This is a tactics implored by the Boko Haram to deceive the government . The Guy arrested is the real guy I guess they want to use a ploy to deceive the SSS .Hold tight the guy you have and get more info about the Boko Harams members and modes of operand i
No dialogue with murderers if they want peace the should stop bombing and embrace peace . The arrested guy is a raw material for useful details govt should hold him tight no Zakara Biu story needed in this arrest I take God beg una Security agencies please we are watching

@kobojunkie, source plz


http://www.champion.com.ng/displaycontent.asp?pid=949

Published on 07 October 2010 with 1 comments
[Post a Comment]

By Our reporter


The last has not been heard on last Friday?s bomb attacks in Abuja during Nigeria?s independence anniversary celebrations which killed 12 persons and injured 36 others, as the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), an umbrella of major militant groups in the Niger Delta yesterday said former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, contacted it to carry out the bomb attacks.
In an electronic mail to Daily Champion by Bakabio Walter, JRC?s spokesman, the group alleged that the attacks were carried out by Henry Okah with the support of IBB, and that the aim was to assassinate President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo among other top government officials.
However, IBB reacting through his spokesman, Kazeem Afegbua, said: ?That is a blatant lie. General IBB is too disciplined and patriotic to be drawn into this deliberate blackmail. Please ignore them.?
Part of the group?s statement said: ?While we were reflecting on the journey so far, some counter revolutionary elements launched two terrorist attacks in Abuja that took the lives of several innocent people and claimed it was for the Niger Delta struggle. Our intelligence report revealed that those attacks were planned by Okah and executed by the terrorist group he formed with the support of Babangida.
?It was formed with the sole aim of fighting against President Jonathan should he forge ahead with his plan to contest in 2011 poll.
?The attack had two main goals. Firstly, to assassinate Jonathan, Sambo and others in the line of succession who were all present at the golden jubilee celebrations at Eagle Square.
?Secondly, if the President and those in the line of succession survive the attack, the insecurity arising from that would be used as excuse for the military intervention.?
JRC took a snipe at those claiming to be members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), saying they are not, as MEND was disbanded after all of their leaders accepted the federal government?s offer of amnesty.
It said: ?The attacks were a mercenary job done on behalf of Babangida and his cohorts. We know this because we were approached earlier by agents of IBB to carry out attacks in the Niger Delta and Abuja to demystify Jonathan and show that he does not have the support of his people, but we declined.
?It was because of this that we suspended our armed campaign this year. We realised that IBB was going to use our genuine agitation to his own selfish, unpatriotic and over ambitious advantage. It was when we declined that they approached Henry Okah who is a mercenary by nature, and they started with the Warri bomb blasts followed by the anniversary attacks. For now we can say authoritatively that Okah heads IBB?s terror machine and they are more sophisticated than what they have done so far.
?The recent events in the politics of the Nigerian state further expose the ethnic and national contradictions and justify our agitations for self determination and call for a sovereign national conference of all the nationalities that were forcefully conscripted into Nigeria. This is the only peaceful way of getting out of this barbarism that is threatening to create the biggest refugee problem in the world,? the group said.
It warned politicians not to ?drag our region and its genuine struggle into their muddy water of politics. Also, those who are planning to organise a coup de?tat should know that they would have us to contend with as we will never allow their authority to extend into our region. We are watching keenly as the drama unfolds, knowing that after this mad dance of macabre we shall meet at the barricade.?

Why Obasanjo Was Barred From UN Building’ Sunday, 26 September 2010 03:26 Abiodun Oluwarotimi, New York
Spokesman of the United Nations secretary-general Mr. Martin Nesirky has explained why former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo was prevented from entering the premises of the world body.

LEADERSHIP had exclusively reported on Friday that security operatives attached to the United Nations denied the former UN special envoy to DR Congo entrance into the 65th UN General Assembly last Tuesday.

In a press briefing with United Nations correspondents on Friday, Mr. Ban Ki-moon's spokesman confirmed that he had heard of the incident which took place on Tuesday in front of the United Nations Building, explaining that Obasanjo and his aides, on that day, came to Gate 40, the gate at 46th Street and 1st Avenue.

He stated that the former army general and his aides did not have any United Nations-issued identification cards which could have given them easy access to the world body's headquarters in New York.

Although Nesirky agreed that they had Event Pass for an event in the North Lawn Building, he said that they also needed valid United Nations-issued identification pass to gain access to the UN headquarters.

"You need to have a valid United Nations Ground Pass, as you (UN correspondents) have or some kind of other special access pass," he noted.

The spokesman, who disclosed that Obasanjo and his aides were not welcomed or met by any event organizer, also indicated the important need for them to have been escorted by the event organizer if they had to be allowed into the building without a Ground Pass.

Said Nesirky: "And you also need to be escorted by the event organizer. United Nations security officers carefully review more than 12,000 people with various badges and event passes every day during the United Nations General Assembly period that we are in at the moment. There was no event organiser there to meet them (Obasanjo and his aides).”

He added that, in order to assist Obasanjo, a United Nations security official personally escorted him and his aides to the North Lawn Building and they left the complex about two hours later.

Written by Citizens For Change
Thursday, 22 July 2010 23:45



Dear Right Honorable Mrs May MP: We are a charity committed to fighting the corruption that has become endemic in Nigeria, the effects of which are felt not just in the degradation of the Niger Delta but also in the increased insecurity and criminality that corruption and under development generate.
Although Nigeria is well endowed with vast natural resources, with the country being the seventh largest producer of oil in the world, there is still widespread poverty in the country due to the high level corruption. 80% of Nigerians currently live on less than a dollar a day. Basic infrastructure such as hospitals, roads, electricity and portable water, are in a state of total disrepair as a result of the corrupt activities of leaders like the ones stated below.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is the Nigerian anti-corruption agency tasked with fighting corruption in Nigeria, is currently perceived as very weak and there are reports that the present head of the EFCC has been involved in corrupt practices. This agency has recently admitted that Nigerian leaders have stolen over $20 trillion dollars between 1960 and 2005. A large proportion of Nigeria’s earnings amounting to several billion dollars have also been stolen since 2005.

According to the Corruption Perception Index released on 1 July 2010 by Transparency International, Nigeria has slipped in ranking from 121 to 130 out of 180 countries.

It is in light of this grim background that we seek a United Kingdom travel ban on the following politically exposed Nigerians and their families against whom we have some information about their corrupt activities. These are:

Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 – 2007)

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 – 2007)

General Abdulsalam Abubakar, Former Head of State, Federal Republic of Nigeria (1998 -1999)

General Ibrahim Babangida, Former Military President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1985 – 1993)

Dr Buba Marwa – Current Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa

Michael Aaondoakaa – Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2007 – 2010)

Mrs Farida Waziri – Head of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (2008 to present)

There are widely reported stories of corrupt activities carried out by these individuals, but the current Nigerian government led by President Goodluck Jonathan has not demonstrated the will to investigate and prosecute these individuals.

The media coverage that a United Kingdom Travel ban on corrupt Nigerian leaders will generate will help to deter other leaders in Nigeria from engaging in corrupt activities, which we believe will in turn greatly help reduce poverty levels in the country.

It is a well known fact that the main reason for mass migration from Nigeria to European countries like the United Kingdom, and the increasing influence of extremist groups like Al Qaeda in the Northern part of Nigeria, is due to the high level of poverty in the country caused by the corrupt activities of Nigerian leaders.

In addition to helping to reduce the flow of migration from Nigeria and reducing the influence of extremist groups, a United Kingdom travel ban will also achieve the following:

1) reinforce the international perception that The United Kingdom Government condemns corrupt practices by African leaders.
2) show that The United Kingdom Government will not allow this great nation to be used as a haven where corrupt African leaders can hide their loot as we believe these individuals we are seeking a travel ban against all have assets in the United Kingdom.
3) the negative effect of the media coverage of the travel ban on the individuals mentioned above will help deter other African leaders from engaging in corrupt activities.
4) the negative effect of the media coverage would help to force the current Nigerian government to take action and recover the stolen monies from these individuals.

The information we have against these individuals are disclosed in the following appendix. There are many other leaders in Nigeria who are engaged in corrupt activities, but the ones we are seeking a travel ban on are the ones we currently have sufficient information on. All the information below is in the public domain and we are relatively confident that corroboration from UK police and national intelligence services would buttress our information.

We hope that you will be able to use your good offices to help us in standing up for the millions of voiceless and impoverished Nigerians who are currently suffering untold hardship as a result of the corrupt activities of leaders, who steal and embezzle without thought of the consequences.

Rt Hon Secretary, it may be particularly helpful to invoke the Provisions of the UK POCA 2002 and EU Money Laundering Directive which makes money laundering offences indictable in the UK wherever they are committed and to accordingly instruct the relevant UK agencies to act as appropriate.

We thank you for your time and attention.


Yours sincerely,



Democracy & Governance
Citizens For Change

To: Right Hon Theresa May MP
Secretary of State for Home Affairs
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA



Our Ref: HS/TB/001




cc: Prime Minister -Rt Hon David Cameron
cc: Deputy Prime Minister- Rt Hon Nick Clegg
cc: Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office -Rt Hon William Hague
cc: Secretary of State for International Development - Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell
cc: Leader of the Opposition- Rt Hon Harriet Harman
cc: Shadow Foreign Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs- Rt Hon David Miliband
cc: US Secretary of State- Mrs Hillary Clinton c/o US Embassy, London
cc: Rebecca Schiller -Human Rights Watch, London
cc: John Drysdale, Chairman- Transparency International UK, London


Appendix 1
Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 – 2007)

Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 – 2007)

General Abdulsalam Abubakar, former Head Of State Federal Republic of Nigeria (1998 -1999)

Between 1999 and 2002, according to the Security Exchange Commission in the United States and Okiro Panel constituted by the former president of Nigeria, President Yaradua, Mr Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku were among the four people that collected and shared $74 million bribe money from Halliburton, KBR inc (both American oil companies) and Technip, a French based global engineering and construction company. General Abubakar also received a major share of $37.5million from the same organisations. In return for paying this bribe money, these organisations were allowed to hugely inflate the $6 billion contract for Liquefied Natural Gas Project in Nigeria which was in place between them and Nigeria between 1995 and 2004.
These organisations and their employees have already admitted paying these bribes and have already been sanctioned and fined $917 million dollars by the United States government.

However, the current Nigerian government led by Goodluck Jonathan has not shown any evidence of any desire to prosecute these individuals.

Source: 1) Security and Exchange Commission, United Sates of America 2) Okiro Panel Reports, Aso Rock, Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria

General Ibrahim Babangida, Former Military President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1985 – 1993)

During the first Gulf War in 1991, Nigeria had a $12.4 billion windfall from the sale of oil. However, by the end of the tenure of General Ibrahim Babangida, over $12billion of this money disappeared from the Nigerian treasury. A panel was then set up by his successor, General Sani Abacha to investigate how the funds were spent. The panel submitted the Okigbo report (named after its chairman, Dr Pius Okigbo) which clearly indicted General Babangida as the one solely responsible for the mismanagement and corrupt transactions that led to the disappearance of the money.
However, successive governments in Nigeria, including the current one, have yet to prosecute him.

Source: Dr Pius Okigbo Panel Report, Panel on the Reorganisation and Reform of the Central Bank of Nigeria, August 29, 1994, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Appendix 2


Dr Buba Marwa – Current Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa
A Jersey court convicted and sentenced Mr Raj Bhojwani in June 2010 for money laundering and helping Dr Buba Marwa to steal $100m between 1996 and 1997 from the Nigerian treasury. The Nigerian Authorities have the same evidence used to convict Mr Bhojwani in Jersey, but are currently not holding Dr Buba Marwa to account. In fact, he still retains his position as the ambassador to the Republic of South Africa.

Source: Guardian Newspaper, 27 June 2010

Michael Aaondoakaa – Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2007 – 2010)

It is widely known that justice in Nigeria suffered a huge setback during the term of Mr Aaondoakaa when he was in office, and that he corruptly enriched himself. Even the United State government issued a travel ban against him and his family in June 2010 due to the plethora of evidence against him. The Metropolitan Police in the United Kingdom are also currently investigating his money laundering activity. There are no signs that he is being held to account by the Nigerian Authorities.
Michael Asondoakaa and his family have recently been banned from entry the USA.
Source: 1) The Punch (Nigerian Newspaper), 02 July 2010 2) Saharareporters.com news report, 01 July 2010

Mrs Farida Waziri – Head of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (2008 to present)

There are currently a string of allegations of corruption against Mrs Farida Waziri which can be verified by concrete evidence produced by different civil society groups.

One of the plethora of reports of her activity is that she collected a $500,000 bullet proof MercedesBenz GL 450 gift from Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state in Nigeria to stop ongoing investigation against the governor on the millions of pounds stolen from the long suffering people of Akwa Ibom state.

The Nigerian government is aware of this and many other reports of corrupt activities she is said to be involved in, but nothing is being done to investigate her.

Source: Saharareporters.com news report, 3 May 2010 and 09 July 2010



http://www.saharareporters.com/reports/petitions/6619-request-for-united-kingdom-travel-ban-on-corrupt-nigerian-political-leaders.html

Ethnicity and religious bias may destroy Nigeria – Jonathan
By SEGUN OLATUNJI
Sunday, 4 Jul 2010


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GOODLUCK JONATHAN

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that ethnicity and religious intolerance constitute major threats to the survival of the nation’s democracy.



Jonathan said the two issues also threatened the country’s existence as a sovereign and indivisible nation.



He said this during the graduation of the participants of Senior Course 32 at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, near Kaduna on Friday.



The President therefore implored the Armed Forces and Nigerians to take practical steps to discourage the further expression of such negative sentiments and rather encourage every citizen to be his brother‘s keeper.



Represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, Jonathan challenged the Armed Forces to check the activities of economic saboteurs and their internal collaborators whom he accused of constantly plotting to exploit the country’s resources and common heritage for their selfish interests



He however advised that as the nation marches towards the 2011 elections, ”we must continue to anticipate and reflect on these ideals and remember that as members of the armed forces, we will be judged by our roles and the actions of our men.”



He enjoined them to guide against all forms of human sentiments in the discharge of their duties as these could compromise the integrity and virtue of their profession.



The president added that in defending the peace today, the nation was faced with new challenges.



”On the global scene, you are enjoined to place in the back of your minds that Nigeria remains committed to international peace and stability and will continue to work in close collaboration with other African countries to promote peace, stability and development on the continent and indeed globally.



”In this direction, the nation would certainly require your services as staff officers, military observers and members of a protection force in multinational operations globally.



”You are required to brace up and uphold the nation‘s legacy in our previous as well as the numerous peacekeeping initiatives going on worldwide. Domestically, the challenges of maintaining peace and security remain primarily that of the police.



”However, the Armed Forces must be vigilant and alert to support and aid the civil authorities. Expectedly, the amnesty programme initiated by our late President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar‘Adua has continued to yield positive dividends and has laid the foundation for lasting peace in the Niger Delta.



”We shall continue along that path to take necessary measures to ensure speedy infrastructural development of the region so as to create room for speedy restoration of normalcy. As a complementary step to such measures, the armed forces should continue to guard against the breach of the peace and safeguard any external threat to our vital national resources.”



In his address, the Commandant of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Air Vice-Marshal Ali Leks, said the college had reviewed and expanded its curriculum to reflect emerging military thinking in warfare and staff development.















He noted that the senior staff course has been reviewed to bring it in line with trends in modern staff colleges around the world with the addition of a Masters‘ degree in International Affairs and Strategic Studies.



One hundred and forty-six students made up of 74 officers from the Nigerian Army, 30 from the Navy, 30 from the Air Force, 4 civilian staff of the Ministry of Defence and 8 foreign officers from Sierra Leone, Ghana, Rwanda, Togo and Gambia graduated from the course.




http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2010070466659

Aondoaaka Still In Shock, May Lose UN Job      
Written by Abiodun Oluwarotimi, New York    
Saturday, 03 July 2010 23:57  
It was a huge shock for the  former   Nigerian Minister  of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Kasse Aondoaaka as the United States Embassy in Nigeria on Thursday confirmed the travel ban placed on him by the United States government.

A close source to the former AGF told our correspondent on phone on  Friday night that Chief Aondoakaa who openly criticised how he was being singled out for the entry ban by the US government was still in shock.

The source also confirmed that Aondoakaa was shocked and disappointed that the United States government that voted for him in December 2009, in Rome to become a member of the governing council of the United Nations Institute for Unification of Private Laws, could place an entry ban on him without communicating it through the world body.

Leadership Sunday had last week  reported  exclusively that the United States president, Barack Obama had signed an order to ban the  former chief law officer from entering the world's most powerful country.

In a swift reaction, Mr Michael Kaase Aondoakaa threatened to take Leadership Group to  court, saying that he was never banned by the United States government from entering that country or anywhere in the world.

But the United States government through the Public Affairs Office of the US Embassy in Abuja, proved Aondoaaka  wrong by confirming the story.

A source within the White House told our correspondent that the United States Homeland Security Department will soon communicate the decision to place an entry ban on Mr. Michael Aondoakaa to the United Nations for proper diplomatic actions.

A check with the Department of States on Friday, revealied that the claim by Nigeria’s former chief law officer that the United States Embassy in Abuja told him that his visa was not revoked was untrue.

A source  told our correspondent that the world body was yet to receive any communication from the Department of States on the entry ban placed on Aondoakaa who was nominated by Nigerian government, and adopted by African Heads of Government in Egypt for the job of United Nations Institute for Unification of Private Laws governing council.

The source who said that the United Nations was aware of the travel ban already, also added that the world body would be left with no option than to terminate the appointment given to the former AGF since it is obvious that he can not travel to the United States again.

At this stage, LEADERSHIP SUNDAY can authoritatively report that the former Attorney General  of the Federation is standing the risk of losing his job contract with the United Nations.

http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/news/headlines/17045-aondoaaka-still-in-shock-may-lose-un-job

We’ve revoked Aondoakaa’s visa – US
By Emeka Madunagu and Comfort Oseghale
Friday, 2 Jul 2010


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Michael Aondoakaa (SAN)

The United States Government on Thursday confirmed that it had barred Nigeria’s former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, from entering its territory.



A blog, Saharareporters.com, had reported on Thursday last week that US President Barack Obama ordered the revocation of Aondoakaa’s visa for unspecified links to corruption.



Aondoakaa swiftly denied the report, saying that he had not received any communication from either the US Department of State or the US Embassy in Abuja to that effect.



He had said, “In the first instance, the revocation of visa of a citizen entering the US does not go through Obama. It is just a matter of the state department revoking your visa.”



However, the US Embassy in Abuja, through one of its top officials, confirmed to one of our correspondents that the former AGF and his family had indeed been barred from entering the United States.



Reading from a prepared text on the telephone, the diplomat said, “The United States has indeed revoked the visa of the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 7750, which provides authority to deny entry to the United States to persons with links to corruption.”



Prodded for further details, the diplomat said the information was restricted to the text.



By this development, Aondoakaa’s position as a member of the governing council of the United Nations Institute for Unification of Private Laws may be hampered.



Former US President George W. Bush had on January 12, 2004 signed Proclamation 7750, to restrict foreign officials and their family members allegedly linked to corruption.



The full text of the proclamation is posted on http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-957.pdf.



The proclamation had earlier been used to bar a former governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye, and his family from entering the US in 2004.



In retrospect, a Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, had in early June, restrained Aondoakaa from holding the office of the AGF or any other similar public offices in future in Nigeria.



It had, therefore, advised the government to always consider Aondoakaa unfit and incompetent to hold public offices because of his conduct while serving as AGF in the administration of the late former President Umaru Yar‘Adua.



Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, who delivered the judgment, had also referred the ex-minister to the Nigerian Bar Association for appropriate disciplinary action.



The judgment was on a suit filed against Aondoakaa by the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for Uyo Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Emmanuel Obot.



Obot had challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission and PDP for substituting him as the party‘s candidate for the 2007 election with Mr. Bassey Etim.



The Election Petitions Tribunal in Uyo had in its ruling sacked Etim and asked INEC to issue a Certificate of Return to Obot. The judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar.



The Court of Appeal had before its ruling ordered that a new panel be reconstituted to retry the petition, but Aondoakaa, in a letter dated January 8, 2008 to the President of the Court, had asked him not to comply with the directive.



Aondoakaa had also used his position as the AGF to volunteer a letter on February 16, 2009 to the former Chairman of INEC, Prof. Maurice Iwu, asking him not to issue a certificate of return to Obot.



He had also written the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, imploring him to allow Etim to remain in the House despite the Court of Appeal’s judgment.



Obot had, therefore, approached the Federal High Court to determine whether or not the conduct of Aondoakaa in the three separate letters did not constitute abuse of powers conferred on him by Section 150(1) of the 1999 Constitution.



In his ruling, Adetokunbo had observed that there was no counter-affidavit filed by the defendant (Aondoakaa) to deny the letters and challenge depositions in an affidavit filed by the plaintiff.



He said, “It is also settled in law that the documents tendered and admitted in court are like words uttered and do speak for themselves. They are more reliable and authentic than words from the vocal cord of man as they are neither transient nor subject to distortion or misinterpretation but remain permanent and indelible through the ages.”



The judge had also noted that the conduct of Aondoakaa was a desecration of the office of AGF, adding that the position as created by law was meant for learned and eminent members of the Bar and not for political charlatans, jobbers or latter day praise singers.



He said, “A declaration is hereby made that Aondoakaa undermined and subverted the rule of law, the due administration of justice and the independence, authority and integrity of the judiciary in the letters of January 8, 2008, February 16, 2009 written by him in his capacity as the AGF.



“A declaration is hereby made that Aondoakaa is not a competent, fit and proper person to hold office as AGF having regards to the Oath of Allegiance and Office.



“A perpetual injunction is hereby made restraining Aondoakaa from occupying the office of the AGF and Minister of Justice and such other similar offices in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”



Speaking with one of our correspondents on Thursday, Aaondoakaa, however, denied knowledged of the revocation.



He said, “I am not aware that my visa has been revoked. The US Embassy had said before that they hadn’t revoked the visa. If they have done so now, maybe somebody, somewhere does not want me to take up the United Nations’ Job.



“If this story is true, I expect that the matter will be taken up diplomatically. The job which I am to take up at the UN is not Aaondoakaa’s job. It is a job that I am representing not only Nigeria but the entire Africa. I have been in public office for two and half years and I expect the Federal Government to protect me if what you are saying is true.



“The US embassy has not informed me that they have revoked my visa. It is only when they do so that I will ask for the basis of their action. It is at this point I will then react.”


http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201007023472189

2011: Aondoakaa backs Jonathan
Cover Stories May 31, 2010
Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, SAN
By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
ABUJA—FORMER Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, weekend, described the controversial zoning arrangement of the Peoples ‘Democratic Party, PDP, as a distraction and unconstitutional.

Aondoakaa, who returned to the country from Rome on a United Nations’ assignment since leaving government also urged Nigerians to rally round President Goodluck Jonathan to enable him deliver dividends of democracy to the electorate, stressing that Jonathan remained the most appropriate candidate to ensure peace and stability.

The top loyalist of the late President Yar’Adua who described PDP’s zoning policy as discriminatory, argued: “Fundamentally, a zoning policy of any political party is a sort of an agreement which appears to be in conflict with the provision of the 1999 Constitution.

“If you zone the Presidency to a particular zone, it means you are creating discrimination, which is fundamentally a violation of the 1999 Constitution which gives the right to any Nigerian who is qualified to contest.”
Zoning infringes Jonathan’s rights

Asked to be specific on whether President Jonathan could contest the 2011 polls, Aondoakaa said it would be unfair for anyone to ask Dr. Jonathan not to run on the basis of an unconstitutional arrangement by a political party.

He said: “Well, if it is on the basis of the zoning that they are talking, they will be unfair to ask him not to contest and will be infringing on his constitutional right. It is a right given to him by the Constitution which he has a sole discretion to exercise.

“And ideally, political parties should not come up with guidelines and policies that directly infringe on the Constitution. Honestly, the issue of zoning is a distraction and unconstitutional. Nigerians at this stage should be talking of credible elections and free participation. Credible people should be allowed to participate in the election.

“I come from Tiv, a minority tribe, and if we start talking that the minority cannot have their way, we will be creating a bigger problem for this nation. The moment we allow everybody to contest, the issue of settlers or non-settlers will stop. I think we are on course. The choice of who should be elected as President should be left to the electorate.”

Aondoakaa added that if the late President Umaru Yar’Adua was alive, he would have run on the same ticket with Dr. Jonathan and that from a rational viewpoint, as well as international best practices, nobody should stop the President from seeking re-election, next year.

He stressed that PDP should allow President Jonathan to pursue the seven-point agenda enunciated by Yar’Adua to a logical conclusion, given that appreciable progress had already been recorded in some key areas such as the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis, electricity supply and electoral reform.

Aondoakaa said: “In America, an incumbent President can only be denied the right to contest Presidential Election only if there is glaring evidence that he cannot carry out programmes of the party.

And over the years, incumbent American presidents always had the right to seek re-election.

“The most rational thing which Nigerians and even members of the PDP should consider is that PDP government came in 2007 with a seven-point agenda that could deliver dividends of democracy and between 2007 and till ex-President Yar’Adua died in 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan was the co-pilot of the agenda.

“He appears to be in the knowledge of the seven-point agenda more than anybody. He also participated in the implementation of the seven-point agenda with Yar’Adua more than anybody.

“And the actual implementation of the seven-point agenda has commenced with the Amnesty Package in the Niger Delta; enhanced security; power; electoral reform and food security. All these have taken off in the last three years. One would expect that a person who will ensure the full implementation of the seven-point agenda should be the President in 2011.

This is the naked reality and we must accept that naked reality because Nigeria has suffered from so many abandoned programmes and we must ensure stability.”

The former AGF who was seen as one of the greatest obstacles to Dr. Jonathan’s ascension to the position of Acting President at the peak of Yar’Adua’s ailment, said all Yar’Adua’s loyalists should support Jonathan.

His words: “Anybody who was loyal to ex-President Yar’Adua and genuinely felt that his programmes were good for this country should give support to Jonathan to ensure the full implementation of the seven-point agenda. That is the only way to pay tribute to the late President.

In other words, any other person, who was a supporter of Yar’Adua and has moral conscience should leave politics aside and look at the naked reality of who is in a better position to implement the seven-point agenda and bring peace.

“If anybody really loved Yar’Adua and cherished the seven-point agenda, I believe it will be unwise to work against President Jonathan because he is the one implementing the seven-point agenda. I am talking of what I feel.

My passion is that the ideals that were conceived by the late President and his co-pilot should be fully implemented. Except someone has his own private motive, President Jonathan should be allowed to continue.”

On his political ambition, Aondoakaa said he won’t contest Benue State governorship election, come 2011, as according to him, he had confidence in Suswam.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/05/31/2011-aondoakaa-backs-jonathan/

Duke Denies Being Arrested
By Yemi adebowale in Lagos and Ernest Chinwo in Calabar, 05.29.2010

Former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke has dismissed speculations that security agencies stormed the launch venue of Calabar Women and Children Hospital, arrested him and took him to Abuja for interrogation, stating that “as I speak, I am in my house; I was never arrested by any security agency for whatever reasons.”


Narrating what transpired at the event yesterday from his home in Calabar, Duke said the hospital launch organised by his wife, Onari was well underway when armed policemen condoned the venue brandishing a purported court injunction from an Akamkpa High Court to stop the ceremony.


He said since he knew that an Akamkpa High Court had no jurisdiction over Calabar Municipality, he disregarded the purported court injunction and proceeded with the ceremony, adding that he yielded to entreaties from an Assistant Commissioner of Police who invited him after the event had ended to see the state Commissioner of Police with whom he had an enlightened discussion on the circumstances surrounding the disruption after which he left for to his abode.


The court injunction was issued by Justice Maurice Eneji of Akamkpa High Court in Suit No., HK5/2010 instituted by Mr. James Ebri to stop the launch of the hospital organised by the Child Survival Organisation of Nigeria promoted by Mrs. Onari Duke.
The storming of the event by agents alleged to have been sponsored reportedly embarrassed local and international donors and invitees including officials from the World Health Organisation, United Bank for Africa, Flour Mills, Shell, Wampco, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, NAIRDA, Mikano who waited patiently to the end of the ceremony despite the attempt to disrupt the event with a spurious court injunction.


There is no concrete evidence to suggest the state government had a band in the plot. But Governor Liyel Imoke’s reported cancellation of a planned conferment of an honourary doctorate degree by the state university on his predecessor, Duke last weekend has further swelled speculation of a frosty relationship.


Commenting on the incident, consultant and former commissioner for Health in Cross River State, Dr. Joseph Ana said the project is for the betterment of the people of Cross River State and it is going to improve healthcare delivery in the state.


He said the project is not just an ordinary hospital but a specialist hospital with wired internet facilities that will capture the patients once they step into the hospital till they are diagnosed.
According to him, “Once a patient is diagnosed, the doctors here have access to other specialist hospitals and institutions affiliated to them around the world. This will afford the doctors exchange ideas and information with a view to finding medical solution for the patient.”

@op, nigeria is more than a disgrace country, there's no single system that is working in nigeria, our leaders in goverment is so bad even pass davil

Anxiety Grips Ministers Over Sack, Aondoakaa Returns From Leave
March 17, 2010 17:00, 2,662 views

By Oluokun Ayorinde/Abuja

Anxiety has gripped ministers following speculations that Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, may soon dissolve the cabinet he inherited from ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Before the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting held in Aso Rock today, the ministers were seen discussing until the arrival of the Acting President to the Council Chambers.

The ministers tried hard to mask their anxiety in the course their informal discussions before the FEC meeting started.

Michael Aondoakaa, former Attorney General of the Federation returned to the meeting of Federal Executive Council, FEC.

He was looking resplendent in a light blue flowing robe with a deep blue Shagari style cap to match.

Aondoakaa is attending the meeting for the first time as a Minister of Special Duties, the ministerial post he was deployed to on February 10 this year.

The redeployment of Aondoakaa was the first major action of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as the Acting President.

The removal of Aondoakaa from the office of the AGF followed the controversial role he played in President Umaru Yar’Adua illness saga.

Aondoakaa once told a bewildered nation that President Yar’Adua can rule from anywhere in response to calls that the vacuum created by the 23 November evacuation of the President to Saudi Arabia should be filled by empowering Goodluck Jonathan as the Acting President.

He also granted press interviews in which he took his cabinet colleague, Professor Dora Akunyili, to the cleaners over her call that the vacuum created by Yar’Adua’s absence should be filled.

Aondoakaa, however, told journalists immediately after his removal as AGF that he has no regrets over his action and that he had reached agreement over his redeployment with the Acting President.

“No single action I’ve taken that I have regretted , every single action I took, was in the interest of this country. No country will say there is a vacuum. No Attorney-General worth his salt will go to the pages of papers and say there is a vacuum. We have to preserve executive powers until a leader is selected. A leader has been given by the National Assembly; we have recognised him,” he told journalists.

Aondoakaa had subsequently asked for permission from the Acting President to travel outside the country to spend his accumulated leave.

The former AGF looked very subdued as he returned to join his colleagues at the weekly cabinet meeting this morning.

He sat watching his colleagues exchange banters till the Acting President came in around 10.14 a.m. to signify the commencement of the meeting.

The meeting was still on at the time of filing this story

MASSOB members cause stir in Asaba
From BUCHY ENYINNAYA, Asaba
Wednesday, March 17, 2010


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The peaceful protest embarked upon by members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in some parts of the country , to protest amongst others, the killings in Jos, Plateau State and the continued detention of their leader, Chief Ralph Uwazurike , ended with some of the members being arrested by the police in Asaba, Delta State.

The 22 MASOB members arrested include a 68-year old woman from Nando, Anambra State while the rest are men and youths from other parts of the country. While at the police headquarters, Okpanam Road, they caused a stir as they exhibited signs of courage and commitment to their course, singing songs of freedom, not minding that the police were in the next moment going to detain them prior to their arraignment in court. . ,
The placard carrying MASSOB people said they were peacefully protesting the killings of Easterners and Southerners in the Northern part of the country, specifically Jos.
The members drawn from various parts of the Eastern States including , Akwa-Ibom and Delta States were arrested by the Police for allegedly demonstrating in Okwe area of Asaba, the state capital.

In the group, an 11 year old boy and the only female Madam Adanne Otete however said they were not demonstrating but were asking for the release of their man Uwazurike and asking government to stop the killings in the North. They carried placards with different inscriptions like “stop killing our people in the North” “Free Uwazuike our leader, he is a freedom fighter”, “We are Biafrans marching to our freedom”.
Some of the suspects claimed that they came to Asaba from Onitsha in Anambra state to refuel their vehicle before they were arrested.
But 27 year old Clement Igwe said they were nabbed when they had finished buying fuel at fiiling station at Okwe , near Asaba. Adding that their camp is at Omerigbone in Asaba. The group which spoke through Mr. Igwe said they were surprised to be surrounded by security operatives while they were buying fuel, adding that they did not do anything violent before they were arrested.

Asked who they were, some members of the group chorused, “we are Biafrans , we are not Nigerians, we have our currency and coat of arm.’ But it was Madam Otete who adorned red gown with Biafran coat of arm, making her look like a priestess of one group or the other that caught the attention of most listeners as she answered reporters’ questions, at times in English and at other times in Igbo but more in Igbo language . She would just say, “ I am Igbo. I don’t speak English” and continued speaking Igbo to the newsmen not minding whether they understood her or not.
Commercial activities in Onitsha were paralyzed on Wednesday when over 2000 MASSOB members took to the streets protesting the arrest of their leader, Chief Ralph Uwazurike
Deputy Commissioner of Police(Administration), Mr. Simeon Midenda who paraded the people said the members would be charged for inciting disturbances and belonging to a proscribed group.
According to the Deputy Commissioner, they came to Asaba in a dark green Mitsubishi bus with registration number XA456AKU



http://www.nigeriannews.com/

Charly Boy, Dele Momodu, others protest bad leadership
• N’Assembly gate shut against them
From JAMES OJO, Abuja
Wednesday, March 17, 2010


Dele Momodu (2nd left), publisher of Ovation magazine, Charly Boy Oputa, carrying a lantern and actress Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde (right) during an attempt by them to present a letter of protest on the state of the economy to National Assembly, Abuja, Tuesday. Photo: MUDASHIRU ATANDA
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Maverick musician, Charles Oputa, alias Charly Boy, Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, famous actress, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and Stella Damacus were among hundreds of protesters under the aegis of ‘Enough is Enough Nigeria’, who were denied access to the National Assembly yesterday.

The gate of the National Assembly was shut against them, as a detachment of anti-terrorists and anti-riots squad of the Nigeria Police turned down overtures from the artistes to allow them present a letter to the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives or their representatives.

Argument that a clearance was obtained from the management of the National Assembly since last week fell on deaf ears, as the stern-looking policemen mounted a barrier and warned the protesters in their own interest not to attempt to break it.
Indeed, sources confirmed that the security apparatus of the National Assembly gave approval to allow the protesters access to the public arcade to present a letter to the leaders of the two chambers.

A counter intelligence reports after the explosion in Warri, Delta State on Monday led to an increase in the level of security around the National Assembly and the order not to allow any procession by any group to take place.

Ovation Magazine publisher, Dele Momodu fumed with anger as his entreaties to the armed policemen was turned down, while antics displayed by Charly Boy could not sway the police to open the gate of the National Assembly for them.
The frustration of the protesters was transferred to the Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Youths Development, Hon. Depo Oyedokun, who came to represent the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole.

They decided not to listen to him and later dispersed after distributing the speech addressed to the Senate President, David Mark to onlookers.
In their three-page letter to the chairman of the National Assembly, the group blamed the leaders for the woes of the country and accused them of placing narrow interest above national interest.

“Too much in our country has gone wrong and the blame for this lies squarely on the shoulders of politicians, government and ‘leaders’ who have placed power play, narrow interest and self aggrandisement over and above the welfare and development of Nigerians.
“We have been cursed with a leadership that has sorely lacked integrity, patriotism, passion, good faith and compassion, a leadership that would rather feed their bellies and egos rather than solve problems.”


“They are running our future, they are set to hand over to us a destroyed country and a failed state and we say No to that. We have had enough. And enough is truly enough,” the group noted.
Charly Boy also warned that “Young people will be mobilized to vote only those politicians who were not part of corruption, unconstitutionality and stood for integrity and clear development goals since this dispensation started.
“Any other person who was part of this old system will be shocked by the embarassement we will churn out till them next year,” he stated.
End



http://www.nigeriannews.com/

Al-Qaeda urges uprising in Nigeria
AP Last updated 12:15 17/03/2010SharePrint Text Size Relevant offers
Africa'Sex scandal' leaders swap pyjamas Somali rebels attack capital for third day Nigerian villagers flee slaughter Millions hungry as food aid diverted Ex-wife critical of Mandela Mozambique floods - 130,000 evacuated 4000 flee African elephant rampage Kiwis accused of teaching Christianity to Muslims Nigerian villagers bury dead Supermodel slams day for women A video posted on a militant website calls for Muslims in Nigeria to use "the sword and the spear" to rise up against Christians in Africa's most populous nation, according to a translation released Tuesday by a US group that monitors militant sites.

The video on the Ansar al-Mujahideen forum, a website sympathetic to al-Qaeda, comes in the wake of a series of religious massacres and riots in central Nigeria.

The video shows television news footage and graphic images of those killed as a narrator tells viewers "the solution is jihad in the cause of Allah," according to a translation provided by the SITE Intelligence Group.

"Negotiations, dialogues and protests will not stop the advancement of the enemies and their massacres," the narrator says. "Nothing will stop them but the sword and the spear."

The narrator also says the "crusader West" is interested in Nigeria for its abundant oil reserves. He refers to President Umaru Yar'Adua, a Muslim from northern Nigeria, as a "tyrant" who allowed the killing of a sect leader whose group's attacks on police stations and rioting left more than 700 people dead in July.

Nigeria's military ended fighting led by the group, known as Boko Haram, after seizing its leader. The group's name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language. The group's leader was later killed, and the army and police gave differing accounts of his capture that suggested that he may have died while in police custody.

The release of the 10-minute video comes after more than 200 people - mostly Christians - died last week in massacres in villages outside of the central Nigerian city of Jos. More than 300 people - mostly Muslims - died in January during rioting in the same region.

Nigeria, a country of 150 million people, is split almost evenly between Christians in its south and Muslim in its north. However, the nation has yet to see an al-Qaeda-inspired terror group take hold inside its borders - despite others beginning to thrive in West Africa.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said nothing would stop Nigeria's ethnic violence except splitting the nation into Muslim and Christian states, Libya's official news agency reported Tuesday. Gadhafi told a group of African student leaders in Tripoli that the violence in Nigeria is a "deep-rooted conflict of a religious nature" that requires a radical solution.

In May 2003, Osama bin Laden purportedly urged Muslims in the country to rise up against one of the "regimes who are slaves of America."



http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/3464149/Al-Qaeda-urges-uprising-in-Nigeria?

hi ademlabi? plz check this toks for me clean one, cost down to lagos, nissan armada 204/205

shut the crap and get the hell out of here, bullshit ya;radua hav gone

Evangelist helped ex-Gov Adamu loot Nasarawa – EFCC Saturday, 06 March 2010 00:00 Geoffrey Ekenna
Ukachukwu: We will meet in court
He prefixes his name with the deeply religious title of Evangelist, and leads a Christian denomination in Apo Legislative Quarters of Abuja where he regularly organises crusades to save lost souls.


But investigators of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) believe that, going by their findings on the alleged looting of Nasarawa State, Prince Nicholas Chukwujekwu Ukachukwu, is anything but Godly.


Ukachukwu was the candidate of the Hope Democratic Party in the February 6, 2010 governorship election in Anambra State. His Prince & Princess estate in Area One, Abuja, is believed to be the largest private estate in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).


EFCC believes that the politician and businessman was one of the fronts of the immediate past Nasarawa State Governor, Alhaji Abdulahi Adamu whom it arraigned on Wednesday this week, for allegedly looting the treasury while in office.


The politician, in a telephone interview last night with the Nigerian Compass on Saturday, expressed confidence that the case of the anti-graft agency against him would not stand judicial scrutiny.


The 49-year-old businessman, who heads the Ukachukwu Evangelistic Ministry in Abuja, simply said: “It is well.”
When urged to expatiate on his comment, the politician declined, noting that the matter is already in court. He said: “They are free to say what they want. What will I say? We will meet in court.”


Ukachukwu, 49, an indigene of Osumenyi in Nnewi South Local Government area of Anambra State, is believed by EFCC operatives to have gone underground and may be holed up somewhere in the Eastern part of the country.


He declined disclosing where he was when the call by the Nigerian Compass on Saturday to his phone line succeeded. Ukachukwu, however, pledged to show up in court when the matter comes up.


The allegations against him and former Governor Adamu are quite weighty: According to the EFCC, Ukachukwu is the chairman of Snecou Group of Companies through which billions of Naira belonging to the state was stolen. Organisations in the group include: Henry & Nick Associates Company Ltd, Prince & Princess Property Ltd, Riok International Ltd, and Niccus Industries Ltd.


For example, a contract of N1,147,770,370 for various projects was said to have been awarded to Niccus Industries Ltd. without due process. Alhaji Adamu ordered the immediate payment for the contract which include the construction of Administrative and Engineering blocks at the Nasarawa Polytechnic; provision of floodlight, electronic scoreboard, extension of Very Important Personality (VIP) stand, a standby generator and Generator House at the Lafia Stadium for about N299 million.


EFCC investigators, however, found out that the generator House was neither built nor a generator bought.
Again, the extension of the VIP stand was discovered not to be more than 10 metres, yet Ukachukwu was paid N200 million upfront for it.
Another controversial contract that he got, according to the EFCC, was the one for the construction of the Nasarawa State liaison office in Abuja which was awarded to Messrs Henry & Nick Ltd in 2005 for N2 billion (N2,151,680,359). The contract was funded by the state government via an Irrevocable Standing Order (ISO). The former governor solely instructed the payment to be effected even at the preliminary stage when it was abandoned in 2007.


Sometime in 2002, Adamu also gave Henry & Nick Associates contract for the construction of and equipping of a soap factory in Akwanga for N420 million. The contract paper was purportedly signed by the Commissioner for Commerce and Industries, Mr Damishi Luka, whom the EFCC has found out, was neither aware of adverts placed for it, not partook in the bidding exercise. The money was fully paid. Although he did not attempt to supply the equipment as contained in the contract, Ukachukwu got yet another N149 million as variation cost at the commencement of the project, even when the contact agreement expressly states that there will be no variation of any kind.


The were more finding against Adamu and Ukachukwu by the EFCC: A contract for the equipping of three hospitals in three senatorial districts of the state was awarded to Prince & Princess Properties for N1.5 billion. The investigators found out that no equipment was supplied and no ambulance was bought, yet money was paid.


Another contract for the procurement of some hospital equipment was given to Ukachukwu’s Riok International Limited. It was discovered that no such equipment was supplied, yet N1.2 billion was paid.


http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42776:evangelist-helped-ex-gov-adamu-loot-nasarawa--efcc-&catid=672:top-stories&Itemid=794

Friday, 05 March 2010 22:50 Daniel Elombah Nigeria politicians are among of the highest paid in the world while Nigeria’s civil servants are some of the lowest paid in the world

In its New Human Development Reports, AfricaFocus Bulletin reports today that "Between 1985 and 2004, inequality in Nigeria worsened from 0.43 to 0.49, placing the country among those with the highest inequality levels in the world.

In a country that is so rich that it could afford to lose the sum of N300bn ($1.4bn)in oil revenue in four months in 2009- because The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) did not lodge the oil revenue into the nation’s coffers, over 70 percent of the population lives in abject poverty.

Why, according to Transparency International, Nigeria politicians are among of the highest paid in the world while Nigeria’s civil servants are some of the lowest paid in the world.

Many studies have shown that despite its vast resources, Nigeria ranks among the most unequal countries in the world. The poverty problem in the country is partly a feature of high inequality which manifests in highly unequal income distribution and differential access to basic infrastructure, education, training and job opportunities." - UNDP Human Development Report, 2008-2009

In this blessed country, the 107 senators (excluding the Senate President and his deputy) will collect N11 million in basic salaries and regular allowances every year while a member of the House of Representatives will get N9.9 million.

The regular allowances are accommodation, car maintenance, domestic staff, personal assistant, entertainment, leave, utilities, newspaper/periodicals and constituency. These figures do not include non-regular allowances-- vehicle loan, furniture allowance, estacode, and duty tour allowance and severance gratuity--which are paid separately to each legislator as they become due.

Under the current remuneration regime, each senator is entitled to N3 million as furniture allowance and N5 million as car loan once every four years, and is also entitled to N6 million as severance gratuity after the "successful" completion of his/her tenure. Also, a senator is also to collect N23, 000 per day when on official trip as duty tour allowance, and $600 per day as estacode when on foreign trip.

A member of the House is entitled to N744, 454 furniture allowance and N4.96 million car loan once every four years, while a Rep's severance package is N5.96 million, estacode, $550 and duty tour allowance, N21,000.

The true cost of a senator service per year is beyond outrageous. These figures are for one senator.

Factor in the figures for each house of representative, governor, state assembly legislator, commissioner, special adviser to governor, special adviser to president, LG chairman, LG council person, president, deputy president, minister, etc.

These emoluments are criminally outrageous and absolutely repugnant. There is no way we can afford or survive this kind of inequality.

Where a School teachers in Nigeria are generally poorly paid that there is a saying that teachers take-home pay is so low that it cannot even take them home, it's either we end up cannibalizing out ourselves in a do-or-die struggle for money or the state flares up in an orgy of crime and wanton destruction of lives and property.

The National Assembly this week hypocritically set up a Committee to examine the root causes of dangerous crime in Nigeria. The conscience deadened Lawmakers were stirred because of the horror that occurred along Lagos-Benin Road.

The Senate had on Wednesday summoned all those charged with security including the Police Affairs Minister and the IG to appear before it and explain why the state of insecurity in the country had reached such a frightening level.

The Senate summons followed a motion by Senator Ayogu Eze and 58 others over the audacious robbery on Benin-Ore Road in which several people were allegedly killed.

The Lawmakers should not look too far!

"The minimum wage was reviewed last in 2000; that is over eight years ago. Whereas the wages of the political class have gone up by 800 percent in the last one year, nothing has happened to the wages of workers.

In Nigeria, the minimum wage is 5,500 naira [$40]. The Nigerian Labor Congress says it wants $350. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the current minimum wage at the federal level is N7,500. So you find that the average worker cannot afford even the basic necessities of life.

Thousands of Nigerians have already lost their jobs in recent months, and government officials warn there could be further layoffs across all sectors if unions ask employers for more money.

In February 23, 2010, The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria in Abuja canvassed for a minimum wage of N100,000 for civil servants in the country. Compared to what politicians earn, this is peanuts, Yes, it is outrageous.

I heard the Inspector General Of Police, Ogbonnaya Onovo at that Senate hearing “threw more light” on the robbery, which reportedly occurred on February 25, 2010, during which the driver of the luxury bus was at gun point allegedly ordered by the armed robbers to run over passengers who did not have money on them, the IG debunked the story, saying the incident actually took place on July 31, 2009 and said “there is no crime free society. What we are asking for now is adequate logistics and of course fighting crime from the root”.

As if the difference in the date makes all the difference!

Onovo should simply expect more kidnappings and more murders.

All of this is to be expected in a country, which is organized to facilitate the looting of public treasuries. We are dealing with an Empire of Thieves: a corrupt administrative state, in which most people aspire to public office, in order to join the ranks of the looters of public treasuries.

We are considering a country, where the average citizen is not shocked, by the fact that the economically non-productive sector, the public sector, consumes about 70 percent of the country's GDP.

People will not even protest the idea that a president could make himself the oil minister, in order to have a free hand, in looting the public treasury with reckless abandon - that the vaults of the Central Bank and the keys to the oil depot are firmly in the pockets of a cabal.

A country where Rtd General Theophilus Danjuma, the man the current Acting President, 2 days ago appointed his chief Adviser, announced with glee, that he made a profit of -wait for it - 500 million Dollars from an oil block the government allocated to him. And he told us days ago that he does not know what to do with the money!

In such a policy, officialdom is merely giving the Thieves in Power a double-bound guarantee. The treasury will be looted in the apogee of criminal moments, but at other times, the administrative state will transfer as much of the country's revenue as possible in the form of salaries, to the same cast of characters, while the poor masses suffer,

, Too bad!!!

To be continued


http://www.elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3040:nigeria-forget-about-yaradua-talk-about-shocking-inequality-1&catid=52:daniel-elombah&Itemid=73

Reps threaten to arrest Lukman Friday, 05 March 2010 00:00 Nigerian Compass
FOR his repeated refusal to heed the invitation of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, the House of Representatives has threatened to issue a warrant for the arrest of the Petroleum Resources Minister, Rilwan Lukman.


The House accused the minister of repeatedly refusing to appear before its Committee on Petroleum Resources.


Lukman had been severally summoned by the committee to explain the reasons behind the incessant scarcity of petroleum products nationwide.


The threat by the House to arrest Lukman was sequel to complaints by the committee that the minister had rebuffed several of its summons to make clarifications on certain issues pertaining to his portfolio.


Arguing the motion, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Minority Leader in the House, Mohammed Ndume, said he sponsored it because the scarcity of petroleum products was becoming worrisome.


Ndume said that Lukman’s refusal to appeal before the committee to address the scarcity issue was militating against a quick resolution of the crisis.


The Chairman of the committee, Clever Ikisikpo, also recounted fruitless efforts he and members made to see the minister on the issue.


He said it was rather sad that Lukman had chosen not to honour any of the several invitations extended to him.


Ikisikpo explained that having met all stakeholders in the petroleum industry, the committee thought a meeting with the minister should have thrown more light on the factors that might be responsible for the unending scarcity.


He said that his committee, during its oversight function, discovered that the problem of fuel scarcity had persisted because more than 50 per cent of the products were being smuggled to neighbouring countries, including Niger, Benin and Cameroon.


After the debate, the House resolved that the minister be served with a fresh letter of invitation to appear before the Committee on Petroleum Resources.


It warned that failure to honour the invitation would invoke Section 88 of the Constitution, which gives the House authority to issue a warrant of arrest.



http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42683:reps-threaten-to-arrest-lukman&catid=672:top-stories&Itemid=794

Bakare, Falana, others for mass protest in Abuja Wednesday
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Written by Clement Idoko

THE Save Nigeria Group (SNG) has announced plans to storm the meeting of Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) in a mass protest on Wednesday next week, following its failure to invoke Section 144 of the 1999 Constitution to declare the ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua incapacitated at its last sitting.

This is to make good the earlier ultimatum the group handed down to the EXCOF to declare Presi-dent Yar’Adua incapacitated, thereby paving the way for his ouster in order to retrieve the nation from the hands of cabal loyal to him.

The co-founders of the group, Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly and Mr Femi Falana, among others, are to lead the protest to the sitting of the EXCOF on Wednesday.

The SNG also called on Acting President Jonathan to, without delay, dissolve the current cabinet and inaugurate a non-partisan Federal Executive Council (FEC), which would oversee the affairs of the nation.

In a text read to newsmen at a briefing in Abuja, on Thursday, by the general organising secretary of the Good Governance Group, Mallam Salihu Lukman, the group warned that the mass action would be a prelude to other forms of nationwide civil unrests.

The group said the alleged return of ailing President Yar’Adua under the cover of darkness on February 24 and the refusal to allow any person, including the acting president, to have access to him had further demonstrated the contempt the cabal had for the rest of Nigerians.

The SNG condemned the decision of the state governors to fix the conduct of the next general election for January 2011, in order to jettison the Justice Mohammed Uwais-led panel report which stipulated six months before handover.

Those in attendance included Pastor Bakare; Mr Falana; Yinka Odumakin; Willy Ezeagwu; Osita Okechukwu, among others.


http://www.nigeriannews.com/

Northern monarchs, leaders give Turai options •‘Move Yar’Adua to Germany or Katsina’ •President’s mother at Villa, prefers Katsina
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Written by Taiwo Adisa

FOLLOWING indications that ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua is not in a position to return to office in the nearest future, some Northern leaders and monarchs have resolved to make representations to the First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, to either take her husband for further treatment in Germany or relocate him to Katsina.

The decision by Northern leaders was sequel to a visit by a six-member delegation of senators, which visited some palaces in the North earlier in the week.

The delegation, led by Senator Abubakar Gada (PDP, Sokoto), visited the palaces of top monarchs and opinion leaders to explain the position taken by the Senate to empower Dr Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President.

It was gathered that the team, made up mainly of Northern senators, also included a South-South senator, who was one of the champions of the motion that recently empowered Dr. Jonathan, as acting president.

Sources said that while the delegation principally visited the leaders to explain the developments in Abuja, the discussions also included the sudden return of President Yar’Adua and the refusal of his handlers to allow anybody to have access to him.

Sources said in Abuja that the delegation visited the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saa’ad Abubakar, among other Northern leaders.

It was gathered that discussions centered on the need to stabilise the polity in the wake of the tense situation that greeted the long absence of President Yar’Adua.

Sources confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune that most of the leaders consulted agreed that the time was ripe for Turai to either move her husband to Germany for further treatment or move him to Katsina.

Hajia Dada, the matriarch of the Yar’Adua family, who also arrived in Abuja on Wednesday night, was said to have gone to the Federal Capital with a message to Turai that the ailing president be moved to Katsina for prayers and further treatment.

Sources said that one of the prominent monarchs insisted that the unfolding circumstances had confirmed that the ailing president needed more time to recuperate and that his presence at the Presidential Villa could be a source of distraction in the power arrangement.

The said monarch was said to have offered to discuss with Hajia Turai and convey the general opinion in the North to her.

When the said monarch was asked if he could go to Abuja to directly talk to the first lady, a source said that the leader insisted he was going to discuss with her on the phone and send messages through other sources.

Sources said that the monarch was reluctant in meeting Turai, because he and others who offered to visit Yar’Adua in Saudi Arabia were turned down by the first lady.

According to a source: “The delegates noticed that the respected monarch was not at ease when one of the members suggested he should directly intervene and speak with Turai in Abuja. We later remembered that the monarch in question was one of those leaders who offered to visit Yar’Adua in Saudi Arabia but were turned down by the first lady.

“Though he feels for the president, he believes that there should not be direct interaction with the first lady for now.”

Also, on Thursday, the Senate restated its resolve to back Acting President Jonathan and urged Nigerians to support him to make a success of his tenure.

Senate spokesman, Senator Ayogu Eze, who addressed Senate correspondents, said that the upper chamber was in support of the decision by Jonathan to establish a Presidential Advisory Council (PAC).

http://www.nigeriannews.com/

We’ll cripple Nigeria —Militants
‘No Jonathan, no oil. Let them use groundnut to run Nigeria’
•Ijaw youths ask Yar’Adua to apologize
From ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Kaduna
Sunday, February 28, 2010



• Militants
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Push could come to shove with regards to the raging power tussle in the Presidency, if feelers emerging from the Niger Delta are anything to go by.

Sunday Sun learnt that groups are being mobilized by concerned leaders in the region to respond to the “dangerous ethnic trend” that had been introduced into the Aso Rock power game.
Some key former militant leaders are also said to have been contacted as part of a strategic plan to compel the cabal to stop undermining the Acting President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

One of the former warlords who confirmed this, but spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had watched the developments in the Presidency as it affected Jonathan and decided that it is time to act.
“Enough is enough. Since they (the cabal) have decided that Jonathan cannot occupy the office of the President because he is from the Niger Delta, we have also resolved that our oil is not for Nigeria. In fact, we are ready to dismember Nigeria. If they do not want us in Nigeria, they should not want our oil too.

“The issue is not about Jonathan, but our region. They have only used Jonathan to tell us to our faces that we are not equal in this country. So, when we start, we will ensure that there is no oil to depend on anymore. Let them use groundnut, hide and skin to run Nigeria. Since force is the language they understand, we will cripple the economy,” our source said, warning that the attacks would not be restricted to the Niger Delta.

The source insisted that the amnesty programme under which militants in the region surrendered various sophisticated arms and ammunition in October 2009 was not a hindrance as new weapons could be easily acquired within the country.

“We can start another war if we want because getting weapons is not a problem. They are everywhere in the country. You can see that the amnesty has failed, but we have restrained ourselves from going back to the creeks so that we would not be accused of being unpatriotic. But how long are we going to endure the conditions that made us take up arms in the first place?”

At the time of this report, tension was said to be high in the region with meetings being held in various areas in the creeks. Sunday Sun gathered that hostilities could resume this weekend.
A group under the aegis of the South-South Elders and Leaders Forum had, on Thursday, warned that the region would secede if the cabal continues to treat Jonathan with disdain.
Sources in the Presidency confirmed to Sunday Sun that the Acting President had not seen or met with ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua since the latter was brought into the country in an air ambulance in the early hours of last Wednesday.

Yar’Adua was for three months hospitalized in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for acute pericarditis.
His return to the country was shrouded in secrecy just the way the Saudi authorities ensured he was shielded from Nigerian government officials that visited Jeddah during his hospitalization.
Curiously, Yar’Adua’s wife, Turai that was to brief Jonathan on the health condition of her husband on Thursday reportedly shunned the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has asked Yar’Adua to apologize to Nigerians for plunging the country into crisis.

In an exclusive interview with Sunday Sun, the IYC president, Dr Chris Ekiyor, said a crisis of monumental proportion was imminent because of the prolonged regime of secrecy surrounding Yar’Adua’s health condition and had been fuelled by his secret return into the country.
“If it is true that the President has returned to Nigeria, it is good. But let him go ahead and address the nation and even apologise to Nigerians for throwing us into this crisis. Then let him resume office and give us a direction.

“There was never a time Dr Jonathan, the Ijaw or even the Niger Delta people prayed that Yar’Adua should not return. We had always prayed for his recovery and return because we believe in the unity of this country. Our worry, however, is that why is he being hidden from the Acting President and the rest of Nigerians?”
Ekiyor, who spoke to Sunday Sun at the venue of Niger Delta Peace Consolidation Conference at The Hague in Netherlands, cautioned Nigerians to be wary of the whims of those he described as manipulators in the Presidency.

“I don’t believe it is Turai Yar’Adua that is doing the manipulating. Instead, I think some people are using Turai as a front. After all, there is no constitutional provision for the office of the First Lady. Such ceremonial position cannot supersede an elective office. For instance, in France, the wife of the President quit her marriage because she said she wanted a home and not the Presidency. But here, our President’s wife is desperate to hold on to power,” he said.
The Ijaw youth leader urged Jonathan to assert himself, saying he must continue to act as president until Yar’Adua is ready to resume office.

Stand-off imminent
Jonathan may have decided to stand up against the shenanigans of the cabal by asserting his empowerment as Acting President by the National Assembly.
A Presidency source informed Sunday Sun at the weekend that he has decided to resist any move by Yar’Adua’s loyalists to reverse the February 9 resolution of the National Assembly as long as the ailing President remains incommunicado and refuses to indicate a readiness to resume office. He is said to have tightened security measures around his office and official residence.

“From now, the Acting President will assert his authority. There is a limit to what a man can endure. His loyalty and humility has been taken for granted,” the source said.
But Jonathan could confront an alleged move by the dyed-in-the-wool Yar’Adua loyalists to reverse some of the decisions taken by the Executive Council of the Federation under his watch, including the redeployment of the former Justice Minister, Michael Aondoakaa, to the Special Duties Ministry.


http://www.nigeriannews.com/

here is my best senate in naija till tomorrow, ken nnamani -- my respect to u sir, senate ken Nnamani

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He is back! Incase you dont know. I was so happy when i heard it in the news this morning. Thank God is alive.
Let us give God the praises and honour for sparing his life and not his corpse was brought back home.

Pls drop your

==================================================================

who told u he is alive? where is him? ask urself this, let him come out, we nigerians want to see him, we re tired of this nonsense

Saudi: Ministers back without seeing Yar’Adua
Headlines Feb 24, 2010
The Ministerial team
*Meet with Saudi monarch in Riyadh
*Senators hail Jonathan’s first communication to them
By Adeleke Adeseri, News Editor, Emmanuel Aziken & Inalegwu Shaibu
LAGOS— THE ministerial team which left for Saudi Arabia, 12.15 a.m. yesterday, was billed to return to the country this morning, but they failed to meet President Umaru Yar’Adua just as the other delegations before them.

Information from Riyadh, capaital of Saudi Arabia as at press time, indicated that efforts being made by the ministers had not yielded any positive result. However, the ministers were able to meet the Saudi monarch, Abdullah Bin AbdulAziz, in Riyadh ‘to thank him’ as the Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, reportedly said the team will do.

They are expected to return early today to brief the FEC meeting that will start by 10.00 a.m. The decision to send a FEC team to Saudi Arabia was taken at last Wednesday’s meeting of the cabinet.

The team comprises the Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, Foreign Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, Health Minister, Prof. Babatunde Oshotimehin, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma, and Minister of Petroleum Resources, Rilwanu Lukman, who apparently did not join his colleagues because of the ongoing 10th Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja.

Usually reliable sources told Vanguard that although the ministers had sought permission of the President’s doctors and the immediate family to see him, there was no clearance yet, as at the time of going to the press. Even their request for a possible video conference was equally turned down.

Jonathan drops Yar’Adua’s style

Meantime, the Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, has adopted a formal approach in his executive communication with the Senate dropping the informal salutation adopted by President Umaru Yar‘Adua.

In his first executive communication which arrived the Senate, yesterday, Dr. Jonathan dropped the contentious salutation of “My Dear Brother” adopted in the past by President Yar`Adua. He rather chose the formal salutation of “Your Excellency.”

The Senate, through its spokesman, Senator Ayogu Eze hailed the communication from the Acting President saying that the Acting President has started exercising his powers and a vindication of the Senate’s resolution adopting Dr. Jonathan as Acting President.

President Yar’Adua’s adoption of the salutation “My Dear Brother” was criticized by some senators in the past who, during a debate on the issue, described the greeting as patronizing on the Senate.

Presents FCT budget, picks CCB members

In two separate letters to the Senate channeled through the President of the Senate, Dr. Jonathan tabled the 2010 budgetary proposals for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and nominations for a new chairman and members of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.

Erstwhile Secretary of the CCB, Sam Saba, was nominated as Chairman of the Bureau. Other members nominated by the Acting President were Ibrahim Manzo, Chief Stephen Bekefula, Amb. Habib Elabor, Dr. (Mrs.) Christiana Okwori, Alhaji Disina Mohammed, Prince Okechukwu Nwadinobi and Dr. Ademola Adebo.

Details of the FCT budget were not revealed yesterday, but Senator Eze said the Senate would pass the 2010 federal budget next week

Senators divided on time frame

Also senators were, yesterday, divided on the time frame for the President to transmit a letter of notification to the National Assembly when proceeding on vacation. While some senators at the resumed consideration of a bill to alter the provisions of sections 145 and 190 of the 1999 Constitution insisted on the seven days, others were rooting for 14 days.

Proponents of seven days argued that the position of the President and Governors was too sensitive to be left vacant for a single minute. According to them, the Vice President or Deputy Governors should start acting immediately a President or Governor embarked on vacation without transmitting a letter to the National or State Assembly.

But while the senators were in support of the 14 days time frame for the President or Governors to notify the National Assembly or the State Assembly, they were, however, in quandary on the exact interpretation of vacation.

Those that spoke were Senators Sati Gogwin, PDP, Plateau Central, Aloysius Etok, PDP, Akwa Ibom North-West, Wilson Ake, PDP, Rivers West, Thompson Sekibo, PDP, Rivers East, Patrick Osakwe, PDP, Delta North, and George Akume, PDP, Benue North West, among others.

Senator Ake who was the first to open debate said the amendment being sought would check the notorious habits of governors who left their duty posts for months without officially handing over to the deputies. He, however, added that 14 days was too much for the governors.

Senator Osakwe lamented that the country was faced with the current situation because of the constitution foisted on it by the military.

He said: “Section 145 is a product of the military. This is the time that our democracy must be seen to be working. It is the time to change what we feel is not in consonance with the tenets of democratic principles. I think seven days is too short. It should be 14 days.”

Senator Sekibo, however, differed by saying that number of days being canvassed for President to transmit a letter was too long for the country to be left without a leader.

He said: “The amendment being sought is only one aspect of the provision of the constitution that deals with Presidential succession. There are others we need to look at critically.

I have problem with clause two. Why do we wait for seven days for the President to notify the Senate and for the Senate to mandate the Vice President to take over? If a man absconds from his duty post, should we not punish him? If a man is not at his duty post, it means he has absconded, so for me the clause should read that if the President absconds from his duty post, the Vice President should take over as Acting President.”

Senator Etok advocated a fixed time frame under which the Acting President can perform the functions of the President, adding that allowing too much time will create tension in the country.

He said: “How long should the Acting President act? If it takes too long time, then the Acting President will become a sole administrator which will not augur well for a nation the size of Nigeria. It should be 90 days for the Vice President to act.”


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/02/24/saudi-ministers-back-without-seeing-yar%e2%80%99adua/

Northern Elements Push Danjuma for VP
From Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Taiwo Olawale in Lagos, 02.18.2010

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Political elements in the North have continued to map out strategies to ensure that the region is not shortchanged in the event that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan becomes the substantive President.

A group of Northern intellectuals and professionals met in Abuja yesterday and resolved to push the candidacy of General T.Y. Danjuma as Vice-President to Jonathan should the Acting President become substantive President.
Northern elements are said to have canvassed that the region is entitled to eight years just like the South, which had done eight years under President Olusegun Obasanjo, and as such, if President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua cannot continue in office on account of his ill-health, the North should have its remaining one term by 2011.

Danjuma was Chief of Army Staff under the Murtala/ Obasanjo regime and was also Minister of Defence from 1999 till about 2002 during Obasanjo’s civilian administration.
Those in attendance at the meeting held at a secret location in Abuja, included Ahmed Joda, Mamman Daura, Adamu Fika, Mahmud Tukur, Abba Kyari, Mohammed Haruna, Adamu Adamu, Nuhu Sani Zango, Rufai Jumar Jose and Wada Maida.
None of those who attended the meeting was ready to speak on record about the meeting.

THISDAY learnt that key among the reasons they adduced for putting forward Danjuma are the fact that he seems to be a non-ambitious politician and not interested in 2011 and as such can help to guarantee a level playing field in the 2011 election.
They also said as a retired General who enjoys tremendous respect in the military, Danjuma can help stabilise the army and ward off military intervention in politics.

The issue of Christian/ Christian pairing, Jonathan and Danjuma being Christians, came up at the meeting but the issue was dismissed as some of those in attendance counter argued with the cases of Yakubu Gowon/ Joseph Akinwale Wey who were both Christians, Muhammadu Buhari/ Tunde Idiagbon who were both Muslims and also MKO Abiola/Babagana Kingibe who were also both Muslims.

“The North cannot afford to be short-changed in the scheme of things in the build-up to 2011. We feel that there is a need to have a Northerner who is not ambitious and has a strong personality to help in steering the ship of the state in the event that Jonathan becomes substantive president,” said one of the Northern intellectuals.
THISDAY also learnt that the intellectuals and professionals are already in discussion with Danjuma. It is not certain if they discussed the health and fitness of Danjuma to take on such a rigorous role.

Ahmed Joda
One of the former super permanent secretaries, Joda is a seasoned technocrat and boardroom guru. Now in his 80s, his contributions to public discourse are often seen as insightful and mature.


Mamman Daura

Daura, ex-Editor and former Managing Director of the New Nigerian Newspapers, has played prominent roles in Nigeria’s political development by serving on critical national committees.
Adamu Fika
The Wazirin Fika rose to the pinnacle of public service when he became the Head of Service (HoS) during the Babangida era. He is a passionate defender of Northern interests.

Mahmud Tukur
Tukur, a former Minister, was the first Principal (later becoming Vice-Chancellor) of the then Bayero University College (now Bayero University, Kano). He is generally seen as one of the most vocal policy advocates in Northern Nigeria.

Abba Kyari
Though he served as MD of UBA only for a brief period, most people still remember this boardroom player fondly. He is currently on the board of several blue chip companies.

Mohammed Haruna
Haruna is one of the most widely read columnists in the country. His opinions are often used as reference points in public discourse whether one is on his side or not.

Adamu Adamu
Also a popular columnist from the North, Adamu is an unabashed defender of Northern interests.

Wada Maida
Maida served as Chief Press Secretary to a former Head of State in the 80s before going on to become MD of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Though his voice is rarely heard, his contributions to national discourse are often measured and deep.




http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=166770

Fresh plot to kill Jonathan uncovered •2 ministers, 2 ex-govs implicated •Misguided elements want to pull me down - Acting President
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Written by Taiwo Adisa and Okey Muogbo, Abuja

THE Federal Government, on Wednesday, uncovered a plot against Acting President Goodluck Jonathan by some elements said to be aggrieved about his emergence.
The office of the Acting President has confirmed that there is, indeed, a plot to discredit the acting president and pull down his administration.

Besides the anger in some quarters over his emergence, some forces were also said to be aggrieved about the decision of the acting president to cancel the proposed sale of oil wells, in another oil bid round that would have empowered some key figures in the polity.

Sources in Abuja told the Nigerian Tribune that some top security operatives had uncovered a plot by a group said to be “utterly disturbed and bitter” by the acting president’s resolve to cancel the oil bid round.

The bidding was to take place last week, but the acting president stopped it.

Sources said that some of those who lost out in the bidding round were already being investigated to know their involvement in the alleged plot.

A source said that some of those who lost out in the planned oil well deal included two former governors, who had planned to take one oil well each, two ministers and a presidential aide, who is said to be interested in three oil wells and fronting for three foreign interests: a Taiwanese, a Chinese and a Middle East company.

It was gathered that some highly connected persons had concluded arrangements to ensure that certain persons grab some lucrative oil wells through the bid round and that those who had already targeted some wells were bitter that Dr. Jonathan cancelled the bid.

Sources said that a group working in and outside the government met on Monday night at a location in Abuja and resolved to deal with the acting president for “daring to cancel the oil bid round.”

It was gathered that a tape recording of the discussions at the said meeting was already in possession of the government, which is already investigating those linked to the plot.

Sources said that the discussion at the said meeting dwelt on the anger of the group and the ways by which it planned to deal with the acting president.

One of those involved in the meeting was said to have said in exasperation: “We have to deal with him; we have to kill him.”

It was gathered that one of the decisions was to deliberately distort information about the emerging administration of the acting president in a way that would portray him as a spendthrift and an administrator who was eager to loot the treasury.

A source said that the group plotting against the acting president had been linked with unfounded allegations that the acting president had spent N300 billion since November 23, 2009, when President Yar’Adua travelled out of Nigeria for medical treatment.

A source said that the group had also been spreading rumours that the lawmakers, who facilitated the passage of the motion that empowered the vice-president as acting president, were financially mobilised.

“We have watched these people and we have to allow the operatives to do their work. They are responsible for the lot of distortions in the land. Whereas the information we have is that those opposed to the emergence of the acting president were mounting pressures on senators not to budge and were making promises of huge financial rewards, they want to turn the information around and turn things on their heads.

“The government cannot go to sleep over this,” a source said on Wednesday.

‘Misguided elements want to pull me down’
The office of the acting president, Dr. Jonathan, has alerted the nation to a grand plan by some people to pull his government down.

In a statement, on Wednesday, the spokesman of the acting president, Mr. Ima Niboro, said the enemies of Jonathan had voted billions of naira to fight the acting president.

The statement entitled “of N300 Billion and other absurd tales!”, read: “Today, the first instalment of the planned and well coordinated media onslaught against the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, was published in a national newspaper” [not the Nigerian Tribune], “alleging that he (the Acting President) approved the expenditure of a whopping N300 billion, for both pro-Yar'Adua rallies and those that were in his interest.” The report also claimed that members of the National Assembly were bribed to do their patriotic duty to save the nation from drift.

“It can be recalled that a few days ago, there was an allegation of a purported release of two billion US dollars from the Excess Crude Account to governors to facilitate their endorsement of Jonathan as Acting President.

“While we commend the Chairman of the Governor’s Forum, Dr. Bukola Saraki, for dealing satisfactorily with that allegation in a rejoinder, it is interesting to note that two billion dollars translate to roughly N300 billion. There is, therefore, no question that both allegations emanate from the same source.

“We know those behind these publications. Nigerians have come to know them as careerists in power. But we see them as misguided elements determined to exceed their call of duty and play God over the affairs of the Nation.

“They are wicked and ungodly and their time is up! Never, again, must we allow our nation to be strangulated by a privileged few who will rather fiddle with our common wealth while the nation burns.

“We are aware that they have set aside a huge war chest in billions of naira to bring the Jonathan Acting Presidency to disrepute by any means possible. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that as cunny as these allegations obviously sound, they still get mention in our media space. We are fully on the tracks of this so-called group; this unfortunate band of liars. In the fullness of time, they shall be brought to book.

“We find no need to dignify the N300 billion allegation with a response. What is more, those selling this lie are careful to state that the money was procured from a certain businessman, who is to be settled in a matter of weeks by “a huge oil contract.”

“Three hundred billion naira sourced from one man at a go? We demand to know who this businessman is. Anyone that keeps liquid cash of N2 billion dollars to bribe people belongs only in jail! Huge oil contract? Maybe Nigerians need to ask those who have been involved in handing out such contracts how such quid pro quo deals are done.

“Let me use this medium to reiterate that we shall not be deterred by campaigns of calumny or any other method whatsoever in our collective efforts to reform this nation, and change our ways of doing things once and for all. The acting president is determined, and he is counting on the total support of all Nigerians”, the statement concluded.


http://www.nigeriannews.com/

SEARCH FOR JONATHAN’S VP: Ribadu, el-Rufai, Lamido, 2 others top list
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Written by Taiwo Adisa and Kola Oyelere

THE North appears to have moved beyond the era of ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua, following fresh moves within the geopolitical zone to present a vice-presidential material to Acting President Goodluck Jonathan any moment from now.
Two main groups have emerged in the bid, in what a source said was another attempt to ensure that the North fielded its first 11 for the presidency in 2011.

It was gathered on Tuesday that one of the groups had concluded arrangements to ensure the emergence of a “Young Turk,” first to the seat of the vice-president and then for the presidential seat in 2011.

Sources said that the group pushing for the emergence of a young Turk had conducted studies and arrived at the conclusion that the time was ripe for the North to be represented by young and vibrant candidates at the presidency.

The group pushing for the emergence of a young Turk had, therefore, shortlisted the trio of the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, a former Minister of the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai and former governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.

Another source said that the name of former governor of Jigawa and Kano states, Alhaji Sule Lamido and Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, are also on the list.

A source said that some leaders of the North were already seeking the right time to present proposals to the acting president on the need to move forward and appoint one of the preferred candidates as his deputy.

It was gathered that the group would then back the emergence of the vice-presidential material as presidential candidate in 2011.

It was further gathered that another group seeking the emergence of experienced hands in the presidency had decided to push forward former intelligence chief, General Aliyu Gusau.

General Gusau contested the 2007 presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which produced President Yar’Adua.

The group pushing for experience above youth, according to sources, was of the view that the Jonathan presidency needed a strong character as vice-president, somebody who could rally the North behind the acting president.

Those pushing General Gusau’s candidacy are said to be hammering on the fact that the man has experience in the security circles.

The group is said to have insisted that Gusau’s knowledge of the security networks could be invaluable in a Jonathan presidency.

But a position paper put together by the group, bent on presenting a young Turk first as a vice-presidential material and then as a presidential candidate in 2011 insisted that only the young and upwardly mobile professionals from the North possess the abilities to lift Nigeria to greater heights.

The group insisted that Yar’Adua had not been a fair representation of the North.

“We believe that Yar’Adua was not a fair representation of what the North has to offer. The belief is that Yar’Adua missed the opportunities and wasted chances to move Nigeria forward,” the group submitted.

A source further said “we are thoroughly disappointed and embarrassed by the Yar’Adua presidency, there are arguments in support of a younger generation to produce the next president. The North has more than 80 million people, many of whom are well educated, tried and tested in various public offices. Why must we recycle the same old cargoes over and over again?”

While justifying the need to draft the young generation from the North into the presidency, the group further declared that while Ribadu made impact in the fight against corruption, Mu’azu developed Bauchi State and el-Rufai made notable efforts when he served as minister of the FCT.

The group further submitted that apart from the trio’s record of achievements when they served in public offices, they also possessed links with the international community.

The group kicked against the possibility of any of the in-laws of President Yar’Adua to make the presidency.

The group, in its position paper, said “the person must be of the right age,” while performance in office should be a key determinant as to who emerged.

“el-Rufai is known to have strong contacts in the international community. We note that Nigeria’s important diplomatic partners are now wary of having persons of unknown pedigree to become president of the country, following the misadventure of Yar’Adua,” the group said

http://www.nigeriannews.com/

Senate empowers EFCC to prosecute corrupt office holders
National News Feb 17, 2010 By Emmanuel Aziken

Abuja—The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is to take primary role in the prosecution of indicted political office holders under proposals adopted by the Senate that stripped the Independent and Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, ICPC, of that duty.

The Senate’s move came at the commencement of deliberations on the report on the EFCC (Establishment) bill, yesterday.

The Senate, however, deferred consideration till today of a proposal in the bill seeking to strip individuals believed to be in possession of property believed to be above their income levels.

The proposals were articulated in the report on the bill jointly prepared by the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption and the Committee on Judiciary.

The report on the EFCC Amendment Bill sponsored by Senator Sola Akinyede (PDP, Ekiti South) has also endorsed a civil forfeiture plan that would compel the forfeiture of “money, stocks, property acquired in breach” of the provisions of the anti-graft law.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/02/17/senate-empowers-efcc-to-prosecute-corrupt-office-holders/

EIB signs $330 million loan deal with 3 Nigerian banks February 10 2010 , 11:00:00



The European Investment Bank (EIB) today signed a 240 million euro ($330 mln) loan deal with three Nigerian banks in what it said was a vote of confidence in banking reforms in sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy.

The EIB, which is owned by EU governments, said the funding for First Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Stanbic IBTC would be used for infrastructure development in Africa's most populous nation.

"We look forward to working closely with three of the strongest banks in Nigeria to increase infrastructure finance in the country, following regulatory reforms and the transformation of the banking sector," EIB Vice President Plutarchos Sakellaris said.

"The three banks should be commended for their leadership in governance, transparency and risk management," he said. Nigeria's central bank has made reforming the banking system its top priority following a $4 billion bailout last year of nine institutions found to be so weakly capitalised that they posed a systemic risk.

First Bank, Guaranty Trust and Stanbic all passed the central bank audit.The EIB, the European Union's long-term lending institution, last year invested more than 79 billion euros in projects in Europe, Africa and beyond. It had provided more than 220 million euros of funding to Nigeria in recent years. - Reuters

http://www.sabcnews.com/portal/site/SABCNews/menuitem.5c4f8fe7ee929f602ea12ea1674daeb9/?vgnextoid=a93722bda37b6210VgnVCM10000077d4ea9bRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&channelPath=Africa