugu based Solomon Nwadinobi a trader, at the rate of 670,000 naira.” “On the other hand, in the same Aba, Chinasa was sold to a female buyer from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the rate of N650,000 naira out of which she paid 550,000 on the spot.” “Chinonso Oriuwa was kidnapped from St. Joseph's Catholic Church Amakama, Umuahia by the Uwakwe led syndicate on 26th October, 2014 and sold to another Aba based nurse Glory Okwara, who hitherto operated a spurious motherless babies home, Divine Mercy”

Okorocha loses Presidential bid, emerges Imo APC Guber candidate

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overnor Rochas Okorocha, after failing to make it in the just concluded All Progressives Congress presidential primary held in Lagos on Thursday, has emerged as governorship candidate of APC in Imo state afterall. Okorocha was adopted by party's delegates at Imo International Conference Centre, Owerri on Thursday. Our correspondent gathered Imo APC chapter primary was postponed ostensibly to allow Governor Okorocha pick the ticket, should he fail to make it in his APC presidential bid. It was earlier speculated that Gov Okorocha's son-in-law who is Imo

Commissioner for Lands and Urban Planning, Uche Nwosu was adopted as party's governorship candidate as a place holder for the governor. Nwosu who later withdrew from the race said his decision was based on personal and family reasons. Speaking before the ratification of the Governor's candidature, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Mr. John Alamba said that the party had the power to substitute any candidate that withdraws from the race. Governor Okorocha who is seeking reelection will face PDP governorship candidate and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Emeka Ihedioha and others in February 28, 2015 governorship election.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Onu, Igboeze North LG Chairman impeached T

he Chairman of Igboeze-North Local Government Area of Enugu state, Mr Bonaventure Onu, has been impeached. Onu was removed from office on Monday by the legislative arm of the council on allegation of misappropriation and embezzlement of funds. The councillors also i m p e a c h e d t h e Vi c e Chairman, Mr. Celestine Ezeugwu, over same alleged offences against the chairman.

NAN reports that 19 councillors out of the 20 councillors in the council signed the impeachment notice. The notice was served on the former chairman about two weeks ago after the councillors concluded study of the report of the sevenmember committee set up by the Chief Judge of the state to look into the a l l e g a t i o n s . After the impeachment, the councillors appointed their leader, Mr Onyekachi Itodo, as the acting chairman of the

council. The councillors ordered the impeached chairman to hand over all council's property in his possession to the acting chairman with immediate effect. They said the impeachment of the chairman became necessary since the report of seven-member committee indicted him on nonimplementation and execution of 2014 budget of the council. The committee's report indicted the chairman for the misappropriation of N50

million, which he claimed was used in building primary schools in Aji, Umuaida, Enugu Ezike, Amauafu and Ahabe. According to the report, findings revealed that no primary school was built in any of the communities claimed by the chairman. It also indicted the chairman of embezzlement of N30 million earmarked for the improvement of the environment in the area. The report also accused the chairman of abuse of office

and non-compliance to due process, especially on the award of contract and execution of chairman's lodge in the area. The impeachment was conducted amidst tight security by law enforcement agents. The impeached Council Chairman is said to be a strong loyalist of Senator Ay o g u E z e , a P D P governorship candidate whose aspiration does not have the backing of the state government.

Daily Star: Enugu Elders appeal for Chime’s intervention By Chukwudi Anosike & Chiaka Opara

he Enugu state government has been called to action by the elders of the state to look into the declining condition of the employees of the Daily star newspaper, which is one of the foremost newspapers established in Enugu that actively played key role in the pre and post-independence struggle of Nigeria. In a letter dated 20 th of November 2014 addressed to Governor Sullivan I. Chime which was signed by the coordinator Concerned Elders Forum (CEF) Chief E.A Akubue, the forum passionately appealed to the governor to intervene in the pitiable condition of the workers of the Daily Star newspapers. “Lamentably, workers of the newspaper outfit, the only print medium owned by Enugu state government are working under deplorable condition as well as dying in silence, the letter stated. Our correspondent gathered that the media workers are passing through excruciating hardship arising from poor working environment and do not enjoy their full salaries for many years now while their promotions have not attracted

financial value since 2007 due to poor subvention. The forum expressed dismay that beside the huge arrears of salaries allegedly owed these staff the affected workers are yet to benefit from the minimum wage which Chime administration started paying workers of Enugu state since August 2011. The letter further stated that affected staffs numbering about 50 are yet to receive any leave allowance since 1996, while retirees of the establishment do not receive more than

N13000.00 as pension monthly including a former managing director, who retired on grade level 17. According to the letter, “inspite of these unfavourable conditions, the workers have been struggling to ensure that the publications are on the news stand periodically, all in a bid to highlight activities of the state government. “Equally worrisome, is that the chief executive of the newspaper establishment has been sighted on many occasions jumping into taxi

cabs or keke to co-ordinate his official functions due to lack of functional vehicles. “This, in our view, does not give government that is working hard any positive image. “We are deeply touched by the plight of these workers who are bonafide sons and daughters of our emerging new state. We therefore most respectfully recommend his Excellency's quick intervention on their behalf in the interest of humanity. “We plead that sufficient funds

be approved to settle their arrears of salaries, promotions and allowances and also equip the establishment with modern facilities, gadgets, operational vehicles to encourage regular newspaper production and projection of government policies and programmes. “Furthermore, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. These workers buy from the same market as otherworkers, pay the same hospital bills, pay same rent and school fees as others and subjecting them to harsh condition in the same state where their colleagues enjoy better benefits in our view, is unfair, they stated

Ohakim demands cancellation of Imo PDP Guber primaries

hief Ikedi Ohakim, former governor and gubernatorial aspirant in last Monday's People's Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary election has called for total cancellation of the election in the interest of peace in the state. As controversy continues to trail result in Imo state, Ohakim, had through his agent at the primary election, Chief Orikeze Ajumbe, told newsmen in Owerri Thursday that the demand for cancellation of the election became necessary due to the irregularities that marred the process.

Ohakim questioned where the surplus of 21 votes come from if the total number of votes cast during the primary as contained in the boxes were 1,017 and the total number of votes recorded for aspirants is 1038. The former governor of Imo pointed out that the delegates accreditation was characterised by visible conspiracy among the electoral officers, who chased away the real agents for the guber primary. Ohakim regretted that the announced figures was never recorded on the result sheet and signed by the agents and the State Security Service SSS.

According to him, “the electoral officers hurriedly announced the supposed winner and left the venue without allowing agents and SSS sign the result sheet”. He also observed with displeasure the manner the agents of the aspirants were chased away from the election venue, pointing out that the discovery of 25 impersonators who were equally chased away but were later brought back by the electoral officers when they threw the gate open for them to participate in the process. He equally noted that during the so called vote count separation, votes allocated to each aspirant

were never authenticated by the agents of other aspirants and it was not audible, adding that all complaints made by aspirants against the method of counting were ignored. He also said even when agents expressed their displeasure about the National Youth leader of the party and demanded for his exclusion from the counting of the ballot, it was ignored. Ohakim further blamed the electoral officers from Abuja for compromising, stressing that it was a deliberate action by the officials to drag the election into the night to allow for manipulation of the result.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

LEGAL NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

FORM 9 (RULE 19) ADVERTISEMENT OF PETITION funded by

Federal Ministry of Health

Partnership for Transforming Health Systems Phase II (PATHS2) Invitation for Expression of Interest Provision of Water/Borehole Systems in PATHS2 Supported health Facilities in Enugu State The Partnership for Transforming Health Services (PATHS2) project is a 6-year national program funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) to lead health systems strengthening efforts in Nigeria. The PATHS2 project has developed a service delivery strategy which seeks to work with the State Ministry of Health (SMOH) and other partners to support amongst other interventions, limited infrastructural upgrades that include the provision of potable water to selected health facilities that will enable them meet the minimum quality standard for infrastructure. This will also ensure they are able to provide quality BEOC services in line with the focus of PATHS2 to develop BEOC facilities as Centres of Excellence. PATHS2 is therefore seeking the services of a mechanical engineering firm to support the provision of water to selected cluster health facilities in Enugu State. This work will involve the drilling of new boreholes, repair of broken down water systems and construction of plumbing systems that will ensure that water is linked to the health facility.

Expected Outputs: ·Boreholes in selected facilities constructed or repaired according to laid down standards as certified by the supervising consultant ·Repaired/constructed borehole is linked to the facility ·Water supply to the key parts of the Health facility functional

IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT CAP 20 LFN 2001 AND IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR WINDING UP PURSUANT TO SCTION 401, 408 AND 416 OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT CAPC 20 LFN 2001 BETWEEN NIGERIA DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION (LIQUIDATORS) - PETITIONER. AND FIRST OMASI MICROFINANCE BANK LTD RESPONDENT. NOTICE is HEREBY GIVEN that a petition for the winding up of the above named company was on the 5th November 2014, presented to the Federal High Court Enugu (Suit No FHC/EN/CP/3/2014) by Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Plot 447/448 Central Business District, Constitution Avenue Garki Abuja. And that the said petition is directed to be advertised and set down for mention before the said Court sitting of the Federal High Court Enugu on the 4th day of December 2014. And any creditor or contributory of the said Company desirous to support or oppose the making of any order on the said petition may appear at the time of hearing in person or by his counsel for that purpose, and a copy of the petition will be furnished on payment of charge for same. SAUDI ABUBAKAR ESQ. Petitioner's Consel. IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT HOLDEN AT ENUGU IN THE MATTER OF FIRST OMASI MICROFINANCE BANK LTD AND IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT (CAMA) 1990 PETITION FOR WINDING UP SUIT NO FHC/EN/CP/3/2014 BETWEEN NIGERIA DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION {THE PROVISIONAL LIGUIDATOR}…………………………………….......…PETITIONER AND FIRST OMASI MICROFINANCE BANK LTD…………..RESPONDENT PETITION The humble petition of Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation [s provisional liquidator vide 5.40 national deposit insurance corporation NDIC Act 2006] shows as follows: (1) The first Omasi Microfinance Bank Limited (hereinafter called the Company) was in the month December 2007 granted approval in principle to operate as a Micro Finance Bank... (2) The registered office of the company is at Iwollo Ezeagu Local Government Area Enugu state. (3) The nominal share capital of the company is =N50 million. The amount of the capital paid up or credited as paid is =N16,300,000. (4) The object for which the company was estabished are as follows: “To carry out business as Microfinance bank; and other objects set forth in the memorandum and Article of association thereof.” (5) The company being a Microfinance Bank is subject to regulation by the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] under the Banks other Financial Institution Act [BOFIA] 1991. (6) The company being a Microfinance Bank is also an insured institution with the petitioner under the NDIC Act 2006. (7) That sequel to the outcome of the joint Target examination conducted by CBN and the NDIC Between March 24th and 25th 2010 on Microfinance Banks (MFBs) across the country, the operating licenses of 83 MFBs that were found to be technically insolvent were revoked by the CBN pursuant to S.12 of BOFIA 1991 [as amended] The official gazette and the announcement to that effect were issued on the 20th of December 2013. (8) That the respondent company is one of the MFBs whose license was revoked vide that Gazette dated 20th December 2013. (A copy of the gazette is attached to this petition and marked as exhibit ND1 and First Omasi MFB is no 70 on the list). (9) That the virtue of S.40 of( NDIC) Act 2006 where the license of a failed insured institution is revoked, the petitioner [NDIC] is deemed the provisional liquidator and shall apply to the court for a winding –up order of the affairs of the failed insured institution . (10) That by combined effect of S.49NDIC Act 2006 and S.408 and S.410 of CAMA 1990, the revocation of the respondent company is a ground for petitioning for the winding up of the company and the petitioner is one of the persons authorized to petition for the winding up of the respondent company. (11) In the circumstances, it is just and equitable that the company should be wound up. Your petitioner therefore humbly prays as follows: (1) That the First Omasi Microfinance Bank ltd may be wound up under the provision of S.40 of NDIC Act 2006 and under the provisions of the CAMA 1990. (2) That the petitioner, Nigerian deposit Insurance Corporation as provisional liquidator, be appointed as the liquidator of the company pursuant to S.40 (1) of NDIC Act 2006. (3) Or that such order may be made in the circumstances as may be just. It is intended to serve this petition on First Omasi Microfinance bank ltd, at Iwollo Ezeagu local Government Area Enugu State. …………………………….. PETITIONER'S SOLICITOR SAIDU ABUBAKAR ESQ. SAIDU ABUBAKAR & CO. NO 4 New Jos Road Zaria. 08037032599 E-mail: ajdanhalima@yahoo.com

Specific Tasks: · Conduct a geophysical survey to determine the appropriate site and depth for the borehole to be drilled and drill the borehole · Inspect, recommend and carry out necessary repairs to existing boreholes in facilities where they are available · Provide storage facility that will store 2000 litres of water generated from the borehole and connect water storage facility to the hospital service delivery points · Preparation of a workable maintenance schedule for the boreholes in the facility.

Expected Timeline: January to March 2015 Interested groups or organizations should kindly register their interest by sending an email on or before Tuesday December 16, 2014to this address: consultantinfo@paths2.org Once Expression of Interest email is received, a full Request for Proposal (RFP) will be emailed to qualified parties. Ensure you indicate your contact person's name and telephone number in the EOI email. PATHS2/Abt Associates Nigeria Ltd. 37 Panama Street Maitama, Abuja

(1) (2) (3)

IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT HOLDEN AT ENUGU IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT (CAMA) 1990 PETITION FOR WINDING UP SUIT NO: FHC/EN/CP/3/2014 BETWEEN NIGERIA DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION (THE PROVISIONAL LIQUIDATOR)……….PETITIONER AND FIRST OMASI MICROFINANCE BANK …………..RESPONDENT AFFIDAVIT VERIFYING PETITIOON I, Saidu Abubakar, Male, Muslim, Legal Practitioner, and Nigerian citizen of Number 5 Tamale street Wuse zone 3 Abuja do hereby make an oath and state as follows that: I am a solicitor for Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, the petitioner in the above matter. I have been concerned in this matter in such capacity and I am duly authorized by the said petitioner to make this affidavit on its behalf. Such of the statements in the petition now produced and shown to marked with the letter A as relate to the acts and deeds of the said petitioner are true and such of the statements as relate to the acts and deeds of any other person or persons I believe to be true. ………………………. Solicitor/ Deponent SWORN TO AT THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT REGISTRY, ENUGU. THIS ……..DAY OF……….2014 BEFORE ME …………….……………………... COMMISSIONER FOR OATHS

Note:

This Legal Notice Advert was published in the Volume 2 No. 105 of The Advocate Nigerian Newspapers, circulated from November 16, 2014 to November 24, 2014. The publication was out on the 16th of November and not on the 24th of November 2014. Any inconvenience is highly regretted Editor

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Who killed Citizen Keke? By Rex Arum

ho killed Kelechi Keke? Were they armed robbers or hired assassins? These are the questions Ignatius Keke, Kelechi's father is asking. This is also the puzzle the Abia State police command is finding difficult to unravel a year after the incident. Until his death on September 18, 2013, Kelechi, a native of Umuohuo Mpam Ekwereazu in Ahiazu Mbaise local government area of Imo state lived and did a genuine business in Aba. ADVOCATE NIGERIA gathered that on that fateful day some persons suspected to be armed robbers or hired assassins invaded his residence at about 1.30 am with an evil mission: to kill maim and destroy. Having gained entrance, they first shot Chioma, his wife of few years who was six months pregnant. In a bid to save his wife, Kelechi was shot severally on the chest. But before his death, Kelechi was said to have hit off a cell phone from the hand of one of the assailants. The suspected robbers took to their heels and abandoned the mobile phone. Kelechi later died before help could come his way. Chioma was taken to Mendell hospital and Diagnostic Centre for attention, while Kelechi's corpse was deposited in the mortuary of Seventh Day Adventist Hospital, Aba. A family source told our correspondent that while Chioma's life was saved, her six months pregnancy was lost following injuries inflicted by the bullet wounds. The Eziama police station then started the investigation into the matter. One inspector Ogbede was said to have taken charge of the case only for him to transfer the case file including the mobile phone recovered from the invaders to the state criminal investigation department, SCID. It was at this point that Nicholas Mpianu, a sergeant took over the case as the investigating police officer, IPO. It was Mpianu that supervised the autopsy before Kelechi was buried on November 2, 2013. Since the burial of the deceased, the case seemed to have died naturally as no police officer is willing to take up the case. The attitude of the police prompted Keke family to petition the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Umuahia accusing the police officers of tampering with the murder case. The petition written by E.C. Jamike, counsel to Keke family stated that it was very clear that the police officers involved in the case trifled with a duly reported case of armed robbery/murder. He said the Police investigation into the complaint was suspected to have been interfered with. “It was with difficulty that sergeant Mpianu Nicholas asked our client

to go to the office of the officer incharge of SARS, Umuahia to give him light on the matter. When our client visited SARS on January 3, 2014, the said officer informed him that the matter had been taken to court and that the suspect had been discharged by the court. The situation embarrassed our client as well as the SARS officer who returned the file to the said officer who doubles as a prosecutor. Can there be any doubt in the circumstance that the police officers trifled with our client's report of murder and armed robbery?” he queried. Jamike said all the claims by Mpianu to have handed the mobile phone to the MTN office was all false. “Several months after his claim, police investigators have not been able to use the materials at their disposal to unravel the myth behind the cold murder of Kelechi and attempted murder of Chioma, his wife”. Even Ignatius Keke, father of Kelechi and community leader decried the activities of Mpianu in the entire scenario. Keke narrated his ordeal in the hands of the police to our correspondent in the course of looking for justice for the murder of his son. Keke told our correspondent that Mpianu took advantage of his predicament to extort money from him on several occasions with the pretext that he was working for him to get justice. For instance, Mpianu was said to have requested and received N5, 000 as transport fare from Umuahia to Aba to perform the autopsy report before he could arrest the suspects. After the autopsy, the doctor asked Mpianu to come back for the result. He also requested for another N5, 000 which was also given to him. U n f o r t u n a t e l y, h e r e f u s e d to go, instead asked Ndudiri Keke, a brother to the deceased to travel to Aba to collect the report, while he (Mpianu) pocketed the money. Ndudiri later collected the result of the autopsy and sent it to the police officer. “A few days later, Mpianu sent a message to Ndudiri my son to proceed to a Magistrate court situated at Afor Ugiri Umuahia for the trial of the suspects. Chioma, wife of late Kelechi was also invited to the court by one Inspector Agwu. But on inquiry from Mpianu, Chioma was advised not to attend the purported trial of suspects as no trial was to take place that day. On the day of trial, together with Ndudiri and Bob Onwuegbule, a retired deputy superintendent of police, DSP and my in-law, we proceeded to the magistrate court, Afor Ugiri, but all efforts to locate the whereabouts of the prosecutor proved abortive because he switched off his mobile phone”. To their chagrin, Mpianu who had earlier discouraged them from going to the court surfaced with three suspects. He later claimed

Late Kelechi Keke that the people brought to court were those involved in a fight in a hotel. He claimed not to have received any result from his enquiry from MTN and later claimed that MTN refused to give the police the call log. That was how the trio went home dejected.

After the burial of Kelechi, it became a ding-dong affair to the consternation of the deceased family. Mpianu called again to inform Kelchi's brother to proceed to Umuahia for the result of the MTN and plan how to arrest the killers of Kelechi. He collected the

sum of N1, 000 from him and promised to make the names in the MTN call log known to the family in four days. But a week after, Mpianu called to inform the family of his transfer to an unknown place. He asked the family to meet the officer incharge of the special anti-robbery squad, SARS. On inquiry, it was learnt that the prosecutor had allegedly merged the case of the murder of Kelechi with those that fought at a hotel, which may have resulted the striking out of the matter for lack of evidence. That was when it dawned on the Keke family that the case has been muddled up by the police. “Each time I went there to complain, the Assistant Commissioner of police will order his officers to beat me. Most of the time, the police will ask me to go to Port Harcourt to ask for the Sim card”, Keke told . More than a year after the untimely death of Kelechi, the Abia State police command is still struggling to make any head way. The family is still asking the police to unravel the facts about the death of Kelechi and what happened to the MTN call log that was recovered by the police. All efforts to speak to Ogbede and Mpianu proved abortive as they bluntly refused to pick their calls. Will Keke ever get justice? Will the police unravel the circumstances surrounding Kelechi's death? Only time will tell.

Pastors Plan Major Church Robbery in January

he armed robber takes your money from you with a gun in his hand: the pastor takes your money by brandishing a Bible. Jesus berated the mercenary religious leaders of biblical days. He told them: “'It is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'” (Matthew 21:13). This word remains pertinent to pastors in the churches of today. They come up with all kinds of schemes designed to squeeze money out of their churchmembers. They search the scriptures, looking for quotable quotes that can be used to make merchandise of men. Some of their favourites are those scriptures dealing with giving first-fruits to priests. Fleecing the flock Those months with names ending with “ember” in English are sometimes referred to as the “ember” months. These include September, October, November and December. Strictly-speaking, October does not fit this bill; otherwise it would have been called “Octoember.” Nevertheless, it is conventional also to include it as one of the “ember” months.

In these months, there is a definite change of emphasis in the messages preached by pastors in many of today's new generation churches. If you have been paying attention, you would have noticed this already. In the “ember” months, pastors start to talk repeatedly about the need to give “first-fruits;” laying down the foundation for a major robbery routinely planned for January. In the Old Testament, first-fruits were required to be given to priests. Ezekiel says: “The best of all the first-fruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests.” (Ezekiel 44:30). This scripture is seized on by today's money-grubbing pastors who now insist that the “first-fruits” of all the members of their congregation must be handed over to them. This is disingenuous because, in the New Testament, there is actually no longer an exclusive priesthood. Instead, Jesus has made all believers: “kings and priests to our God.” (Revelation 5:10). But this fact is conveniently ignored by today's first-fruits collectors. First-fruits were given to priests because they were not allowed to own landed-property in Israel. God

said: “I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession.” (Ezekiel 44:28-29). However, the pastors of today are men of means and property owners. In no way whatsoever do they fit the bill of a people without inheritance who only have God as their possession. Indeed, some of today's mega-pastors are multimillionaires who drive around with bodyguards in a cortege of Jeeps and even fly around in private jets. Fruits of money As the word indicates, first-fruits were strictly-speaking agricultural produce. Moses says: “The first of the first-fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God.” (Exodus 23:19). This shows first-fruits were crops. Indeed, money was never regarded as first-fruit in the bible; neither was it ever paid as such. However, today's pastors would not find it funny if you were to bring your first-fruits to them in bananas or pineapples. First-fruits are now only acceptable in cash or cheque. If you ask why, don't be surprised if you are told that: “Money is the answer to everything.” (Ecclesiastes 10:19).

Continues on page 14

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Nwobodo disowns children for scuttling son's burial *Vows not to participate in fresh funeral plan opposite his house, which he *Denies marrying two wives acquired at the same time as the By Ted Peters

ormer Governor of old Anambra State, Sen Jim Nwobodo Tuesday broke his silence over the controversy trailing the death and burial of his first son, Dr. Ifeanyi Nwobodo, whose corpse was allegedly stolen from a private hospital mortuary on December 5, 2014 in Enugu. He disowned his children who he accused of stealing the corpse of their elder brother, Ifeanyi, which stalled his burial on the said date, describing the act as unprecedented and an abomination. Dr. Ifeanyi , who passed on at a private Hospital Enugu on Sunday November 16, 2014 after undergoing cancer treatment in United States,, was slated for burial on December 5 but after the funeral arrangement was concluded, his corpse was removed from the morgue. Nwobodo, who was visibly angry over the development, told newsmen at his Amechi Awkunanaw home Tuesday that he would no longer be involved in the funeral plan as, according to him, he has concluded his son's burial. He said: “As I speak to you people now, I don't know where the corpse of my son is, it shows the character of their mother. “Please I want to make one appeal to the media, I have only one wife (Patricia), I divorced this woman (ex-wife) before I became governor (in 1979). Please don't write that I have two wives; save me the embarrassment of saying matrimonial problem led to the issue involving Ifeanyi's burial, the Church would not have weded me if I had another wife. “The children don't have my flesh and blood in them because if they do, there are certain things they will not do. My children who have my flesh and blood (children of Patricia) lavish love on me; to steal the corpse of their brother, it's unheard of, it's an abomination.” The former governor and senator (Enugu East-1999-2003) declared never to have anything to do with the burial again, saying, “After that day (December 5th, 2014), as far as I'm concerned I have completed the burial, I will never be part of it again”. Going down the memory lane, he explained that his late firs son, Dr. Ifeanyi Nwobodo Jnr was sick for months and hid it from him, noting that it was somebody who visited him and saw that he was dying that raised an alarm and informed him (Nwobodo) upon which he made arrangement with the help of his wife to get American visa and flew him to Houston Texas. Senator Nwobodo stated that his son though at stage four of the cancer, was already cured at Anderson

Medical Cancer Centre in Huston Texas USA, one of the best in the world, and was asked to stay longer in USA but that he insisted on returning to Nigeria because of pressure from his (Ifeanyi's) wife and that when he came back and developed pains on the legs, he (Nwobodo) took him to a consultant oncologist with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Enugu.

He revealed that the consultant instead of taking his son to the teaching hospital where there are facilities for emergency referred him to his private clinic where the doctor administered his son with an injection that led to complications and his eventual death. Nwobodo explained that his present abode was a piece of land he acquired and not ancestral home, saying that he had provided the land

place he built his home, and ensured that a bungalow was erected in the place within three weeks. The former governor said that his children never showed him any sign of protest until the day of burial, when they went to the mortuary and “stole” the corpse, when all the dignitaries that came for the burial had arrived. Nwobodo said that he was not supposed to be the one to bury his

Senator Jim Nwobodo displaying court documents relating to the divorce of his first wife, Mukosolu during a press briefing in Enugu.

son, and was not supposed to see the corpse, and so to bury him in his compound, where he wakes up every day and beholds the site of the grave, would be a psychological torture on him. Besides he said that as long as he is still alive, he reserved the discretion to decide which of his children would inherit any of his property. According to him, when the Church intervened and the siblings agreed that the remains could be interred at the Church premises nearby,which he personally built and it was commissioned by Arch Bishop of Canterbury in 1982, he accepted, only for his children to rescind. He said that the traditional ruler of the community also tried to intervene by accepting that the corpse be interred at the ancestral home of the Nwobodos, but again his children refused, adding that he heard that the children have rescheduled the burial for December 16, 2014, without informing him. Nwobodo and others had waited in vain for the funeral church service billed for 11am at St Mathew Anglican Church, Amechi to kick off. As at 3pm, the church service could not start prompting dignitaries to start leaving the venue in their numbers. The aggrieved father said that he could not understand why Ifeanyi's siblings disappeared after a family meeting where they had agreed on the burial programme only to surface on the date to “steal” the corpse. Meanwhile, the whereabout of the corpse has remained a mystery while the grave earlier dug for the burial has remained empty.

…How family feud led to disappearance of Ifeanyi's corpse

he silent war in the family of the first civilian governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo was blown open last Friday when his deceased first son, Dr Ifeanyi Nwobodo Jnr was denied burial in his father's compound. Nwobodo's Amechi Awkunanaw country-home in Enugu South Local Government Area within the Enugu state capital was thrown into confusion as several dignitaries who had come from different parts of the country left in total disappointment without witnessing the funeral of the former governor's son. The former governor reportedly disagreed with Ifeanyi's brothers given birth to by his first wife, Mukosolu and members of his extended family over where the remains of his deceased son would be laid to rest. Nwobodo and Mukosolu were said to have had four children – three males and a female before their separation and thereafter. Pat was married by the former governor. Dr Nwobodo jnr died recently from cancer and was slated for burial Friday but the funeral ceremony ran

into a hitch on account of the disagreement in the family which observers described as very embarrassing. Trouble began when Chief Nwobodo refused the children of his first wife's request to bury Ifeanyi inside his father's compound where he had lived with members of his family any time he was in the village. Nwobodo was said to have regarded his deceased first son as a tenant in his house insisting that since he (ifeanyi) could not build his own house he should be buried outside his compound, adding that it was an abomination for a father to bury his own son in his compound. He had built a new bungalow opposite his massive compound shortly after Ifeanyi's death and directed that a grave be dug there for his burial which was done ahead of Friday's funeral ceremony. This development was opposed by Ifeanyi's brothers and friends who insisted the first son was the right person to inherit his father's compound if he was alive according to Igbo customs and tradition. Villagers said the house was erected within two weeks. But 24 hours to the funeral,

ADVOVCATE NIGERIA learnt that some unknown persons went to St Martin's Hospital Mortuary and took away Ifeanyi's corpse to forestall his father's plan to bury him at the newly erected building. Thousands of mourners who converged at Amechi to pay their last respect to the deceased medical doctor, however, met a tensed environment as aggrieved youths in the town took over the premises in protest against the former governor, The chased the guests away insisting that the funeral would not hold. The protest continued until about 2 pm when the Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu and other personalities arrived the compound and decided to intervene in the matter. After meeting with Nwobodo for about 15 minutes, Ekweremadu, Nwobodo and his wife, Pat drove to St, Mathew Anglican Church parsonage where they held peace talk with the former governor's relations and some church leaders including the Anglican Archbishop of Enugu Province, Rt. Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma. The meeting which lasted for about 50 minutes yielding no result as the participants came out with dissenting voices. The church

leaders said they agreed to bury the corpse at the church's premises to ensure peace among the feuding parties but Ifeanyi's brothers and friends refused the decision to bury him in the church saying Ifeanyi was neither a Priest nor a Cannon that should be buried in church premises. In spite of the plea by the church leaders, Ekweremadu and other dignitaries, the aggrieved family members refused the decision to conduct the burial in the church premises and vowed that the corpse which whereabout was unknown would not be produced until Nwobodo acceded to their request to bury him in his compound. Between 2.50 pm and 5pm when this report was filed, the corpse could not be found as the dignitaries left after waiting for several hours amidst confusion. Among the dignitaries were Chief Victor Umeh, National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Nnia Nwodo, Ambassador Fidelia Njeze, Mr. Frank Nweke, Chief Nwabueze O k a f o r, C h i e f U g o c h u k w u Agballah, Senator Gilbert Nnaji and Chief Chekwas Okorie, National Chairman of United Progressive Party, UPP.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Ekweremadu's long battle with Chime:

The intrigues, the sacrifices and the gains in the state on November 1.

Ekweremadu

n 2007, many thought he was going to run for the governorship, but Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President, was only interested in returning to the Senate, and he returned. But towards the build-up to the 2011 elections, he was offered the ticket on a platter of gold by the then John Nwo do-led PDP leadership, following the political war between Nwodo and Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State. Again, Ekweremadu turned it down and instead joined forces with Chime to fight Nwodo, even when he had no reason to fight Nwodo. In the end, they succeeded and Chime got a second term. However, rather than pay Ekweremadu back by supporting his ambition to return to the Senate in 2015, Chime was bent on scuttling it, until what appeared a divine intervention settled the matter in favour of Ekwerema du last Sunday. ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, who has been following the events, was in Enugu last Sunday to witness what could pass for the official coronation of Ekwer emadu, for another term in the Senate, beginning from June, 2015. The general belief among most Africans, especially those who have abiding faith in God that “a man's life is preordained and ruled by God,” played out in Enugu last Sunday, when after weeks of war monger ing by his political adversaries, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was returned unopposed as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senato rial candidate, for Enugu West Zone, for the 2015 elections. And like he acknowledged, it was the first time he would be returned unopposed, despite all the challenges. Hear him: “I have run several

Chime elections in the past, but this is the first time I am being returned unopposed in spite of all the chal lenges. Therefore, there is God in heaven. We have God who acts when everything seems impossible and he has shown that He is a true God and He will answer you when you call Him.”

The beginning One clear year before the electioneering process began, Chime was the first to give an indication that he was prepared to do everything within his powers to ensure that Ekweremadu does not return to the Senate, when he declared that all the National As sembly members from the state, who had done two terms already, should give way for others. In the governor's estimation, it was gathered, going to the National Assembly from Enugu State, should be seen as a way of alleviating poverty in the state; as such it should be on a turn-by-turn basis, not minding the political pedigree and performance of those concerned. However, the governor by himself later gave himself away early this year, when he made it public that he too, was interested in becoming the Senator that would represent Enugu West Senatorial zone, by 2105. He did not, however, fathom into the equation the fact that he had spent two terms as governor, and should instead give way for a neutral person, if indeed; it was for “poverty alleviation,” as he claimed. He did not also consider the fact his anointed candidate, for the governorship position, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was in his third term at the National Assembly. All these made political observers, both from within and outside Enugu State, to conclude that Chime's target, was indeed

the fact that both have all along been sidelined by Chime and A b b a i n running the affairs of the party since the inception of the C h i m e administration, it was easy for the two groups t o w o r k together, a relationship that eventually paid off, as the p a r t y headquarters in Abuja, failed to recognise C h i m e ' s appointee as the state party chair man.

Ugwuanyi

Finally, Chime caved in

Faced with the fact that defeat was staring him in the face, Chime last week, barely four days to the last Sunday's contest, formally announced his withdrawal from the race, just as he urged the stakeholders to go all out and give the Deputy Senate President, the required support. Following Chime's withdrawal from the race, last Sunday's election became a mere formality, as Senator Ekweremadu was returned unopposed with 294 valid votes cast by delegates from all the five local government areas in the senatorial zone. The Returning Officer, Mr. Innocent Agbo, declared Senator Ekweremadu as winner after affirmative votes by delegates at Awgu Local Government where many PDP faithful had converged to witness the carnival-like exercise.

T h e November 1, ward Ekweremadu reacts Before the November 1, congress In spite of the fact that he had lost In his acceptance speech, an elated PDP Ward Congress Ekweremadu, and no one else.

While Ekweremadu's supporters were agitated, urging their benefactor to go all out against Chime, considering his (Ekweremadu) robust relationship with the national leadership of the party in Abuja, and his capacity to pull the rug off Chime's feet, the Deputy Senate President, kept his cool, until Chime again overreached himself by singlehandedly appointing another state party chairman, following the resignation of Vita Abba, as the state chairman. Although, Abba, had some health challenges, it was however, gathered that he resigned to pursue his aspiration to represent Nsukka/Igboeze South constitue n c y, i n t h e H o u s e o f Representatives, when it became clear that the governor was unwilling to support him, after he had earlier supported the emergence of Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuani as the consensus governorship candidate, in line with Chime's wishes. Abba's resignation, however, created a window of opportunity for those opposed to the governor's way of running the party, as the Deputy Chairman, Elder David Ajah, who until then, had been relegated to the background, took the fight to the governor's camp, insisting that he was the most qualified to assume the position of the acting State Chairman of the party, and not the governor's appointee, who was Ikeje Asogwa, a public servant and General Manager of the state Housing Development Corporation . And because Ajah was sympathetic to Senator Ekweremadu's group, considering

out, based on the party's decision not to recognise his appointee, Chime again tried to play a fast one on the day of the congress. Although, the congress held, Chime got only one, out of the five member Enugu ward Congress Electoral panel to his side. But that again did not work, as the panel submitted its result to the national headquarters of the party in Abuja, while Governor Chime and his camp insisted that there was no congress. With the outcome of the November 1 congress, it meant that the Ekweremadu's group was now in effective control of the state party structure. And in the PDP, anyone in control of the party structure, owns everything, and as such, could do and undo. But not Ekweremadu, he is amenable to dialogue, and he made himself available when President Goodluck Jonathan intervened. However, rather than abide by the terms of the dialogue, Chime's camp approached the court in Enugu, with a view to dealing another fatal blow on Ekweremadu and his camp. This, prompted three persons, namely; Chinenye Orji, Cletus Akalusi and Orji C. Orji on behalf of themselves and other delegates elected at the November 1 ward congress in Enugu State, to file a suit at a Federal High Court, Abuja. In the suit, they were demanding, among other things, that nobody, either by themselves or their agents, should tamper with the result of the congress in the state. And in the end, the court ruled in their favour, as it upheld that the ward congress actually took place

Ekweremadu, for the first time since the battle began, publicly endorsed the candidature of Hon. Ugwuanyi from Enugu North, for the governorship ticket, which primary election would hold the next day. He further disclosed that all the party leaders in the state have resolved to back him in line with the leaders' desire to ensure “peace and justice for all the people of the state.” The public endorsement was significant because Ekweremadu and his camp alone, could truncate the ambition of the governorship candidate, since they are the ones in charge, a fact Ekweremadu himself confirmed while making the acceptance speech, when he said: “I would like to thank our brother, Engr. Anayo Onwuegbu who is also from Enugu West like the Governor. He is indeed a gentle man, because we are making peace in Enugu State and we want peace in Enugu State, he too like the governor has decided to sacrifice his gubernatorial ambition so that we can have peace in Enugu State. I will have to confess that we have both the delegates and the strength to deliver Onwuegbu as the governor, but because we want equity in our state, because we want justice and peace in our state, everybody is making sacrifices.” Regretting the avoidable political battle that culminated in the Senatorial Primary election, the Deputy Senate President further said: “It pained me when Satan and temptation came between us. We thank God we were able to resolve our differences. We started so well and by the grace of God, we are going to end very well.” (Curled from Sun)

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Subsidy scam:

EFCC re-arraigns Bamanga Tukur's son

on of the suspended former National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mahmud Tukur was re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,

EFCC on Wednesday alongside two others and their companies over a N3.1 billion fuel subsidy scam. Mr. Tukur was re-arraigned alongside Ochonogor Alex,

Abdullahi Alao and their companies. They were charged alongside their companies Eterna P l c , A x e n e r g y, a n d S t a r Inspection Services Nigeria Limited — on 38-amended count

charges bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretence and forgery. According to the EFCC, the accused persons colluded among themselves and obtained N3.1 billion from the federal government under the guise that the money was for the importation of petrol. Tukur and the two others were first charged in 2012 but the charges were later amended by the EFCC. One of the new charges reads: “You Mahmud Tukur, Ochonogor Alex, Abdullahi Alao, Eterna Plc, Axenergy, and Star Inspection Services Nigeria Limited between October and November, 2011 within the jurisdiction of this honourable court with intent to defraud, conspired among yourselves to commit an offence to wit, obtaining the sum of N1,222,154,152 (One Billion, Two Hundred and Twenty Two Million, One Hundred and Fifty Four Thousand, One Hundred and Fifty Two Naira Only) by false pretense ,from the Federal

Government of Nigeria purporting the said sum to be subsidy fund by falsely claiming to have imported 13, 701, 569 litres of premium Motor Spirit into Nigeria through the mother vessel MT Valle Di Castiglia and the Daughter vessel MT Deepwater and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(3) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related offences Act 2006.” The accused persons pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them, prompting the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs to make a request for a trial date. The defence counsel however requested the court to allow the accused persons maintain their bail terms and condition granted earlier by the same court. The judge, Lateef-Lawal Akapo, allowed the accused persons to continue to enjoy the terms of bail earlier granted them by the court and adjourned the matter to March 2, 3 and 4, 2015 for commencement of trial.

We shall crush APC at the pools – PDP By Euclid Myke, Abuja

he war of words currently raging between the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and its major rival, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to be over. The leadership of the PDP on Tuesday boasted that it will send the APC out of extinction through the ballot box at the forthcoming state and national elections. The National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh made this known while addressing journalists on the state of preparedness of the party's national convention slated to start on Wednesday. He said that the party is expecting 3,073 delegates at the two-day national convention where they will confirm Dr. Adamu Mu'azu as its substantive national chairman. The party's spokesman boasted that even if the APC presents a joint Buhari/Atiku ticket, the PDP will surely defeat them at the polls.. Metuh expressed his reservation over the apparent campaign of calumny propagated by the APC saying that what the ruling party expects were “issue-based campaign, not one tainted with propaganda and falsehood”. Enumerating the qualities of the PDP presidential flag bearer, Metuh boasted: “We have a very good product to sell to Nigerians. Goodluck Jonathan will win the 2015 presidential poll based on

his popularity. We are today sending notice to the opposition party, the APC to expect a crushing defeat at the poll. “In view of our confidence, preparedness and the popularity of our candidate, we declare and urge the APC to put forward its two frontline aspirants in one pot, namely: Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku as joint presidential candidates with their collective credentials and followership to face our president, Goodluck Jonathan. “For us in the PDP, we are certain that with the grassroots support and love we enjoy from Nigerians across board, President Goodluck Jonathan will secure an emphatic victory against any presidential candidate of the APC or all the candidates put together as one. “As a Party, we are going into the conduct of our presidential primaries, in particular, with great excitement, knowing very well that we are keeping an appointment with the destiny of our nation as embodied by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who is both president of our nation and candidate of our party on the occasion of our presidential primaries at the Eagle Square”. Metuh let the cat out of the bag by commenting on the strategy to be adopted during the presidential debate, a ritual that all presidential and governorship aspirants were made to pass through by the Nigerian Election Debate Group. “Let us elevate the conduct of this election. We will base it on who is

best for this country in terms of unity of this nation, who is best to stabilise our public policy and who is best to lead us to prosperity. On those three and other issues we will debate whoever is the candidate of APC.” Speaking also on the strategy adopted by the ruling party to tackle insurgency, Metuh posited that the President acted more on the side of caution by ensuring that actions to defeat terrorism were carefully thoughtout and pursued. “This is a product of deep reflections. For instance, when last year, President Jonathan was to declare a state of emergency in the northern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, some persons were of the view that the emergency rule should be total by removing all the democratic structures. He thought differently. “He did not tamper with the democratic structures. That would have threatened our democracy and by extension the unity of our nation,” he said. Chief Metuh did not waste the opportunity to re-iterate the litany of achievements which he

credited to the administration of Goodluck Jonathan. He opined that wedging war against insurgency, enthronement of unity, stability and prosperity of Nigeria, improved power supply, giant strides made in aviation, works, agriculture and technology were some of the innumerable achievement of the PDP government. According to Metuh, Jonathan remains the “man who the cap fits”. The reminded Nigerians that Jonathan was a core democrat and that despite the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno

and Yobe states, “the President did not tamper with the d e m o c r a t i c structures and must be commended for showing such e x a m p l a r y leadership,”. Responding to questions on the status of Mrs. Duke Abiola, who also expressed her interest to vie for the position of the p r e s i d e n c y alongside Goodluck Jonathan, Metuh said he was not aware of her status as he was not sure if she picked her forms and if she fulfilled the guidelines and processes of the party to stand at the election. “As the Publicity Secretary, I can tell you that I am not aware that she is running an election. The last time I heard of this, the party is desirous of getting her to pick her forms and I can assure you that as far as she fulfilled the process of our party and observed the guidelines of the election, nobody can stop her,” he stressed. He appealed to Nigerians to ignore the propaganda of the opposition and vote for Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.

NIGERIA

December 24, 2014

Ugwuanyi is authentic PDP Governorship Candidate for Enugu – PDP

he Enugu State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Wednesday, dismissed as totally false the claim by Senator Ayogu Eze that he was the person elected as the governorship candidate of the party in the state. The party said that Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who was duly elected by authentic delegates at the primary election properly conducted by the King Asara Asara-led Electoral Panel remains the party's candidate. In a statement issued by the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Dr. Okey Eze, Wednesday, the party said that the PDP Governorship Primary Election Panel from Abuja headed by King Asara Asara duly conducted the election with the official delegates list, ballot papers, and result sheets all obtained from the party headquarters and announced the result declaring Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the victor, having obtained a total of 937 votes out of the 983 votes cast, adding that Ugwuanyi was duly issued with a certificate of return. The party said that Senator Ayogu couldn't have done any valid primary when the bodies authorised by the party, the 1999 Constitution, and the Electoral Act 2010 to organise/supervise/observe primary elections were all absent.

The statement: The attention of the Enugu State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been drawn to the misinformation being spun in the media by one of the former gubernatorial aspirants of the Enugu PDP, Senator Ayogu Eze, who claims to have emerged the PDP flag bearer in the December 8, 2014 gubernatorial primary election of our great party.

It has therefore become imperative to make the following clarifications: 1.

The Enugu State Chapter of the PDP, in liaison with the national headquarters chose the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu as the venue for the PDP gubernatorial primary election. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, security agencies, and all delegates were duly informed of the venue for the election, and they attended and performed their respective roles. 1. The PDP Governorship Primary Election Panel from Abuja headed by King Asara Asara duly conducted the election with the official delegates list,

Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi ballot papers, and result sheets all obtained from the party headquarters and announced the result declaring Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the victor, he having obtained a total of 937 votes out of the 983 votes cast. Hon. Ugwuanyi was therefore issued with a certificate of return. 1. All the statutory delegates of the Enugu State Chapter of the PDP, including Governor Sullivan Chime and his Deputy; the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; the State Chairman of the PDP and all state party officials; all Members of the National Assembly from Enugu State (except Senator Ayogu Eze); all members of the Enugu State House of Assembly (including the Speaker and gubernatorial aspirant, Hon. Eugene Odo); all Local Government Council Chairmen and Local Government party

Chairmen; Board of Trustee members, including the former National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, etc. were all present and voted at the primary held at the stadium, along with the elected delegates. Some gubernatorial aspirants, such as Chief Anayo Onwuegbu and Hon. Chinedu Onu, who withdrew from the gubernatorial race in the interest of the peace and cohesion of our party, were also in attendance.

POINTS TO NOTE 1.

It is noteworthy that Senator Ayogu Eze, by his own admission, claimed that his purported “election” was conducted at Filbon Hotel, Enugu. The said venue was not recognised by the PDP, its National Panel for the gubernatorial primary election, INEC, and other relevant agencies for the

conduct of the election, hence their absence at the illegal venue and charade. 1. S i n c e t h e b o d i e s authorised by the party, the 1999 Constitution, and the Electoral Act 2 0 1 0 t o organise/supervise/obser ve primary elections were all absent, which ballot papers, result sheets, and certificate of return did Senator Ayogu Eze use? 1. S e n a t o r E z e a l s o admitted that it was the delegates who were supposed to vote at the primary election that conducted his purported primary election. Who certified and accredited the delegates? Do our laws, party constitution and guidelines for primary elections permit aspirants to just assemble a handful of rented passers-by to assume both the roles of delegates, election organisers, returning officers, INEC, etc. and declare themselves winners? 1. It is not true that the National Panel told aspirants that they were using an illegal delegates list. Rather, the Chairman of the Panel, King Asara Asara, told aspirants that the Panel would only stick to the authentic and official delegates list for the primary handed to it by the national headquarters as relying on any other list brandished by any other body or person would be both illegal and a recipe for confusion. 1. T h e P D P h a s a n established procedure for electing gubernatorial candidates and has followed it religiously and methodically to a conclusive end, with Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi emerging as its candidate for Enugu State. The state Chapter of the PDP, therefore, calls on its faithful and members of the public to discountenance and treat as fallacious any information or posturing to the contrary. 1. It is in view of possible dissatisfactions that the national headquarters of the party set up an Appeal Panel for each primary election. Senator Ayogu Eze, like every other member of our great party, is aware of this and if he feels aggrieved about the outcome of the primary, he should take his case to the Appeal Panel rather than resort to disparaging the party in the media. Dr. Okey Eze State Publicity Secretary 10th Dec. 2014

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

FG denies plans to postpone 2015 polls

h e P r e s i d e n c y, Tuesday, said there was no truth in the allegation by opposition parties that President Goodluck Jonathan has perfected plans to postpone the 2015 general elections. Debunking the allegation in Abuja yesterday, Senior Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, described it as “idiotic,” insisting that the current administration has done so well to enable it win the impending presidential election without recourse to any form of deceit. He berated opposition politicians over what he described as “do-or-die and win at all cost” tendencies, saying they have been miffed by the fact that President Jonathan has performed creditably well despite enormous challenges that has bedevilled his administration. Okupe, who spoke at the 2014 Nigerian Pilot/Newsworld Annual Public Lecture and Award, in Abuja yesterday, queried why Jonathan should plot to postpone the election when he is sure of being reelected next year on the basis of his “substantial performance.” He further carpeted the All Progressives Congress, APC, for threatening to form a parallel government should it fail to unseat President Jonathan after the 2015 general election, saying: “In very civil societies, people like that, whatever political tendencies they represent should totally be wiped off from peoples memories as bad teachers.” Okupe, who maintained that he would never subscribe to the idea of election rigging, regretted that the governorship candidate of the APC in Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, earlier took to Twitter to allege that President Jonathan was using the prolonged insurgency in the North-East to deceitfully extend his tenure beyond 2015. Specifically, El-Rufai had alleged that Jonathan's administration was creating a war situation in the region to enable him to invoke Section 216 of the Constitution that allows the cancellation of elections in war zones. More so, the APC had in a statement it issued on September 21, warned those nursing plans to postpone the 2015 general elections to perish the thought, saying Nigerians will not accept, under any guise whatsoever, any scheme by desperate elected officials to get tenure elongation by subterfuge. Nevertheless, reacting to the allegation yesterday, President

Jonathan's aide advised the APC to go out and canvass for votes

YULETIDE:

rather than dissipate its energy fighting Jonathan who he said was not desperate to hold onto power at all cost. He said: “All politics should end the day you cast your ballots. The Nigerian political class must learn great lessons but it is too late. Maybe the younger generation may have different perspectives. We have not undergone the election itself and people are saying that they will form a parallel government for an election they have not lost. “In very civil societies, people like that, whatever political tendencies they represent should totally be wiped off from peoples memories as bad teachers. Those are not people that will mean well for the country. “Another politician said that the

President, Goodluck Jonathan, is fanning the war (against Boko Haram), so that the election can be postponed. This is a president that has run and that has held the office for four years, to the glory of God he has been able to make some substantial performance, unarguably. “Every indication points out to the lengthy road of his winning. So, why will he want to stop the election that his likely opponent has no record of winning anything? “If Nigeria were to be a private estate owned by some of us, with Goodluck Jonathan as the Managing Director and Chief Executive of that estate, will anybody change him for a Buhari? “It is not likely, but because Nigeria doesn't belong to anybody and the elite are not stakeholders, that is why people will want to use people just to get power, whether it is for good or

for bad, they really don't care. “So when people do things like this, it make issues and challenges that will come in 2015 very frightful. As a matter of fact, the greatest problem we will have in post 2015 will be the acceptance of defeat by losers. “I want to tell you for sure, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is not desperate for power. He is a good Christian and a responsible man. We have done so well, we have been encouraged by so many people. We have got the best stars in the firmament. They tell you things, they say that the President is clueless, that is a joke.” “Let's just assume for a minute that the President is clueless, is Okonjo Iweala clueless? Can you say the Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, is clueless also? The Director of Budget of this country is a Harvard graduate.”

Beware of explosive laden hamper IGP warns Nigerians

he Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Suleiman Abba, Wednesday placed Nigerians on red alert advising citizens to be cautious about the manner of hamper and other gifts they receive during the period to avoid explosive-laden gifts. Emmanuel Ojukwu, the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) made the disclosure in a statement,he emphacised that all the Assistant InspectorsGeneral of Police (AIGs) and Command Commissioners of Police (CPs) are to ensure water tight security as well as round the clock surveillance. He emphacised that criminality and insurgency have taken various dimensions and as such, “citizens should to be vigilant

IGP Suleiman Abba while receiving gifts from unknown persons that may pose

as friends during the season, to avoid explosive-laden hampers as gifts”. The IGP stressed that embargo has been placed on the use of fire crackers like knockout, “bangers” and other explosives in the celebration, as they could cause distraction that may further heighten fear of insecurity and tension. He equally enjoin Nigerians to shun all forms of “violence and unlawful acts, eschew bitterness, hatred and rancor and go about their legitimate duties without fear of intimidation from any quarter during and after the season”. Ojukwu stated that the IGP has

ordered that adequate security be provide around places of worship, in order to ensure a peaceful and incident-free christmas. According to him, the IGP has directed all Zonal AIGs and Command Commissioners of Police, to take all necessary measures in ensuring the provision of adequate security for worshippers, travelers, picnickers and all citizens across the country before, during, and after the season. “Command Commissioners of Police are to personally ensure that all key and vulnerable points within their jurisdictions, including places of worship, recreation centres, motor parks, highways, financial institutions and all places of public resort are adequately and effectively protected,” he stressed.

Nwodo hails emergence of Ugwuanyi as Enugu PDP Guber Candidate By Our Reporter

he Former National Chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) H.E. Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo has hailed the emergence of Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in the December 8, Enugu PDP gubernatorial primaries held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Stadium. Speaking to newsmen in his residence at Imoke Street, GRA Enugu, the former governor of Enugu state said that the people of Enugu would enjoy the

leadership of Ugwuanyi if he also emerges victorious in the February general elections coming up next year. He described Ugwuanyi as one that had long shown that the people's comfort was his concern through his open door policy, humility, love and respect for the ordinary man. According to him, “We settled for Ugwuanyi because he is prepared for the job and exhibited high level of trust. “You know that power is not what you give out to people because they are your friend or close to you. It is something you

give to those who have shown maturity and preparedness to handle it without using it against the common man on the street. “Ugwuanyi has exhibited the character of unifying all interests which is what is needed to grow our party and the state in general.” Nwodo maintained. Nwodo who also said he was optimistic that Ugwuanyi would sweep the governorship poll in the state, urged him to move ahead and build more bridges with the people. Reacting to the issues of parallel PDP primary elections in the state, Nwodo

said that the party was capable of handling the matter with recourse to the will of Enugu people. “The party has the final say and believe me Ugwuanyi is the will of Enugu people. This is why you see a handful of stakeholders with national strength in the party that are from the Enugu state solidly behind him and were also present in the venue of his primary election. “We are for Ugwuanyi and the party at the national level knows that we are out to ensure his victory and that of the President in the general poll.” Nwodo added.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

The Nigerian Nationalist

banga Udo Akpabio' (1909) was a Nigerian educator and politician who was the first Minister of Education in the Eastern Region of Nigeria. He was also the founder of Ibibio State College. During the nation's first republic, he was a member of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons and later became a Minister for Internal Affairs. He was also a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives during the period.

Life Ibanga was born in the Ikot Ekpene area to Udo Akpabio. He attended Methodist School, Ikot Ekpene, the Government School, Ikot Ekpene and Methodist College, Uzuakoli. He completed

Ibanga Akpabio

and Columbia University and earned a bachelor and Masters degree. While abroad, he was a co-founder of the African Students Association. He started his career teaching at his alma mater, the Methodist School in Ikot Ekpene in 1930. In 1933, he became the headmaster of the school. During the time, he stepped into community affairs by serving as the secretary of the Ibibio State Union, Ikot Ekpene. In 1946, he established Ibibio State College and served as its first principal. During the 1950s, he worked with the Ikot Ekpene District Council in various capacities and later won an election to represent the district in the Eastern House of his studies at various colleges Institute in Alabama, Howard Assembly. abroad; he attended Tuskegge University, Lincoln University

‘I am only PDP Governorship Candidate for Enugu State' – Ayogu Eze

enator Ayogu Eze, one of the three Governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State that emerged through parallel governorship primaries on Monday, has declared that he remains the only candidate of the party in the state. He described as “untrue”, reports that there were two governorship primaries of the party held in the state last Monday, stressing that there was only one primary at which genuine delegates elected on November 1, 2014 voted for him out of their freewill. Eze made this known in a statement he signed and circulated to the press in Enugu Tuesday. Other candidates that emerged from the State Governorship primaries conducted at different venues on Tuesday were Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Professor Onyeke O. Onyeke. The Statement: I AM THE ONLY PDP CANDIDATE FOR ENUGU STATE My attention has been drawn to insinuations that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, held two governorship primaries in Enugu state. This is not true. There was only one primary election at which the genuine delegates, elected on November 1, 2014 voted for me out of their

Senator Ayogu Eze freewill. What happened was that during the pre-primary briefing by the Governorship Primary Electoral Panel the bewildered aspirants were told that the list of delegates given to the panel from Abuja was different from the names of delegates elected at the November 1, 2014 congresses in

the state. The electoral panel was also shown a certified true copy of the list of delegates obtained from a Federal High Court in Abuja, which it confirmed was different from the list given to them. I also reported to the panel that these genuine delegates were being denied accreditation and

entrance into the venue of the primary election. I was heading to the venue of the primary election when these frustrated delegates called me to address them at Filbon Hotel, New Haven, Enugu, where they had already assembled to ponder their next move. Once I arrived the venue they insisted they must conduct the primary. They went ahead to elect me the PDP candidate. The electoral panel commenced their work at the so called primary election venue very late in the evening because the government had difficulty assembling people to come to the venue. They filled the stadium, venue of the supposed primary election, with non party members. It was an assemblage of passersby, touts, cheerleaders and office messengers who were hurriedly railroaded to the venue as a face saving measure. I want to state that I have the highest regards for the governorship electoral panel, headed by High Highness, King Asara Asara. Their hands were tied by the manipulations that produced the illegal list at the party headquarters in Abuja and they clearly told all the aspirants so. The electoral panel addressed seven governorship aspirants at the pre-primary briefing but only two of the seven made it to the

stadium with the panel because of the panel's confession that the list of delegates given to them was different from the list obtained at congresses of November 1, 2014 in the 260 wards of Enugu State. There could not therefore have been another primary election in Enugu State. A gathering of jesters and non party men could not have been described as a properly constituted forum of the party to elect a governorship candidate for our great party. Even the presence of a few responsible people at the venue was not enough to confer any respectability on such an illegal gathering. Governorship is too serious a business to be treated with such levity and carelessness. I'm the duly elected candidate of the party for the February general election and no conspiracy and wishful thinking can stop me from fulfilling a God ordained mission for the people of Enugu State. Let me thank the delegates for being bold and for standing firm in the face of fierce intimidation, to elect me the PDP candidate for the general election. I promise them and the people of Enugu State that I will not disappoint them. I am poised to take Enugu to the next level of physical transformation and spiritual rebirth. God bless us all. Sen. Ayogu Eze, CON PDP Governorship Candidate, Enugu State

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

AS THE BATTLE OVER "THE BOOK" RAGES:

Obasanjo may go to prison after 21 days if…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

n Abuja High Court has found former President Olusegun Obasanjo guilty of contempt, after the former leader defied the court's directive barring him from releasing his autobiography. Mr. Obasanjo released the new book, My Watch, Tuesday, in Lagos, days after the court order. The court had ordered that the book launch be put on hold over claim the three-volume series contained details of a libel case already before the court. The case involves a drug trafficking allegation made by Mr. Obasanjo against Buruji Kashamu, a leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,

in the southwest. Mr. Kashamu had requested the court order to stop the release of the book, citing the case. But the move is believed to have been a cover to block Mr. Obasanjo from making public some of his most scathing assessments of President Goodluck Jonathan, as contained in the book. Mr. Kashamu is an ally of President Jonathan. On Tuesday, the former president defied the court order and proceeded with the book launch saying the judge acted in error and deserved to be sanctioned. The former president also said the book had already been published

before the court gave its order. Justice Valentine Ashi, in a ruling Wednesday, gave Mr. Obasanjo 21 days to demonstrate why he should not be punished for going ahead to publish the book. The court also ordered the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) and the Comptroller of Customs to recover all the books at book stands, sales agents, vendors, the sea and airports and deposit them with the court's registrar pending the determination of the case. Mr. Ashi said it was immaterial that the book was published before the interim orders were made.

H e s a i d M r. Obasanjo should not have in the first place published the book since the Kashamu case was already in court. “The fact that the b o o k w a s published in November is irrelevant. As long as the substantive suit is not yet determined, no party is entitled to publish or comment on material facts that are yet to be decided on by the court,” the judge said. “I hold the defendant, not only in contempt of the court, but to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt and ordered to undo what he has wrongly done.” “The defendant, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo shall be given 21 days, from the day this order is served on him, to show cause, via affidavit, why he should not be punished for contempt committed by publishing and distributing for sale to the public, the book, My Watch, in plain disregard of the pendency of substantive the suit and the order of this court made on December 5, 2014 restraining him from doing so. “The defendants, whether by himself, agents, servants, privies or whatever name called, is

hereby restrained from further publication or offering for sale or distribution, in any way or manner, the book called My Watch or the like of the visual or written materials which contains a re-publication or statement extracted from the letter referred to by the plaintiff,” the judge said. He also ordered that orders of the court be served on all media houses in the country and be equally served on Mr. Obasanjo by publication in two national dailies. The judge rejected claims by Mr. Obasanjo's lawyer that Mr. Kashamu failed to produce the book to prove it contained libellous details. The judge said it was the duty, instead, of the defendant, in whose custody the book was, to show the court that the plaintiff's fear was misplaced. He said Mr. Obasanjo's failure to do so, showed he had something to hide. Mr. Obasanjo's lawyer, Realwon Okpanach, said the former president will appeal the ruling. He said the court order, which the former president flouted, was given in error since it was not proven that the book contained libellous materials. “The orders made cannot be enforced. They want the court to stop an act that had been concluded. That is impossible. We had published the book in November, they came before the court in December and asked that the publishing shroud be stopped. Is that possible?” he said. “We shall file our appeal within the stipulated time of 14 days in the case of interlocutory orders.”

Pastors Plan Major Church Robbery in January Continued from page 7 Scripturally, first-fruits were only required from Jews living in Israel because God gave them their land. First-fruits were inapplicable to Israelites living in foreign lands. This also means first-fruits are inapplicable to today's Christians who are mostly non-Israelis and do not live in Israel. Nevertheless, pastors hoodwink Christians by claiming there are special blessings attendant upon giving first-fruits to pastors anywhere. In biblical days, first-fruits were not required from those in nonagrarian trades, such as carpenters or fishermen because these professions were not tied to the land. However, today's opportunist pastors collect first-fruits from anybody and everybody. It should be clear from the foregoing therefore that pastors who insist on collecting first-fruits in the churches of today are nothing but thieves and robbers. The armed robber takes your

money from you with a gun in his hand: the pastor takes your money by brandishing a bible. Bonanza It used to be the case that first-fruits were defined as a Christian's first salary after leaving school and securing gainful employment. But some pastors quickly realised that this only gives them the right to a Christian's salary once in a lifetime. Therefore, this soon became inadequate, leading to more ingenious and more financially lucrative biblical “revelations” about first-fruits. Many pastors now insist that since the January salary is the first in the year, it legally falls under the definition of first-fruits. Therefore, they now require that all churchgoers hand over to them their entire January salaries in the name of first-fruits. This makes the firstfruits boon far more profitable than the tithe; which is just a tenth of the Christian's salary. Moreover, the

tithe is nominally given to “the church.” The “first-fruits” is a far more rewarding scam because the money is specifically addressed to the pastor. If this “godliness” is taught effectively, a pastor can make a bundle of money at the beginning of every year. Just do the maths. Imagine a situation where the pastor gets the January salary of every single member of his congregation. Depending on the size of his church, he can get in one bonanza enough money to last him a lifetime. Is it any wonder, therefore, that pastors are very zealous in preaching about firstfruits in the “ember” months? Many even refuse to be limited to their churches. Turn onto Christian television such as the Trinity Broadcasting Network in the “ember” months, and you are likely to find Paula White or Steve Munsey extolling the blessings of giving first-fruits. Of course, the

first-fruits must be sent to them and to no one else. Comeuppance In one of Nigeria's big churches with a large branch-network, the pastors were making a killing collecting first-fruits. But one of them used the money to put up a church building. This went a long way to endear him to his congregants. Other pastors who had nothing to show for the firstfruits they collected became concerned that the pastor would soon bring them into disrepute. So they decided to take “appropriate” action. They reported him to the General Overseer of the church. His transgression was that he put up an entire church building singlehandedly. So doing, they claimed, he prevented others from getting blessed by not taking contributions from them. The General Overseer wondered where he got the money to erect the entire building by

himself. So they told him the money came from the first-fruits he collected from his churchmembers. The General Overseer became even more curious. Just how much first-fruit were these pastors collecting? He was astonished to discover the sums involved. It was unacceptable that such lucrative business was taking place in his churches without due recognition for his position. Therefore, he fired a memo to all his parishes: henceforth, all first-fruits must be forwarded intact to headquarters. However, his memo backfired. Thereafter, his subordinate pastors noticeably lost all interest in collecting first-fruits. “Let everybody shout hallelujah.” “They are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are pastors who cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own t e r r i t o r y. ” ( I s a i a h 5 6 : 11 ) . (Vanguard)

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Ohanaeze elders set up committee for election of new executive *Directs incoming Exco to audit the organization's account

L-R) Chief Enechi Onyia, SAN, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi (Leader, Ohanaeze Edlers' Forum) and Chief Ralph Obioha

he Council of Elders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Wednesday , set up a seven-member electoral committee to organize a general election of the body soonest since the tenure of the present executive led by Chief Garry Enwo Igariwey will expire on January 7, 2015. The Ohanaeze elders said that the present executive had been reminded in writing to make arrangement for another election that would produce their successor but it has remained

adamant even when their tenure would expire in less than a month. They therefore directed that the new executive to be inaugurated in January 2015 should as a matter of priority appoint a recognized firm of Auditors to audit the Accounts of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The Chairman of the Election Committee is Dr. Eze Agbogu (Anambra) while other members include: Chief Jumbo Offor (Abia), Chief (Mrs) Ada Achor (Abia), Prince Emeka Onyeso (Anambra), Chief (Mrs) Roseline Njoku (Ebonyi) and Elder Nweke

Anyigor (Ebonyi). Others are; Prince Richard Ozobu (Enugu), Chief (Mrs) Maria Okwo (Enugu), Pharm Bright Ulokpu (Imo), Chief Ignatius Okameme (Imo), Chief I. A. Nwankwo (Anioma Delta) and Onuchi Mpi (Rivers). Reading a communiqué after the meeting of the Council at PanAfric Hotels Enugu, elder statesman and Chairman of the Council, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi said the action has become necessary following the refusal of the present executive led by Chief Gary Igariwey to

constitute the electoral panel. According to Mbazuluike, a First Republic Minister of Aviation, he had earlier summoned a meeting of Elders and prominent Igbo Leaders of thought at the Ohanaeze Headquartres on November 8, 2014, on his capacity as chairman of the Council of Elders, where the meeting unanimously passed a resolution that election be conducted immediately since the tenure of the present executive would expire on 7th January, 2015. “This resolution was

Why I'm in senatorial race, by Umeh

Anambra Central for the 2015 election, Chief Victor Umeh, has met with traditional rulers in the

*Police arrest 50

Leader, Sam Nwali representing Ikwo/North, who was severely attacked and sustained head injuries. Earlier, the House during plenary cautioned the Governor Martin Elechi-led state government for interfering with the administration of the Assembly, condemning the actions of the governor in unlawfully removing the Sergeantat-Arms and Clerk without consultation with the House. It would be recalled that the state government had earlier on Monday announced the sack of the Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms and the Cashier of the House for reasons best known to them. However, the House has rejected the sack. Moving the motion for the rejection of the sack and others by the state government, member

HE senatorial candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, for

zone, informing them that his reason for going into the race is to give a strong voice to Igbo and

Ebonyi Assembly crisis deepens, thugs brutalize lawmakers

he crisis in Ebonyi State H o u s e o f A s s e m b l y, EBHA, took a turn for the worse Monday as a 10-member faction of the 23-man Assembly shut out their comrades during plenary. In the bid to gain entry into the chambers after being allegedly barred by the police, the 13 remaining lawmakers resorted to enter through the window. It was gathered that this effort did not turn out well as they were allegedly roundly beaten by thugs believed to be loyal to the sitting faction. Meanwhile, the state police command has arrested about 50 thugs who allegedly attacked the lawmakers, including the House

representing Onicha/East, Obasi Odefia, and seconded by Joseph Obasi, member representing Ezza North, on behalf of the house stressed that the sack was unlawful and condemnable, stressing that the governor was intruding into their affairs. The House further cautioned the state government against collecting the N15 billion bond facility it is seeking, noting that it was of no use to the government as it would not complete existing projects before leaving office in May 2015. The House further relieved Mrs. Chinyere Acho whom the government appointed to replace the House Clerk, Mrs. Roselyn Nwokporo, of her appointment, saying she was not qualified to be a clerk.

fight for their interest. Addressing the monarchs at the palace of the traditional ruler of Ifitedunu, in Dunukofia Local Government Area, Igwe Emeka Ilouno, during the consultative visit, Umeh explained that his main reason for going into the race was to contribute his quota in the fight against the marginalisation of Igbo. Umeh was accompanied on the visit by the traditional ruler of Agulu, Igwe Innocent Obodoako, the regent of Aguluzigbo, his community, Chief Hyacinth Onwuneme and former Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Professor Pita Ejiofor. According to him, Igbo had continued to suffer marginalisation in the Nigerian project which became apparent during the just concluded national conference where, he said it was resolved that the people of the South East should be given additional state to bring them at par with other zones.

communicated to the PresidentGeneral and Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo but they failed or refused to conduct the election of officers, claiming that they would stay for four years in office instead of the two years provided in the Constitution of Ohanaeze Ndigbo “Because of some special Agenda which Ndigbo had in 2010-2011, the Imeobi Ohanaeze passed a special Resolution giving the then leadership and executive of Ohanaeze two years extension. This extension was given to the incumbent Executive at that time and did not and could not amount to an Amendment to the Constitution. “Taking so many factors into consideration in the best interest of the Igbo nation, the Council of Elders of Ohanaeze, under the chairmanship of Chief Mbazulike Amechi, has today constituted an Election Committee with a Mandate to conduct election of National Officers of Ohanaeze soonest” the communiqué stated. The Elders Council noted that the Constitution provides for audit of the Accounts every year, but the Accounts have not been audited for some years. “Ohanaeze Ndigbo should be run transparently for the benefit and good of Ndigbo worldwide and must not be allowed to be converted to an opportunistic gold mine for a few individuals who will mortgage the general and over all interest of Ndigbo today and tomorrow.” Mbazulike Amechi regretted that Ndigbo have been losing credibility and effectiveness due to poor leadership, a development that has made many Igbo leaders, including the governors, to lose interest in the organization. The Council resolved that if by the expiration of the present executive on January 7, 2015, the Election Committee could not conclude her assignment, a new Care taker Committee would be set up to preside over the affairs of the body pending the conclusion of the elections. The meeting was attended by a host of elders across the five states of South East plus Delta and Rivers states, including; former Secretary-General of the organization, Chief Nduka Eya, Chief Enechi Onyia (SAN), Dr. Omenacho Dickson, Chief Ralph Obioha and Nwachukwu Onyesoh. Chief Eya had earlier told the Council that he was the Secretary-General when the tenure of the former executive of the organization was extended by extra two years due to special circumstances that had to do with 2011 general elections, but insisted that extension does not amount to constitutional amendment, as the constitution stipulates methods and processes of amending the constitution.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Gov Elechi committed Blunder in Chukwuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consensus endorsement Uchenna Orji, former Chief whip, Ebonyi State House of Assembly and House of Representatives aspirant for Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo federal constituency spoke to Advocate Nigeria on the political crisis rocking the entire state chapter of the PDP and the possible way out. Excerpts: As a former member of the House of Assembly, are you comfortable with the crisis rocking the assembly vis-Ă vis the entire state? As a former member of the assembly, I am worried about what is happening in the state assembly. During our time between 2007 and 2011it was very peaceful and people all over the country knew Ebonyi State House ofAssembly as the most peaceful in the country. But today the reverse is the case. It worries the people of the state. The house is an arm of the government and any crisis in the house will affect the other arms of government. The three arms are meant to work together by way of mutual relationship that will bring about development in the state. So when there is trouble in the house of assembly, it will definitely hinder progress in other two arms of government.

of Assembly or the executive. true, the members of the house allowed themselves to be used. For me the most recent impeachment couldn't have succeeded because due process was not followed.

from such illegal meeting or resolution is null, void and with no effect. But I was made to understand that the Speaker and the Clerk convened a meeting and the members had their normal

claiming that somebody signed his/her signature. The attendance of members suffices collation of signatures. Those ingredients were not there. If two-third majority did not sit, whatever

As a matter of fact, the Speaker remains the head of the House of Assembly. He has the power to take some administrative decisions. What prompted him to write the petition, I do not know. But he is saying that no explanation has been given on how the former loan was used. He has his honest reasons. He has the power to reject the loan. He has administrative powers to do so. He might have taken the decision in the interest of the state. But that does not override the resolution of the House of Assembly to that effect. I am talking as someone who has been in there. He has the right to reject what they house did in the past, it is all about persuasion. But as an indigene of the state, I think the Speaker believes that governor does not need the loan with six months to the end of his tenure based on what he saw with the previous loan. I think the House of Assembly is not convinced that the previous one was adequately utilized for what it was meant for.

What do you think was responsible for the crisis? I wouldn't know exactly, but it could be political. And it bothers on the conscience of the members. We are a young state and we need peace so that we can develop. The problem in the house is politically motivated and the members allowed themselves to be used by external hands it could be on issues that bother on the battle for the soul of the state. It is all about who gets what and fight for the control of party machinery. For me, the quandary has affected the running of the state. My submission is that what is happening in the State House of Assembly is politically motivated and members of the house allowed themselves to be used by external hands, I mean those outside the House of Assembly.

Let's talk about the season of endorsement going on in the state, were you comfortable with it?

Don't you think that the governor is actually the hand of Esau in the crisis? I wouldn't know. The House of Assembly has the power to impeach or suspend any recalcitrant member. It reserves the power to suspend. But if anybody from outside influences it, I don't know. It is said that not even the devil knows the intent of a man. Motif is immaterial, what is important is at that point of impeachment, was due process followed? When a member is being suspended, was due process followed? I have had an opportunity where I spoke on this issue of impeachment and alleged external in fluence. If it is

On the issue of N16 billion bond, do you think the speaker was right to have petitioned the presidency to stop the Governor from accessing the bond?

Before a meeting of the House of Assembly is convened, it has to be done by the proper leadership. The Speaker is the head of the House and the head of the civil service in the House is the Clerk and these two heads work together. And so when they have not convened any meeting of the House, any other meeting convened by another person is illegal and whatever that proceeds

proceedings and adjourned to a later date in December, only for some people to go out of their way to reconvene in different venue to say a different thing. And from the records we have, they were not up to 16 members. The House of Assembly is made up of 24 members and for any group to impeach anybody; the 24 members will be in attendance, seated and voted. It goes beyond

thing that they did was null and void abnitio. I don't want to preempt the outcome of the court case. They are already in court and I was told there was an interim injunction directing that nobody should parade himself/herself as the speaker except Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku. That is where I stand. It is the duty of the court to interpret any action of the House

As a matter of fact, you don't see this type of confusion in advance democracy. I only know of what is called the right of refusal that is applicable to an incumbent. If you endorse an incumbent by way of consensus for second tenure, it is allowed. President Goodluck Jonathan has shown that in advance democracies, it is allowed, but somebody who has not been elected for the first time and you call him a consensus candidate, it's anti-democracy. It works against the principles of democracy. Democracy is all about people having their say, opinions and choice. What has happened in the state is executive exuberance. How can somebody talk about consensus candidate without consulting anybody? The earlier we begin to think that it is not democratic, the better for us. It is a way of shutting people out of a contest. That means people will not have the opportunity to make their choice. But if many people come out for a contest the people

Continues on page 19

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Gov Elechi committed Blunder Continued from page 18

seeing in the state. We pray that the incoming government will improve on the existing structure. Under this regime, the party structure became stronger following a strong foundation laid by Engr. Dave Umahi when he was the party chairman. When he was the state chairman of the party, he built a strong party that swallowed all opposition parties. As deputy governor, he served very well too. Together with the governor, the administration made tremendous success. Such a person should be encouraged.

will make their preference. It is a dent to our democracy.

In other words, Governor Elechi's action in arriving at a consensus candidate was totally wrong? I must mention here that I have never been in forum where we agreed to have anybody as a consensus candidate was chosen. I only heard on air that so-so person had been endorsed. Thank God the national working committee, NWC of the PDP had put a lie to that. The party is one and the leadership of the party has come up with a resolution on it that there is not going to be any consensus candidate in any state and that is where I stand. The party decision is supreme.

Do you think Governor Elechi has achieved much in the past seven years to the expectation of the people? Frankly speaking, seven years of Governor Martin Elechi have been wonderful with the

But he has not been encouraged by the Governor. He was not endorsed contrary to people's expectation. What went wrong?

assistance of his lieutenants. The emergence of Martin Elechi/ Dave Umahi ticket in 2011 made success the development you are

The deputy governor never asked for endorsement. He only needed a level playing ground to show the stuff he's made of. A lot of people love him for the impact he made in party politics of the state. He brought principle in the party that made the state PDP one of the

most peaceful in the country. When he was the party chairman he built the largest party edifice (secretariat) in the whole of Africa. Just go there and confirm my statement. He redirected the principle governing party politics and as a deputy governor he has shown total commitment to governance

and served meritoriously and what he requires is encouragement to do more. That is exactly what we are doing to ensure that he continues his service to the people in the next administration as governor. I see governor Martin Elechi as the biblical Elijah and Dave Umahi as Elisha with double portion. At all times I always pray that this Elisha should come on board with a double portion as the biblical Elisha. He will take us to another level of development. His presence anywhere transforms the entire place. I am not singing his praise; I am saying what I know. That is why the issue of the so called consensus was an aberration. If there was anybody to be endorsed for whatever reason, that person should have been Dave Umahi. He's gifted and hardworking and that is the kind of person we expect to assume leadership of the state as governor. There is nothing you can do to a leader who has done well except to encourage him to do more.

I am in the race to represent my people, says Utazi *I possess required experience for Enugu North Senatorial seat

Barr. Chukwuka Utazi

mmediate former Commissioner for Transport i n E n u g u S t a t e , B a r r. Chukwuka Utazi has described his election as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Enugu North senatorial district as a sign of the willingness of the people to integrate his minority area, UzoUwani into the mainstream socio-

political development of the zone and state in general. Utazi, who scored 327 to emerge the candidate of the party in the National Assembly primaries of the party last weekend defeating former national chairman of the party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, who scored four votes and Martin Oke, who scored three votes. He promised to give quality

representation to the people of Enugu North senatorial zone whom he said are in dire need of infrastructure. Utazi who briefed journalists in Enugu, stated that all the odds favour him as he is endowed with the capacity, training and public service experience. The former Commissioner for Transport who is a lawyer and

political scientist by training said that the zoning policy in Nsukka zone favours him too as his area, Uzo-Uwani local government was yet to produce a senator. He said that with his public service experience having held appointive positions as Special Adviser to Governor Sullivan Chime, a position he resigned in 2011 to contest senate but was asked to drop, and having s e r v e d a s Commissioner for Transport; he would assist Hon I f e a n y i Ugwuanyi, the P e o p l e s Democratic Party's ( P D P ) governorship candidate to coordinate Nsukka zone when they get into g o v e r n m e n t . “I really want to serve Enugu North people like nobody has ever served them. I have worked as the secretary of the Adada State Movement, the group that has been fighting for the creation of Adada and my vantage position as the secretary made me to be there, I take minutes, I listen to all the conversations, I feel the pulse

of Nsukka people in our meetings and they have been harping on certain issues that they wanted to be handled that were not handled. The senatorial primaries of the party at Enugu North took place at Government field Nsukka and people from six local government areas that make up the Enugu North senatorial district ditto; Nsukka, Igbo-Etiti, Igboeze North and South, Uzo Uwani and Udenu were in attendance with all the accredited delegates. “I won by 327 votes against Okwesilieze Nwodo's four and Martin Okey's three. That was the result announced by the electoral officer for that election, Engr P. C. N. Ejikeme, who conducted the election. The returning officer was Chief Ikechukwu Arum, with Mrs. Chioma Okenwa Ani as their monitor. “I thank the Enugu North senatorial district PDP members for giving me the opportunity to represent them at the red chambers come 2015 elections, and use this opportunity to tell them that by that singular feat they have integrated Uzo-Uwani into the main stream of the state. I'm from Uzo-Uwani, we are at the far end of Enugu state and Nsukka zone and judging from the development of geography in this country, all the people that are farther away from the River Niger are the least developed. So development moves from Niger upwards.”

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

How alleged sidelining of elected delegates led to parallel guber primaries in Enugu By Ted peters

governorship primaries conducted both the State House of Assembly, h e E n u g u P D P Federal House of Representatives governorship primary and Senatorial primaries using the election held on Monday, list of delegates elected at the December 8, 2014 ended in crisis N o v e m b e r 1 , 2 0 1 4 Wa r d as the aspirants strongly disagreed Congresses in the state. Although with the Electoral Panel from the there were parallel primaries in party's National Secretariat over some of the constituencies, the the list of delegates used for the exercise was conducted with the exercise. The disagreement forced list of authentic delegates duly some of the aspirants to hold certified by the Federal High parallel primaries which produced Court, Abuja. three candidates. It is also on record that Governor The governorship candidates Sullivan Chime had assured party laying claims to the PDP ticket are stakeholders at a meeting he Senator Ayogu Eze, Hon. Ifeanyi summoned before the primaries Ugwuanyi and Professor Onyeke began that only the delegates O. Onyeke, all from Enugu North “approved by the Abuja Court” senatorial zone where the would participate in the primaries governorship slot had been zoned h e n c e i n m o s t o f t h e by the party. constituencies, the list of The disagreement that led to the delegates contained in the disintegration of the aspirants on Certified True Copy obtained the day of the primary election from the court was used for the was primarily due to refusal of the primaries. PDP Governorship Primaries But when the Governorship Electoral Panel for the state Electoral Panel arrived Enugu for headed by a Bayelsa Monarch, the gubernatorial primaries on King Asara A. Asara to display Monday, the aspirants were before the aspirants the list of shocked to hear the declaration by delegates that participated in the the Chairman of the Panel, King election. Other members of the Asara that another list of delegates panel w ere U kpai U kairo were handed over to them by the (secretary), Saratu Umar, Engr National Secretariat for the Enugu Alamu Adeyemi and Ikeje primaries. Asogwa. Asara had on arrival in Enugu The party had before the

summoned all the governorship aspirants to a pre-primary election briefing at the Allens Hotel, Independence Layout, Enugu. The meeting was slated for 12.30 pm. Aspirants present at the conference hall of the hotel were Senator Ayogu Eze, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Hon. Eugene Odo, Chief Anayo Onwuegbu, Chief Sam Onyishi, Mr. Chinedu Onu and Prof Onyeke O. Onyeke while anxious journalists activated their cameras and tape recorders to capture the proceedings. Chief Onyishi, Mr. Onu and Onyeke were not present in the hall when the panel members took their seats prompting King Asara to delay the meeting for some time as phone calls were made to the trio inviting them to the meeting. They all arrived the venue in a space of about 30 minutes. While the meeting was holding at the Allens Hotel, accreditation of delegates was in progress at the Okpara Square while those accredited were being conveyed to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium for the gubernatorial primaries. Among the elected delegates present at the venue were officials of the state government said to be statutory delegates. Some of the “authentic delegates” told reporters that when they

arrived at the accreditation venue, gun-wielding security operatives at the entrance of Okpara Square drove them away while some of them who found their way to the accreditation table were told that their names were not in the delegates' list. Hence they relocated to Filbon Hotel, New Haven to decide on the next line of action. The meeting betw een the Electoral Panel and the aspirants was kick-started with prayers said by Ikeje Asogwa, who claimed to be State Chairman of the party at 1.23pm and the Electoral Panel Chairman took the floor informing the aspirants that the panel was in the state to conduct a transparent primary election that would produce one of them as the Governorship candidate of the party. He took time to assure the aspirants that the panel would not be biased reminding them that in any contest one person must emerge winner and as such they should be ready to accept defeat and be patriotic enough to support the winner of the contest to enable the PDP wins the seat in next year's general elections. However, King Asara let the cat out of the bag while reacting to demands by some of the aspirants to see the copy of the list of

delegates that they intended to use for the primaries in order to satisfy their curiosity that the panel was in the state to do the right thing. King Asara told the aspirants that the list of delegates given to him from the PDP National Secretariat Abuja was different from the Federal High Court-Certified True Copy, which was shown to him at the meeting by Senator Eze. King Asara's insisted that the panel would not show their own list of delegates to the aspirants at the meeting as they had no mandate to do so before the conduct of the primaries. This, h o w e v e r, h e i g h t e n e d t h e suspicion among the aspirants that the panel was not in the state to conduct a free and fair primaries. The meeting ended at 2.05pm with Hon. Chinedu Onu saying the closing prayer. Not satisfied with the position of the electoral panel, the aspirants except Chief Anayo Onwuegbu and Hon. Chinedu Onu who informed the panel of their decision to withdraw from the race, took different directions. Senator Ayogu Eze, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Professor Onyeke proceeded to different venues where they held parallel primaries that produced three of them as governorship candidates with different number of votes.

Below are excerpts of the discussions at the meeting between the King Asara-led PDP Electoral Panel and the seven governorship aspirants in Enugu State:

King Asara: I am the Chairman of the PDP Primary Election Committee and my name is His Highness, Asara A. Asara. “We have called this meeting to interface with you, know you and your areas of concerns, to see if we can agree on some issues bothering you. This is to enable us have a free and fair exercise that will enable the PDP retain the state during the election. We are here principally to conduct this exercise today and it will be good we understand ourselves before going to the field”. Anayo Onwuegbu: Mr Chairman sir, I don't think it is necessary for me to continue in this meeting having indicated my willingness earlier to step down in the interest of peace and overall good of our great party. Having consulted widely with my supporters and stakeholders, I have decided to withdraw from the race and to be permitted to step aside from this meeting. (He left immediately)

Ayogu Eze: Mr. Chairman, I have a complaint to make bordering on what is going on with the accreditation process where elected delegates who should be part of today's process are not given accreditation most especially people from Enugu North and

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Enugu East senatorial zones not Enugu West. The people from Enugu North and Enugu East were turned back but I think the people from Enugu west, they were allowed to do accreditation. I did not keep the list of the people from Enugu West but I found out that the delegates from Enugu West elected on November 1, were able to do their accreditation and were allowed. The people from the two other zones (Enugu East and North) were told that their names were not on the list sent from Abuja. That is why; I want to see to cross check the list that you

Ayogu Eze have to see whether it is the same list of delegates certified by the court from the November 1 ward congress. I won't take your time, just to show you the areas of difference since we have come to agree on some issues.

At this juncture the Electoral Panel Chairman, King Asara interjected: “No we won't be able to give you the list. But give us the list you have so that we can use it to crosscheck the one we have here. (Ayogu Eze stepped forward and gave him the list). The list giving

to us by the national secretariat is what we are going to use to conduct the election. I just want to see the list he is complaining of. This one is the Certified True Copy from the court. What we have here is not what you have. What you have is a true certified copy of delegates list from the federal high court, Abuja, but it is not what we have here.”

Ayogu continued: “In that case, it will be difficult as a law abiding somebody; it is not possible for me as somebody who knows the process of the law to go and submit myself to a process

Samuel Onyishi where my own delegates who were duly elected were disenfranchised even before the start of the process. I want to put it on record in your presence that I will go to those duly elected delegates recognized by the courts and which the National executive of the party recognized as duly elected as the ones who can actually elect any candidate and anything outside that in my own opinion, is abuse of process of court and abuse of our law. I want to say here clearly that you won't expect me in that venue where you

Continues on page 21

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

How alleged sidelining of elected delegates led to parallel guber primaries Continued from page 20 are going to do your own because, first I will be committing an illegality, I will be working into a booby trap knowing full well that my own delegates are disenfranchised, knowing that the result had already been decided even before the process had commenced. It is like knowing the result of the mathematical equation before you solve the problem. I want to thank you for being able to call this meeting, for giving us opportunity to express ourselves. I want also to put it on record sir that this is what I am going to do, to allow the lawful delegates to use their own initiatives to decide the candidates they want. This is what I am going to do, to allow the lawful delegates who emerged from the November 1 congress to decide who their candidate should be. They went through a process and now you unilaterally remove their names from the list. I am not blaming you because you are only appointed to do a job. I cannot blame you sir or any member of your panel. I need to say that as a law abiding citizen of Nigeria, that politics is not a do or die affair but you cannot as a result of wanting to grab power do unethical things that are not lawful. You can win an election but not at all cost. I am prepared to accept a result of an election where if I have lost in a transparent manner, I will embrace and accept it fair and square and walk away. If I don't understand the process, I will insist that the right things should be done. I will seek permission to step aside but not like the other man who had stepped down because as far as I am concerned, I am still in the race.

Samuel Maduka Onyishi: Some of my supporters who were duly part of the elections held on Sunday in Enugu West senatorial zone from Ezeagu local government , and who voted for the person that won the senatorial election, were asked to go back today that they are not supposed to be part of today's election. People from my own local government who also are part of the delegates were asked to go back that they are not part of the election. A situation where somebody in PDP in Enugu state is not qualified to vote for somebody in the House of Representatives election and that person is qualified to vote in the senatorial election for Ezeagu and today, the same person is not qualified to vote for somebody in the senatorial election and today, the person is no longer qualified to vote for somebody in the gubernatorial election, I think this is not good for democracy, it is selective delegates. You select delegates that you want to vote for the House of Assembly, you select those that you don't

want to vote for another one, you keep mixing up. If somebody wakes up tomorrow and say let us see the list of delegates that voted in the House of Representatives election, and Senate in one local government and Governorship in another, there will be no uniformity; hence my appeal to the committee to take a second look so that we don't end up creating problem for our great party after all these process, because it will be difficult to convince people that we are actually being sincere with what we are doing. Some of my supporters have already written and I as a person have written to the electoral panel through the office of the secretary of the committee over my case. As a party man, I have to make my case and listen to your reply after

the Peoples Democratic Party because as we are talking now, I am sitting down here with two court cases and none being observed. The first one is that the chairman that was addressed as the state chairman is not recognized by the party and court. The man that was recognized as the chairman of the party in Enugu is Elder David Aja. I can't see Elder Aja here, which means any exercise that is being carried out here without him is illegal, null and void. Secondly, the observation made by the Distinguished Senator is well taken; that decision is already being taken if the people that Enugu state people elected to participate in the gubernatorial primaries are not on the list that came from the national secretariat. We are yet to be advised that the

hearing from you. Because as party man, we have to make complaints, then listen to your reply after taking due consultation. I cannot tell you here that I am not going to be part of what you are doing or not . As elders of the party, it is also one of your duties to make sure your children run elections fairly and come out with an acceptable result . All of us can still come together and make sure we support whoever that emerges to ensure that our great party comes out victories in the governorship election of Enugu state.

decision of the court had been changed with respect to who our state chairman is. We are yet to be advised with respect to why a delegate will be qualified to elect candidates to our state House of Assembly, qualified to House of Representatives and Senate but that delegate is not qualified to elect candidate for the governorship election. That inconsistency from the party and this is a party Prof Onyeke O. Onyeke has been part of in rejuvenating, rehabilitating and resuscitating to a point where we are today. I served Dr Nwodo, I served Dr Bamanga Tukur and for this to happen to my own state, I will say that the people of Enugu state; the media is here with us and they are going to publish what is going on here and the PDP will not be better for it if they hear three out of the five contestants in Enugu state moved in droops with their supporters to another political party. It will not be good for the PDP. Let us learn lessons from the people of Imo state, let us learn lessons from Abia state, let us learn lessons from Anambra state where we are fighting to recover

Prof Onyeke Onyeke: My remarks will be brief and advisory because we are in a democracy where people take it as an abstract. Democracy is toiling with the lives of the people of Enugu state. Democracy is about the lives of the people of Enugu state. I want the aspirants themselves including my very self to know that anybody who takes a form to run for the governorship of Enugu state has something or many things good for the people of Enugu state. I want this message to be taking to the headquarters of

to the committee. So what I want to appeal to you is that not to say that we will be moving out. One thing that I want to plead with you is that in this life God is the giver of power, gives authority. There is no human being that can give power to anybody and sometimes, one even know that he is the most qualified, the most favoured and they are being deprived and yet he allowed it. What God has for you is a better thing than this governorship we are trying to clamour. God has a reason for everything. I want to plead with you that the government of PDP is robust enough to accommodate our interest. After the governorship, there is this sense of King Asara: belonging that my party has won. I want to once again plead with After one governor, another you that our business here is to governor will come. Sullivan has conduct the governorship primary been there and there is going to be of our party. Our mandate is to another governor by May to take come to Enugu state and conduct over. So I want us to exercise some primaries. We are just because we patients with the party as you go to the next level and I believe that your matter will be sorted out. When they finish you will be very happy. For this primary, you have to go on because we have no powers to listen to your grievances or issues. We have just one assignment and that is to go and conduct primariesand the document they gave to us which is the list of delegates is this one we have, we have the ballot papers, we have the list ofcontestants and result sheets. Those are the documents we have and they don't give us anything of appeal or no appeal. I want to assure of one thing that all the remarks will be captured in our report to the national secretariat so that they will be in a better position to address your issues when the time comes. Your grievances or issues you raised want to be democratic and that is will be captured in our reports. But why we said we want to interface I will advise that until you exhaust with you so as to be able to know the party's internal machinery ourselves one on one before we before you take any decision. The move to the venue of the list they gave to us is the one we primaries. If there is a list that has are going to use to conduct the been certified by the court, that list primaries. Atleast we have been is not before us. If that list was able to do our part by interacting given to us, we would have used it with you and I can assure you that to conduct the primaries. That list if you bring your grievances, they is not before us. The list you have will be looked into and the party is a certified true copy of the list of will take their final decision. the federal high court, Abuja but Having done that, I will advise the list is not before us. So we will you to stay put in PDP. The Imo not be able to use that list to people are not happy and are now conduct the primary. What is struggling to capture it back. If giving to us is the list we have they had allowed Ohakim to be here. We are not aware that people there, by now they would have who voted in the House of been taking about a new person. A s s e m b l y , H o u s e o f The old government is going and Representatives and Senate are the new government is coming. not the people who will vote here You don't know whether you are today. So what is before us is to go the next commissioner or Special and conduct this election. But Adviser or next Minister or what I want to let you know is that Ambassadors or anything. PDP is a party that whichever way Allowing the PDP to win is very you look at it in organization and reassuring because you know that whatever stands better than any there is nothing that will prevent other party. As we finish this us from winning at the national p r i m a r y, t h e r e i s a n o t h e r level. We should all strive hard to c o m m i t t e e c a l l e d a p p e a l s make the PDP retains Enugu state committee and you still have to go after this matter must have been a step further to present the matter sorted out. the PDP in these states. This kind of action is what causes loss of PDP in those states. It is when things are not done in a legal manner, in a moral manner that things like this happen. But Mr Chairman sir, as the last Speaker said, I will take a decision when you address or on whether the people are accredited are people that the Enugu people elected or people selected by an illegal group of people because as far as I am concerned, Elder Aja needed to be here as the only authentic chairman of the PDP in Enugu that was recognized by the court and national leadership of our party.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

How SMEs can boost job creation – ICAN president

resident, Institute of Chartered Accountants of N i g e r i a , M r. C h i d i Ajaegbu, says government at all levels need to promote an enabling environment for the development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the country. He said this would help to improve the economic fortunes of the country, noting that the advanced economies of the West relied on SMEs to reduce unemployment. Ajaegbu spoke in Lagos during the second edition of the institute's 'Forum for Firms.' He said, “Globally every developed country had, at one point or the other, relied on the Small and Medium Enterprises. Even as we speak today, 60 per cent of the employment created in

the West (advanced economies) come from the SME sector. “The multinationals of today started as small enterprises. Companies such as Sony, Toshiba, Samsung and Microsoft started as one-man business. The SME sector is a critical nerve of economic development. So, everybody should do whatever is possible to encourage that sector of the economy.” The need to promote the growth of the SMEs, according to the ICAN president, has made the institute to organise the forum which is aimed at providing SMEs with a platforms for capacity building in financial reporting, auditing and quality control, among others. Ajaegbu also said the meeting would serve as a strategy for enhancing the technical capability of the SMEs.

Underscoring the importance of the forum to the SMEs growth, he explained, “It is not that banks do not want to fund SMEs. SME operators need to be encouraged to keep proper accounting

records. That is part of this forum. Every bank wants business, they want profit – nobody wants to lose money. “And without proper record keeping, proper assurance services and attestation of those financial statements by qualified

MAN sees impact of dollar exposure on raw materials

he immediate past President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Kola Jamodu has cautioned Nigerians over panic resulting from naira-to-dollar slide. He said there is a possibility of having dollar exposure in the face of dollar demand, stressing that this trend could be negative on raw materials and finished

products. Speaking during a send-off ceremony, organised by MAN in Lagos, Jamodu said the trend is not good for the economy as 2015 election draws near. Jamodu, said Nigerians should not fall into the temptation of having dollar exposure due to the current naira fall. “Nigerians should be patient and should not have dollar exposure. We all need to work together. We

First Bank emerges top SME lender on KPMG survey

irst Bank, Nigeria's largest lender by assets has emerged as the most popular bank among MSMEs for both deposit transaction and credit/loan activities in a new KPMG survey on the sector. First Bank was identified by 26 percent of SMEs as an institution where they currently have a loan or have obtained one in the past, with the next highest bank (UBA) being mentioned by10 percent of SMEs. First Bank also was named by 36 percent of SMEs as the bank where they carry out their transactions. According to KPMG, banks in Nigeria may have began, albeit cautiously, to identify the MSMEs as an important

sector of the economy and are taking different steps to deepen their understanding and play in this segment. This realisation is not unconnected to the thinning margins in transactions with large corporate and the increased determination of various governments to drive economic growth and development agenda through the MSME segment. Insights from the study revealed that for Nigerian banks, MSME financing has gone beyond a social objective and for a few banks, MSMEs are a critical part of the banks' strategy. In Nigeria, about 80 percent of the banks surveyed have constituted a dedicated unit to serve the MSME segment since 2011. Majority of the

CHANGE OF NAME UMARU – I formerly known, called and addressed as Umaru Dodo Idris and the Managing Director of GWOMNI VENTURES of No.1 Bonny Lane Asata Enugu, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Oumarou Ide and GUDUMBE ROYAL BUREAU CHANGE LTD now transferred to No.29 Owerri Road, Asata Enugu. All authorities concerned should take note.

ANIEGBO – I formerly known and addressed as Miss Aniegbo Tochukwu Juliet, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ileje Tochukwu Juliet. All former documents remain valid. ESUT, NYSC, UBA PLC and the general public please take note.

chartered accountants that are licensed to practice from our institute, the banks are unable to ascertain the viability of those SMEs.” The ICAN leader submitted that the government had no business funding the SMEs.

Tier 1 banks that have dedicated SME units operate the unit under the Retail/Consumer Banking or Commercial Banking division. Banks in other emerging markets also operate dedicated units for MSMEs; according to a World Bank survey (2006), 88 percent of banks in Chile, 100 percent in Columbia and 88 percent in Serbia had dedicated units for SMEs. Nigeria however lags behind other African nations when it comes to banking the MSME segment. A 2013 World Bank report estimates the share of MSMEs in the credit portfolios of banks in Nigeria at 5 percent, much lower than other African markets, such as Rwanda (17%), Kenya (17.4%) and Tanzania (14%). The survey revealed that only about five Nigerian banks have SME business managers in their branches, however, focusing largely on financial targets (revenue, deposits and loans), instead of developing products that address the needs of MSMEs. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Study in Nigeria – titled: Strengthening access to finance for MSMEs in Nigeria, is a collaborative effort of KPMG Nigeria and

Enterprise Development Centre, a centre of the Pan Atlantic University. The survey, which polled over 3,000 entrepreneurs, 18 b a n k s a n d government/multilateral agencies, was conducted between November 2013 and March 2014. “The survey reflects both the SMEs and banks' perspectives on the primary issues affecting the growth of this critical sector,” said Bisi Lamikanra, partner/head management consulting, KPMG. The MSME segment is an important engine of growth, employment and social cohesion in Nigeria. However, similar to MSME experience globally, the sector continues to face harsh business environment. The MSME study in Nigeria was geared towards investigating the critical challenges faced by this segment, the factors limiting key stakeholders from supporting the segment and government's initiatives to develop this critical sector. The study also identified the three top challenges facing MSMEs operating in Nigeria as: non- conducive enabling environment (80%), inconsistent government policies (56%), and lack of access to finance/capital (45%).

can't afford to fail and our advocacy must be heightened, “he says, adding that the trend, if not checked, could have impact on raw materials and finished goods. Frank Jacobs, president, MAN, while commending his predecessor, said during his tenure as the president of MAN, he committed his energy, time and intellect in lifting the association to highly enviable level. According to him, among his streams of achievement are the publication of blueprint for the accelerated development of manufacturing in Nigeria, rehabilitation of MAN House in Ikeja, Lagos, and improvement of information generation and dissemination for advancement of evidence-based advocacy. He also pressed upon the Federal Government to change the name 'ministry of trade and investment' to 'ministry of industry, trade and investment.' “He secured government approval for sector-specific approach to granting of incentives and waivers and tenaciously pursued manufacturing friendly ECOWAS CET and ECOWASEU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), a mission that is still work-in-progress,” Jacobs said. “In fact, the Federal Government considered the position of MAN positively and therefore deferred t h e s i g n i n g o f t h e E PA Agreement in its present form,” he continued. Jacobs also notes that Jamodu, during his tenure, strengthened the association's lobby and advocacy machinery thereby making MAN to be highly relevant in the national economic policy formulation and implementation and had regular consultation between the Federal Government and MAN on national issues. Keith Richards, chairman, Promasidor, says Jamodu often takes industry-wide view on issues. Ibrahim El-tayeb, managing director, Nigerian Sweets and Confectionery, says Jamodu's passion for industry and ability to resolve problems were magnificent.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Man dies after consuming 8 cans H o r r o r ! of 'bullet drink' to win N1,600 Wife, Children accused of

man identified as Elijah Nwankwo from Ikwo local Government Area of Ebonyi state has allegedly died after drinking eight cans of Bullet Energy. The deceased consumed the drinks as a result of betting. A source disclosed that the deceased had on Thursday, boasted to drink the cans and smile home with the sum of N1600,

which was put for a bet by one Chikwado Nchionu. The police spokesman in Enugu State, Ebere Amaraizu, DSP, who confirmed the incident said that the deceased became weak and went into coma after taking the drinks. “He was consequently rushed to the Mother of Christ Hospital Enugu, where he was confirmed dead by the doctor on duty. His

body has also been deposited at the hospital mortuary for necessary action”, Amaraizu further stated. In another development, operatives of Udi division of the Enugu State police command have nabbed two armed robbery suspects that specializes in terrorizing commuters plying Udi/ozalla road. The suspects, who gave their names as Chikwado Oyii of Umuoka village and Daniel Udeh of Amagu village were nabbed by the police through the partnership of the members of the neighbourhood watch group in Udi. The suspects were about blocking the road to commence their robbery activities before they were arrested. One single barreled gun, one live cartridge, one battle axe, a pair of slippers, handsets and a lady's bag containing clothes were recovered from the hoodlums.

Schoolgirl forced to sleep with long-lost father after tracking him down on Facebook

schoolgirl was repeatedly forced to have sex with her long-lost father after tracking him down on Facebook. Sheffield Crown Court heard how the unnamed 13-year-old met her father, 41, after discovering he was living in South Yorkshire through friends and postings on the social media site, and was eventually invited to live with him. But the happy reunion quickly became a nightmare for the

teenager, who was forced to have sex with her long-lost father 'on a regular basis' over a six-month period, the court heard. 'She did not resist because he was her dad. She said: “I had only just met him so I went along with it'”,' said prosecutor Timothy Capstick, She said she felt like hitting out but couldn't as he was her father. It happened again over a six-month period. He would have sex with her on a regular basis, every other day.' Mr Capstick said the girl, who is

now 18, was plied with alcohol before being forced into sex. The abuse only came to light when the teenager told her social worker, who went to the police last year, the court heard. The man, who had a drink problem and was suffering from depression, was jailed for six years. 'Over a period of six months you grossly abused your position of trust. She was 13 and you were 41 and you took advantage of her,' said judge Simon Lawler.

sentenced to spend the remnants of her life in prison. Associated Press reports: A Volusia County judge sentence 42-year-old Angela

Stoldt on Friday. She was convicted of first-degree murder. Authorities say Stoldt tried to cremate 36-year-old James Sheaffer's body in April 2013 by putting several body parts in an oven and in pots on the stove. When that didn't work, she put his body parts in bags and threw them in the trash. Authorities say Stoldt relied on Sheaffer for money, although their relationship was platonic, and that money was the motive for the murder. According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Stoldt said she killed Sheaffer in selfdefense.

stabbing Husband to death

middle-aged woman, Comfort Tifase and her children, Olufumbi and Oluropo, are currently being interrogated by officers of the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, over the circumstances surrounding the death of her husband, Moses, in Mile2 area of the state. Our correspondent gathered that the suspects had allegedly hacked Moses, who is based in Kano State, to death with a pair of scissors during a fight at their Block 285, flat 6, residence, Jakande Estate Mile 2. Sources disclosed that the incident which occurred in the early hours of December 6, 2014, blew open when the suspect and her children attempted to quickly bury the man.

Homosexual kills Sex partner in Abuja Hotel room

Woman Sentenced to Life A Imprisonment for Killing and Cooking Neighbour

Florida woman who was convicted of cooking her neighbour after strangling and dismembering him has been

They were said to have contacted a member of their church with the news of their father's death and demanded his immediate burial, claiming he slumped and died. The church member suspected foul and alerted the police in Festac Police Station, where Divisional Police Officer, Ifeanyi Owo, who led policemen to the scene, arrested the suspects and her children while the corpse was taken to the mortuary for autopsy. Meanwhile, Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ken Nwosu, who confirmed the arrest, said the suspects denied killing the man, but the policemen who visited the scene recovered a blood-stained pair of scissors in their apartment, while the entire apartment was in disarray

man suspected to be a h o m o s e x u a l , Mohammed Umar, has been arrested by the police for allegedly murdering his gay partner, Mohammed Snu, inside a room of a hotel in Garki, Abuja, over an argument about payment for services rendered. The police reports that Snu died after he was stabbed multiple times in the ribs with a screw driver by Umar. The deceased, a regular guest at the hotel, was said to have invited Umar for gay sex, but their romance went sour when he refused to pay his partner for the second round of s*x. A hotel staff said that the two men had s*x twice, but Snu allegedly refused to pay for the second round, which led to a scuffle. “The man had just come back from a mosque where he went for prayers with his partner when we heard a loud noise from his room and a voice saying 'ya kuri (please, don't be angry)'. "By the time we forced the door open, we saw Umar standing unclad and Snu lying dead on the bed with stab injuries on his body.

We immediately called the police and Umar was arrested.” The FCT police later went to the hotel and carried away the corpse of Snu as well arrest the hotel manager. They also drove away the deceased white Mercedes salon car with Abuja registration number, KUJ 883 AQ, which was parked on the hotel premises. The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Peter Okechukwu, confirmed the incident, explaining that the deceased invited the suspect to massage him in his hotel room, saying he had pains in his ribs. “In the course of the massage, Snu asked Umar to undress for s*x, and from there, they engaged in a scuffle leading to the stabbing of the deceased by the suspect. It was the loud noise from their room that attracted the hotel workers. When our men got to the hotel, we found the deceased and the suspect unclad. Investigations have commenced and we will soon know what actually transpired behind the closed door.”

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

PDP's chances of winning Imo state remains slim – Nnadozie Zeek Martins Nnadozie is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Imo State and also ex- senior special assistant, SSA, to the former Governor Achike Udenwa. In this no-holds- barred interview with with ADVOCATE NIGERIA, he makes significant clarifications on some critical political issues in the state: What is actually happening in the party in respect of the just concluded governorship primary? I am not satisfied and I can never be satisfied with the recent happenings in the state. How can somebody feel that it is easy to pull wool over our eyes just like that? In a state like Imo, an egalitarian and enlightened society that somebody will come to play on the intelligence of the people. It gets on my nerves. A situation whereby a primary election was held, accreditation was done and 1,064 delegates were accredited to take part in the exercise. Then the voting started and at the end, votes were allotted to aspirants. Ordinarily, one would have expected that the December 8, 2014 primary election would end well following the peaceful conduct of the exercise. The primary was transparent and peaceful. The result was supposed to be undisputed. The state electoral committee publicly announced the result to all media, security agencies, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and all party men.

corrected now. The panel members shot themselves in the leg, by arousing the attention of those at the stadium. They started announcing the result of other aspirants and chose to do that of Ihedioha last, without knowing that the people were calculating the figures too. In the other way round, there is the hand of God in it. They called all the names of the aspirants and their scores, from those who scored zero to Ikedi Ohakim who scored 213 votes and Ifeanyi Araraume who scored 335 votes. If you add up these

should be the winner of that exercise. May be they adopted Senator Arthur Nzeribe's political strategy “declare me winner and let the other party go to court”. This might have worked in the past, but it can never fly this time. If they insist that the result is correct, that means there was over voting and in that case the result should be canceled. We are civilized people as far as Imo state is concerned.

From what happened so far, it appears senator

What is the next step?

What is the bone of contention? We found out that 1017 votes were cast; 1006 were valid while 11 were void votes. Remember we had 28 governorship aspirants in Imo state. The total number of votes cast for 26 of them was 1017 votes. Votes cast for senator Ifeanyi Araraume stood at 336 with a balance of 325 for Hon Emeka Ihedioha. Most amazingly, the chairman of the panel in announcing the result inflated the votes for Ihedioha to 346 and falsely created the impression that the deputy speaker in the House of Representatives won. When you add up all these figures that I mentioned, you will get the total which ordinarily should have tallied with the number of accredited delegates. Because the people who came from Abuja, a former member of the House of Representatives, who was allegedly paid handsomely to do the hatchet job, came here to teach us a new arithmetic. We know that it was a well planned job after taking care of other party members' aside the state chairman of the party. There is a political inferno that is about to engulf Imo state chapter of the PDP if this charade is not

that some of us are in the twilight of our life and political career, we have decided to ask God for forgiveness and we have decided to repackage the young man to atone for our 'sins'. Now the people are saying the truth. What we said before against him were lies. The denial of his hard earned ticket is prelude to the party's failure while the return of his stolen mandate is the road to the party's victory in the2015 election. The party must get it right. People must be rest assured that all efforts are being made to ensure that the injustice of 2007 is not repeated. Enemies of the state and their cohorts will not be allowed to repeat the unfortunate saga of 2007 when the votes and support Imo people freely gave the young man were messed up.

figures, the balance should be 325, which is what Emeka Ihedioha scored. But when they realized their blunder and the earthquake about to happen and paid agents, they increased Emeka Ihedioha's votes with 20 and said he won with 345 votes. They claimed he beat Ifeanyi Araraume by 10 votes and the question is where did they get the extra votes from? Is it that they were overwhelmed by the millions they were paid for the hatchet job? Don't we know simple arithmetic any longer? And why was Emeka Ihedioha called last? From what happened, there is no how Emeka Ihedioha

Araraume is still popular in the state. What is the driving force? He is absolutely very popular. Let me use this opportunity to tell the whole nation that I am sorry for the damages joined to the senator when I was security adviser to exgovernor Udenwa. As someone who just came back from America, I didn't know that they play politics of destruction here. I took them by their words. I used the same method we used to play the American politics as we normally say that “you can take eyes to the Eskimos”. And now

The next step is that we must get it right. President Goodluck has set the ball rolling when he failed to recognize Emeka Ihedioha as the party's flag bearer. He told the aspirants from Imo state that there were unresolved issues and he could not shake anybody's hand. The party has spoken and anybody celebrating is wasting his/her time and energy. The records are there. Anybody claiming to have won should be bold enough to show us his certificate of return. It goes beyond propaganda which they started during the screening. Being the first to be screened has nothing to do with actual election. As someone who was first to be screened, why didn't the panel announce his result first? They should hide their faces in shame that a man who came into the race just six months ago c o u l d muster such number of votes and beat other aspirants. He made them look like kindergarten pupils in the school of politics. I told them while we were in Enugu during the screening on the need for aspirants to close ranks to ensure that the right was done. The recent primary election has shown how the people have sympathy for Ifeanyi Araraume, and if his mandate is not returned, PDP is doomed in Imo state. Emeka Ihedioha cannot win the governorship of Imo state. Imo

state is a civilized and egalitarian society. Look at the way the primary election was organized, unlike what happened in other states where parallel elections were held. Look at what happened in 2011 when the people said 'no way' to an incumbent governor and he was voted out. Even now if Ikedi Ohakim had listened to me, he would not have wasted his billion running for the governorship primary when the anger of the people had not subsided. The people of the state still love him, but the anger with which they voted him out is still there. His coming out now reignited the anger and that was the disaster he got. If he did not come out, Ifeanyi Araraume would have garnered not less than 600 votes. Even though many believed he came as a spoiler, but I came to understand that he would not spend such huge amount (over 1 billion) for the sake of being a spoiler. Like what happened when George Foreman was knocked down by Mike Tyson; a journalist said Foreman took a dive. Foreman was infuriated by that assertion and in anger he punch the journalist to know what a dive looks like; and it took the reporter three months to recover. We will continue to say the truth.

What do you envisage if at the end of the day the wrong was corrected? Nnadozie: The incumbent governor, Rochas Okorocha is a master strategist and tactician and therefore you must bring his match, otherwise it will be a disaster for the PDP in Imo state. If PDP presents Ihedioha, that means the entire Orlu zone and half of Owerri zone where Ihedioha comes from and Okigwe zone will go for Okorocha. The Orlu people's Assembly has made it clear that if PDP should cancel the primary election or they will be forced to vote for their son, Okorocha no matter his party. And people like me and the entire Okigwe zone will join Orlu to campaign and vote for Rochas Okorocha. I see danger for the PDP. Even if the president is from Imo state and brings the whole army, police, navy air force to the state, it will not solve the situation. People are still living in the past; they don't take time to do their home work well. The era of business as usual has gone. Do anytime funny this time and pay the price.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Rev Emeka remains General Superintendent Continued from page 2 persons were seriously wounded while four cars were burnt in a free for all that ensued between members of the two factions in the church. The State Police Command confirmed the arrest of ten members of the private security outfit of the church, known as Royal Rangers, allegedly armed with dangerous weapons which they freely used during the fight. An eyewitness said that some members of the church loyal to the Assistant General Superintendent, Rev Chidi Okoroafor had tried to “forcefully” take over the national secretariat of the church at Independence layout, Enugu but were resisted by security men guarding the church premises. But one of the members loyal to Okoroafor, who gave her name as Pastor Favour claimed that the members had gone to the secretariat for prayer over the problems in the church. The group said to have the support of the immediate past General Superintendent, Rev. Osueke, had for some time now opposed the incumbent General Superintendent of the Church, Prof Paul Emeka, leading to the factionalization of the church

among the two leaders. The anti-Emeka group had during a purported meeting in Okpoto, Ebonyi state recently elected Okoroafor as i t s G e n e r a l Superintendent. The Okpoto meeting took place more than one week after thousands of the members gathered in Enugu and reelected Rev Emeka for another term of four years and slammed indefinite suspension on some members including Okoroafor for allegedly ridiculing the church. Prof Emeka had continued to occupy the national secretariat of the church, as several courts handling the leadership tussles had given him a legal backing to remain in his position as General Superintendent amidst tensions in the renowned Pentecostal church. Violence broke out when members of the Okoroafor faction Wednesday morning

stormed the national secretariat in several buses and attempted to gain entry into the national secretariat but were prevented from doing so by supporters of Emeka. A free for all ensued between both parties who reportedly used every object in sight to harm their opponents. Majority of the

rampaging 'church members' were said to have been imported from outside the state. The eye witness said that the timely intervention of the police saved what probably could have gone as “bloodbath”, stressing that “both camps were ready to die over the property”. Journalists, who visited the area around 2.00pm Wednesday, met several policemen who came in seven patrol vehicles and cordoned off the area, even as the policemen had hectic time trying to prevent further escalation of hostilities. It was discovered that supporters loyal to Emeka took strategic positions inside the secretariat complex, while some others who apparently did not come on time were seen outside. Broken bottles, pieces of wood and carcasses of the burnt cars littered the church premises. An attempt to speak to Rev Okoroafor on the development Wednesday proved abortive as a call put across by our

correspondent to his mobile phone line was received by one of his supporters who simply said “Daddy is in a meeting and not available to talk to you now”. But Rev Emeka, deplored the action of Okoroafor, alleging that he (Okoroafor) “gathered Bakassi boys in five buses as well as many others to forcefully take over the national secretariat of the church”. “It is sad. He should know how to respect court orders and he should know that the church is in crisis and that force is not the solution to the problem. He should submit himself to wise counsel and stop using thugs to harass the church. The boys arrested have confessed that he (allegedly) paid them to cause trouble”, he said. Contacted, Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ebere Amaraizu said at least eight members of the Royal Rangers had been arrested for allegedly possessing dangerous weapons. He added that the police was drafted to the area to forestall further breach of peace and called on the warring factions to abide by the resolutions of the court. He warned that the police would not fold her arms and watch them derail the peace of the state.

Defection: Court strikes out suit against four defected governors By Euclid Agunwa, Abuja

he legal action instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), against the four governors that defected from the PDP to All Progressives Congress, APC, was on Friday thrown out a federal high court in Abuja. The PDP had prayed the court to sack the four governors on account of their defection. In his ruling which lasted for about two hours, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, held that the suit's originating processes were invalid, on the ground that they were wrongly issued and served on the defendants. The PDP had last December sued four governors namely: Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara)n including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), asking the court to declare the defecting governors' seats vacant, and for INEC to conduct elections for their

replacement. Former governor Nyako's name was removed from the suit shortly after his impeachment. The party had, upon an order of court, s e r v e d t h e originating processes on wrong address, which it claimed was the headquarters of the APC. The service was faulted by the defendants, forcing the court to set it aside. On June 27, the party again obtained an exparte order for substituted service of Gov Rotimi Amaechi the originating processes through newspaper first obtained the leave of the publication, which it published court to serve through substituted on July 3 in Thisday newspapers. means, and that the originating The defendants again, faulted the processes were not endorsed as procedure adopted by the PDP in required under the Sheriff and serving them, arguing among Civil Processes Act (SCPA). others, that the plaintiff failed to Justice Kolawole's ruling Friday

was on the applications filed by Ameachi, Kwankwaso and Ahmed. The judge upheld the governors argument that the originating processes issued in the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, and meant for service outside jurisdiction ought to be endorsed as required under Section 97 of the SCPA. He held that the plaintiff acted in violation of the provision of Section 96 of the SCPA as it ought to have applied for and obtained the court's leave before engaging in substituted service. The judge rejected the argument by lawyer to the PDP, Alex Iziyon (SAN) to the effect that the governors could be served through their new party's address. Justice Kolawole held that it was "preposterous, audacious and breathtaking" for the plaintiff to argue that the defendants, sued individually in personal capacity, could be served through the office of the party to which they defected to. He further held that having been described as governors of Rivers, Kano and Kwara states, who carry out most of their functions in their states' capitals, it was wrong to assume, as argued by the

plaintiff, that they reside or operate from the APC headquarters in Abuja. The judge also held that since APC was not a party in the suit, which was meant to sack the governors, it was wrong to provide the APC's address as the place where the governors could be served. On the plaintiff's argument that the defendants had exceeded the seven days limit for them to challenge the order for substituted service, the judge held that the provision of Order 26 Rule 11 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules does not apply in view of the fact that the order made on June 27 for substituted service was an exparte order, which is not covered by the provision. He consequently declared the originating summons filed by the PDP invalid by virtue of its not being endorsed as required by law. "This suit is struck out as this originating summons has been declared invalid," the judge held. He also extended his findings to cover Wamakko, who he noted, had equally filed similar application.

December 24, 2014

The Advocate Gospel This Week

2015:

Pastor Kumuyi's Powerful Prophesy About Nigeria

TEXT: Matthew 25:41-46 'Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was ill and in prison and you did not look after me." They also will answer, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or ill or in prison, and did not help you?" He will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (NIVUK)’

NARRATION The popular image of Jesus is that He is a benign person who loves everybody and will not harm anybody. Certainly He is not in any way bad or malignant; and He does love all that He has made (Psalm 145:9). But He will also be a righteous judge: patient yes, but indulgent, no. All the people who do not love Him will be separated out and their destiny will be the same as that of the devil and the demons. If that seems like strong language, it is exactly what Jesus said in these verses. Judgement and salvation are the two sides of the same doctrine. Jesus is the King and so He has the right to rule. The people who despise or ignore His authority will be banished from His presence to a place where there is no goodness, only undiluted evil. It is a terrible prospect, but an essential truth to keep us focussed in our dependence on God's grace, on our worship, obedience, service and witness. We are only kept from hell because of our faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death for us. Some people think that these verses are telling us that if we do enough good deeds, then God will spare us from hell. No, that is not right. The wicked (everybody who chooses to ignore God's call on their lives – however hard they try to be good) do not love God's family, because they do not love Jesus. Why should they then trouble themselves to relieve the suffering of some Christians' lives? That is why their attempts to live 'good lives' have no weight in heaven. It is not so much what we do, but why we do it that counts. If every Christian would contemplate the hellish fate of apparently nice, honest, moral people who do not know Jesus, what would be the result? We might be more grateful for our own undeserved salvation, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise of heaven – it would spur our worship. We would be more aware of our obligation to serve the needs of our Christian brothers and sisters – it would spur our work for the Lord. We would be much more committed to living with integrity and telling our friends and colleagues how they may be saved – it would spur our witness. Otherwise our faith can become a personal comfort and selfish indulgence. Today, worship and work as a person who has been promised heaven; and witness as a person who understands the awesomeness of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:11)

Prayer:

Holy God. Thank You that Jesus was very clear about the terrible destiny of those who do not welcome Jesus. Forgive me when I have known this truth but have assumed it is nothing to do with me, and that I have no responsibility for the people I live and work alongside. Please help me to take this truth deep into my heart and let it motivate me to worship, work and witness to Your praise and glory, and so that the people around me may turn to Jesus and be saved. In His Name. Amen.

NIGERIA

Pastor Kumuyi

he General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Kumuyi, has said that God will not allow Nigeria to break up in 2015. He said that regardless of the political tension, insecurity and predictions that Nigeria would break up in 2015, the country would not be dismembered. He spoke on Tuesday during a media briefing for the commencement of the Deeper Life Bible Church three-day crusade at Eiyenkorin in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. He advised against utterances and acts that could divide the country, saying that God's purpose is for Nigeria to remain united. He stated that there would be life transforming encounters with God, adding that God would lift the burden of people during the crusade. Kumuyi said, “Sometimes people misunderstood the power of prophecy and there are people who will make negative

pronouncements. Pronouncements are not necessarily prophecies. Every utterance on Nigeria breaking up is a pronouncement made from observations and not prophecies. “I believe those who made those pronouncements based on some things they see or feel should say 'they feel Nigeria may break up' and not that God said that. Because if God could hear the voice of only Moses and spared Israel and they still exist over 3,000 years after, then God loves Nigeria and would not allow it to break up. “God has a purpose for Nigeria. When people talk of division, the truth is that once you start the process, it never ends. Once you say, 'people in the North, go your way and those in the South, go your way,' there are other people who will also rise up to say they too want to go their own way even within you. You know what happened in the 1960s; several sides will begin to be asked to go away but I know that God has a purpose for bringing Nigeria together and we shall remain one.” Kumuyi also advised the electorate to elect leaders based on competence rather than on sentimental considerations. He added that leaders should not be elected necessarily because of their religious or ethnic cleavages but should be elected based on their ability to deliver dividends of democracy and good governance to the people. He urged the electorate to evaluate the manifestoes of political parties and politicians and vote wisely and rightly. He also called on Nigerians to be committed to nation building, adding that the Federal Government and the security agencies should continue in their efforts to address insecurity and other violent crimes in the country. He also urged Nigerians and clerics to continue to pray to God to intervene and bring an end to insecurity in the country. The cleric also advised Nigerians to avoid destructive criticisms, adding that people should appreciate the positive impacts of their leaders and offer constructive criticisms.

Group asks religious leaders to rise against National Health Bill Law 2014

lobal Prolife Alliance (GPA) has called on the Christian Association of Nigerian, National Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) to come out to condemn the signing of the National Health Bill, NHB Law 2014 without modifications of issues about Right to Life. The group made this call in a statement signed by its national president Academician Prince Dr Philip C. Njemanze, M.D. and Chairman, International Institutes of Advanced Research and Training, Chidicon Medical Center and made available to Advocate Nigeria saying that Nigerians must be on high alert on the implication of signing the law. Dr Njemanze advised that well meaning Nigerians who understand the implication and dangers of the bill should explain in all public fora the consequences of the law on Nigerians when fully implemented if some clauses were not amended, stressing that western powers that foisted the law on Nigeria had taken over the Nigerian Press “so you cannot hope for any media help”. The statement reads: “It is a sad day for all Nigerians. President Goodluck Jonathan assented to the National Health Law 2014. There is no doubt that, President Goodluck Jonathan was forced to sign this law, which he gallantly fought to turn down twice. This means now that, if any Nigerian

goes to a hospital, the doctor does not need his/her Consent to pouch his/her organs for transplantation to Western Organ Tourists as legalised by (Sections 48, 51). “All Nigerian hospitals will be closed down within 24 months from now, to make way for the Western hospitals established in Nigeria for Human Organ Trafficking (Section 13). There will be no alternatives to these hospitals! There is now clear evidence that Nigerian health professionals will lose key positions to foreign experts who will harvest organs of Nigerians for sale to Western patients (Section 43 and 45). Njemanze regretted that with the signing of the NHB, Nigerians will have their ovarian eggs pouched for human egg trafficking for embryonic stem cell research in Western Biotechnology labs, saying that the health bill excludes gametes ovarian and sperms as 'tissue'. “Over 30 million Nigerians will lose their lives if the Law goes into full operation within the next five years of harvesting of ovarian eggs and organs of otherwise healthy people.” The GPA, urged Nigerian Bar Association, NBA' to take up the case to the State and Federal Courts up to the Supreme Court, noting that massive education of the people of Nigeria was highly needed now by all means possible.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Sierra Leone cancels Christmas over Ebola

ierra Leone said Friday it was banning any public Christmas celebrations as the spiralling caseload of Ebola infections continues to spread alarm. Soldiers are to be deployed throughout the festive period to force people venturing onto the

streets back indoors, the government's Ebola response unit said. Palo Conteh, head of the department, told reporters in the capital Freetown there would be “no Christmas and New Year celebrations this year”. “We will ensure that everybody remains at home to reflect on Ebola,” he said.

“Military personnel will be on the streets at Christmas and the New Ye a r t o s t o p a n y s t r e e t celebrations,” he said, without saying which areas would be targeted. While Islam is the dominant religion in Sierra Leone, more than a quarter of the population is Christian and public gatherings and entertainment are common during the holiday period. Conteh did not give the exact dates of the crackdown or list any

exceptions. During previous local and nationwide anti-Ebola curfews, people were allowed out to worship and for “essential business”. U n d e r c u r r e n t e m e rg e n c y regulations, bars and nightspots have already been shut down and public gatherings outlawed but there is no general ban on going outdoors or working. Sierra Leone, which has overtaken Liberia to become the country worst affected by Ebola,

has recorded 1,319 new infections in the last three weeks. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday there were 17,942 cases of the tropical fever across eight countries as of December 7, resulting in 6,388 deaths — almost all in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone reported 397 new cases during the week ending December 7 — three times as many as Liberia and Guinea combined, WHO said.

PG students protest fee hike in UNN

ost-graduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, Wednesday barricaded the office of the ViceChancellor, Professor Ben Ozumba, in protest against hike in their tuition fees, describing the increase from N65,000 to

N145,000 as outrageous. The placard-carrying protesters, numbering over 200, marched round the school and barricaded the VC's office. Spokesman of the students, Mr. Paul Haaga, said: “To us, the increment is outrageous. We are not against any increment, but it should be reasonable. It is not fair

to increase the fees for a session of nine months from N69,000 to N145,000. Where do they expect us to get that kind of money? “We will continue this protest until the university reduces it. I do not think it is a crime for one to further his education in UNN.” Dean of Post-Graduate School, Professor A. Ubachukwu, who

addressed the students, said: “Government does not give any allocation for postgraduate school as it is assumed that post-graduate students are adult and can pay cost for their education. “I use my personal money at times to run the PG school. I have been talking with some of your leaders on this issue for some time now

and we compared notes with other universi-ties before the increment on PG school fees was made.” He commended them for the peaceful protest, adding “you are matured and responsible. “The increase is in your interest as it will enable you to graduate on time and enhance teaching and learning.”

Back Page Comment Cont.

IT’S TIME TO REBUILD NIGERIA – BUHARI nomination of my party, the All Progressives Congress to be its candidate and flag-bearer in 2015 presidential elections. 8. My nomination is not because I am better than any of the other contestants. I see it as a tribute and mark of confidence to carry the torch as we all join hands to rescue our dear country Nigeria, from those who have led us into the current state of insecurity, poverty, sectarian divide and hopelessness among our people. 9. I stand before you today to ask that you join me in a common cause. My call to you is not to realise the personal fulfilment of one man. This Common Cause is nothing less than the love for our nation and concern for its present condition. And a resolve to make things better for Nigeria. 10. What I say today is for all Nigerians: Christian and Muslim, Southern and Northern, rich and poor, young and old, man and woman. We are all citizens of Nigeria. There is no dividing line among us that I care to honour. Either we advance as one or fail altogether. 11. My choice and my colleagues choice and wish is that we progress together. Preserving the nation's future is a scared obligation to all of us in this party. Leaders should be wholly committed to fulfilling this obligation otherwise they have no business being leaders. 12. Sadly, the current administration does not believe in this obligation. By their actions they are leading us to calamity. 13. At International Conferences, the Nigerian delegation is usually among the largest but at the same time the least effective. Our president should have the status and the voice of Africa's largest nation. But in political influence we are among the weakest. 14. Shall we at home continue to live in a condition where the Power Holding Company and its successors seem only to have the power to hold us in darkness? 15. Shall we continue in a situation where 250 of our daughters have been abducted and the government has been unable to rescue them or provide credible information about what steps they are taking? 16. Shall we live in a nation where several people were trampled to death in search of jobs in a stadium and yet no one has taken responsibility for the tragedy? 17. Shall we live in a nation where the ranks of the poor swell and their poverty increase while the consorts of the powerful enjoy unprecedented wealth? The lives of the

poor are bled dry while those of the powerful soak in excessive abundance. 18. My answers to these questions are “No, No, No, No!” 19. It is time to close this demeaning chapter in our nation's history. 20. I ask that you join this effort, not for me, but to establish a better land for all of us. 21. I understand and accept the hard challenge ahead. When all is said and done, let it be written that Muhammadu Buhari gave his all for this nation. 22. As such, I make these five pledges regarding the government if we are elected next February; a. We will govern Nigeria honestly, in accordance with the constitution. b. We will strive to secure the country and efficiently manage the economy. c. We will strive to attack poverty through broadlyshared economic growth and attacking corruption through impartial application of the law. d. We will tolerate no religious, regional, ethnic or gender bias in our government. e. We will return Nigeria to a position of international respect through patriotic foreign policy. f. We will choose the best Nigerians for the right jobs. 23. Our government will be committed to the cause of the common man. Whether you are a Christian from Bayelsa State or a Muslim from Katsina State, you are first and foremost a Nigerian in my eyes. I shall treat you equally as my people, my national family, my brothers and sisters. There can be no genuine love of our country without loving all its people in our diversity. 24. Just as APC stands as a new party for a new Nigeria, our government will institute new policies to realise the new Nigeria. 25. We shall institute just policies that afford people the dignity of work and pay them a living wage for their sweat and toil. We intend to do this by instituting a national industrial policy, coupled with a national employment directive, that together shall revive and expand our manufacturing sector, creating jobs for our urban population and decreasing our reliance on expensive foreign imports. 26. We shall implement a national infrastructure master plan that will provide construction and related jobs across the land. Furthermore, by improving our transportation infrastructure through road, rail and port construction we expand the outer bounds of economic growth as no economy can grow beyond the capacity of its

infrastructure. 27. Agriculture remains the backbone of the economy. Our government, when elected, will establish an agricultural policy that provides farmers a dignified living through improved inputs, improved extension services, access to credit and price support mechanisms. 28. On corruption, the government will enhance EFCC's powers to investigate independently. Moreover, we intend to plug the holes in NNPC accounting. There will no longer be two sets of books, one for public consumption and another for insiders who profit from this slick fraud. In an APC government, the public will know how much NNPC makes and where all the money goes. 29. No longer shall illegal flows of massive sums leave these shores to finance other economies. While our people languish in poverty, we effectively give financial aid to nations that is not justified. I am sick of this. It must stop. The money saved will finance jobs, health care and the provision of social safety net for the needy, weak and vulnerable of our land. 30. We will be a compassionate government, for out of compassion arises the truest forms of wealth and progress a society can attain. We shall open the door to tertiary education to excellent students who otherwise could not afford it. Pregnant and poor women and children shall be entitled to basic health care. 31. This is a Nigeria that I envisage but it is a far cry from the Nigeria that is now. Change is imperative if we are to avoid the impending national failure. Poor leadership placed us in the ditch. Continuation of poor leadership will only dig a deeper trench for all of us to fall in. 32. Let us join hands in progressive union to pull each other and the nation from the abyss. 33. I pledge to do my utmost to make this happen but cannot do it alone. I need your support. I need your help to become President of Nigeria so that government may come to serve you, so that it may bring relief to the broken and weary among us and so that it may usher in a new Nigeria meant for us all, a Nigeria that is the birthright of everyone but the exclusive possession of no one.

God bless you. God bless our fatherland – Nigeria Thank you. General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Residents of high-brow Enugu Independence Layout groan over lack of portable water By Ted Peters

esidents of the high-brow Independence Layout in Enugu capital city are yet to enjoy pipe-borne water nearly eight years after the Governor Sullivan Chime administration embarked on a major water reticulation project in the area. Similarly, the Emene area of Enugu where thousands of people reside due to cheap and affordable accommodation has continued to suffer neglect as no infrastructure including portable water has been provided in the area since the life of the present administration. The residents have continued to lament over the absence of motorable roads, lack of pipe borne water and poor power supply, which has slowed down the development of the area.

Although Emene is very close to Enugu city centre, the infrastructural development programme of the government in the state capital has not been extended beyond the Akanu Ibiam International airport and the airport fly-over on the Enugu – Abakaliki road. A resident of Independence layout, Mr. Okechukwu Ibekwe, lamented that since he came to the area over 20 years ago he has never seen anything like pipeborne water. He said that although the present administration embarked on a major water reticulation project during the first tenure, the contractor later removed all the large pipes meant for the project even after they had dug many streets open, defacing the environment.

“The Chime government had good intention to provide water in this area but we could not understand why the contractor, whom we learnt was a senator in this state, abandoned the water reticulation project and nobody has deemed it necessary to explain to the bewildered residents why the project financed with public funds was abandoned. “As a result our hope of getting clean water was dashed and every resident either depends on well water or buy from commercial water vendors who sell a tanker load of water for N10,000 and above. This has made life so difficult for the poor living within the area. We suffer more during the dry season as most wells dry up and only the rich can afford the high cost of water then. “We are appealing to Governor Sullivan Chime to revisit the

learnt that lack of water in the area has made sachet water business very lucrative as many families depend on it for drinking and sometimes cooking when they cannot afford the cost of water from tanker drivers. A shop owner at Agric Bank bus stop, one of the major entrances to Independence Layout, said that the best selling product in her shop was pure water (sachet water) which many residents rely on for drinking, adding that though bottled water was also in high demand, many cannot afford it owing to the high cost. The development has forced many companies into embarking on sachet water production in Enugu with some producing water from unsafe sources. While some have genuine approval of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control

abortive as he was not available in his office when this reporter called. But he had recently at a sensitization workshop for stakeholders in the water sector said that the government was doing everything possible to increase water supply to parts of the state. According to the data released by the ministry recently, out of the 3.3 million people in the state, only about 37.8 per cent of all households have access to safe potable water. The problem of water scarcity in Enugu is worsened by the large coal deposit which has made sinking of boreholes impossible within the capital city. The boreholes sunk by the government in Udi and Oji River local government areas were said to be insufficient to serve residents of the state capital and its environs.

and bottled water, industrial water users, commercial boreholes operators, among others. Under the law, producers of sachet water are to register with N10,000 and annual renewal fee of N5,000; N20,000 registration for bottled water producers and N10,000 annual renewal fee. License for commercial boreholes attracts a fee of N35,000, and annual renewal fee of N25,000; while license for industrial water boreholes is N30,000, with an annual renewal fee of N20,000. T h e Wa t e r R e s o u r c e s Commissioner said the law was designed to regulate activities in the water sector “By the dictates of this law, no individual or group either for commercial or domestic purposes has the right to utilise state resources, in this case, water, without a legitimate license. “We are now poised like never

project before the end of his tenure and save us from further hardship. I don't know why this area should suffer such neglect when other settlements like Asata, Ogui, Uwani, Coal Camp and New Haven are enjoying pipe-borne water,” Ibekwe said. A water vendor along Umuoji Street, Mrs. Alice Okolie, said that water retailing business had remained a lucrative business within Independence layout since there is no public water supply to the area. She said that “water retailers buy from water tanker vendors and sell to the residents in buckets and gallons which enable us to make good profit and since no one can live without water; it is an essential commodity that is needed daily.” ADVOCATE NIGERIA also

(NAFDAC), some market unapproved water illegally and the source of such water is usually doubtful. NAFDAC officials in the state had persistently warned consumers of sachet water to be wary of those without the agency's certification number . When contacted to ascertain why there is no supply of portable water to Independence layout, the Public Relations Officer of Enugu State Water Corporation, Mr. Mathias Nriji, directed this reporter to the office of the State C o m m i s s i o n e r f o r Wa t e r R e s o u r c e s , M r. M i c h a e l Nwachukwu saying lack of water in parts of the state capital was “a policy issue which only the commissioner can effectively address.” Efforts to speak with the commissioner, however, proved

Worried by the perennial problem of water scarcity in the state, Governor Sullivan Chime recently assented to the amended Enugu Water and Sanitation Law, a principal law of Enugu State Water Corporation. The amended law was enacted by the state assembly on October. 2, 2012. The law, designed to regulate activities in the water sector, as well as boost water supply, prescribes charges for operating private water works for domestic or commercial purpose. The law also “empowers any person or group of persons to take water from any water source or any other underground water by way of application to the C o m m i s s i o n e r f o r Wa t e r Resources for the grant of a license.“ The law also prescribes charges for producers of sachet

before to ensure that potable water gets to every citizen of this state, under sanitary conditions,” he said, adding that the government along with some donor agencies initiated measures to tackle the water challenge headlong. “Our facilities were run down in the previous years and the current administration had tried to fix such facilities and that is why there had been an improvement on supply in recent times. We try to ration supply of water and that is why some areas get water twice weekly, while others may get less,“ he said. In spite of this, it was observed that many residential areas of the coal city are yet to get water supply and the affected have been calling on the government to consider their plights.

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Entertainment plus

With Chukwudi Anosike & Chiaka Opara

I impregnated a lover 10 yrs older at 16, Charley Boy confesses C

ontroversial social crusader and Nigerian singer, Charles Oputa AKA Charly Boy, has revealed that there are lots, people don't know about him. He narrated that, “Some say that I am gay, some have called me a fag, and crazily some think I am a transvestite. Some will swear I am bisexual. My Sexuality has always been a subject of great scrutiny and misconception ever since I can remember, and I have had a ball if I say so myself. Na today? E don tey! “My parents saw pepper. When I was barely 10 yrs old, my baby nurse was caught tampering with me sexually, chineke! A practice that pleasured me even though I didn't know what the heck to do. When we were caught by my mother needless to say how levied she was. 'My God! come and see'. She beat the living hell out off my baby nurse. I didn't even know my mum knew karate and judo then. No be small thing. “By the time I turned 12 yrs old, I was disvIrgined by a local whore who dashed me my first STD, the discomfort I experienced was very scary, it was as if my kini was on fire. Kai! I confined in my mama, who took it upon herself to further frighten and scare the living day light out of me, telling me how sex is so bad and dangerous. “Did that frighten me after I was cured? For where. From there on, girls were getting pregnant around me like they were all catching cold. The more I was beaten up by my father and scared shitless by my mother for my waywardness the more stories of pregnant girls all over the bloody place grew, it was amazing it wasn't funny. Come and see. “Meanwhile in secondary school, my mates where busy being good children, reading their books, I was busy fornicating all over the place getting girls pregnant. It was incredible when I come to think about it now. Yesoooo I was catching my fun with reckless abandon while my parents prayed for my deliverance because chaiii, I spoil from belle, no be today. “By the time I was 16yrs old I had my first baby, of course not to be seen as a cursed child I denied any knowledge of ever knowing the woman at the time, who usually were all older than me, some by 10 yrs. All I could chorus at that time was that famous tune by Shaggy, No, "It Wasn't Me" By the time I turned 19, my mother in her wisdom talked me into getting married early. “I went along with the programme. For me I saw it all as legally having a free supply of p**sy, endless sex, which one be my own. That marriage failed before it kicked off, I was just too young and immature to understand what I was getting myself into, that's how I ended up marrying 3times, experimenting with different women before meeting my present anointed wife, lady Diane. “It has not been all that bad because I can now see how wanting to be severe has brought me miles ahead of my peers and age mates.

“Now I smell like someone who was always ahead of his game. My first son is about 46yrs old now, an associate professor at MIT in Boston Mass. USA. Then it was taboo for a young man of 16 to be making babies, right now my people, it's a blessing, and I thank God daily. I have nine kids and 14 grand children, I have had my fill God knows, but the hardest thing was the discipline I had to employ when I built the larger than life Image that is Charly Boy. “There were girls everywhere, crawling from between the cracks in the walls, young girls, not so young, old and not too old, married women, red Indians, white, black, green. There were more women around me, God! I don't even know how I coped, thanks for all that I have learnt as a Buddhist; the art of conquering one's body, controlling my desires and not allowing it to gain dominion over me. “At first it was difficult, but the more I chased the truth in the line off clean living I started to develop a more beautiful soul. It was only discipline , courage, wisdom and the blood of Lady Diane that helped me survive attacks from all them women, the harder they came the harder they fell. I chased the chasers. No be small tin. “The controversial stunt and hype of being gay, was my unorthodox way of beating off most of the women hanging around me, it was becoming ridiculous. As the hype gained momentum most of the women left

me to myself, feeling that my sexual preference was different. The fact that I was able to act with restrain made me powerful, can't really explain it, but I felt godlike and I knew I had come of age. “As I matured through the journey I started to feel more in control of my erection and emotions. But no thanks to the gay tin, I have always been as straight as a pencil and even if I was, why would I ever hide it, I send anybody? Me, Charlyboy, 007, licence to do anyhow. Long story short, it discouraged a lot of women from hanging around, since I couldn't beat them off. Oh! I played my part very well as Charlyboy. The Jen Jen tins abi?, am really good at it, believe me. “Just incase I am losing you, or have managed to confuse you. Please get your mind out from the gutters am talking about discipline here, not indiscriminate sex. I am talking about the need for grown ups to

Charles Oputa live a more disciplined life, having more respect for your Kini and your body. I may have been a bomb as a teenager, but my brother now I know better how to honour and respect my body. Gbam!”

Miss South Africa is crowned Miss World 2014

Miss South Africa and the 2014 Miss World, Rolene Strauss (C), dances with first runner up Miss Hungary Edina Kulcsar (L) and second runner up Miss United States Elizabeth Safrit (R). (Photo by AFP/Leon Neal)

outh African beauty Rolene Strauss was today crowned Miss World 2014 at a glittering ceremony in London as India's Koyal Rana lost out, finishing in the top 10. Miss Hungary, Edina Kulcsar, was the runner-up in the contest and Miss United States, Elizabeth Safrit, came in third as an estimated billion viewers watched the finale on television around the globe. Priyanka Chopra was the last Indian winner of the coveted title in 2000. 21-year-old Jaipur-born Rana made it to

the top 10 but failed to make it to the top five. Rana, however, bagged the sub-title of Best Designer of the world where she was seen standing gorgeously tall in a Falguni & Shane Peacock gown. She also shared the “Beauty with a Purpose” title with Kenya, Guyana, Brazil and Indonesia. She was amongst top five in the Beach Beauty contest. Rana, who is an active social worker and has an NGO, performed to a bollywood song at the start of the event.

“I am extremely thankful to Miss India Organization, my family and friends for supporting me through this wonderful journey. It was a wonderful experience,” Rana said after the event. She is currently the face of fbb, Neutrogena and many more fashion brands. She has also been a showstopper for top designers and jewellery brands. 22-year-old Strauss, a medical student, beat 121 contestants across the globe to the coveted title and was presented with the sash by the outgoing Miss World, Megan Young of the Philippines. She then sat in the winner's throne as the 2013 champion put the glittering crown on her head at the ExCeL exhibition centre in east London. “South Africa this is for you. I think I will brace myself for what's about to happen. It's a huge responsibility,” she said. The Miss World pageant returned to the British capital city for the 2014 edition after its inception 63 years ago. The events started on November 20, culminating in the grand finale tonight. The event this year has been overshadowed by the murder of Miss Honduras, 19-year-old Maria Jose Alvarado, who was shot dead with her sister in their homeland last month on the day she was due to travel to London. This year's winner will travel to the violence-hit central American nation to build a school named in their honour

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

By Okey Anyichie

Nigeria's MFM win first Church World Cup

he Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries Football Club of Lagos has emerged champions in the maiden Church World Cup in Goa, India. The country's flag bearers thrashed Colombia 7-0 in the final of the unique tournament on Sunday. Adekunle Adegboyega set the ball rolling with the first goal for MFM who dominated from start to finish in what was largely a onesided contest. Midfielder Sheriff Alashe doubled MFM's advantage before two more goals came off the boots of Nelson Kenedinum and Adegboyega to give the Nigeria National League side a comfortable 4-0 lead going into the break. Adegboyega was not yet done with scoring as he added one more

to complete his hat trick. Also in the second half, Sikiru Olatunbosun found the back of the net twice, while midfielder Nelson Kenedinum completed the rout. MFM FC ended the competition without conceding a goal and scored 20 goals in five games. Expectedly, it was a clean sweep for MFM FC in the individual awards as striker, Adegboyega, won the top scorer award with eight goals and diminutive midfielder, Onuwa Emmanuel, was voted the Most Valuable Player of the competition. MFM FC's road to making history at the Church World Cup in India started with a 3-0 win over Colombia, next to fall was Egypt who lost 2-0, while Uzbekistan were hammered 7-0 and the hosts India conceded a goal in the semi-

MFM football club final which catapulted the Olukoya Boys to the final of the competition. The participating teams were host India, Colombia,

Egypt, Brazil, Nigeria, Ghana, Uzbekistan and Portugal. The victorious team is expected back in the country on Tuesday

with the MFM General Overseer, Daniel Olukoya, already promising a befitting reception for the newly crowned champions.

Falcons can shock the world – Okon

Edwin Okon, the Super Falcons' head coach

uper Falcons coach Edwin Okon believes Nigeria can “shock the world” in the socalled 'Group of Death' at the 2015

Women's World Cup in Canada. The African champions are drawn against two-time world champions, the United States, in

Group D alongside Australia and fifth ranked Sweden, who conceded just one goal in 10 qualifying matches.

“We qualified as African champions and that should worry the other teams in our group,” Okon told advocate Nigeria is the only African team to have played in all FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments since 1991 but they have never gone past the quarter-final stage, a feat they achieved at the 1999 edition. Okon believes the side he now has at his disposal is better equipped than in previous years to handle the threat in their group and provide a challenge of their own at the showpiece event to be played from 6 June to 5 July. “We have a young squad with strong mentality and our opponents definitely respect us because we are not under pressure.” he said. “Our ambition is to surpass the quarter-final stage of 1999 and my players are well aware that the

pressure is on the supposed big teams to deliver. “Our squad is very strong, boasts of players who have played on a big stage, they fight for a common cause – and I think this mentality is important to us. “If we play our game, stay focused and with God on our side we will shock the world.” Okon was appointed coach of the senior women's side after leading Nigeria's U-20 team to a fourth place finish at the U-20 World Cup in Japan in 2012. He led the Super Falcons to their record seventh African title when beating Cameroon 2-0 in the final o f t h e A f r i c a n Wo m e n ' s Championship in October. Their overall record at the continental showpiece is a remarkable 36 wins and five draws in 45 matches

Jonathan Akpoborie vows never to allow son to play for Nigeria

x-Nigerian football star Jonathan Akpoborie has vowed NEVER to allow his son to play for any of the national teams. The former VfL Wolfsburg player is fuming with bitterness and rage over allegations of child slavery which ruined his career. His rather exciting career was reduced to ruins when a boat, managed by his family, was stopped in Benin Republic after allegations that it was carrying

children into slavery in Gabon in 2001. The incident led to Akpoborie's suspension from the VfL Wolfsburg team and eventually, after a brief sojourn at Saarbrücken, to his retirement. The story of the ship, its passengers and owner has been covered by the documentary Das Schiff des Torjägers (The Goalgetter's Ship) by Swiss director Heidi Specogna. Akpoborie says he regrets playing

for the Super Eagles and will NEVER allow his son to follow in his footsteps after being treated as an outcast by his own people. “Yes, really. When you think about it and don't want to say who is to blame. Having played in Germany and looking at my teammates after retiring from football, winning the trophy at the U-17 level was a wonderful experience and I would not take anything from that, but at the Super Eagles' level and

everything I am going through now and being treated as an outcast in my country is just not n e c e s s a r y, ” h e fumed “Those things are childish and nobody can erase my name from the history of Nigerian football. Ex-Nigerian football star Jonathan Akpoborie So whatever anybody is doing now does not what bothers me. That is why if really bother me. today or tomorrow I have a son “That we, Nigerians, actually that plays football; he will not allow all those things to happen is play for Nigeria.”

December 24, 2014

NIGERIA

Nigeria World Cup cash still with FIFA because of leadership crisis N

igeria Football Federation (NFF) general secretary Musa Amadu has said it is not true the country will this week receive their prize money from the recent World Cup of about nine million dollars. Amadu said, “Our money is still with FIFA and it's safe. “Listen, FIFA is like a bank for all its 209 associations. Every country has its own account and our money is in our account.” The NFF are expected to refund to government the sum of $3.8 million, which was advanced to

them to pay the players' appearance fee to the World Cup in Brazil. It is understood that FIFA are not in a hurry to release the cash until the leadership crisis that has rocked Nigerian football for the past five months has abated. Observers said FIFA are most likely to intervene in the latest impasse involving the electoral appeals committee this week, The chairman of the committee has nullified four of the elections including that of the NFF presidency, while his members have upheld the September 30 polls in their entirety.

Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan, Ronaldo, Neymar for world's best scorer award

hana captain Asamoah Gyan is in a tough fight with Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, the Barcelona prodigy, for the World Top Goal Scorer award for this year by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). The Al Ain captain is tied as second position with the Brazilian superstar Neymar on 18 goals following the release of November's ranking as they are just one goal behind Ronaldo. With a very hard fight

for goals in December, Gyan can surpass his two competitors to become the first Ghanaian to clinch the global prestigious title which Ronaldo won last year. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal for Portugal in Euro 2016 qualifiers and another for Real Madrid CF in U E FA C h a m p i o n s League to surpass Ghana's Asamoah Gyan and stay alone in first place with 19 goals. Neymar scored a brace for Brazil against Tu r k e y a n d c a m e second with 18 level with Asamoah Gyan. Lionel Messi scored a

Asamoah Gyan has been named among the top three strikers in the world goal for Argentina and a brace and a hat-trick for FC Barcelona and

jumped from eighth place to forth. Neymar is the highest

National Team goal scorer with 15 followed by Müller and Valencia

Players of Enyimba FC in turmoil By Chukwudi Anosike

h e A b a Millionaires have poured cold water on the assertion that their players have resorted to begging for aid because of the match bonus and signing-on fees owed them Enyimba FC have dismissed reports that their players are roaming

the streets of Aba as a result of non-payment of their sign-on fees and match bonuses for last season. Farriel Allaputa, the club's Head of Media, told Goal that there was no truth in the claim, labeling it as entirely false. He said: "The players are indeed being owed some match bonuses and some part of their sign-on fees

but the notion that they are going hungry and idling on the streets of Aba is false because just last week, their November salaries were paid. "There is not one player who can say that a month of his salary, from January up until now hasn't been paid. The Abia State Government has made a firm commitment that these bonuses and sign-on

fees will be paid, and the Chairman, Felix Anyansi Agwu has expressed this to the players, so it's only a matter of time and they will receive their money." He revealed that there were plans for the State Governor, Chief T A Orji to host the players at the government house Umuahia following their Federation Cup triumph and said these were all

signs that the Abia State Government has the players in their thoughts. "We as a club take the well being of our players very seriously and are doing everything we can to address their concerns, but it is important that no one takes advantage of the situation to make false claims in order to gain sympathy," Allaputa told our correspondent.

with 10 goals each. Ronaldo is the highest in club competitions with 14, followed by Gyan 12, Belencoso and Adriano 11, and AlShamrani 10. 50 players scored 7 or more goals. By nationality, they are 21 Europeans, 12 South Americans, 9 Asians, 7 Africans and 1 from CONCACAF. By club football, 30 play in Europe, 12 in Asia, 5 in Africa and 3 in CONCACAF.

Vol. 2 No. 107, December 24, 2014

ONLINE

Back Page Comment

NIGERIA

IT'S TIME TO REBUILD NIGERIA - BUHARI FULL TEXT OF ACCEPTANCE SPEECH BY GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF THE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS 1. First of all, I wish to express my gratitude to the Chairman and members of the Convention Committee for planning and conducting a hitch-free convention. The same appreciation goes to the chairmen of National and State Executive Councils of our party. Thank you very much for doing an excellent job. 2. I would like to pay tribute to Chief Bisi Akande the first chairman of APC and his National Executive for managing the party in its early stages. 3. I also wish to commend Lagos State Government and state party for hosting this convention. Time was when people feared to come to Lagos. Today, Lagos is the cleanest and dare I say safest city in Nigeria. This achievement is due to the leadership and strength of purpose of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Babatunde Fashola the two Governors since 1999 and their team of professionals for this wonderful transformation Nigeria greets you! 4. The outcome of the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress is a demonstration of democracy at work. It is testimony to the fact that democracy as a concept is greater

Buhari Muhammadu than the interests of individuals in a free and functional political system. What has just happened is not about winning or losing but about the triumph of liberty,

freedom of choice and association, which are hallmarks of democracy. 5. To my fellow contestants; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and Mr. Sam Nda Isaiah, I wish to thank you for putting up a good fight. The keenly contested primaries we just had will help to strengthen our party and democracy, and ultimately send our message to Nigerian voters in the impending elections. 6. To you all, I pay my absolute compliments and congratulate you on the success of your respective campaigns. I extend my gratitude to you all for accepting the outcome of this convention and agreeing to support my candidature as we move forward. I shall meet with you all in the coming days to fashion out how we shall confront the challenge ahead. 7. My dear fellow countrymen and women, it is with a deep sense of humility that I stand before you today to accept the

Continues on page 27

Albert Roger Mooh Miller (born 20 May 1952 in Yaoundé), commonly known as Roger Milla, is a retired Cameroonian footballer who played as a striker. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three World Cups for the Cameroon national team. He achieved international stardom at 38 years old, an age at which most forward-playing footballers have retired, by scoring four goals at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He helped Cameroon become the first African team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Four years later, at the age of 42, he became the oldest goalscorer in World Cup history by scoring against Russia in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is also remembered for his trademark goal celebration of running to the corner flag and performing a dance. In the years that have followed, he has been recognised as a pioneer of the many unconventional and imaginative goal celebrations seen since then. He was named one of the 125 greatest living football players in 2004 by Brazilian football player Pelé. I n 2007, he was named by the Confederation of African Football as the best African player of the previous 50 years.

Club career In 1974, by which time he had moved to Tonnerre Yaoundé and was awarded the African Footballer of the Year award. In 1977, he was lured to Europe by the French club Valenciennes. However, he was kept on the reserves for two years. In 1979, he joined AS Monaco, but shuttled between the reserves' bench and the injury list. The next year, he joined Bastia, but still did not flourish. He finally found stardom at SaintEtienne in 1984; he then starred for Montpellier from 1986 to 1989, and became a member of the club's coaching staff after retiring from French football.

International career He made his first appearance for the Cameroon national team in 1973. He was a member of Cameroon's team at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, having a goal disallowed against Peru in their first match. Cameroon went out with three draws from their three first-round games. Two years later, he was part of the squad competing at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He first retired from international football in 1987, and eventually moved to Réunion in the Indian Ocean for his retirement.

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