The Nation November 11, 2014

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Lagosians protest over voter cards

NEWS

Page 7

•Fashola seeks extension of time

Preacher Munroe, wife die in air crash

NEWS

Page 5

•Seven others on board also killed

•www.thenationonlineng.net

VOL. 9, NO. 3029 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

analysis of the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration as he announces today his •P AGES •PAGES •INSIDE: Abidcritical for another term. Security remains a problem. The economy is troubled. Should he run? 2&3

Suicide bomber kills 47 in boys school massacre

79 injured Yobe closes schools Jonathan vows to get killers U.S., U.K sad

‘

I found myself under the weight of another student, who fell over me. I’m certain he was dead.

I was dazed and disorientated for a moment.

When I realised what had happened, I managed to push the body on top of me and started running like everyone else.

It was confusion all over... I saw many people on the ground. Human flesh and blood were splattered all over the place...

?

WHEN WILL THE CHIBOK GIRLS KIDNAPPED ON APRIL 15 BE FREED?

•Some of the pupils being treated at the General Hospital in Potiskum…yesterday.

’

INSIDE

•Heart-broken governor asks Jonathan to explain attacks despite state of emergency •Northern governors seek declaration of war on sect •Mark, Atiku condemn killings •A diary of attacks on schools •SEE PAGES 4,6&59

•People inspecting damaged roofs at the site of the explosion…yesterday.

PHOTOS: AP

•MILITARY CHOPPER CRASHES IN YOLA P5 P577 ONDO PDP ASPIRANTS ALLEGE BIAS P8

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

2

NEWS

Jonathan’s declaration and the stakes ANALYSIS

A

•Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha receiving an award from the Board of Trustees (BoT) chiarman of the Nigerian Media Merit Awards (NMMA) during the grand presentation ceremony in Owerri, the Imo State capital...at the weekend.

•Delta State Commissioner for Information Chike Ogeah receiving an award for Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan as the Governor of the year from General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mr. Igo Weli at the SERA Award in Lagos...at the weekend.

With them are Special Assistant to the Governor on Health Monitoring, Dr. Rukevwe Ugwunba and CEO, SERA CSR Nigeria, Mr. Ken Egbas (right).

•From left: Deputy ViceChancellor, Development, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof. Tolulope Akinbogun, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic , Prof Adedayo Fasakin , Vice-Chancellor , Prof Adebiyi Daramola and Mr. Tayo Akanni of INTEL,USA at the opening ceremony of the International Workshop on the use of Intel Galileo Board at the university in Akure...yesterday.

•Specialist, Public Relations, Etisalat Nigeria, Obinna Chisom-Nze; Manager, Public Relations, Etisalat Nigeria, Chineze Amanfo receiving an award for best Telecom Brand of the year 2014 for Etisalat presented by Executive Director, Promasidor, Kachi Onubogu at the 2014 Marketing World Awards in Lagos... at the weekend.

S President Goodluck Jonathan today declares his interest in renewing his mandate in 2015, salient issues are being raised as to the desirability or otherwise of the President’s declaration. Constitutionally, elections must hold to renew the mandates of elected officials across country and political parties are expected to project their best candidates for election.

But the business of haranguing the electorate for votes should also come with verifiable fact sheets of achievements in areas that have direct impact on the lives of the governed.

However, not a few Nigerians have raised troubling issues on the Jonathan candidacy and what the President has achieved with a fouryear mandate that would be expiring in May 2015. Primarily, the questions arise from what analysts have described as the administration’s uninspiring performance in critical sectors.

There are grave concerns about the nation’s blighted security situation, particularly the Boko Haram insurgency that has continued to ravage a sizable chunk of the states in the Northeast.

Mindless killings of innocent citizens by the Boko Haram sect have continued unabated under the watch of the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces and the military top brass.

The whereabouts of the over 200 school girls abducted from their dormitories in Chibok, Borno State by insurgents since April 14, remain unknown.

Today marks their 211 days in captivity. The government’s much touted negotiation with the sect and the official announcement of ceasefire agreement between it and the insurgents appears to be a scam.

Leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, has been repudiating the ceasefire agreement and sounding sarcastic about the possibility of freedom for the Chibok school girls.

While the Jonathan administration has been singing “the girls will soon be brought back home”, Shekau has continued to tell the world that he had married the girls off to his fellow terrorists with no known addresses a long time ago.

Infrastructural decay has also not been addressed. The power sector, which ordinarily should have been the engine for economic development and employment generation, has consistently been showing symptoms of further decay. The hundreds of thousands megawatts of electricity that the administration claims are being generated have remained on official government papers.

The privatisation of the sector has brought no succour to the consuming public, even as the new operators continue to force higher tariffs on the sufficiently disillusioned public. This has worsened the employment situation in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy.

The situation has triggered a rise in crime and other social ills, particularly among the youth population across the country. Roads are death traps in many parts of the country.

From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja

The East-West Road, the BeninOre Road, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway are just a few on which Nigerians’ expectations have been dashed. Also, the second Niger Bridge, which the President promised the people of the Southeast four years ago, is still hanging in the air.

The administration’s approach to the anti-corruption campaign has left many gaping in disbelief. To underscore his lukewarmness towards the fight against corruption, the President himself does not appear to believe the monster exists in the polity.

He has made it clear that what is rampant is“ordinary stealing”, which, according to him, should not be regarded as corruption.

So key operators at the sleaze-ridden state owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), in cahoots with cohorts in the oil industry, have continued to cream off considerable amount in national resources unchallenged. Attempts by members of the legislature to scrutinise the books of the NNPC have been vehemently resisted.

At any given opportunity, the President’s handlers and spokespersons have always justified his decision to seek re-election. When asked to justify their principal’s action in view of the Chibok girls still in captivity, they usually retort, gleefully too, that the country cannot stand still simply because the girls have not been rescued.

But Boko Haram insurgents have seized large portions of the Nigerian territory in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. It is also a fact that the sect has established its of atavistic reign and credo in those towns and villages. Heavily armed insurgents now mount patrols in those towns and villages in broad daylight; in places where the Federal Government’s state of emergency is supposedly in force. The question on the lips of many Nigerians is: Will President Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party venture into these Boko Haram controlled towns and villages to canvass for votes?

Not many Nigerians believe the President still enjoys the goodwill that saw him coast home to victory in the 2011 election. To the ordinary Nigerian, the suddenness of the staggering increase in domestic pump price of petroleum products in January 2012, eight months into his first tenure, was an act of betrayal.

While many viewed the timing as most inauspicious, others were stunned by the doubling of the price and the unbridled arrogance exhibited by government officials in the face of the nationwide protests that greeted the increase. As it were, the empathy that oozed towards the President from members of the public in the “shoeless” school boy narrative during his 2011 declaration may have lost its appeal. Some of his actions and policies have not in any way shown reciprocal empathy towards the masses who today find themselves in a similar “shoeless” socio-economic situation.

The ruling party continues to gloat about the fabled “achievements” in virtually every sector of

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

3

NEWS

•Towns controlled by Boko Haram in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states

• Jonathan

Halt! President says I’ll run again A

BUJA, the seat of the Federal Government, will be shut down today for President Goodluck Jonathan’s rally to annonuce his plan to run in February’s election.

All the major roads will be blocked for most part of the day, the police said on the event slated for the Eagle Square in the heart of the city.

The Senate’s doors will also be firmly shut. Most government and private offices will not for business. Some markets will also be closed.

Civil servants have been granted a day’s holiday as a result of the crowd expected at the Eagle Square, which overlooks the Federal Secretariat.

Preparations for the ceremony began last Saturday, with security personnel seen keeping vigil in and around the Eagle the economy. But the blighting reality indicates otherwise. Oil theft in the Niger Delta has continued unchallenged in the face of dwindling oil revenue. The nation bleeds while the oil thieves smile to the banks.

States have continued to groan under shrinking monthly allocations and unmet financial commitments to workers and the people. State institutions are gradually getting tied to the apron strings of the ruling

From Onyedi Ojiabor and Sanni Onogu and Faith Yahaya, Abuja

Square.

The central parking lot at the secretariat has been cordoned off by a detachment of military and police men.

Food vendors inside the parking lot and around the Eagle Square were temporarily relocated.

Music from local and international artistes undergoing rehearsals blared forth from loud speakers inside the square, which has been festooned with banners, ribbons, balloons and all manner of decorations.

The Clerk to the Senate, Benedict Efeturi, announced the shift of the Senate’s sitting, giving no reason for the action – a move apparently meant to allow the principal officers and senators of the Peoples

party. There is very little line of demarcation between the police and the ruling PDP. The military institution appears to be losing respect in the face of the Boko Haram challenge. The education sector is still groaning under inadequate funding and policy somersaults, with frequent closures of tertiary institutions arising from strikes by the academia.

But for the outbreak of the Ebola

Democratic Party (PDP) to attend the ceremony.

Besides, it will be impossible for employees of the Senate to get to work.

Efeturi, in a statement titled: “Rescheduling the resumption of the Senate in plenary”, said: “This is to inform all Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that the resumption of the Senate in plenary has been rescheduled from Tuesday 11th November 2014 to Wednesday 12th November 2014.

“All Distinguished Senators are by this notice requested to resume sitting in plenary on Wednesday 12th November, 2014.”

The House of Representatives is on break.

The police statement titled: “Diversion of vehicular traffic within and around Central

virus in August and the coordinated intervention by the government and other stakeholders, there would have been very little achievement to celebrate in the health sector. Even then the success is mainly attributed to the proactive leadership of the two states in which the outbreak was found-- Lagos and Rivers-which are run by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

Clean, potable water is still a

Business District, Abuja” was signed by spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu.

It reads: “This is to alert the public of a major event taking place at Eagle Square Abuja tomorrow Tuesday, 11th November, 2014.

“Members of the public are advised to use alternative routes, as vehicular traffic will be diverted from most of the roads leading in and out of Eagle Square Central Business District, Abuja between 5:00am and 8:00pm of Tuesday, 11th November, 2014.

“The Nigeria Police Force regrets any inconvenience the diversion of vehicular movements within the area may cause members of the public, as this is one of the proactive security measures put in place to avoid break down of law and order in the area and Abuja at large.”

luxury in rural and sub urban communities across the country, despite the huge yearly budgetary allocations to the sector. Poor implementation of the national budget has continued since 1999 when the country returned to the current phase of democratic governance. Insecurity has become the order of the day, as it is now commonplace to see rampaging gunmen kill and maim innocent citizens in different

parts of the country almost daily.

The bloodbath stretches from Nasarawa to Aguleri, Shendam to Takum, Gboko to Kaura Namoda.

If it is not a militia group in killing spree, then it is Fulani herdsmen against a farming community. It is kidnapping today, ritual killing the next day. The general perception of the country under the President is that of a wobbling giant with clay feet. So, the big question is: must he run?

Presidential declaration: We’re the best, says PDP

T

HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described today’s declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 presidential election as “an immeasurable boost on the collective aspiration of millions of members of the party for the greatness of Nigeria through the continuity of the quiet, all sector transformation of the nation”.

A statement yesterday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said Jonathan “the champion, the best of them all is on the stage”, inviting the opposition to a free, fair and non-violent contest.

A statement added that the party’s unanimous endorsement of the President for a second term was an-

From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

chored firmly on the overriding necessity for an unmitigated protection of the national interest against the backdrop of sectional and selfish machinations squirming from the ranks of the opposition.

“It’s a case for a total support from all Nigerians and friends of Nigeria”, the party insisted.

It further said the acceptance of the offer made to him by the party after weeks of wide consultation and deep thought for national service, culminating in today’s declaration, was a significant fresh assurance of better days ahead from a President who does more and talks less.

“Here, therefore, we re-present to Nigeria, a President who in 2011 promised he would not win our affection by promises of things he would do and has gone ahead to fulfill such through dynamic examples in humility, selflessness and reengineering of the nation’s human and material infrastructure.

“We present for re-election, the President who has achieved more in four years despite deliberate attempts to derail his focus, than any Nigerian leader, military or civilian has recorded in the same number of years”.

The statement added that the PDP was proud that the efforts of the President have been complemented

at the state level by the brilliance of the PDP state governors whose dedication to the improvement of the lots of the people has proved beyond all doubts, the merits of democracy as the best form of government.

It also said the “sterling performance” of PDP governors abound in all PDP states, citing Akwa Ibom and Jigawa states, where Governors Godswill Akpabio and Sule Lamido “have turned hitherto insignificant spots on the map of Nigeria into national and international destinations.

“In all these, we challenge the opposition to prove us wrong. We challenge that no Nigerian in good conscience will deny that the PDP has significantly taken the nation far

away from the tethers of backwaters it was in fifteen years ago.

“We challenge that breaking away from the yoke of a pariah nation, from the stranglehold of a debtor nationthe noose of Paris Club and the opening up of Nigeria via an uninterrupted 15 years of democracy, the fresh air of freedom, the rule of law, transparency and due process, the magic of modern information and communication technology and above all, the centripetal pull on the unity of the nation by the PDP as the only truly national political party do not deserve continuity.

“Again, we state, we are the best.

We hold the best and we represent the best.”

4

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

Potiskum likely insurgents’ base

B •President Goodluck Jonathan receiving the letter of credence from AmbassadorDesignate of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Ternak Gabor, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja …yesterday.

Northern governors tell Jonathan to declare war on sect

G

OVERNORS from the North yesterday called on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare war on Boko Haram, the Islamic sect whose insurgency has killed thousands.

Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu, Chairman of the Forum, spoke in Kaduna at the inauguration of Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation Office building.

He said the North’s woes started with the assassination of the Sarduna of Sokoto in the January 15, 1966 coup.

He said Boko Haram members had declared war against Nigerians and they must be fought as enemies, adding: “They are no more terrorists but rebels, who have declared war against their country and have acquired illegal territories; we must therefore crush them.”

T

From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

“Unfortunately, our job is complicated by the present predicaments in the country – Boko Haram, insecurity and abject poverty, among others, Aliyu said, adding: “Therefore, we must as leaders all come together on bipartisan or non-partisan basis to encourage Mr. President and the Federal Government to declare total war and eliminate Boko Haram in our midst before the 2015 elections.”

“I have heard many people saying that Boko Haram are Nigeriens; any Nigerian, and any citizen that picks arms against his country should be declared as non citizens.

“There is a limit to what the government can do. If being proactive, we have been doing that. But to declare total war is

in the hands of federal government and the President. We must go back to our constitution. National conference has been held; we must go back and look at the issues raised with the aim to correct the difference between the federating unit and the federal government.

“Boko Haram is no more terrorists as it affects all of us. It not the issue of APC or PDP, we need to put our heads together,” he stressed.

Speaking on the state of Northern economy, Aliyu said, “We also need to come to terms with the reality that the nation cannot depend on the oil economy; we must continue to diversify into agriculture and solid minerals.

“We must also pursue the issue of state police so that we can have a stronger and rational say in the security of our states and

account for our actions and inactions”. He said.

He however commended his colleagues, members of the NSGF and the Board of Trustees of the foundation for the unflinching support, cooperation and encouragement, making it possible for his chairmanship to record the monumental legacy in the annals of modern Northern Nigerian history.

“Like Sardauna, we must individually and collectively keep our date with history and write our own scripts for the appreciation of the unborn generations.

Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero called on the 19 states in the North to initiate a harmonised development plan that will ensure rapid economic growth and infrastructural development of the region.

U.S., U.K., Mark, Atiku condemn killings

HE United States, United Kingdom, Senate President David Mark and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar condemned yesterday’s attack on a Potiskum, Yobe State school in which pupils died.

A statement from the U.S. Embassy said: “The United States condemns in the strongest terms the in-

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Vincent Ikuomola, Sanni Onogu and Tony Akowe Abuja

cessant attacks on defenseless civilians this past week, including on the occasion of Ashura in Potiskum in Yobe State and in Gombe, Gombe State, on Nov. 3; in Malam Fatori in Borno State on Nov. 6; in Aza-

re in Bauchi State on Nov. 7; and most recently again in Potiskum on Nov. 10 by a suicide bomber who killed many students. While final numbers are not known, scores and scores of persons have been killed or injured in these attacks.

“The United States offers its sincere sympathy to the injured and to the families of the

murdered. We urge the government of Nigeria to investigate these and other attacks to bring the perpetrators to just i c e .

The United States remains committed to supporting the people of northern Nigeria in their struggle to stop the abhorrent actions of Boko Haram Continued on page 59

ARELY few hours after the dastardly killing of 35 students, the military and security agencies yesterday traced the school bombing to suspected reprisals by Boko Haram insurgents.

It was learnt that the insurgents were angry because of the crackdown on them by troops after the attacks on Shiite’s procession in Potiskum.

The crackdown led to the killing of many insurgents which were not celebrated by troops.

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

Also, the agencies are probing clues that the insurgents might have established many operational bases in and around Potiskum.

The existence of these bases made Potiskum prone to incessant attacks by the insurgents.

A top source said: “From preliminary findings, the school bombing was an attempt to retaliate by the insurgents having Continued on page 59

Jonathan vows to get killers

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathanyesterdaycommiserated with the government and people of Yobe State on the death of pupils in a suicide bomb attack on Potiskum.

He condemned the dastardly murder and assured the grieving parents and people of Yobe State that no matter how long it takes, the Federal Government will ensure that all those responsible for the senseless murder of so many promising youngsters and the continuing acts of terrorism across the country are brought to justice and made to

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

pay for their atrocious crimes.

Despite the seeming setbacks, he said his administration was fully committed to winning the war against insurgency and terrorism.

Nigeria, he said, will ultimately overcome the security challenges imposed by domestic terrorists and their foreign allies with the dedication of its Armed Forces and national security agencies, as well as the continued support and cooperation of all patriotic citizens.

A troubled town

P

OTISKUM, the commercial hub of Yobe State, has been repeatedly targeted by deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram.

Last Monday, at least 15 people were killed in a suicide bombing on a Shiite religious ceremony in the city.

On Wednesday, 16 men arrested by the military on suspicion of links to Boko Haram were found dead with bullet wounds just hours later.

Yobe is one of three northeastern states that has been under a state of emergency since May last year to try to quell the bloody insurgency.

But violence has continued unabated and Boko Haram has seized at least two dozen towns and villages in recent months, raising doubts about the government’s ability to control the region.

Boko Haram fighters were seen in a new video obtained

by AFP on Sunday parading a tank in an unidentified town that they apparently now control and Shekau preaching to locals.

The message in the 44-minute video appeared to be aimed at reinforcing Shekau’s claim that he has created a caliphate within Nigeria.

RETRACTION The following lines, which appeared in the “Open letter to the President” published on November 7 should not have been published: “…after almost 10 months of unsuccessfully trying to extort $110m from me, it then suddenly dawned on NEXIM Bank that it does not sponsor sports.”

The sentence is hereby retracted. We apologise to NEXIM for any embarrassment it may have caused – Editor

Suicide bomber kills 47 in boys school massacre

A

SIMPLE daily routine turned bloody yesterday at a school in Yobe State.

No fewer than 47 pupils died and 79 were injured when a suicide bomber struck as pupils and teachers gathered for prayers before classes at the Government Science Technical School, Potiskum.

The incident happened exactly a week after close to 30 people were killed by another bomber that hit a Shiite procession in the town.

It was not immediately clear how the suicide bomber found his way into the school, which is predominately for boys in the 13 to 18 years age bracket.

Some accounts said the bomber may have disguised as one of the pupils.

One parent, who identified himself as Aminu, said his son, who is in the school, told him that a man came to the assembly grounds with a bag and was looking suspicious.

According to Aminu, his son said some pupils walked away from the man shortly before he detonated the bomb.

The bomb went off at the section of Junior Secondary School (JSS) I pupils who just got admitted into the school.

A hospital source confirmed that the head of the suicide bomber was found among the

Heart-broken governor challenges Jonathan

W

ORRIED by the killing of 35 pupils by a suicide bomber, a distraught Governor Ibrahim Gaidam asked President Goodluck Jonathan to explain to the people why insurgents were having a field day, despite the imposition of a state of emergency.

He said the Federal Government must take action instead of indulging in the condemnation of such attacks.

The governor expressed his mind in a statement by his Special Adviser on Press Affairs and Information, Abdullahi Bego, said: “This morning, our state woke up to a very sad and heart-breaking news of a bomb attack on our young students at Government Comprehensive School, Potiskum in which no fewer than 35 students were killed and many more injured. ”The thoughts of His Excellency Governor Ibrahim Gaidam and his prayers are with the parents, teachers and families of the innocent victims of this callous and reprehensible attack. ”The governor is heartbroken and words cannot adequately convey the extent of his remorse and sadness.

From Duku Joel, Damaturu

dead pupils. He described the bomber as “very black” but he could not be identified.

There are conflicting casualty figures but sources at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the General Hospital, Potiskum said 33 pupils died. The Police said 47 pupils were killed.

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

”The governor has noted that this is the fifth time in a little over one year when our schools in Yobe State were brutally attacked and students killed. There was Government Secondary School, Damaturu; Government Secondary School, Mamudo; College of Agriculture, Gujba; Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi; and now Government Comprehensive School, Potiskum. ”Governor Gaidam deeply regrets that all of these dastardly attacks took place under a climate of Emergency Rule declared in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states

by President Goodluck Jonathan. ”In theory, the Emergency Rule Declaration was a signal that more vigorous steps would be taken to protect the lives and property of people in the affected states and deploy the full might of the federal government to restore peace and security.

“Unfortunately, this has not been fully the case. Instead of forcing insurgents and criminals to flee; the insurgents are forc-

But a hospital source dismissed the police figure as “false”.

Said the source: “We have 33 that are dead at the moment; 41 injured ones have been referred to nearby hospitals that have orthopaedic services because many of the injuries are multiple fractures. We are managing

ing innocent people to flee and making life miserable for everyone. ”Governor Gaidam believes that President Goodluck Jonathan has a very urgent responsibility to explain to the people of Yobe State and people all across the affected states why murderous and callous insurgent and criminal attacks are still on the rise despite the State of Emergency.”

Gaidam demanded immediate action by the government to stem the tide of bombings in the state.

The statement added: “The governor also believes that it is not just enough for the federal government to condemn the almost daily rounds of violence. He believes urgent action must be taken right now to restore a fast waning public confidence by doing whatever it takes to stop the escalating violence.”

The governor ordered immediate closure of all public schools until the security situation in the state is reviewed.

The statement said: “Governor Gaidam has also ordered for the immediate closure of all public schools around the Potiskum

26 in our hospital. The ones that we have on admission are mostly those that are bleeding and we are stopping the bleeding,” the source disclosed.

Several witnesses described the blast as “thunderous” and the bloody aftermath a scene of abandoned footwear, school books, bags and body parts.

Continued on page 59

“There was an explosion detonated by a suicide bomber. We have 47 dead and 79 injured,” Police Force Headquarters spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu said, adding that Boko Haram was believed to be responsible.

One rescue worker said the wounded had “various degrees Continued on page 59

•Gaidam

A DIARY OF ATTACKS ON YOBE SCHOOLS •GSS, Damaturu •GSS Mamudo •College of Agric, Gujba •FGC, Buni-Yadi •GCS, Potiskum ADVERT HOTLINES 08023006969, 08052592524

THE NATION TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014

5

NEWS

Preacher Munroe, wife, others die in plane crash A LEAR 36 Executive Jet conveying renowned preacher and motivational speaker, Myles Munroe, and his wife, Ruth, crashed on Sunday night in his Caribbean country, The Bahamas.

The couple and seven others on board the plane died in the accident, according to agency reports.

The government of The Bahamas said the plane crashed while approaching the island of Grand Bahama.

The plane took off from the Bahamian capital of Nassau and crashed while attempting to land in Freeport, a statement from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation stated.

The country’s Prime Minister, Perry Christie, said Munroe, who was the founder of Bahamas Faith Ministries, was travelling to Grand Bahama to attend the 2014 Global Leadership Forum.

“It is utterly impossible to measure the magnitude of Dr. Munroe’s loss to The Bahamas

and to the world.

“He was indisputably one of the most globally recognisable religious figures our nation has ever produced”, the prime minister said.

Christie added that the names of other passengers had not yet been confirmed, but the government said they included another minister, Richard Pinder, and a child.

Police Chief Clarence Reckley said he could not confirm the report and that authorities were still trying to determine the identities of the victims.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined though there had been heavy rains across the region.

Police and fire authorities were on the crash scene yesterday, as it was learnt that an investigation into the accident had begun.

Munroe, 60, wrote or cowrote more than 100 motivational books focused on strengthening the role of men in Christian life. He and his wife had two

children The ministry said the conference he was due to attend would go on, although in a shortened form, despite the tragedy because “this is what Dr. Munroe would have wanted.”

Oral Roberts University, the private evangelical college in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Munroe attended seminary, named him its outstanding alumnus in 2004.

The school, in a statement Sunday night, said it was “heartbroken over the loss.”

The university’s president, Billy Wilson, said: “His work in extending Christ’s Kingdom in our generation was exemplary and world changing”.

Also, a former United States (U.S.) Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young, who often joined Munroe at Christian forums and gatherings, also mourned him.

Kelley Jackson, a spokeswoman for Young, said: “Young expresses his deep sadness on the tragic death of his

‘Nigeria needs leaders like Ahmadu Bello’ From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

A

•The late Munroe

friends, Dr. Myles and Mrs. Ruth Munroe.

“He offers condolences to the Munroe family and the families of the other souls, who lost their lives as a result of this shocking plane crash.”

Munroe was the president and founder of the Bahamas Faith Ministries International (BFMI) and Myles Munroe International (MMI), a Christian centre that includes leadership training institutes, a publishing company, a television network and a church community.

He was also chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the International Third World Leaders Association and president of the International Leadership Training Institute.

No armed security agents for 2015 polls, says NSA

T

HE National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, has said there will be no armed security agents at polling units in next year’s general elections.

The measure, according to him, was aimed at allaying the fear of voters that security agents might harass them during the elections.

Dasuki added that the plan was also designed to experiment the possibility of conducting election without stationing policemen at polling units.

The NSA spoke in Jos at the Third Meeting of Eminent Persons and Expert Group (EEGM 2014) at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru near Jos. Dasuki, who spoke on the topic: “Election and Security in Nigeria: The Inescapability of National Security”, was represented by his Director, Policy and Strategy, Ambassador Clement Layiwola Laseinde.

He said: “Security will be paramount in the 2015 election; that is not to say we will draft armed men at the polls. Far from it.

“In developed democracies of the world, you will not see uniformed police or soldier near polling units. We intend to replicate that here in Nigeria.

“We shall test-run that security strategy by sending unarmed police to monitor the election. I mean, the police that will be deployed in polling units in 2015, will not carry arms. We shall do that in all the 2015 elec-

In developed democracies of the world, you will not see uniformed police or soldier near polling units. We intend to replicate that here in Nigeria From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

tion, and that is the prelude to total withdrawal of police from polling units during elections in the country. But first, we will start by deploying unarmed policemen in 2015.

“By so doing, we are trying to avoid all these allegations of intimidation of voters by security agencies during election”.

The NSA, however, said: “The attitude of our political parties is another threat to democracy that needs to be addressed. Utterances of political leaders and the general attitude of political parties and their followers are major threats to democracy in this country.

“Political parties should learn to accept defeat. They must also accept to play the game by the rules in the interest of peace and successful election. Nigerian politicians do not accept defeat, they only accept victory; and they are ready to do anything to get that victory at the polls.

“Politicians and their parties should put national interest above their own interest. If we do otherwise, we will never get it right, especially when we put

ourselves or our religion or our tribe first. We should all work and act in the national interest in 2015 elections”.

According to the NSA, with the recent elections in Anambra State, Ekiti, Osun, the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has shown tremendous improvement in conducting free and fair election.”

“There are enough arrangements on ground to suggest that the 2015 election is going to be the freest democratic election in Africa. That does not mean the 2015 election will be perfect; there is no perfect election anywhere in the world”, Dasuki said.

He encouraged Nigerians to cooperate with security agencies to ensure success of the 2015 polls.

Chairman of the meeting, Prof. Dakum Shown, said: “Our system of election in Nigeria has been made complex for selfish reasons and the major problem militating against successes in the conduct of elections are politicians.

“Our politicians are not only corrupt, they go extra miles to corrupt the police, the press, electoral officers and any agency that has to do with that particular election. We need a change of attitude as a people, especially the political class”, he said.

While declaring the meeting open, Plateau State Governor, Jonah David Jang, who was represented by Commissioner for

Jonathan: we must win war against insurgency

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has reaffirmed the determination and commitment of the Federal Government to win the fight against terrorism, particularly the Boko Haram sect.

He, however, stressed that winning required the cooperation of the citizens, urging support for the government.

The President stated this at the inauguration of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF) office building in Kaduna.

He was represented by the

From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs and Supervising Minister of Labour and Productivity, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki.

Jonathan reiterated that the security and welfare of the Nigerians was paramount to his administration, adding that he would do all it takes to achieve it.

“Nigeria is indeed faced with several challenges, particularly that of security. But I want to assure Nigerians that

no matter how long it takes, the war against all forms of insurgency is a must win.

“The cooperation of all Nigerians is however solicited in the fight against insurgency for it to succeed”, he stressed.

On the late Saduana of Sokoto, President Jonathan said: “Sir Ahamadu Bello left indelible footprints in the sand of time. Today, close to half a century of his demise, his image has continued to loom larger than life. He is humility personified, who lived a life dedicated to service.”

Education Paul Wai, said: “The meeting, which is centered on election and security, is timely and will put Nigeria on a proper footing for the success of the 2015 elections”.

The meeting was convened by the Director General of the NIPSS, Prof. Tijani Bande.

N elder statesman, Yusuf Maitama Sule, has said Nigeria needs leaders like the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, to pilot its affairs out of numerous challenges.

Maitama Sule, who spoke in Kaduna yesterday at the inauguration of Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation office building, said the nation did not need leaders, who would insist on ruling when it was obvious that they had failed.

He noted that the late premier lived and died for the liberation and development of his people and the country.

According to the elder statesman, who recalled the good days and leadership style of Sardauna with nostalgia, “Sardauna cannot be faulted, politically, religiously, economically and socially”.

He said:”If Nigeria adopts the philosophy and leadership style of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the nation’s economic, religious and political challenges would be solved.

“During the reign of Sardauna, Nigeria was estimated among two other developing nations to attain development 20 years after. But, today the other two countries, India and China, have left us behind.

“Similarly, the Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) was established the same year with that of Brazil. But what is our own defence industry here in Kaduna producing today? ‘O ma she o’”.

While noting that selfless sacrifice differentiates the founding fathers of Nigeria from the present crop of leaders, Maitama Sule said if Nigeria had such leaders again, it would regain its lost glory.

“We need leaders, not looters; we need leaders, who will quit when the ovation is loudest, not leaders who will insist on ruling, even when they can no longer perform. Those who want to remain in power till death do them path, like a church marriage”.

The Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Ahmadu Bello Foundation, Justice Mamman Nasir, said the northern people must come together to revive the old united region.

He added that it was unfortunate that hundreds of northerners die on a daily basis, saying that was unacceptable.

The North, he noted, must be ready to sacrifice to save its sons and daughters in the Northeast.

6

THE NATION TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014

NEWS

How Jonathan, PDP conceded 40 seats to senators

M

ORE details emerged yesterday on how President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) conceded automatic tickets to some senators to return to the Senate next year.

Jonathan, PDP leadership and the party’s Senate caucus led by Senate President David Mark - met for over three hours last Thursday to resolve the complaint of the lawmakers that they were deliberately schemed out of the party’s ward congresses on November 1.

A Senate principal officer, who spoke to our correspondents on the controversial concession, said many options were considered before “some

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

hard decisions were taken.”

He noted: “In the first instance, there was the principle that at least one senator per state should return to the Senate under the party’s platform, if two senators of the same state cannot make it.”

He cited the case of Akwa Ibom State, where he said that “the coast has been cleared for the Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang, (Akwa Ibom North East) to return to the Senate since Governor Godswill Akpabio is seeking to replace Senator Aloysius Etok (Akwa Ibom North West).

According to him, Senator

Helen Esuene (Akwa Ibom South) was left out to pursue her governorship ambition.

He also mentioned another principle of the party, which said “if you as governor wants to take the seat of a senator, you negotiate what comes to the senator involved.”

In the case of Enugu State, where the seat had been conceded to Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, he said the party would negotiate what Governor Sullivan Chime would take.

Asked what would happen in a state without a PDP senator, he said it was agreed that the state’s party leadership would take a decision.

He described the outcome of the parley as “a win, win sce-

nario” because “no side lost out completely at the end of the talk.”

He confirmed the story exclusively reported by The Nation on Saturday that the party conceded automatic tickets to Mark; Ekweremadu; Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba; Senators Ita Enang; Ahmed Makarfi; Nenadi Usman; Smart Adeyemi; Atai Idoko Ali; Barnabas Gemade; Berth Nnaji; Pius Akinyelure; Boluwaji Kunlere; Philip Aduda; Enynnaya Abaribe; Uche Chukwumerije; Bassey Otu and Benedict Ayade.

Other senators also confirmed to have been granted automatic tickets included Senators Zainab Kure; Simeon Ajibola; Adeseun Ademola

who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP; Agboola Hosea Ayoola; Emmanuel Bwacha; Umar Abubakar Tutari; Suleiman Adokwe; Maccido Mohammad Ahmed; Abdullahi Danladi; and Hassan Abdulmumin.

Others were Emmanuel Aguariavwodo; James Manager; Emmauel Paulker; Heineken Lokpobiri; Bello Tukur; Hassan Barata; Joshua Lidani; Alkali Saidu Ahmed; Andy Uba; Margery Okadigbo; Magnus Ugbsia; Garba Gamawa Babayo; and Adamu Gumba.

He noted that those granted automatic tickets were considered on their merit “before the list was drawn.”

From left: Former Head of Service Mr. Steve Oronsaye; Vice President Namadi Sambo; Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano; Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala; Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole; Acting Governor Taraba State Garba Umar; Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement, Emeka Ezeh; Executive Director, International Law Institute, Washington Ms. Kim Phan; and former Senate President Ken Nnamani; at the First National Conference on Public Procurement at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja...yesterday.

PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN

Yobe attack: Saraki seeks action to stop Boko Haram

C

HAIRMAN, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology Senator Bukola Saraki has decried yesterday’s attack on a school in Yobe State, which left dozens of pupils dead.

Saraki, who is representing Kwara Central, said by attacking the innocent pupils, Boko Haram was seeking to break the cords that binds the nation together.

He accused President Goodluck Jonathan of focusing on how to keep himself in power beyond 2015, than trying to fix the country.

He called on the President to take necessary action to end

the insurgency, saying the presidency had been silent for too long on the Boko Haram’s uprising.

Saraki, in a statement in Abuja, said: “My heart goes out to the families of the pupils affected by the bomb blast on an assembly ground in Yobe State this morning.

“These children are the future of Nigeria, and again, we have witnessed the fact that by attacking the young and innocent in our society, Boko Haram is seeking to break our united Nigerian spirit through their evil and cowardly acts. This shall not stand.

House of Reps’ Northern caucus’ leader defects to APC From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

L

EADER of the Northern Caucus in House of Representatives and its Committee Chairman on Drugs/Narcotics and Financial Crimes Jagaba Adams Jagaba has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State.

Jagaba, who represents Kachia/Kagarko Federal Constituency, is the second serving lawmaker in the House of Representatives from Kaduna State to defect from PDP to APC after Isa Mohammed Ashiru, who is also aspiring for the state’s governorship ticket.

In a letter dated November 8, to the chairman of PDP in Kaduna State, Jagaba said his withdrawal from the party was “compulsory withdrawal”.

He added: “I hereby convey to you the compulsory withdrawal of my membership from the PDP and forward herewith my membership card number 4803706”.

On why he dumped the PDP, the lawmaker said: “My action is premised on the fact that the ward congresses, which was billed to hold on November 1, did not take place in our entire local government area as members of the congress committee absconded with materials meant for the exercise.

They subsequently unilaterally selected their cronies from each ward and forwarded their names to the State Congress Committee as delegates”.

“In the past few weeks, we have seen for ourselves how Boko Haram has rampaged through the Northeast - going as far as being audacious enough to tempt our sovereignty by hoisting up a dark flag to signify conquest.

“Our men and women on the frontlines have performed valiantly, with many of them giving their lives in the struggle to ensure that the evil of Boko Haram does not spread across the country.

“Amid this rampage, Nigerians have stood together to support those that fight on our behalf. But we are at a

loss when it comes to what united direction we must take as a nation to combat these developments because the Presidency has been silent on this insecurity for far too long.

We deserve better.

“We deserve better because against the backdrop of the insurgency, amid the abductions of the Chibok girls, President Jonathan has been focusing more energy on trying to keep himself in power after 2015, than in trying to fix Nigeria for Nigerians.

“This is not the sort of leadership that Nigeria needs. Nononsense, get-things-done leadership is needed at the

moment to send a clear and loud message to the terrorists: ‘Wherever you are, we will find you and hunt you down.’

“Nigerians too want to be reassured that we are not gradually disintegrating into the dark days that will define our success as a nation.

“In this regard, as we battle this scourge, and unite around those affected by today’s attacks and all victims of this scourge, we must demand that President Jonathan take all necessary action to end Boko Haram’s menace once and for all, instead of using security forces to intimidate perceived opponents”.

•Corps member visited at UBTH

T

HE National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) takes safety of corps members seriously, its Director- General, Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi, has said.

According to him, corps members needed to be alive, strong and healthy to contribute effectively to national unity and economic development.

“Safety of corps members is paramount to us at the NYSC and non-negotiable”, he said.

Brig-Gen. Olawumi spoke in Benin city, Edo State capital, at the weekend when he visited Oluwagbenga Babatunde, a corps member involved in an accident on his way to the orientation camp in Bayelsa State, where he was posted.

Five others were involved in the accident. While others have been treated and discharged, Babatunde is to undergo surgery for fracture at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).

“We will continue to do everything to keep corps members safe and secure and we will also continue to respond promptly to anyone of them who is in distress in any form.

While on national service, the lives of corps members are important to us,” the directorgeneral added.

He was also in Benin to visit the orientation camp.

At the UBTH, he said: “I decided to come here personally to wish him a quick recovery, to show that the country places value on the security and the lives of these young people and to show that we appreciate the enormous sacrifice and contributions they are making for and to the country.”

In line with the welfare package for corps members, the NYSC director- general directed prompt payment of Babatunde’s hospital bills, promising to grant his redeployment request to allow for his full recuperation after surgery. The NYSC chief also gave financial support to the mother of the accident victim, who came from Ibadan to attend to her son.

An elated Mrs. Babatunde said: “After the accident, I thought I was on my own here at the hospital until the NYDC DG suddenly walked in and paid all the bills”.

‘FRSC has powers to arrest, fine, impound vehicles’

PAC hails IG’s confirmation

From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

T

HE Police Assistance Committee (PAC) has praised the confirmation of Mr. Suleiman Abba as Inspector General of Police by President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a statement in Lagos, PAC’s Director-General, Dr. Martins Oni, described the confirmation of Abba’s appointment as a manifestation of blessing and reward for honesty and hard work.

Dr. Oni urged Abba to brace himself to the challenge of his office and come up with fresh ideas that could elevate the performance of the Police.

He assured the IGP of continuous support from the PAC in the area of information dissemination and intelligence gathering to keep assisting the police and other security agencies in the country.

Youth corps members’ safety paramount, says NYSC DG

T

•IGP Abba

The PAC boss asked the IGP to be a team player by carrying along his high ranking officers in his decision-making process.

“He should also keep protecting the sovereignty and integrity of Nigeria in line with what obtains in other nations”.

HE Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has insisted that it has the constitutional powers to arrest erring road traffic offenders, impound vehicles used to commit such offences and impose statutorily stipulated fines.

Corps Marshal and Chief Executive Officer of the FRSC Boboye Oyeyemi described those claiming otherwise as deliberate mischief-makers, who were “bent on misleading the unsuspecting public for reasons best known to them”.

The media assistant to the corps marshal, Mr. Sani Abdullahi, who made the commission’s position known in a statement in Abuja yesterday, described some media reports about the judicial position on the statutory functions of FRSC as misleading.

Citing cases in which judgments were delivered on the statutory functions of the FRSC, Abdullahi said the reports gave erroneous impressions of some judicial pronouncements made between January and October this year.

He said: “Conscious of the negative implications that such insinuations could have on the unsuspecting public and in view of the need to clear the air on the matter, we wish to point out that while there were cases decided against the FRSC, there were equally others that were in favour of the commission, as delivered both at the High Courts and the Court of Appeal.

“It is pertinent to further state that in the hierarchy of courts and based on the principle of decided cases, the decisions of appellate courts are superior to those of lower courts”.

THE NATION TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014

7

NEWS

•The protesters...yesterday. INSET: Security agents at INEC office

PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

Lagosians protest ‘shoddy’ distribution of PVCs

H

UNDREDS of angry Lagosians besieged yesterday the Yaba, Lagos Mainland office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), protesting what they called the “shoddiness” in the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

They said INEC was planning to disenfranchise them in the 2015 general elections.

At 7:30am, the protesters, under the aegis of Activists for Good Governance (AGG), disrupted traffic on Herbert Macaulay Way. They carried placards with inscriptions, such as: “Is INEC an agent of PDP”; “Jega, don’t act Federal Government’s script in Lagos”; “INEC logistic problems, beginning of rigging”; “INEC has hidden agenda, don’t disenfranchise Lagosians”; “Lagos is not Ekiti State”, among others.

Led by Comrade Declan Ihekaire, the protesters moved towards the commission’s gate, where they were stopped by a combined team of riot policemen and operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).

After a brief encounter with the security agents, the leaders of the groups met with the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola, who assured them that no eligible voter would be

By Emmanuel Oladesu, Musa Odoshimokhe, Miriam EkeneOkoro and Wale Ajetunmobi

disenfranchised.

Ogunmola said: “INEC has no plan to deprive anybody from exercising his or her voting rights. I can assure Lagosians we are responding to the complaints and we have doubled our efforts to ensure that the challenges are tackled adequately.”

He said INEC was working hard to ensure that all registered eligible voters got their PVCs. The REC said the exercise would continue after the initial three days INEC gave to distribute the PVCs, adding that the exercise would hold later this month in the remaining nine local governments, which were not covered in the exercise.

“I want to assure the people that, by the time we conclude the exercise in Lagos, you will commend us.

“We know that there were hiccups in the distribution of the cards but there is no truth in the claim that INEC is short of staff. We will make up for the lapses in the subsequent exercise.”

Ihekaira said: “We are only using this medium to let INEC know that, it will not be business as usual. It is our right to choose the people we like. It is our right to vote out those who have held this country by the jugular.

“It is our right to vote out those we have invested too much hope in but

•Fashola seeks extension have disappointed us along the line.

INEC must prove that it is not being used or controlled. Power resides with the people.”

An hour after AGG members dispersed, another group, The Nucleus Group (TNG), marched on the INEC office to protest the exclusion of the Lagos East Senatorial District from the exercise.

It accused the commission of incompetence and partisanship.

The TNG leader, Ademola Adesanya, wondered how the commission would conduct free and fair elections nationwide when it could not effectively distribute PVCs in a single state.

He said three days were not enough to distribute the cards to Lagos residents.

Adesanya said the personnel deployed in the exercise were too slow.

A resident of Somolu Local Government, Mrs. Are Alogba, said when she went to get her card, she was told it had been sent to another local government.

Another protester, Odubiro Olusola, described the exercise as “shoddy work”. He said INEC was giving people reasons to doubt its credibility.

Another group, Civil Society Coalition, which arrived at INEC office

at noon, said the exercise showed that democracy was in danger.

Its leader, Adeola Ilori, said though INEC had given reason why it was facing distribution challenges, he said the national headquarters must make further clarifications.

The protesters marched on the Office of Governor Babatunde Fashola to continue their protest.

The governor, who addressed the protesters at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos House, Ikeja, said on Friday when the exercise was supposed to start INEC officials were missing, thus wasting the work-free day declared by the government.

He added that on the second day, INEC officials did not surface until around 2pm in majority of the collection centres.

Fashola insisted that INEC had no excuse for not getting the exercise right and that the only option available to the agency was to get it right and do the needful.

He urged the people not give up or let their disappointment overwhelm their desire for good governance.

“From now on, Nigerians must stop accepting poor quality service from our agencies or bodies. If you cannot do it satisfactorily, get out of the place. We have been managing things for too long.”

Tribunal stops Omisore from tendering duplicate documents

T

HE Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal refused yesterday to take duplicate copies of electoral documents presented by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the August 9 governorship poll, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

The tribunal Chairman, Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime, insisted that only Certified True Copies (CTCs) of election documents could be tendered from the bar.

Omisore’s leading counsel Alex Izinyon, at the opening of hearing which was the first of the 14 days allocated to the petitioner to make his case, sought to tender documents rather than calling witnesses for oral testimony.

Izinyon, who led two others, Titus Ashaolu and Nathaniel Oke, told the tribunal that the petitioner was ready to tender Certified

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

True Copies of Form EC.8A as well as duplicate copies of election results for individual polling units through the bar.

According to him, he was presenting duplicating copies of the documents to save the tribunal’s time.

He argued that objections to admissibility of duplicate copies could be taken at a later stage of the hearing, adding that there were a plethora of authorities to back his position.

But he was reminded by Justice Ikpejime that parties had agreed at the pre-trial session that certified true copies would be tendered through the bar and with consent of parties.

However, Izinyon insisted that his suggestion was just the difference between six and

half of a dozen and was to assist the tribunal in achieving a speedy hearing of the petition.

The leading counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Rauf Aregbesola, Akin Olujinmi, who objected to Izinyon’s application, wondered why the counsel was trying to take a step that was unknown in law.

Olujimi maintained that Nigeria’s Evidence Act did not provide for tendering of duplicate copies of documents from the bar but only through the witness box.

Olujinmi’s position was adopted by APC’s leading counsel Rotimi Akeredolu and that of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ayotunde Ogunleye.

Justice Ikpejime, therefore, ordered that CTC of documents be tendered from the

bar and duplicate copies of documents through the witness box as contained in the report of the pre-trial session.

Izinyon told the panel that Omisore was ready to tender Form EC. 8A for seven polling units in Otun Balogun Ward of Ayedaade Local Government.

When it was clear that the documents he sought to tender would need to be vetted by other counsel, he applied that the tribunal should retire for parties to consult.

The counsel agreed to this position and the tribunal rose at 9.30 am after which Izinyon and his team began the verification and vetting of documents.

At 10.48 am, the counsel were invited into the judges’ chambers to brief them on their agreed mode of tendering of CTCs of documents.

He said the government was demanding an extension so that registered residents could collect their PVCs. The governor urged eligible voters, who have not registered, to register and for those who might have registered before but could not trace their names, to re-register.

He appealed to employers to allow their employees close early so they could collect their cards.

Fashola urged residents to maintain the peace as they go about their businesses.

A group, Centre for Transparent and Credible Election (CTCE), has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its handling of the distribution of the PVCs. In a statement by its National Coordinator, Wale Adeyemi, the group complained that “the exercise was fraught with irregularities, such as duplication of names, missing names, mis-spelt names, inadequate materials as well as muddling up of identities”.

It called on INEC Chairman Prof Attahiru Jega to put his house in order.

Adeyemi said: “Nigerians, most especially the people of Lagos, expect nothing less than free, fair, credible and transparent elections in 2015.

“Therefore, your commission should buckle up and do the needful.”

Inaugural lecture/dinner on Friday

S

ET 30 of the Masters of International Law and Diplomacy (MILD), University of Lagos, Akoka, will hold an inaugural lecture/dinner on Friday.

The event with the theme: “New Order of Diplomatic Practice for Nigeria”, will hold at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

The course representative, Abolanle Abdul-Salam, said: “This is first in the department and we hope it will be an event that would become a reference point.

“The event was organised to prepare the graduating students for the task of conducting successful diplomacy. We also intend to showcase and appreciate our tutors for their dedication.”

A keynote address would be delivered by Prof Akin Oyebode, a renowned professor of International Law. The event will also be attended by Dr. Adesina Fagbenro Byron, the regional co-ordinator, UK Aid Department for International Development, who will speak on the theme.

Caretaker committee for Ogun RTEAN

T

HE national body of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) has dissolved the Ogun State executive council headed by Mugisu Akinpelu.

The National Secretary, Yusuf Adeniyi, said a 16 member caretaker commit-

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

tee headed by Yinka Osikoya and Odus Nureni (Secretary) would run the affairs of the council for six months.

In a letter to the committee chairman, Adeniyi urged all RTEAN members to abide by the arrangement.

THE NATION TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014

8

NEWS

Ondo PDP aspirants slam panel for bias

Ifaki protest power outage From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

ESIDENTS of Ifaki-Ekiti in Ekiti State marched on the streets yesterday to protest a nine-month power outage.

It was gathered that the town had been disconnected from the National Grid by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

The protesters, mainly youths, who gathered at the IfakiOye junction at 7am, threatened to attack BEDC offices.

They sang to condemn what they termed “shabby treatment by the company”.

The youth, in a similar protest, chased away BEDC officials from the town about three months ago, when a transformer was reportedly vandalised, causing BEDC to shift its operational base to Oye-Ekiti.

Some of the protesters said the total blackout had grounded businesses and caused setbacks for many residents.

There have been similar protests in Ado, Aramoko, and other towns, with residents lamenting months of darkness.

BEDC’s spokesman for Ekiti and Ondo states Kayode Brown said there was a major fault which could not be rectified immediately, as residents owed N57million.

Brown alleged that disconnection became an option, following consistent vandalism by hoodlums.

Governor Ayodele Fayose promised to release N5 million to facilitate some settlement with the company so the town could be reconnected to the National Grid.

He also pledged to instal a transformer in the town to boost power generation as soon as the reconnection was done.

The governor said: “I will provide a solution immediately. I appointed your daughter, Mrs. Modupe Alade as SSG that goes a long way to establish the respect I have for this community.

“I am talking to BEDC on the need to set up a committee that would work out modalities for the payment of the outstanding bill.

“You cannot use free electricity, you have to pay for it.

I need your cooperation. Don’t vandalise or destroy property. I am not a leader who is insensitive to your plight. I will get to the root of the matter and provide solution.”

R

F

IFTY three Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Assembly aspirants in Ondo State have accused members of the screening committee of compromise.

They alleged that the fiveman committee connived with Governor Olusegun Mimiko to disqualify them.

The aspirants wondered why the committee cleared Mimiko’s “candidates”, who joined the party less than a month ago and disqualified those who had been in the party for more than a decade.

The aspirants described the committee‘s action as “voodoo politics” aimed at circumventing a court ruling that sacked the caretaker committee purportedly appointed by the PDP National Working Committee (NWC).

The aggrieved aspirants, in a statement in Akure yesterday, vowed to fight the injustice.

The statement said: “You will recall that our party is going through a trying period caused by the defection of the governor and his insistence on taking every space in the party.

“Following the pronouncement of the national body and in compliance with the election guidelines as approved, a screening commit-

•Lawmaker indicts Mimiko From Damisi Ojo, Akure

tee for the House of Assembly was appointed.

“We filed in our documents and submitted the necessary papers and credentials requested of us. We equally attended the screening and provided every document demanded.

“To our dismay, the committee members checked out of their hotel abruptly and left our provisional clearance certificates in the hotel’s lobby.

“We were denied clearance on the ground that we have no tax receipts and NYSC discharge certificates.

All the people on the governor’s list were expressly cleared.

“Even those who had Ordinary National Diploma (OND) on the governor’s list were cleared.

“Over 90 per cent of us are university and polytechnic graduates with our NYSC discharge certificates or exemption certificates duly attached to our nomination forms.

“We have it on good authority that the committee members left their hotel rooms at 9:40pm after the screening was concluded and came back at 12:22am.”

“We shall not allow this injustice go unchallenged.”

The lawmaker representing Irele/Okitipupa Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Akintoye Albert, accused the governor of manipulating the screening.

At a briefing in Akure, the state capital, Akintoye alleged that Mimiko connived with the committee to manipulate the exercise in favour of his “aspirants”.

•Mimiko

He urged the NWC to institute a new screening committee in the interest of peace and development.

“If this issue is not addressed urgently and if the recommendation of the screening committee is accepted by the NWC, I foresee danger.

“I foresee PDP losing the state. It is our collective desire that President Goodluck Jonathan wins in Ondo State and that PDP lawmakers dominate the House of Assembly.”

Lawyer slumps in Ondo

A

PROMINENT lawyer in Ondo town, Felix Akinmade, reportedly slumped and died in his home at the weekend.

It was gathered that the deceased was in his home at Jipadola Street, Itamope, Ondo, when a client visited him.

Sources said an argument ensued between the lawyer and his client; he was said to have slumped.

The client allegedly escaped with the

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

deceased’s telephone and the diary.

He was rushed to the Ondo Trauma Centre, where he was confirmed dead on arrival.

The matter was reported at Enuowa Divisional Police Station by the family.

The client was arrested by the police and later transferred to the Homicide Section of the Ondo State Police Command in Akure.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

9

NEWS

Kwara: FirstLadycancelstalkswithaspirants

T

HE First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, cancelled yesterday her talks with “warring” governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State.

None of the aspirants was prepared to step down, leading to the intervention of the First Lady.

But the ”Operation Capture Kwara from APC” suffered a setback because most of the aspirants vowed not to honour any intervention by the First Lady.

They insisted on free and fair primaries, instead of imposing a candidate on the party.

But an “anointed aspirant”, Mr. Dele Belgore, said he remained the most popular choice to beat.

A top source said: “While we were preparing to meet the First Lady, the session was abruptly cancelled because of the tension in the state among the aspirants.

“I think they want the aspirants to put their house in order to avoid embarrassing the First Lady. The threats from some of the aspirants might derail the initiative of the First Lady.

“As I am talking to you, we are at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja as part of striking some understanding on the way forward.

Some aspirants are, however, adamant on free and fair primaries.”

•PDP aspirants, others protest alleged imposition From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

A statement by Belgore last night through his Media Aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, said: “Our attention has been drawn to a story, titled: First Lady summons Kwara aspirants, in which several false claims were made in a bid to cause needless tension within the state chapter of the PDP. “We are interested mainly in the unsubstantiated and false claims made in respect of the ambition of frontline PDP governorship aspirant, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN).

“While we are not against the party pursuing any viable option it deems most beneficial to its interest, we make bold to say that Belgore remains the single most popular choice, not just among the rank and file of the state chapter of the party but among all Kwarans.

“The story in question is manifestly incorrect. First, the delegates’ election elected 579 delegates, not 750 as reported.

“Secondly, the results of the election though not yet formally announced bear a totally different picture and the Belgore camp is satisfied with both the process of the election and the election itself.

“This is simply because Belgore has nothing to fear

from any election in Kwara State within the party and with the public.

“Accordingly, stories about anyone being imposed as PDP governorship candidate are just calculated blackmail by some persons to pre-empt the outcome of the party’s electoral process.

“Results from the election, both for the ward delegates and the national delegates, should speak for themselves.”

Also, six PDP governorship and five House of Representatives aspirants in Kwara State protested yesterday the alleged manipulation of delegates’ list in favour of a particular aspirant.

The protesters said the development, if not well handled, could lead to a breakdown of law and order in the state.

Addressing reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, the director of campaign organisation of a governorship aspirant, Mr. Remi Martins, and one of the delegates, whose name was allegedly substituted, Salman Jawondo, said a chieftain of PDP used her influence in the Presidency to manipulate list of delegates for House of Assembly and House of Representatives congresses in seven local governments.

Martins also said the ag-

grieved aspirants had written protest letters to the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party on the activities of a party chieftain on the allegations.

The people accused the chieftain of influencing the delegates’ list to favour an aspirant and her son, who is vying for House of Representatives in Asa/Ilorin West.

They added that the chieftain had said she had the backing of Mrs. Jonathan and the Presidency.

Martins said any attempt to tinker with the delegates’ list could jeopardise the chances of PDP in next year’s elections.

He added that investigation on the alleged manipulation by an appeal panel raised by the party’s NWC was jettisoned by the state party Exco.

According to him, the people were behind the reelection bid of President Goodluck Jonathan and they were democrats who want free and fair primaries.

PDP State Chairman Iyiola Oyedepo confirmed the protests by some party members.

He described them as part of a democratic experiment.

The chairman absolved the party leadership of partisanship. He assured the aspirants of fairness.

APC: Aliyu plans to impose successor to avoid probe

T

HE Niger State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of planning to impose a candidate in next year’s election to cover up his alleged administrative and financial recklessness of eight years.

In a statement yesterday in Minna, the state capital, by its Publicity Secretary Jonathan Vatsa, APC urged the people to be vigilant and frustrate the moves by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to further plunge the state into economic hardship.

•Allegation untrue, says CPS It said: “We are aware of his (governor’s) strategy to impose his candidate on the state through dubious processes, with the goal of installing a governor who will not be able to probe the financial recklessness and all sort of administrative disorder that has taken place in the last seven and a half years in Niger State.”

But the government described allegation as the ploy by the opposition to cry foul ahead of the 2015 election disaster that awaits it.

The governor’s Chief Press Secretary Israel A. Ebije said the government was not surprised at the drivel of the opposition.

The government noted that the opposition resorted to blackmail to justify its failure to properly mobilise its members and the electorate for victory in next year’s elections.

APC alleged that the governor planned to adopt the same do-or-die approach and vote-buying strategy he used in the last Niger East Senato-

•Aliyu

rial District by-election to impose a candidate on the state.

The party described as another game of deceit the purported collection of 500,000 signatures to support the governor’s senatorial ambition when less than 200,000 voters were accredited and voted in the by-election.

Ahmed gets nomination form From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

•Ahmed

K

WARA State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed got yesterday the nomination form of the All Progressives Congress Party (APC) to contest the 2015 governorship election.

He is seeking a second term.

APC State Chairman Ishola Balogun-Fulani led some par-

ty chieftains to present the nomination form to the governor at the Government House in Ilorin, the state capital.

Abdulfatah expressed appreciation to the people for the success of his second term declaration rally last week.

The governor attributed the success of his administration to team work and the collective efforts in the party’s internal structure.

He said the structure “is as a result of the indefatigable and resourceful leadership of the party leader, Senator Bukola Saraki”.

According to him, Saraki’s display of unity would play a pivotal role in next year’s elections.

Ahmed hoped that APC would sustain the tempo to

enable it win all elective posts in 2015.

Balogun-Fulani said the party had not anointed any candidate for any elective office ahead of the 2015 elections.

The chairman dispelled the rumour that the party’s leadership had selected some candidates for elective offices through a consensus arrangement.

He told reporters that regardless of any internal mechanism for screening aspirants, they would all participate in the primaries.

Balogun-Fulani said the sale of nominations forms for elective office aspirants was still in progress, adding that party members interested in elective position were free to buy their forms.

The chairman noted that although the state APC was not against the emergence of

a consensus candidate, the electoral process for their emergence would be adhered to.

He said a local screening committee had been put in place in the local governments to ensure that credible candidates emerged.

According to him, such aspirants would still have to take part in the party’s congress.

Balogun-Fulani said a screening committee from APC national secretariat would arrive in the state on November 15 to screen aspirants who would have scaled through the local screening committee.

He said the party’s congresses had been postponed indefinitely, adding that a new date would be announced by the national leadership.

Oyo roots for Buhari

O

YO State residents have shown increasing support for All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirant, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the Oyo State Coordinator of the Buhari 2015 Support Group Centre (BSGC), Deacon Abimbola Oyemakinde has said.

The cleric said the Oke-Bola, Ibadan office of the centre had been a beehive of activities with scores of people across party lines declaring their support for the former Head of State to realise his aspiration in next year’s election.

The coordinator said many people had been expressing the willingness to work for Gen. Buhari’s success at the polls, being the nation’s epitome of anti-corruption fighter.

Oyemakinde explained that scores of people had been urging APC to ensure that Gen. Buhari gets its ticket for success in the 2015 election.

The coordinator said this would enable the supporters to vote en masse for Gen. Buhari in the 2015 elections.

He said he had taken the message on Gen. Buhari to the 33 local governments, adding that he introduced the aspirant’s message to the local government chairmen during his tour of the state.

Oyemakinde stressed that the goodwill Gen. Buhari had built among Nigerians as an upright leader was attracting many people to support his aspiration.

He said the former Head of State was the major aspirant with the pedigree to take the nation out of the corruption bad leaders had plunged it into.

Expert calls for crime scene probe units

S

ECURITY expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, has called for the establishment of a Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) unit in each police area command.

He noted that this would enable the nation to improve criminal investigation, detect and prosecute perpetrators of violent crimes, such as kidnapping, assassination, bombing and fraud, among others.

The CSI unit, Ekhomu said, would conduct crime scene searches, scene sketches, evidence markings, crime scene photography and collect physical evidence by adhering to appropriate chain of custody protocols.

According to him, the CSI unit would also be responsible for the search for and collection of physical evidence at crime scenes.

President to visit Benue

M

AKURDI, the Benue State capital, is wearing a new look for the two-day official visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the state.

The President is expected on Saturday, the day Governor Gabriel Suswam will mark his 50th birthday.

The governor said Jonathan would inaugurate some projects, including the Abu King Shuluwa-Agbadu dual carriage

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

way, which opened up the international market community and the New Makurdi International Market.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

10

CITYBEATS Police arrest 26 murder suspects

P

OLICE authorities in Lagos State yesterday said they had arrested 26 suspects in connection with the murder of a 25-year-old man, Sikiru Ogboye.

Spokesman Kenneth Nwosu said Ogboye was killed on Sunday while reportedly monitoring the collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) in Ibeju-Lekki area of the state.

The deceased was said to be monitoring the process in the area.

“Ogboye was killed in a suspected clash between supporters of different political parties. One pump-action gun and a live cartridge were recovered,” he said.

Nwosu said investigation was continuing, adding that the political parties involved in the clash would be known after the process was concluded.

‘Don’t deface Lagos with posters’

A

S preparations for the 2015 elections gather steam, the Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA), has issued guidelines to politicians and political parties on how to use election campaign materials in the state.

The agency’s Managing Director, George Noah, spoke at a town hall meeting with politicians and political parties, which was aimed at educating them on pasting of campaign posters in compliance with the Structure for Signage and Advertisement Agency Law of 2006.

Noah, who noted that political aspirants had been deploying campaign materials illegally and indiscriminately, said that posters “may only be deployed on designated surfaces on inner streets only and not on highways, major roads and high streets.

“Banners may only be deployed on inner roads

By Adedeji Ademigbuji

and streets only if the banner is attached to the wall of a particular building limited to inner streets and not to be tied to poles or public utilities.”

The agency urged political parties in the state to use other creative platforms including stick in the ground, billboards, mobile Aframes, wall drapes and mobile adverts.

The agency’s head of monitoring and compliance, Yinka Adedeji, said the penalty for failing to comply with the guidelines would be the “removal of political campaign materials without recourse to the owners”.

The Chairman of the state electoral commission, Justice Fatai Adeyinka, said: “The political parties should know we are in full support of political messages, but the parties must adhere strictly to the guidelines by the advertisement agency.”

CITYBEATS LINE: 08023247888

Businessman remanded for ‘drug counterfeiting’ T

HE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has charged a businessman, Mr.Olisaemeka Osefor, with illegal importation, distribution and sale of counterfeit drugs and cosmetics.

He was arraigned before Justice James Tsoho at the Federal High Court in Lagos on a four-count charge.

NAFDAC said on April 26 last year, at 15, Obidima Street, Iba Victory Estate, Zone 5 Iba, Lagos, and at the International Trade Fair

By Joseph Jibueze

Complex, the accused person was found in possession of the fake drugs.

They are: Mycoten cream (Clotrimazole), DGF Neurogesic Greaseless ointment, Funbact A Triple Action Cream, Skineal Compound Ketoconazole Cream, Heel Balm and Imam Luxury Pressed Powder.

The alleged offence is con-

trary to Section 1 (a) of the Counterfeit and Fake Drug and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap LFN C34 2004 and punishable under Section 3(1)(a) of the same Act. Osefor was said to have imported Rough Rider Studded condom without registration.

The offence contravenes

Section 1(1) of the Food, Drug and Related Products (Registration, etc) Act Cap F33 LFN 2004 and punishable under section 6(1)(a) and 8(a) and (b) of the same Act. Osefor pleaded not guilty.

His lawyer, Ms. Funmi Adeogun, asked for bail.

Justice Tsoho ordered that he be remanded in prison until his bail application is heard today.

Synagogue: Verdict in suit challenging inquest Nov 17 T

HE Federal High Court in Lagos will on November 17 deliver its verdict on a suit seeking to stop the inquest on the collapse of a building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Ikotun, a Lagos suburb.

A lawyer, Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje is seeking an order stopping further inquest on the collapse. Lagos State, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Adeola Ipaye and the District Coroner Magistrate Oyatade Komolafe are the respondents.

The collapse, which occurred on September 12, claimed the lives of over 115 people, mostly South Africans.

Justice Ibrahim Buba adjourned after arguments

By Joseph Jibueze

from the applicant and the respondents.

Ogungbeje urged the court to grant his prayers.

The state, represented by Mr Akinjide Bakare, said the inquest is a fact-finding exercise not intended to convict anyone, and therefore should not be stopped.

Besides, government argued that Ogungbeje lacked the locus standi (legal right) to file the suit as he was neither a member of the Synagogue Church, nor was he personally affected by the inquest.

Ogungbeje contended that the composition of the inquest negates the principle of natural justice and Section 36 of the Constitution, and therefore should be declared unconstitutional, null and

void.

He said the inquest started sitting after state agencies had indicted Joshua and his church for wrongdoing and after the officials had blamed the church for adding additional structures on the building without approval.

He argued that if allowed to continue, the inquest proceedings would occasion miscarriage of justice. According to him, the Coroner would base his decision on the testimonies of the same state officials who openly indicted Joshua and his church.

Ogungbeje said for instance, the Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA), the Building Control Agency, the Fire Service, the Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) and others made public and prejudicial statements on the cause of the building’s crash.

He said Joshua’s claim that an aircraft hovered over the building prior to its fall, and that it could have been sabotaged, was ignored.

“The Lagos State Building Control Agency even went ahead to seal up the main building of the church. The General Manager of the agency said in the papers and I quote him as follows: ‘We have investigated and found that they had no approval for the additional structures.

Even the main church which they have added about three floors on was sealed two days ago,’” he said.

The lawyer is also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from calling further witnesses.

He wants the court to stop them from sitting, investigating, embarking on fact-finding or taking any untoward action in any manner whatsoever on any fact connected to the case.

not take the defendant’s plea, adjourned the case till December 10 for mention.

The prosecutor, Inspector Godwin Anyanwun, told the court that Moshood committed the offence on October 8, at Moshalasi Close, Orile-Iganmu, Lagos, alleging that the defendant killed Nofisat Moshood, her step-daughter, by throwing her into a pond, where the little girl eventually died.

He explained that the de-

fendant, who is the second wife of the complainant, Akanni Moshood, lured Nofisat and her siblings to her house, with the intention to get her husband’s attention.

The prosecutor said that by the time the complainant discovered that the children were with the defendant, she had maliciously killed one of them.

Anyanwun said that the offence contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. (NAN).

Court remands woman over step-daughter’s death

A

YABA Magistrates’ Court in Lagos yesterday remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons, Apapa, a woman, Aminat Moshood, who allegedly killed her four-year-old step-daughter.

Chief Magistrate Mrs Y.O. Aje-Afunwa ordered that the defendant should be remanded in custody, pending legal advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The magistrate, who did

•Tyoor U Tiv of Lagos State, His Royal Highness Cletus Tyokyase Kukunu flanked by his wife Joy and President, Mzough U Tiv, Lagos, Hon. Inyimanga Ikyaator, at the coronation of Tyoor U Tiv in Lagos...at the weekend.

BUSINESS

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

11 There is nothing wrong in having a robust renewable energy programme in the country. In fact, government has taken a step in that direction by introducing the: ‘Light Up Nigeria’ scheme.

- Director-General, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, Rueben Okeke

‘Nigeria needs 70% domgas for power generation’

Jonathan urges oil producing nations on falling prices

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

From Augustine Ehikioya,

T

O meet gas require ments for the power sector, 70 per cent of the total natural gas produced for domestic consumption (dogmas), should be allocated to the sector, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo has said.

Nebo stated this yesterday in Lagos at the pre-conference workshop of the 32nd Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), themed “Driving an executable gas flare-out agenda for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.”

He said the country has about 29 million households with an average consumption of one megawatt (1MW) for some 500 homes; therefore, a maturing electricity supply industry should be producing some 60 gigawatts (GW) of power for household consumption every day.

Represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Gas and Power, Mr. Frank Edozie, Nebo said of this daily power requirement, some 42 GW should be fuelled by gas. “Today, Nigeria’s daily power output is some 4 GW, which some 3.1 GW is fuelled by about 880 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMscf/d). The opportunity for gas fuelled independent power projects (IPPs), therefore, stands at roughly 39 GW for which about 11billion cubic feet of gas per day (Bcf/d) will be required.

“If this gap was to be filled by IPPs of the size of Gbarain or Omoku, we would be looking at over 170 of them, each requiring some 60 MMscf/d,” he said.

Arik Air eyes Milan, Rome

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

A

RIK Air has com menced discussions with the government of Italy on how to consolidate the traffic approvals and bilateral rights to enable it begin flights into Milan or Rome next year, its Chairman, Sir Joseph ArumemiIkhide has said.

He spoke when the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Fulvio Rustico paid a courtesy visit to the airline.

Rustico who was impressed with the facilities at the airline premises said the Italian government would be delighted to grant the domestic carrier the necessary approval to enable it implement the remaining 50 per cent of the bilateral air services agreement Nigeria signed with Italy on the Lagos, Milan , Rome routes.

He described the airline as a formidable carrier that would boost the economic and diplomatic relationship between the two countries .

He said the airline has demonstrated capacity for growth as a link between African and Europe as the airline to watch.

P

• From left: Mother of the winner of Sterling Bank Essay Competition, Mrs. Ilina Okpala; winner, Miss Julia; Managing Director/CEO, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Yemi Adeola and Nicole Okpala, during the award presentation ceremony to the winner of Sterling Bank Essay Competition 2014, at the Lilygate Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos…at the weekend.

House Report: Fed Govt spends N2.17tr outside budget in nine years

A

HOUSE of Representa tives report has ac cused the Federal Government of spending N2.17 trillion outside budgetary provisions between 2004 and 2012.

The report which emanated from the Solomon Olamilekan- headed House Committee on Public Accounts and obtained by The Nation described the spendings as “illegal” and a “duplication” of the annual appropriations of the minstries, department and agencies (MDAs) within the years under review.

It declared that the N2.17 trillion extra-budgetary spending were “duplications, wastes and clear mismanagement of the nation’s resources,” and “should be investigated and those found culpable should be sanctioned.”

The report stemmed from the investigative public hear-

T

of N27,483,504,475.90 was released; in 2005 the sum of N25,048,721,890 was budgeted for while the sum of N121,273,241,573.16 was released, also in 2006 the sum of N142 billion was budgeted for while the sum of N244,668,816,916.08 was released.

For 2007, the sum of N144 billion was budgeted for while N227,999,996,070.91 was released; in 2008 the sum of N65.681 billion was budgeted for, however, N555,107,737,708.02 was released; in 2009 the sum of N246.1 billion was budgeted for while N691,150,987,475.02 was released.

For the year 2010, N439.033 billion was budgeted for while N864,282,084,611.55 was released; in 2011, N476,155,325,846 was budgeted for while N547,224,604,672.04 was released; in 2012 the sum of

N353,819,921,530 was budgeted for while N900,635,965,485.63 was released.

According the PAC, “Most of these expenditures were already provided for in the annual budgets, in which case additional releases from the Service Wide Vote for them were nothing but mere duplications, wastes and clear mismanagement of the nation’s resources.”

The report further stated that “the only real emergency spending from this vote is the amount spent on combating insurgencies across the country - Boko Haram insurgency, Niger Delta militancy and others.

Further findings have revealed that these self-inflicted crises have gulped a whooping sum of N144.4 billion from the service wide vote within four years 2009 and 2012.

• Holds awareness campaign in Imo

result is achieved.

Dutse also said part of the campaign would be to sensitise people on how to access loans from micro finance banks and other financial institutions.

“We shall therefore create awareness and understanding on financial products and services, inform them about their rights and responsibilities, various developmental initiatives of the CBN such as the programe on Micro and Medium enterprises and how to access the fund,”she said.

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

ing conducted by the Committee based on the queries raised by the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation on the MDAs. The Reps report expressed concern on the level of misappropriation of public funds by federal MDAs. According to the document, in the period under review, while the sum of N1,892,883,690,855 was approved by the National Assembly in the annual budgets under the service wide vote (SWV), N4.168 trillion was released, to the MDAs. This shows that the actual release of N4,169,826,938,988.30 for the period was above the approved appropriations by N2,266,943,248,133.30.

The breakdown shows that for 2004, N1.001 billion was budgeted for while the sum

CBN refunds N17b to consumers

HE Department of Consumer Protection, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday in Owerri,said it received about 4,400 petitions from aggrieved consumers and has refunded N17 billion as redress, since it was created two years ago.

Speaking during the flag off of a one week Sensitisation/Awareness Campaign, the Director of the Department, Mrs. Umma Aminu Dutse, who was represented by Hajiya Khadijah Kasim, Head Consumer Education, said the programme

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

was to create awareness and understanding on financial products and services of the CBN. She added that the awareness campaign was only initiated to equip the consumers with the requisite knowledge to be able to deal with financial institutions from an informed perspective.

According to her, the campaign would feature an in-

teractive feedback session on the various initiatives of the CBN such as the “cashless” policy, biometrics verification project which she noted is aimed at ensuring maximum security and protection of customers’ funds against fraud and dispute redress framework.

The exercise which she explained had already taken place in some states in the country would be replicated across the entire federation to ensure deeper

Abuja

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday called on oil producing countries to cooperate more and work together to overcome the current challenges of falling crude oil prices.

He spoke at an audience with Angola’s new Ambassador to Nigeria, Eustaquio Janeiero Quibato at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Jonathan, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said African oil producing countries needed to come together and strategise on the best ways of protecting their domestic economies from the vagaries of fluctuating oil prices.

He said: “We are blessed with oil and we must continue to do all that we possibly can to maximise its benefits for our countries and the African continent.”

Calling for the expansion of trade, economic, cultural and political cooperation between the two countries, he said that Nigeria and Angola have always had cordial bilateral relations.

“For years, we have had a solid relationship. Historically, we have been together; so Nigeria and Angola should also work with greater synergy at continental and global fora,” he added.

‘Why General Electric dominates power sector’ From Olugbenga Adanikin,

F

Abuja

ORMER Minister of Power Prof. Bart Nnaji has said the huge investment of General Electric (GE) in the nation’s economy has encouraged local manufacturing of turbine power equipment, training of local engineers and job creation.

He explained that the multinational was known to be a major supplier of many power equipment to the Federal Government.

According to him, GE was persuaded through a partnership to manufacture some of the imported power equipment in the country, invest in the economy and train local engineers who have become experts to other nations.

He spoke during Conference of National Higher Education Stakeholders, organised by TELL, Tetfund and Federal Ministry of Education yesterday in Abuja.

Nnaji said: “When I was power minister, I will use GE as an example. They have sold so many turbines power equipment to Nigeria. They said they want us to work together, but I said we will develop an agreement, you will not only sell power equipment, you will also invest in Nigeria, train and manufacture some of your turbines in Nigeria.

12

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

53

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

13

14

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

15

16

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

17

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is trying to put its house in order, ahead of next year’s elections. Also, its key leaders are pursuing their senatorial ambition. Correspondent NWANOSIKE ONU writes on their chances at the polls and other challenges facing the party.

APGA leaders and their senatorial ambition T HE defection of former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has put the regional party on the spotlight. But, the party, which never made any pretence of being a player on the national scene, is trying to put the matter behind it and forge ahead with its preparations for next year’s general elections.

With the exit of Obi, Governor Willie Obiano, who is a member of the APGA Board of Trustees (BOT), has become the rallying point for the party. Apart from the governor, four key members are also vying for the Senate.

The four of them have purchased their expression of interest forms at the party secretariat in Awka. In fact, members of the party have described them as the famous four for the senatorial tickets.

They are the National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh; former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters in Obi Administration, Chief Dubem Obaze; former Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Ernest Ndukwe; and former Deputy Governor to Sen. Chris Ngige, Dr. Okey Udeh.

•Umeh

• Dr Okeh

•Obaze

• Ndukwe

Umeh Although, the party has not held its primaries, many people see them as potential candidates in their different senatorial zones. As a result, all those who intended to compete in the Central District have withdrawn to make the way for Umeh.

But, Umeh is playing the statesman.

He said aspirants should not relent because the APGA ticket is open to all, even in Central District, which he is aspiring to represent in the Upper Legislative Chamber. He even refused to accept the payment of his form by the coalition of councillors and council chairmen. He told them to use the money to purchase a bus for the party.

Youths in the state have held what they described as an endorsement rally for Umeh at Emmaus House playground in Awka, the state capital. The event attracted a large number of youths from across the state.

Ndukwe Ndukwe, who surprisingly made a foray into the political scene, has a big following. Nevertheless, he is expected to slug it out with Dr. Okey Udeh in Anambra South District, where the winner is likely to square up against Senator Andy Ubah of the PDP. Ndukwe is said to be the choice of Sir Emeka Offor. Both are from Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Council. Udeh is said to be Obiano’s favourite.

The two contestants for the ticket are solid materials for the party. But who gets it during the party’s primaries is a debate for another day.

Speaking with The Nation recently, Obaze said: “We want to have representatives that can work with Obiano to improve everything in Anambra State. This state lacks federal presence because none of our representatives had given support to the governor in the state. It has been either one trouble or the other and that is what some of us want to change

‘The decision of the famous four to run for senate was widely celebrated by party faithful in the state. A carnival-like atmosphere prevailed the day they purchased their forms, particularly for Umeh and Obaze’ “Moreover, Anambra North has not been lucky in having quality representation at the Upper Chamber before now. In the APGA, we have made so many mistakes that led to the party losing those elections, but, this time will be different.”

Obaze For Dubem Obaze, the coast is clear for him as the zone has decided to follow him. Obaze is unopposed for the Anambra North District ticket. The profile of the former commissioner, who hails from Ogbaru, is also growing.

Traditional rulers in the zone gave a

chieftaincy title of Ifeakachi, which translates to: nothing is above God. The only person that would have given him a run for his money is Senator Joy Emodi.

But, Emodi has withdrawn from the race few days ago, following the leadership crisis that engulfed the party after she purchased her form.

But, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognising the Ejike Oguebego faction, led by Chief Chris Uba, Emodi may still find her way back to track.

Emodi may soon rescind her decision to quit the race. Obaze, the younger brother of the Secretary to the Government of Anambra State, Oseloka Obaze, was said to have empowered many youths, widows and community leaders when he was in government.

During Obi’s regime, Obaze was regarded as the “de facto” governor of Anambra State and he played a major role in the emergence of Obiano as governor last year.

The only problem Umeh is likely to encounter during the election is, if Senator Chris Ngige decides to re-contest and if Hon. Uche Ekwunife is offered the PDP ticket in the Central District.

Ekwunife recently, dumped APGA for the PDP, where she is said to be the favourite of the First lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.

For now, it is not certain that Ngige will run. He is still keeping sealed lips on the issue. He is busy putting finishing touches to his scholarship scheme for the students in his senatorial zone, where over 6,000 persons benefited.

The decision of the famous four to run for senate was widely celebrated by party faithful in the state. A carnival-like atmosphere prevailed the day they purchased their forms, particularly for Umeh and Obaze. The day they purchased their forms different groups of Anambra youth marched through major roads in the capital, drumming, singing and dancing.

Umeh visited the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s family house in Onitsha, where he met Zik’s first son, Chief Chukwuma Bamidele Azikiwe, as a sign of respect to the departed Igbo leader. He also paid a similar visit to the tomb of the late Ikemba Nnewi and former APGA National Leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, where his son, Emeka (Jnr) received him.

The purpose of such visits, according to Umeh, was to complain to the late Igbo leaders how the people they kept together had derailed.

Umeh, also will visit the family of late Governor of Eastern Nigeria, Eze Ogo Akanu Ibiam, the family of Late chief Denis Osadebe in Delta State, and the family of late premier of Eastern Nigeria, Dr. Micheal Okpara among others.

At the party’s office, Umeh warned the PDP not to field double or triple candidates in the next election as was their tradition in past elections.

“I want to use this opportunity to put on notice the National chairman of the PDP not to field more than one candidate in the next election. The era when they fielded multiple candidates is over.”

Umeh further stressed the need for party faithful to support the candidates that would emerge from APGA. He has already picked lawyer-activist, Obele Chuka Obele as his campaign coordinator. The human rights activist has been described by Owelle Chukwuma Azikiwe as a lion-man.

18

THE NATION TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014

‘

RACE TO 2015

Never again will Ovia people accept five solar-powered street lights. Never again will our money set aside for school renovation be spent on buying properties that we will never live in. Never again will we divert material and equipment donated to our people in Abuja, by giving them out as freebies

‘

A/Ibom 2015: Oruk Anam backs Emmanuel for governor

By Essien Ndueso

T

HE people of Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State have reiterated their support for the governorship aspiration of the former Secretary to Government, Mr. Udom Emmanuel.

They described him as the best man for the job, adding that he will continue with the uncommon transformation agenda of Governor Godswill Akpabio.

Emmanuel, who visited the area, assured that he will attract more social infrastructure to the towns and villages.

Villagers trooped out to welcome the campaign train of the bankerturned politician. The carnival-like rally was graced by community elders, top government functionaries, legislators and grassroots leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The venue was the palace of the late Obong Sampson Udoidiong, Obio Akpa, Oruk Anam.

Speakers at the rally, including Pastor Nkereuwem Idiong, poured encomiums on Emmanuel, saying that he is endowed with prudence, honesty, excellence, humility , integrity and the fear of God. They said the former banker has demonstrated these virtues in private and public sectors, adding that he would lead the state to greater heights.

The people promised to close ranks and work as a team for the emergence of Emmanuel as governor of the state next year, to consolidate on the achievements recorded by Governor Akpabio since 2007.

Describing the governorship hopeful as a proud in-law of Annangland, the Oruk Anam people pointed out that with Emmanuel on the saddle, more dividends of democracy would acrue to the state. They presented a symbolic staff of office to him and sought the blessings of the Lord on him.

Responding, Emmanuel said he was highly honoured with the show of solidarity for him by the people. He added that he was at Oruk Anam to accord them respect as an inlaw of the area.

He thanked the people for supporting the administration of Governor Akpabio and for their stand on next year’s governorship election. The governorship hopeful assured the people that he would uphold the tenet of good governance, if he eventually emerges as the governor.

The event was also witnessed by other prominent leaders, including Chief Otu Robert Akpan, Chief Peter Atakpo, Elder Benjamin Udobia, Obong A. S Akpan (APEX), Udom Ekpoudom, Deputy Speaker State House of Assembly Elder Udo Kerian Akpan and the chairman of Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON), Obong Nse Ntuen.

• Lagos State Deputy Governor Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (right), flanked by INEC officials, cross checking the INEC list for the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.

2015: Obada meets Obasanjo

By Etajeruo Steve

A

GOVERNORSHIP aspirant in Delta State, Mr. Votu Obada, has visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his hilltop mansion in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Obada, son of former Federal Commissioner for Works Major-General Orho Obada (rtd) is contesting next year’s election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was in Abeokuta to inform Obasanjo about his ambition and also to get his blessing.

Describing him as a worthy ambassador, the former President said: “I see in Obada a governorship aspirant that would triumph.”

Praising the young Obada for respecting elders, Obasanjo urged him to use the knowledge acquired through experience and education for the advancement of the country, particularly Delta State.

“You have my blessings. I wish you the best,” Obasanjo said.

In his response, the governorship aspirant thanked Obasanjo for receivibng him and for his fatherly blessing.

In a related development, the governorship aspirant also met with Delta professionals in Lagos.

Spokesperson of the group, Mr. Etajeruo Steve, described Obada as the right candidate for the Delta State Government House. “He is endowed with all the qualities to bring about good governance in Delta State,” he said.

The group assured Obada of its support and also urged Deltans to queue behind him.

National Organising Secretary of the PDP Mallam Abubakar Mustapha presenting the governorship form for Rivers State to an aspirant, Major Lancelot Anyanya (rtd), at the National Headquarter, Wadata House, Abuja.

Ovia youths buy nomination form for journalist From Osagie Otabor, Benin

Y

OUTHS from Ovia Federal Constituency have bought nomination forms for a journalist, Orobosa Omo-Ojo, for next year’s election on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Omo-Ojo contested the primaries in 2011 on the platform the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), but lost to Isaac Osahon. He is seeking to represent Ovia Constituency in the House of Representatives.

In a chat with reporters, shortly after picking the form, he said the decision of the youths to purchase the form for him was the beginning of new dawn for Ovia.

The journalist-turned politician said the people would not accept distribution of motorcyles and grinding machines as constituency projects.

He said:: “Help is on the way. We can see the beginning of a true representation, the beginning of a leadership that will be devoid of factional politics. The beginning of an independent representative that will carry everybody along.

We are beginning to see a leadership that will attract constituency projects that are laudable and not motorcycles.”

“Never again will Ovia people accept five solar-powered street lights. Never again will our money set aside for school renovation be spent on buying properties that we will never live in. Never again will we divert material and equipment donated to our people in Abuja, by giving them out as freebies.”

“This is the beginning of an era where votes will attract dividend of democracy. This is where our people will witness scholarship and our youths will measure up with other youths.”

• Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Jimi Agbaje (Left) collecting his nomination form from a party officer at the PDP secretariat, Abuja

PPN vows to win 2015 elections in Edo

T

HE Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) has reiterated its determination to win some seats in the Edo State House of Assembly in next year’s general elections.

The party promised to make a difference by fielding candidates for all elective positions.

Its National Secretary, Hon. Eyiowuawi Razak, spoke with reporters at the party’s e extra-ordinary in Benin-City, the state capital.

Razak, who boasted that the party would make a surprise victory during the elections, said the conduct of the congress was a step towards building

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

to party to a vibrant opposition before taking over the state in 2016.

He urged the party member not to be intimidated in the state but to remain focus and loyal..

A cleric, Pastor Tracy Agol, was elected as the party chairman at the congress to pilot the affair of the party in preparation for the election.

Other elected officers are Mike Elomesebhod (Secretary), Festus Iyogupya as Youth Leader, Rachel Osasehi (Woman Leader), Rosemary Okoduwa (Financial Secretary) and Hebrewess Umoru (Treasurer).

Pastor Agol, in her acceptance speech,

said the country is groaning in pains.

She said it can overcome socio-economic collapse and anarchy brought about by insensibility of successive government by electing credible leaders in next year’s polls.

The cleric said the spiritual decay in the moral fibre of the nation and Edo State was due to godlessness and inability to apply religious tenets and injunctions to secular transactions .

Pastor Agol said that the PPN would campaign against thuggery, armed banditry and lawlessness in high places.

She said change is possible, if the people can vote wisely.

THE NATION TUESDAY,NOVEMBER 11, 2014

19

COMMENTARY EDITORIALS

LETTER

PVC and INEC

I

•The abysmal handling of the distribution exercise is unacceptable, and all eligible voters must be satisfied

T is amazing that barely four months to the next general elections, we are still grappling with the rudiments. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the leadership of Professor Attahiru Jega has grasped for answers why in a key state like Lagos, most potential voters cannot obtain their permanent voter cards. Last week, the state governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, observed that only 4.8 million registered voters appear on the electoral umpire’s voters’ list. Yet, he noted, in the 2011 elections, Lagos recorded about 6.2 million voters.

It is ironic that in the most populous state in the federation, the number of voters should shrink, and it did not only shrink but by a shocking 1.4 million voters.

Consequently, the Lagos State governor

‘It is unacceptable for the INEC to continue to use inefficiency as an excuse to disenfranchise the majority of people in elections. The charge of partiality is the worst tar an electoral umpire expects to be tarred with ... All eligible voters ought to get their PVCs, and there is no alternative to that. If it means the INEC has to overhaul its operations and tweak its style to accommodate them, it is worth it’

gave INEC an opportunity to redeem itself by declaring November 7 as public holiday to enable civil servants in the state collect their PVCs. In spite of this grace, INEC officials did not show up in most parts of the state. The following day, they turned up in a few areas, but most of the local governments had either scant operations or none at all. In fact, nine of the about 20 local government areas could not perform the exercise, by INEC’s own admission.

This has led to uproar of criticisms from the opposition that the electoral umpire was playing mischief with the process and setting up the general elections for fraud in favour of the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We are shocked that, in spite of the warning and admonitions that the INEC has received in the past four years, the commission has bungled the voters’ exercise. Most persons who visited designated centres to pick up their permanent voter cards discovered that when their names appeared on the list, they could not obtain the cards, and in other cases there were no names in the list that matched theirs.

It was a colossal disgrace.

In the first place, for a state like Lagos that records new residents almost by the day, INEC should still not be enmeshed with figures around 6.2 million of four years ago. Tragically, the numbers fell, and it presented the numbers almost as fait accompli until the opposition cried foul. It was then it advanced the

argument of technical problems at the backend. It did not appear to be working on it, otherwise it would have articulated that problem as it released the 4.8 million figure.

This is an INEC that has worked itself in the past four years through a number of elections as dress rehearsals for 2015 elections. Within that period, it has conducted elections on local government, senatorial and gubernatorial levels in Delta, Yobe, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun and Anambra states. There have been reports of sloppiness and even, as in the case of Anambra State, a tragic fait accompli signifying incompetence.

But the case of Lagos State and others, including Rivers State, raises questions about the integrity of the electoral body.

It is unacceptable for the INEC to continue to use inefficiency as an excuse to disenfranchise the majority of people in elections. The charge of partiality is the worst tar an electoral umpire expects to be tarred with.

By its bungling, it is hard for the disadvantaged party not to feel a victim of some subterranean dealing. All eligible voters ought to get their PVCs, and there is no alternative to that. If it means the INEC has to overhaul its operations and tweak its style to accommodate them, it is worth it.

Electoral chicaneries often start with the voter’s list, and once it is wrong there, it cannot end well. And once a party feels shortchanged, the consequence for the polity is often ominous.

Open up the space •The excessive cost of obtaining party nomination forms should be reversed in the interest of democracy

T

HE election season in Nigeria is notorious for the mindless use to which money is put by political parties and politicians. A token is usually set aside to induce voters who then bear the brunt of the drain on the economy. This is being repeated in this season as the electoral commission has flagged off the race for the 2015 general elections.

The first indication that money would be playing a major role in the electoral process again has emerged with the fees aspirants have to pay to pick up expression of interest and nomination forms by the major parties. In the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), an aspirant who wants to contest the presidential race is expected to cough up N22.5 million while those in the race for the party’s governorship ticket are charged N11.5million. The figures are even higher for the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

The PDM has imposed a fee of N25 million on its presidential nomination form, the APC’s fee is 27.5 million for the same purpose. APGA has no plan to field a candidate for the presidential election, but, whoever wants to pick its flag for the governorship election is expected to pay N12 million. Governorship aspirants intending to run for office on APC’s platform have to pay N12.5m.

This is an indication that not much has changed in Nigerian politics. As-

pirants are forced by the excessive demands of the political parties to seek sponsors who reel out conditions for such support. In most cases, as we saw in the Anambra State governorship election in 2003, the godfathers insisted on taking charge of the states’ treasuries if they were to invest their funds in the highly risky electoral venture.

The high cost of obtaining the forms has the tendency of screening out decent, intelligent and well-meaning candidates who may not have such funds. This would further limit office seeking to moneybags and their wards. The Nigerian society, desirous of development now than ever before, should not be held down by this trend. Other countries have better ways of determining serious candidates. Debates are sometimes organised and the profiles of the aspirants are made known to others. This is what Nigerian parties and politicians should introduce in the 21st century.

In sanitising the political space therefore, efforts must be made to reduce the influence of money on the electioneering process. It is bad enough that the campaign fund limit specified by the Electoral Act 2010 is high in a society ravaged by poverty and squalor, it is worse that the law is disregarded by candidates and political parties. Section 91 of the Act allows someone running for the Presidency to spend up to N1billion, a governorship candidate up to N200 million, N40 million for Senate,

N20m for House of Representatives, N10 million for State House of Assembly and chairman of a local government, and N1 million for ward councillor.

Anyone who has paid attention to the frenzy of rallies and television advertisements by some of the parties in the past two months would observe that some have already spent more than the limit imposed by law. Yet, electioneering proper has not started.

We call on the electoral commission to scrutinise the books of the parties and monitor their finances as well as apply sanctions as envisaged by the laws. We also call on the political parties to immediately reduce the costs of obtaining the nomination forms and refund the excess to aspirants who have already paid. Public offices should not be for sale and all undue strictures should be removed.

‘The high cost of obtaining the forms has the tendency of screening out decent, intelligent and well-meaning candidates who may not have such funds. This would further limit office seeking to moneybags and their wards.

The Nigerian society, desirous of development now than ever before, should not be held down by this trend’

Jega, give us credible election in 2015

S

IR: The need for the Prof. Attahiru Jegaled Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deliver credible election in 2015 cannot be overemphasized.

The first step in achieving this is by coming up with an acceptable, and transparent voters’ list devoid of voters’ disenfranchisement either by commission or omission.

It is rather unfortunate that flimsy excuses that usually give credence to shoddy preparation in handling of elections culminating in loss of people’s confidence in elections outcome have continued to pose a problem.

Will the purported reduction of registered voters in Lagos State by a whopping 1.4 million from the registered voters of 6,247,845 for the 2011 election not send a wrong signal and jitters down the spine of all stakeholders in the 2015 election that is around the corner?

First, all eligible voters already duly registered and those just attaining the mandatory voting age of 18 years should not be denied their constitutional voting right through disenfranchisement brought about by unpreparedness of the electoral body.

Secondly, all voters for the 2011 election who for one reason or the other have relocated from the state where they registered and voted during the 2011 election should have their voter cards replaced to enable them cast their vote in the state where they are now resident and ready to be registered for the 2015 election.

Thirdly, all registered voters who have misplaced their voter cards for the 2011 election should be allowed to vote during the 2015 election on presentation of their passport size photographs which must tally with the one already on the INEC’s register that was used for the conduct of the 2011 election also conducted under the current leadership.

INEC has a duty to plug all the loopholes that may further expose the conduct of the 2015 to doubt and condemnation that may heat and create further tension in the polity.

Acceptable and credible elections have been held in more populated countries such as India, China, U.S.A, Russia, etc and it is high time the electoral body in Nigeria took a cue from these countries. In addition there is need for INEC to provide adequate time of not less than a week for the distribution of the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) and the issuance of voting cards for the newly eligible voters as anything short of this will mark out INEC as an electoral body that is indifferent to the yearnings of the electorate.

There is also the need for INEC to be fully aware of the fact that rigging of an election starts with undue manipulation of the voters register and not only on the day of election.

• Odunayo Joseph, Lagos TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye •Editor, Online Lekan Otufodunrin •Managing Editor Northern Operation Yusuf Alli •Managing Editor Waheed Odusile

• Executive Director (Finance & Administration) Ade Odunewu

•Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon

•Advert Manager Robinson Osirike

•Deputy Editor (News) Adeniyi Adesina

• Gen. Manager (Training and Development) Soji Omotunde •General Manager (Abuja Press) Kehinde Olowu •AGM (PH Press) Tunde Olasogba

•IT Manager Bolarinwa Meekness

•Deputy Editor (Nation’s Capital) •Press Manager Yomi Odunuga Udensi Chikaodi •Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu •Legal Counsel John Unachukwu •Group Business Editor Simeon Ebulu • Manager (Admin) Folake Adeoye •Group Sports Editor Ade Ojeikere •Acting Manager (sales) •Editorial Page Editor Olaribigbe Bello Sanya Oni

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

20

CARTOON & LETTERS

S

IR: The withdrawal of security details attached to Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives for decamping from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) will continue to raise dust in the polity.

What has played out is nothing but an abuse of power, disrespect for the legislature, embarrassment to the exalted office of the Speaker, misinterpretation of the constitution and inability to exercise discretion by confusing state matters with partisan politics. The Nigeria Police had claimed that it withdrew the Speaker’s security details for allegedly violating section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999

EDITOR’S MAIL BAG SEND TYPEWRITTEN, DOUBLE SPACED AND SIGNED CONTRIBUTIONS, LETTERS AND REJOINDERS OF NOT MORE THAN 800 WORDS TO THE EDITOR, THE NATION, 27B, FATAI ATERE ROAD, MATORI, LAGOS. E-mail: views@thenationonlineng.net

Still on Tambuwal’s ordeal constitution and so, was no longer entitled to police security.

On this, the police authorities were dead wrong.

Before now, the speaker has been accused of fraternising with the opposition and for openly criticising major policies of the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan’s admin-

istration.

To begin with, it should be appreciated that Tambuwal is the Speaker of the House of Representatives and he’s more of a public servant than a mere politician. He also has the right to his opinion and association. The right way to go would have been to maintain the

PDP, victim of own impunity IR: It is no longer news that the ruling PDP is in serious crisis across the nation as a result of accumulated and recurring problems in its fold. The party is on its way to the Golgotha.

The endorsement of President Jonathan as its consensus candidate for the 2015 general elections by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has worsened its internal crisis. The endorsement and adoption of consensus candidates by PDP governors whose sec-

S

Where’s Dangote’s N1000 cement?

IR: In your publication today, I read in more than two places of Dangote Cement Plc’s purported reduction in prices of cement . You people should confirm from retailers and consumers and publish your findings if youpeople are not benefiting from the lies.

S

• Aroge Temitope, Lagos

ond term in office expires next year and the aspiration of some of these governors to go to the senate after the expiration of their tenures has further divided the party creating disaffection between National Assembly members and their state governors.

All over the PDP states, it one problem or another; In the Southeast state of Enugu, it is superiority battle between Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremmadu and state governor, Sullivan Chime over who becomes the senator, representing Enugu West in the senate come 2015. In South-south, Rivers State PDP is divided between zoning and who becomes their governorship candidate in the forth coming elections.

In Akwa Ibom, the matter is imposition of governorship candidate; in Cross River State, it’s been war of words between Governor Liyel Imoke and Senate Majority Leader Victor Ndoma Egba over eligibility and tenure of senators at the upper chambers.

In the North, the adoption of President Jonathan as consensus candidate is causing rancour in the fold of the party.

How further could the party be divided?

As the series of drama unfolds, it is an indication that the architect of the death of many political parties in the past, the master strategist in plotting divisions in other parties is finally being served a dose of its on juice. The sins of the party is gradually catching up with them.

The implosion is both imminent and inevitable. As we await the death of the self-acclaimed largest party in Africa, I have already prepared an epitaph that will be read: “Here lies a party that admires the politics of Western world but when it was given the mandate to rescue the nation from its series of anomalies, tenaciously chose to tread the part of impunity to rape, exploit and impoverish the nation of its hardearned democracy by coveting our institutions against its people and empowered Nigerians to take up arms against each other, leaving us in a state of perdition”.

The same epitaph will apply to all the politicians that contributed to this quagmire in our society.

•Joe Onwukeme, Enugu

status quo because irrespective of the party platform that the Speaker might have emerged, he’s no longer responsible to such parties but to the National Assembly and the country, as the number four citizen of the nation, who can only be removed from that post by two-thirds majority votes of the house.

Tambuwal still remains the bonafide occupant of the position and is entitled to a round-the-clock security protection by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Department of State Security and the police. As long as he remains the Speaker of the House, the PDP, the President or even the Inspector-General of Police cannot order the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security personnel by fiat.

This ugly episode reminds us of

the urgent need to separate the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation from the Ministry of Justice, to instill sanity into the country’s justice system and prevent a situation where the AGF continues to carry out the agenda of the ruling party even if such is not in the best interest of the country.

Nevertheless, it is heartwarming that Tambuwal took the right step by approaching a Federal High Court in Abuja, to seek redress. A responsible government should avoid being seen as lawless. This controversial action by the Inspector General of Police Suleiman Abba has reinforced the long-held convictions that there is no true separation of powers in Nigeria. It is as if security agents are only bent on protecting the executive arm.

That is why the call for state police continues to be louder by the day and as long as the central police that presently obtains is subject to the whims and caprices of the presidency.

• Adewale Kupoluyi Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

Appeal to UNN Governing Council

S

IR: May I draw the attention of the University of Nigeria Governing Council to the progress recorded in the issuance of original certificates to graduates after the completion of their studies in the past three years unlike in the past that the graduates have to come back after four or five years for their original certificates.

The story so far has been encouraging both to universities in Nigeria and to other Africa countries.

This gains recorded, unfortunately is about to be reversed without valid reason.

Currently, we have two batches of “senate approved result” whose statement of results have been given out. Written at the bottom of the statement of results in tiny char-

acters are: “valid for 12 months”.

The problem here is that the affected graduates have no guarantees that their original certificates would be ready should they come back for them after one year.

The anomaly is regrettable. After the rigour academic stress passed through in this institution, it leaves the alumnus with bad memory about the alma-matter.

I am appealing to the committee in-charge to as a matter of urgency, look into this before the next convocation. I am confident that the 54-year old institution can sustain the wonderful achievement of the past.

• Oladele Oge, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

21

COMMENTS That First Lady, Dame Patience IGERIANS first... Nigerians Jonathan, tried to put the always!!! President Jonathan Chibok victims on television declares, the advert swooned in trial, showed presidential false gaiety, as if there was some callousness without big carnival in town. Instead, there is a redemption. Ironically — but big funeral. justifiably enough — the First Which Nigerians is the Jonathan Lady bloodied herself with her presidential declaration advert talking “Dia ris God o” tragicomedy. about?

Even more fittingly, that Olakunle Those that Boko Haram daily slaughter initial tardiness and failure to in the North East? lordbeek1@gmail.com, 08054504169 (Sms only, please) Abimbola save the girls always comes back Those that have become internally to haunt Jonathan, and his displaced persons (IDPs) in their own presidential re-run country? misadventure.

Residents of Mubi (or is it Madinatul At its last appearance, the Islam?) and Gwoza (or is it Darul Hikma?), Chibok ghost hit Jonathan that Boko Haram has captured, from under achievements that have transformed every sector of Nigeria. where it pained most. His spin doctors had, with fan fair, the nose of the president and his mighty host?

The story has now changed, with over 17.8 million Nigerians announced a ceasefire with Boko Haram; and coming with that The distraught parents of the Chibok school girls? endorsing him for continuity. Thank you Mr. President,” the package was a tantalising release of the Chibok girls, after which Or, nationwide, civil servants who don’t know when their self-serving ad enthused, “for yielding to the voice and demand — at least the propagandists thought — their chief would gallop next salary would come, because the Jonathan administration to victory, both at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sole of Nigerians!” cannot trustfully manage the Federation Account?

Audacious? Not yet! See TAN’s stats: 1.6 million signatures nomination (which, by the way the Jonathan camp has made a If President Jonathan is true to himself, even he would be from the North East want Jonathan to continue. This 1.6 million hash of), and at the election proper itself. unexcited at his so-called declaration today, to again run for the But yet again, Jonathan ate crow, his presidency proving itself must nurse some death wish — to wish some incompetent and Nigerian presidency. But if he is truly excited, he would have the dumbest and daftest Nigeria ever had (and may ever have), soulless president should prolong their agony! believed the lie told him by his flatterers. If he did, that would Perhaps they also include the Chibok parents, who hail the the way the so-called ceasefire shamefully collapsed! Of course, be unflattering to his sense of judgement — and his conscience. president for not only having no clue as to recovering their all that desperation was to make inviolate today’s so-called Indeed, Aniete Okon, a former senator of the Federal Republic children but also absolutely lacking in compassion on sharing declaration. and the Jonathan declaration’s publicity sub-committee chair, Talk of a president so avid at pressing his constitutional right their grief — a grief a president worth his seal of office would betrayed the Chibok ghost by resorting to raw aggression to to run but is so remiss in doing his constitutional duty, to the have averted. salve his conscience. “Are you saying that until we find the Corresponding figures from the North, according to the TAN satisfaction of his compatriots; save the multitude of hustlers girls, we should not renew our faith in the country”? The Nation advert, are: North West, 3.4 million and North Central, 1.85 urging him on, when it is crystal clear, to any right-thinking of November 10 quoted him as saying. million. From the South, the zestful Jonathan Signature Fans person, that the job is beyond his ken — intellectually, Some question! But why is Mr. Okon so agitated — because of Club, scribble: South East: 2.3 million; South West: 2.6 million emotionally and spiritually. the manifest idiocy of the Jonathan declaration, in the face of Despite all the media grandstanding, all the boisterousness, and South South: 6.05 million. looming disintegration?

So, with all the noise and tempest from the South East on and all the braggadocio at Eagle Square today, it is clear that Is Mr. Okon seeing, in the mirror, the hateful image of a 21st Jonathan 2015, that zone could garner only 2.3 million signatures; Jonathan and friends are stealing to the declaration, like some century Nero, fiddling and playing politics, even as the country and the North Central, with the Jonathan camp’s serious goading thief during broad daylight! All the bluff and bluster is to cover Jonathan inherited in 2011 is losing territory to Boko Haram of that zone’s Christians against Muslims, only 1.85 million the manifest irrationality of the Jonathan declaration. anarchists?

Besides, is it not grand irony that this same Eagle Square, in signatures?

Jonathan and associates can delude themselves all they want.

Indeed, every ploy harbours the seeds of its own destruction! which the president is not bold enough to host National Day Theirs is government of manipulation, for manipulation, by But forget all the media hype and advert foxtrots: the Jonathan celebrations, at least in the last two years, is now where he manipulation. strategy is simple — make a huge racket of sweet nothings, and exhibits the Dutch courage to declare his so-called bid for second That is manifest in yet another Declaration Eve wrap-around all the ruts would vanish! It is the old propaganda strategy: lies term? advert in some newspapers, which the Transformation Like Neighbour-to-Neighbour (N2N) before it, TAN is another repeated often soon assume the garb of truth.

Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) ironically entitled: “Be a witness Still, at every juncture, Jonathan comes a sad cropper — though equal opportunity racket and gravy train to sell Nigerians a pig to history ... as HE President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR his TAN racketeers egg him on — and the setback has its spiritual in a poke. While N2N drooled about “a breath of fresh air” declares, in response to Nigerians’ demand ... (which all too soon turned rancid) and a shoeless boy bidding fount in the April 14 kidnap of the Chibok school girls.

“As an outstanding performer,” the advert claimed, “he was Before April 14, not a few would grant Goodluck Jonathan the for president, TAN is hallucinating about non-existent under-reported. We came, highlighting his verifiable benefit of the doubt. But after, he lost everything. On Chibok, achievements.

But at the other end of the country, Boko Haram is busy showing government has shown no initiative, no sound judgement, “TAN is hallucinating about non-existent his no balls, no compassion, no remorse, no nothing — just off its “caliphate”, axed off Nigeria’s territorial space, courtesy of a video made available to AFP. That is another concrete achievements. But at the other end of the condemnable petulance, arrogance and emptiness.

That Jonathan was tardy after the kidnap, thus surrendering achievement of Jonathan and friends! country, Boko Haram is busy showing off its For Jonathan, there is no escaping the ghost of Chibok — and, time needed to save the girls, was monumental bad “caliphate”, axed off Nigeria’s territorial space.” lead it appears, the worst is yet to come. judgement.

N

R

epublican ipples

Jonathan and the ghost of Chibok

P

ASTOR Tunde Bakare clocks 60 today, November 11. I seek to throw a little light on the man many believe deliberately courts controversy and is unduly harsh on his fellow religious leaders. A man some claim draw anomie to himself, and blind loyalty in equal proportion like ants to sugar. By his choice of words, subjects of his vitriol and characters of his umbrage - in most cases, Bakare may declare himself guilty - but with well- articulated reasons. If you can control your indignation and hear him out, you are likely to concede him the space necessary for truth and logic to soar.

Ordinarily, I am drawn to people who are not afraid to speak what they believe is the truth - at all times; who do not succumb to the pressure of impressing others so as to gain their adulation; people who are not bothered about the enormity of your anointing if your obvious actions and conversations give you away as a charlatan - you will be hung out to dry. Oh, I like such people.

Yes, people who see Bakare as a "noise-maker" or "rabblerouser" may have a point. He does cause trouble with his statements... and more often than not rabbles are roused on account of his diatribes. The point to linger on is not what he does, but why he does those things. In private discussions, as I sought to probe the spine of his position on this issue...with a mischievous twist of his lips, he would labour to give words to the cascading thoughts in his heart - his glowing face reveals a man thoroughly at peace with the severity of his commentaries.

Well, 15 years may not be long enough to write a profound character guide on a person, but I can state categorically that he writes down, dwells over, bounces off people, almost all his so-called controversial statements… He does not use the old and tested lacuna: “touch not my anointed...” in escaping troubling issues and scenarios when he is called to account.

Bakare would over-prepare for contestation of ideas and understanding of the Word - whether the challenge comes from a peer or neophyte.

Oh, he does have a temper. Is there a man without blemish? Excuse it the way you want, he can be a bolt of fire against the devil in one instance; and if an associate, his child or acquaintance steps over or pulls down what ought to be carefully arranged or garnished - the tongue of correction comes sharp and long…touching the recesses of your inadequacy, purging you almost instantly of any dreg of incompetence. Oh, he detests incompetence in any situation - more avidly if he suspects incompetence, insensitivity or high corruption at the citadels of political power. He surely must share the same sentiment with the 26th American president, Theodore Roosevelt, who said: "Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support

60 Tablets for pains in pursuit of truth

By Femi Akintunde-Johnson him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else."

Religious hypocrisy and political charlatanism irk him most. Since "performers" of both "arts" prey on the minds and hopes of people, his most vitriolic deprecations are reserved for them irrespective of their status, influence, motives or familiarity. When people say 'why wash your dirty linens in public?' 'Why doesn't Bakare call his “brothers” to order in private brotherly love?' Let me reassure you, on most occasions, he would bend backwards to reach out privately and poignantly point out these “infringements” and “perversions" - especially within the body of Christ. Often, the others chuckled over it with glib assurance of acceptance…yet the issues fester, the complicity deepens…then Bakare explodes, and most people take off in pursuit of ringworm with leprosy left unchecked.

Like Apostle Paul, Bakare's teachings are hard: in the pursuit of happiness and prosperity, 'live holy, depend completely on God, repay evil with good, and do unto others much better than they to you'. He not only lives what he preaches, he challenges others to take him up on his convictions and cross notes afterwards. He is bemused when people find it almost impossible to differentiate between principles (issues he vehemently attacks) and relationship (usually committed by his friends and older associates in faith). He is hurt when hare-brained policies and exertions of governmental powers deliver more hardship on ordinary folks - and he explodes where most leaders merely grumble and vacillate in soporific acquiescence. He is undaunted and scarcely embarrassed when no one believes or even regards what he says God has shown him in visions or dreams - he simply pivots ahead using same as launch pads to more declarations.

If his person is not violated, if his faith is not compromised; if his loved ones are not in doubts; if his God does not keep silent, then the whole world united in blatant antagonism against him, will not stir the little hair still remaining on his head. An enigma indeed.

Though little of frame, Bakare's heart is large. Very large.

His generosity sometimes bothers on thick-headedness. Some-

how, if you investigate the strands of his magnanimity, you will find narratives of his humble beginnings. He obviously suffered growing up... well, like most successful Nigerians of his age... but his has diverse colorations that will make a book on his formative years a best seller. So, in his generous spirit hides a desire to help people about to fall into extreme poverty. Don't get it wrong: weepy, needling, obsequious appeal for mercy-cash will not move him. With obvious compassion and keen intelligence, he would probe the circumstance of your situation and the potency of your peril. And to make sure you are not in any doubt about his position, he will ask that help should be given you, but 'this and that' are what you should focus your energies on so you can stand on your feet; but if on his reading, you need more than a token, he will invite others who can effectively intervene in your affairs, so you can stand strong.

Bakare lives his life in the open (a rare condition in this climate) - the hunger to share and teach makes him tell it all.

He fixes his own stories, warts and all, in all his public narratives as he criss-crosses the world teaching and preaching.

While most of us will repent of our mis-steps and keep it mum between us and God; not Bakare. After repenting, the man will "call" the "whole world", confessing his mishaps.

And somehow drawing out a lesson or two why no one else should have any excuse for falling into same. He is quick to do that for his few mistakes; but ironically zips his mouth when he does any of his sundry good deeds. A peculiar man!

As Babatunde Gbolahan Bakare marks his 60th birthday today, with millions of his silent admirers (and of course, millions of the "others"), a constant train of thought is that he will live long to give of himself to his God and his country with calm boldness, profound power and enduring grace... such that if the Lord arrives and asks if there's a trusted and courageous 'errand-man' ready for him to use - Layide's husband may confidently step forward and say: "Here am I, send me!"

Bakare lives his life in the open (a rare condition in this climate) - the hunger to share and teach makes him tell it all. He fixes his own stories, warts and all, in all his public narratives as he criss-crosses the world teaching and preaching. While most of us will repent of our mis-steps and keep it mum between us and God; not Bakare. After repenting, the man will "call" the "whole world", confessing his mishaps.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

22

COMMENTS

J

UST as I was about putting pen to paper for this write up, news filtered in that Boko Haram insurgents have struck again, taking no fewer than 47 lives in an apparent suicide bomb attack on a group of students in Pokiskum, Yobe State. The suicide bomber dressed like a student and mixed freely with the unsuspecting genuine students before detonating his\her deadly arsenal.

In the run up to this devastating attack, Boko Haram had been having a field day conquering, annexing and renaming towns and cities across the north east, with our military seemingly helpless to push them back. All of a sudden Adamawa that had looked like relatively immune to the activities of the terrorists is now under threat of being annexed by Boko Haram.

Don't forget this is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) controlled state and the Governor Ngilari has cried out that his state might fall to Boko Haram any time from now unless the Nigerian armed forces move fast to rout the terrorists. The state used to be controlled by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) before the impeachment go Admiral Murtala Nyako as governor.

Nyako, you'll recall had, while still in office, cried out about the imminence of Boko Haram's attack on his state, but Abuja did not listen. Instead he was branded a saboteur, crying wolf, where there was none. Now that PDP's Nigilari had spoken, may be Abuja will listen and do the needful.

I don't want to talk much about the phantom ceasefire other than to say that whoever conceived or concocted it must be smiling to his\her bank now because I know the Goodluck Jonathan administration would have pumped money into it thinking it would bring the girls back home. Not necessarily because it genuinely wants the Chibok girls back home as soon as possible, but because bringing them back home now at whatever cost could enhance his falling electoral fortune.

But more importantly, whoever it was within the Nigerian government or the military that trusted the Chadians or any of our Francophone neighbors to help us get rid of the insurgency must have a poor sense of history in terms of our past relationship with these hateful neigbhours of ours.

During the struggle for power in Chad in the 70s and 80s, Nigeria and Moammer

T

Who will help us now?

Ghadafi's Libya were fighting a proxy war, so to speak, struggling to control the heart and mind of the government in N'Djamena. Both parties backed different guerrilla leaders as Goukkoni Weddaye and Hussein Habre battled it out for the control of Chad.

At a point during the second republic under President Shehu Shagari, Chadian forces backed by Libya invaded Nigeria's north east, and it took a General Muhammadu Buhari's led 3rd Division of the Nigerian Army to drive the Chadians out. Buhari was then the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 3rd Division based in Jos, Plateau State. The defence of that axis of Nigeria fell under his command. And he did well to defend Nigeria's territorial integrity then. Please NOTE this.

Chad must have a reason for that invasion then and who says she still doesn't harbour an interest in annexing north eastern Nigeria?

Don't forget that Camerooun similarly and frequently attacked parts of Nigeria around Bakassi under Shagari's watch. Today Bakassi is part of Cameroun. Who says that Chad is not enjoying the Boko Haram insurgency and even probably secretly encouraging it with the hope of adding the territory to Chad once Boko Haram succeeded in carving the region out of Nigeria. If Cameroun could get Bakassi why not Chad getting north eastern Nigeria?

Don't forget Cameroun is not done with us yet regarding her territorial ambition as the north east around Adamawa is also being eyed

by Yaounde.

My argument here is, since we are surrounded by enemies so to speak, why do we expect them to help us, genuinely and wholeheartedly fight the enemies within? I mean, why should Cameroun and Chad help us to

HOSE who know Dele Belgore, the floating gubernatorial aspirant of the opposition party in Kwara State would not have been carried away for long after reading his latest lengthy newspaper interview.

Those with the proper understanding of the social and political settings of Kwara state would not be bothered by the latest vituperations that have been coming from the likes of Belgore, who in 2011 was the first to crucify the late Olooye, Olushola Saraki, calling him, as he is wont to do to his son now, all sorts of names because he wanted to become governor of Kwara State on the platform of the ACN. Now that the elder Saraki is gone, to Belgore the deceased was the best politician from Kwara State but his son is the devil; and you wonder the logic of such reasoning.

To Belgore, the appointment of a ’hidden’ Suleiman Abubakar to become a minister is evidence that Bukola Saraki and his political structure has been keeping the elites out of the Kwara political structure. I wonder how Belgore would want to define the elite? Is Prof.

Abdulraheem Oba who became the chairman of the Federal Character Commission, FCC, through the Saraki political structure now out of the elite class? What about Dr. Ahmed Alli, Abdulrazaq Atunwa, Kamaldeen Ajibade and Saka Isau who are both Senior Advocates? They are not elites?

Again, those who know the system know that this is the very reason the gang-up against Saraki is thick; it is a protest by those who consider positions from the system as their birthright, just because they are the children of "Alfa Agba". And those of us born by the common men but possess innate potentials to deliver should be buried alive!

Take a look at the list of anti-Saraki elements in the politics of Kwara today: all are driven by ego as against Saraki's mantra of equity, justice and fairness. It was such equity that propelled the son of a commoner like Bolaji Abdullahi to limelight. It was justice that brought out Zakari Mohammed, a ‘common’ journalist to become one of the best federal representatives in this era. It was such fairness that brought out Razaq Atunwa, born in the hidden locality of Afon but British trained barrister, to become a Speaker. It was fairness that brought Abdulfatah Ahmed, the son of a middle class police officer to become the governor of our state. If Abdulfatah without the requisite financial muscle to stand in the way of a Belgore could be a governor, who says, I, the 18th son of a local Mallam but a masters degree holder, can not become a Senator under the political structure of Kwara APC? How easy was it for Bukola to stand publicly against his father, the man God used to make him governor and insist that another person, and not someone from his own family, must succeed him? What would have happened

defeat Boko Haram? Why should Chad be interested in that 'ceasefire' and ending the insurgency. Until now, Cameroun was enjoying the insurgency here, so to speak until the terrorists started striking in her territory.

Is it not about time that we put our destiny in our hands and enlist the help of genuine friends if we can't defeat Boko Haram on our own?

When the ISIS started in Syria, the west (US and western Europe) were watching believing that helping Syria defeat the terrorists could on the long run result in helping despised President Assad stay in power. Now ISIS has expanded into Iraq and has carved out a territory of its own from parts of Syria and Iraq under its control. The Kurdist city of Kobani close to Turkey is under threat of falling to ISIS and Turkey, because of her hatred for the Kurds is folding her arms, burying her head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich, believing 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Now the Kurds are calling on their friends around the world to help defeat ISiS, and America, belatedly is responding.

I do not know how worse the west want the situation in Nigeria to get before they would come to our aid in the fight against terror. It is very clear that President Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigerian armed forces are incapable of winning this war against Boko Haram, especially as long as countries like France continue to pay ransom to the terrorists for every of her nationale they abduct; the terrorists would be emboldened to continue. As long as some of our war commanders and their men continue to abandon the front and run away at the slightest sight of Boko Haram, the war will continue and the terrorist would have their

Saraki, Belgore and Kwara politics

By Barakat Abdulkadir if he had collaborated with the project and have his sister installed as his successor? How would Belgore be describing the late Saraki by now if that project had succeeded with the full support of his son?

If Bukola Saraki had insisted on following their desire, none of the personalities we mentioned above and the many others still in the system would ever have an opportunity to become anything meaningful in life. What was the principle that influenced the emergence of most of the current chairmen of local government areas in the state? It was the need to give new faces a chance and the world was witness to how this was done and the impact it brought. To Belgore and his ilk, they would rather that only people from their own nobility got the chance to be in the council leadership, because they are the only ones that matter in life. No problem, one day the real men behind the mask of opposition they are currently wearing would be exposed.

Their grouse we understand as class bitterness; that hateful feeling you have when your mate has overtaken you and you do not see how to catch up. It is hard to say but it is the bitter truth because if Bukola had relinquished his position as senator and allowed these modern day anti-Saraki fighters to remain in their positions, he would have remained the messiah of the time. We understand their types, men and women whose only concern is the comfort of their person.

But Bukola inherited the spirit of benevolence; he inherited a structure that picks a man from nowhere to take him to somewhere noble, a structure that enlarges the span of opportunities irrespective of place of birth or education instead of restricting the benefits of political participation to only a small clique who want comfort for only their family members. To such dreamers, the reality is that they are dreaming if they think they can take over the state, for whether they like it or not, as they conspire and devise strategies, the good that Saraki has done for the children of the commoner would speak against them.

way.

After watching a documentary on the South African Defence Forces (SADF) my heart bled for Nigeria. Our military is nothing to write home about, and the blame should go largely to all the military governments of the past, particularly, General Ibrahim Babangida's which systematically decimated the Nigerian Armed Forces for selfish reasons. This is not exonerating the civilian regimes as well, especially Goodluck Jonathan's under whose watch Boko Haram has become so large and powerful that we now have to beg to graciously grant us peace. What a shame!

It is not too late though to rearm, adequately equip and retrain the officers and men of our armed forces to successfully fight this insurgency. You don't need years to do this. And at the same time, the best way to do is not the Pastor Oritshejafor's way. I mean not secretly channelling or funneling money into foreign hands under the guise of procuring arms and ammunitions for our soldiers.

Now that we seem to be in a helpless ( but not hopeless) situation, what do we do? It is not as if we can't defeat the insurgency, but we need to be more focussed and serious and play less of politics in the whole of this unfortunate episode in the history of our country.

The Nigerian Armed Forces as presently constituted is polarized along ethnic and religious lines and something must be done quickly to arrest the situation lest this national institution and avenue for national unity go the way of similar organisations that are today in the hands of ethnic jingoists. We can consciously create an elite unit within our armed forces, like the US Navy SEAL, to deal with Boko Haram and similar problems. This doesn't have to take years to accomplish if the political and military will is there on the part of our leaders.

I don't think it has gone so terribly bad for Nigeria that she cannot get help in this and similar regards from genuine friends out there. But these 'friends' want to see genuineness of purpose from us and willingness to see it through. If we are ready to do this, I am sure we will get help. When I said we, I mean everybody; the government and the governed; PDP and the opposition. Let's fight Boko Haram together. It is in our collective interest.

NB: This column goes on vacation from next week for a few weeks. See you later.

It is therefore better that they wake up from their sleep now and embrace the reality: Saraki, as political leader of Kwara State. That is the current divine order.

Belgore also repeated the mantra of the opposition about Governor Ahmed having not done any new project but completing the ones Saraki initiated while in office. For how long would ambition blindfold the opposition to understand that no nation, least of all Nigeria, can afford to continue to pile up abandoned projects all in the name of just getting new ones named after the incumbent. Is that not the difference between Nigeria and developed states?

This argument, even when not true, is a pointer to the kind of mindset the likes of Belgore have, and is a dangerous mindset that reasonable men would shudder at because it indicates that if they were given the slightest opportunity to rule, they will dismantle everything that has made Kwara great in the last 11 years. They will dismantle the legacies not because the legacies are not credible, receiving local and global accolade such as the recent award by the OECD in Paris, but because of envy. And we want to say without being ashamed of it that Governor Ahmed is not competing with Saraki, so Ahmed is not envious of the Leader. Ahmed was a member of the political structure that discussed and initiated programmes and policies to be done in government and only men without integrity and honour will jettison such.

Ahmed is not one of them.

How ridiculous would it have been for Governor Ahmed to abandon the Harmony Diagnostic Centre, the International Aviation College, the Kwara State University or the various road projects?

Enough of this deceit by the opposition in Kwara. They should tell Kwarans what is happening to Ajasse Ipo / Offa road, the Ilorin / Jebba road, and other deplorable federal roads in the state.

•Barakat, a social critic, writes from Ilorin

‘Bukola inherited the spirit of benevolence; he inherited a structure that picks a man from nowhere to take him to somewhere noble, a structure that enlarges the span of opportunities irrespective of place of birth or education instead of restricting the benefits of political participation to only a small clique who want comfort for only their family members’

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

23

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

25

‘

Under the 1999 constitution, it is legally possible for a Speaker or even a Senate President to emerge from an amalgam of minority parties, once the candidate can muster the required support of the majority of members of the relevant house to vote him or her into the leadership

‘

E-mail:- law@thenationonlineng.net

Exit of Mukhtar: Lawyers urge Mahmud to sustain reforms Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar will retire on November 20 as the Chief Justice of Nigeria after 28 months. As the Constitution demands, the National Judicial Council (NJC) has sent the name of the most senior justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, to the President for appointment as the CJN. ERIC IKHILAE examines Justice Mukhtar’s tenure and seeks lawyers’ opinion on what should be expected from her successor.

SEE PAGE 26

Inside:

Mukhtar

NESREA, others advocate enforcement of environmental laws Page 27

‘Why CJN should not head NJC’ Page 38

Executive versus Legislative Impunity Page 39

See page 38

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

26

LAW COVER CONT’D

S

HE left no one in doubt as to what her mission was. During one of the rituals preceding her appointment in July, 2012, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mukhtar had, before the Senate, confirmed the general view that the judiciary stank. She, however, assured of her determination to reverse the state of affairs.

Justice Mukhtar said: “On the perception of the judiciary by the public, indeed, as it is as at now, it is very bad and I am saddened by it.

I will try as much as possible to ensure that the bad eggs that are there are flushed out.”

This statement made before the Senate by Justice Mukhtar, the 14th CJN and first woman to occupy the office, did not only serve as her covenant with the people, it became the standard for which many measured her 28-month tenure.

Prior to her appointment, public confidence in the judiciary had dwindled considerably.

Justice was a commodity that was freely traded and happily sold to the highest bidder.

There is a general belief that efforts have been made to cleanse the rot that was the signature of the judiciary before July 16, 2012.

True to her pledge to rid the judiciary of bad eggs, Justice Mukhtar went about it diligently. So far, about 11 judges were affected, with some being eased out of office and others issued queries. The effort was not limited to the judges as some administrative staff were also penalised for misconduct.

The National Judicial Council (NJC), a body which she heads, held an emergency meeting on February 21, last year, to review pending cases of misconduct against some judges, after which two were recommended for compulsory retirement. They are Justice Charles Archibong of the Federal High Court and Justice Thomas Naron of the Plateau State High Court.

The council also cautioned Justice Okechukwu Okeke, who has retired from the Federal High Court. Justice Mohammed Talba of the Federal Capital Territory High Court was suspended for 12 months for wrongly exercising judicial discretion. To avoid being fired, the Chief Judge of the same court, Justice Lawal Hassan Gummi, opted to resign instead of waiting for the outcome of investigation of the allegations of misconduct levelled against him.

Despite his smart move, the NJC, after its 63rd meeting, announced on July 18, last year, that it found Gummi guilty of “gross misconduct”.

On February 27, the NJC announced its recommendation to President Goodluck Jonathan, the compulsory retirement of Justices Gladys Olotu of the Federal High Court, Abuja and Ufot Inyang of the Abuja High Court for “gross misconduct.” The NJC directed their immediate suspension from office, which was accepted by the President.

The council also warned three others — former Acting Court of Appeal President Justice Dalhatu Adamu, Justice A. A. Adeleye of the Ekiti State High Court and Justice D. O. Amaechina of the Anambra State High Court — for low productivity.

In March, the NJC suspended former President of the Rivers State’s Customary Court of Appeal Justice Peter Agumagu over his controversial appointment as the Chief Judge

by Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

Justices Gummi, Olotu and Agumagu are challenging NJC’s decisions.

On July 1, last year, the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), headed by the CJN, announced the dismissal of five Supreme Court workers and a Court of Appeal, Abuja Division worker for their involvement in the leakage of a judgment in the case of Senator Alphonsus Uba Igbeke Vs Lady Margery Okadigbo and three others marked SC 179/2012.

The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) under Mukhtar has had cause to move against some Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) for allegedly engaging in unethical conduct. It once withdrew the rank given to Ajibola Aribisala, but restored it about a month ago. Another SAN, B. Badejo, was cautioned by the committee.

The CJN, who will bow out on November 20, ensured discipline and commitment by officials through the Judicial Performance Evaluation designed to weed out incompetent and indolent judges from the Bench.

To prevent judges from embarking on foreign trips at the expense of their judicial duties, she directed that no judge should travel out of the country without her written permission, while judges cannot leave their stations without the authorisation of the appropriate heads of courts. She also directed that courts must resume by 9am to save time.

The NJC, under her leadership, has also warned judges to stop compromising themselves by issuing frivolous orders.

ures are put in place to institutionalise the reforms.”

The World Justice Project (WJP), a group working to advance the rule of law globally, scored Nigeria high only in civil justice among the nine factors it studied in its report recently released. The Washington, United Statesbased WJP accessed the 99 countries studied on compliance with the rule law and in its “2014 Rule of Law Index” report awarded Nigeria a pass mark only in Civil Justice.

A British magazine, Newsweek, named Justice Mukhtar as one of the ‘125 women of impact in the world’ in its April 8-15, 2013 edition.

Enters a successor

•Daudu

•Falana

Exit of Mukhtar: Lawyers urge Mahmud to sustain reforms Criticisms It has not always been positive for the retiring CJN as some of her utterances and actions had, in some instances, attracted criticisms.

One of such was her claim that senior lawyers, who represent judges on trial before the NJC, were as guilty as the judges.

The CJN had on July 7, while speaking at a conference organised in Abuja by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said: “We receive petitions and we have always tried to hear from both sides. But most times many affected judges complain that they are not given fair hearing. Some will come with as many as six SANs. Those SANs, who go with them, are equally guilty. There was one (a judge) that came with about six SANs, which showed they are working in tandem.”

Many, however, disagreed with the CJN on her position, arguing that anybody accused of committing a crime was entitled to legal representation within the concept of fair hearing. They argued that it was wrong for the nation’s most senior judicial officer to have made such conclusive statement when the lawyers, who defend judges, were only performing their professional responsibilities.

The impasse created by the disagreement between the NJC and the River State’s political leadership over the choice of a Chief Judge did not go down well with those sympathetic to Amaechi.

They argued that it was wrong for the NJC to insist on its recommendation for the position.

For her alleged highhandedness, the retiring CJN came under attack recently from a former NBA President, Joseph Daudu (SAN), who faulted her directive that judges most not travel abroad without permission. Acting under his group, the Rule of Law Foundation, Daudu queried the legitimacy of the power of control being exercised over other courts by the CJN. The suspension of the Chief Registrar of the

High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mrs. Oluwatoyin Musa Yahaya, over alleged irregularities in the discharge of her functions, also attracted controversies among stakeholders in the sector.

Endorsements Despite the criticims, former Court of Appeal President Justice Mustapha Akanbi, Daudu, rights activist Femi Falana (SAN), among others, praised Justice Mukhtar’s reform initiatives.

Justice Akanbi said: “Corruption, talking frankly, is endemic. It has gone to a level that it has affected the judiciary. There was a time you would never talk anything against the judiciary. I am glad to say this is a great moment when Maryam Aloma Muktar, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, is doing quite a lot in fighting the menace. We should support her in fighting the battle to see that we get a better Nigeria.

“I know Muktar, she served under me. She is a courageous woman and a core professional with high integrity and commitment to uprightness and justice. She is a person who abhors corruption and is determined to rid the country of corruption. Nigerians should support her in her efforts to sanitise the judiciary and rid Nigeria of corruption.”

Daudu admitted that Justice Muhktar’s tenure witnessed commendable strides in the fight against corruption.

He noted certain actions she took that were allegedly unconstitutional and which, if left unchecked, “will destroy the entire foundation on which the independence of the judiciary is erected.”

Falana, who praised the steps taken by the CJN in the realisation of her pledge to make a difference, said: “With the sanctions imposed on erring judges, a strong message has been sent that it is no longer business as usual. Even the corrupt cabal that took over the award of the rank of SAN has discovered that the game is up. She should ensure that effective meas-

‘

The delivery of effective civil justice also necessitates that court proceedings be conducted in a timely manner that is not subject to unreasonable delays, and that judgments are enforced effectively. The new CJN should take steps to ensure these

‘

All eyes are on the Taraba State-born Justice Mahmud Mohammed, whose name the NJC has sent to President Jonathan for appointment as Justice Mukhtar’s successor, being the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court.

Justice Mohammed, born on November 10, 1946 will be the 15th CJN and the first indigenously trained lawyer to rise to peak of the nation’s Judiciary. His predecessors were first called to the English Bar before the Nigerian Bar. A 1970 law graduate of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, he was called to Bar in 1971.

Although not officially appointed the CJN, Justice Mukhtar made him perform the duty of the head of the Supreme Court last April.

It was during a visit by delegation from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), led by its then Corps Marshal, Osita Chidoka, to the Supreme Court.

Justice Mohammed has equally been described as an individual, who says things as they are and is not afraid to take unpopular positions on issues once he is convinced that his position is right.

In a ruling on the Sokoto governorship dispute, he gave a dissenting opinion in the case marked: SC.32/2010 with Alhaji Muhammadu Maigari Dungyadi and Democratic People’s Party (as appellants) and INEC, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamako (as respondents).

While the majority decision of the five-man panel was that the Supreme court could entertain governorship election matters and proceeded to grant an order stopping the Court of Appeal, Sokoto division from giving judgment, Justice Mohammed dissented.

Agenda for new CJN Lawyers, including Falana, Professor Julius Chwkwuma and Dr Usman Abubakar, have urged him to surpass Justice Mukhtar’s record.

Prof Chukwuma said: “Already her (Justice Mukhtar’s) courageous posture has incited the ire of many who have not taken her counsel well. There is no doubt that the moment her tenure expires and she leaves, people who do not want her, will return to business as usual and thereby rubbished the gains obtained from her ethically professional management of the nation’s justice delievery system.

What we should do is to pray for a successor, who will continue the outgoing CJN’s good work.

“The new CJN must ensure that preventive measures are taken to reduce corrutpion and unethical conduct to the barest minimum. In this regard, there should be proper re-orientation of all the core staff, especially employees claiming ignorance of the code of conduct for Judiciary staff. This is to enable them understand the importance of their role as public servants.”

Abubakar suggetsed that in dealing with court officials and judges found wanting, the new CJN should not only ensure they are sacked, they should also be prosecuted and made to serve their terms of conviction.

“The new person should also monitor the judges more closely, for if judges are upright, it would check the activities of the other officers of the judiciary.

“He should also look at the WJP’s 2014 report where the criminal justice system has deficiencies (ranking 91st overall and second to last in the region), fundamental rights are poorly protected (ranking 88th overall), and a deteriorating security situation continues to raise significant concerns (ranking 2nd to last overall) Nigeria’s best performance is in the area of civil justice, where it ranks 52nd globally and 7th among its income peers.

“As contained in the report, I also believe that the delivery of effective civil justice requires that the system be accessible and affordable, as well as free of discrimination, corruption and improper influence by public officials. The delivery of effective civil justice also necessitates that court proceedings be conducted in a timely manner that is not subject to unreasonable delays, and that judgments are enforced effectively. The new CJN should take steps to ensure these,” Abubakar said.

27

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

NATIONAL BAR

Wanted: Climate justice A

PROFESSOR of Environmen tal Law at the Nigerian Insti tute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Lanre Fagbohun, has backed calls for a review of relevant laws to cater for victims of polution.

Fagbohun was part of the International Bar Association (IBA) 19man Task Force set up in 2012 to produce the book: Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption.

The book is a comprehensive review of relevant domestic and international laws on climate change and human rights.

“It draws on the weaknesses inherent in current domestic and international law to identify opportunities for reform by governments, UN bodies, the WTO, human rights tribunals, courts, corporations and individuals in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide justice to those most affected by climate change,” he said.

The publication, he said, is meant to sensitise lawyers on critical roles they can play towards achieving climate justice.

“Seldom can you see any major commercial project that will not have the imprint of lawyers in terms of defining the roles and obligations of the parties in the relationship. The implication of this is that the more conversant lawyers are with climate change – human rights issues, the better they will be able to advise their clients to ‘go green’” he said.

On how Nigeria can key into this

By John Austin Unachukwu

global agenda, Fagbohun said: “Nigeria is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. More than half of the population is dependent on agriculture or other climate sensitive sectors.

About 84.49 per cent lives on less that $2 a day. Nigeria was in 2012 ranked 130 out of 132 countries on environmental burden of disease in the 2012 Environmental Performance Index. Fossil fuel is the bedrock of Nigeria’s economy with attendant flaring of gas. In a rule of law index undertaken by the World Justice Project in 2011, Nigeria ranked 50th out of 66 countries in area of effective regulatory enforcement; and 59 th out of 66 countries in respect of lack of transparency and open government. I have made reference to all these to show that for Nigeria it is already a matter of survival.

“Directly and indirectly resulting from climate change, there are too many risks to safety and security. At the global level, the focus of discussion is on identification of the most vulnerable countries,” said Fagbohun.

The showcase session of the recent IBA conference in Tokyo, Japan, dwelled on the publication.

Speakers included Nobel Peace Prize-winner and former United States (US) Vice President, Al Gore; the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy on Climate Change Mary Robinson; the Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate Felipe

•Prof Fagbohun (left) and Hiroyuki Kanae.

Calderón; the International Law Commission Special Rapporteur for the ‘Protection of the Atmosphere’ Prof Shinya Murase; former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed and Fagbohun.

The 240-page book recommended specific law and corporate governance reforms to aid the prevention and mitigation of climate change impacts and to protect the human rights of vulnerable communities.

IBA President, Michael Reynolds also said while international activity has been extensive in the areas of scientific and economic mitigation, less has been said about the impact of climate change on human rights, and on the obligation of the international community to ensure that those in developing and less developed coun-

S

T

HE Court of Appeal in Abuja will on January 21 next year hear suit over a property dispute involving a former Nigerian Envoy to South Africa, Ambassador Shehu Malami and businessman, Sir Emeka Offor.

The dispute is over the ownership of a land in highbrow Asokoro, Abuja on which a Nigerian in Diaspora, Mr. Imokhuede Ohikhuare built two duplexes, but which Malami, claims ownership and claimed to have transferred to Offor.

F

By John Austin Unachukwu

ment agencies.

Federal High Court Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta said there should be massive and sustained programme for publicity and environmental awareness to facilitate the much needed attitudinal change and re-orientation.

In a comuniqué, the organisers called for special courts to handle environmental matters, synergy and collaboration among law enforcement and security agencies; It said legislations should be reviewed to accommodate stiffer penalties for environmental crimes in Nigeria.

It added that a regional judicial forum should be established in West Africa for the Anglophone judges, to promote environmental governance in the sub-region.

Director-General of NESREA, Dr. Ngeri S. Benebo said the media should publicise environmental law violations and enforcement actions.

The keynote address was delivered by Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, (SAN), represented by Mr. Bola

•Benabo

Odugbesan.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria was represented by Justice Samuel Walter Onnghen of the Supreme Court. Court of Appeal President was represented by Justice Abdulkadir Jega, while the Inspector General of Police was represented by a Commissioner of Police, Nwodibo Ekechukwu.

No fewer than 70 participants, including judges, representatives of the police, Department of State Security, Army, Office of National Security Adviser, the academia and the media were in attendance.

OR allegedly using deroga tory words against Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria Limited’s (MCSN) Mayo Ayilaran, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) boss, Tony Okoroji has been ordered to pay N25 million damages.

The order was contained in a judgment delivered by Justice Olubunmi Femi-Adeniyi of a Lagos High Court, Ikeja, in a case instituted by Ayilaran.

The court restrained COSON from further publishing defamatory materials against the claimant.

Okoroji, who is chairman, Board of Directors of COSON was also asked to pay N250,000 as costs , with interest on judgment sum set at 10 percent per annum from date of judgment.

In a writ of summons dated April 16, 2002, Ayilaran accused COSON boss of defaming his character and demanded N100 million as damages.

He claimed that Okoroji had in a letter dated December 4, 2001, addressed to Performing Rights Society Limited, United Kingdom with the heading: “PRS Activities in Nigeria: Serving the Interest of the Authors/Composers or Mayo

Appeal Court to hear suit over Abuja property

By Okusan Michael

A three-man panel of justices, Justice Abdulkadir Jega (presiding judge), Justice Joseph Tine Tur and Justice Mooren Adumein on October 22 acceded to a plea by Team of Counsel to the Appellant, Mr. Paul Erokoro (SAN), Mr S.I.Ameh (SAN) and Mr Femi Falana (SAN) to withdraw some applications they had before the court,

focus on only the big actions that appear critical for protection of the environment but with little real-world impact. The problem with this is that it ends up distracting us from the small ‘seemingly insignificant’ but real issues. Climate change is real.

Consequently, we should be very much concerned with what decisions we take either as customers or when we influence the decisions that are contributing to reducing or increasing ‘carbon foot print.

“As much as we seek commitment of political leadership at the national and international levels, we as individuals must also reflect on what part we are playing which is either positively or negatively contributing to the bigger picture,” Fagbohun added.

Defamation: court orders COSON boss to pay N25m damages

Stakeholders seek stiffer punishment for environmental crimes TAKEHOLDERS have called for stiffer punishment for en vironmental crimes.

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) said stricter enforcement of environmental laws is needed.

This, they said, would enhance the quality of life and protect the country from disastrous effects of environmental degradation.

They spoke during a workshop on the enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and standards for the judiciary and law enforcement agencies.

It was jointly organised by NESREA, Office of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court and UNEP. Minister of the Environment, Mrs. Luarentia M. Mallam, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Rabi Jimeta said the workshop was organised to strengthen the enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, standards and guidelines in Nigeria through sensitisation and retooling of the judiciary and other law enforce-

tries who are least responsible for human impact are not those who suffer the most from the resulting droughts, floods, and storms..

Fagbohun said Nigeria must put in place mechanisms that will allow vulnerable people to have a voice.

“In the area of mitigation strategies, there are several barriers facing Nigeria in the context of lack of technical and human capacities, strengthening political commitment and coordination among ministries and securing financing, among others. Unless we tackle these barriers, our efforts at design and implementation of mitigation programmes will not be effective,” he said.

On how individuals can contribute to global fight on climate change, he said: “Most times we

which recent developments in the matter made irrelevant.

Chief Udechukwu (SAN) lead counsel to Ambassador Malami and Sir Ofor, informed the court that he has already filed an appeal at the Supreme Court ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing of the matter.

Sir Offor claimed ownership of the property on the strength of an irrevocable power of attorney purportedly

given to him by Ambassador Malami.

In 2006, Ohikhuare, a businessman, bought the land in dispute for the sum of N50 million and built residential apartments valued at over N1 billion on it.

He was living with his family in the property until he was allegedly ejected with force, on the strength of a verdict by Judge A.S. Umar of the Abuja High Court.

By Precious Igbonwelundu

Ayilaran?” copied to the International Federation of Societies of Authors and Composers and the Nigerian Copyright Commission, described him as a dishonest, fraudulent, difficult, problematic and dissatisfied individual.

During trial, Okoroji did not deny authorship of the said letter, just as he alleged that Ayilaran had been operating an illegal society for many years, to which he was facing criminal charges.

Justice Femi-Adeniyi held that the language used in the letter in question appears to have been carefully measured and was not spoken in the heat of an argument or in the prelude to a fight.

“I find and hold that the words used therein which are disparaging of the claimant are not mere vulgar abuse but that they were used intentionally and with the motive to remove the claimant in favour with the recipients of the letter.

“The defendant has not been able to successfully give lawful justification for the words he has used in relation to the claimant in the said letter to remove him from liability and I so hold,” the court heard.

Ambassador Malami challenged the legality of the revocation of the Certificate of Occupancy issued to him on then Plot 865 (now Plot No. 1809) within Cadastral Zone A04) Asokoro, Abuja by the Minister of the FCT and the FCDA. At the trial court, Malami had claimed that the land was originally allotted to him in 1984, but was unlawfully revoked in October 2005 by the FCDA, which then assigned the same plot to Alhaji Mohammed Habib Aliyu, who eventually sold the land to Mr.Ohikhuare.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

28

NATIONAL BAR

2015: Lawyers seek justice for all

A

LL eyes are on the judiciary ahead of next year’s election. Will it do justice for all? This was the thrust of discussions at the fourth annual lecture Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abuja Branch.

Speaking on the theme: Electoral process and courts in Nigeria: The Implications on law and democracy, the guest speaker, a former Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) president Boma Ozobia, said although the judiciary has been working towards achieving a level-playing field in the political space, more is needed.

“The Nigerian Judiciary has done its best to entrench constitutionality, due process and rule of law. The missing link in my humble opinion is activism or a higher sense of social responsibility from the lawyers who prepare and advocate these cases before the judges,” she said.

The branch’s chairman Mr. U.M. Yamah, represented by the Vice-Chairman, Mrs, Ozioma Izuora filing processes in the court is rigorous.

He said an urgent solution is needed. “The deployment of the wide benefits of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can do everyone a lot of good both at the filing of processes and the documentation of court proceedings.

“May I suggest the need to adopt the use of online filing which the court is already prepared for and the introduction of stenographers to ease the burden on judges who presently still depend on the archaic long hand writings in court. This is no longer in tune with contemporary realities,” Yamah said.

The branch’s secretary and local organising committee chairman, Mr. Afam Okeke,

By John Austin Unachukwu

urged the Federal Government to give effect to the letters of the constitution and the judgment of the Federal High Court which granted financial autonomy to the judiciary.

“Of the three arms of government, the judiciary possesses the largest number of educated people. To be a high court judge, the minimum is that you must have graduated from the university, you must have gone to the Law School which is like having a Masters Degree and then you must have been in practice for at least about 10 years before being appointed to the bench. Whereas to be the President of Nigeria, you need evidence of attending Secondary School, it doesn’t even mean you passed, it is the same thing to be a legislator “So if the other arms could control their capital votes, then the judiciary should have been saddled with the responsibility of looking after the capital votes of the other two arms because of the level of the education of the people in the judiciary,” Okeke stated Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Director of Legal Services Mr. Ibrahim Bawa said some cross carpeting should have consequences.

“Any politician who cross carpets should lose some benefits. A legislator who cross carpets should lose his seat as a legislator. But a situation where politicians of the executive arm of government cross carpet and nothing happens to them, why should you single out the legislators for sanctioning?”

Chief Judge of FCT High Court, represented

by Justice U.I. Bello praised the branch for the lecture and said all hands must be on deck to achieve a just and equitable society.

•From left: Okeke, Mr. Patrick Emeka Ikedigwe, and Chairman Labour Party FCT chapter, Mr. Felix Ashimole

•From left: First NBA Assistant Secretary Olatunji Salawu, Second Vice-President Mr. Taiwo Taiwo and Mrs. Rita Chris-Garba

•From left: Mrs. Aisha Usore, Mrs Ozobia and Justice Bello

•Mahmud Abubakar (SAN) left and Dr. Garba Tetengi (SAN)

•From left: Justice Huseni Yusuf, Mrs Izuora and Justice D. G. Okenwoke of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.

•From left: Bawa, former Vice- Chairman NBA Abuja branch, Mr. E.C Ikeji and former Chairman NBA Abuja branch, Mr. Mela Nunghe.

Supreme Court urged to restore appeal against Mobil

T

HE Supreme Court has been urged to re store an appeal filed by the late Rev Dr. C. J. A. Uwemedimo and his company, Comandclem Nigeria Limited against a decision given in favour of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, by the Court of Appeal.

The request is contained in a reply affidavit filed by the appeallnts against an application by Mobil in the appeal numbered : SC 69/2011m The appellants, who clamed to be the true and statutory inventor of the Anti-Corrosive Special Paint for Q.I.T. (Transteel Blue, White Enamel) Q.A.D. with a Non-Convention Patent Certificate Number. RP 13522 of 5th August 1999 had been in court with Mobil since year 2000 in an effort to compel the oil company to pay royal-

From Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

ties for the usage of the invention.

On May 5 this year, the apex court, acting upon a purported notice of withdrawal, dismis the appeal by Uwemedimo and his company.

They submitted in their fresh affidavit, that the notice of withdrawal filed on March 24, 2011, which led to the dismissal of the appellants’ appeal was tainted with foul play, fraud and concealment to the lass and damages of the appellants.

They denied authorizing the filing of the notice of discontinuance. Said their former lawyer, Dr. Tony UUkam, who has also “washed his hands” from the notice, in a letter dated May 16,

2014 was not authorized to file the notice.

They added that a former official of the 2nd appellant, Comandclem, Monday Akpan, who had since been sacked from the company and who claimed to have knowledge of the notice, could not have acted legitimately on behalf of the company.

“It is therefore not a validly filed notice of withdrawal as to constitute an act within the implied authority of the former counsel to the appellants/applicants as counsel conducting the appeal. It is therefore within the province of this court to set aside its ruling made on May 5, 2014 dismissing the appellants/applicants appeal and restore the same in the interest of justice.”

They argued by virtue Order 8 Rule 6(5) of

the Supreme Court Rules 1985 (as amended), the court has the powers to set aside an order of dismissal made under Order 8 Rule 6(4) of the court’s Rules. They urged the court to exercise its discretion in favour of the appellants/applicants as it will enhance the doing of substantial justice in the case.

When the case came up on Monday, the court could not entertain any applications, including an oral application by Mobil’s lawyer, Eyimofe Atake (SAN) for an order striking out his client’s cross appeal.

A five-man panel presided over by Justice Mahmud Mohammed directed that names of parties in the case be amended to reflect the fact that the first appellant was dead.

Newspaper of the Year

AN 8-PAGE PULLOUT ON NORTHERN STATES TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

PAGE 29

Orphanage celebrates growth at anniversary •PAGE 30

Fed Govt, Kwara hail new mill •PAGE 31

•Some displaced Gwoza residents

Kingdom without its king

A council chief’s scorecard in Benue •PAGE 32

Gwoza once enchanted its residents with a scenic rocky landscape, prestigious mobile police training school and revered monarchy. Now, this kingdom in Borno State has been seized by Boko Haram insurgents who have turned it into their caliphate headquarters, its monarch sheltering far away from his throne. DUKU JOEL reports

A

BLACK flag now flies over the town. Its people feel assaulted, conquered and having lost all. Until the Nigerian military reclaims Gwoza, that feeling will persist.

The town was until August 6th, a part of Borno State, submitting to the Nigerian constitution. But on that day Abubakar Shekau, leader of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents declared the town the administrative headquarters of his Islamic caliphate.

The people’s fondness for their rocks has been cut off. The impressive Nigeria Mobile Police Training School located in their community has been taken over by the invaders while a new Emir chosen by Boko Haram has been installed.

Gwoza Emir, Mustapha Idrissa Timta ran away when he was informed that the insurgents were approaching his domain.

He ascended the throne after gunnmen ambushed and killed his father, Idrissa Timta who was the

‘I am calling on the President of this country, Goodluck Jonathan, to fulfil the promise he made to me in Abuja that he will ensure that he takes back Gwoza from the hands of Boko Haram so that my people will go back to their abode’ Emir. Timta and three other Emirs were travelling in a convoy along Tashan Alade in Biu Local Government of Borno State on their way to

Gombe to attend the burial of the late Emir of Gombe Shehu Abubakar when their assailants killed them.

The death of his father did not stop

the travails of the town as their woes merely continued. In one of the attacks on his kingdom, the young Emir escaped by the whiskers and went into hiding. For several days, the Mandara hills became his home before he was rescued and brought to Maiduguri where he has been sheltering.

Mustapha Timta’s sojourn in Maiduguri away from his people has left him just as shattered as his subjects. He is fed up with life in forced exile.

His greatest prayer is for the Nigerian government and President Goodluck Jonathan to recover his kingdom from the hands of the insurgents and return him to his throne.

Mustapha Timta also wants the military to step up and sustain operations against the insurgents.

Unfortunately, the embattled traditional ruler never really had time to enjoy what it takes traditional ruler as he had to flee for his life only •Continued on page 30

Giving love to inmates’ children •PAGE 33

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

30

THE NORTH REPORT

O

PERATORS of an orphanage in Kaduna State have expressed happiness that a school has been incorporated into the facility to educate the inmates.

The orphanage named Mercy Home Orphanage, Maternity and Vocation Centre was commissioned in October 2000 by a representative of the then First Lady, the late Mrs. Stella Obasanjo. However, as the home grew with more orphaned children being admitted, the need to provide them with some education became apparent and the owners were compelled by circumstances to set up a school for the orphaned children.

With only one teacher in 2004 when the primary school started, the Mercy Home Primary and Secondary School now has over 200 pupils in the primary section and about 72 others in the secondary, with over 20 teachers.

All this was revealed at the 10th anniversary of the facility.

Founder and President of Mercy Home Orphanage, Rev. Tunde Bolanta said at the event that the need to establish the school became overwhelming when the church he pastors began to pay heavily to send the children to school.

Apart from the orphans from the home who are regular pupils in the primary and secondary school, children from the immediate Romi community whose parents cannot afford to send to school are accommodated in the school with support from well-meaning individuals.

At the anniversary celebrations, Rev. Bolanta expressed appreciation to parents of the children from the community “for having faith in us to do the work we are doing here”.

Speaking further, he said: “When we started the orphanage, it became a challenge because we were paying a lot of fees outside. The Lord spoke to me to have our own place here. At that time, we had no money for the project and we didn’t know where the money would come from. I asked the boys working with us to start digging the foundation.

“One of the questions I was asked was where the blocks would come from. I was sitting under the tree while the boys were digging when one woman came and saw us digging the foundation and asked what we were doing. I told her we were trying to build a block of classrooms for our kids and she gave us 4000 blocks.

“From there, others started joining and contributing to the project and the school is a success story today.”

•Rev. Bolanta and others cutting the 10th anniversary cake

Orphanage celebrates growth at anniversary From Tony Akowe

He said further that at the beginning, the school had 86 children on scholarship, 46 of whom from the orphanage home, while the others were from the immediate community.

He explained that from a modest beginning with the primary school, the home had to build a secondary school which has started graduating the pupils. The secondary school has found itself squashed inside its small premises, which it shares with the primary school, hence the need to build a separate more classrooms for the secondary school.

He stressed: “We are trusting God to build a two-storey building which will serve as the secondary school block. We are trusting God to touch people to donate to the project.

“Christian education is very important. We have many people who went to school in this nation, but not all have wisdom. I believe that

‘We had no money for the project and we didn’t know where the money would come from. I asked the boys working with us to start digging the foundation. One of the questions I was asked was where the blocks would come from. I was sitting under the tree while the boys were digging when one woman came and saw us digging the foundation and asked what we were doing. I told her we were trying to build a block of classrooms for our kids and she gave us 4000 blocks. From there, others started joining and contributing to the project and the school is a success story today’ these children are the future of Nigeria and I believe that as they grow, they will be good ambassadors of Nigeria”.

Proprietor of the school and wife of the founder of the home, Pastor Tina Bolanta described the day as a very special one, saying, “Mercy Home Primary School started 10

years ago with the principal as the only teacher in all the classes. With all her hard work and dedication,

Kingdom without its king

we started with children from the orphanage and grew till we now have over 200 children and 72 in the secondary school. We thank God for his faithfulness. It is by God’s grace that we have come this far. However, as we celebrate, let us reflect on God faithfulness this past 10 years. Appreciate t.he sacrifice and to teach the children. Some of you have taken it as a sacrifice to teach the children and pray that God blesses you. As you invest in their life, we pray that God will bless you. As you make the sacrifice, God will take care of your personal needs”.

Part of events marking the 10th anniversary of the school was the foundation laying ceremony of the two story secondary school block by the President of Mercy Home Orphanage, Rev. Tunde Bolanta.

•Continued from page 29

•Mercy Home kids thrill the crowd on anniversary day

a few days after he succeeded his father.

He said he was at the Presidential Villa earlier when his domain fell to the insurgents and was able to extract a promise from the President to recover the town. He wants the President to live up to that promise.

He said: “I am calling on the president of this country Goodluck Jonathan to fulfil the promise he made to me in Abuja that he will ensure that he takes back Gwoza from the hands of Boko Haram so that my people will go back to their abode”.

The people of the community are today scattered all over, with some of them making the mountains their home. Several others remain unaccounted for. Those who could not run for their lives are living in Gwoza but in fear and hardship. His lamentation is that his people are experiencing serious hardship in different locations in the country.

“It is unfortunate that I have been disconnected with many of my people who are suffering in different parts of the country. I feel so sad that I cannot reach out to them. I wish

•His Highness, Mustapha Idrissa Timta to appeal to the Federal Government to come to the aid of our people. As I am talking to you, many of them are trapped in Cameroon and many others are taking refuge in various places here in Nigeria. We appreciate the efforts of both the Federal Government and the Borno State government but a lot need to be done so that our people would go back home,” the Emir said.

He called on his people to thank God for being alive and to continue praying for peace to return. But it is obvious that with the renaming of Gwoza as Darul Hikma (house of wisdom) by the Boko Haram insurgents, the hope of His Royal Highness Mustapha Idrissa Timta of returning back to his kingdom is obvious not in the near future.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

31

THE NORTH REPORT

•Staffof NDIC, the Rehabilitation Centre and Some of the physically challenge inmates of the centre pose for photograph

T

HE challenges at the centre are typical of the care-giving sector. The idea is noble: providing care and hope to the needy, but such centres often find themselves in dire need of charity from the larger society. Such is the plight of the Amoyo Rehabilitation Centre on the outskirts of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, but help has come its way.

The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) donated a block of kitchens to the centre.

Also, items worth thousands of naira were presented to the over three-decade-old facility. That should bring some relief.

In a remark during the donation, the Managing Director of NDIC, Umaru Ibrahim urged public-spirited Nigerians and philanthropists to come to the aid of the less-privileged

Succour for Kwara rehab centre

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

and persons living with disability across the country.

Mr. Ibrahim, represented by the corporation’s Director, Insurance and Surveillance, Mr. Zaccheus Anate, said that the gesture is part of the organisation’s social responsibility in marking the 25th anniversary of the corporation.

The MD said the NDIC decided to support its Ilorin zonal office to upgrade the status of the rehabilitation centre by giving it a befitting kitchen as well as food items for the upkeep of the inmates.

Earlier, Ilorin zonal Controller, Ferdinand M. Jego said that the zone has in the last two years, donated food items and essential materials to the center on a monthly basis.

“We decided to make this year’s donation formal as part of activities to mark the corporation’s silver jubilee celebration.

Jego added that the decision to employ a mender and cook, who is on the payroll of the zonal staff, was informed by the request put forward by the management of the center.

He also urged faith-based organisations, philanthropists and others to make it a duty to visit such

centres to know what they need, adding that government alone cannot do the job of taking care of the less privileged in the society.

Also speaking, Director, Rehabilitation, Kwara state Ministry of Social Development Mr Olarewaju Ajani thanked the corporation for its gesture, promising to make the maximum use of all items donated to the centre adding that this will in no little way motivate other companies around in coming to the aid of the less privileged in the society.

Olarewaju recalled the history of the centre, saying that the idea for the building of the centre was conceived by some medical youth

Fed Govt, Kwara hail new mill

‘Anyone in the country who is creating thousands of jobs is a hero.

This company, Kamwire Industries Ltd today creates more than 3,000 jobs. It is a sector that is the backbone of any economic or industrial development in any nation’

G

OVERNMENT efforts at generating employment for the people appear to be yielding dividends in Kwara State as a multi-billion naira rolling mill has been inaugurated in Ilorin, the state capital. The company which is expected to produce iron rods, nails and roofing sheets, among others, was unveiled by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga who described the owners of the company as heroes.

The Minister said: “Anyone in the country who is creating thousands of jobs is a hero. This company, Kamwire Industries Ltd today creates directly more than 3,000 jobs…It is a sector that is the backbone of any economic or industrial development in any nation. So this sector is a big sector and we have our own Nigeria leading that sector; our job as a government is to make sure that it succeeds. We are to create the enabling environment for the private sector to drive the economy.

“That is what we have done so far, and we need to do a little bit more...When you have crude oil and you export it, they pay you for that crude. But let us say they pay you $100 per barrel. You get that money and you are happy that you have gotten money; they take your crude oil, process it, create jobs in their economy; they add value to it and sell it back to you, and you take that $100 and more to buy that. How rich are

corpers in 1981.

He further stated that but for their initiative, such a center did not occur to government as at that time.

He said that the gesture is putting the name of the corporation and that of the initiators in the sand of time “because it takes a godly person to extend such to the less privileged in the society.”

The Principal of the school, Alhaji A. B. Idris who was visibly happy at the gesture of NDIC showered prayers on all members of the corporation present, adding that he was sure in his spirit that God is happy with people who put smiles on the faces of other.

From left: Former Minister of Industry and ex-President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Kola Jinadu; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga and Managing Director, KAM Industries Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Kamaldeen Yusuf at the event From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

you as a nation?”

Aganga who was full of praise for the initiative, said, “when you have a different structure in the country where you still sell it at $100 per barrel to an investor in this country, you sell it to that company and still make that money, that company processes it in this country, they create jobs in this country, they pay people

their salary and factory people, the company pays corporate tax to the government; that is two other sources to revenue; they sell their products and above all, they sell it to the Nigerian people.

“That is what makes sense and that is what makes economy grow. That is why we came with the industrial revolution. The good thing about this Kamwire is that it is also connected to SMES and creating jobs for other

people, making its products to become raw materials for other industries and also creating job in those industries. He was telling me that he will supply raw materials to about 17 industries and more.

“That is what tells me why it is so important. By the time we get to that level that we are going, we will be saving about $15bn per annum. I think your first phase, looking back is a project that will

at least save us $4bn in our foreign reserves annually. And then you look at what it will cost us in the next 10 years, it will be $15bn.

We will not be able to afford it as a nation and it will become a balance of payment deficit. That is why we came with the industrial revolution plan”.

The minister stressed that despite Nigeria having about two million metric tons of iron ore reserves it spends $3.3 billion annually importing steel and iron into the country. He disclosed that the country has the second largest iron ore deposits in Africa •Continued on page 32

32

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

THE NORTH REPORT

•A transformer she provided

O

F the 23 council chiefs in Benue State, that of Okpokwu, Hon. Juliana Obeta is clearly giving a good account of herself. Obeta, one of the two women who chair the third tier of the state government in the Benue South senatorial zone, beat all other contestants to clinch the Nigeria Union of Journalists’ “Best Local Government Chairman in Infrastructure“ award.

She is said to have committed huge funds into infrastructure: roads, culverts, schools, electricity and health care delivery.

Since she assumed duty two years ago, Hon Obeta concentrated on opening up access roads in the hinterland and installing more transformers to make life more meaningful for the residents and check a drift to urban areas.

She told The Nation that she channelled her energy into connecting every settlement and vil-

•A clinic

A council chief’s scorecard in Benue From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

lages in Okpokwu Local Government Area to public power supply because it is a sure way of creating employment, using small - and media-scale industries.

Apart from electricity, Mrs Obeta, a recipient of many awards, said that she attaches great importance to the health of his people.

Within two years of her administration, she built new clinics and upgraded others in every council ward in her council.

To boost food production, farmers were given loans and fertilisers free of charge.

While most of the local government councils grappled with payment of salaries in the state,

‘Within two years of her administration, she built new clinics and upgraded others in every council ward in her council. To boost food production, farmers were given loans and fertilisers free of charge’ in Okpokwu, under Obeta, all salary arrears have been paid, with the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) giving her a clean bill

of health with a vote of confidence.

Some politicians were said to have tried to cause disaffection between her and the state legis-

Fed Govt, Kwara hail new mill

•Continued from page 31

and 12th largest in the world, adding that the way things are today, the country might end up spending $15 billion every year to import steel. He said that the President “has already set up a committee about how we can make sure that our industries especially in the real sector have access to affordable finance and the Bank of Industry is going to play a major role.

We spend $3.3bn every year importing those items. In the next decade because of the way we are growing that $3.3bn will become $15bn. Today we have about minimum of $14bn committed to the petrochemical sector where its spread as I have just described to you; hopefully will be gained by 2017 or 2018, where we will be self sufficient and we would no longer need to import petroleum products in this country. Any country that relies entirely on exporting raw materials without having a strong industrial and related services sector will remain poor.

We have made a mistake as a nation for decades thinking we are a rich nation exporting crude oil, thinking we have money. But we do not have money. I happened to be your former finance minister, so I know. We may have

‘The state government is in the process of setting up an industrial cluster where small companies that can provide services and inputs to the bigger companies like Kam Industries will be located. We are hereby seeking the Federal Government support in the setting up of the industrial cluster’ that competitive advantage but what makes us different is what you do with that competitive advantage. We are working on infrastructure and power already, with a lot of commitments going into the power sector. We are working on it and we would get there. It takes three years or there about from where you start.”

Kwara State Commissioner for

Industry and Solid Minerals Development, Alhaji Aliyu Lade, said the industries had impacted positively on the lives of many Kwarans in the area of job provision. He added that the industries had also contributed enormously on the state’s economic growth and development. The commissioner said “all these have been made possible through

the frantic efforts of the present administration’s various positive industrial policies that created an enabling environment for the industries to thrive. Among the essential ingredients for industrial development by the state government is the 33KVA power sub-station at the Ganmo from which the Kam Industries have a dedicated line. We are all aware that electricity is one of the major components that is required by industrialists. The sub-station at Ganmo was put in place to boost electricity supply to industrialists in the state.

In addition, the state government is in the process of setting up an industrial cluster where small companies that can provide services and inputs to the bigger companies like Kam Industries will be located. We are hereby seeking the Federal Government support in the setting up of the industrial cluster in the state.”

Deputy Managing Director of the company, Alhaja Mariam B. Yusuf listed insecurity, unstable foreign currency earnings due to a monolithic economy, harsh political environment, force majeure and national comparative disadvantages as some of the challenges militating against smooth industrial operations in the country. She said: “We on our part

lature, but that did not hurt her relationship with the local lawmakers.

She told The Nation that her achievements in office have been made possible with the support of the local legislature.

Her modest achievements are said to have surpassed all the council chairmen in office. This probably inspired the council residents to request that Governor Gabriel Suswam reappoint her as caretaker chairman of the council pending elections.

She said that her success story in office is as a result of prudent application of resources,. With the drop in federation account accruals, she has embarked on a comprehensive internal revenue generation. have been grappling with these challenges particularly those peculiar to industry, astronomical and injurious interest rate, dearth of technical skills, inadequate energy supply and inadequate transportation network etc. We are determined to take the risks and forcefully revolutionise industrialization in our country Nigeria.”

While saying that the cold steel rolling mill complex is the third in the country in terms of age, she but first of its kind in terms of machinery configurations and quality. She said “Cold steel rolling mill is the centre hook chain, holding together the upstream and downstream of steel industry.

The complex comprises of HR slitting line, push-pull pickling line, cold rolling mill, trimming and rewinding line. Others are continuous galvanizing lines, colour coating, cut to length and profiling lines and many ancillary support machinery and service centres.

The existence of the mill in the state has created employment opportunities and satellite investment opportunities for downstream companies to use the cold rolled sheets of the required gauge to produce products like galvanized roofing sheets, pipes, shovels, trowels, head pans etc.

With a little addition of equipment, we can produce vehicle panel bodies here in Nigeria and a host of raw materials for many companies.”

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

Website: http://www.thenationonlineng.com

Page 33

•Some of the children at the event

F

Giving love to inmates’ kids

OR no fault of theirs, they find themselves behind bars, alongside their mothers. Children born to prison inmates often have certain basic rights and comforts cut off simply by their circumstances.

Organisations such as the Victorine Home for Children were established to restore some of those abridged rights such as right to proper care and education, among others.

It is three years now since the Victorine Home has been nurturing children born to people behind bars and other needy kids.

Their third Annual General Meeting of the organisation attracted many philanthropists who are equally committed to the welfare of the less-privileged.

And it was just as well that at the AGM, more help came for the children whose mothers are prisoners or dead or facing one challenge or another.

The Victorine Home was established in 2012 by selected individuals to cater for the less privilege children. Some of its members are catholic worshippers.

Those whose mothers are incapacitated were not left out.

Women who were convicted while in pregnancy also had their children picked up.

When a woman is sentenced to

From Olugbenga Adanikin

prison, the innocent child sadly partakes in the punishment, and are thus denied good motherly care. Those who also put to bed while serving jail term easily get attention of the Home. It was all a mission to care.

A visit to the home revealed that the children were as little as two years old. Some could hardly talk while others were excited to welcome the unexpected strangers.

They were furnished with all manners of gift. Already, the kids had different toys either purchased by the management or presented by humanitarians. So they enjoyed their day largely dependent on good Samaritans.

The 2014 winner of Miss Aso, Ogenna Ekwubir, during her visit to the kids, shared her compassion alongside her team. She spent almost the entire evening playing with the less-privileged. They took pictures and had fun. The kids had another opportunity to play with an outsider. Their morale clearly was boosted having a considerable sense of belonging.

The expression on their faces told it all. Immediately they saw the goodies, they were filled with enthusiasm, jumping with full excitement.

Eventually, the kids were pre-

‘The mothers of these kids deserve to be assisted when they get their freedom. It is only when they have something doing that they will be able to cater for these kids. So it’s important other Nigerians show love to these kids. It is our hope that with our programme, their mothers would have better chance to take care of themselves and the children’ sented with food items such as bags of rice, garri, tubers of yam, groundnut oil and toiletries, among other consumables.

Ekwubiri narrated why she visited the home. She said it was her vision to help the needy at any opportunity, saying, it is part of her empowerment pet project. The beauty pageant disclosed that the mother of the children should have something to live on, upon gaining their freedom from the prison. People are moved to action based on different variables. But she expressed how she was emo-

tionally touched when she heard that the concerned children have their parents either in the prison or demised.

According to her, after the imprisoned mothers have been reintegrated into the society, her initiative would provide further assistance especially in terms of empowerment through agriculture. she said the initiative already got supports from development partners while other government institutions such as Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Office of the Senior

Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) “They deserve to be assisted when they get their freedom. It is only when they have something doing that they will be able to cater for these kids. So it’s important other Nigerians show love to these kids. It is our hope that with our programme, their mothers would have better chance to take care of themselves and the children. In fact, that is why we are partnering with the federal ministry of women and social development to further get to the grassroots.”

In a chat with Matron of the Home, Sr. Jovita Nkem Nzeduru, it was discovered 20 children had left the home to meet their parent while 14 others are currently under tutelage of the home. She said the children are mostly reintegrated back into the society after being offered the needed care. It was gathered that a child recently got scholarship in one of the private schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

President of the Victorine Home, Okechukwu Onyejuwa told Abuja Review activities of the home centred on children whose mothers are in prison. He said the •Continued on page 34

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

34

ABUJA REVIEW

P

RAYER has come up again as one veritable weapon

with which to defeat insurgents who have destabilised the Northeast of the country and continue to cause the nation’s leadership and the entire citizens much worry.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed called on Nigerians, especially religious leaders, to offer prayers so that the nation will overcome the daunting challenges posed by insecurity in some parts of the country and ensure continued peace and stability.

Senator Mohammed gave the advice while declaring open the National Executive Committee meeting of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Lugbe, Abuja.

Insurgents have caused much havoc in many parts of the country, especially the North, including the FCT. Their bombs have killed many, wrecked houses, worship centres and altered the economy of the North and the people’s lifestyle.

The Minister who was represented at the occasion by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr. John Chukwu recognised the importance and inestimable contributions of the Christian Association of Nigeria to the development and growth of Nigerian state through fervent prayers, useful suggestions and constructive advice.

His words: “It is against this backdrop that we expect CAN to, among other things, utilise the platform offered by this meeting for a sober reflection and mediation on the state of the sation”.

He said, “Nigeria needs your prayers to overcome the daunting challenges posed by insecurity in some parts of the country so as to ensure continued peace and stability.”

Mohammed reminded the religious leaders to also pray for Nigeria as the country is at the threshold of another political transition in a few months from now, adding that “your prayers and advice to ensure a peaceful electoral process are most needed at this moment”.

While remarking that religious organisations remain one of the most potent channels of

•A scene of the insurgents’ attack

Bala urges prayers against insurgency ‘We expect CAN to, among other things, utilise the platform offered by this meeting for a sober reflection and mediation on the state of the sation. Nigeria needs your prayers to overcome the daunting challenges posed by insecurity in some parts of the country so as to ensure continued peace and stability’ From Gbenga Omokhunu

sensitisation and mobilisation, he admonished CAN and other religious bodies to help in the sensitization of their faithful on the need to eschew violence and maintain a culture of peaceful coexistence.

The Minister assured that the FCT Administration on its part would continue to provide the required infrastructure and services to make Abuja a world-class city as envisaged by its founding fathers.

Speaking earlier, the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

said “what is happening in the North East is totally unacceptable to us”.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Chairman of the FCT CAN, Rev. Israel Akanji appreciated the FCT Administration, particularly the FCT Minister for his uncommon effort to raise the standard of living of the residents of the Territory.

The President of CAN, Vice President CAN, General Secretary, CAN, all directors of CAN, President of WOWICAN, President of YOWICAN as well as the Zonal Chairmen and Heads of various churches in the country attended the meeting.

•Senator Mohammed

Giving love to inmates’ kids •Continued from page 33 Home absorb children from the least age of one to about four years.

“When these women delivered while in prison, the children are

•Catholic Bishop of Bauchi Diocsese, Dr. Malachy John-Goltok (middle); Parish Priest, St. James Catholic Church, Gombe, Rev. Fr. John Keane (right) and Assistant Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Luka Markus (left) during a mass and confirmation of 104 Catholics at the church.

taken out of the prison and given best treatment the foundation can offer.”

“We cater for them, put them in school and later reunite them with the mother when they are released.

Some of them don’t even want to go back again because they are offered best treatment. The children don’t know religion; it cuts across religion and denominations,” he said.

Onyejuwa went further to explain how medical doctors showed their kindness by offering free medical care to the children. The same also applied to pharmacists and other medical officials. He narrated how the kids were made to experience what a normal child should enjoy while growing up. “They go to party. They attend church services, go to school and enjoy life just like every other kid. Perhaps that’s why they often feel reluctant to go back to their parent when necessary.”

It was eventually gartered during the AGM that the home made N2 million as income while N13.4 million was made in 2013 accounting year. Though, the entire income was not in cash but some were quantified at market value.

It had a physical cash of about N2.9 million in 2013 and made an overall running cost of N8.4 million for the year.

The home appealed to generous Nigerians to support the vision by transforming lives of the under privilege children in the home and country at large.

35

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

ABUJA REVIEW

•Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar (left); his wife and founder, Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), Titi Abubakar and chairman of the occasion, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Uwais at the public presentation of a book, Rethinking the Legal Framework for Right of Women and Girl-child in Nigeria held in Abuja

•Delta State governorship aspirant of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Godwin Ndudi Elumelu (middle) and his wife Ada during the submission of his nomination form for Delta State governorship election at the party headquarters in Abuja. With them is Deputy Speaker, House of Reps, Emeka Ihedioha.

•FCT Coordinator, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Mr. Obaro Ologbo (left); Senior Officer, NHIS, Mrs. Emelieze Abieyuwa and Assistant Manager, NHIS, Mrs. Anyim •Peoples Democratic Party leader, Chief Edwin Clark (right) PDP presidential aspirant, Dr Sussan Obiageli during the road show to sensitise the public on NHIS plans in Area 1, Jhalil Tafawa Balewa and Otunba Abimbola Davies at a press briefing to announce the withdrawal of Jhalil from the presidential race in Abuja PHOTOS: ABAYOMI FAYESE Abuja

I

NDIGENOUS people of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the auspices of Greater Gbagyi Development Initiative (GGDIN) have described the purported plan to relocate the original inhabitants of Abuja to a proposed permanent site in 2015 as unrealistic, unattainable and unacceptable.

In a statement signed by the President of GG-DIN, Prince Gbaiza Gimba, they reject in totality any such relocation as historically it has not worked and tantamount to dislocation, further impoverishment and deprivation of their people and that it shows clear and shear

Abuja residents reject mass relocation in 2015 From Gbenga Omokhunu

shallowness in the approach developed by the government in recent years to solving the artificial problem of how to deal with the original inhabitants of Abuja.

Gbaiza said they read with great shock the comment in the news by Senator Smart Adeyemi, Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, that original inhabitants of Abuja are to be relocated to their permanent site in

2015.

He said, “The purported plan to us is tantamount to further human rights abuses and does not in any way make provision for the livelihood of our people as it treats us as refugees and other unthinkable things. The plan to carry out wholesome or unwholesome relocation of the indigenous peoples of Abuja to the fictitious permanent site without any prior consultation or discussion on the matter is unacceptable and is genocidal.

“We have met with Senator Smart several times and believe in his sincerity, feelings and wishes for the indigenous peoples of the FCT. Our problem is with their praxis, with the poor intellectual and elitist solution for our predicament that was artificially imposed on us.

“We find exception to Senator Adeyemi’s remark that our people sell houses given to them. The socalled houses are a dislocation from our homes. They take our homes and

•National President, Road Safety Officers’ Wives Association (ROSOWA), Mrs Yemisi Oyeyemi (left); Presidentm, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Mr. Isaac Ademola; Deputy Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Charles Theophilus and pupils from various schools in the FCT during the FRSC and NSE child safety campaign in Abuja PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE

give us houses. They take our lands and give us nothing and compensate their bank accounts and those of their cronies.

“Why would we not sell those houses when we are artificially turned into destitute and there are no economic activities and sustainable system attached to the houses given to some of us? How do we feed our families? How do we send our children to schools and cater for their welfare. How do we cater for our children and women?

Where do we farm to continue our existence? How do we maintain our culture and tradition? Where is the economy in the so called relocation centres?”

Gbaiza said that the government should leave them alone where they are and provide them with development programmes that befits their status as original inhabitants and owners of the land FCT, saying that what is good for the Niger Deltans is good for the Abuja indigenes.

“We are not homeless and there is no justification for relocating us away from the center of development at the Federal Capital. If the statement credited to President Goodluck Jonathan that he wants to make us happy is true and sincere, he should leave us where we are to enjoy the development of the Federal Capital, rather than sending us on exile.

“We never asked for houses as we are not homeless neither are we destitute. We have homes, houses and accommodate others. We are asking for development. Relocation is not development but abuse of power and oppression as far as our people are concerned. We have cried for decades and government and political office holders have been deaf because they aggrandize for and covet our land.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

36

ABUJA REVIEW

M

ANY towns in the Northeast in the past few days have continued to fall to the violent Islamist sect, Boko Haram, including Adamawa State, the home state of the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh.

Boko Haram has not only captured Mubi in Adamawa State as at last Tuesday, but renamed it Madinatul Islam daring the Federal Government and the security agencies.

It even appealed to the fleeing residents to return home under its Islamic caliphate, promising to provide them with better security than the Federal Government.

The situation in Mubi is an example of the new trend in many areas of Adamawa State in particular and the Northeast in general.

One would have expected Badeh to immediately deploy from his arsenal and uproot the insurgents from his home state, to at least stop it from scoring a cheap point against the Federal Government and the state.

But he has declared that it was immaterial if he is homeless as long as he does not lose focus on securing Nigeria as a whole.

Speaking with State House correspondents last Tuesday Badeh said: “How can Nigeria be helpless?

If CDS loses his hometown, it is the same thing as losing Lagos. Any part of Nigeria that is lost, the CDS carries the weight.”

“It is immaterial whether it is my hometown, whether it is my house that is burnt or it is Emeka’s house that is burnt. Whoever’s house is burnt in Nigeria, the CDS is pained.” He said On the taking over of Badeh’s hometown, Adamawa State governor, James Ngilari said: “We shouldn’t reduce this issue of the insurgency to simply the taking over of the house of the Defence Chief. I think it is more than that.

We look up to God; God is there; there is nothing impossible for Him.” It is really hoped that every effort will be engaged now to stop the onslought of the insurgents once and for all.

Promotion in midst of storm The acting Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba rushed into muddy waters a forthnight ago when he ordered the withdrawal of the security aides of the Speaker of House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal.

The order from ‘above’ followed the defection of Tambuwal from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

T

Rendering Defence Chief homeless Many Nigerians have kicked against and faulted the action of Abba, who has occupied the position in acting capacity since the former IGP Mohammed Abubakar retired from service on 31st July 2014.

Stressing that his action was against the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, they went ahead to call for the sack of Abba from office over the act.

They felt that Abba will not be neutral in the affairs of state and may become a willing pawn in the hand of the Presidency, which they believed is a threat to democracy in Nigeria, especially as it moves towards 2015 general elections.

But rather than heed the call, the Police Council headed by President Goodluck Jonathan last Tuesday confirmed Abba as substantive Inspector General of Police.

Addressing State House correspondents at the end of the Police Council meeting, Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole said: “We reviewed his CV, his level of competence by those who have worked with him at one time or the order and the council was unanimous that the Acting IGP be confirmed as a substantive IG and the President was accordingly advised and the President accepted the advise and appointed Mallam

From the Villa

By Augustine Ehikioya Abba as the substantive IG of Police.”

According to him, the issues surrounding the call for Abba’s sack was not discussed in Council since the matter was already in court.

He said: “Well, I think the issue is not about the person of Mr. Abba. I think the issue you are refering to is the decision of the IGP to withdraw the security details of the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal. I’m not aware before then that anybody had issues, it is the decision of police which shocked many of us myself inclusive that has led to those sentiments.”

Abba on the issue, said: “Well, that

is a matter before the court and it is prejudice for me to comment on it.

I wouldn’t want to have any problem with the judiciary.”

Actualising States’ one per cent fund to police Despite the huge annual budgetary allocation to security agencies, funding has been identified as one of the major hurdle working against making the Nigerian Police Force a truly pfofessional body.

Training of its personnel and provision of equipment have been said to be grossly inadequate.

To boost the fortune of the force, the National Economic Council

(NEC), comprising of state governors, has long approved one percent to be deducted from states’ allocation for the police.

This, however, has ran into a hitch due to lack of appropriate regulatory framework.

Speaking on the issue at the end of the Police Council meeting last Tuesday, Kogi State governor, Idris Wada said: “A decision was made earlier by the National Economic Council that one percent of our statutory revenue allocations be reserved for the police. This started but has now been stopped because it was identified that certain regulatory steps need to be taken to formalise it for the funds to be properly appropriated.”

“It was decided that state assemblies need to pass a resolution authorising the deduction of the fund from the Federation account. Every state will approve the fund and it will be used under the control of governor and the state’s Security Council to buy equipment and provide support.”

The need to urgently put the necessary framework in place cannot be overemphasized to make the police a more professional body in the face of rising insecurity in the country.

Monarch makes case for health insurance

HE ongoing communitybased health insurance scheme in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has inspired a traditional ruler, the Agora of Zuba, Alhaji Mohammed Umar, to call for the immediate implementation of the plan in his community.

The monarch, who took it upon himself to invite the Director of FCT Area Councils Health Insurance Scheme (FAHIS), Dr. Grace Aganaba to his palace, said that there is the need for the scheme to be introduced in his community for the health benefit of his people.

According to Umar, receiving the presence of the Dr. Grace Aganaba and her team in his palace, was an indication that the FCT Health Insurance Scheme would commence immediately in Zuba, because, the people are in need of health care assistance from the

From Gbenga Omokhunu

government.

“Because, I have been hearing about this scheme from people and I have read about it in different newspapers, wandering when it will get to Zuba community. The last one I heard was on radio, when the team went for distribution of health insurance cards at Gwargwada community, that when I called the chief of Gwargwada to intimate me on how he got the scheme to his community.

“He gave me the director’s number, which I called her. But, I am not happy that the scheme went round my chiefdom without getting to my domain up until now.

As far the director of the scheme has come today, I am happy and I am willing to support it to the fullest for the benefit of my people.”

•An internally displaced person sitting with empty pots at a camp in Riyom Local Government Council, Plateau State.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

37

LAW & SOCIETY

Nigeria, justice and development A

T the international level there has been a growing shift in conversation on why justice and respect for rule of lawmust be included in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Since the Millennium Development Goals were first developed in 2000, over the last 14 years, it has dawnedupondevelopment partners and other relevant stakeholders that both justice and rule of law underpin not only security, but sustainable economic development as well.

As the MDG’s are coming to an end next year, we must look more seriously at why including justice in the Post 2015 Development Agenda is vital. For a country like Nigeria Africa’s “economic powerhouse”this move would represent a valuable step forward for justice, security, the economy and gender rights as a whole. But first it is important to take a look at the current state of affairs in the country, then see why the setting of new benchmarks with the Sustainable Development Goals could help improve the overall state of affairs in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s criminal justice system The criminal justice system in Nigeria today is one where ordinary people are not sure what justice holds for them, courtrooms and prisons are dilapidated and a vast majority of those in prison are awaiting trial. The search for justice is costly and often times not even worth the effort. With low manpower and poorly trained personnel in the judiciary and justice ministries, both civil and criminal cases suffer long adjournments. Most

times, litigants abandon their claims due to high costs occasioned by protracted period of litigation. The slow pace at which reform is being carried out in the criminal justice system ostensibly keeps access to justice far from the reach of the poor and downtrodden.

Police force mistrust Justice and security are interlinked and inseparable, andin Nigeria both are deeply ailing. There is a perpetual state of tension and anxiety across the nation – one which is exacerbated by the (often) uncontrolled use of state power, justice that is rarely assured and a police force that lacks public trust.The departmentthat isnormally charged with maintaining law and order, security and safety has lostpublic confidence throughgrowing concerns about the spate of corruption, bad leadership, ineffective or poor supervision and absence of clearly defined goals. For Nigeria’s common man, justice offers little more than an elusive ideal. The result is a society that either condones crimes committed against them or (most often) resorts to extra-legal means to ventilate their claims or grievances. This slow and (sometimes complete absence of) crimes investigation impairs the judiciary’s ability to dispense justice altogether.

Economic consequences The heightened atmosphere of insecurity bears negatively on Nigeria’s economy – it discourages potential investors and hinders economic growth. If Nigeria’s vast resources were maximally har-

By John Oziegbe

nessed in a regime where justice, human rights and rule of law prevailed, the country could reach new heights.

Enhancing the status of Nigerian women Moving towardsa post 2015 agenda, it has become increasingly obvious that a strong and deliberate intervention is needed to enhance the social, political and economic status of women in Nigeria. As in many other parts of Africa today, an estimated 70 per cent of those living in abject poverty in Nigeria are women (qualified as living off less than a dollar per day). In the public sphere, the figures are equally skewed - a meager seven percent of women are represented in the public sphere, occupyingpositions in parliament, the judiciary, executive arms of the government and various businesses. The “key problems”for Nigerian women living in a largely patriarchal society, remain unabated and are yet to be effectively addressed. Such problems include incessant domestic violence, rape and cultural barriers that hinder their growth and relevance. In addition to economic factors, the non-flexibility of socially ascribed gender roles further limits women’s access to power, education, training and productive resources. With 16 years of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria, experience has proven that women can immensely contribute to the country’s socio-economic and po-

litical development if liberated from current limiting cultural barriers.

Access to information

Historicallypublic governance in Nigeria has been bedeviled by a culture of secrecy, which hassurrounded all levels ofaccess to government information. For decades, State institutions hardly kept records because of lack of knowledge or their strong desire to maintain secrecy. More so that civil servants were protected by the Official Secrets Act and other laws from disclosing sensitive information.

Since the Freedom of Information Bill was passed into law in Nigeria, there has been palpable progress in the areas of public accountability and governance. But there is still a real lack of freedom of information, which has undoubtedlyimpaired Nigeria’s democratic process, impacting onits social and economic development. When information is stifled it impedes the possibility of ensuring inclusive participation in the governance process. With well-articulated targets and goals set to increase access to information, Nigeria stands a great chance to reduce corruption to its barest minimum, and enhance public accountability in governance which are the needed precursors for sustainable economic development.

Conclusion Access to justice and respect for rule of law in any given society underpins security and ensures a just society. It serves as a bedrock

on which all other social, economic and political activities thrive. Over the years, we somewhat ignored this perspective, but when we consider rule of law as a development goal it cannotbe neglected. To ignore justice and rule of law in any development plan in Nigeria is a recipe for failure.

That said, it is increasingly obvious that Nigeria can no longer sustain its development targets and goals in post 2015 if they are not hinged on justice and rule of law. Nigeria’s post 2015 Development Plan must rest on a foundation of justice, respect for rule of law and human rights, effective security and safety for all.

To do otherwise is like building a house of cards.

The time to set priorities for Post 2015 is here and the opportunity to place justice and rule of law at the heart of Nigeria’s development agenda must not be missed.

At the core of Nigeria’s empowerment, stability and development is justice and rule of law. In the next fifteen years, justice and rule of law shouldoccupy a distinct place in any proposed or adopted development agenda. If we exclude justice and rule of law, the consequences of such omission may be too heavy for us to bear. It may be extremely difficult to achieve respect for human dignity - particularly for the vulnerable. The time to act is now!

•Oziegbe, is Senior Partner with Partnership for Justice, a nonprofit organization of professionals who share a commitment to equality, justice and globalization of human rights standards and a consultant with OSIWA.

Braithwaite: ‘Bank’s property violates environmental law’

A

N expert witness in the case instituted by elder statesman, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite against Standard Chartered Bank has claimed that the bank’s 14-storey building violates environmental law.

Giving evidence before Justice Doris Okuwobi, Urban and Regional Planning Associate Professor, Tunji Adejumo said his submission was based on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted on the building situated in Victoria Island.

“A simulation of what the building would look like when completed showed that it would have negative environmental impact in its immediate surroundings, including the Braithwaite’s residence.

“The EIA did not follow the Federal Government of Nigeria’s EIA procedure, especially Section 4(b) of the Nigeria EIA Decree 86 of May 1992,” the court heard.

Adejumo told the court that the EIA showed that the building, with a projected 120 capacity car park will constitute health hazard to the residents in the claimant’s (Braithwaite) premises.

He said the car park will on daily ýbasis constitute noise and air pollution to the claimant as well as compound vehicular traffic in the neighbourhood.

While using visual illustration, Adejumo said the carbon monoxide from the cars and the three power generating plants sited in the building would lead to emission of gases hazardous to human health.

He told the court that the required quantity of sun expected to shine on the claimant’s resident would be inhibited, adding that the structure has no protective membrane against birds and human beings.

He argued that the dangerous gases, which will certainly mix up

By Precious Igbonwelundu

with South Western winds, from the simulation performed by his firm, will affect the claimant’s residence negatively.

According to the witness, the construction of the project did not follow best EIA practices as residents and other stakeholders were not consulted by the bank.

During cross examination, Adejumo claimed that the EIA document being shown by the bank did not follow the regulations set by the federal government, adding that it is below standard.

“The body responsible for approval of building permit in Lagos State is the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning, on the instruction and proper vetting of submitted Environmental Impact Assessment to the ministry of Environment or their agency called Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) to look at the submitted EIA”, he explained.

But defense lawyer, Adeniyi Adegbomire argued that the case ought not to have been entertained by the court.

•Braithwaite

•From left: Treasurer, Lawyers in the Media (LIM) Forum of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Jude Igbanoi; Publicity Secretary, Francis Famoroti; Managing Partner, Olisa Agbakoba & Associates, Mrs. Prescilla Ogwemoh; former NBA president Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), Welfare Officer Theodora Kio-Lawson and Chairman, John Austin Unachukwu during a courtesy visit on Agbakoba in his office.

Ondo quarry project faces legal hurdle

M

EMBERS of a prominent family in Ondo State are up in arms against an indigenous company over alleged trespass and destruction of their farmland and economic crops while clearing the site for crushing stone without mandatory agreement and compensation.

The head of the family and spokesman for the estate of late Pa Josiah Aderinola of Ipele in Owo Local Government area of Ondo State, Mr. Dapo Aderinola, said DIC Materials bulldozed and destroyed cocoa, cassava, orange trees, plantain and kola nut trees, among others, while clearing more than two acres of the family’s farmland at Ipele/Ifon Road.

Aderinola who holds the power of attorney with his brother, Olu Aderinola, said it would be wrong and excessive if a company in business for profit were to be allowed to ruin the family’s property and leave the owners empty handed.

In a letter dated August 25, the

family’s lawyer, Dr. Bode Ayorinde, principal partner at Bode Ayorinde Ayorinde & Co Legal Practioners, asked the company to stop further work on the site, pending a meeting with the representatives of his clients.

The company denied the charges and said it followed due process as it had signed a Community Development Agreement (CDA) and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Olupele of Ipele, in addition to a letter of consent for rock exploration and documentary evidence of compensation to the land owners and occupiers.

The company’s quarry manager, Engineer Balogun Ayodele also said in a letter dated October 15, that an unspecified “monetary compensation” was paid to “any farmer for his/her crop within the perimeter of the area where the explorer will explore/crush rock.”

But, in his reply dated November 4, Ayorinde said the company had confused the consent it required from the

government and the traditional ruler on the quarry site with that required from the Aderinola family as the owners of a piece of the surrounding land.

“Our client will not compete with HRH, the Olupele of Ipele or the Federal Government of Nigeria on their right and authority on the rock in question, which is legally classified as mineral deposit”, he said.

“However, no law in Nigeria has appropriated our client’s land to the traditional ruler or the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel. It is left to you to operate directly on the rock or find another piece of land to serve as your operational base” , he said.

“Our clients hereby deny ever receiving any monetary compensation from you before entering this land, and you are hereby put on the strictest proof ,” he added.

Ayorinde gave notice that the family may head for court to enforce its right if the company failed to comply with its demand within 14 days.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

38

DYNASTY He is following in the footstep of his octogenarian father who is a lawyer and a politician. Olumide Braithwaite is the eldest child of elder statesman, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite and has 22 years experience at the bar. In this interview, he told ADEBISI ONANUGA what it feels like to be the son of Dr. Braithwaite among other issues

‘Why CJN should not head NJC’

•Olumide

O

LUMIDE Braithwaite is the son of elder statesman and legal luminary, Dr. Tunji Braithwate. He has 22 years into the legal practice. Hence, his views on the happenings in the judiciary cannot be taken with a pinch of salt.

To him, the judiciary has serious constraints, while not much has changed. Taking Lagos as example, he said: “They are over burdened with the workload. This, for instance, is despite the governor of Lagos State’s introduction of new rules and procedures, front loading and all these rules and modifications that are designed to alleviate and fast track the dispensation of justice. However, in real terms, not much has changed.”

According to the young Braithwaite, corruption has remained a recurring decimal in the judiciary in spite of the efforts of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mukhtar to combat it. “The issue of corruption in the Judiciary, we hear about it regularly. Lagos State has some of the best lawyers and best judges.

We are all aware of the problems and we all have to join hands to find a way to clean the system as a constant exercise.”

Despite the efforts made by the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Aloma Mukhtar, who took up a crusade to rid the sector of the vice, since assumption of office two years ago, corruption is still a big problem within the nation’s judiciary. He, however, admitted that the CJN’s performance within the last two years has been reasonable. “I think she has done as much as was expected of her.”

Like any other key player in the judiciary, Olumide has his own idea of how to keep off the executive from interfering in the activities of the judiciary as experienced in the country of late.

To him, it is by having a strong independent judiciary. He sees the judiciary is as the buffer between the citizenry and the executive. He said this is very rife and very common in developed countries. He said: “When you have a very very strong judiciary, the executive dare not encroach. It is left to the judiciary, the judges to establish their impartiality, establish their independence. And only God will save us in Nigeria.”

He described as normal and constitutional, the fact that key appointments in the judiciary are subjected to the approval of the President in spite of the independence of the judiciary.

He reasoned that unless the constitution is changed, that would continue. He, however, agreed with the view that the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria be separated from that of chairmanship of the NJC, describing it as “a good suggestion. Those are the kind of changes that if you implemented, they would free the judiciary from the shackles that have held them down.”

Asked whether the judiciary would fare better and for judiciary to be truly independent if the office of the Attorney General, is made to be a career office, and that of Minister of Justice to be left for politicians, he said “there is some propriety and good rational for separating the two. Again it is separation of powers because if you invest too much power in one office, that office might be abused. That is a good suggestion provided it would ensure that the judiciary become more independent.

Like his father, Olumide has also made a foray into politics.

“I think I was born into it because when my

father, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, formed the Nigerian Advance Party (NAP) in those days, I was still very young. So right from childhood, I have been seeing my father in the crowd, people at meetings, rallies and all those things associated with politics. He was always in the media and meeting with people. Since I was young then, I couldn’t understand it much. But retrospectively speaking, it had an effect on me.

“Ten years ago, I was not interested in politics, but increasingly, I felt the need, compel and the duty towards people. I believe the elite class has a responsibility to the less fortunate because they are the ones that can effect the real change. They are the ones in position of power, of influence.

“In my own case, my personal conviction is borne out of the desire to serve, be relevant and to contribute one’s quota as it were. I see public office holders and at times, I feel convinced that they can do better.”

He explained that after 22 years of practice, he decided to go into politics to serve the people instead of sitting on the fence and be complaining.

“I have been practising law for 22years. So I am not leaving practice. The practice entails a lot of things. There is litigation, Commercial Law, Real Estate , there is opinion writing, foreign investment, oil and gas, there are all forms of due representation of clients.

Yes, I am comfortable but the politics I have in mind is a noble profession. By that, I mean that people of substance, people of pedigree, these are the people associated with politics.

You are not going there to steal. You are going there with a mandate to serve.

“I think I am also walking in my father’s footstep. He is a lawyer and a very successful one, far more successful than I am. He went into politics and contested against the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, Alhaji Shehu Shagari in the presidential election of this country when he was just 43. I am older than that and as a parent, you would always want what is good for your children. I am a Nigerian, even though I am widely travelled, there is only one place you can call home, and unless we join hands, we would just continue to complain, to com-

plain and complain.

On what he is offering the people of the Lagos Central Senatorial district a change from what has transpired before. “They say I am a youth. Anyone below 50, they complain.

But I am representing 65 per cent of Nigerian population who are the youth. They have a voice in me at the Senate. With my experience at the bar and the private sector, I believe I am more than qualified to be there. I am bringing a lot of vigour and energy, intellectual property. This is what I am offering.

Just as he made impact in the legal profession, he believed he would also make impact in politics if he becomes a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“As I said before, I am going to be very active. I intend to bring to fore novel ideas and changes. For example, Lagos State has always been a trail blazer in the present dispensation, mega city and all that. I believe I can do a lot more. Lagos deserves a whole lot more than what is presently being done.

I intend to lobby very hard for that.

“In my senatorial district, we have a lot of social problems, traffic management, accommodation, unemployment, unnecessary toll gate. Some of these issues, I intend to tackle when elected.

Though, the All Progressive Congress (APC) is the dominant party in Lagos, he believed his dreams would be better realised on the platform of the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“I believe that after 16 years of governance by the APC, the time for change has come.

There is a feeling in Lagos State that they are no longer stakeholders because a clique has taken over. Many people, Lagosians feel disenfranchised. Even non indigenes are complaining. I believe this election, people are going to vote en-masse for the personality, not necessarily on party basis because Nigerians are not cattles or sheep. They would be able to distinguish for themselves. I believe further that this elections, are for the PDP to lose rather than for the APC to win.

The state has been mismanaged despite the strides that have been made in their foremost years.

A lawyer, Stephen I. Azubuike, argues that there is no constitutional basis for the removal of House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal’s security aides

Withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security aides not justifiable T

HE office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is one constitutionally provided for under Section 50(1)(b) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), (hereinafter referred to as the “1999 Constitution”). It states that “there shall be a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall be elected by members of that House among themselves”.

The above implies that a Speaker of the Houseor his Deputy must first be an elected member of the House of Representatives.

It was on the above constitutional platform that Rt. Hon. AminuTambuwal assumed office as the Speaker of the House of Representatives after a hot contest with Hon. MulikatAdeola on June 4, 2011 when the 7th National Assembly was inaugurated. Both Tambuwal and Adeolaare members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Vacation of Office The 1999 Constitution under Section 50(2) provides for the circumstances under which a Speaker or his Deputy shall vacate Office – (a) Where he ceases to be a member of the Housewhile the House has not been dissolved; or (b) Where the House of which he was a member first sits after any dissolution; or (c) Where he is removed from Office by a two-thirds majority votes of members of the House.

Paragraph (a) above is to be read in conjunction with Section 68 (1) (a) – (h) of the Constitution which further provides circumstances under which a member of the House shall vacate his seat. Section 68(1) applies to a Speaker on the ground that, as we had earlier seen, a Speaker must in the first place be a member of the House. More so, we have seen that a Speaker

loses his seat as a Speaker if he loses his seat as a member of the House.

Going by Sections 50(2) and 68(1), especially 68(1)(g), the question now is whether Rt. Hon. Tambuwal is bound to vacate his Office as the Speaker of the House in view of his defection to All Progressives Congress (APC) from the PDP. It is submitted that by virtue of the proviso to Section 68(1)(g), a defecting member of the House (like Tambuwal) shall not lose his membership if he proves that the reason for his defection (to APC) is the existence of some division in his former political party (PDP) or if PDP merges with any other party.

Security aides It is common knowledge that senior government officials like the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House, State Governors, etc deserve, by virtue of their Offices, reasonable protection. It is for this reason that the State Security Service (SSS) was established as one of the National Security Agencies under the National Security Agencies Act Cap. N74 LFN 2010. The SSS is primarily responsible for intelligence gathering within the country and for the protection of these top government officials.

The Police as established under Section 214 of the Constitution has, as one of its general duties, the duty to protect life and property as seen under Section 4 of the Police Act Cap. P19 LFN 2010. The cconstitution under Section 215 empowers the President to appoint the Inspector General of Police (IGP) whose primary duty is the supreme command of the Police Force and the maintenance of public safety as pro-

vided under Regulation 309, Part XIV of the Nigeria Police Regulations being a Subsidiary Legislation to the Police Act. Therefore, it can be safely concluded that the President and the IGP have the responsibility to ensure the protection of senior government officials like the Speaker, Tambuwal, by ensuring the provision of security details.

However, there is nothing in the law which expressly empowers the IGP to withdraw the security details of any senior government official (like the Speaker, Tambuwal). This is notwithstanding the constitutional provisions under Section 215(3) empowering the President to issue directives to the IGP. In fact, the directives the Constitution speaks of are ‘lawful directions’ for the maintenance of public safety and public order. It can only be reasonably deduced that where a person ceases to be a senior government official, he is no longer entitled to the security detail attached to that Office.

Determining legality of speakership Interestingly, the constitution contains express provisions on when a senior official like the Speaker or a member of the House shall vacate office or his seat. It is worthy of note that the courts have the exclusive powers to interpret the constitution and other laws in exercise of the judicial powers conferred by Section 6 of the1999 Constitution. Hence, any controversy as to the position of Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House may be channeled to the court by any concerned person or authority.

It is, therefore, submitted that so long as no competent court of law has ordered Tambuwal to vacate office, he remains the Speaker of the House and is absolutely entitled to security details. Any withdrawal of same is unlawful and any directive to this effect by the President

•Tambuwal

is an unlawful directive which can be challenged in court notwithstanding the provisions of Section 215(5) of the 1999 Constitution.

In conclusion, the removal of the security details of Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker of the House and the 4th Nigerian Citizen in order of protocol, by the IGP (acting on the directive of the President) is utterly unconstitutional and there is nothing in the law to justify same. The reliance placed on Section 68(1)(g) as the ground for the removal is highly misplaced and misconstrued.

39

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

LEGAL OPINION LAW AND PUBLIC POWER

with gabriel AMALU email:gabrielamalu1@yahoo.com For comments: 08033054939 (sms only)

•From left: Justice S.C. Oriji, Justice D.Z.Senchi and Justice A.O. Otaluka

Media aide of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Ahuraka Yusuf Isah, highlights her achievements in office.

‘How Mukhtar is tackling court delays’ •Continued from last week UDGES Performance Evaluation Reports Ordinarily, the National Judicial Council (NJC) has a monitoring team mandated to visit all the superior courts— Court of Appeal, Federal and state High Courts, National Industrial Court, Customary and the Sharia Courts of Appeal periodically to collate data on the numbers of civil, criminal and motions assigned each court as well as gathering data on the number of these cases disposed off as well as those pending at the end of each quarter.

The same NJC’s committee on performance evaluation has empirical data bank titled ‘’Nigeria’s Judicial Performance Report (2008-2011)’’ which also contain information on the performance of individual judicial officer.

Besides, the report shows the manner in which the cases were disposed off, whether they were cases decided on the merit or they were struck out as non-contested cases.

Judges are rated based on the cases disposed on merit.

The Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) undertook to analyse NJC’s ‘’Nigeria’s Judicial Performance Report (2008-2011)’’ for the purpose of planning and easy decision making by the council.

The CJN indicated on May 17, 2013 that beside outcome of petitions filed against judges, the NJC would henceforth use its performance evaluation reports to weed out incompetent and indolent judges from the bench.

The CJN who gave this indication while receiving ‘NIALS’ analysis compiled in seven volumes in her office said that it is highly absurd to observe that some judges can’t even deliver up to two judgements in a quarter. ‘’We are now thinking of looking at the performance evaluation of the judges for the purpose of discipline. If a judge cannot deliver three to four

J

judgements in a year, there is no use keeping him on the bench other than to be shown his way out’’.

However, by February 17, 2014, the NJC headed by Justice Mukhtar issued warning letters to Justice Dalhatu Adamu the Presiding Justice of Court of Appeal Kaduna Division for deliberately absenting himself from duty. The council also on the same day warned Justices A. A. Adeleye of High Court of Justice, Ekiti State and D. O. Amaechina of High Court of Justice, Anambra State, respectively for low performance.

In a press release signed by the Council’s Acting Director of Information, Mr Soji Oye said that ‘’Justice Dalhatu Adamu was warned

by Council at its Meeting which was held on 26th February, 2014 for deliberately absenting himself from duty, which is an act of gross misconduct contrary to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended and the Code of Conduct of Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. ‘’It would be recalled that Council at its last Meeting which was held on 4th and 5th December, 2013 considered and deliberated on the Report of its FiveMan Committee who were mandated to invite Judicial Officers with Very Low performance or Nonperformance to appear before it. At the end of deliberation on the Report of the Committee, Council found Justice A. A. Adeleye and Justice D. O. Amaechina culpable of very low performance. Consequently, Council decided to issue warning letters to them for decline in their productivity’’.

Of course, under the civil service rule, any worker who is rated poor or unproductive on performance evaluation exercise can be asked to give way for good hands to take his or her place.

In other words, judges would be more apt to effectively and

expeditiously prosecute cases in their courts in order to register a minimum of four judgements in a year.

The new Practice Direction for courts To conclude criminal cases on time as against the present arrangement where it takes years to conclude such cases, Justice Mukhtar has initiated sweeping changes across the courts with the introduction of a model practice direction for all courts to fast-track trials of offences involving terrorism, rape, kidnapping, corruption, money laundering, human trafficking and related matters.

In this regard, the CJN is working with chief judges of states’ high courts, the Abuja High Court, the Federal High Court and presiding justices of the various divisions of the Court of Appeal to put in place an efficient system that will eliminate delays in criminal trials.

In what may yet turn out to be one of her biggest achievement, Justice Mukhtar has also extended the practice direction to the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court.

Some judges have started implementing the practice direction even when it is still at proposal stage. But what the CJN has demonstrated is that even in the absence of constitutional amendment some administrative measures can be put in place to achieve the much needed judicial reform for quick dispensation of justice.

Justice Mukhtar, unlike Theseus that slew a monster, Minotaur in the Greek mythological telltale might not have slaw the judiciary corruption monster, but it is certainly not going to be business as usual in the anal history of the judiciary in the country.

•Concluded

•Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) (left) and Mr. Isreal Aye at the International Law Association (ILA) conference/launch in Lagos.

Executive versus Legislative Impunity

R

ECENTLY I have been wondering why members of the Peoples Demo cratic Party (PDP) neglect to parade with the Umbrella, the symbol of their party, just like the All Progressive Congress (APC) members do with the broom, their own party symbol. Well, whatever may be their reason, may I now humbly canvass for a reversal, as one ingenious way to boost the sagging national economy, reduce youth unemployment and enhance personal security, which ordinarily should be the major campaign issues for the 2015 general elections, were our politicians interested in issue related campaigns, rather than in the reign of impunity.

Just imagine the millions of umbrellas that party members will buy, as the candidates slug it out at the ward congresses and the rancorous party primaries, not to talk of the national campaign across all the nooks and cranny of our country that will soon follow. Another major advantage will be that the umbrella may become handy weapons to settle the innumerable scores that the PDP primaries are throwing up. Contemplate if the distinguished PDP senators who have rambunctiously adjourned plenary to settle scores, over the primaries, with the overbearing executive at the state and federal, should all have their umbrellas during their rancor filled meetings.

I guess that many of the Senators and members of the House of Representatives who now feel betrayed by the President and the Governors would joyously support my proposition, at least as one glaring empowerment program for their beleaguered constituencies. It will however be interesting should each Senator and Representative have an umbrella with its pointed tips, when they meet with President Goodluck Jonathan, to iron out the demand that each state must guarantee at least two automatic tickets for serving Senators, and probably also two thirds of the house tickets to the Representatives, to satiate their sense of equity, good conscious and democratic ethos. With the umbrella tips pointing, many of them would be humming, Sunny Nneji’s song: ‘if you do me, I go do you’.

To show how precarious ordinary party primaries have become, and why everyone needs personal security, the distinguished Senators on the platform of PDP are threatening to commit patricide (impeachment proceedings against the President), should the President not use his executive powers to override the executive impudence of the state Governors, who have unscrupulously appropriated the ward delegates, to scheme the legislators out. Talk of impunity qua impunity, to produce distinguished lawmakers. But even as the Senators complain, they will remember that most of them rode to power, through the same process.

To ensure that the President takes the matter seriously, the Senators have shot down plenary, as a way to force a violent abrogation of the democratic process to favour them. If they have their way, the President will order the state Governors to direct the delegates to return them as candidates whether they have performed in office or not; otherwise they will raise impeachable offences against the President. A case of quid pro quo. Who knows, as you read this piece, which was penned last week, the famous PDP umbrella, at least the big one at the head quarters may be spread, to calm their frayed nerves.

As if in a conspiracy against the Nigerian state and worse still, her hoi polloi; the junior chambers are also on a forced long recess, in an attempt to stem the threat of impunity against the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, who recently defected from the PDP to the APC. While the Honourable Speaker may have the right to defect to the party of his choice; the makers of the constitution never envisaged that the entire lower chambers would be shot down, merely to assuage the potential threats that may arise from such a private initiative.

While some have argued that Tambuwal ought to have resigned his position as the Speaker, if not his membership of the House, on moral grounds following his defection, they forget that politics has little regard for morality, especially in our clime. In fairness to the Speaker, the law does not automatically disenable him from remaining a Representative of the Tambuwal constituency, Sokoto, where there is division within his party, as he has claimed. But again the makers of the constitution did not envisage that a Speaker of the House of Representatives could abandon the majority party on whose platform he rode to power and defect to a minority party.

In my view, under the 1999 constitution, it is legally possible for a Speaker or even a Senate President to emerge from an amalgam of minority parties, once the candidate can muster the required support of the majority of members of the relevant house to vote him or her into the leadership. But by practice under the presidential system of government, particularly in the United States of America which we are aping, the majority party produces the Speaker or the presiding officer of the Senate, since the Vice President is the President of the Senate.

But even were there is conflicting opinions as to the position of the law, as we have experienced following the Tambuwal defection, it is very strange for a Police officer, regardless of the rank, to constitute himself into a court, to interpret the constitution, as the recently confirmed Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Suleiman Abba sought to do. In the least, his attempt to assume a magisterial diktat to interpret section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 constitution is an aberration, which further confirms the rise of impunity in the country. In answer to that executive lawlessness, some members of the House of Representatives are also threatening recourse to an impeachment proceeding against the President. As things are, the road to 2015 is obviously strewn with executive versus legislative impunities.

40

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

LAW REPORT Inappropriate caution by prosecution can amount to inducement IN THE COURT OF APPEAL AKURE JUDICIAL DIVISION HOLDEN AT ABUJA ON THURSDAY THE 30TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2014 BEFORE THEIR LORDSHIPS MOJEED ADEKUNLE OWOADE, J.C.A. MOHAMMED A. DANJUMA, J.C.A. JAMES SHEHU ABIRIYI, J.C.A. CA/B/276C/2007 (2014) LPELR-23798(CA) BETWEEN OMOSULE IDUWE ……..………..……………….………..…................…

Appellant

And THE STATE ……..…..….………….……….……………….................................

Respondent

LEAD JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MOJEED ADEKUNLE OWOADE, J.C.A.

T

HE Appellant was charged by way of Information with the offence of mur der, contrary to Section 316(2) and punishable under Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Cap. 30 Vol. II Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria 1978 before the Ondo State High Court sitting at Okitipupa Judicial Division.

The case of the prosecution against the Appellant was that on February 19, 2003, the wall of the Appellant’s room was perforated and his money which was N185,000.00 was stolen by unknown person while he was outside.

He did not see anybody stealing the money, he however later suspected his wife’s half brother. One Adediran Omogunloye who lived in another camp because he did not come to sympathise with him as others did.

The Appellant later left his camp to meet the deceased in his camp and challenged him of stealing his money. The deceased denied the allegation. Thereafter, the Appellant took the deceased to another camp where the deceased parents were. They asked the deceased if he was the one that stole the money and he still denied the allegation. An herbalist was invited who performed divination and said the deceased was the person who stole the money.

In spite of this, the deceased continued to deny the allegation. The deceased was later taken away to the Appellant’s camp where his legs were tied together and was hung on a kolanut tree by the house of the Appellant. The Appellant with others at large tortured the deceased by flogging him severely, setting fire underneath him, pouring hot red oil into his ears so that he could confess to allegation of stealing the Appellant’s money. About two days later, the deceased was rushed to the hospital by his brother, one Segun Omogunloye for treatment. However, he could not recover from the torture and died at the hospital on February 23, 2003.

The Appellant, on the other hand said the family of the deceased asked him to take the deceased away. He said he later left the camp with his wife for their own camp and later travelled to Okitipupa to repair his car. That it was when he came back to the camp the second day that he was told that the deceased had been taken to the hospital at Ode Irele for treatment. He visited the deceased at the hospital. That on February 23,2003, he was informed by one Kola and Modimu that the deceased had died and that some boys were

looking for him. He went to the police station voluntarily to report and was accompanied there by his brother Modimu. That they were both arrested at the police station where they made statements.

At the hearing, the prosecution led three witnesses while the accused Appellant testified for himself and called a witness to testify. At the close of the case, the Appellant was found guilty, convicted and consequently sentenced to death.

Dissatisfied with his conviction and sentence, the Appellant filed a Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal. Learned Counsel for the Appellant nominated three issues for determination as follows: i. Whether the trial judge was wrong to have admitted and relied on Exhibit A, B and C (Extra Judicial Statements) without expunging same from the records before convicting the Appellant. ii. Whether the learned trial judge was wrong to have held that the defence of alibi did not avail the Appellant. iii. Whether having regard to the evidence led by the prosecution, the learned trial judge was wrong to hold that the prosecution has proved the case of murder beyond reasonable doubt against the Appellant.

The fulcrum of the Appellant’s complaints on issue 1 borders on the voluntariness of the Appellant’s confessional statements Exhibits A and C and also the impropriety of the admissibility of his other extra judicial statement Exhibit B. Learned counsel for the Appellant gave a lumpsum attack to the admissibility of the Exhibits in four compartments as follows. (a) That the admissibility of the statements Exhibits A, B, and C followed a question and answer session. (b) That the statements were not voluntarily made as they were products of threat and inducement. (c) That the statements Exhibits A, B and C all started with cautionary words in the opening paragraph and that PW1 and PW2 stated in their evidence that they obtained the statements from the Appellant. (d) That the statements Exhibits A, B and C are contradictory.

In determining issue 1, the Court held that the complaint of threat or inducement by the Appellant under (b) above could not

•From left: President, World Association of Law Professors (WALP) and Head of Department of Legal Specialisation and Public Administration at Metropolitan University Prague, Prof.

Karel Kilma; Justice Tijjani Abubakar of the Court of Appeal; Chief Judge of Anambra State, Justice Peter C. Umeadi; President of World Jurist Association J. Belohlavek and Chief Judge of Edo State Nigeria, Justice Cromwell Idahosa at a seminar on International perspectives on intellectual property protection in Shanghai, China.

have applied to Exhibits B and C where the evidence of the prosecution witness during the trial within trial was neither challenged nor contradicted in any form. The Court held that it is trite that where evidence is led by a party and there is no contrary evidence from the other party, the evidence is deemed to be true and accepted. See Okoebor v Police Council (2003) 12 NWLR (Pt.834) 444; (2003) LPELR-2458(SC), Akinlagun v Oshoboja (2006) 12 NWLR (Pt. 993) 60; (2006) LPELR348(SC). In answer to (c) above, the court first pointed out that the mere presence or use of cautionary words in the opening page of a confessional statement does not necessarily render such a statement inadmissible as a confessional statement. The court held that each case would depend on its own facts but the test to be applied at all times is whether the cautionary words used could be said to have amounted to an inducement as to render the statement inadmissible. Finally, in answer to (d) above, the Court held that there was nothing spectacular about Exhibit B, contradicting Exhibits A and C. The court further held that all the Exhibits went through the process of trial within trial and Exhibits A and C were properly admitted and relied on by the learned trial judge in convicting the Appellant. Issue No. 1 was resolved against the Appellant.

On issue No. 2, Learned Counsel for the Appellant submitted that the Appellant at the earliest opportunity, when he reported at the police station, Ode-Irele made Exhibit B, wherein, he stated that he was not at the scene of the crime as he was away to Okitipupa.

Failure to investigate the Appellant’s alibi as contained in Exhibit B, said Counsel is fatal to the case of the prosecution. Learned Counsel for the Respondent reacted to Appellant’s issue 2 and submitted that the trial judge was right to have held that the defence of alibi did not avail the Appellant. He submitted relying on the case of Ikemson V State (1989) 1 ACLR 98; (1989) LPELR-1473(SC) that by Exhibit A, there is direct and positive participation of the Appellant in the crime. And, that where there is direct participation in a crime, plea of alibi is negative.

On issue 2, the Court stated that there are at least three reasons why the Appellant in this case could not have successfully pleaded the defence of alibi. The first is that the said Exhibit B, the statement which he made to the police at Ode Irele Police Station did not give any indication or particulars for the police to investigate his whereabouts. The court held that it is not enough for an accused to raise the defence of alibi at large. He must give adequate particulars of his whereabouts at the time of the commission of the offence to assist the police to make a meaningful investigation of the alibi. Onyegbu V State (1995) 4 NWLR (Pt. 391) 510; (1995) LPELR-2728(SC),

Eyisi V The State (2000) 12 SC (Pt. 1) 24; (2000) LPELR-1186(SC). The court stated that the second reason why the plea of alibi could not avail the Appellant in this case is that there are in any event material contradictions as to date in between Exhibit B, the 1st statement of the Appellant to the police, his oral testimony and the evidence of DW2.

Exhibit B suggests that the Appellant went to Okitipupa and returned on February 21,2003.The evidence of DW2 and the Appellant’s oral testimony gave the impression that the Appellant slept at Okitipupa on the night of February 20, 2003. Thirdly and perhaps more significantly, the court stated that Exhibits A, B and C, particularly Exhibits A and C, the extra-judicial statements of the Appellant fixed the Appellant to the scene of crime and reveal a direct and positive participation of the Appellant at the scene of crime. The court stated the law that where there is direct participation in a crime the plea of alibi is negative. See Patrick Njovens & Ors V State (1973) 5 SC 12 at 65; (1973) LPELR-2042(SC). Issue 2 was resolved against the Appellant.

On issue 3, Learned Counsel for the Appellant relied on his submissions on Issue No. 1 to the effect that the prosecution failed to prove that the Appellant caused the death of the deceased in view of the fact that Exhibits A and C which were relied on by the learned trial judge were unreliable, contradictory and wrongfully admitted. Learned Counsel submitted further that the prosecution did not in any way lead evidence of intention by the Appellant did not prove that the Appellant acted with the intention of causing death or causing bodily injury which the Appellant knew that the probable consequence would be death. He referred to the cases of Alarape V State (2001) FWLR (Pt. 41) 1872); (2001) LPELR-412(SC).

On issue 3, the court held that it goes without saying that a man is presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of his actions. Accordingly, the court further held that where by an unlawful act of a person which causes another person grievous harm leading to the death of that person, he is presumed to have intended to kill that person and he would be guilty of murder irrespective of his intention. Audu V State (2003) 7 NWLR (Pt.820) 516; (2002) LPELR-7098(CA), Nwali V State (1991) 3 NWLR (Pt.182) 663 at 676; (1991) LPELR-2098(SC). Issue 3 was resolved against the Appellant.

On the whole, the court held that the appeal lacks merit and it was accordingly dismissed. The judgment, conviction and sentence of the Hon. Justice S.A. Bola in charge No. HOK/9C/2004 delivered on the 26th day of September 2006 was accordingly affirmed.

•Edited by LawPavilion LawPavilion Citation: (2014) LPELR23798(CA)

Court directs Jonathan to produce disability law

T

HE Federal High Court in Lagos has directed President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Assembly to produce any law which protects the rights of persons with disabilities.

A physically challenged lawyer, Mr Daniel Onwe, is seeking an order mandating them to enact forthwith the necessary laws to protect persons with disabilities.

Onwe, in the suit numbered FHC/L/CS/ 1766/13, claimed that the non-existence of any federal disability legislation violated the fundamental rights of over 20 million people with disabilities.

The respondents, in their counter affidavit, said contrary to Onwe’s claim, there exists a law which protects the rights of persons with disabilities.

Onwe said the law, if indeed it truly exists, should be exhibited before the court. He prayed Justice Mohammed Yunusa to direct the respondents to produce the law.

The judge then directed counsel for the respondents, Mrs Uzoamaka Onugu, to produce the gazetted copy of the law at the next adjourned date.

Onwe also adopted his written address on the issue of whether he can sit in the bar and argue his case as both the litigant and lawyer.

Justice Yunusa had urged counsel to address the court on the propriety of Onwe representing himself from the bar fully robed. He will rule on their submissions on December 19.

Onwe, a notary public, prayed the court to hold that the inaccessibility of public build-

By Joseph Jibueze

ings and the environment to persons with disability as a result of architectural barriers violated their freedom of movement, freedom of association and the right to dignity of human person.

Besides, he said the non-use of sign language at national public functions and on national television programmes was a violation of the freedom of expression of persons with hearing disability (the deaf) guaranteed under Section 39 of the Constitution.

Onwe noted that the non-use of Braille materials at national public functions was a violation of the freedom of expression of persons with visual disability (the blind) guaranteed under Section 39 of the constitution.

In a supporting affidavit to the fundamental rights action, Onwe said he was suing as a person with a physical disability having suffered polio myelitis at the age of one, which had left him with partial paralysis and deformity of the lower limbs.

He said he had been dependent on crutches to move about and was impeded by architectural barriers in public buildings, such as the Federal High Court.

The lawyer said there abound other persons with physical challenges, such as visual, speech, hearing and intellectual disabilities, adding that the 2011 World Disability Report states that persons with disabilities constitute about 15 per cent of the population of each country of the world.

42

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

43

44

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

45

46

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

47

THE NATION TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014

‘

RACE TO 2015 Muhammad Samma, an architect, is the former Secretary to Kebbi State Government. The governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) spoke on his vision and agenda for the state. KHADIJAT SAIDU met him in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital.

‘I ‘ll eradicate poverty in Kebbi’

W

HY do you want to become the governor of Kebbi State?

I have taken the time to critically examine the development of the democratic ideals in our state and the achievements of past governments and our various political institutions, with a view to contributing my quota.

After extensive consultations with numerous stakeholders, ranging from family members to friends, associates, elders, traditional institutions, political associates and professionals in various human endeavors, I decided to offer myself for the position on the platform of the APC to translate the experiences I have gathered in the civil service for many years. I know where the lapses are and that is why I want to make a change.

What are your plans for the state?

We all know that education is central to development. Today’s world is changing. Some of the biggest businesses running today are knowledgebased. So, one of the ways to equip the people to compete in today’s world is to give them the right kind of education. The kind of education that would make them competitive in today’s world and earn them respect wherever they go in the world.

My focus also is to build an economic capacity for Kebbi State and for Kebbi people. The state is endowed with resources like the fadama belt for all year round farming and, with the right imagination and resourcefulness, we can tackle poverty, fight hunger and help Kebbi people find productive roles within the local and national economy. My priority will be to create an environment rich in opportunities and an economic structure that gives every Kebbi citizen the chance to succeed. As you can see, there is poverty in the state and the people are in serious hardship. They need change. If given the opportunity,

• Samma

I will make agriculture a major source of livelihood for our people and a major revenue earner for Kebbi State.

Mechanised agriculture will be our main focus in order to create an export-oriented agricultural state.

With all sincerity, I will transform Kebbi State in the area of production, processing and export of agricultural produce in the entire country. Large parcels of arable land will be made available to farmers, as well as access to funding, credit facilities and incentives will be provided to develop these lands into effective large-scale farms. Also, I will make available quality high yielding seeds, productive breeds, fertilizer, pesticides and readily provide modern farming tools to all our farmers.

Governor Saidu Dakingari is believed to have an anointed candidate to succeed him. Are you not intimi-

dated?

Let me tell you one thing. People are tied of imposition and it will not happen again. The PDP candidate will not be a threat to the APC in the election. The people of Kebbi want change and they will get change next year at the centre. The people will experience a new lease of life.

What is your position on power shift in Kebbi State?

In everything in life, there has got to be equity and moral justification for the way things are handled. You see, if there is good governance in the past administration; if Aliero and Dakingari were fair, this issue of power shift would not have come up.

But, unfortunate for the people of Gwandu Emirate, they had two governors who never cared for the state capital itself.They were so selfish that they were so concerned about their own villages and not even the state capital. If they have developed the state capital, then, the village will come latter because, right from 1914, Argungu, Gwandu emirates have been existing. They have to put that into consideration. Since Gwandu has enjoyed the slot,power shift to Argungu Emirate.

There was that agreement that, after Birnin Kebbi finished their own, then, Gwandu Emirate. But, when Adamu Aliero finished his tenure, then, it is the turn of Argungun Emirate. But then, Aliero went and brought in Saidu Dakingari. Like I said, if these governors have done justice during their time, nobody will talk about power shift. But now, it is a serious issue because, even the emirs have gone to meet with the governor to inform him that, if the governorship candidate is not from Argungu Emirate, they will not vote for the PDP in 2015.

2015: Group caustions against oppression protected because of party afof opposition being HE Buhari Campaign Orfiliation, one wonders what will hapganisation, Ondo State chap

T

ter, has cautioned the Federal Government against the repression of the opposition, ahead of next year’s elections.

The group condemned the withdrawal of the security details of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, MallamAminu Tambuwa. It described the display of intolerance as a mark of hatred for democratic principles.

Noting that the police belongs to Nigerians, the group said it is dangerous to mobilise the security outfit against the opposition.

Its Coordinator, Hon. Bola Ilori, said the constitution has been breached, following the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security escorts, adding that the naked display of power is a threat to democracy.

He said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is jittery, ahead of the pollsm, owing to its low popularity rating agong Nigerians.

Ilori added: “The Nigerian Police is a creation of the constitution and it belongs to the Nigerian people, irrespective of party affiliation. It is not an extention of the PDP. Hence, it should not behave in a partial way and disrespect democratic virtues.”

The cordinator chided the police for its double-standard, recalling that only defectors to the PDP were protected by security agents.

He said: “It is a known fact that the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly Hon. Funke Akindele ,defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the the PDP the same month without the police striping her of her security details.

“This act of withdrawing the security details of the House of Representatives Speaker without a court order is a proof that the police under Inspector-General Abba Sulaimansees the force as the armed wing of the PDP. “One wonders why the police had to adopt a different approach when a high official like the fourth citizen of Nigeria, who defected from the PDP to the APC, is involved. If the Speaker of the House of Representatives should be treated so shabbily while the Speaker of a House of Assembly is

‘The Nigerian Police is a creation of the constitution and it belongs to the Nigerian people, irrespective of party affiliation. It is not an extention of the PDP. Hence, it should not behave in a partial way and disrespect democratic virtues’

pen to an ordinary Nigerian in the opposition party in 2015.

“Will Inspector-General direct that all armed robbers caught should be killed, once they are arrested without trial because the punishment for armed robbery in Nigeria is death?

The warped role interpretation of the Inspector-General of Police is not only unprecedented in Nigeria history and a direct invitation to unmitigated chaos, but it is a major threat to democracy and Nigeria’s corporate existence.”

Ilori said it is dangerous to confirm the appointment of the IGP, owing to his lack of neutrality.

He also advised the Federal Gopvernment to right the wrong already done by the police under Sulaima’s leadership.

He maitained that the maltreatment of the Speaker is untenable, unconstitutional, illegal, null and void, stressing that the IGP lacks such powers because he is not the court.

Ilori enjoined men of good to speak up against the aberration and lawlessness.

He said: “It is not only dangerous, but capable of derailing the democratic institutions in Nigeria. Nigeria has had enough trouble from the insecurity and corruption under the Jonathan Administration to engage in political chicanery as it is being planned.

Will Inspector-General direct that all armed robbers caught should be killed, once they are arrested without trial because the punishment for armed robbery in Nigeria is death? The warped role interpretation of the InspectorGeneral of Police is not only unprecedented in Nigeria history and a direct invitation to unmitigated chaos, but it is a major threat to democracy and Nigeria’s corporate existence

‘

Hon. Salihi Dauda Ajana is the Oyo North Senatorial District youth leader of the All Progressives Congress. In this interview with JEREMIAH OKE, he bares his mind on the re-election bid of Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

‘Why Oyo North youths are behind Ajimobi’

D

O you think Governor Abiola Ajimobi has done enough to remain in power beyond 2015?

He has done more than enough to deserve a second time. Apart from Ibadan, Oyo and Ibarapa, where various developmental projects have been completed while some are still on-going, my zone, that is Oyo North, has benefited from this administration more than his predecessors. The dualisation projects in Ogbomoso and Iseyin are there for people to see. It has never happened in the history of this state. The satelite campus of The Polytechnic, Ibadan in Saki has been upgraded to a full-fledged polytechnic. It now gives us a sense of belonging as it has been re-named Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki. We now have a satelite campus of the Oyo State School of Nursing, Eleiyele, Ibadan at Kisi area of Irepo Local Government. After the era of the late Lam-Adesina, the eight-years before Governor Ajimobi became governor was disastrous for us in Oyo North and other parts of Oyo State.

What the PDP’s eight-year rule in Oyo State gave us in Oyo North was violence, making our zone to be battle-field. Apart from the deputy governor and the ALGON chairman, who are from this senatorial district, I make bold to say that we have up to seven commissioners in this administration. Added to this are several political appointees like Special Advisers, Senior Special Advisers, Special Assistants, and chairmen of boards and parastatals. When the PDP was in power, most of those who were appointed into political offices were unknown; those who couldn’t connect their people. Governor Ajimobi, on the other hand, has given us people who are closer to the grassroots; people who know our problems.

Currently, the governor has started another dualisation in Saki, which runs from the Polytechnic Road and terminates at Ibaruba. The dualisation of IgbohoIgbope/Kisi Road will start any moment from now as the contract has been given due attention. The two previous administration cannot boast of anything as their achievement in Oyo North, especially in Oke-Ogun where I come from.

For four years, nomalcy has returned to our senatorial district. And that is why the youths in this senatorial district will not hesitate to support the reelection of Governor Ajimobi.

Despite all you’ve listed as the achievements of Governor Ajimobi in your senatorial district and Oyo State in general, some people are still saying that he has not done anything. How do you react to this?

It’s a pure lie. Nothing but propaganda from mischievous people; people who are jittery about the achievements of this administration ,which have culminated into his acceptance and endorsements by those who matter in the scheme of things in Oyo State. And, if you check the quarters where these lies are coming, you will notice that they are politicians of yesterday’s stocks; those who should cover their faces in shame for misgovernance while they held sway. They are useless politically and morally.

As a youth leader, do you think the governor has done enough in the area of youth empowerment?

You need not ask me about this. In the history of this state, he is the first to appoint the highest number of youth as aides. Contrary to the lie that former Governor Rashidi Ladoja employed the highest number of workers, I’ve found out that 90 per cent of those employed were teachers while other sectors were neglected. The employment done by this administration cuts across all ministries and professions and, for your information, it is the highest in the history of this state. Added to this is the employment of 20, 000 people into the Youth Empowerment Scheme of Oyo State (YES-O). I always laugh when some people say they are being paid a meagre N10, 000. Have they bothered to multiply that amount with the number of those employed. Roughly, that gives N20m monthly.

If the previous administration has done something similiar, this administration would have raised the bar and crimes would have reduced in our State before Governor Ajimobi came on board.

If it were to be in the PDP, where I was before 2010, cutlasses and other dangerous objects would have been distributed as party primaries and general elections are fast approaching. It is the opposite in the APC. There are crises amongAPC members in some local governments. Don’t you think it may serve as a setback for the party?

Well, there is no party that is free from crisis. But, it must be properly managed. And I must tell you, the APC is stronger and united than before. We cannot avoid crisis in such a big party like ours. The crisis in the opposition is more than what they can resolve in the next six months.

When I met the governor few days ago, I assured him of my colleagues’ support for his re-election and he has promised to empower us with mobility; to equip us for the election.

As next year’s elections draw near, what do you forsee?

To be candid, President Goodluck Jonathan should start preparing his handover note. He is not coming back because people are fed up more than before. Even his people are biting their fingers. And, if you were at the Liberation Stadium, Port-Harcourt, venue of the Rivers APC rally, you will see that the yearning for change is daily receiving boosts, even from the President’s backyard. We cannot afford to vote him again.

•Ajana

THE NATION TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014

48

RACE TO 2015

‘

Until the security improves, I cannot direct my staff to go to that Boko Haram enclave in the name of distributing PVCs

‘

Senate Deputy Chief Whip Hosea Agboola represents Oyo North District on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP. He spoke with reporters in Ibadan, the state capital, on why he is supporting the governorship ambition of former Senate Leader Teslim Folarin and not his former boss, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala. He also spoke on the crisis in the Oyo PDP and the way out of the logjam.

‘Oyo PDP governorship aspirants won’t cause crisis’ T HERE are fears that the OYo State PDP will end up in postprimary crisis because of the large number of governorship aspirants. What is your view?

The number of aspirants is a good development and I promise you it won’t have any effect on our chances.

The party will go to the election as a strong entity. We will present a strong candidate through a clean primaries.

So,I don’t have anything to say now.

When the primaries come, we will decide who will be the governor of this state.

Apart from the primaries, does the party have a particular candidate in mind?

No. We pick our candidates in the PDP through primaries. Our governorship candidate won’t emerge through the back door as been insinuated in some corners. Initially, we do pick candidates through consensus, in special situations. But, I am sure the primaries will be free and fair and without any interference or influence.

It appears Senator Teslim Folarin has been anointed by the Presidency as the candidate. What are others still doing in the race?

I cannot say much about that. But, it can only be confirmed by the person that is contesting. He is my friend and I am with him. I will give him all the necessary support to achieve his aim and I don’t think that it is a crime for me to support anybody I prefer so far he is a member of my party.

Your former boss, Otunba AlaoAkala, is also in the race. Why are you not supporting?

There is nothing bad, if Alao-Akala in interested in running for the governorship race again. We served together in this state. Hewas my leader. I am supporting him, but I am only working for Folarin. They are both PDP aspirants and I don’t think supporting one should make any party member an enemy of the other. At the end,

whoever that emerges will have the support of every member of the party to reclaim Oyo in 2015. Like I said, we’re going to contest 2the 15 election as a wind that will blow off whoever stands as the opposition to win the election. I want to state here once again that the DP will form the next government in Oyo State.

What is the relationship between the Accord Party (AP) and the PDP in the House of Assembly?

I am not a member of the House of Assembly. So, I cannot say anything about that. I do not know what is happening there. We’re in an election year and it is possible that people or political analysts who are politicians make some permutations as regards that.

But, I want to tell you that all the members of the House of Assembly across the parties are politicians, mature minds who are capable of deciding for themselves. That’s to the best of my knowledge. I don’t know what transpires there and it will be wrong for anybody to think or assume that I know just like the members. That assumption is totally wrong.

The APC has been accusing the PDP on politicizsing matters arising in the state like the Apete bridge, Mokola bridge and Soka Ibadan issues. What is your view on that?

Governor Ajimobi is not attentive.

The Apete project has been there for more than three years ago. On the Mokola bridge project, people have been saying the amount spent on the project is too high. I am not an engineer. The people in that field should be able to say more about that. Even, there were accusations from within, though not made public. I think the government or the governor should address them, instead of looking in the way of opposition. I cannot say much about the amount spent on the Mokola bridge. On the issue of Soka, to me, whatever the public needs to know was raised by the press while it

•Agboola

lasted. But now, I think it has become a police affair. The police should have more information on that. You can also go to court and confirm what is happening there. I do not know much about Soka matter.

With the APC victory in Osun state, do you think there will be a replica in Oyo State?

You are a living witness to what happened in Osun State. But, Oyo State politics is different from that of Osun State. I am assuring you that the people of Oyo State are tired of the APC government. They are tired of taking directives from Lagos State. So, I am assuring you that in 2015, the PDP will emerge as the governor. And, if you censor people’s view, this is more evident than anything. But, whatever kite anybody or party is flying, by the time we begin the campaign for election and the election proper, the shaft will

Boko Haram: Over 100,000 voters may be disenfranchised

N

O fewer than 100,000 eligible voters are yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Gujba and Gulani local government areas of Yobe State.

The distribution of cards has been suspended, following the invasion of the two councils by members of the Boko Haram sect.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Sadiq Abubakar, told reporters in Damaturu, the state capital, said the exercise was suspended because of insecurity.

He said INEC officials will resume the distribution, when the security situation improves.

Governor Ibrahim Gaidam however, asured that registered voters will get their cards. He spoke in Burkarti, Yunusari Local Government, after collecting his card.

The governor said that eligible voters would not be disenfranchised, assuring that security measures would be put in place to ensure safety of life and property.

He also promised that dis-

From Duku Joel, Damaturu

placed people would not be excluded in the distribution.

However, despite the governors’ assurance, there is no immediate solution. Boko Haram is still on the prowl. The two councils have not had peace. There are fears that the election may not take place there next year.

Abubakar said his men’s life are exposed to danger. He added: “Until the security improves, I cannot direct my staff to go to that Boko Haram enclave in the name of distributing PVCs. “I am waiting for clearance from security agencies and I have not gotten any signal in that respect. Let me tell you that your concern is just like mine and the people of Gujba and Gulani too. If it is possible, we want this thing done. But, there is no short-cut to this issue at the moment.”

The REC was not categorical on whether there will be an alternative plan for the distribution of the cards.

A source disclosed that the com-

be separated from the wheat.

The PC has accused PDP of bribing the electorate with money and stomach infrastructure, instead of directing it towards infrastructure development?

During Obasanjo’s time, the LagosIbadan road expansion contract was awarded and also the Ibadan to Ilorin road was constructed. It remains only Oyo/Ogbomosho axis road. When you say the PDP government is spending money on the electorate alone and not working, go to Osun State, there is nothing to show that they are working; even in Oyo State. What you can only see is a cosmetic propaganda structure solidly on ground to create an illusion of what was never on ground.

How true is the allegatiin that the Oyo PDP is divided to the extent that the party has two secretariats?

The only party secretariat I know is the one at Dandaru on UCH Road. I only belong to the Dandaru secretariat, which has been in existence up to the national level and not on pages of newspaper. It is news to me that there is another party office in Yemetu. Maybe, some people are there faking the party. I am not aware of any party office there.

The leaders are neutral and all members of the party in the 33 local government areas are pursuing the same interest. I want to reiterate that there is no crisis in the Oyo PDP, even among the aspirants. The party is working to present the best governorship candidate through a fair primary on November 29.

What is your view on the last PVC distribution by the INEC? To me and with all sincerity, I think the INEC tried. But, you know our democracy is just developing. This is not where we were in 2011,and I think, by now, we have improved a lot. The INEC too is improving. On the last PVC exercise, I think the INEC has seen where they have challenges and they are working to make sure that such do not happen again, or even improve on those areas.

Do you think the INEC should shift the election forward to attend to the PVC problem.?

No. I do not think there is any need for that. Anyone who wants to register still has access to the INEC headquarters in states or local governments to register. Those that want to get the permanent voter cards can equally go there. Between now and the election period, we have about 90 days, that should be enough for anybody to do what they want to do. You see, we should also be seen as someone contributing to the system to ensure it works and

Igbinedion picks nomination form

•Gaidam

mission is planning a secret distribution of the PVCs to the voters in Damaturu through some politicians from the area.

The source said: “Since the majority of the people that ran out of Gujba and Gulani are staying in Damaturu, the commission is looking at the possibility of holding a meeting with politicians from the areas on possible ways of distributing the PVCs to voters, if possible, even secretly.”

not just pulling it down by our comments.

If the PDP wins Oyo State, what will the party do to sustain the urban renewal initiative of the current administration?

I am not contesting for the governorship election. That question should be better addressed by the aspirants. I cannot speak for them, though I don’t think that is big deal for any governorship candidate.

Don’t you think there should be continuity in governance?

Governance is a continuous process. If the elected leaders in this country are not interested, then, it is their fault. If I am elected into any post, I will continue from where my predecessor stopped. If a governor wants to embark on any project, it must be the ones that will be completed within four years. Any reasonable governor will not start a project that will not be completed within his tenure. Any project must be completed before that governor leaves office. And in a situation where such happens, the next governor should not hesitate to complete it for the good of the masses.

How does the Senate intend to work on the report of the National Conference?

It is the agenda of Mr President.

All I know is that, if the President believes in the report, he will forward it to the National Assembly for further consideration and I believe, if the National Assembly receives such, we will work accordingly. No ill feeling or fear in handling In the House.

What is your view on the proposed single term of five or six years for political office holders?

I am also in support of it. I supported it when it was proposed. I am in support of the six year single term. So,this is my view or opinion ,which I think I’m entitled to.

What is your ambition for 2015?

I want to be re-elected as a senator representing Oyo North District. It is an assignment given to me by the leaders. If I pass through the primaries, I will thank God. I want to be returned.

There are speculations that you may be the deputy governor , if the PDP wins in 2015. What is your view?

I want to return to the Senate in tandem with my leaders’ endorsement. I believe I do not have any ambition to be a running mate or otherwise as being speculated. If anybody is speaking for me directly or indirectly and maybe, for political reason, my own stake is different. Once again, I want to return to the Senate in 2015 and not as deputy governor.

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

P

EOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Edo State Omosede Igbinedion has picked the nomination form for the House of Repre sentatives. The daughter of Chief Gabriel Igbinedion is aspiring to represent Ovia Federal Constituency. Her brother, Lucky, is the former governor.

Omosede, who spoke with reporters, shortly after picking the form, promised to lobby the Federal Government to make Ovia a centre of excellence.

She said Ovia people would be empowered through job opportunities. She also promised to attract bymedium and small scale industries to the area.

She said: “I will give particular attention to the plight of women and ensure that children of school age are provided with free books and uniforms.

“Farmers in the locality will get farming implements and all road networks in the constituency will be rehabilitated and motorable.”

49

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

SHOWBIZ

Pomp, as AFRIFF 2014 opens in Calabar T HE popular Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, Calabar, Cross River State, resonated with glamour, Sunday, when screen stars and several top names in the entertainment industry arrived the tourism city.

Away from the run-of-themill, it was a head-turning arrival, as guests were chauffeured from the Margaret Ekpo airport, aboard the popular London-styled open-roof tourist bus.

The roads were already lined by waiting natives, as the bus cruised along, with the celebrities acknowledging cheers from fans.

It was the opening day of the fourth edition of the Nigeria-domiciled Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), which was later flagged off by the wife of the Governor of Cross River State, Mrs. Obioma Imoke and

By Victor Akande

Minister of Tourism and Culture, Chief Edem Duke, at the Calabar Cultural Center.

If the organisers had doubted that the festival will have great turnout by foreigners, due to the Ebola scare that has put several international programmes on hold, it was a pleasant surprise, as guests came in from other African countries, Europe, America and the United Kingdom.

Speaking at the glamorous opening ceremony, Mrs. Imoke noted that the hosting of the festival in Calabar for the second time in a row was a clear indication that the goal of making Cross River a tourism destination in Africa was fast coming to fruition.

She said: “If the filmmakers came here last year, and it was a disaster, they will never be here this year. So for us, we are excited and we feel ful-

filled that people are beginning to key into what government has tried to put in place.”

She enjoined participants to avail themselves with other opportunities that abound in the state, praising the security of the state, the tourism locations and the people’s cuisine.

Edem Duke, while acknowledging the hard work of film practitioners, urged them to project Africa to the rest of the world in positive light, giving credence to the rich cultures and traditions of the continent.

“It is our delight to join you once again in this theatre of dreams in Calabar to acknowledge and celebrate a galaxy of stars that are here in Cross River State, whose works, creativity and fashion designs continue to redefine the place of the movie industry in the world. It is my belief that it is proper to acknowledge and celebrate all

The Square: Egypt’s revolution provokes thoughts at AFRIFF

D

•Jehane Noujaim

By Victor Akande

gerian leaders as they seek elective offices in the 2015 elections.

Staged at the popular Tahir Square, Cairo, Egypt, the film takes its title from the place of the showdown that ousted the tyrannical regime of Hosni Mubarak, known to have held Egypt down for over 30 years.

Some of the notable names

at the event are, Tunde Kilani, Charles Novia, Andy Amenechi, Beverly Naya, Rita Dominic, Moses Ewang, Linda Ejiofor, Chika Chukwu, Kalu Ukeagwu, Gideon Okeke, Chelsea Eze, Mahmood AliBalogun.

The festival continues till Saturday. It will be rounded off with a closing night film, Hard To Get, and an award ceremony.

Angelina Jolie’s wedding gift to Brad Pitt

H

OLLYWOOD actress, Angelina Jolie put down thousands of dollars on the last typewriter Ernest Hemingway used before killing himself, a $250,000 wedding gift for Brad Pitt, according to reports.

Sources connected with the couple revealed the Angelina’s agent got in touch with L.A. Police Commission President Steve Soboroff, who has an unbelievable typewriter collection, including Hemingway’s 1926 Underwood.

Hemingway used the typewriter for his works in the late 1930s, and For Whom the Bell Tolls was published in 1940.

Jolie initially wanted to buy his Tennessee Williams typewriter but he wouldn’t sell it.

So then the agent asked if Soboroff would sell one of the 2 Hemingway typewriters he owned, they offered a quarter of a million bucks and it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

This summer the agent sent a deposit check from Angelina’s production company, Chivan Productions for $11,000, but at some point she had a change of heart and can-

appropriate for us.”

Founder/CEO of AFRIFF, Ms. Chioma Ude, in her opening remarks, noted that apart from the festival creating the platform for Africans to tell their true stories, it also provides the opportunity for film practitioners across the continent to network their lots in the film industry.

According to Ude, “nobody can tell our story better than

us, you get to know what is happening in other countries of Africa, and that’s the aspect that unifies us, because people know they are telling their stories. So, our vision is being to unite Africa.”

Highpoints of the ceremony was the opening night movie, The Square, a documentary film on Egypt’s most recent revolution, directed by Jehane Noujaim.

Big Brother Hotshots: Permithias, Frankie out

D

EDICATED to the hundreds of innocent protesters who were brutally murdered during the recent revolutions that swept through Egypt, The Square, Jehane Noujaim’s Oscar-nominated documentary, became a topic of discourse among Nigerians and other guests. The film highlights how resolute the masses can be, in the demand for their rights, defying the divide and rule syndromes usually devised along religious and ethnic line. Participants feel that there is so much to learn from the story by Ni-

•Ude, Duke and Dominic

of you, who in you different and various roles have weaved together the story of Africa; its trial, tribulation and triumph - Its joys, its pains and the stories of warmth and generosities that is the hallmark of Africa. To weave things into a tapestry of stories that repositions us in the comity of nations that ensures that the rest of the world sees Africa truly in the light that is

By Medeme Ovwe

non-fiction works, were published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics of American literature.

Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school he reported for a few months for The Kansas City Star, before leaving for the Italian front to enlist with the World War I ambulance drivers. In 1918, he was seriously wounded and returned home.

His wartime experiences formed the basis for his novel A Farewell to Arms (1929). He died July 2, 1961.

celled the deal. She didn’t even ask for the money back, but we’re told the check was returned.

Born July 21 1899, Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations.

Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works.

Additional works, including three novels, four short story collections, and three •Brad Pitt and Angelina

DESPITE their musical prowess, voters could not keep Rwandan vocalist, Frankie and Namibian guitarist, Permithias for more than 35 days in the Big Brother Africa house, as the duo were sacked from the show, Sunday night.

With the exit of Frankie and Permithias, the dream of the USD 300, 000 prize was over for Rwanda and Namibia, which had their other participants, Arthur and Luis, evicted penultimate week.

The show kicked off with Big Brother playing a prank on IK and making him participate in the ‘freeze’ task that had challenged the housemates this week.

Ghana’s Joey B, having just performed his hit ‘Tonga’, helped one of Biggie’s ninjas dress IK up in a green wig, long beard and sunglasses before taking a selfie – with the presenter unable to move a muscle, or risk sanction from Big Brother.

After the verified results were delivered by auditors SizweNtsalubaGobodo, IK got down to business and asked all six nominees to stand. One by one, he told them to sit, until he revealed that Frankie had been evicted. The Rwandan entertainer was confident as ever when he joined IK on stage saying that he will be heading home to pursue his music career, and continue with modelling as well. “My music has made me the person I am,” he said. “It’s taken me places and flown me all over the world”. Having been honest about his life back at home and his pending divorce, Frankie was philosophical about his time in the house. “Life can take you down, it can take you up, you still have to face the realities of life,” he told IK. It was time for another eviction, and heading back into the house, IK gave a number of nominees a big fright before naming Permithias as the next housemate to leave

By Victor Akande

the game. Upbeat as ever, the Namibian joined IK on stage and talked about the fun he’d had in the house. IK labelled him ‘Promiscuous Permithias’ before showing a video clip of him getting up close & personal with no fewer than five of his female housemates, which Permithias shrugged off with a sheepish grin. When IK asked him why he hadn’t spent more time in the kitchen – he is a sushi chef after all – he said that he cooks to earn a living and hadn’t come into the house to do his job!

IK kept Permithias on stage to reveal the result of the Comedy of Errors Extravaganza to the housemates, who greeted the Namibian enthusiastically when the two appeared on the house’s monitors. Before revealing the result, IK reminded the remaining housemates that they were halfway through the game and should be thinking strategically. “Don’t nominate your enemies, nominate your competition,” was IK’s advice – along with a reminder to not waste any nominations on Goitse, who is automatically on the nomination list.

He revealed that the

•Permithias

viewer vote had given A Strangeness of Strangers the Extravaganza win – ironically, too late to save Permithias, who starred for his team and would have been immune from nomination this week.

Ghanaian producer, musician and all-round star Joey B returned with collaborator Pappy Kojo late in the show, to perform ‘Wave’, while IK also revealed the results of this week’s StarMeter Challenge. Asked to decide which Big Brother Hotshots housemate is the laziest, social media buzz overwhelmingly named Samantha – who will ironically receive a prize for her languid behaviour on Monday.

Another set of nominations took place immediately after the eviction show, which had Butterphly added to the list.

It came as a surprise when Head of House Idris revealed during the show that he added her to the nomination list because he knew she was a strong person, who didn’t believe in herself – so he wanted Africa to vote for her to show her how strong she really is. Still reeling from the news, she stood alongside the other nominees and was relieved when first Frankie and then Permithias left, instead of her.

50

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

51

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

THE NATION

BUSINESS AVIATION

‘Why local banks cannot fund airlines’

T

HE Managing Director of Discovery Air, Captain Mohammed Abdulsalami has identifed double digit interest rate, rigorous conditions attached to base lending rates approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as impediments on the way of funding local carriers.

He said the base rate of about 20 per cent for on-lending to the aviation sector is unfavourable, adding that because no domestic airline can access loan from the banks to buy aircraft and expect to make any appreciable profit in the end.

The Discovery Air chief, said airlines in other parts of the world access funds from financial institutions paying as less as two to three per cent as interest, stating that such low interest window, is the

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

reason such airlines could remain in business profitably.

He canvassed a regime whereby soft loans could be made available to domestic operations by the Federal Government as financial intervention to enable them acquire new aircraft .

He said: ” Many Nigerian carriers cannot buy new aircraft because the interest rate charged by Nigerian Commercial banks is too high.

If airlines get soft loans from the government, they could buy new aircraft from it and not what they expect from the banks.”

Abdulsalami said in the developed world, interest rate by banks to airlines is between one to two per cent, but in Nigeria where the

interest rate is over 20 per cent, how do you expect domestic carriers to compete with foreign airlines that enjoy such credit facility from their governments and financial institutions? he queried.

He said if Nigerian carriers could get such credit facility at two or three per cent interest rate, that would be free money to buy new aircraft, pointing out that domestic operators will find it difficult to compete if they pay over 20 to 24 per cent interest rate on loans .”

He said banks annualise all their charges, commissions and fees and add them to their base lending rates to arrive at their all-inclusive average lending rates which they summit to the CBN, stating that base lending rates include all charges,

commission and others which are submitted to the CBN. He appealed to government to assist domestic carriers by reducing the huge burden of taxes, and the oscillating price of aviation fuel, which he said, could be resolved through local refining of aviation fuel. ” The major challenge Nigerian airline operators face is the cost of getting money . It is very, very difficult . If the government could intervene by giving soft loans it would be easier for operators .

“It is very difficult for a Nigerian company to start an airline because nobody is willing to lease an aircraft to you. We are forced to look for money to buy. This increases the capital outlay to start an air-

line . But, if government could give soft loans , it would be easier,” he said.

He pointed out that alhough government assisted some domestic carriers in the past, “but not all carriers accessed that window,” saying, “I do not think the intervention funds given to some benefitting airlines were judiciously used.

“That is the problem, but I am convinced that there is still room for government to step in and assist, he stated.

“Government should ensure due diligence in giving out financial assistance to any airline to ensure that the money is utilised for the purpose it is given ,” Abdulsalami said.

High infrastructure cost stalls travel industry growth

H

IGH cost of airport infrastructure is affecting the growth of the travel industry, the Chief Executive Officer of Bi- Courtney Aviation Services, Christophe Pennick, has said .

He said Nigeria, as the largest economy in Africa, requires massive infrastructure to drive air transportation, which is the key to sustainable and accelerated development .

He told The Nation that government needs to drive the growth of the industry by putting in place a policy framework that will attract private sector players to invest in airport infrastructure.

He said: " If we are committed to the growth and development of the aviation industry, government should address the challenge of air transport infrastructure. It is infrastructure that drives the growth of air transport and other support industries . But in Nigeria, unfortunately infrastructure is below standard.”

He said infrastructure in Nigeria is low and expensive, pointing out that until these issues are addressed, it may be difficult to unlock the potentials that air transport offers, stressing that government should put in place the right policies to motivate private sector players to develop the required infrastructure for air travel.

Pennick explained that the way to actualise this, is for government to drive development through private sector inclusion, saying this will not only drive development,

but also generate thousands of jobs.

He urged that government should put in place development models that would accelerate growth as is the practice in other parts of the world.

He said in the 1990's Nigeria and the Republic of South Korea were at par In terms of infrastructure, stating that overtime, South Korea has shown enough capacity to develop aviation infrastructure that is now among the best in the world. " It is frustrating to see in Nigeria that the potentials of the aviation industry as a driver for national development is not properly utilised. We need the private sector to push for change ," he said.

Also, the former General Manager in charge of Consumer Protection Directorate, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA), Mrs Fatima Garbati, said government needs to work hard to upgrade air transport infrastructure to enable service providers improve customer airport experience .

She said vision and creativity are required in developing the kind of air travel infrastructure that would turn around the air transport sector.

In her words: " Infrastructure in Nigeria is sad. We need vision and creativity to drive it to unlock the potentials of the aviation sector, adding that it is instructive to challenge stakeholders to turn around the airport experience for many customers.

Emirates receives B777-300ER

E

MIRATES has taken delivery of the airline's 100th Boeing 777-300ER, the world's largest, long-range twin engine commercial aircraft.

The Boeing 777-300ER forms the backbone of the Emirates fleet with the aircraft type currently operating to 77 destinations on the airline's global network.

Delivery of Emirates' first Boeing 777-300ER, took place in March 2005 and with a further 52 aircraft on order, the airline has become the world's largest operator of this aircraft type in fact one in every five 777-300ERs flying today is in Emirates' livery.

It takes 47 days to build a 777-300ER and each aircraft is made of three million parts. If you took all of the wiring contained within Emirates' 100 777300ERs and place it-end-to-end, it would stretch from Dubai to New York and back again, Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline said.

"The Boeing 777-300ER is one of the most remarkable aircraft ever built, and its combination of efficiency, range and payload is second to none. Our customers are equally excited by the aircraft and its on-board product, and to date, over 108 million passengers have flown on an Emirates Boeing 777300ER. "We have 204 more Boeing 777s on order, which supports over 400,000 jobs in the US, including those from various suppliers, such as General Electric which provides the GE90 engines that power all of our 777-300ERs," added Sir Tim. "We are proud of our long-term relationship with Emirates and for the confidence they have in Boeing's products and services beginning with the 777 and continuing with the 777X in the years to come," said Ray Conner, President/CEO, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Chief Executive Officer, Belujane Konsults, Mr Chris Aligbe (left); Director in charge of Maintenance, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Olufemi Ogunade at a seminar held at NCAA Annex, Murtala Muhammed PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE. Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

I

Foreign carriers rake over N231b in ticket sales, says NCAA

NTERNATIONAL airline operators earned about N231billion from ticket sales from the country in 2013, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said.

Also, the regulator said N73 billion was realised by Nigerian domestic airlines within the same period.

The regulatory body also revealed that domestic airlines carried over five million passengers in the country in the year under review.

The Director-General of NCAA, Capt Mukhtar Usman, who made this known while speaking at a seminar in Lagos, listed British Airways, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Air France/ KLM, Delta Air Lines, Qatar Airways, South African Airways, Egypt Air, Kenya Airways and Turkish Airlines, Alitalia, Iberia, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Royal Air Maroc, as some of the leading successful foreign carriers in the country.

Usman, who was represented by the Director, Consumer Protection, Mallam Adamu Abdulahi, said about 277,000 passengers were moved within the West Coast routes, while on the intra-African routes, 437,000 passengers were airlifted by the country’s carriers.

The statistics given by Adamu

showed that 1.4 million passengers were flown in 2013 on the intercontinental routes, adding that all these were achieved with the domestic airlines operating a total of 63,000 frequencies across the country, while on the West Coast, there were 4000 frequencies.

He said the Intra – Africa were 4000 and inter-continental, recorded 7300 frequencies, stating that Nigeria has Bilateral Air Services Agreement, (BASA) with 78 countries, but oberved that not all of the BASAs are utilised.

Usman said in order to strengthen and widen the existing BASAs, Nigerian delegates would be leaving for the Air Services Negotiation Conference in Indonesia very soon.

He said in recognition of the increase in the volume of passengers, the Directorate of Consumer Protection, (DCP), has intensified efforts to process complaints and ensure comfort of air travellers.

He pointed out that Nigeria has become an attractive destination for foreign airlines, saying ceaseless application for additional frequencies are being made regularly, adding that at the present, Nigeria has BASA with 78 countries.

However, some of these are not

being utilised.

“In order to strengthen and widen our BASA with existing and new countries, Nigerian delegates will be attending the International Civil Aviation organisation (ICAO) Air Services Negotiation Conference (ICAN 2014) from November 17 to 21, 2014 at Bali, Indonesia.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Aviation Media, Chukwuemeka Iwelunmo, has canvassed the continuous remodeling exercise of the airports through radical development of infrastructure in the sector.

Iwelunmo charged the government to encourage domestic airlines in the country to ensure their survival and equally challenged domestic airlines operators to come together through merger in order to sustain their operations.

He maintained that owner manager syndrome had continued to crumble most of the domestic airlines in the country, saying that this must be stopped if they are to survive.

He added, “Running an airline is a delicate one, which involves a long term investment. It is unlike the motor parks an must be guided by all laid down standards and procedures.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

52

THE NATION

BUSINESS MARITIME

e-mail: maritime@thenationonlineng.net

Customs goes tough as Yuletide approaches T

HE Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme and Western Marine Commands have raised the anti-smuggling tempo by deploying senior officers to the remote areas of the land and part of the Atlantic Ocean to combat smuggling during the yuletide, investigation has revealed.

The working relationship between the two commands, it was gathered, emanated from the report that smugglers will start their nefarious activities from the beginning of this month till the end of December.

The Area controllers of the two commands, findings revealed, have increased the current patrols on land and sea, fortified the approved check points and other swampy areas in Seme, Ojo, Sibiri, Igbesa, Agbara, Badagry, OwodeApa and other areas where operational boats and vehicles could not access with highly committed young and youthful senior officers.

Stories by Oluwakemi Dauda Maritime Correspondent

When The Nation visited the Western Marine command last Friday, its Acting Area Controller Johnson Gabriel was directing some of his senior officers who were on top of their operational boat and well armed to comb all the rivers linking the Atlantic Ocean from Lagos to Ogun, Oyo and Ondo states so that criminals would be prevented from using barges to smuggle rice and other prohibited items into the country.

While the Western Marine officers are set to confront the smugglers at the sea, officers and men at the Seme command, have been mandated to comb all the bush paths in their area to find the new hide-outs of smugglers who specialise in prohibited items such as second hand clothing, bags, shoes, frozen chicken, bags of rice, used tyres and other items through the land and the swampy areas.

Over 50 dedicated officers deployed by the two commands, were instructed to also beam their searchlight on land and sea travelers around the border areas who might want to bring in bags of rice and frozen foods under the pretext that they are meant for personal consumption.

When this reporter visited the Seme border yesterday, most of the vehicles operating around the area were stopped on the road, and Customs officers were seen seizing contrabands including small quantity of rice and cartons of frozen from traders and those who claimed to be travelers.

Customs sources at the border said small quantities of rice ranging between 10kg and 25kg per trip are stored in commercial quantity by the so-called travelers for onward shipment into markets.

Findings revealed that the command has put a check on travelers by seizing every bag of rice from persons coming into the

country no matter the size.

The move, has made the area controller, Comptroller Willy Egbudin and his officers unpopular among many trans-border traders and travelers around the areas.

The anti-smuggling drive of the two commands now stretch to various swampy areas where vehicles could not access, in addition to the visible patrols of the waters and the land and manning of all approved checkpoints.

The command has also increased foot patrol along bush paths and raised its level of intelligence gathering for preventing, interdicting and uncompromising arrests of smugglers.

Contacted, its Public Relations Officer, Mr Ernest Olottah, said the controllers have set in motion a system that makes the fight against smuggling more serious.

Although the image maker was not specific on the collaboration between its command and the

Western Marine, he was emphatic that all the Customs commands across the country are working together and operating as one.

“You know we are in the first week of November, this is the time most of the people who engage in nefarious activities use to smuggle approved and un-approved imported items into the country through the land and the sea. They do this to deny the Federal Government the needed revenue to boost the economy.

“But let me tell you that all our officers across the country have been put on alert by our Comptroller General, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi to reduce to the barest minimum the activities of the smugglers during this season and beyond and we are determined to carry out his order and as directed.”

Olottah warned all smugglers operating in the area through the land or sea to desist as there is no hidden place for them to operate.

Shippers Council to implement recommendation of judges’seminar

T

HE Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), has begun the implementation of some of the recommendations of the Maritime seminar for Judges held in June this year, the Executive Secretary, Hassan Bello, has said.

Bello told The Nation that the NSCs’ Legal Department, has set up a committee to look at the communiqué at the end of the seminar with a view to implementing the recommendations.

He said: “A committee was set up at the end of the seminar. It has inter-ministerial responsibilities. It has been done to see that certain things are implemented. As you know, the maritime seminar is not just a talk shop. Through the seminar, we have domesticated about two or three conventions, we have also done some administrative changes in maritime sector. It has influenced our judicial decisions also. The seminar is a canvasser of thoughts. The committee is working to see that decisions reached at the last seminar are actualised Bello said the board of Nigerian Shippers Council is technical and is being represented by NNPC, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), and National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA).

“Also there were issue-based discussions on the challenges in the maritime sector and solutions to these challenges,” he said.

On the increased jurisdiction of the council, whether there is a corresponding increment on their finan-

By John Austin Unachukwu

cial allocations, Bello said: “Yes, we love that Shippers Council is ready to go on. As a matter fact, we have made presentation and I am sure it is being looked at. We want to bring more revenue to the government.

Through the Customs, we could triple the revenue coming from the ports if given the chance to work. We have started. We would soon make profound statement on issues that we have negotiated.”

Speaking on the Inland Container Depots otherwise called Dry Ports, he said: “It is going on.

We have just turned the sod for Funtua. The concessionaire will start construction very soon. We have had discussions with Oyo State government, the Ibadan ICD and many others are in the pipeline. I think the idea has gone down now, it is being accepted. If we have the dry port, it means we are taking shipping to the door steps of shippers. It means that Apapa Port and road would be free from congestion. It means that the economy of the places where these ICD’s are located will boom because there are other industries attached to it. The haulage industry, the warehouses and so on, and the cost of transportation would reduce drastically.”

He said further “We are working with Customs, what is left now is the legal framework and this has been sent to the President by the Minister of Transport. The moment it comes out, construction will start.“

•From right: ANLCA Chairman, Tin-Can Islan Chapter, Prince Kayode Oyinlola, Prince Oro Chukwura and Mrs PHOTOS: OLUWAKEMI DAUDA Ada Akpanonu during the commisioning of their secretariat in Lagos.

NIMASA remits N9.7b to Federation Account

T

HE Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) remitted N9.7 billion to the federation account last year.

Its Director-General, Mr Patrick Akpobolokemi, told the paper that the agency has made up-to-date remittance to the federal purse.

The NIMASA boss disputed the figures put forward by a section of the media, saying that the report

was not in consonance with the amount recorded with the Federal Ministry of Finance.

“NIMASA is mindful of the critical role of financial resources in actualising the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan and has therefore, contributed its statutory quota towards making the government’s programmes a reality”.

Akpobolokemi said the agency

has continued to make remittances to the Federation Account and this latest remittance for the year 2013 was far above its projection.

He said NIMASA is committed to actualising its mandate by working with more advanced technology, like the recently launched Satellite Surveillance System that is capable of monitoring vessel activities in the nation’s maritime domain.

54

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

55

MONEYLINK Skye Bank steps up financial literacy education

CBN may raise private sector deposits’CRR

T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is likely to raise the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) on public sector deposits at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting holding before the month-end, FBN Capital, an investment and research firm has said.

The CRR is a portion of banks’ deposits kept with the CBN. The firm explained that the CRR which currently stands at 15 per cent, may be raised further.

The CBN raised CRR on public sector deposits from 12 per cent to 50 per cent in July last year. By March this year, the ratio was further hiked to 75 per cent.

CRR on private sector deposits equally rose by 300 basis points from 12 per cent to 15per cent during the MPC meeting held in March. For

S

Stories by Collins Nweze

many banks, especially those with weak deposit base, it was bad business.

These policy adjustments removed over N1.5 trillion from banks’ vaults and placed it in CBN’s custody, thereby worsening existing cash crunch faced by lenders.

Hence, when banks started releasing their fiscal year 2013 results, many pundits were interested in knowing the impacts changes in CRR, reduction on commission on turnover (CoT) fees, removal of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) charges and increase in contribution to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) levy had on lenders’ profitability.

Vetiva Capital Management ana-

• CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele lysts predicted that on an aggregate level, the banking industry this year gross earnings would take a potential $690 million annual hit, assuming a 12per cent yield on the newly sterilised CRR deposits.

They said the impact will vary from bank to bank depending on how much public sector deposits on their books.

Access Bank inaugurates customised debit card

A

CCESS Bank Plc at the weekend, unveiled its customised debit card tagged ‘Persona’.

The product allows customers of the bank to upload their favourite image or select any from the bank’s gallery on their debit cards.

Speaking at the product launch in Lagos, its Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Herbert Wigwe described the product as part of the brand new future as well as a great future facing the lender.

He said: “We are doing very interesting things. If you ask people about Access Bank about three to five years ago, they would have said it is a wholesale commercial bank because that was what we were.

“But we have evolved over the

past three years to become a large diversified bank with a strong retail presence. Now, what we are doing is not just looking at the top corporates, we are looking at what we can do with each of our stakeholders. What that means is that whether it is a small business, or an individual, we strive to meet everybody’s aspiration.”

According to him, the bank would be unveiling several products over the next couple of weeks to strengthen its presence in the marketplace. This, he pointed out would enable the lender achieve its ambition of becoming the world’s most respected African bank.

“So, for you to achieve that, it is not just by banking the large

Name

Offer Price

AFRINVEST W. A. EQUITY FUND ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH BGL NUBIAN FUND BGL SAPPHIRE FUND CANARY GROWTH FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CORAL INCOME FUND FBN FIXED INCOME FUND FBN HERITAGE FUND FBN MONEY MARKET FUND

168.45 9.17 1.12 1.19 0.69 1.39 1,676.09 1,118.84 121.30 121.16 1,117.51 1.2241 1.2855 0.8238 1.0941

• UBA BALANCED FUND • UBA BOND FUND • UBA EQUITY FUND • UBA MONEY MARKET FUND

Transaction Dates 20/10/2014 15/10/2014 13/10/2014 ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Inflation: September

8.3%

Monetary Policy Rate

12.0%

CBN EXCHANGE RATES November 3, 2014

Buying (N)

Selling (N)

154.78

155.78

Oil Price (Bonny Light/b)

$97.9

Pounds Sterling

247.6944

249.2947

5.46 4.71 17.85 149.42 2.31 7.77 36.56 184.55 5.57

0.49 0.41 0.95 7.11 0.11 0.37 1.74 8.78 0.26

Money Supply (M2)

Euro

193.4286

194.6783

Swiss Franc

160.4104

161.4468

Yen

1.3617

1.3705

CFA

0.2764

0.2964

228.0521

229.5255

Yuan/Renminbi

25.2949

25.4592

Riyal

41.2582

41.5247

SDR

228.8113

230.2896

C/PRICE

CHANGE

0.72

0.66

-0.06

HONYFLOUR

3.84

3.21

-0.27

AGLEVENT

1.45

1.37

-0.08

NEIMETH

0.91

0.86

-0.05

N16.42 trillion.

Credit to private Sector (CPS)

N17.2 trillion

Primary Lending Rate (PLR)

16.5%

NIGERIAN INTER-BANK OFFERED RATES (NIBOR)

Tenor

15-10-14 Rate (%) Rate (%) 17-10-14

Overnight (O/N)

11.00

10.917

1M

12.464

12.393

3M

13.281

13.201

6M

14.205

14.110

FOREX RATES

8.00

7.50

-0.40

188.53

179.11

-9.42

R-DAS ($/N)

157.29

157.29

UPDCREIT

9.00

8.55

-0.45

Interbank ($/N)

162.75

162.75

OKOMUOIL

31.35

29.79

-1.56

161.98

153.92

-8.06

Parallel ($/N)

167.50

167.50

11.58

11.01

-0.57

CHAMPION

Currency

0.33

RTBRISCOE

MOBIL

Amount Sold in ($) 499.93m 349.97m 349.96m

3.58

LOSERS AS AT 10-11-14

DANGCEM

Amount Offered in ($) 500m 350m 350m

US Dollar

DANGSUGAR 4.97 UBA 4.30 OANDO 16.90 NB 142.31 STERLNBANK 2.20 ACCESS 7.40 CADBURY 34.82 FO 175.77 DIAMONDBNK 5.31

BERGER

RETAIL DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM (RDAS)

$39b

3.25

O/PRICE

DATA BANK

Foreign Reserves

C/PRICE

SYMBOL

F

BN Holdings Plc (‚FBN Holdings ) has announced that, together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, FBN Capital Limited, has completed the acquisition of a 54 per cent equity interest in Kakawa Discount House Limited (Kakawa ). Consequently, FBN Holdings is now the beneficial owner of 100 per cent share capital of Kakawa Discount House Limited.

In a statement, it said the acquisition represents a strategic feat for FBN Holdings portfolio as it will expand the universe of products and services offered by the Group and enable it to not only deepen its reach to existing clients, but reach a new client base.

Kakawa brings on board a strong fixed income origination and distribution franchise which can be further leveraged through FBN Holdings’ existing infrastructure.

Group Chief Executive Officer of FBN Holdings, Bello Maccido, said: “This acquisition marks a natural progression of the long standing and intertwined history between FBN Holdings and Kakawa.

“It is also in line with management’s commitment to div e r sif y t h e r e v e n u e s t r e a m s , enhance c o n t rib u to n s f r o m t h e n o n - banking n g s u b sidia rie s leverage cross - selling across the Group and ultimately drive shareholder value over the long term .

CHANGE

O/PRICE

CUSTODYINS

class. Prior to the visit, a train-thetrainer session was held with the volunteer facilitators who are also members of staff of Skye Bank.

Prior to the commencement of the lectures, a presentation was made by the Abuja office of JAN, emphasising the importance of financial literacy. This was followed immediately by module 1 (Elements of Financial Literacy), and then Module II (The History of Money in the World). There were questions and answers session at the end of each module.

Skye Bank had in 2013, adopted Government Day Secondary School, Wuse II, Abuja for mentoring intervention under the financial literacy programme as endorsed by the Bankers Committee. Under the Bankers’ Committee initiative, each bank is expected to adopt a school and teach Pupils and Students financial literacy as a basis for the inculcation of the savings culture.

FBN Holdings acquires Kakawa

Bid Price 167.01 9.08 1.12 1.19 0.69 1.33 1,676.09 1,118.03 120.45 120.30 1,116.70 1.2163 1.2855 0.8089 1.0941

GAINERS AS AT 10-11-14

SYMBOL

corporates which we are doing, but making sure that all the people in the retail space can truly feel the power of an institution that truly cares for them.

“So, that is what we are doing.

That is also what Persona is all about. It was inspired by our customers. We have several people that have been with us for so long, since 2002. Even as a wholesale commercial bank, you (customers) stood with us, even when we did not have many retail products to offer.

“Now, we boast of the most widely used cards, we boast of the best premium cards, we boast of cards that are extremely efficient, but what we are doing today is even much more different,” he said.

KYE Bank Plc has stepped up effort to avail its adopted school the benefits of financila literacy in continuation of its ongoing mentorship and school adoption programme under the aegis of the Financial Literacy Sub Committee (FLSC) of the Banker’s Committee.

In a statement, officials of the bank were on a visit at the weekend to the adopted school- Government Day Secondary School (GDSS) Wuse II Abuja to administer the Modules 1 & II as designed

by Junior Achievers’ of Nigeria (JAN) to the students of the school.

The module covered areas such as Elements of Financial Literacy and The History of Money in the World.

Six simultaneous sessions were held to take care of the three arms of the school. Two sessions were held per class (SS1, SS2 and SS3), with an average of 85 students per

WAUA

GOVT. SECURITIES YIELD – SECONDARY MARKET

Tenor

Oct. 28, 2014

Rates

T-bills - 91

10.10

T-bills - 182

10.22

T-bills - 364

10.30

Bond - 3yrs

11.52

Bond - 5yrs

11.55

Bond - 7yrs

12.13

56

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

THE NATION TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2014

57

NEWS

EFCC to court: Fani-Kayode has a case to answer

T

HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) urged the Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday to dismiss the no-case submission made by a former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode.

It said Fani-Kayode, who was charged for money laundering, has a case to answer.

A no-case answer is a term, whereby a defendant seeks acquittal without having to present a defence.

The defendant’s lawyer, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), argued yesterday that the commission did not make out any case against his client to warrant calling witnesses in de-

By Joseph Jibueze

fence.

Adedipe said: “The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges against him before this court, and by so doing, he has joined issues with the prosecution, leaving them to prove their case beyond doubt.

“The prosecution called six witnesses, and of all these witnesses, none of them came forward to give any evidence that they had any financial transaction with the accused.

“PW3 (a Superintendent of Police) told this court that nobody came forward to say that he gave any cash to the accused.

“PW5 (a former aide) gave evidence that it was one Kolade,

who gave him the money he lodged into the account of the accused, and this does not prove anything against the accused.”

The lawyer said the prosecution had confronted FaniKayode with his statement of account during trial, asking him to defend it.

But Adedipe argued: “If an individual receives several sums of money from different sources, he is expected to lodge same, and so, the fact that certain amounts were found in his account, does not amount to an offence.

“I, therefore, respectfully urge this court to discharge the accused of all counts in the

Okorocha to Igbo: APC has come to rescue you From Chris Oji, Enugu

I

Fani-Kayode

charge.”

The EFCC’s lawyer, Festus Keyamo, maintained that the prosecution made out a case for Fani-Kayode to open his defence.

Following an amendment of the charges from 47 to 40, Fani-Kayode took a fresh plea before Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia on March 6.

The judge adjourned verdict on the no-case submission till November 17.

•L-R: Chairman of Lexcel Group, Mr. Ola Rosiji presenting the best performance Trophy to the Managing Director of Supreme Distilleries Ltd (a subsidiary of Lexcel Group), Mr. Bola Soyinka at the Quarter 3 performance review conference held for the companies in Lexcel Group in Lagos.

With them are Finance Manager Mr. Fisayo Sosanya (second right) and Human resources Manager Mr. Simbo Adetuyi.

MO State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday warned Ndigbo not to be deceived by the deception of the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who branded President Goodluck Jonathan as Igbo.

He said the Igbo personalities were merely picking crumbs from the table, while the people were being deceived that Ndigbo were enjoying the Jonathan Presidency.

Okorocha said the Igbo leaders, who were in the PDP, were in the party for selfish interest, “as PDP is not serving the interest of Ndigbo.”

The governor, who spoke at the All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Enugu, said the Igbo were not in the national protocol, were not occupying any important position from the President to the Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Judge of the Federation, Inspector-General of Police, Comptroller of Prisons, Comptroller of Immigration, etc.

He said: “PDP has failed God. For 16 years, they have nothing to show. It is because of this neglect that we chose an alternative national party, the APC. “In Imo, there is free education, free meal, free school uniform, etc.

“In 2015, if what PDP is doing is well for the masses, let God return the party, but if not, may God return APC for a change.

“APC is an emerging party for a new Nigeria. They (PDP) are taking advantage of widespread poverty in the land, but Rochas Okorocha has come to the rescue. I will match them money for money. If they come with a pickup filled with money, I will come with a trailer filled with money.”

Senator Chris Ngige said PDP had failed the Igbo because the federal roads leading to Igbo land were in a deplorable state, including Enugu-Port Harcourt, Enugu-Onitsha and Enugu-9th mile-Otukpo-Makurdi roads.

The high point of the rally was the presentation of two governorship aspirants in the state, Dr. Ifeanyi Asogwa and Mr. Okey Ezea, a lawyer.

The state Chairman of the APC, Dr. Ben Nwoye, said Enugu must witness a change in 2015.

11 arraigned for beating up policemen

E Air Force chopper crashes in Yola

A

Nigerian Air Force chopper crash landed yesterday in Adamawa State.

The aircraft was believed to be on a mission but crashed barely four minutes after taking off.

The chopper was believed to be carrying five foreign troops at the time of crash at Damare village near the Benue River Valley.

A source close to the government, however, ruled out the possibility of the mili-

By Precious Igbonwenludu

tary air craft being attacked by insurgents Adamawa State Governor Bala Ngilari expressed optimism that with the level of commitment from the military, seized towns would be recaptured.

The Defence Headqurters confirmed the crash in a statement by the Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade.

The statement said: “A Ni-

gerian Air Forces Helicopter with call sign Shark 23 on a training mission executed a controlled forced landing 4 minutes after take-off at the runway approach end of Yola International Airport today at about 0930hours.

“There is no casualty recorded as all the crew members have been recovered back to the base. The Nigerian Air Force Headquarters has already set up an investigation panel to unravel the circumstances that led to the

incident.”

The Director Press and Public Affairs to the Governor Mr. P.P. Elishe, pleaded with the people to remain calm as the incidence cannot in any way deter the ongoing operations in Mubi, Michika and Madagali Areas.

It was also gathered that the military swiftly cordoned off the area and evacuated the victims and other operations facilities after the clash.

Anambra lawmakers demand return tickets

A

NAMBRA State Governor Willie Obiano is on a warpath with the House of Assembly members, following the demand of automatic return tickets to the House.

They have asked the governor to choose between automatic tickets or a likely impeachment.

The Speaker, Princess Chinwe Clare Nwaebili, is also asking for the Ogbaru Federal Constituency ticket.

This is, however, not going down well with stakeholders, who believe that the incumbent, ex-editor of The Source magazine, Victor Afam Ogene, has performed well.

According to investigation, the lawmakers asked for the automatic tickets at a session with the governor last Saturday.

They were adamant and held Obiano hostage on the concession.

The development has made the governor, a bureaucrat, who is new in politics, to be desperate to prevent crisis, which may

From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

derail his administration.

The Assembly is made up of 30 lawmakers- 24 from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), four from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and two from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

It was learnt that 153 aspirants had bought forms for the 30 seats.

Also, 44 aspirants are vying for the 11 seats in the House of Representatives allocated to the state.

A source said: “The legislators are using the automatic tickets as a bargaining chip because if the governor dances to their tune, they still have time to initiate impeachment proceeding against him, no matter how frivolous.

“Obiano is not so much concerned about the federal seats but the House of Assembly seats.

“But APGA chieftains are pressurising him not to bow to

the request of the lawmakers.

They said since Obiano promised party members free and fair primaries, he should stick to it.

“The chieftains and members chose Option A4 for the primaries. They said if Obiano deviated from free and fair process, it might mark the beginning of the disintegration of APGA in the state.

“The governor is, however, afraid of the lawmakers. He has met party chairmen in the state and the elected council chairmen on how to concede the tickets to the lawmakers.

“Although some of the legislators failed to perform, the governor will prefer to allow the electorate to decide their fate.”

Another source said one of the seats creating tension in Anambra is Ogbaru Federal Constituency, which the Speaker is insisting on having.

Stakeholders and party chieftains, however, prefer the return of Ogene.

“The Speaker wants to snatch

the ticket, but we are opposed to it. Yet the governor cannot confront her. The alternative we have is for APGA to lose the seat.

“The imposition will mark the fall of APGA in the state.

APC and PDP are just waiting for any slip to take advantage,” the source added.

A member of the state Executive Committee of APGA said: “We have issues on senatorial tickets too. In Anambra South, Nicholas Ukachukwu, who left PDP for APGA is jostling for the slot with a former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), Mr. Ernest Ndukwe (being sponsored by billionaire Emeka Offor); and ex-Deputy Governor Okey Udeh.

“In Anambra North, the battle will be fought by Alphonsus Igbeke (from Anambra East); Dubem Obaze (the younger brother of the Secretary to the State Government); Patrick Nwachi and Mike Okey Areh.

LEVEN men were yesterday charged before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for inflicting bodily injuries on three police officers on duty.

The accused include — Ogochukwu Iwoti, 33; Bolaji Oladimeji, 31; Abubakar Ismalia, 20; Marcus Yakubu, 24;’ Dajuma Ibrahim, 26; Adamu Musa, 26, and Mohammed Audu, 25.

Others are — Mohammed Abudulahi, 20; Charles Ibrahim, 29; Abudulamid Ambi, 30, and Musa Mohammed, 32.

They are standing trial on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, inflicting bodily harm, obstructing police officers on duty and unlawful possession of illicit drug.

The prosecutor, Insp. Ishola Samuel, told the court that the accused committed the alleged offences on Oct. 15, at Wole Olateju Crescent, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

Samuel said that the accused allegedly inflicted injuries on the hands and chests of three police officers who were performing their duty.

He said that the police officers who sustained the injuries are: Insp. Keldran Okunzuwa, Insp. Thomas Ojih and Insp. Akio Umor.The prosecutor also told the court that the 11 accused were unlawfully in possession of a substance suspected to be Indian hemp. He said that the accused also damaged the back windscreen of a police patrol van, valued at N20, 000.

Samuel said that the alleged offences contravened Sections 112, 172, 327 and 337 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011. The accused all pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The counsel to the accused Mrs Helen Ibeji, urged the court to grant them bail on liberal terms.

The Magistrate, Mr J. A. Adegun, however, admitted each of the accused to bail in the sum of N100,000 with one surety each, in like sum. He said that each of the sureties must be a Nigerian citizen, with either a valid national identity card or an international passport and should produce a two-year tax clearance.

He adjourned the matter to December 10, for hearing.

Arms sale: Nigeria slams U.S.

D

ISAPPOINTED by the refusal of the United States to help Nigeria procure military weapons to combat Boko Haram, the Federal Government yesterday expressed dissatisfaction with the American government arguing that the Americans were letting Nigeria down at her hour of need, an Empowered Newswire report was quoted by Premium Times Speaking while receiving a delegation of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Prof Ade Adefuye, said the Nigerian people and the government feel abandoned by America.

Adefuye was quoted as saying: “I am sad to inform you that the Nigerian leadership: military and political, and even the general populace, are not satisfied with the scope, nature and content of the United States’ support for us in our struggle against terrorists.”

“We find it difficult to understand how and why in spite of the U.S. presence in Nigeria with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly. . Adefuye added that at first, Nigeria had problems with the manner in which intelligence was being shared, adding that even though the U.S. Government claims that the problem has been addressed, “it is still there”.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

58

NEWS Ibadan chief, Akeredolu, eulogise retiring Perm Sec From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

T

HE President of Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Adebayo Oyero, has described the retiring Permanent Secretary of Oyo State Ministry of Local Government Service Commission, Mr Emmanuel Adebunmi, as a respected, diligent and hardworking man.

Chief Oyero made the remarks while speaking as chairman at a retirement service and 60th birthday of the retiring permanent secretary held at the Banquet Hall, Premier Hotel, Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

He commended Adebunmi for injecting discipline into the commission and extolled him for his outstanding leadership qualities throughout his years in public service.

T

Ogoni: our oil blocks are not for sale

HE Ogoni ethnic group in Rivers State, under the aegis of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), have said the oil blocks in their land are nor for sale.

They spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, at the 19th memorial lecture in honour of the November 1995 hanging of nine Ogoni martyrs.

The lecture, titled: Minorities at Crossroads: Confronting Political Inequality in Nigeria, highlighted the position of the minorities in the nation’s political sphere.

The military junta under the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, endorsed the warrant for the execution of nine Ogoni sons, following a court judgment that sentenced them to death for alleged murder of Ogoni elders.

The case bordered on mineral deposits in their

•MOSOP urges Jonathan to clear Ogoni martyrs From Rosemary Nwisi, Port Harcourt

land and other parts of the Niger Delta.

The Ogoni agitators are: Ken Sawo-Wiwa, Chief Edward Kobani, Albert Badey, John Kpuinen, Barinem Kiobel, Chief S. N. Orage, Nordu Eawo, Chief T. B. Orage, Saturday Dobee, Daniel Gbokoo, Paul Levura, Baribor Bera, Garrick Leton, Felix Nuate, among others.

They are widely described as the heroes of the struggle for the emancipation of the Ogoni and the Niger Delta.

MOSOP’s President-General Legborsi Saro Pyagbara decried the neglect of successive Federal governments to clear the names of the Ogoni Nine.

The spokesman urged President Goodluck Jonathan

to clear the names of the martyrs.

He said: “Condemnations poured in like torrents of water. The United Nations (UN) sent a fact-finding team to Nigeria to examine the process of their trial according to applicable local and international standards.

“The team returned a verdict, which clearly showed that the trial of the Ogoni Nine did not follow any known local and international standards. Yet, the greatest disservice to the memory of the men continued.

“Successive Nigeria administrations have failed to do the needful by clearing the names of these men, who were unjustly tried, condemned and then murdered.

“On this remembrance

day, we are sending a strong request to the Jonathan-led administration to immediately set in motion the process for clearing the names of the Ogoni Nine. Jonathan has gone to sleep for too long on this issue and now is the time to act.”

On the oil disputes between the people and the oil giant, Shell Development Nigeria Limited, the MOSOP president said their quarrel subsisted.

According to him, no part of oil blocks in their land should be sold to a third party without due consultation and agreement.

Pyagbara warned investors to steer clear of Ogoni land until their matter with Shell was resolved.

He said: “While Shell remains a persona-non-grata in Ogoni, we have stated re-

peatedly that Ogoni oil assets cannot be partitioned and put on sale, like the partitioning of Africa, to any investor without the free, prior and informed consent of the Ogoni people, as guaranteed under international human rights laws, particularly the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).

“We have to reiterate here that Shell and Ogoni are in dispute and the issues surrounding the disputes have not been settled.

“MOSOP vehemently condemns the present attempt to divest Ogoni oil blocks without clear and focused discussions with the Ogoni people. We are also seizing this opportunity to warn all would-be investors to stay clear of Ogoni until matters on this divestment have been properly discussed with Ogoni people.”

Striking Edo workers seek divine help

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola (middle); Deputy Governor Mrs Titi LaoyeTomori (left) and organiser of the programme, ProfYemi Oshinbajo, at an Evening of Praise and Thanksgiving at Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo...at the weekend

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

S

TRIKING workers of four Edo State-owned tertiary institutions prayed yesterday for divine intervention to make the government meet their demands and pay their salaries.

The affected institutions are: College of Education, Ekiadolor; College of Education, Igueben; Institute of Science and Technology, Usen, and College of Agriculture, Iguorhiakhi.

Academic activities have been grounded at the institutions since July, when the workers began warning strikes.

The workers, under the auspices of the Coalition of Unions of Edo State-Owned Tertiary Institutions, prayed at the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre in Benin, the state capital.

They wore black dresses to “mourn” decayed infrastructures at their institutions.

The workers demanded the immediate payment of differentials of 16 months’ salaries arrears after the government began the implementation of the Consolidated Polytechnic and Colleges Academic Salary Structure (CONPASS) and the Consolidated Tertiary Educational Institution Salary Structure (CONTISS).

Other demands are: the payment of promotion arrears, stoppage of use of Trust fund/cooperative money for running the institutions, dilapidated infrastructure and non-provision of funds for accreditation of courses.

It was learnt that meetings held with the government’s representatives ended in a deadlock.

The coalition’s Chairman Fred Omonuwa said the prayers were part of a protest series to draw attention to their plight.

He said the workers demanded the payment of salaries and the signing of a memorandum on other demands before they would resume work.

Omonuwa said the government promised to get in touch with the workers on the their demands.

I didn’t endorse Wike, says Graham-Douglas

A

MEMBER of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, has said he did not endorse the 2015 Rivers State’s governorship aspiration of a former Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike.

He expressed surprise that Wike and his supporters ambushed him last Sunday at the Royal House of Grace Church in Port Harcourt, the state capital, for his support and endorsement.

The PDP elder said he declined to give the support, based on principle.

Graham-Douglas, a Kalabari, who was a Minister of Aviation, addressed reporters

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

yesterday at his new Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt home.

He said he was shocked and embarrassed to hear that he endorsed Wike.

The four-time former minister and member of the Royal House of Grace Church in Port Harcourt, said he was at the church to worship God and did not expect Wike, who was not a church member, to be desperate about his governorship ambition to the extent of playing politics during the religious service.

The 75-year-old politician said he stood by zoning/rotation of political offices, especially the

Rivers governorship, in 2015.

Graham-Douglas said this was in line with PDP’s constitution.

The former minister stressed that Wike’s plea for forgiveness would not make him to betray his people.

He said: “The former Minister of State for Education expressed profound regrets for any seeming misunderstanding between us and apologised for any wrong misrepresentations. As a true and practising Christian, I gave Wike a handshake and extended the same to members of his entourage.

“The socio-religious reception of Wike during the church service should not, under any circumstance, be interpreted as an

endorsement. As a founder of the PDP in Rivers State and as a father, I admonished Wike to adhere to and abide by the advice and instructions of elders concerning the age-long zoning arrangement of the governorship of Rivers State.

“The principle of zoning the office of the governor between the coastal and the upland is non-negotiable.

There is a political quagmire and confusion in Rivers State, especially in the PDP. Wike is an Ikwerre as Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. Wike’s governorship ambition is against zoning and I am for rotation. The next governor of Rivers State must come from either the coastal or Ogoni part of the state. I have not

Obuh: I’ve been PDP card-carrying member since 2011

T

HE Tony Obuh Campaign Organisation has dismissed claims that he is not a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State.

The organisation said Obuh had been a PDP cardcarrying member since 2011.

In a statement yesterday in Asaba, it expressed sadness at the “deliberate attempt” to distort the truth for what he called selfish interests.

Kenneth Gbagi, a gover-

•Aspirant decries disinformation From Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

norship aspirant, at the weekend, claimed that Obuh was not a PDP member because he resigned from the civil service less than three months ago.

Gbagi said: “Suffice it to say that the issue is not about Obuh, but we are also resolutely saying Obuh is not a card-carrying member of PDP. It will be an illegality if Obuh

says he is a member because he resigned only two and a half months ago. As such, we insist, as a people, that he is not a member. We do not agree to anything called imposition of any candidate in the PDP for governorship.”

But Obuh’s campaign chief, Fred Majemite, dismissed Gbagi’s claim.

He said Obuh had been active in the affairs of the party before he declared interest in

the governorship race.

The statement reads: “Despite the consistent calumnious tirades against ...Obuh, we will not engage in acrimonious campaign against any aspirant to the office of the governor of Delta State. While our principal is being vilified, slandered, blackmailed, libelled and defamed, we are focussed on getting the delegates who will, by the grace of God, elect him as the flag bearer of our great party, the PDP.

Urhobo back APC for presidential, governorship polls From Bolaji Ogundele, Warri

T

O prove to President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it was not bluffing about sticking with the Uvwiamughe Declaration, the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) has promised its support for All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship aspirant, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor.

UPU, the apex national body of the Urhobo ethnic nation, in its Uvwiamughe Declaration, promised the support and voting strength of the Urhobo nation to any party that gives its governorship ticket to an Urhobo politician in next year’s election.

Its President-General Joe Omene spoke on Sunday when he hosted Emerhor and his entourage.

Omene said Urhobo would vote for the governorship and the presidential candidates of the party which gives its governorship ticket to an Urhobo politician.

According to him, the UPU heard from the Presidency and the Delta State Government to stick to the Uvwiamughe Declaration in Warri last week.

59

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

NEWS Suicide bomber kills 47 in boys school massacre Continued from page 4

of injuries”. Those who survived complained of hearing problems from the deafening blast.

The school has more than 1,000 pupils and caters for boys aged 15 to 20. The victims are all thought to be in their teens.

Pupil Adamu Abdullahi said those at the centre of the blast near the principal’s office were flung in all directions and others were knocked off their feet.

“I found myself under the weight of another student, who fell over me. I’m certain he was dead. I was dazed and disorientated for a moment,” he told AFP. “When I realised what had happened, I managed to push the body on top of me and started running like everyone else. It was confusion all over. Everybody was hysterical.

“I saw many people on the ground. Human flesh and blood were splattered all over the place... I ran out of the school and went home.

“When my father saw me he was terrified. I didn’t realise my white school uniform was stained with human blood and bits of flesh.”

The dead and injured were taken to the Potiskum General Hospital just 100 metres away.

Angry residents blocked the road leading to the school and the hospital, preventing security agents from getting to the scene of the blast.

Police Commissioner Marcus Danladi, who was in Potiskum and Yobe State Commissioner Mohammed Alamin could not visit the scene – apparently to

avoid being attacked by the residents.

The CP went to the palaces of the two Emirs in the town, urging them to ask the residents to allow the security agents do their job.

The Emir of Fika, Dr. Muhammadu Ibn Abali Muhamadu Idrissa, told the CP that he had sent some people to go to the scene and plead with the residents to allow securitymen do their job, adding that what happened with the Shiite people some days ago aggravated the residents anger”.

He condemned the act describing it as “callous and wicked”. He called on the local people to collaborate with securitymen in the fight against the insurgency.

The Emir of Potiskum, Alhaji Bubara Ibn Wuriwa Bauya, described the insurgency in the Northeast and the situation in the country as unfortunate.

He planned an expanded meeting of all his chiefs to discuss collaboration with securitymen to foster peace among the people.

Alhaji Bauya regretted the mob action at the hospital and the school, saying: “We really don’t know these peolle that are protesting. It is very bad to stage this kind of action at this critical time. We need the security people around us and we need to cooperate with them to fish out the bad people among.”

Speaking in Potiskum on why he did not go to the scene of the attack. Danladi said he did not want to cause more tension in the town.

“Well, as you can see, you and

I are in Potiskum and I have seen the two Emirs who are the custodians of this town. From the report I got, the people are angry because of what happened in this town last week during the attack on the Shiite people.

“Because of that, I understand that after this attack, the people don’t want to see security people at the school and the hospital again. For me, nobody can stop me from going to that school but for the safety of the generality of the people, I have decided not to go to the place until the tension subsides.”

“I must say that my action should not be interpreted as an act of weakness but rather strategies to avoid any further breakdown of law and order that would lead to the loss of more lives in Potiskum,” CP Danladi explained.

The state government ordered the immediate closure of all schools in Potiskum.

The commissioner of Education, Alamin Mohammed, told our correspondent in Potiskum that all schools in the metropolis would remain closed until the government is convinced that security has improved.

Meanwhile, the senator representing Yobe South at the National Assembly, Sen. Abdulkadir Alkali Jajere APC (Yobe South) has condemned the bomb explosions on innocent students describing it as “inhuman, heinous and barbaric”.

Sen. Jajere who spoke with our correspondent on phone tasked security operatives in the fight against the insurgency in the north east to change their tactics

Potiskum likely insurgents’ base Continued from page 4

suffered setback after they attacked a Shiite procession in Potiskum.

“The insurgents were angry that troops had killed many of them after the attack on Shiite procession. They were surely on reprisals.

“The manner of the bombing is peculiar to them. The suicide bomber disguised as one of the students and wreaked the havoc.

“And you know, security is always relaxed in a school environment. Early morning assembly by students is a routine thing in order to call the school to order.

“It was difficult for the students to detect the suicide bomber.”

The source also indicated that the recurring bombing in Potiskum showed that Boko Haram has many operational bases and cells in and around the commer-

cial town.

The source added: “The ease with which they come in and out of Potiskum suggested that they might have been operating discreet operational bases and cells in that axis.

“We may need to engage in thorough combing and antibomb sweeping of the town and its environs.

“This is one of the possibilities we are working on. We will surely rid the area of insurgents.”

and move ahead of the insurgents.

“Recent and renewed attacks on the innocent citizenry calls for a change in strategy in the fight against insurgency.

“The number one responsibility of government is to protect the lives and property of the citizenry, government must step up to this basic responsibility” Jajere said “We are optimistic that with the necessary support and motivation, the Nigerian security forces can defeat insurgency,” Sen. Jajare said.

Governor challenges Jonathan Continued from page 4

area until a full review of the situation is undertaken. ”The governor has called on people throughout Yobe State to exercise restraint and continue to pray for the intervention of Almighty Allah (SWT). ”He assured members of the general public that despite the State of Emergency in place, he will continue to do everything within his powers to get the federal government to do more and also to continue to offer his administration’s support to all people affected.”

The governor directed hospital authorities in Potiskum to provide immediate medical support to victims of the attack free of charge. The Yobe State Government will also foot the medical bills of some of the victims who have been referred to the Federal Medical Centres in Nguru and Azare. ”The governor has also directed the Commissioner of Health to undertake regular review of the conditions of victims and suggest what additional measures might be needed to help them recover.”

U.S., U.K., Mark, Atiku condemn killing Continued from page 4

and associated terrorist groups.”

British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, condemned the attack and expressed his support for Nigeria. “I am horrified to hear about the suicide bomb attack that has killed a large number of students at a school in North East Nigeria, and injured many more,” a statement by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) quoted him as saying.

“I condemn those responsible for this appalling act and hope they are swiftly brought to justice. I offer the British government’s deepest condolences to the bereaved and those who have suffered injury,” Hammond stressed. “We will continue to work closely with the Nigerian government to help them tackle the threat from terrorism,” he added.

Senate President David Mark urged security agencies to step up the war against terrorists.

Mark’s statement described the attack as barbaric and inhuman saying “it is condemnable by any right thinking member of the society.”

He said the war on Nigerians by terrorists without boundaries “where men, women, children and even the unborn are victims, speaks volumes of the agenda of the terrorists.

“What is the offence of

these innocent children? Even in warfare, there are boundaries. Even when enemies are known, women and children are usually spared, let alone of school children.

“No matter the level of anger, it cannot be endless.

Enough is enough. We must remember that no evil done to man by man would go unpunished, if not by man, certainly by the Almighty.

“We cannot continue this way. It is not a way of life. It is time for a cease fire. What do we achieve by ceaseless killings. How can we suddenly forget our brotherhood?

Mark advised security operatives saying “with increased intelligence and surveillance, a lot could be achieved.

Atiku described the killings as one too many, the killing of 47 pupils of the Government Technical Science College, Potiskum, and appealed to those responsible for the act and similar ones in the past to refrain from taking the life which they cannot create.

In a statement from his media office in Abuja, Atiku said that the latest bombing which needlessly claimed the lives of 47 young and promising Nigerian school children is one too many and once again underscores the need for the government at all levels including our elders and opinion leaders to find a permanent solution to the problem of insurgency which has ravaged our country for the past five years.

According to him, the tragic incident in Potiskum is not the first time in Yobe State and indeed in the troubled NorthEast region that innocent young people are subjected to violence and untimely death for the simple reason that they want an education.

He said: “One expects that knowing the anti-education mind-set of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes, the relevant authorities should have done their bit to ensure that at least, our educational institutions are provided with additional security”.

Jonathan, PDP governors meet at Villa

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday met with Peoples Democratic (PDP) governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting described as “private”, started around 8.00pm.

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

It was unconnected with moves to resolve the crises that hit the party and to finalise preparation for today’s Jonathan’s declaration at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

60

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

FOREIGN NEWS

Cameron says Britain should not stay in EU P

RIME Minister David Cameron said yesterday that Britain should not be willing to stay in the European Union “come what may”, as his main political rival said the promise of a referendum on membership of the bloc was creating uncertainty for businesses.

In a bid to quell dissent among his own lawmakers and win back voters who have defected to the anti-EU UK Independence Party, Cameron has pledged to renegotiate Britain’s EU ties before offering a membership referendum in 2017 if he is re-elected next year.

Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband told business leaders that those who “flirt” with pulling Britain out of the EU were putting millions of jobs at risk by generating uncertainty.

But, speaking at the same event, Cameron said ignoring that there was a debate over Europe would be the “worst thing to do”.

“Britain’s future in Europe matters to our country and it isn’t working properly for us at the moment, and that is why we need to make changes,” Cameron said.

“Simply standing here and just saying: ‘I will stay in

Europe, I will stick with whatever we have, come what may’ ... that is not a plan and that won’t work.”

He said the level of investment into Britain under his Conservative-led government showed that the issue was not a deterrent.

Miliband, hoping to cash in on fears among some business groups that a Conservative election win could cost them unfettered access to the EU’s single market of 500 million people, said Britain’s national interest was being damaged.

“Every nod and wink to those who want to leave sends a message to potential investors that we are not open for business, that our country is a dangerous bet,” he said.

“Trying to use exit as a threat has actually weakened our influence in Europe, not strengthened it ... I will not be part of it. If I am prime minister I will never risk British businesses, British jobs, British prosperity by playing political games with our membership of the European Union.”

Cameron has in recent months battled other EU countries over the leadership of the EU executive, the Commission, and the EU

Aide to Islamic State’s Baghdadi killed

S

•Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron...yesterday PHOTO: REUTERS

budget, and has provoked warnings from other EU leaders with talk of trying to limit immigration from within the EU. Some of Cameron’s Eurosceptic lawmakers were set to rebel on Monday in a vote on whether to continue honouring EU laws allowing the arrest of criminal suspects in other member states.

The government plans to include the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) in a package of EU justice and policing measures it wants to keep after Dec. 1, when it will drop other EU justice rules.

A number of Cameron’s Conservatives believe the EAW to be an unnecessary level of integration. The vote is still set to pass easily, with the backing of Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

TATE television identified a man, Abu Huthaifa al-Yamani an aide to Baghdadi as having been killed in a strike.

Iraqi security officials have not confirmed the death.

Contradictory reports have emerged about the fate of Baghdadi himself after U.S.-led air strikes against the group in at least two locations in Iraq on Friday.

Islamic State, which swept through northern Iraq in June virtually unopposed by the Iraqi army, has declared a caliphate in

the parts of Iraq and Syria it controls.

Major Curtis Kellogg, spokesman at the U.S. military’s Central Command, said it had no information to corroborate media reports that Baghdadi was wounded in any strike on the city of Mosul in the north and al-Qaim to the west.

The strikes could have killed or wounded some of his aides, who Iraqi officials said were in gatherings targeted by the strikes.

Falluja is an Islamic State stronghold to the west of Baghdad in the Sunni Mus-

lim heartland Anbar Province.

The United States and its allies launched a barrage of attacks against Islamic State over the weekend, conducting 23 air strikes in Syria and 18 in Iraq against the militant group since Friday, U.S. Central Command said.

In Iraq, seven strikes hit near Baiji and others in or near Falluja, Mosul, alQaim, Haditha, Ramadi and Rutba.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command said the strikes in Syria included 13 aimed near the besieged border town of Kobani and 10 near Dayr Az Zawr.

Fears of all-out Ukraine war grow

N

EW columns of tanks, trucks and heavy artillery rumbled towards the proMoscow rebel stronghold of Donetsk yesterday as fears grew of a return to all-out fighting in war-torn eastern Ukraine.

The Netherlands meanwhile held an emotional ceremony for the 298 victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 which was shot down in July, focusing the world’s eyes on the conflict in the ex-Soviet state.

Some 1,600 relatives and friends of the dead from 18 countries gathered alongside members of the Dutch

royal family in Amsterdam.

Ukraine and the West blame Russia for supplying the pro-Kremlin separatists with the missile that shot down the plane, while Moscow and the rebels have pointed the finger at Kiev’s forces.

The human toll of the conflict rose again Monday when three civilians and one Ukrainian soldier died as rebel shelling hit a residential area near a Ukrainian checkpoint in the frontline town of Avdiivka, some 10 kilometres north of Donetsk.

Smoke rises above a new terminal of the Sergey

Prokofiev International Airport after the recent shel …

Seven people were injured, according to the Donetsk region administration, which is loyal to Kiev and announced the incident.

Intense weekend shelling around Donetsk and more armoured columns heading to the city have fuelled concerns the rebels could be gearing up for an offensive after weeks of localised skirmishes.

An AFP journalist saw 28 trucks, six tanks and 14 howitzer artillery systems and two armoured personnel carriers driving through rebel territory around Donetsk on Monday.

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

61

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

62

THE NATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014

63

TODAY IN THE NATION

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL.9

NO. 3029

“TAN is hallucinating about non-existent achievements. But at the other end of the country, Boko Haram is busy showing off its “caliphate”, axed off Nigeria’s territorial space.”

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

T

HEY must be rejoicing in their fortified encampments in the Sambisa Forest and in the open savannah stretching from Bauchi through Borno to Adamawa, mocking and taunting a demoralised and ill-equipped national army, shaming some of its leading commanders by capturing, occupying and renaming their hometowns.

And it is not just on the battlefield that Boko Haram is prevailing. It is also proving superior in strategic thinking. It inveigled a desperate Federal Government and a weary national army into announcing and observing a ceasefire and assuring a traumatised nation that the Chibok girls were about to be set free, more than six months after they were abducted from their school hostels.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram consolidated its hold on the areas it has occupied and, virtually unopposed, opened a new front with lightning speed, stamping it with its accustomed bestiality and fanaticism.

It has been suggested that the group the Federal Government was negotiating with had no mandate to speak for Boko Haram or conclude any agreement in its name.

If this is true, it would amount to a failure of intelligence with few parallels anywhere.

Two years ago, President Goodluck Jonathan declared that Boko Haram would be crushed within six months. Like his deadlines for generating and distributing electricity to a nation that has been forced to make peace with darkness, it came and passed.

When the UK, the United States, France, Australia and Israel promised logistic and intelligence assistance in locating and freeing the Chibok girls and containing the insurgency, an excited Dr. Jonathan stopped just short of declaring victory.

They came, they saw, and have maintained a presence of sorts, but without achieving any significant results. The national army and the intelligence services are no better off, and the Jonathan administration is no wiser.

Lately, Dr. Jonathan cajoled the National Assembly into authorising him to raise a loan of one billion dollars to equip the armed and intelligence services to fight the insurgency. He and his military advisers seem to have come to the painful reality that Boko Haram is not going anywhere soon.

Boko Haram is in fact waxing stronger everyday, as Ambassador Ade Adefuye told a delegation of the influential United States

RIPPLES WOMEN MORE RELIABLE IN POLITICS THAN MEN, says Obasanjo

Yes, WOMEN STEAL LESS ...e.g ETTEHGATE

OLATUNJI DARE

AT HOME ABROAD olatunji.dare@thenationonlineng.net

Sleep-walking toward Mogadishu

•Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Barde

•Minister of Defence Aliyu Mohammed Gusau

Council on Foreign Relations yesterday, in Washington DC. In the midst of the unfolding disaster, no senior political official has resigned voluntarily or has been asked to do so. The Commander-in-Chief has not deigned to go near the warfront to rally the troops and to give succour to the beleaguered population of displaced persons.

But this has not stopped his rented cheerleaders from placing him on the same pedestal with Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and Nelson Mandela, men who led from the front, by personal example, risking or sacrificing everything for the causes they believed in and championed.

Must they insult and assault the memories of these great personages and the intelligence of the Nigerian public in their desperation to sell a gravely flawed candidate for re-elec-

tion?

In their interactions with the rank and file, some of Dr. Jonathan’s field commanders seem to have inspired mutiny rather than loyalty. One of them is the butt of jokes and jibes on the Internet. They say he is often so inebriated that, for the most part, he can’t figure out whether he is coming or going.

But he and his colleagues remain in command, carrying on business as usual under admittedly difficult circumstances.

Their circumstances are not to be envied.

The nation’s armed forces are yet to recover from the planned emasculation of the Babangida-Abacha years. To ensure his personal survival and the survival of his regime, Babangida took every measure conceivable to make it almost impossible for them to organise or execute a coup. Military aircraft were grounded, tanks were put out of commissioned, and weapons systems were not upgraded. Advanced training became a favour, to be dispensed to handpicked aides.

Toadyism supplanted professionalism.

Military formations with awe-inspiring names littered the landscape, but they existed only on paper for the most part. To cite one notorious example, there were “amphibious brigades” here and there. But when a Kadunabound military transport plane carrying more than 150 officers crashed into the Ejigbo swamps in 1992 some five minutes after takeoff from Lagos airport, no military craft of any description got to the scene within 48 hours.

The military had to rely on the equipment furnished by the civilian contractor Julius Berger to reach the scene, for salvage rather than rescue operations. All the passengers had

HARDBALL

R

EMEMBER His Master’s Voice (HMV), a yesteryear trademark for recording label EMI, which logo was a rather gripping painting of a squatting terrier listening to a wind-up gramophone, even if its snout also appears singing into the trumpet-like flare, which appears like a microphone?

Those were the days, the oldies especially would remember! The name HMV was coined in 1899 and it went on to rule the global musical waves for many decades later.

His Master’s Voice: could the dog be listening to some vibes and only relaying it into the mike?

HMV somewhat reminds Hardball of Sulaiman Abba, the newly confirmed Inspector General of Police (IGP). Like the terrier in the EMI logo, newly minted IGP Abba appears to understand — nay, relish — his master’s voice; so much that he appears to merrily translate that voice into His Master’s Muscle (HMM).

Proof? The alacrity with which he yanked off Speaker Aminu Tambuwal’s security details! By that very heroics, Mr. Abba, supposedly IGP of the Nigerian state with a duty to protect all, morphed into the exclusive IGP of President Goodluck Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Sure, the IGP lobbed Section 68(1)(g) of the

His master’s muscle 1999 Constitution into the fray to explain himself. As far as IGP Abba is concerned, the Speaker remains deposed. His master the President has said so. So, it is the patriotic duty of the dutiful servant, the IGP, to add muscle to his master’s voice!

What’s in there for this patriotic and gallant policeman? It’s not easy to say. But many freely speculate that the poor Abba was so desperate for confirmation as IGP that he would jump at any presidential order, no matter how absurd. That is no illegitimate supposition, though to be fair to the man, making a man act as IGP with the possibility of non-confirmation is a brazen piece of executive blackmail that should never be exercised. It is temptation qua temptation, likely to trump anyone, except of course the extremely high-minded, which tribe is vanishing fast.

Anyway, Abba has made his move and got his prize — if substantive-IGP-as-trophy theory is correct. But what happens to the polity after, especially in the run-up to a crucial set of elections and with Jonathan’s demonstrable hint that, for 2015, it is do or die?

OLAKUNLE ABIMBOLA

died of suffocation.

The civil war in Liberia and Sierra Leone gave Babangida an opportunity to ship out officers and men of units or formations whose docility he could not count on.

Where Babangida was concerned with selfpreservation, Sani Abacha was concerned with self-enrichment. And if looking the other way as Abacha indulged his overweening greed helped Babangida remain in power, so much the better.

Thus, whether as Chief of Defence Staff or Minister of Defence in the Babangida regime and its doomed extension, Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Government, gorged himself remorselessly on the defence appropriations. Military salaries and benefits went unpaid for months.

According to the online archives of the military historian Dr. Nowa Omoigui, at such moments, the men of the military would shrug their shoulders in resignation and say “Sani ya chi,” literally, Sani has eaten (the money.)

Somehow, perhaps thanks to Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, the admiral without a fleet —who was Babangida’s vice president, the Navy managed to keep its appropriations out of Abacha’s capacious maw. And so it was not unusual for the army to borrow from the Navy to pay salaries Back when he was chair of the Presidential Advisory Council, General TY Danjuma had warned Aso Rock that if it did not move vigorously against Boko Haram, Nigeria might go the way of Somalia. That endpoint is distant, but the process is underway. Boko Haram has set Nigeria on the long, treacherous road to Mogadishu.

It is still possible to arrest the drift. Dr Jonathan must show focused and sustained political resolve, and so must the civilian leadership of the armed and intelligence services. The professional leadership of the armed and intelligence must show greater imagination and capacity.

Everything must be done to boost the morale of the fighting forces. They must be given the tools they need to carry out their assigned tasks.

In the final analysis, the insurgency is an armed response to political grievances. A lasting solution will therefore have to be sought in political accommodation rather than in military victory.

To that end, the major political parties must begin to countenance the formation of a government of national unity after the forthcoming general elections.

•For comments, send SMS to 08111813080

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above Well, the omens are not good. So, the opposition had better get their acts right.

For the election, it is doubtful if Abba’s Police can guarantee a neutral, non-partisan security for all. That would mean something terrible: the integrity of the coming elections may not be guaranteed. With Ekiti and Osun examples, and how security agencies tried to scare and intimidate the opposition, the omens are not good at all!

Still, IGP Abba is not the first to enter his job with low credibility. His entry pitch as a lackey of the presidency and the ruling party is unfortunate. But it won’t be the first time.

In 1981, Sunday Adewusi took over as IGP. When Mr. Adewusi entered, he picked no bones about the colour of the Police under him — enter Mopol as Kill-and-Go: so vicious was this elite corps, in their partisan duties, that the populace near-instantly named Adewusi’s Mopol that unflattering moniker.

But what happened after? After helping to skew the 1983 election for the ruling party — in many states, the elections were sheer robberies — that republic unravelled, and everyone was a collective loser.

IGP Abba may wish to learn from history as he and his Police try to turn their master’s voice into their master’s muscle. Those who fail to learn from history are easily consumed by it.

Published and printed by Vintage Press Limited. Corporate Office: 27B Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Lagos. P.M.B. 1025,Oshodi, Lagos.

Telephone: Switch Board: 01-8168361. Editor Daily:08099365644, Marketing: 01-8155547 . Abuja Office: Plot 5, Nanka Close AMAC Commercial Complex, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja. Tel: 07028105302. Port Harcourt Office: 12/14 Njemanze Street, Mile 1, Diobu, PH. 08023595790 WEBSITE: www.thenationonlineng.net E-mail: info@thenationonlineng.net ISSN: 115-5302 Editor: GBENGA OMOTOSO