Give us free, fair elections, Amaechi tells INEC

Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi

The Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure an impartial and transparent electoral process in the forthcoming elections.

Amaechi, who made this call on Wednesday during a visit of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Gesila Khan, to the governor at the Government House in Port Harcourt, warned that the problem of writing of election results should be nipped in the bud in order to allow Nigerians choose credible leaders in the forthcoming elections.

The governor alleged that some politicians were purchasing Permanent Voter Cards, adding that Nigerians were looking up to INEC to conduct free and fair elections despite attempts to rig the elections.

“The history of Nigeria will not be complete without INEC. The history can be positive or negative, but it depends on whether officials of INEC like you (REC) are ready to write your name in gold in the book of history.

“We don’t want rigging and writing of election results. A lot of politicians, I hear, are buying PVCs. That is why Nigerians are asking for change, because, Nigerians are looking up to INEC to ensure impartiality and transparent electoral process on March 28, 2015.

“Remember, those who try to stop change are usually consumed by change itself. All what Nigerians are asking for is a transparent process, especially if the card readers you introduce will work without manipulation.

“It means you are beginning to transform the process for better in order to allow Nigerians to choose their leaders without rigging,” the governor added.

Explaining that Nigerians were yearning for good leadership that would tackle the problems of hunger and poverty, Amaechi noted that Nigerians had been neglected by greedy and self-serving politicians.

Responding, Khan promised that she would conduct a free and fair election, even as she advised election riggers to stay away from the exercise.

The state REC, who demonstrated how the card readers would be used, explained that with the card reader, only eligible voters would be accredited and allowed to vote.

She recalled her enviable performance in Delta State and added that with the card reader, she would achieve a free and fair election in Rivers State.

Lagos Assembly plans lifetime allowance for speaker, deputy

 Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji

The Lagos State House of Assembly is planning to introduce a bill seeking to guarantee lifetime allowances for the speaker and deputy speaker.

However, in a swift reaction, the Speaker, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, described the news as a lie cooked up by fifth columnists.

The bill, it was learnt, proposes to grant both the speaker and the deputy, pensions that amount to 100 per cent of their annual basic salary for life, after their tenure expires.

The bill known as the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension) Law 2007 (Amendment) Law 2015, also proposes additional benefits such as a free house anywhere in Lagos State and a free vehicle.

The bill seeks to ensure that the two officials continue to enjoy some of the benefits of office like the governor and the deputy governor.

Our correspondent learnt that the bill was inspired by the federal law which also ensures lifetime allowances for the speaker of the House of Representatives and his deputy as well as the Senate President and the deputy.

The proposed Lagos law states, “Any person duly elected as a public office holder shall upon the successful completion of his term be entitled to a grant of pension for life by the state. This is provided that such a person shall not be entitled to a grant of pension under this law if he was removed from office by the process of impeachment or for breach of any provision of the constitution.’’

A reliable source, however, told our correspondent that the proposed law may not be debated until after the elections.

When contacted, however, the spokesperson for the Speaker, Mr. Rotimi Adebayo, described the news as the handiwork of detractors.

Adebayo said the documents showing the details of the purported bill were fake.

“There is no truth about that news. I read it online and it is just the handiwork of fifth columnists,” he said.

Fuel queues’ll disappear by weekend – FG

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The Federal Government on Wednesday assured Nigerians that the current petrol scarcity being experienced in many parts of the country would be over before the end of the week.

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stated this shortly after meeting with members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria.

The meeting, held at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, was also attended by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, representatives of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and depot owners.

The minister said all the contentious issues with the marketers such as the foreign exchange rate differentials and payment of subsidy arrears had been addressed by the Federal Government.

She said while the details of the payment of the exchange rate differentials had been agreed, the government was already in the process of offsetting the N185bn debt owed the marketers with the issuance of the Sovereign Debt Note.

Okonjo-Iweala said, “In the next few days, the queues will dissipate; the situation will be addressed and everything will return to normal.

“At the Federal Executive Council meeting today, the issue was discussed in terms of pushing forward and making sure that things get back to normal.”

She said while briefing State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting that after proper briefings on the causes of the current scarcity of petrol and solutions, President Goodluck Jonathan gave specific instructions on how to deal with the matter because he wanted prompt and quick action to improve the situation as fast as possible.

She insisted that the scarcity was caused by a number of factors, including the depreciation of the naira.

 

Okonjo-Iweala said, “We discussed that (fuel scarcity) at the FEC because Mr. President wanted prompt and quick action to improve the situation as fast as possible. So, after the briefing and discussion on both the financial and physical side, what emanated is that this situation we hope will soon be resolved, because on the financial side, action has been taken and it is being implemented through the Ministry of Finance and the governor of the CBN.

“Let it be known that in December, we paid N320.2bn to marketers to settle their claims. We have now approved through the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency about N185bn to be paid to the marketers through sovereign debt notes, which is tantamount to having government guarantee that they will be paid.

“But the long and short of the matter is that the financial issue has been taken care of. The physical quantity is being loaded to be brought to Abuja and Lagos and other cities that are suffering so that hopefully tomorrow (Thursday) or next (Friday), we should begin to see these queues reduce as supplies arrive up to Saturday; we hope that Abuja will be cleared.

“So, the summary is that the FEC is concerned about the matter and discussed it; and beyond discussing it, the President gave instruction on how to deal with it so that physical quantities will be available and the queues will diminish so that by the end of the week, we will have a situation that is clarified.”

Emefiele, who also spoke with journalists after the meeting with the marketers, said the CBN had met with banks and oil marketers to resolve all the contending issues associated with credit facilities.

He stated that in the past one week, over $500m Letters of Credit had been opened by Deposit Money Banks on behalf of the marketers.

The governor called on marketers who were experiencing delays in getting their Letters of Credit to alert the CBN, promising to step in and ensure that the issue was resolved amicably.

Speaking on behalf of the oil marketers, the Executive Secretary, MOMAN, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, stated that the queues of desperate motorists at filling stations would ease off in the next few days, noting that the marketers had already moved 495 truckloads of fuel to Lagos, Abuja and environs.

He said, “On Monday, the major marketers moved 132 truckloads of fuel to Lagos, while 87 truckloads were moved to Abuja, and this is exclusive to the quantity moved by the NNPC, independent marketers and other marketers.

“On Tuesday, 137 trucks were moved to Lagos, while 139 trucks were moved to Abuja. You can see that the amount we moved to Abuja was far more than the quantity we moved on Monday. It normally takes between three and four days to transport fuel from Lagos to Abuja; hence we believe the queues will ease off by the weekend, latest.”

“Our actions are deliberate to ensure that the queues vanish and normalcy returns. I want to tell Nigerians that tougher days are over; normalcy is expected to return pretty soon.”

Olawore denied speculations in some quarters that the marketers were being sponsored by opposition parties to discredit the government, noting that the association was apolitical in its dealings with the government.

Meanwhile, the Department of Petroleum Resources has in the last one week shut 26 filling stations in Benue and Nasarawa states for selling petrol above the regulated pump price of N87 per litre, while also applying sanctions on other errant marketers.

The DPR Controller in charge of the two states, Abdullahi Isa, said this while speaking with journalists in his office in Makurdi on Wednesday.

Isa lamented that instead of getting about 20 trucks daily, Benue was now getting just four.

He warned that any filling station that failed to sell the product at the approved pump price and also indulged in other sharp practices such as hoarding would be sanctioned.

In Abuja, the scarcity of the product led to a fight among motorists who were on a queue at the Total filling station on Arab Road in Kubwa, a suburb settlement.

Trouble started around 2.30pm when the owner of a white Toyota Corolla car jumped the queue and made straight for the gate of the station.

His action outrage the hundreds of motorists on the queue, many of whom claimed to have spent over eight hours on the queue.

APC, Fayose in war of words over Jega

 APC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed and Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose.

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, and the All Progressives Congress on Tuesday engaged in a war of words over the fate of Prof. Attahiru Jega as the chairman of the the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Fayose began the verbal onslaught when he described the claim by the APC   of a plot by the Presidency to fire Jega, as a “mere comedy.”

The governor, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, advised the opposition party to stop acting as if Nigeria belonged to it.

“President Goodluck Jonathan can sack Jega if he wishes and if he does, heavens will not fall,” Fayose boasted, alleging that the APC had, by its actions, shown that it had a pact with the INEC chairman.

“By turning themselves to advocates and defenders of the INEC chairman, the APC and its agents have shown that they have a deal with Jega to manipulate the elections,” he added.

The governor however said “that the deal will be frustrated if he (Jega) is asked to leave office.”

Fayose, according to the statement reminded the APC that the removal of any appointee of the Federal Government was a prerogative of the President, “which no one can question, provided the laid down rules are followed.”

The governor described Jega as partisan, saying, “By his actions and utterances, Jega had already demonstrated his support of the APC.’’

He said, “For instance, how can Jega explain the 80 per cent distribution of Permanent Voter Cards in Boko Haram-ravaged Borno and Yobe states while less than 40 per cent was distributed in Lagos as of February 7 that the election was postponed?

“It is on record that Prof. Maurice Iwu was asked to proceed on terminal leave two months to the end of his tenure? Is Jega not a beneficiary of Iwu’s removal?

“So, if Iwu was asked to go on terminal leave before the expiration of his tenure for Jega to assume office, what difference does it make if Jega too is asked to proceed on terminal leave before the expiration of his tenure?

“It is the President that can determine whether or not Jega will go on the mandatory three months’ terminal leave which should commence on March 8, and if the President decides that the INEC chairman should go on terminal leave, what can the APC loudmouths do?

“They boasted before the postponement of the elections that they would go on street protests, but did they do anything? They made noise when Justice Isa Ayo Salami was removed from office as President of the Court of Appeal, what did their noise amount to?

“Therefore, let me say it categorically that the noise being made by the APC and their agents will amount to nothing because if the President removes Jega today, heavens will not fall.”

He also claimed that the warning by the House of Representatives on Tuesday that removing   Jega could lead to violence was that of the APC lawmakers.

The governor therefore called on   “the APC lawmakers to rather pay attention to the ill-health of their party’s presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (retd.), whose whereabouts is now a mystery.”

But the APC National Publicity Secretary,   Lai Mohammed, berated the governor, saying his views were inconsequential since he was not the appointer of Jega.

Mohammed, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, on Wednesday, asked, “Is   Fayose the appointer of Jega? What is his (Fayose’s) business there?

“We know why Fayose is so vociferous; it is because he attained the Office of the Governor through army rigging.

“Fayose knows he can’t win any free and fair election. This is why he’s crying more than the bereaved. He’s afraid that the truth has come out. No matter how long it takes, the truth will prevail.”

Jonathan had during an interview with Aljazeera, on Monday night, insisted that he had no plan to remove Jega.

Patience Jonathan, a crude woman, says APC

Mrs. Patience Jonathan

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation on Wednesday described the wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan as “an incredibly crude woman.” The party also commended Nigerians for putting up with her.

The campaign organisation was reacting to a report that Mrs. Jonathan described the APC Presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), as brain dead at a campaign rally in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, on Tuesday.

The President’s wife also warned women against voting for Buhari because, according to her, the APC presidential candidate would put women in purdah and trample on their rights.

Patience had added that old people might not reason very well because of their ageing mind.

She said, “Vote for my husband, Jonathan. Do not vote for Buhari. He is an old man. People, when they become old, may not reason well and their brain may even be dead.”

But in a statement signed by the APC’s campaign’s Director of Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Wednesday, the party said the President’s wife was insultive.

Shehu stated, “It is not only insulting for Mrs. Jonathan to describe Buhari as “brain-dead, it is also demeaning of her status as the President’s wife to speak in the manner with which she did.”

The APC campaign urged President Jonathan to caution his wife.

Shehu said it was “discourteous and inexcusable for a wife of any President with a modicum of decency to make such a false and infantile pronouncement about the health status of another man on account of politics.”

The APCPCO recalled that in recent times, Mrs. Jonathan had made statements “invoking violence like she did in Calabar over the weekend, when she urged the PDP supporters to stone all those canvassing for change.”

Shehu stressed that it was below the standard of a wife of a President to stoop so low to call for violent attacks against members of the opposition.

The statement noted that while a good number of Nigerians were not taken by surprise by Mrs. Jonathan’s “incredulous pronouncements, it is important for her husband to put her in bridles in the spirit of the Abuja Peace Accord.”

The statement partly read, “The APCPCO similarly observed that much as indecent and disgraceful as the outbursts of Mrs. Jonathan was in an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians about her husband’s incompetence to lead the country, it is typical of the PDP’s modus operandi to confuse Nigerians with mundane issues instead of the issues of corruption, for which her husband has achieved an unbeaten record; his appalling lack of capacity to secure life and property of citizens and a glaring incompetence in dealing with the challenges facing the country.”

Surrender or face death, Chadian President warns Shekau

President Idriss Deby

President Idriss Deby of Chad on Wednesday called on Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, to surrender or face death.

Derby told a news conference in N’djamena, that he knows the whereabouts of Shekau, who, according to him, was sighted in Dikwa , a village in Borno State two days ago.

“Abubakar Shekau must surrender. We know where he is. If he doesn’t give himself up he will suffer the same fate as his compatriots,” he said.

“He (Shekau) was in Dikwa two days ago. He managed to get away but we know where he is. It’s in his interests to surrender,” Deby added.

Chadian troops earlier this week liberated the village which is about 85 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital from Boko Haram.

During a battle for the village, the Chadian   soldiers killed over 100 Boko Haram insurgents.

The insurgents were said to have fled to a   huge building where they were found inside wardrobes by the troops, who   fired volleys of bullets at them.

But in an apparent last act of defiance, a suicide bomber among the fighters climbed into a truck carrying gas canisters and blew it up, killing a Chadian soldier and injuring 34.

A Chadian soldier   told a Reuters reporter visiting the town after fighting subsided, that the building was Boko Haram’s command centre.

“They came to hide here as we advanced,” the soldier said, pointing to the bodies in the wardrobes.

The Chadian army spokesman, Col. Azem Bermandoa, who confirmed the killings, said his men chased those who escaped about 15 kilometres   out of the town, where many walls were   sprayed with bullets and most houses lay deserted.

According to the report, the Nigerian military had listed Dikwa as one of the towns it wanted to liberate from the insurgents before the general elections.

Chadian forces had planned to take the town last month, but were ordered back by the Nigeria military , which said it planned to attack it.

But a Chadian soldier in Dikwa claimed that the closest Nigerian soldiers got to the town as of the time of the latest development was 50 kilometres.

Abandoned bombs cause stir in Adamawa town

There is apprehension in Gombi, Adamawa State over 30 bombs said to have been dumped in the area by the men of the Nigerian Air Force.

It was gathered that the   bombs were dumped   three days ago because they had expired and therefore inactive.

Soldiers deployed in the area and vigilante members were said to have surrounded the area out of fear that the weapons could fall into the hands of   insurgents.

One of the soldiers however   said that they later pulled out of the area when they were alerted that the bombs were inactive.

But an indigene of the community told one of our correspondents that they were not convinced that the bombs would not go off.

He said, “As we are talking, we are still agitated because we are not convinced by the explanation that the bombs are useless and would not be taken away by the Boko Haram for other missions.

“When the items were discovered, the soldiers and our vigilante members were called in but the soldiers left when the Air Force explained that the bombs were expired and useless.

“But the vigilante members have refused to relax their watch over the area because they feel the Boko Haram people could steal   and use them against us. We are also of the opinion that the bombs could go off.”

The Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, could not be reached for comment as calls to his mobile line did not connect.

Meanwhile, only Monguno out of the several communities   liberated from Boko Haram over a week remains accessible.

Most of the towns largely remain “a no go area” as the military keep watch over them even as residents that fled   in the wake of their capture are still afraid to return.

The Chairman of Monguno Local Government Area of Borno State, Ali   Galgal, paid a visit to Monguno   on Sunday.

It was gathered that Galgal was in the town   to assess the level of destruction that took place during the short reign of the Boko Haram insurgents.

One of those that visited the area with the chairman but who pleaded that his name should not be in print, told one of our correspondents in Maiduguri that “the chairman presented food items to rescued persons.”

He added, “Alhaji Galgal   urged them to consider what happened to them as part of destiny. He asked them to   pray for a lasting peace in Borno State and the country in general.

“The chairman, who went from street to street in Monguno town, found decomposed bodies scattered everywhere. He also found dead bodies in some houses and government structures.

“It was also discovered that the insurgents successful looted many houses and business centres.”

Obasanjo scores two goals in birthday’s match

 Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun (left); former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Deacon Victor Durodola, during a novelty match organised by the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library to commemorate the former President’s 78th birthday in Abeokuta ... on Wednesday.

It was a fun filled football match on Wednesday evening at the MKO Abiola International Stadium, Abeokuta when a team led by former president Olusegun Obasanjo of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library slugged it out with a team of Ogun State Government led by the governor Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

At the end of the novelty match which was to commemorate the 78th birthday of Obasanjo, OOPL team beat the state government team 2-1.

The two goals were scored by Obasanjo while the Special Assistant to the governor on Special Duties scored the only goal for the government team.

The first half of a 60-minute of play was goalless, as both team lost scoring chances. Obasanjo who displayed some dexterity on the field of play lost about four scoring chances.

But the OOPL team rebound in the second half with players such as Prof. Akin Mabogunje, 88-year-old Dr. Femi Olopade, and one of aides of the former president, Vitalis among others, gave the Amosun-led team a tough time.

Mabogunje was a capable hand in goal.

Helping the Amosun’s team on the defensive, were the secretary to the state government, Adeoluwa Taiwo, and the state chief of staff, Prof. Ganiu Olatunde among others.

The Five-a-Side match ended with Obasanjo, Amosun and Mabogunje winning golden boots, Most Valuable Player and Golden Gloves awards respectively.

Senate in rowdy session over Obanikoro’s screening

 Musiliu Obanikoro

The Senate had a rowdy executive session for about two hours on Wednesday as a result of attempt by Senate President, David Mark, to convince his colleagues to give Musiliu Obanikoro an easy passage, in accordance to the tradition of the upper chamber in the screening of former senators nominated for appointment as ministers.

The Senate had over the years adopted the “take a bow” treatment for nominee ex-senators. Obanikoro was a member of the upper federal legislative chamber between 2003 and 2007 on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy. His name is among the eight new ministerial nominees before the Senate for consideration.

Members of the opposition All Progressives Congress in the Senate had, last week, vowed to oppose the confirmation of Obanikoro.

Our correspondent learnt that Mark, shortly before plenary and in a bid to ensure that the tradition of the Senate was not broken, immediately ordered a closed-door executive session to iron out the differences between Obanikoro and the opposition senators before the ministerial screening.

One of the senators from the South-West geo – political zone, who preferred anonymity, told our correspondent that the executive session was rowdy while it lasted.

He said, “The Senate President pleaded with us to respect the tradition of the senate by allowing Obanikoro and two other former senators, who would be appearing before us for screening to just take a bow and leave.

“We told him such gesture would not be extended to Obanikoro because of the two petitions against him that were forwarded to the Senate leadership, which he must address in a question-and-answer session.

“The insistence of the senate president that he would not preside over a chamber where the tradition that predated him would be destroyed led to a rowdy session which lasted for over one-and-a-half hour.”

The senator explained that it took the intervention of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, to resolve the issue.

According to him, Ekweremadu suggested that the screening and confirmation of Obanikoro should be postponed till a further date pending when the opposition would have a change of mind.

Another senator, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party from the North-Central, who also spoke anonymously, confirmed to our correspondent that the screening of Obanikoro had been postponed till next week due to the issues raised against him.

He said, “The opposition senators stuck to their guns that the nominee must address the allegations levelled against him but the Senate President insisted that he would never allow such things to happen.

“We however resolved to suspend the screening of Obanikoro and three others till next week Tuesday, if the opposition senators would not insist that he must be asked some questions. “

The senator further explained that the leadership of the red chamber resolved to take the former Minister of State alongside three others next week.

However, when the Senate resumed plenary, the senate president did not explain the reason for the closed-door session.

“The senate at the executive session discussed issues of national importance,” he said.

Meanwhile, four nominees- Messrs Patricia Akwashiki (Nasarawa State); Nicholas Ada (Benue State); Augustine Akobundu (Abia State); and Fidelis Nwankwo (Ebonyi State), answered questions from the senators except Akwashiki, who was a senator.

Ada, a professor of education, while responding to questions, said that lack of qualified teachers was responsible for the production of ill-equipped graduates.

He noted that students from “miracle centres” and those who cheat in examinations, and get higher grades usually constitute a great menace to the society as they would do everything to manipulate the system upon graduation.

He said, “So, what we simply do is to try as much as possible that the teachers training programme for the school system is strengthened because what the teacher fails to do, is an irreparable loss and what he does well gives credence to the entire process.

“I would suggest that we go back to the basics. In the time past, we had Grade Two Teachers Training programme; teachers were trained in specific areas. The totality of the teachers was well groomed and he came out as a very refined person.”

On his part, Akobundu, a retired colonel in the army, said the best way to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency was the introduction of the multi-nations military taskforce, made up of soldiers from Benin Republic, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Nigeria.

“The solution is making sure that we maintain the coalition with our coalition partners to make sure that we rid our nation and their own countries the menace of Boko Haram.

“At the same time, we talk about fighting terrorism through carrot-and-stick. What is going on is the stick. And concurrently, I believe that the Federal Government through the statutory agencies are doing everything to make sure that these Nigerians who have been displaces are given sense of belonging.”

The screening of Obanikoro (Lagos); Hauwa Lawan (Jigawa); Kenneth Kobani (Rivers) and Joel Ikenya (Taraba) has been shifted to Tuesday next week.