Former Finance Minister Okonjo-Iweala Receives Another International Award

Former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was one of the distinguished recipients honoured at an all-star event in New York on December 1 for services to humanity and the fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS. She received the award from two respected international advocacy groups, ONE and RED, alongside Bill & Melinda Gates, philanthropist Mo Ibrahim and former New York Mayor and media mogul, Michael Bloomberg.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and her co-honorees were recognized at a grand event marking the tenth anniversary of the advocacy groups. Former US President Bill Clinton and current Vice President Joe Biden were in attendance. Top comedian and CNN presenter, Trevor Noah host the event.

In her response to the honor, Okonjo-Iweala said “I thank ONE and (RED) for this recognition. It is an inspiration to work harder on the issues of social and economic development that have always been my passion. I’m also grateful to my country for the opportunities to serve. I will always be proud to be a Nigerian.”

ONE is an international campaigning and advocacy organization of more than 7 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. It was co-founded by Bono, to raise public awareness and work with political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency so governments are accountable to their citizens.

ONE works closely with African activists and policymakers as they fight corruption, promote poverty-fighting priorities, monitor the use of aid, and help build civil society and economic development. ONE’s work is strictly politically non-partisan. (RED) was founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to make it easy for people and businesses to join the fight against the deadly virus.

Throughout the past decade, (RED) has raised more than $320 million with the help of companies like Apple and Coca Cola towards the fight against HIV

Governor Ayo Fayose suspends Secretary to the State Government - See Reasons

Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose has suspended the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Modupe Alade, for alleged incompetence. Alade, before her appointment was the Treasurer of Ayo Fayose Campaign Organisation prior to the 2014 Ekiti governorship election.

According to the statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Idowu Adelusi and made available to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday, November 3, the suspension would last for three months.

The statement also disclosed that Fayose directed Head of Service (HoS), of the State, Dr Gbenga Faseluka, to oversee the office pending her resumption. Alade retired from the state civil service as a Permanent Secretary. She also worked in ministries of education and local government affairs.

The Hard Truth About Salary Earners In Nigeria Today - Must Read

HARD ANALYSIS: Got this offer from a very good analyst @ Exlink Lodge Blog. Ask yourself, where you fall in

Divide your SALARY by 30 days and see what you get (i.e. the number of days in a month and see the funny thing about your salary plan).
For example,

(1) An average level-12 worker in the state government civil service earns NGN 60,000.
**** And this translates to NGN 60,000÷30= NGN 2,000 every day. This is LESS THAN the amount made daily by an AVERAGE HAWKER in the city.

(2) A freshly EMPLOYED GRADUATE BANKER in most NIGERIAN BANKS earns an average of NGN120,000 monthly.
***So everyday, you get NGN120,000÷30= NGN4,000 as the daily value for your work-life. By implication, this is LESS THAN the amount earned DAILY by an AVERAGE DRIVER in d city and in some villages.....

(3) If you are a FRESH GRADUATE EMPLOYEE in some oil companies, you earn an average of NGN300,000 monthly. So in a day your WORK-VALUE is NGN300,000 ÷ 30= NGN10,000
**** This is LESS THAN the daily amount earned by an IRRIGATION FARMER supplying vegetables to Lagos MARKETS, a TIPPER CAR DRIVER supplying sand for three BLOCK INDUSTRIES and CONSTRUCTION SITES just 3 times a day and DRIVERS of DANGOTE TRUCKS who have bought off the trucks at scrap value and are using them to convey products between villages and the cities for just five business owners.

--------->>>HOPE BY NOW, IT IS SINKING IN, RIGHT?
And when there is an ISSUE in the FAMILY that requires FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, the DRIVERS, HAWKERS and the rest are looking up to you with a WHITE COLLAR JOB.

(4) If you are an NYSC MEMBER, you DON'T need to be told that:
*****NGN19,800÷30 = NGN 660 is your worth on a daily basis.

I hope you know that PURE WATER SELLERS who own a shop, a pepper soup joint and a small TOYOTA COROLLA car to distribute pure water to five restaurants earn MORE THAN you & WHEEL-BARROW PUSHERS working on contract for three warehouses probably make MORE MONEY than you EACH DAY ............

We shouldn't end at satisfactions from these earnings. We should be more proactive, create room for more income and strive to diversify our streams of income. The earlier you wake up and smell the coffee, the better for you......

I know of someone right now who will say this is too ideal to be true but take your time and do this analysis over and over again, and you will grasp the crux!!!

STOP waiting for the Government to feed you, feed yourself and help the Government feed others. That is where we are in this age.

DO have an Entrepreneurial week ahead!!!

DAAR Communication Releases Statement As its CEO Dokpesi Is Released On Bail

DAAR Communication, owners of AIT and Raypower have released a statement over the arrest of their Chairman, Raymond Dokpesi. It eads ....

On Monday Nov 30, 2015 whilst attending the 70th birthday celebration of former Minister and PDP stalwart, Professor Jerry Gana, the Chairman Emeritus of DAAR Communications Plc. received a telephone call from the Ag. Chairman of EFCC Ibrahim Magu inviting him to the visit the EFCC Headquarters to provide some clarifications and documentation regarding some transactions involving the Office of the erstwhile NSA during the 2015 Presidential election campaigns. 

On Tuesday Dec 1, 2015 around 2.00pm, High Chief Aleogho Dokpesi honored the verbal telephone invitation and voluntarily drove himself to the EFCC Headquarters in the company of his son, Raymond Dokpesi Jr and a legal representative of the Chambers of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, in the person of Barrister Justin Omogbemeh. It is pertinent to state that the contrary to news reports, he wasn't arrested nor was he even formally invited, as there is no letter of invitation. At the commission, he was requested to shed more light on some payments that were made to him through the office of the erstwhile National Security Officer to the former President, Mallam Sambo Dasuki. 

High Chief Aleogho Dokpesi made his statement on the various media exposures and campaign transactions, which were dutifully carried out across most broadcast, print and social media in and outside Nigeria. Surprisingly, rather than been allowed to go home, a free man, or at most on administrative bail, in self recognizance, High Chief Dokpesi was kept by EFCC operatives, with onerous bail conditions imposed for his release. It is theses conditions that we are now attempting to perfect for his immediate release.

Signed Raymond Dokpesi, Jnr For the Dokpesi Family

MTN Nigeria Fine Reduced From $5.2 To $3.4 Billion As CEO Resigns In Fallout

Fine payable by the end of December, Nigerian regulator says MTN's chairman will consider penalty, to consult further. The Nigerian telecommunications regulator cut the fine imposed on MTN Group Ltd. to $3.4 billion from a record $5.2 billion and the chief executive officer in the country quit as part of a wider management shake-up at Africa’s biggest mobile-phone operator. The shares gained 1.2 percent to 148.49 rand as of 9:32 a.m. in Johannesburg, valuing the company at 274 billion rand ($19.1 billion). The stock is still down about 22 percent since the penalty was made public on Oct. 26.

The Nigerian Communications Commission decided to reduce the levy after considering a request from the company, Johannesburg-based MTN said in a statement on Thursday. MTN named Ferdi Moolman, the former CEO of the company’s Iran unit and most recently the chief financial officer of MTN Nigeria, as head of the Lagos-based operations, replacing Michael Ikpoki, who resigned.

The Nigerian regulator imposed the fine on MTN for failing to meet a deadline to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered subscribers. Group Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko took an executive position in November and led negotiations with the NCC after CEO Sifiso Dabengwa quit.

Reduction Considered

Nhleko will “immediately and urgently re-engage with the Nigerian authorities before responding formally,” MTN said in the statement. “All factors having a bearing on the situation will be thoroughly and carefully considered before the company arrives at a final decision.”

The initial fine of $5.2 billion was more than MTN’s total sales in Nigeria in 2014 and the equivalent of about 37 percent of the group’s total revenue. A full payment would have exceeded the revenue the Nigerian government made from oil in the second-quarter, and more than double the state’s non-crude proceeds, according to central bank data. MTN’s largest shareholder, the Public Investment Corp., in November called on the board to take greater responsibility for the fine.

The company decided to reinstate its previous reporting structures to boost oversight, leadership and compliance across 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East, the company said in a separate statement. Jyoti Desai will be group chief operating officer, based in Johannesburg, while Karl Toriola will be vice president for the West and central African region and Ismail Jaroudi will play the same role for the Middle East and north Africa. Amina Oyagbola replaces Akinwale Goodluck as head of regulatory and corporate affairs in Nigeria.

Nnamdi Kanu: MASSOB & IPOB Disagree With Each Other

Meanwhile, members of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB) opposed the order, saying they were not informed of the plan.

There have been calls from various groups in the South-East, for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the Radio Biafra director.

To further show their resolve to continue the protests till Kanu is released, the  Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) ordered traders in Abia state not to open their shops.

Meanwhile, members of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB) opposed the order, saying they were not informed of the plan.

Speaking to Daily Post, MASSOB’S assistant national director of information, Sunny Okereafor, said "MASSOB condemns the order closing down markets. MASSOB is not aware of such order, we totally condemn it. The markets should be open and people be allowed to go about their businesses.

“There is hardship in the land and you are talking about closing markets; is this not a way of causing more suffering to the same people we want to liberate?”

Recently, Ohaneze Ndigbo joined other Igbo groups to also call for the release of Nnamdi Kanu.

Tambuwal backs out of APC presidential contest

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Emma Ovuakporie & Levinus Nwabughiogu

Abuja—Affirming his determination not to upset already set political arrangements and upon the counsel of party elders, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal yesterday suspended his participation in the All Progressives Congress, APC presidential contest.

A statement on his political future personally signed by the speaker was, however, quiet on his political future.

Vanguard nevertheless gathered that Tambuwal would in the next days formally affirm his entry into the governorship contest in his native Sokoto State. The APC governorship ticket in the state has been zoned to his senatorial district.
Tambuwal

Tambuwal

Tambuwal’s decision to pull out of the contest was upon high level politicking and followed serious pressures after about 80 members of the House of Representatives purchased the expression of interest and nomination forms for him to contest the presidential election.

Yesterday, the speaker commended all those who contributed the N27.5 million for the purchase of the forms which party sources disclosed would not be refunded.

He said: “A few days ago, precisely on Friday, the 14th of November, 2014, a group of friends, associates, colleagues and admirers cutting across all ages, ethnic, social, religious, political and geographical divides presented to me the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for me to participate in the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) for the 2015 Presidential Election.”

“On that auspicious occasion, being profoundly humbled, I requested for a little more time to conclude my last round of the series of nationwide consultations which indeed I was just about to conclude.”

While commending those who purchased the forms, he said the bid was not to actualise a personal ambition but to address the monumental challenges that have stifled growth, nurtured institutionalised corruption, gross incompetence among others, he said: “I am convinced that with the progressive spirit and teamwork these objectives are attainable under an APC administration.”

“I have carefully considered the concerns expressed by some of our leaders, whom I deeply respect and whose support and counsel I enjoy,to the effect that my entry into the presidential race at this point may necessitate having to rework some equations on the political chessboard of the party.”

“Having consulted widely, taking into consideration the concerns of some elders of the party, I have decided to suspend my participation in the presidential contest for now. I have done so as a sacrifice for the cohesion and unity of the APC. I am suspending my participation in the presidential race for now because I do not have any inordinate ambition to occupy any office.

“I pledge my loyalty to our party, the APC and cooperation with my uncles and senior brothers and colleagues, who are already in the race for the APC presidential ticket: I refer to; General Muhamadu Buhari, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Governor Rochas Okorocha and Mr Sam Ndah-Isaiah. There is no doubt that they are all eminently qualified.

Naira in free fall against dollar

By Babajide Komolafe
LAGOS—The fortunes of the national currency, the Naira took a sharp turn downwards yesterday as it fell by 270 kobo, with the parallel market exchange rate rising to N180 per dollar from N177.3 on Monday.

Since the beginning of the month, the Naira has fallen against the US dollar by N7.9 at the interbank market, and N10 at the parallel market.

Interbank and parallel market operators attributed this sharp depreciation to restrictions introduced by the CBN to curb foreign exchange demand at the official market. Falling crude oil prices, coupled with depleting Excess Crude Account has triggered palpable anxiety about the value of the Naira. Stocks have also been hit as a result.
Emefiele

Emefiele

On October 28, in addition to a 10-kobo margin limit imposed on intervention dollars, the CBN banned banks from selling dollars to Bureaux de Change (BDCs). Furthermore, on November 6th, the CBN excluded importation of six items from official foreign exchange, saying it would no longer sell official forex for their importation. The items included electronics, finished products, information technology, generators, telecommunication equipment and invisible transactions. According to the apex bank, the items would henceforth be funded from the interbank foreign exchange market only.

Thus, the apex bank unwittingly shifted forex demand for importation of the six items from the official market to the interbank market.

The two restrictions combined triggered sharp increase in demand for forex in the interbank market, and scarcity of dollars in the parallel market. Though the CBN was selling intervention dollars to banks, banks could trade with the dollars because of the 10 kobo limit. This, according to a foreign exchange dealer created a scarcity situation in interbank and the subsequent steady depreciation of the naira.

Why CBN imposed restrictions

The restrictions were imposed to stem the persistent decline in the nation’s external reserves following continued decline in price of crude oil. Within three months, the price of crude oil fell from $100 per barrel to $78 per barrel.

The sharp decline in crude oil prices occasioned apprehension among foreign investors, who believe that with decline in revenue from crude oil, and the CBN using the reserves to defend the Naira, it would not be long before the Naira suffered sharp depreciation. Hence they moved their money out of the country by divesting from the nation’s stock market and FGN bonds.

Scarcity of dollars behind Naira’s fall

Acting President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe in a conversation with Vanguard said the depreciation was due to scarcity of dollars in the market. He said most of the banks are not selling dollars to BDCs, thus worsening scarcity in the market.

This was corroborated by Managing Director/Chief Executive, HJ Trust BDC, Mr. Harrison Owoh. He said that parallel market rate rose from N177.3 to N180 per dollar because there is no dollar in the market. He said the banks are not selling to BDCs, and the two banks that sold, sold at N179 per dollar and N178.4 per dollar respectively. He added that depreciation of the Naira is not limited to the dollar, adding that it has been depreciating against the Euro and Pound Sterling in recent times too. He said the exchange rate of the Euro has risen to N220 from N117 last week. Owoh said that the market is overwhelmed with uncertainty about the exchange rate.

“In fact, we don’t know what the rate of the dollar is now”, he said.

Hoarding

However, Vanguard investigations reveal that increasing scarcity in the market has prompted operators to resort to hoarding whatever foreign currency in their possession. It was gathered that BDCs that bought dollars from the CBN at N157 per dollar last week hoarded them, only to sell this week at N179/N180 per dollar.

CBN bows to banks

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday bowed to banks’ demand for the removal of the 10 kobo margin limit imposed on intervention dollars.

Meanwhile, the Naira depreciated to N180 to the dollar at the parallel market in response to scarcity of dollars in the market.

Intervention dollars

Further probes by Vanguard reveal that at a meeting between the CBN and chief executives of banks yesterday, the CBN agreed to remove the 10 kobo margin limit imposed three weeks ago on intervention dollars.

Intervention dollars are dollars sold directly to banks by the CBN to stabilise the exchange rate of the Naira in the interbank market.

“Funds purchased through the CBN interventions should be utilised within two working days of delivery at a rate not more than 10 kobo above purchase rate. Consequently, intervention funds not utilised within two working days of delivery should be returned to CBN at the original purchase rate”, the CBN said in a circular signed by Mr. I.O Gbadamosi, Director, Trade and Exchange Department.

The limit however made the intervention dollars unattractive to banks and as a result they stopped purchasing the dollars from the CBN.

Investigation further revealed that the banks deliberately shunned CBN’s request for the foreign exchange quotes or offer to sell intervention dollars.

This however frustrated efforts of the apex bank to curtail depreciation of the Naira in the interbank foreign exchange market, leading to N7.45 depreciation of the national currency last week.

To arrest this development, the apex bank called a meeting of chief executives of banks yesterday to discuss recent developments in the foreign exchange market and its effort to stabilise the exchange rate.

Vanguard reliably gathered that the bank CEOs made it clear to the apex bank the 10 kobo margin limit has to go for banks to purchase the intervention dollars.

While the meeting was in progress, the Naira continued to fall at the interbank market, with the interbank exchange rate rising to N177.3 per dollar by mid-day. It was gathered that this development and fears that the interbank exchange rate could hit N180 per dollar before the close of business yesterday prompted the CBN to accede to the request of the banks for the removal of the 10 kobo limit.

A senior foreign exchange dealer, who confirmed this development to Vanguard, said the decision to remove the limit was communicated to banks via the Reuters trading platform. In addition, the CBN and the bank captains agreed that the apex bank would continue to intervene in the interbank market.

Furthermore, the apex bank hurriedly sold intervention dollars to the banks, to arrest the free fall of the Naira in the interbank market. The move proved effective, as the interbank rate dropped sharply to N170 per dollar, before rising to close at N173.25.

Naira would continue free fall

According to Harrison Owoh, except the CBN increases dollar sale to BDCs, or allow banks to sell intervention dollars to them, the Naira would continue to depreciate in the parallel market.

“The $15,000 sold to each BDCs is inadequate to address the scarcity in the market. Once the CBN increases dollar supply to BDCs, the parallel market rate would fall significantly”, he said.

A senior foreign exchange dealer who spoke on anonymity however said the though the CBN would try to manage the situation, it is obvious that it would have to devalue the Naira very soon. He said there are increasing fears among foreign exchange dealers that the CBN surprise the market with a N15 depreciation of the naira at the official market. He said banks are already advising their customers who have dollar liabilities to move them into Naira to avoid the severe impact of a sharp devaluation of the naira.

But a former CBN Director who confided in Vanguard said that the CBN can avoid a sharp devaluation by adopting some measures. “To put a small halt to the sliding Naira, CBN should allow the market operate, since it operates RDAS, which is a post mortem fixing rate process. Secondly it should use moral suasion to manage supply by encouraging dollar earning parastatals to support the market.”

Senators divided over emergency rule extension

The Senate on Tuesday abruptly adjourned plenary till Wednesday (today) following a sharp disagreement by its members over President Goodluck Jonathan’s fresh request to extend emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

Plenary had commenced smoothly with Senate President David Mark reading a letter from Jonathan amid murmuring by some of his colleagues, especially those from the affected states.

Sensing that the letter titled, “Extension of the period for the proclamation of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states” might generate tension, the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, moved a motion for the Senate to dissolve into a closed – door session to consider the request.

When the senators reconvened after a two-and-half hour extensive brainstorming, Mark announced that further discussion on the issue would hold on Wednesday(today).

He said, “The Senate in a closed session met and discussed the letter from Mr. President on the extension of a state of emergency.

“We had a very extensive debate on it. And we will continue with the debate tomorrow (today).

The letter by Jonathan read in part, “May I respectfully draw your attention to the state of emergency proclamation 2013 in respect of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states which was approved by the National Assembly and extended for a further period of six months as conveyed by the Clerk of the National Assembly dated May 21, 2014.

“By virtue of the provisions of Sections 305, (6) c of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the proclamation aforementioned will elapse after a period of six months from the date of approval of the National Assembly except the period is extended by the National Assembly.

“It is important to state that despite concerted efforts by this administration to stem the tide of terrorism and insurgency in the affected states, the security challenges that necessitated the proclamation are yet to abate.

“Consequently, it has become imperative to request the approval of the senate for extension of the period for the state of emergency for a further period of six months.

“In view of the foregoing, I most respectfully request distinguished senators to consider and approve by resolution the extension of the proclamation of the state of emergency by a further period of six months from the date of expiration of the current period.

“I look forward distinguished Senate President to the usual kind expeditious consideration of the above request by the Senate.”

The Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Bello Tukur, who briefed journalists after the adjournment , did not give details of what transpired at the closed-door session.

Tukur merely said, “The Senate met behind closed – doors to consider the letter from Mr. President but we did not conclude deliberations on it.

“I want you to reserve whatever questions you have on the issue till tomorrow (today) when we would have concluded discussions on it.”

However, senators, especially those from the Northern part of the country, who spoke on what transpired at the meeting, said they opposed the extension of the emergency rule.

Their objection was based on the fact that the declaration of the state of emergency in the affected states had not achieved the desired objectives since it was proclaimed in May 2013.

Three of the senators, who spoke were Ali Ndume (Bornu South), Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North),   and Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central).

Ndume stated that he was totally opposed to the request by Jonathan because it would further worsen the security situation in the three states which are ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency.

He said, “The state of emergency since it was declared in the three states had taken us from bad to worse.

“Our fear now is that if we extend it again, we are inviting more problems to ourselves because the insurgents would capture more territories during the period.

“As the representative of my people, my entire constituents are totally opposed to the extension of the emergency rule because it restricts movements of the civilian populace while the insurgents move freely and have a field day.

“When people are sleeping in the night, the insurgents are freely moving around. By 6pm, the whole towns are closed but the insurgents are busy taking control of everywhere.’’

Ndume doubted the sincerity of the Federal Government to the fight against insurgents and urged the relevant military authorities to adopt fresh strategies to confront them.

Lawan, who boasted that the President’s request would not be granted, advised that “after 18 months of the state of emergency, we should look at other avenue.”

He said, “Although we will continue deliberations on the issue tomorrow (today), but I can assure you that we will not approve the emergency rule extension because the president can deploy the military to any part of the country without declaring a state of emergency.

“We have a very strong military in Nigeria and nobody can doubt their capacity to handle this insurgency except if the government is telling us that so many things are fundamentally wrong.

“Discussions on it will definitely continue tomorrow (today) but I want to tell you that I am totally opposed to it.

“So many options are being advanced which would be concluded tomorrow.

What we need at the moment is the massive deployment of troops to quickly

launch serious attacks because we have lost so many territories already.

“The request for the extension of the state of emergency is only a waste of time because we had it for 18 months which ended in total failure.”

Marafa said, “The emergency rule extension is unnecessary because previous ones had failed. Even if you are a student and you fail three times then something is either wrong with the student or the teacher. We need a different strategy now.”

Mark leads Senate leadership to Jonathan

Hours after adjourning sitting, Mark led his Deputy,   Ike Ekweremadu;   Ndoma-Egba; the Deputy Senate Leader, Abdul Ningi;   the Minority Leader, George Akume, among others to the Presidential Villa for a closed-door meeting with Jonathan.

All the senators arrived and left the villa in a convoy without talking to State House correspondents.

A Presidency source however said the meeting was a troubleshooting effort by the President to ensure that his request to extend the emergency rule scales through at the National Assembly.

House to hold special session Thursday

The House of Representatives will reconvene on Thursday (tomorrow) to hold a special session on the extension of emergency rule in the troubled Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

A meeting of the House leadership presided over by the Speaker, Aminnu Tambuwal, on Tuesday (yesterday) endorsed the special session.

Tambuwal confirmed the reconvening in a statement he signed on Tuesday evening.

Part of the statement reads, “On Tuesday, November 18, 2014, I received a communication from the President, requesting the extension of the existing state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states by the House of Representatives.

“Pursuant to the powers conferred on me by Section 305 ( 2 ) of the 1999 Constitution, which requires me to ‘forthwith convene or arrange a meeting of the House’ and in order to treat the extension before the expiration of the current state of emergency in accordance with Section 305 (6) (c) of the constitution, I hereby reconvene the House which is currently on recess.”

The statement added that the session would hold on Thursday by 11am.

The Chairman, House Committee on Rules/Business, Albert Sam-Tsokwa, told reporters that a decision on the special session had been taken.

“Now, they (leadership) have resolved that the House should reconvene on Thursday to consider the extension of emergency rule”, he said.

The spokesman for the House, Zakari Mohammed, said, “There is going to be special session on the emergency rule on Thursday. The speaker’s office will convey a statement on the reconvening shortly.”

The House has been on break since October 28 to resume on December 3. However, the urgency attached to the emergency rule extension reportedly forced the leadership to approve the special session.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Peoples Democratic Party, Friday Itulah had said it would be proper for the House to reconvene since the issue at hand (Jonathan’s request) required some urgency.

Itulah claimed that the emergency rule had yielded “positive results so far”, adding that the extension was necessary to strengthen the war against terrorists in the affected states.

He said, “I think the extension is worth it as long as the reason for it has not been realised. So, there is a need to extend the emergency rule. Some aspects of it also need to be revisited to make it more effective.

The House is supposed to reconvene on December 3, but since this is a national emergency, let us see how it goes.”

An All Progressives Congress lawmaker, Pally Iriase, also backed the extension of the rule.

He said, “We have been moving back and front; one step forward and 10 steps backward, but that notwithstanding, we still believe the requisite environment be created to enable the Armed Forces to do their work.”

However, investigations by The PUNCH showed that many lawmakers in the House were against the extension.

One of them said, “Let us face the truth. Has emergency rule worked? More lives and property have been lost in those states with emergency rule in place.

“Where are the abducted Chibok girls? If anything, Boko Haram has become more daring, taking control of more towns and hoisting flags under the emergency rule than when there was no emergency rule.

“The facts are there for all to see. Why continue to deceive ourselves with this emergency rule?”

Shettima, Ngillari back emergency rule extension

Although Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima and his Adamawa State counterpart, Bala Ngillari,   backed Jonathan’s bid to extend the emergency rule, they called for the evaluation of the gains or otherwise of the previous proclamations.

Shettima, through his Media aide, Isa Gusau, said, “I do not have doubts about the sincerity of Mr. President in seeking an extension to make it easier for our security agencies to continue their services to our fatherland and I think an extension is reasonable in the circumstance we have found ourselves much as it is also reasonable to take stock of what previous declarations have achieved.

“No democratic government would wish to have military men roaming its streets with armoured vehicles. However, we are very much aware that in most guerrilla warfare, insurgents sometimes dictate the pace because they can disguise and pretend to be friends whereas the security agencies are by their systems, known so they can be identified by citizens.

“I have strong hope that Borno will get out of this situation just I have for the Nigerian state. The problem is however how long it takes and those who suffer while it lasts. This is why we must make common sense sacrifices as leaders, political party members and those in positions of influence to help our military and security agencies to remain focused and not to make the slightest attempts of diverting their attention for whatever reason we seek to achieve.

“We must at the end never fail to remember that no matter how long, we would be required to give accounts of how best we managed our influences, whether we blindly limited our thoughts to our individual and group goals or we used our influences for our people who entrusted us with rights to decide their fates. We owe them the right to live.”

Also, Ngillari,who spoke through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, P. Elisha, said the President had absolute powers to seek extension of emergency rule in the affected states.

The governor however warned against rumours on the situation in the affected states, saying they were capable of making nonsense of the efforts to flush out Boko Haram fighters from the North-East.

Waziri Tambuwal for president

By Ochereome Nnanna
You must have noticed the newest political speculation in town. It must have been invented in the ongoing political transition period because I don’t seem to have noticed it before. It is the act of buying nomination forms for candidates for high office. President Goodluck Jonathan was favoured with this uncommon benevolence by thousands of groups drawn from across the polity.

The latest beneficiary of this magnanimous outburst of love and support from admirers is the embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. Members of his All Progressives Congress, APC, in the House of Representatives, sensing his interest in the presidential race, rushed to purchase his nomination form for him. How touching.

I am wondering why Major General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar had to purchase their own forms. Does it mean nobody loves them? Even with his 21-year pedigree as a presidential contender and leader of the otherwise “powerful” Peoples Democratic Movement PDM? I am shocked. I am also devastated by the fact that our incorruptible Buhari could not get his millions of admirers to contribute money to buy his nomination form valued at N27.5 million.
DEcamped—Speaker Tambuwal after decamping to APC, yesterday.

DEcamped—Speaker Tambuwal after decamping to APC, yesterday.

He was left with no other choice than to borrow from a bank! At least, so he told us. What a poor man! Hope it was an Islamic bank, so that it would be interest-free.Perhaps he will have to borrow even more to bring delegates to Abuja for the primaries? Who will repay all these debts, since, as an elected president (if), he will depend only on his salary? Well, let’s leave Buhari to wear his own headache of borrowing to buy when others are getting theirs free from beloved friends and associates.

Now, the decision of Waziri Tambuwal to go for president rather than governor makes the APC presidential contest truly interesting. The APC presidential race is the race to watch. It is the box office. The PDP has since foreclosed a contest, with President Jonathan as the sole candidate, so the less said about it the better.

How I detest those words: sole candidate. It was a creative piece of political sycophancy spawned under General Sani Abacha, whereby the five political parties formed by the dictator’s busybody political contractors came together and adopted him as their sole candidate. Abacha would become a civilian president without an election.

It was also in those days that the same set of busybody political contractors staged rallies round the country, begging Abacha to run.They held a grand rally in Abuja under the auspices of the Youth Earnestly Ask for Abacha, YEAA, with Mr Daniel Kanu as the main contractor. That was where the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, picked up their project idea and used it to water the ground for President Jonathan. Everybody condemned the activities of YEAA, but that did not stop TAN from adopting it. We all know where these outrageous demonstrations of love in the market place are expected to lead.Let’s leave politicians and their “love for sale” antics and address the more interesting matter of Hon Waziri Tambuwal in the presidential race.

One of the reasons some of us have viewed the APC with some skepticism is the negative motives that rule the mentalities of some of its founders. It is a well-known fact that a second political party that is strong enough to weigh, pound-for-pound, against the ruling PDP, is good for the survival and development of democracy in Nigeria. I am a fervent supporter of a dominant two-party system with some other minor parties performing the balancing act between them. For instance, if the APC survives the 2015 transitional politics and emerges as the truly second dominant party along with the PDP, while others, such as the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the East; Labour Party, LP; the emergent Social Democratic Party, SDP, in the West and perhaps a couple of others perform the balancing act to avoid the tyranny of a ruling party or the rabidity of a fierce opposition, I will rate our democracy as having arrived.

But the idea of the Arewa North, with their contrived “majority” population coming together with the West with their equally over-bloated population figures to forcefully “snatch” power from a Minority President Goodluck Jonathan, is the greatest insult and affront to Nigeria that a politician or group of politicians can dream of. Every patriotic Nigerian, every truly progressive citizen, must put their hands on deck to ensure that those who are promoting this dastardly politics fail woefully. Such a gang-up is pregnant with so many negatives.

It will entrench the dominance of Muslims over Christians. It will sideline the Igbo and the various Minority groups, which are major stakeholders in the economic, social and political commonwealth of Nigeria. It will be a victory for those who believe they are born to rule, while others are born to collect the crumbs from their table. It will restore a Northern dominance that has always bred rebellions around the country, including the civil war, June 12 struggle, the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other leaders and devastation of Ogoniland, the despoliation of the oil wealth of the Niger Delta and subsequent militant struggle for self-determination, the internal suppression and oppression of the Northern Minorities and the continued trampling of the Northern Talakawa. No good can ever come of such a gang-up.

That is what I see in the candidature of Buhari, Atiku and Rabiu Kwankwaso, with active support of their confederates from the South West. These individuals have, in the past five years, engaged in strenuous and desperate efforts to “snatch power back” from President Jonathan to the North, and in the process, their activities led to the destruction of lives and property in the North, with non-Northerners, Christians and Minority groups always targeted. They have held public offices and shown their inability to think beyond the North and their religion. And they are unrepentant and unapologetic about it.

But the entry of Tambuwal is a different kettle of fish. I have my reservations about the ignoble role he played in his former party, the PDP. But I have noted with delight Tambuwal’s excellent performance as Speaker, House of Reps. He is not a “born-to-ruler”. He is not one of those who love the North first before Nigeria. If he is, he has not shown it publicly. We do not mind a Northerner winning the presidential race, but we Nigerians will not allow any “born-to-rule” extremistto take over.

Tambuwal looks like many Sokoto-born politicians, who have come to impress me with their urbanity. Apart from the late Sardauna Ahmadu Bello, who introduced rabid Arewaism into Nigerian politics, Sokoto has bred a remarkable number of genuine nationalists. These include Alhaji Umaru Altine, the great Zikist who became the first (and only) Lord Mayor of Enugu in 1952, former President Shehu Shagari and the incumbent Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III.

Tambuwal will go very far if he extends his electoral appeal beyond the North and West and give other Nigerians reason to feel their interests will be fully protected by an APC Federal Government under him. He will do well to avoid a Muslim-Muslim ticket like the plague that it is. He has charisma. But does he have vision for Nigeria? Let him show us.

Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal is welcome to the presidential race. Game on.

Army recaptures Chibok from Boko Haram

The Nigerian army said yesterday that it had recaptured the north-eastern town of Chibok, where Boko Haram insurgents abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April, provoking a wave of global outrage.
Gallant Nigerian soldiers

Gallant Nigerian soldiers

An elder of Chibok community, Pogu Bitrus however told AFP that Chibok was recaptured in a joint operation with local vigilantes known as the Civilian Joint Task Force. He said the vigilantes fought inside Chibok while the soldiers “stayed outside the town to mop up the insurgents trying to escape”.

Boko Haram fighters who were dislodged last week from Mubi in Adamawa by a combined team of local hunters and the troops fled to Chibok through Mararaba, Mubi and Uba and took over the town when residents on seeing the terrorists fled.

The terrorists had captured the town last Thursday after a battle lasting several hours that left many victims among both the insurgents and the local militias dead.

Several residents said the army had fled from the assault, leaving the vigilantes to fight on their own against Boko Haram.

There was no immediate information about any casualties from Saturday’s battle for the town, which witnesses say was virtually empty of residents.

A statement from Army Headquarters signed by Colonel Timothy Antigha, Chief of Staff, Department of Army Public Relations said, “The Nigerian Army troops recaptured Chibok at about 7pm last (Saturday) night from Boko Haram insurgents. The town is now secured. Exploitation and mop-up operations are ongoing. More details will follow as soon as they are available.”

Vanguard had reported last week that after several days of strategizing, the Nigerian Military, working in collaboration with local hunters, vigilantes and foreign military advisers from Israel commenced a major offensive to retake Mubi, Michika and Madagali towns from Boko Haram terrorists.


Atiku lambasts FG

Meanwhile, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has condemned the Federal Government over its handling of the Boko Haram insurgents in the North east saying “any serious government would have reacted decisively to the security challenge that has almost consumed three states or more”

According to him, “the Federal government is not ready to solve the problem of insurgency ravaging the entire Northern states. This is evident because for more than five years, insurgency has persisted and there seems no end to it.”

Atiku, who spoke to correspondents at the 9th annual Founder’s Day and 10th anniversary of the American University of Nigeria, Yola expressed regret that the Federal Government has no excuse whatsoever to give Nigerians for allowing insurgents to persist despite the material and human resources at its disposal.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration to contest the 2015 Presidential election on the platform of the PDP, intelligence reports collated by security agencies have shown that more terrorists bombings will be recorded in the country.

According to sources, the bombings which will target churches, Mosques, schools, markets and recreation centres among others, will signal the final push of the terrorists with the aim of stopping Jonathan from contesting the election.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration to contest the 2015 Presidential election on the platform of the PDP, intelligence reports collated by security agencies have shown that more terrorists bombings will be recorded in the country.

According to sources, the bombings which will target churches, Mosques, schools, markets and recreation centres among others, will signal the final push of the terrorists with the aim of stopping Jonathan from contesting the election.

“Thousands of people have been killed, many separated from their families and thousand others are now refugees in their domain, local government, states and elsewhere. This alone portends danger to the already fragile society and government seems not to be taking decisive action”, he added

Alhaji Abubakar therefore called on the people to stand firm and defend themselves, since government at the national level has refused to live up to its expectations in handling the insurgency problem.

FG introduces austerity measures

By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
ABUJA—The Federal Government, yesterday, introduced some austerity measures and scaled down the crude oil bench mark for the 2015 budget.

In a bid to insulate the economy from falling crude oil prices the federal government announced far-reaching policy measures to deal with the crashing crude oil prices, cutting 2015 oil benchmark from $78 to $73 per barrel. Crude oil prices dropped to $77.76 per barrel, some cents below the $78 earlier proposed to the National Assembly as bench mark for the 2015 budget.
The Federal Government, yesterday, introduced some austerity measures and scaled down the crude oil bench mark for the 2015 budget.

The Federal Government, yesterday, introduced some austerity measures and scaled down the crude oil bench mark for the 2015 budget.

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told journalists in Abuja that the decision to cut revenue projection was part of measures designed to maintain economic stability, boost non-oil revenues further, plug loopholes and waste, as well as cut unnecessary expenditures in order to cope with the situation.

Keeping to her earlier warning that the government will soon introduce measures to protect the economy she said: “As part of the response to falling oil prices, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Budget 2015 proposal to the National Assembly have been revised. Government is now proposing a benchmark of $73 per barrel to the National Assembly compared to the earlier proposed benchmark of $78.

“Given the nature of the oil market, we needed to see the extent and trend of the oil price in order to take the right measures. Panic is not a strategy. It’s important that our strategies are based on facts and a clear understanding of both the strengths of the economy and the challenges posed by the drop in oil prices which is currently at $79 for our premium Bonny Light Crude.

“The drop in oil prices is a serious challenge which we must confront as a country. We must be prepared to make sacrifices where necessary. But we should also not forget that we retain some important advantages such as a broad economic base driven by the private sector and anchored on sound policies.”

FG determined to strengthen economy

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala assured, however, that the federal government would continue to fund infrastructure, job creation, agriculture and human capital development, especially the health and education sectors, as part of the Goodluck Jonathan administration’s determination to strengthen the economy to positively affect the poor.

“To show how serious government is about job creation, President Goodluck Jonathan”, she disclosed, “will tomorrow, (today) November 17 launch the 4th edition of YouWin to support another 1,500 entrepreneurs along with a private equity fund for entrepreneurs.

“Our strategy is to continue to strengthen the sectors that drive growth such as infrastructure, agriculture and housing while reducing waste with a renewed focus on prudence.”

According to her, the policy was scenario-based and that additional measures would be introduced if oil prices declined further.

The minister said that the basket of measures with growth which has remained above six per cent, reassure investors and keep the economy on a stable course through the crisis.

Curtailing wastage

According to Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, there would be no more foreign travels by civil servants unless for purposes that could be fully defended as absolutely necessary.

In addition, foreign training programmes would be stopped and all trainings done in-country.

The exception, she said, would be to secure foreign sponsorship for such travels and training abroad.

The Minister added that the federal government would work to eliminate duplication among the functions of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, by working on the Steve Ornsaye Report.

She, however, observed that since the MDAs to be re-aligned were created by law the National Assembly would be required to repeal such laws before any administrative step could be taken.

Luxury Goods Tax

Part of the immediate steps to cushion the fall in oil revenue, the minister said, was to significantly increase non-oil revenue in the country, as she announced an aggressive tax administration in which, private jets, yachts, Champagne and a list of others to be announced would be taxed.

The minister said that the idea of Luxury Goods Tax was not to stop wealthy members of the Nigerian public from enjoying their wealth but to create an avenue for them to share with those at the lower levels of the ladder.

According to the minister, the issue of capital flight was now engaging the attention of the administration, just like many other African nations, saying that a study has been commissioned to determine the activities of corporate citizens and other individuals who were evading taxes as well as those involved in capital flight.

She added that monetary measures should also be expected in the efforts to ensure a stable Nigerian economy, despite the falling oil prices.

Okonjo-Iweala dismissed suggestions of printing Naira notes just to keep spending, as according to her, that would be the worst that could happen to an economy, especially among the poor, adding, “spiral inflation is the worst enemy of the poor.

“Printing money without adequate revenue support will lead to serious consequences for the country. It will spur inflation as the experiences of Germany in the early part of the last century and more recently, Argentina and Zimbabwe demonstrate. This prescription will victimize the poor and middle class that it is supposedly protecting,” she said.

Governors have become a problem to our democracy — Etiebet

*Akpabio alone cannot determine his successor

Chief Donald Etiebet, erstwhile minister of petroleum, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is one of the leading political lights in the country.

A major political force in his native Akwa Ibom State, Etiebet in this interview reviews recent developments in the country and posits that governors have become a danger to the democratic process.

By Gbenga Oke

Do you share the opinion of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) that President Jonathan was insensitive to have made his declaration for a second term a day after 48 school children were killed in a bomb explosion in Yobe State?

Within the context of the security situation in the country which APC is referring to, the insurgency and all that, if the President does not declare, it means that he is giving up because of the insurgency. So we are happy that he has declared and we need to know that when there is war, life goes on and just like he said in his declaration that he is going to do everything possible and take immediate steps to curb, contain and eventually defeat the insurgency and to bring other things into place. We trust he will do that.



Why is your party insisting on pushing President Jonathan as a sole candidate for the election?
Chief Donald Etiebet

Chief Donald Etiebet

That is the prerogative of the party to decide on what it has to do or not. If you read the PDP constitution, it specifically says that it is the party that at the end of day will put up a candidate and campaign for that candidate to win the elections and that is what the Nigerian constitution also says. If the party therefore recognises the attributes of the sitting president, recognises the performance of the sitting president, recognises what he can do, the party has the right to say for your second term, there is not going to be competition. That is the position the party has taken and that is the position of different organs of the party right from the Governors Forum, to the caucus, Board of Trustees and finally the National Working Committee of the party. This decision was reached because the party believes that he is competent enough, that he has performed enough and that he has qualities enough that he can use in selling his candidature.

Given the mutterings in the party, especially over the insistence of governors and federal legislators getting automatic tickets, is your party not in trouble ahead of the election?

You will remember that before Alhaji Mua’zu came in as the national chairman of the party, there were factions within the PDP, we existed in groups of different opinions and that was not good for the party. When Adamu Mua’zu became the national chairman he promised to bring everybody back to the mainstream of the party, he promised a level playing field for all party members to have opportunity to aspire to whatever they will like to contest for.

He promised that all party leaders who had been standing by the side or who had left the party that he would do everything to bring them back to the family for which PDP is known for and immediately he started doing that and in appreciation he was given an accolade called, “the game changer”.

So the party started coming together again with the hope that this level playing field will be put in place for everyone to compete in an atmosphere of internal democracy, but suddenly, the outgoing governors came out and tried to sell themselves to the party that they were the only ones who could win elections in their different states and also win election for the presidency. That is the problem today and that problem is in every state where there are outgoing governors and the outgoing governors in addition to that turned around and said they want to pick their own successors and also to be given an automatic ticket to go to the Senate.

But it seems the outgoing governors are holding the party by the jugular and everything we elders say to the party seems to be falling on deaf ears and I keep repeating, that is the problem. This problem is all over the PDP controlled states especially the South-south, the bedrock of the president’s support base and that should not be allowed to happen because if there is disparity, there is dissension, disagreement and disharmony between the outgoing governors and the other elders who want a level playing field, then that will go on to affect the fortunes of the party in the general elections.

The unfortunate thing is if this is happening in the zone that is supposed to give maximum 100 percent votes to Mr. President is having all these issues, then there is cause for worry. I am using this opportunity to appeal to the leadership of the party to look very deeply into these problems of believing it is only the governors that can deliver their states to the party.

But this problem is not new as it was there during the Obasanjo administration. What does this overbearing influence of governors portend for the country?

Honestly, what it portends for the country is that the outgoing governors want to continue to hold their various states to ransom, they want to continue to rule their state from outside and this is not good for democracy and this is not good for the states because they tend to want to turn the states to their personal properties, turn their states into dynasties so that at every turn, it will be their system, at every turn, it will be their group that will select their successors, select their National Assembly members, therefore they will perpetually have a hold on the state, that is not good for democracy and the action must be stopped this year.

I was running for the presidency in 1999, Ekwueme and myself, were the front-runners, then suddenly they brought out Obasanjo from prison and made him the presidential candidate, he did not have the support of the party before he came out, it was after he came out that he started mobilizing people who were working for us but at the end, he became the president but without party support and it was in this case that he took Atiku Abubakar who was a party man to be his vice-president, it was Atiku who started mobilizing the governors and in order to have a hold on the party in preparation for second term, he and Atiku worked together to mobilize the governors and that was how party structures were given to the governors in their various states. I personally fought the party in my state for two years that it cannot happen and when the structures was eventually given to Victor Attah, then I left the party and it was only when Obasanjo was going that I came back into the party by 2006.

Also, when Victor Attah wanted to impose his son in law on the party, I kicked against it and took all measures to stop him and that was how Godswill Akpabio came about and from then on, the governors started with the Governors Forum and they took steps and because they have voting rights at the National Executive Committee of the party and since they control the party in the states, they always have a chunk of the voting rights at NEC and as a result, we cannot change some of the actions they brought about.

So this is the war that is waging right now and we hope that the national leadership of the party would see the danger of wanting the outgoing governors to have their succession plans because this will eventually make them turn their states to their dynasties and themselves into monarchs. They will all move to the Senate and having a lot of resources, they will go there and make laws that will make them even be the ones to pick presidential candidates. So the party should see this danger ahead.

What is your reaction to the defection of Speaker Tambuwal to the APC?

Tambuwal has not been a faithful member of the party, I can tell you that. He is my friend and we were together in the ANPP with his governor, Wammako, we all wrestled and got the control of the state from the former Governor, Bafarawa, so I know all about them. Right from the beginning, he showed tendencies of not obeying the party. You know that in this country, we still have to equalize the administration to reflect the difference ethnic and zonal interests. The speaker of the House of Representatives was zoned to South-West but through some machinations in the House, Tambuwal and Ihedioha emerged which was not pleasing to the South-west and it was not pleasing to Obasanjo himself who at that time was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and I can tell you that if Obasanjo is annoyed and has not been working for the party as he should have done, it is because the Southwest is not represented in the top six positions in this country, the President, the vice-president, Senate President, the Speaker and the national chairman of the party. So, if you look at his actions right from time, from all intents and purposes, his actions do not make him a party man because he has been working against the interest of the PDP in the House, so if he has not been a good party, you just have to go out but when you go out, you don’t go out with the booty and that is the problem. He should be democratic enough to know that he became the speaker on the platform of PDP and if he wanted to leave, he should also leave the speakership.

The constitution says when there is a division in a party, then you can leave, but there is no division in the PDP, not even in Sokoto. Even if there was a division in Sokoto PDP, there is no division at the national level of the party.

So he cannot eat his cake and have it same time, so I would have expected that now that his associates have picked up a presidential form for him, he should have just said thank you PDP, I am now in APC and therefore, I will vacate my position.

Why are many elders of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State still against the congresses that were held?

Honestly, I cannot hide my feelings and I have already expressed that at many fora. Immediately after the November 1 date, I told everyone that there was no congress in Akwa-Ibom State according to the guidelines of the party. The party has guidelines and issued guidelines as to how to conduct congress on an A4 basis, this did not take place in any ward. If the congress took place anywhere, that is the governor’s ward which he showed to everyone.

The electoral committee that was sent to the state did not do any good to the party, in fact when they came, and made a statement that they didn’t come to conduct a congress but to monitor the congress. So I asked, if you are monitoring, who is conducting? Many elders tried to see him, (chairman of panel) he refused seeing them and he distributed materials and we asked to see the materials, he refused. When they opened the materials, they were all photocopies and before you realize it, the reports were already in Abuja of what he did. I am telling you on my honour that there was no congress in Akwa-Ibom State and with all our complaints to the national leadership of the party, they will not attempt to use the results produced by Ibrahim Abdul-Aziz.

I mean at my age, 70 years, why do I want to come and tell a lie that there was a congress when there was no congress.

Zoning of governorship in Akwa-Ibom

After the national chairman of the party had stated that there will be a level playing ground for all the aspirants, they turned around and issued a statement that they have zoned the governorship to one senatorial district. Does it mean it is only in one senatorial zone that we can have a candidate that can win elections for PDP in Akwa-Ibom State? Or are they talking about fairness and equity? Why did they not also say that the senatorial slot for Ikot Ekpene should go to Abak federal constituency which is what is due? Abak has never produced a senator in Ikot-Ekpene district and the governor’s federal constituency has produced a senator including a member of his own family. Abak has not produced and everybody is saying this time, the senatorial seat belongs to Abak federal constituency. But he says no, it has to come from Ikot-Ekpene federal constituency. Where is the justice that he is preaching? Where is the equity that he is preaching? Is what is good for the goose not good for the gander? These are the questions we the elders are asking that these things are not done in good faith and that the national leadership of the party should come to our rescue to make sure that proper action is taken to forestall peace

Fashola faults FG on N213bn power intervention fund -

By Monsur Olowoopejo

LAGOS—Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, faulted the the Federal Government’s claim of injecting N213 billion to assist some of the private companies who bought the power facilities aimed at addressing some challenges in the sector.
CELEBRATION: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (3rd left), being presented with a horse by Chairman, Lagos State Community Development Advisory Council, LSCDAC, Alhaji Tajudeen Quadri (2nd left), Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (left), and others, during the 2014 Community Day celebration at the Police College Parade Ground, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday.

CELEBRATION: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (3rd left), being presented with a horse by Chairman, Lagos State Community Development Advisory Council, LSCDAC, Alhaji Tajudeen Quadri (2nd left), Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (left), and others, during the 2014 Community Day celebration at the Police College Parade Ground, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday.

FG in September 2014 announced that the measure was to address financing related issues in the power sector, including a bailout facility to settle gas debts.

Fashola made the statement at the Year 2014 Community Day celebration, held at the Police College Parade Ground, Ikeja, which also had in attendance the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu I and representatives of community development committees, CDCs, from the 57 Local Government and Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs.

The governor lamented that this is not the Nigeria we planned for after independence in 1960, adding “at the moment, small nations are laughing at us.”

Fashola said: “When the Distribution and Generating Companies were taking over the facilities of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, the Federal Government told Nigerians that these private companies will inject new funds into the power sector. And that electricity supply will become better.

“Now the story has changed. It is the Federal Government that was now re-injecting funds into assets that it has sold to the private sector. What type of business model that was. We will wait for explanation.”

The governor equated the injection of the fund by the central government to “someone who sold his car and was also providing fund for the buyer to service it.’’

Commissioner for Rural Development, Cornelius Ojelabi, in his welcome address noted that collaborations between the CDCs and his ministry had facilitated rural development.

Tambuwal picks APC presidential nomination form

Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker the House of Representatives has picked the notice of intent and nomination forms to run for the office of president of Nigeria on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, ‎APC.

Alhaji Tambuwal recently defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party , a move political watchers claimed was to run for the governorship seat in his home State,  Sokoto.

Army admits loss of territories to B’Haram

By Umar Yusuf, Wole Mosadomi, Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Joseph Erunke
ABUJA—THE Nigerian Army, for the first time, yesterday, admitted that some of the country’s territories have fallen into the hands of Boko Haram terrorists. It, however, assured that in no distant time, its troops in the North-East would overrun the insurgents and retake the lost areas.

The Army made the admission on a day Governor James Bala Ngilari of Adamawa State announced that Mubi, the commercial nerve centre and second largest town in the state has been reclaimed from the terrorists by local militia assisted by the troops.
Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Adesola Amosu

Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Adesola Amosu

Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, admitted loss of the territories when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Defence and Army, headed by Senator George Sekibo, PDP, Rivers East to explain the role of the military in curbing Boko Haram insurgency in the country.

He said: “We had a setback in Bassa that resulted in loss of territories up to Mubi which was painful though, but we are working very hard to retake those territories. Very soon we will reclaim those territories and indeed other territories that the insurgents have taken.”

Assuring that the Army would soon retake the lost territories from the insurgents, Minimah said:

“I want to continue to rekindle the confidence of Nigerians and particularly the ordinary Nigerians who have suffered the pains of this insurgency. The Nigerian Army will continue to do its best and strive to win this war and reclaim the lost territories.”

The assurance by Lt. Gen. Minimah came as the Senate expressed displeasure over the inability of the Federal Government through the various security outfits in the North-East to arrest the insurgency in the area.

Nigerians deserve explanation — Sekibo

Senator Sekibo told the Army Chief that “Nigerians are getting impatient and irritated not only with the military but also with the government and those who represent them at various levels.”

He added: “I believe that we are trying our best but is our best the best we can offer? What is happening is becoming increasingly difficult to explain to Nigerians. We want to be told what is happening. The insurgents are having a field day.

“We are aware that the government is releasing your funds to you because you have not complained. We also approved $1billion for the President to purchase arms and ammunition to fight Boko Haram. We are aware that your budget is being released to you. If you have difficulties, you should tell us.

“The spate of insurgency, the way and manner the insurgents are taking areas is getting worrisome. We want to know what is happening. We also want to know the issue of the reported cease-fire. We want to know whether there was actually any cease-fire.

“We want to know whether there was a dialogue, the stage of the dialogue, if any, because few days after the announcement of the cease-fire, the insurgents struck and have continued to strike.

“At the last meeting we were told that the insurgents have captured seven local government areas. The CDS confirmed that and asked that they should be given some time to liberate the captured areas.

“We want to know where we are. We are approaching election year; are we going to conduct election in the North-East under the dire security challenge? These are our concerns and the concerns of Nigerians.”

The meeting between members of the committee and the Army chief which started at about 1:20pm and lasted for two and half hours, almost ending in a shouting match between the committee members and the Army boss when the committee insisted that he should disclose the Army’s operational issues so far in the full glare of journalists against his will.

Minimah insisted that he would not discuss military operational matters before the press.

The Committee had invited the Service Chiefs including the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Kenneth Minimah; Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adeola Amosu, to brief its members on the state of affairs in the North-East with regard to the fight against Boko Haram.

Others also invited to the meeting included the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, and the Director General, Department of State Service (DSS) Mr. Ekpenyong Ita.

But only the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Minimah appeared for the parley to represent the Chief of Defence Staff, Badeh.

Senator George Sekibo, at the start of the meeting, told the Army chief that the agenda of the parley was “very loaded.”

He regretted that while politicians were busy positioning themselves for the 2015 election, insurgents were killing and maiming innocent Nigerians in the Northeast. He then asked Minimah to throw light on the issues he highlighted.

Minimah took a measured breath and said: “I came to interface with the Senate Committee on Defence, can the press leave us because the operational issues were not meant to be discussed on the pages of the newspapers”.

Sekibo, however, asked Minimah to “just reassure Nigerians that the military is on top of the security situation in the affected areas.”

The Army Chief insisted that he would not discuss security matters in the presence of the press. A member of the committee, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, intervened by reminding Minimah that the press was an important stakeholder in the fight against insurgency. He told Minimah that Nigerians could only get to know how the security agencies were prosecuting the fight against insurgency when it is reported by newsmen.

But Minimah stood his ground, thus prompting another member of the committee, Senator Abdul Ningi, to persuade Minimah to reassure Nigerians on what the military was doing to win the war against insurgency. Minimah again refused to comply.

Following his insistence, reporters were reluctantly asked to leave the venue of the meeting by the committee’s chairman, Senator Sekibo.

Troops-assisted local militia recapture Mubi

Meanwhile, a combined team of the Army, Anti-Terrorist Squad of the Nigeria Police, local hunters and the Civilian JTF has recaptured Mubi town from the Boko Haram insurgents.

A combined offensive by the groups which began Wednesday night paid off, yesterday, when the insurgents began to withdraw to the hinterland after suffering deadly blows from the troops.

Reports from Mubi indicated that wild jubilations rented the air as scores of the insurgents were killed, while thousands of others have been arrested.

The reports also confirmed that the hunters have recaptured the 234 Army Battalion as well as other strategic security formations in the area which fell into the hands of the insurgents when they seized the town.

Similarly, all the flags hoisted by the insurgents have been uprooted and replaced by Nigerian flags.

Also, residents said the palace of the Emir of Mubi which has been converted to the spiritual headquarters of the dreaded insurgents have been taken over while the Boko Haram flags have been destroyed.

With the situation, the insurgents have retreated into the bush as the hunters gave them a hot chase. The governor of Adamawa Sate, Bala James Ngilari confirmed the development in Yola, saying that “the insurgents have been flushed out of Mubi and are on the run.”

Governor Ngillari said that the insurgents are now on the run heading towards Mubi South while some have followed the tracks to Askira.

Another suicide attack averted in Minna

In a related development, 24 hours after a female suicide bomber attacked Federal College of Education, Kontagora, Niger State, there was another attempt by two male suicide bombers at the Maryam Babangida Science Girls College, Minna yesterday, morning.

However, the mission of the bombers was foiled through a female teacher of the school who raised an alarm over the suspicious movement of the suspects near the gate of the school.

It was reliably gathered that the two male suspects were seen close to the gate of the school around 7.30am when the students were preparing for their early morning Assembly.

The female teacher, Mrs. Bezet Doma who was directed to share her experience with our correspondent said, “On my way to the school, I saw one of these suspects who pretended as if he was defecating but after a close watch, I saw him wearing a trouser which is the colour of our school and later saw him bring out a hijab which he eventually put on to disguise as a female.”

“As I was approaching him, my phone rang and this alerted him and he confronted me asking where I was going and when I told him that I was going to school, he ordered me in Hausa to go back home and that there won’t be classes and that I should not even risk my life going to the school today,(yesterday),” she explained.

At that moment she said out of fear she quickly removed her shoes, took to her heels and headed for the school and raised an alarm immediately, while the school authority swung into action.

The Principal of the school, Hajiya Fatima Madugu who also spoke with our correspondent simply said,”just help us thank God for the alertness of our staff and intervention from God. The mission of the suspect was to disguise as one of our students and sneak to the Assembly ground to carry out their dastardly act but God just intervened and before we could mobilise to the scene, the two men disappeared but we immediately alerted the police and other security Agents who mobilised to our compound immediately.”

The state police spokesman, DSP Ibrahim Gambari confirmed the incident but said the attempt should not be seen as an invasion by Book Haram.

He said security has been beefed up in all schools in Minna, the state capital with the officers of the command giving security tips to the Proprietors, principals,headmasters and provosts and Vice Chancellors of tertiary institutions in the state.

Fashola’s aide, APC gov aspirant arraigned for murder

The atmosphere of the Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court was tense on Tuesday when a former Commissioner for Rural Development and a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Tola Kasali, 62, was arraigned for murder.

Arraigned with him were the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Politics and Legislative Matters, Musiliu Folami, 64, and Kasali’s Chief Security Officer, Tobun Abiodun, 38.

The court was filled with party loyalists, supporters and family members of the accused persons, as many others stood outside the court.

They were arraigned on four counts bordering on murder and unlawful possession of firearms.

The police said the men conspired to kill one Musiliu Lamidi on November 9, 2014, around 2pm at Eko Tourism Hotel, Akodo, in the Ibeju-Lekki area of the state.

The police added that they were found in possession of a pump-action gun, with number 6381, without a valid licence issued by the appropriate authorities.

The corpse of the deceased was said to have been found on the premises of one of the defendants.

The offences were said to be punishable under sections 231, 221 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011 and Section 27 (b)(1) of the Firearms Act, Cap 28 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2011.

Their pleas were not taken by the court for the offences.

However, a senior state counsel, Femi Adamson, who came from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, invoked a section of the law to take over prosecution from the police.

He said, “I am a senior state counsel and I want to take over the prosecution of this case. This is pursuant to Section 211 (1b), (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.”

The leader of the police team from the legal department of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Godwin Osuyi, said it was not right for the case to be taken from the police since the police had only sought to remand the defendants in custody pending legal advice.

Osuyi, after agreeing to step aside, said, “Before I step aside, I wish to state that they were brought before this court for remand. They have not been formally charged.”

But the court ruled that since the case belonged to the state, it could take charge of it at any time.

The state prosecutor, Adamson, thereafter applied for the remand of the three defendants in custody, citing Section 264(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, 2011.

However, the leader of the seven-man defence team, Taiwo Ajala, opposed the application for remand.

According to him, there were no allegations before the court, but mere rumours, which should be struck out.

He said, “So far, what are before your honour are not charges, but mere rumours, which have no place in a court of law. These rumours have been elevated to the point of allegations.

“To raise rumours to allegations, one would have expected the prosecution to depose to an oath so that the court can look into it. But this is missing.

“Accordingly, I apply that the defendants be granted bail. Jurisprudentially, the reason behind remand is if the court is not sure that the defendants will attend court proceedings from time to time.

“I crave the indulgence of this court to the social standing and circumstances of the defendants. The first is currently the special adviser to this government. The second has a lot of prefixes to his name. He was a former Commissioner for Rural Development. His impacts are felt on our roads. He was also a former Commissioner for Special Duties, while the third defendant had, at different times been a chief security officer of the state. They are all known by reputation.”

Ajala said if the defendants were not granted bail, it would affect the running of the government and the residents of the state.

After making his submissions, the prosecutor said he was not objecting to bail.

“With all due respect, bail is at the discretion of the court and the court is guided by principles. I have come to realise that these are people serving the government of the day in different capacities,” he said.

The Chief Magistrate, Tunbosun Abolarinwa, in his ruling, expressed disappointment in the prosecution for not being able to support the remand application brought before the court.

He said, “What is before the court is a remand application, but the police who brought it have not been able to support same. This is probably why the defence counsel referred to the charges as mere rumours.

“If their movement is restrained, it will bring serious discomfort to them and people associated with them and will be a disservice to the society. This court sees them as people who should uphold the law of the land and the orders of this honourable court.

“This court has confidence in their ability to show up in court.

“The reasons for remand brought by the prosecutions are not reliable and cannot sustain the charges.”

Abolarinwa granted the defendants bail on “self recognition” and ordered the prosecution to verify their addresses and places of work.

The matter was adjourned till December 11, 2014 pending legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

Obasanjo shuns Jonathan’s second-term declaration

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was absent at President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration to contest the 2015 presidential election in Abuja on Tuesday.

Also absent was a former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. Both are members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

Babangida was among those who sought the party’s ticket in 2011, but lost to Jonathan.

Obasanjo was a former chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, who later resigned his position over some disagreements with the way he said the party was being handled.

There were speculations that the former President was against the second term ambition of the President because of the alleged agreement he (Jonathan) had with the leadership of the party, including the governors in 2011, that he would only be in office for one term.

Meanwhile, there were mixed reactions to the President’s self assessment at his declaration for the 2015 election.

Jonathan, who admitted that the Boko Haram issue had been a big challenge to his administration, listed his achievements in various sectors.

A former chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani,   said Nigerians could not be carried away by the list of achievements reeled out by the President.

Ubani said, “Nigerians are already used to this road; the road of leaders coming out to tell Nigerians about their achievements that are not seen. Leaders at state and local government levels during the period of elections come out to say a lot of things.

“We are used to it but we are not carried away by their claims.”

Financial analysts also expressed divergent views on the economic performance of the Jonathan administration.

Those who spoke to our correspondent on the matter were the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, Mr.Eze Onyekwere; the Registrar, Chartered Institute of Finance and Control of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Eohoi; and a former President of the University of Port Harcourt Alumni Association, Mr. Peter Nwabuzor.

While Onyekwere rated the performance of the economy under Jonathan low, Eohoi and Nwabuzor were of the view that the economy had witnessed massive transformation within the last three-and-a-half years.

Onyekwere said, “I will assess him as a student who want to get let my people go, which is about 40 per cent. We can afford to do more than two times as better as we are doing now in terms of uplifting the standards of living.

“He promised refineries he has not done that. We are still importing fuel and spending about a trillion naira in importing fuel and the electricity he promised is not there yet.

“To whom much is given much is expected and we have abundant resources but we are yet to fully get to utilise that resources for the benefit of Nigerians.”

But Eohoi said that when considered from all economic indicators, the Jonathan administration has performed well.

“He had done well in boosting the economy since he assumed office. Look at the work so far carried out in key sectors of the economy which had resulted in creating wealth, reducing unemployment and ensuring macro economic growth,” he said.

Eohoi, however, said there was still more work to be done in boosting power supply in order to increase the capacity of manufacturing companies.

Also in his assessment of the current administration, Nwabuzor said, “He is a president that has performed credibly well in spite of all the challenges facing the nation.

“I have to mention that Mr. President has made tremendous achievements in all sectors of the economy, and in realisation of the fact that he has positively touched all relevant sectors of the economy by making tremendous achievements.”