The Nation September 19, 2012

Page 1

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Oando, Vigeo, 19 others jostle for PHCN

30 die in Ijebu-Ode highway crash

BUSINESS

Page 12

NEWS Page 6

•Financial bidding fixed for next month

•Trailer, three others in accident

www.thenationonlineng.net

VOL. 7, NO. 2253 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

Gunmen kill commissioner in Borno •Council chair shot dead in Adamawa From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

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UNDAMENTALIST sect Boko Haram yesterday intensified its killing spree, which started at the weekend. Two government officials were shot dead in Borno and Adamawa states. Former Comptroller General of Prison Alhaji Ibrahim Jarma, shot on Monday by gunmen in front of a mosque in Azare, Bauchi State, died in the hospital yesterday. But the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Kano unveiled the arms and ammunition it claimed to have recovered from the sect’s members. It also shed more light on its raid on the sect, which led to the killing of a top shot and the arrest of two others. The Borno State Justice Ministry yesterday confirmed the killing of Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General Zanna Malam Gana. Gana was shot dead in his home town of Bama. On Monday, security sources said the JTF killed Abu Qaqa, the sect’s spokesman and arrested two other senior members. There has been no response from the sect on the claim. Gunmen on Monday night shot dead the acting Chairman of Maiha Local Government Council of Adamawa State, Lawan Datti. Continued on page 4

•Dr. Fayemi receiving the award from Alhaji Maitama Sule (right)...yesterday

•Alhaji Atiku presenting the award to Gen. Danjuma (left) ...yesterday PHOTOS: ABAYOMI FAYESE

Atiku seeks law to prune President’s powers

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ORMER Vice-President Atiku Abubakar stirred a fresh debate on the powers of the President yesterday. The National Assembly should prune the President’s powers as part of the review of the constitution, he said, because with such excessive powers, the President can easily undermine any institution of the state. Former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed

•Tinubu: INEC must be truly independent From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

Tinubu said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must be made truly independent to guarantee free and fair polls. He advocated a unicameral legislature at the federal level, saying the Senate should be scrapped. It was all at the Annual Conference and Award Ceremony of the Leadership

Newspaper Group in Abuja. Former Defence Minister Gen. Theophilus Danjuma was presented with the award of “Leadership man of the Year”. Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi was decorated as “Governor of the Year”, among other honours at the occasion. Atiku said the President is constitutionally the most

powerful president in the world. He recalled that he (Atiku) was a victim of the power when his former boss, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, exercised it. He insisted that “it must be changed”. The theme of the conference was: “Is the opposition a serious alternative in Nigeria?” Atiku recalled that former

Vice President Alex Ekwueme canvassed the creation of geo-political zones. He should have supported Ekwueme had he known that the Nigerian federal structure would be as it is today, with concentration of excessive power at the centre, Atiku said. The Nigerian judiciary, said Atiku, “is bloated and pro-establishment. He would like to see a judiciaContinued on page 4

Senate, House to CBN: don’t print N5000 note Lawmakers will urge Jonathan to stop Sanusi

A •Sanusi

FTER a brief lull, the N5,000 banknote row resurfaced yesterday. Senators were angry with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s insistence on introducing the N5000 banknote. They unanimously vowed to stop the CBN from re-denominating and issuing N5000 note.

From Onyedi Ojiabor, and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

It was their first sitting after a long break. The lawmakers resolved “to urge President Goodluck Jonathan and the CBN to stop issuance of N5000 note and all issues connected therewith”. This followed the unanimous adoption of a motion entitled “Introduction

of N5000 notes by the CBN”. The motion, sponsored by Rules and Business Committee chair Senator Ita Enang (Akwa Ibom North East) saw Senators express anger over what they described as exhibition of “arrogance, high handedness and claim of monopoly of knowledge” by Sanusi Senate President David Mark noted that it was obvious that the argument

for the introduction of N5000 “is not convincing”. “The disadvantages of the N5000 note, at the moment, far outweigh not introducing it and, on balance, we should not go for it,” he said. Mark said: “I also heard it from the news the way you heard it. I was not briefed. The only briefing I had about this issue was in the national dailies. Continued on page 4

•SPORT P23 •LIFE P25 •MONEY P30 •INVESTORS P32•POLITICS P43


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