April 7, 2014

Page 1

APC seeks probe of firms on NNPC’s swap deal NEWS Page 5

Newspaper of the Year

News ‘Why Ondo poll is inconclusive’ Sports Taye Taiwo unsure of recall Business Wema Bank posts N1.9b profit

•Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

VOL. 9, NO. 2811 MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2014

P24 P60

•www.thenationonlineng.net

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

EKITI 2014

P11

N150.00

ON •Monarch, elders disown Fayose’s candidacy •MORE PAGE 8 •APC, PDP disagree over use of stadium by Jonathan •Bamidele to voters: don’t allow ‘foreigners’ to vote

Govt: Nigeria’s economy biggest in Africa

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IGERIA has “rebased” its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, which has pushed it above South Africa as the continent’s biggest economy. Now the world’s number 26 economy, the Nigerian GDP, which was last rebased in 1990, has added previously uncounted sectors, such as telecoms, in-

From Nduka Chiejina, Abuja

formation technology, music, online sales, airlines, and film production. The GDP for 2013 is now estimated at N80.3 trillion (£307.6bn: $509.9bn), the Minister of Finance and Cocoordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, said yesterday. That compares with South

Africa’s GDP of $370.3bn at the end of 2013. Nigeria’s Statistician-General, Dr. Yemi Kale, said with the repot, Nigeria is close to being in the league of the top 20 economies by 2020. He said it took the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) two years to complete it. The release date was changed three times so as to get the numbers right.

The minister said: “Nigeria has moved to be the largest economy by GDP size in Africa and has moved to be the 26th largest economy in the world, it notched 10 points up. On a per capita basis, Nigeria is number 121 in the world so we have the total GDP size of $2,688 per capita now and moved up from 135.” Continued on page 2

Emir: we lost 105 in attack Residents flee community

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ORE people may have died in weekend’s attack on Yargaladima village in Dansadau Emirate of Zamfara State. No fewer than 200 –not 70 as earlier thought- died, it was learnt yesterday. The Emir put the figure at 105. The village was invaded by suspected Fulani herdsmen who shot at everybody in sight during a four-hour operation. The attack on Yargaladima in Maru Local Govern-

The attack occurred at about 2pm when the hoodlums, riding on over 100 motorcycles and carrying various guns, including AK 47 rifles, stormed a meeting of a vigilance group and professionals planning how to confront insurgents From Duku Joel, Damaturu

ment on Saturday followed a similar one on Burni-Tsaba and Manitsaba communities in Zumi Local Government, last week. The attack occurred at about 2pm when the hoodlums, riding on over 100 mo-

Gunmen kill Ogun vigilance leader in church

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DHQ probes alleged complicity by commanders

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

T was bloody yesterday at a church in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State where unknown gunmen killed a 69-year-old man. Chief Tola Okuneye, a.k.a Ajagajigi, was seated during the service at St. John Anglican Church, Oke-Sopen, in the accient town when five gunmen, who rode in vehicles painted in Lagos commercial yellow colour, stormed the church and shot him. At about 11a.m. The gunmen pretended to be worshippers.When they saw Okuneye, Chairman of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and Chairman of the Police Community Relations Committee, they shot him in the head and chest. He died on the spot. There was confusion within and outside the church. Gunshots rang out repeatedly. “Many were injured in the ensuing stampede,” a witness said. The assailants fled the scene without taking

torcycles and carrying various guns, including AK 47 rifles, stormed a meeting of a vigilance group and professionals planning how to confront insurgents. Police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi said the organisers of such a meeting ought to have informed him to pro-

vide security. A survivor of the attack, Mallam Muhamadu Yargaladima, said: “Between yesterday (Saturday) and today, we counted no fewer than 215 bodies.” He added: “Using AK 47 and other rifles, they began to shoot at children, traders,

vigilante, community leaders, clerics, thereby killing 215 people at the end of the fourhour operation.” But the Emir of Dansadao, Alhaji Hussein Adamu, said his emirate counted 105 bodies. He told Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari, who

visited the community yesterday to access the situation, that the killings were the worst in the emirate since 2010. Yari vowed to fish out the killers. He said the government would find out why the meeting that was not permitted by the authorities was held. “We will find out who insisted that the meeting must hold,” he declared. Assistant Inspector General of police (AIG) (Zone 10)Mamman sule said the Continued on page 4

•From left: Globacoms’ No1 Trade Partner, Nationwide, Alhaji Anthony Mohammed of Easy & Quiet, flanked by Globacom’s Group Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mohamed Jameel (left), Globacom’s Divisional Director, Enugu, Mr. Mike Ehumadu (second left), Globacom’s Divisional Director, Abuja (second right) and Globacom’s National Sales Coordinator, Mr. David Maji (right) after Mohammed’s emergence as the No 1 Partner at the Glo Partners’ Awards in Lagos…at the weekend.

Continued on page 4

•SPORTS P24 •CEO P27 •MOTORING P35 •JOBS P37 •POLITICS P45


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