This election has been said to be inconclusive on channels TV and a number of radio station tonight.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has cancelled the result of the senatorial election in Anambra Central Senatorial District.

It said a rerun would be fixed for a date to be announced soon.

The decision was announced at a press conference in Awka by the newly appointed Returning Officer for Anambra Central, Prof. Charles Esinone. The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, also attended the briefing, where he told newsmen that Esinone had been replaced the former RO, Mr. Alex Anene.

The major candidates in the election are a former governor of the state, Dr. Chris Ngige (Action Congress of Nigeria); ex-Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili (All Progressives Grand Alliance); and the incumbent, Chief Annie Okonkwo (Accord Party).

The declaration of the result ran into a deadlock when Anene said on Sunday that he was being pressurised by officials of the state government and APGA to declare Akunyili as the winner of the poll.

He had told newsmen in Awka that the interests promised him a house, scholarship for his children and N10 million if he declared Akunyili as the winner of the election and accepted the ‘mutilated’ result from Njikoka Local Government Area.

He said he rejected the gifts and was quitting the assignment because his conscience would not allow him to announce a mutilated result.

Ngige swiftly petitioned INEC, asking it to cancel the result in Anaocha Local Government Area because 22,000 votes were allocated in it to Akunyili.

However, at a separate briefing at her campaign office in Awka, Akunyili said that before the election, Anene was arrested with fake poll monitors and later released on bail. She alleged that instead of going to report to the police, Anene called journalists and raised allegations against her party.


http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/breaking-news-punch-newspaper-inec-cancels-anambra-central-senatorial-result

Hello Nairalanders
Can we use this thread to report NASS the voting in different parts of the country.

In my area which is ward 019 in Akoka area of lagos
Area code:007
LG code:019

Registered voters:375
Accredited voters:123
Total number of vote:91

VOTE RESULTS

ACN: 71
ALP:3
SDMP:2
APGA:1
PDP:11
MPPP:1
VOID:2

Hello Nairalanders
Can we use this thread to report NASS the voting in different parts of the country.

In my area which is ward 019 in Akoka area of lagos
Area code:007
LG code:019

Registered voters:375
Accredited voters:123
Total number of vote:91

VOTE RESULTS

CAN: 71
ALP:3
SDMP:2
APGA:1
PDP:11
MPPP:1
VOID:2

101 Reasons Why Gen. Mohamadu BuhariIs The Answer
« #16 on: Today at 03:44:30 PM »

1. Our dear country Nigeria is in dire need of qualitative and substantive change from retrogression of the past twelve years under PDP to a future of progress, beginning from May 29 2011. This is what GMB represents and offers.

2. We are tired of broken promises and broken down infrastructure. The railways are gone, the shipping lines have disappeared, roads are dilapidated and the power situation is still epileptic after twelve years of wasted Billions of Dollars. GMB promises 15,000MW of electricity by 2015 and 50,000 by 2019.

3. We want somebody that will come and fix our roads and basic infrastructure. GMB plans to construct 3,000km of Superhighway including service trunks and build up to 4,800km of modern railway lines – one third to be completed by 2015.

4. We are tired of being ruled by the Party of Do or Die politics and politicians. GMB plays politics of persuasion and policy articulation.

5. We want to be free from the ‘nest of killers’ who can do anything for power. We need a peaceful polity as envisaged by GMB

6. We are tired of non-functional refineries. GMB is set to optimise their productions once again and initiate new ones with the private sector. He has done it before.

7. GMB will put a stop to the importation of 70% of our petroleum products when we can produce same.

8. We are tired of shameful and disgraceful importation of petroleum products. Prices will come down when GMB takes over on 29th May.

9. We need solution to our secondary school education decay where 70% failures are recorded and the PDP is audacious enough to seek our votes.

10. We are tired of the celebration of corruption by the PDP. They organised a party to welcome Bode George back from prison where he had been for the past two years for stealing.

11. We are tired of the PDP president spending 100 million Naira public funds daily for only presidential jets’ fuelling during campaigns while many Nigerians are hungry, jobless, homeless and hopeless.

12. We are tired of the negative image of a corrupt nation stamped on us by the PDP government’s twelve years of waste.

13. We are tired of a baby president who is completely clueless about the solutions to our problems. It is time to separate the boys from the men. It is time for GMB

14. We are tired of being ruled by stooges with godfathers pushing them like a barrow and telling them what to do at all times. We want a real self confident President.

15. We are tired of attempts at introducing third term through the back door.

16. We do not want a man who supported, funded and campaigned for third term.

17. We are tired of the chop I chop government of PDP. The public till is for all members of the Nigerian society and this is what GMB will ensure.

18. We are tired a president that is playing politics with University education. He announced new Universities to win votes, while the existing ones are barely effective.

19. We are tired of a government that cannot secure our lives and property. So many lives have been lost in Jos, Port Harcourt, Maiduguri, Bauchi, Okerenkoko, Ayakoroma, etc

20. We are tired of an illiterate government without an ideology, without social and political principles and without an understanding of society and governance.

21. We are tired of election riggers and government of thugs and ritualists.

22. We are tired of a government of cult men and Ogboni members.

23. We are tired of a president that says one thing and does exactly the opposite.

24. We are tired of a president that will brazenly rig his own party primaries with impunity and still go and beg for help from the same people.

25. We are tired of a president that blackmailed and arm-twisted fellow convoluted governors to win his party’s nomination.

26. We are tired of a president who inaugurated a presidential advisory committee (PAC) to advice him but later turns round to snub their patriotic advice.

27. We are tired of a president whose only qualification for the presidency is goodluck.

28. We are tired of an economy in comatose while the PDP government is in denial.

29. We are tired of a government that has borrowed more than $32bn in four years for no tangible course and is set to borrow more.

30. We are tired of a government that spends more than 30% of its 2011 budget to pay foreign debt. A government that makes foreigners rich and Nigerians poor.

31. We are tired of a PDP government that does not care about the welfare and wellbeing of the Nigerian people but is only pre-occupied with being in power for 100 years. WE NEED CHANGE.

32. GENERAL MOHAMADU BUHARI (GMB) is the answer and the change agent because he supervised and delivered our existing refineries as petroleum minister and Head of state.

33. He is set to entrench true federalism and fiscal federalism in the body politics of the Nigerian state.

34. He is predisposed to the restructuring of the Nigerian federation to achieve the above.

35. He is determined to achieve a proper devolution of power between the three tiers of government.

36. He strongly supports the removal of the immunity clause on criminal matters under which governors steal and kill.

37. He will make local councils more accountable to the people, by making them publish minutes of their meetings, service performance data and items of spending that exceed 10 million Naira.

38. He plans to reform and strengthen the judicial system for efficient administration of justice in the country. He remembers that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.

39. He plans to create special courts for accelerated hearing of corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism etc., cases.

40. He will fight corruption in public office through strict enforcement of anti corruption laws. He did before, he will do it again.

41. He plans to create serious crime squads to combat kidnapping, armed robbery, militancy, and ethno-religious/communal clashes nationwide.

42. GMB supports the vociferous calls for state and community police and would work to establish the principle.

43. He plans to make Nigeria a liberal society by removing issues such as state of origin, tribe, ethnic and religious affiliations and replace them with only the principle of state of residence.

44. He plans to immediately embark on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skill acquisition scheme for graduates to tackle youth and graduate unemployment.

45. GMB will create two million new jobs by 2015 when he ends his tenure.

46. He will create two million new home owners by 2015 through a nationwide mortgage system.

47. He plans to put in place a N300bn regional growth fund for the development of the regions of the federation.

48. GMB has pledged to do only the bidding of the masses and honest Nigerians and not serve a small click of business men as they are doing in PDP.

49. He is set to restore faith in the Nigerian project so that no ‘Andrew’ will check out again.

50. He will strengthen INEC and reduce/eliminate electoral malpractices.

51. He will institute a process of full disclosure of government business to the public.




52. He will build the capacity of law enforcement officers to do their work effectively.

53. He will work to end acute poverty, inequality and insecurity in the country.

54. He is completely detribalised and has the reputation of being a bridge builder.

55. He is willing and able from day one and does not have to learn on the job like Lucky.

56. He is well loved by the people of Nigeria across the North, South, East and West.

57. He will fight for the welfare and well being of the people.

58. He has a wife that is quite and knows her place in the society unlike others who cannot draw a line.

59. GMB commands the respect of all political and traditional leaders in the country.

60. He will lead in accordance to the constitution and would not twist the constitution to favour his party or a narrow interest like they do in PDP.

61. He is set to restore hope and respect in politics so that more honest and decent people like you can go into it.

62. His driving philosophy in politics and governance is ‘knowledge is Power’.

63. Only GMB has the structure, personality, temperament and character to stop the drift in government and bring direction back to public administration.

64. What he did in road construction while in the PTF has not been matched by 12 wasted years of PDP who have squandered billions of naira building nothing.

65. As Head of state, taking over from the Pre-PDP government of Shagari, GMB reduced inflation from 23% to 4% in twenty months only.

66. In his regime, there was no single religious crisis unlike what we have today with PDP.

67. He put a final stop to the Maitasine sect in Kano. Today we have Mend, OPC, Boko Haram etc and the PDP is watching in amazement with.

68. As Head of state, he stamped out corruption in public office by making politicians to be held accountable for their actions while in office.

69. Hospitals and Universities in the country have not received more benefits from PDP than they did from PTF under GMB.

70. As former petroleum minister and former Head of state, GMB owns no oil block, no petrol station unlike the PDP presidents.

71. GMB is the answer because he has followership across the country which money cannot buy. Do you know that PDP pays people to attend their rallies?

72. He is the Leader of the Masses and the Talakawas. Mr. Integrity and Mai Gaskiya.

73. The oppressors and political gladiators fear him and love to stop him but the Masses love him and would do all in their might to steer him to victory.

74. He is very liberal in his religious beliefs and that was why he appointed a Pentecostal and Charismatic Pastor as his vice.

75. GMB is the only former Nigerian leader who does not own a house or Land in Abuja. Amazing!

76. He is the first Head of state to promote affirmative action for women in Nigeria by directing that all state cabinets must have female commissioners.

77. His achievements in twenty months as Head of state dwarf those of all who came after him especially the now ending inept and corrupt 12 years of PDP.

78. He is the most capable, competent and creative candidate in this years’ presidential election. He has been military governor, petroleum minister, Head of state and chairman Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).

79. Many people do not know that it was while working with PTF that Dora Akunyili was discovered and it was because of her antecedents working with GMB that Obasanjo appointed her into NAFDAC. See what PDP has done to her reputation.

80. GMB from the outset has identified with the poor masses in all his endeavours. That’s why he is called the People’s general. Now he will be called the ‘People President’.

81. His main opponent identifies with the rich. His close friends include, Femi Otedola, Aliko Dagote, Jim Ovia, Jimoh Ibrahim, the Anyiam Osigwes, James Ibori, DSP Alamieyeseigha, Peter Odili, Ebitimi Banigo, Olusegun Obasanjo, Anthony Anenih, etc who all have one thing in common.

82. While GMB is being backed by the masses, others are being sponsored by the enemies of the masses.

83. No single money bag is bank rolling his campaign unlike the PDP.

84. GMB is the answer because as Head of state, he introduced the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) which gave birth to discipline, patriotism, the queue culture and the monthly sanitation exercise in Nigeria among other things.

85. GMB has never had a case with EFCC while some at the helms now will continue their case in EFCC when they leave office on May 29th 2011.

86. GMB will permanently solve the problem of violence in the Niger Delta originated by Lucky and his friends. Many people do not know the level of involvement of the PDP government in the Niger Delta crisis.

87. GMB represents change, hope, progress and honesty in Nigeria.

88. He is incorruptible.

89. He is honest, credible, hardworking and patriotic.

90. He loves Nigeria more than himself. This is evidenced in his dogged determination to fight for the masses the third time at the presidency.

91. He is a master strategist and organiser come mobilize. He built with the masses a political movement into the fastest growing national political party in the world in less than two years.

92. He is from a humble background and worked his way to national recognition. He is set to do the same to millions of Nigerian youths who need Mentoring.

93. GMB represents the last set of the Murtala legacy and is set to ignite the sparks of that regime with actions and actions on all aspects of the polity with his team.

94. GMB was the only Head of state that devoted and committed more that 26% of the nation’s budget to education.

95. He is not anybody’s stooge. The third campaigners cannot claim same. Can they?

96. GMB is well respected and recognised by the international community as a committed anti-corruption crusader.

97. GMB discouraged drug trafficking when he was Head of state. The menace increased when he left office but will be banished again.

98. He is ready and willing to bring back confidence to Nigeria’s economy by tackling headlong the problems of insecurity and lack of infrastructure.

99. GMB is the answer to our problems now because he understands them and knows how to tackle them. The PDP is completely bereft of any idea on how to move our nation forward.

100. GMB He is the epitome of sincerity, honour, and integrity and will keep his promise to Nigerians, unlike those who cannot even keep a gentleman’s agreement in their party.

101. GMB IS THE ANSWER BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN NIGERIANS NEED HELP.

Signed,
OBORO ANDAOLOTU
POSITIVE ACTION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE (PASOJ)

http://www.saharareporters.com/article/101-reasons-why-gen-mohamadu-buhariis-answer

1. Our dear country Nigeria is in dire need of qualitative and substantive change from retrogression of the past twelve years under PDP to a future of progress, beginning from May 29 2011. This is what GMB represents and offers.

2. We are tired of broken promises and broken down infrastructure. The railways are gone, the shipping lines have disappeared, roads are dilapidated and the power situation is still epileptic after twelve years of wasted Billions of Dollars. GMB promises 15,000MW of electricity by 2015 and 50,000 by 2019.

3. We want somebody that will come and fix our roads and basic infrastructure. GMB plans to construct 3,000km of Superhighway including service trunks and build up to 4,800km of modern railway lines – one third to be completed by 2015.

4. We are tired of being ruled by the Party of Do or Die politics and politicians. GMB plays politics of persuasion and policy articulation.

5. We want to be free from the ‘nest of killers’ who can do anything for power. We need a peaceful polity as envisaged by GMB

6. We are tired of non-functional refineries. GMB is set to optimise their productions once again and initiate new ones with the private sector. He has done it before.

7. GMB will put a stop to the importation of 70% of our petroleum products when we can produce same.

8. We are tired of shameful and disgraceful importation of petroleum products. Prices will come down when GMB takes over on 29th May.

9. We need solution to our secondary school education decay where 70% failures are recorded and the PDP is audacious enough to seek our votes.

10. We are tired of the celebration of corruption by the PDP. They organised a party to welcome Bode George back from prison where he had been for the past two years for stealing.

11. We are tired of the PDP president spending 100 million Naira public funds daily for only presidential jets’ fuelling during campaigns while many Nigerians are hungry, jobless, homeless and hopeless.

12. We are tired of the negative image of a corrupt nation stamped on us by the PDP government’s twelve years of waste.

13. We are tired of a baby president who is completely clueless about the solutions to our problems. It is time to separate the boys from the men. It is time for GMB

14. We are tired of being ruled by stooges with godfathers pushing them like a barrow and telling them what to do at all times. We want a real self confident President.

15. We are tired of attempts at introducing third term through the back door.

16. We do not want a man who supported, funded and campaigned for third term.

17. We are tired of the chop I chop government of PDP. The public till is for all members of the Nigerian society and this is what GMB will ensure.

18. We are tired a president that is playing politics with University education. He announced new Universities to win votes, while the existing ones are barely effective.

19. We are tired of a government that cannot secure our lives and property. So many lives have been lost in Jos, Port Harcourt, Maiduguri, Bauchi, Okerenkoko, Ayakoroma, etc

20. We are tired of an illiterate government without an ideology, without social and political principles and without an understanding of society and governance.

21. We are tired of election riggers and government of thugs and ritualists.

22. We are tired of a government of cult men and Ogboni members.

23. We are tired of a president that says one thing and does exactly the opposite.

24. We are tired of a president that will brazenly rig his own party primaries with impunity and still go and beg for help from the same people.

25. We are tired of a president that blackmailed and arm-twisted fellow convoluted governors to win his party’s nomination.

26. We are tired of a president who inaugurated a presidential advisory committee (PAC) to advice him but later turns round to snub their patriotic advice.

27. We are tired of a president whose only qualification for the presidency is goodluck.

28. We are tired of an economy in comatose while the PDP government is in denial.

29. We are tired of a government that has borrowed more than $32bn in four years for no tangible course and is set to borrow more.

30. We are tired of a government that spends more than 30% of its 2011 budget to pay foreign debt. A government that makes foreigners rich and Nigerians poor.

31. We are tired of a PDP government that does not care about the welfare and wellbeing of the Nigerian people but is only pre-occupied with being in power for 100 years. WE NEED CHANGE.

32. GENERAL MOHAMADU BUHARI (GMB) is the answer and the change agent because he supervised and delivered our existing refineries as petroleum minister and Head of state.

33. He is set to entrench true federalism and fiscal federalism in the body politics of the Nigerian state.

34. He is predisposed to the restructuring of the Nigerian federation to achieve the above.

35. He is determined to achieve a proper devolution of power between the three tiers of government.

36. He strongly supports the removal of the immunity clause on criminal matters under which governors steal and kill.

37. He will make local councils more accountable to the people, by making them publish minutes of their meetings, service performance data and items of spending that exceed 10 million Naira.

38. He plans to reform and strengthen the judicial system for efficient administration of justice in the country. He remembers that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.

39. He plans to create special courts for accelerated hearing of corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism etc., cases.

40. He will fight corruption in public office through strict enforcement of anti corruption laws. He did before, he will do it again.

41. He plans to create serious crime squads to combat kidnapping, armed robbery, militancy, and ethno-religious/communal clashes nationwide.

42. GMB supports the vociferous calls for state and community police and would work to establish the principle.

43. He plans to make Nigeria a liberal society by removing issues such as state of origin, tribe, ethnic and religious affiliations and replace them with only the principle of state of residence.

44. He plans to immediately embark on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skill acquisition scheme for graduates to tackle youth and graduate unemployment.

45. GMB will create two million new jobs by 2015 when he ends his tenure.

46. He will create two million new home owners by 2015 through a nationwide mortgage system.

47. He plans to put in place a N300bn regional growth fund for the development of the regions of the federation.

48. GMB has pledged to do only the bidding of the masses and honest Nigerians and not serve a small click of business men as they are doing in PDP.

49. He is set to restore faith in the Nigerian project so that no ‘Andrew’ will check out again.

50. He will strengthen INEC and reduce/eliminate electoral malpractices.

51. He will institute a process of full disclosure of government business to the public.




52. He will build the capacity of law enforcement officers to do their work effectively.

53. He will work to end acute poverty, inequality and insecurity in the country.

54. He is completely detribalised and has the reputation of being a bridge builder.

55. He is willing and able from day one and does not have to learn on the job like Lucky.

56. He is well loved by the people of Nigeria across the North, South, East and West.

57. He will fight for the welfare and well being of the people.

58. He has a wife that is quite and knows her place in the society unlike others who cannot draw a line.

59. GMB commands the respect of all political and traditional leaders in the country.

60. He will lead in accordance to the constitution and would not twist the constitution to favour his party or a narrow interest like they do in PDP.

61. He is set to restore hope and respect in politics so that more honest and decent people like you can go into it.

62. His driving philosophy in politics and governance is ‘knowledge is Power’.

63. Only GMB has the structure, personality, temperament and character to stop the drift in government and bring direction back to public administration.

64. What he did in road construction while in the PTF has not been matched by 12 wasted years of PDP who have squandered billions of naira building nothing.

65. As Head of state, taking over from the Pre-PDP government of Shagari, GMB reduced inflation from 23% to 4% in twenty months only.

66. In his regime, there was no single religious crisis unlike what we have today with PDP.

67. He put a final stop to the Maitasine sect in Kano. Today we have Mend, OPC, Boko Haram etc and the PDP is watching in amazement with.

68. As Head of state, he stamped out corruption in public office by making politicians to be held accountable for their actions while in office.

69. Hospitals and Universities in the country have not received more benefits from PDP than they did from PTF under GMB.

70. As former petroleum minister and former Head of state, GMB owns no oil block, no petrol station unlike the PDP presidents.

71. GMB is the answer because he has followership across the country which money cannot buy. Do you know that PDP pays people to attend their rallies?

72. He is the Leader of the Masses and the Talakawas. Mr. Integrity and Mai Gaskiya.

73. The oppressors and political gladiators fear him and love to stop him but the Masses love him and would do all in their might to steer him to victory.

74. He is very liberal in his religious beliefs and that was why he appointed a Pentecostal and Charismatic Pastor as his vice.

75. GMB is the only former Nigerian leader who does not own a house or Land in Abuja. Amazing!

76. He is the first Head of state to promote affirmative action for women in Nigeria by directing that all state cabinets must have female commissioners.

77. His achievements in twenty months as Head of state dwarf those of all who came after him especially the now ending inept and corrupt 12 years of PDP.

78. He is the most capable, competent and creative candidate in this years’ presidential election. He has been military governor, petroleum minister, Head of state and chairman Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).

79. Many people do not know that it was while working with PTF that Dora Akunyili was discovered and it was because of her antecedents working with GMB that Obasanjo appointed her into NAFDAC. See what PDP has done to her reputation.

80. GMB from the outset has identified with the poor masses in all his endeavours. That’s why he is called the People’s general. Now he will be called the ‘People President’.

81. His main opponent identifies with the rich. His close friends include, Femi Otedola, Aliko Dagote, Jim Ovia, Jimoh Ibrahim, the Anyiam Osigwes, James Ibori, DSP Alamieyeseigha, Peter Odili, Ebitimi Banigo, Olusegun Obasanjo, Anthony Anenih, etc who all have one thing in common.

82. While GMB is being backed by the masses, others are being sponsored by the enemies of the masses.

83. No single money bag is bank rolling his campaign unlike the PDP.

84. GMB is the answer because as Head of state, he introduced the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) which gave birth to discipline, patriotism, the queue culture and the monthly sanitation exercise in Nigeria among other things.

85. GMB has never had a case with EFCC while some at the helms now will continue their case in EFCC when they leave office on May 29th 2011.

86. GMB will permanently solve the problem of violence in the Niger Delta originated by Lucky and his friends. Many people do not know the level of involvement of the PDP government in the Niger Delta crisis.

87. GMB represents change, hope, progress and honesty in Nigeria.

88. He is incorruptible.

89. He is honest, credible, hardworking and patriotic.

90. He loves Nigeria more than himself. This is evidenced in his dogged determination to fight for the masses the third time at the presidency.

91. He is a master strategist and organiser cum mobilize. He built with the masses a political movement into the fastest growing national political party in the world in less than two years.

92. He is from a humble background and worked his way to national recognition. He is set to do the same to millions of Nigerian youths who need Mentoring.

93. GMB represents the last set of the Murtala legacy and is set to ignite the sparks of that regime with actions and actions on all aspects of the polity with his team.

94. GMB was the only Head of state that devoted and committed more that 26% of the nation’s budget to education.

95. He is not anybody’s stooge. The third campaigners cannot claim same. Can they?

96. GMB is well respected and recognised by the international community as a committed anti-corruption crusader.

97. GMB discouraged drug trafficking when he was Head of state. The menace increased when he left office but will be banished again.

98. He is ready and willing to bring back confidence to Nigeria’s economy by tackling headlong the problems of insecurity and lack of infrastructure.

99. GMB is the answer to our problems now because he understands them and knows how to tackle them. The PDP is completely bereft of any idea on how to move our nation forward.

100. GMB He is the epitome of sincerity, honour, and integrity and will keep his promise to Nigerians, unlike those who cannot even keep a gentleman’s agreement in their party.

101. GMB IS THE ANSWER BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN NIGERIANS NEED HELP.

Signed,
OBORO ANDAOLOTU
POSITIVE ACTION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE (PASOJ)

http://www.saharareporters.com/article/101-reasons-why-gen-mohamadu-buhariis-answer

Alao Akala lied

http://www.saharareporters.com/press-release/mapo-hall-akala-lied

I think export might be a good business option. check http://exportnigeria..com/

An attempt by the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, to ask the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) to demand a vacation letter from President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was shouted down yesterday, THISDAY has learnt.
The President travelled to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment in November last year without transferring authority to the Vice-President, a situation that has led to power vacuum and is threatening governance in the country.

Many ministers told THISDAY yesterday that Akunyili passed a memo round EXCOF members in which she asked the council to discuss Yar’Adua’s prolonged absence and seek the possibility of allowing Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to step in as Acting President until the President returns from Saudi Arabia.
“The Yar’Adua loyalists shouted her down and told her the memo should have been circulated before yesterday’s meeting if she wanted it discussed,” one source told THISDAY. “Some ministers, who could not speak openly, murmured that the Farouk AbdulMutallab memo was discussed and acted upon the same day it was presented to council, so why should Yar’Adua’s case be different?”

The reaction of the pro-Yar’Adua ministers might have further created division in the cabinet which has been widely criticised for declaring the President fit to rule even when it is not in a position to do so.
THISDAY was unable to get a copy of Akunyili’s memo yesterday because she was ordered to withdraw all copies from the ministers.
“She was told that if the memo leaked to the press, she would be held responsible for it,” another source – a minister from the North – told THISDAY.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Yayale, was said to have personally gone round to withdraw the memo, which had been served on the 42 ministers present.
In the memo, she was said to have restated her loyalty to the President but raised concerns about how his absence had stalled government business and led to some unconstitutional actions.

“She said we should remember that permanent secretaries have been waiting to be sworn in for two months, meaning some ministries don’t even have permanent secretaries now. She also reminded council that the VP has no constitutional power to take any bill to the National Assembly. She said even though the VP deployed troops to quell Jos riots, many Nigerians said it was unconstitutional,” the source said.

Akunyili was also said to have reminded the council that the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) had opted out of the amnesty programme because of the President’s absence from the country.
The renewed threat is a danger to the country’s economy, the memo reportedly emphasised.
Another minister told THISDAY that Akunyili’s memo asked the council to act urgently as prominent and well-meaning Nigerians, former heads of state and senators had done by asking the President to send in a vacation letter to allow the Vice-President to act.

“I think the memo was sensible but some of our colleagues were not all well disposed to it. She made it clear that she was not saying council should ask the President to resign, but that it would be better to transfer authority to the VP. Even if the President returns today, he will still need time to rest and recover,” he said.
The memo, according to sources, also highlighted the fact that though the President was said to have hurriedly left the country without being able to write a letter to the National Assembly, the fact that the Supplementary Budget is said to have been signed by him means he could still have sent the much-desired letter to the federal lawmakers.

Noting that “our hard-earned democracy” was in serious danger of being truncated, Akunyili was said to have reminded the cabinet about the rule of law stance of the Yar’Adua government.
Said a minister: “Akunyili noted that before Yar’Adua left Nigeria, he had a moral and constitutional obligation to officially inform the Senate and hand over the mantle of leadership to the Vice-President, pending his return and recovery. She said posterity would judge us harshly if we do not intervene to resolve the crisis.”

The most direct aspect of the memo, according to an insider, is where she said if the President does not transmit a letter, “we can evoke whichever aspect of the constitution that should make the Vice-President an Acting President”.
“She said we could also take advantage of the 14 days ultimatum given by the Federal High Court to make a declaration of the President’s fitness. The ultimatum will expire on Friday,” the source revealed, adding that Akunyili specifically said she was not demanding that Yar’Adua should resign for being sick because “he did not choose to be sick”.

Akunyili was quoted as saying: “If we fail to act now, history will not forgive us.”
THISDAY learnt that although nobody spoke in support of Akunyili’s memo, most of the ministers were very happy with the content.
Some of them went to commend her at the end of the meeting for displaying rare courage and hailed her “for speaking our minds”.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=165768

Nigeria is a country naturally blessed and endowed with items that are in serious demand in the export markets around the world. We are not only blessed with solid minerals (besides crude oil) we are also blessed with good climate and weather conditions to support the growth of commodities that are industrially useful in the developed nations. No wonder an Asian will come into this country with a briefcase and 2-5 yrs down the line, he would have become an employer of labour by harnessing our resources to build wealth for himself via export business opportunities in Nigeria. Nigerian must wake up to discover the export potentials of this country so that together we can grow our Gross Domestic Products (GDP). http://bayemiboexport..com/

SOURCE IS PROSHARE: http://proshareng.com/news/singleNews.php?id=7776

N516bn fresh scams uncovered in three banks



Startling revelations came on Tuesday that some bank chief executive officers sacked by the Central Bank of Nigeria for poor corporate governance and reckless credit management, may face fresh charges.

It was reliably gathered that a fresh scrutiny of the books of three of the banks—Oceanic International Bank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc and Afribank Plc – revealed fresh loan scams totalling about N516bn.

The N120bn hole discovered in Afribank was due to losses incurred in trading in its own shares.

Our correspondents gathered that a report from the new Managing Director of Afribank, Mr. Nebolisa Arah, revealed that the N120bn loss was as a result of a N20 diminution in the value of about six billion shares of the bank bought by the bank itself through Falcon Securities.

Shortly after a source disclosed this to one of our correspondents on Tuesday, the CBN Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, told the Senate that one of the two sacked bank chiefs had two aircraft and had paid for another two before the CBN axe fell.

Our source, who is close to the apex bank investigators, claimed that Oceanic Bank, whose sacked managing director, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, had fresh non-performing loans of about N235bn.

The loans, according to him, was traced by investigators to companies owned by Ibru herself. He added that the loans were given out at ridiculous terms that made repayment practically impossible.

About N160.7bn loans were earlier said to have been given out by the former Oceanic bank chief to her cronies and associates.

Ibru, according to reliable sources close to the investigators, also “unethically” paid N825m to a company owned by her daughter as a 10-year rent on a property along Ikorodu Road, Lagos.

When asked to name the companies that the loans were given and the one owned by Ibru’s daughter, the source said, “There is a four-page list. You will not find her (Ibru’s daughter) name on it. Many shell companies, others owned by Dele Oye and Nana Abdullahi. They even bought some other companies from people and used them for their loans.”

The source added that a fresh N160bn loan loss was also discovered in the books of Intercontinental Bank. According to him, the money was linked to market losses on Intercontinental shares bought by the subsidiaries of the bank.

He added that some directors of banks whose CEOs were sacked owned shares in the banks which they did not pay for.

Apart from Ibru, three other former bank managing directors — Mr. Okey Nwosu (Finbank); Mr. Sebastian Adigwe (Afribank); and Mr. Bartholomew Ebong (Union Bank), are facing trial on five separate 131-count charge, bordering on fraud, concealment and granting N625.95bn loans without adequate collateral.

The fifth, Mr. Erastus Akingbola of Intercontinental Bank, is on the wanted list of the EFFC.

Seven non-executive directors and members of board of directors of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Dr. Raymond Obieri; Mr. Hycinth Enuha; Mr. Christopher Alabi; Chief Samuel Adegbite; Alhaji Isyaku Umar; Mr. Bayo Dada; and Mr. Sani Adam, were also arraigned by the EFCC.

Also arraigned were three bank debtors — Mr. Peter Ololo, Mr. Henry Onyemem, and Mr. Niyi Opeodu.

Our source’s disclosures tallied with Sanusi’s defence of the shake-up in banks, where he reiterated that the activities of the sacked chief executive officers of banks were shocking, unprofessional and capable of destroying the entire industry.

Sanusi, at a closed door session with the Senate, also claimed that he rejected a Greek gift of N3bn from a group shortly after he assumed office.

He did not name those who tried to offer him the bribe.

The President of the Senate, Mr. David Mark, had said on September 29 that Sanusi would be invited to brief the Senate in a closed session because the matter was in court.

A senator, who spoke with one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, said that the CBN chief told the Senate that the banking sector would require about N1tn to fully stabilise.

He added that there was the need for the Federal Government on behalf of the CBN, to approach the National Assembly for a legislative action on the N1tn needed.

The senator also quoted Sanusi as saying that Ibru gave out N235bn unsecured loans ; had two jets and had paid for additional two before her removal from office.

He said that Sanusi wondered why a bank chief would give out N235bn loans when the bank had a capital base of N300bn.

Part of the money, Sanusi allegedly said, was used by the executive to acquire two of the jets.

The lawmaker also credited to Sanusi as having said that the sacked directors of Intercontinental Bank approved a loan of N8bn each for themselves.

He said that the removed directors used the money to acquire about 50 per cent equity holding in the bank.

The senator added that Sanusi told the upper arm of the National Assembly that the rot in the banking sector when he took over offered him two choices.

First, to compromise and allow the system to collapse, in which case, depositors will suffer.

The second was to take the path of honour by doing the right thing if it meant stepping on toes, and to stabilise the system.

But he said that he decided to choose the latter.

In response to a question as to why some banks appeared targeted, the CBN governor reportedly said he had to make the best out of a terrible and potentially dangerous situation.

The senator said, “He gave us a scenario to illustrate his point. He said, he found himself like a person who got into a community ravaged by cholera.

“He found some children who are critically ill and others who are ill but can survive a few days.”

Sanusi, he said, was faced with the choice of trying to treat all of them at once using scarce resources, in which case he risked losing everything or treating the critically ill first, before proceeding.

When contacted, the Senate spokesman, Mr. Ayogu Eze, described Sanusi’s revelations as “startling” and “sobering.”

He said, “What I want to say for now is that revelations coming from the briefing given by the Governor of the CBN are sobering and a lot of our colleagues were really disturbed by the magnitude of the malfeasance and things that have happened in the banking sub-sector.”

Eze explained that the CBN governor would return on Thursday to shed more light on the allegations.

He also said the Senate was pleased with the action taken so far by the CBN governor in the light of his revelations and explanations.

The Senate spokesperson however said the Senate would withdraw its support if, at anytime, it found facts to the contrary.

He said, “So far, members of the Senate are quite satisfied with the way the governor has done his job, and with the way he has handled the assignment up till the briefing today (Tuesday).

“So far, we are very pleased that he had to intervene at the time he did to save the country from embarrassment.

“The facts available to us are really sobering and I am sure that at the appropriate time, when we get the facts, we will come and release some of those facts so that Nigerians too will share and see why the Senate is solidly supporting the actions of the governor of the CBN and encouraging him to do what he has started in cleaning up the financial sector and straightening things out.”

On why the discoveries were just being made, Sanusi told one of our correspondents on Tuesday that the revelation was the outcome of the work of forensic auditors.

He said, “Don’t forget that we have been in the banks since august 14. We have just concluded it, it takes time.”

Spokespersons of Oceanic and Intercontinental banks declined comments when our correspondents contacted them on telephone for comments

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The plan by the Lagos State Government to ban commercial buses, popularly called molue, from plying the Carter Bridge has finally succeeded with a terminus for the buses at Iddo, KEMI OBASOLA reports Though bridges are designed to withstand a certain amount of weight, pressure and traffic jam, turning bridges to parking lots and motor parks where commercial vehicles pick and drop passengers could eventually lead to bridge collapse.


This may be why the Lagos State Government has continued to intensify efforts in the enforcement of weight restriction on bridges in the state.

The efforts of the state government have not been in vain; they have succeeded in ridding the Carter Bridge of commercial vehicles, popularly known as molue and danfo. The plan to rid the bridge of commercial buses which began during the administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has been made possible by the state Ministry of Transportation.

Our correspondent gathered that the state declared a zero tolerance for molue and danfo on the bridge because of the danger their activities portended.

The state and other stakeholders had raised the alarm that Carter Bridge, which links the Iddo end of the mainland to the Idumota end of the Island, was under threat because it was perpetually under the yoke of molue and traders.

But when our correspondent paid a visit to the bridge on Thursday, it was observed that commercial motorists converged on Iddo to pick and drop passengers.

Unlike in the past when pedestrians found it difficult to walk on the bridge and find their way round, officials of the Lagos State Transportation Authority, are now permanently on the bridge to ensure that motorists and traders do not transact any business on it.

In an interview, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, said, “The state will not tolerate transaction of any business by traders or motorists on Carter Bridge. Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority who do not work hand in hand with the government to ensure that molue and traders do not return to that bridge will be shown the way out.

“This is an exercise that has been on for about a year. There are LASTMA officials on Carter Bridge 24 hours. We put enough men there. Anytime we see that the commercial motorists want to return to the bridge, we impound their vehicles.

“The buses that had been parked on the bridge for so long, we towed to created space. We often engage the commercial motorists in dialogue to make them see the danger inherent in parking on the bridge. The bridge was not designed to serve as a motor park. It was not designed for stationary weight.”

Opeifa said public transportation was a major issue in the state and matters were not being helped by the fact that development tilted to a particular side of the metropolis.

He added, “Most people who live on the mainland have to use the Carter Bridge to get to their offices on the Island. There is mass movement of people and commercial motorists, therefore, felt they could turn every available space to a park. We will continue to ensure that illegal parks disappear, new parks will only emerge in approved places.”

He said the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers had been quite cooperative, adding, “Our men too have been up and doing. The bridge is technically alright, so long as we do not form the habit of leaving stationary load on it.”

A trader at the Iddo Motorpark, Mrs. Muyibat Adeoba, said, “Carter Bridge is a no-go area. As the LASTMA offcials are doing their job, men of the Kick Against Indiscipline are busy patrolling, if they catch you on the bridge, they will seize your goods and may even take you to their office at Alausa.

“How can you even say you want to display your goods there or stop there to pick passengers? The LASTMA car is always there, the officials are empowered to enforce law and order, if you misbehave, you will go to their office to explain.”

By KEMI OBASOLA
Published by punch newspaper: Friday, 3 Apr 2009
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200904034125242

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I am veeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrry for not posting the link (source of article)
its very unlike me
thanks so much for the observation MUST_A_FAR
and KUNLEOSHOB for posting the link
i will never take the credit for someone's write up

Long Live Nairalander

Anytime someone pours encomium on Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, I smile, mischievously. I’m usually amused because… Okay, I’ll come back to that shortly. A few days ago, I was, as usual, discussing Nigeria with a friend. He recently had a terrible experience with a government institution. “We can never get it right in this country,” he said in frustration. “Nigeria is doomed,” he proclaimed on top of his voice. I looked at him and said: “Fashola.” I could feel his anger melt down. Reluctantly, he replied: “You may have a point there.” What did I mean by “Fashola”? No, I was not saying Fashola was about to solve all our problems. But under two years, he has demonstrated a sense of urgency, commitment and focus. It is not just about the change he is bringing to Lagos, but also the promise he has shown. He is showing us clearly that we are not living in a hopeless society, that things can change and change for good. Fashola has renewed my hope that a new Nigeria is possible.
It is very easy to think Nigeria is doomed. I have agonised over this doom most of my adult life. It is very difficult to see hope. We hardly see the silver lining in a dark cloud; rather, we see a dark lining in a silver cloud, as someone said years ago. We are so frustrated and pessimistic that we don’t even see the opportunities and prospects that gawk at us. All we can see are problems and pains. You cannot blame the Nigerian. We appear to be helpless and hopeless. We are like a sheep without a shepherd. Therefore, whenever someone appreciates Fashola, I smile mischievously, as if saying: “Didn’t you say it is finished with Nigeria?” And believe it or not, there are a hundred Fasholas – educated, exposed, committed, focused and visionary – all over Nigeria who do not have the opportunity to shine because of our peculiar political structure.
The major difference, however, is that someone placed merit above political expediency and stuck out his neck for Fashola. I’m talking about Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the immediate past governor of Lagos State. Having ruled Lagos for eight turbulent years, during which he kept battling with the President Olusegun Obasanjo-led PDP troops who were hell-bent on capturing Lagos at any cost, Tinubu could easily have handed over to another politician. There were many of them around him, pressing him left, right and centre. He chose, instead, to throw his weight behind a certain Babatunde Raji Fashola who was unknown outside the Lagos corridors of power. Why did Tinubu settle for Fashola? Why did he choose to gamble on someone who had never been a councillor, much less a council chairman, in a society where we make jest of people like Pat Utomi because their political CV is not intimidating?
Tinubu opted for someone whose first exercise of executive power would be in the office of the governor of Lagos, the most chaotic and the most strategic state in Nigeria. Why? My guess is that Tinubu saw something in him which some of us did not see. My guess is that having laid out a beautiful plan for Lagos which he could not fully implement because of political expediency in the Obasanjo years, Tinubu was sincerely committed to getting a rightful successor who would carry out the assignment to a logical conclusion. He put merit above merriment, purpose above politics, reason above rhyme. I wish Obasanjo could honestly say the same regarding his own choice of successor.
Why is Fashola making progress? This should provide good PhD research topics for political scientists and maybe economists. Since I am a student of Governance and Development, I will look at the Lagos Model from my own bias. My write-up today should help us understand the Fashola Phenomenon and put things in proper perspective. We can then ask: what can the rest of Nigeria learn from this? The major obstacle to good governance in Nigeria, in my own opinion, is politics. You can replace that word with “politicking”. Many times, we have managed to produce good people in government but they end up as failures. Why? I suggest: the impediments caused by politicking. For you to succeed as a leader in Nigeria, you must get your politics and policy right. You may have good policies, but without the right politics you will fail. No matter how much we dislike politicians, we need them. You can never have politics without politicians. That is one. On the other hand, you may get all your politics right – pleasing some people, pummelling others, perfecting all the intrigues – but the society will never move forward if you do not have the right policies. You, therefore, cannot escape a happy marriage of politics and policy if you are to be an achiever.
Now here comes the Lagos Model. Fashola is the “technocrat” who handles governance, the finer details. Tinubu is the “godfather” who handles the politics, you know, the murky waters. They complement each other. Tinubu himself is a technocrat, to be sure, but the politician took the better part of him during his tenure as he had to fight off the PDP hawks. If Fashola begins to play politics today, governance will suffer. If he was interested in politicking, he could never have removed the traders from Oshodi. He could never have chased away those yellow buses from the highway. In Nigerian politics, the critical mass of voters will be found in markets and at motor parks. The real voters and foot soldiers are petty traders, bus drivers, conductors and touts. The conventional wisdom is that if you control the motor parks, you control the thugs; if you control the thugs, you control the polling booth; if you control the polling booth, you control the votes! That is why associations such as National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) are very strategic to politicians and there is always a fierce battle to control them.
By taking these tough decisions, Fashola would have been committing political suicide. But, no, there is Tinubu to clean up the “mess” politically. This frees Fashola to retain his focus without much distraction. It is like in football: you have a defensive midfielder and an attacking midfielder – the former, like Tinubu, handles the defensive part of the job while the latter, like Fashola, is freed and creates goals for his team. Politics and policy, like we said, must be happily married if we are to enjoy good governance in this country. Fashola has never made any attempt to discredit his predecessor. I hear a lot of PDP people say: “It’s Tinubu’s programme that Fashola is implementing.” Pure rubbish. One of the biggest obstacles to our development is this mentality that you must discredit your predecessor and discontinue his programmes so that people would not say you don’t have your own ideas. Pure rubbish. Government is a continuum. If anything, policy reversals have done a lot of damage to the country, as we can see at the federal level.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua came to office in May 2007, and – based on the advice of people who probably had selfish motives – he suspended the power projects, cancelled the Lagos-Kano rail contract and reversed the privatisation of refineries. Nearly two years after, Yar’Adua is going back to the same power and rail projects – and he now wants to privatise the refineries again. Precious time wasted for nothing! Does he know the billions of dollars and invaluable productivity we have lost as a result of this? Why must he reverse policies for the fun of it? All the talk about 6,000 megawatts today is based on the projects Obasanjo initiated in 2006! So why waste our time? This is very common all over Nigeria – new governors abandoning critical projects for selfish reasons. Fashola has proved to be wiser than most.
But can we replicate the Lagos Model all over Nigeria? For instance, would Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani have performed better as Enugu governor if he had faced governance and allowed Jim Nwobodo to handle the politics? That is the problem with modelling. What works in Sokoto may not work in Akwa Ibom and what works in Oyo may fail in Kogi. However, the fundamental truth cannot be altered – that “politics and policy” must be delicately balanced, happily married, if we are to make progress. Whether one person should handle the two or there should be “separation of powers” between the “politician” and the “technocrat” is what we can debate more extensively. However, the Lagos Model can work for Nigeria as witnessed under Obasanjo administration. Obasanjo, though a terrible politician who was obviously power drunk, managed to handle the politics while “technocrats” such as Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mr. Bode Agusto, Dr. Mansur Muhtar and Mallam Nasir el-Rufai went about the business of governance. Obasanjo’s battle with his own contradictions might have discredited his government, but we certainly made some progress under his government.
Can we then toy with the idea of a “politician” President and a “technocratic” VP in 2011? Technocrats have their failings, just like politicians too, so we need a balance. Somehow, I think Nigeria’s redemption will benefit tremendously by learning from the Lagos Model. It’s a phenomenon we should give serious consideration to, as we battle to create a new Nigeria.

Dear All,

We all brand the Fidelity ID card and lapel PIN with so much confidence and are determined to attain our 5in3 target, however there
are a few Judases among us who are not sharing the same vision and mission.

Uchenna studied Accountancy and graduated from the University of Nigeria Nsukka with a second class honours (upper division) in 2004
and joined Fidelity Bank plc in May 2006, after her youth service at entry level and was deployed to Domestic Operations.

An important member of our e-business operations – a specialized area that required regular training within and outside Nigeria. To
show how important she was, even as an EA, she just returned from a training in South Africa. A rare privilege for any staff at her level.

Unfortunately, she used the training and skill obtained from her desk negatively by perpetrating fraud, through fraudulent transfers
from one of the accounts she manages to her husband’s account. She successfully covered up by manipulating her colleagues and records,
before luck ran out on her.

She is married with a two year old daughter and currently pregnant, unfortunately her husband of more than 2 years disappeared when the
fraud was uncovered and has refused to show up, leaving her to her fate, even though he was the major beneficiary of the proceeds of the fraud.

Uche was arraigned at a Lagos Magistrate Court today on criminal charges of forgery, stealing etc and the judge ordered her to be remanded at the
Kirikiri maximum prison until the next hearing date of 17th April 2009. What a shame?

LESSONS:
1. TO OUR YOUNG LADIES.
• There are a few honest young men out there, who loves for who you are. Most of them will want you because of where you work and
what you have.
• Being desperate will mean, getting into any relationship even when it may not be worth it. Uche’s husband is primary School Certificate holder.

2. TO ALL OF US
• DO NOT be involved in fraud, don’t even think about it, it is not worth the stress. All the money will be lost and you will end up in jail like Uche.
• Do not conspire by being silence, even when you don’t have enough facts, say what you feel it may lead to bigger discovery.
• Be diligent at your work and protect your PASSWORDS, it is your identity and can always be traced to you.

Mine is FELA DUROTOYE

Political office holders, including President Umaru Yar’Adua and Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, earn a whopping N1.13tn annually as salaries and allowances.

The figure, contained in a document by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, is only 39 per cent lower than the N2.9tn budget for 2009 sent to the National Assembly by Yar’Adua for approval.

The copies of the document titled “Affordability and Cost Implications of the Reviewed Renumeration Package” were attached to the letter that the commission got from Yar’Adua on the proposed pay cut.

The copies of the document were distributed to the RMAFC commsissioners who on Thursday began deliberations on the President’s proposed reduction in salaries and allowances of political office holders.

The President had on Tuesday said he would write the commission to slash the salaries and allowances of all political office holders in view of the nation’s declining revenue caused by global financial meltdown.

The emoluments scale-down affects public officers and political appointees in the Federal, State and Local Government levels; and it involves a huge N1.126trn, paid out annually, according to the document.

The RMAFC document had justified the existing N1.126trn emoluments and its affordability, when it was prepared in 2008.

Details of what each of the three tiers of government collects is as follows: “N173bn(federal), N360bn(states) and N592bn (Local Government respectively).”

The salaries and allowances, which were approved in April 2008, provoked a national debate on the rationale amid increasing mass poverty.

But the RMAFC had argued that the increase was based on the depreciation in value of the salaries of the affected officers and what it considered as “progress registered in the economy in recent years,” which had seen real Gross Domestic Product accelerate.

Before the hike, public office holders’ emoluments had grossed about N751bn per annum, including the N9.9bn used in settling emoluments of Federal judicial officers and N288bn for Local Government legislatures.

For Federal, State and Local Government, pre-April 2008 packages for public officers stood at N115bn, 240bn and 395bn respectively.

The RMAFC emergency meeting took place at the commission’s headquarters with most of its 27 Commissioners in attendance.

Yar’Adua, in his letter read by the Commission’s Chairman in charge of Business Session, Gen. Obala, stated that, “Our country has become a victim, like all other countries, of the current global financial meltdown.

“This can only be mitigated through a responsive review of recurrent costs to maintain the momentum of our development.”

The President noted that decline in oil sales and shrinking foreign inflow of investments were serious concerns, which needed redemptive measures.

The Chairman of the RMAFC , Alhaji Mamman Tukur, who described the task before his commission as“very complex”, declined comments on the time- frame for the completion of the assignment.

He said, “We are looking at market conditions, Gross Domestic Product and inflation. The President is in charge of everybody. He has seen that the economy cannot take it (current pay size).

“The effect of this letter (Yar’Adua’s) has a very wide implication.”

He added that the commission’s proposals were recommendations that the Federal Government would forward to lawmakers in the federal, state and local government level for approval.

By the statutory nature of RMAFC’s assignment, Turkur said that their recommendations would not be jettisoned by any legislature, stressing that lawmakers were constitutionally barred from fixing their salaries and allowances.

“They can only reduce but not add,” he explained.

The 1999 Constitution in its Third Schedule 32 (d) empowers only RMAFC to, “determine the remuneration appropriate for political office holders including the President, Vice-President, Governors, Deputy Governors, Ministers Commissioners, Special Advisers, Legislators and the holders of the offices in Section 84 and 124.”

As at April last year, the country had 17,474 political and public office holders, of which 8,692 represented lawmakers in Local Government Legislature. The Executives in the councils were 3,096.

Others include state Judiciary 792, state Legislature 1,152, Federal Judiciary 142, Federal Legislature 464 and Federal Executive 472.

It could not be ascertained as at 9pm on Thursday if the figure had increased.

Meanwhile, the salary cut being proposed by Yar’Adua is unlikely to receive the endorsement of the members of the National Assembly.

Our correspondents gathered in Abuja on Thursday that Senators had since the President’s announcement of the plan adopted an attitude of “let’s wait and see.”

There is no indication yet that the Senate leadership is contemplating emulating the example of the President.

Although opinions, for now, appear divided over the issue, the implication of the proposal has generated considerable interest among legislators.

But the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Ayogu Eze, however dismissed such insinuations. He said “I am not aware of any such thing.”

Its no more a surprise that the global economic recession is so hitting hard
on the Nigeria economy. But its unfortunate that we have to wait for till this time
before CBN and the govt could come out and tell nigerian the truth.
However in the face of this economic crises and continuous drop in the
crude oil prices, the only way to go is to focus on our non-export as a nation.

Suffice it to say that although we all know this, but in our actions it really shows that
we are not interested (and this begins right from the villa).

Our president claim to have with a 7-point agenda,
1. Power and Energy .

2. Food Security and Agriculture

3. Wealth Creation and Employment

4. Mass Transportation

5. Land Reform

6. Security

7. Qualitative and Functional Education But i think it wiill interest

But it will interest you to note that the issue of Export does not seems to
be priority.

Did i hear someone says what is the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Nigeria
Import-Export Bank (NEXIM Bank) doing. From my own observation i think NEPC are trying
to their best but how far can they go when NEXIM refuse to give out the funds.

“Non-oil export promotion is an economic task that should no longer attract mere lip service. Specific programmes, assigning definite responsibilities to the banks, are now overdue. In constituting a committee that should be charged with the production of the programmes in form of an economic blueprint for non-oil export promotion, Nigerian banks, which are expected to play significant roles, must be included. The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) should also be overhauled in order to become more functional and more effective.”

In as much as we know that some people were affected with the demolision exercise
we should also realise the fact that its all for our good eventually.

At least you can be sure now that the heavy traffic caused by these road side markets will
reduce and both the victims and all the other citizens will be beneficiaries.

Lets join hands with fashola to sanitise lagos while we also plead with him to find an alternative
for the affected citizens.

i don't think that this is a bad idea at all. i feel the man is just an open minded person who mean good for the people of lagos.
He was also at Daystar programme recently where he spoke on leadership for over almost an hour. We actaully need a man like
this who will not discriminate or allow religious sentiments to affect his judgement.