Monday, May 25, 2015
Welcome to Rev4mation's world: Expectation weighs on Nigeria’s Buhari as he takes...
Welcome to Rev4mation's world: Expectation weighs on Nigeria’s Buhari as he takes...: Buhari Muhammadu Buhari formally takes over as Nigeria’s president this week but his inauguration could not have come at a worse time...
Welcome to Rev4mation's world: Expectation weighs on Nigeria’s Buhari as he takes...
Welcome to Rev4mation's world: Expectation weighs on Nigeria’s Buhari as he takes...: Buhari Muhammadu Buhari formally takes over as Nigeria’s president this week but his inauguration could not have come at a worse time...
Jonathan Commissions First Armed Forces Radio Station
President Goodluck Jonathan in a group photograph after commissioning
the Nigerian Army Radio Station at the Mogadishu Barracks in Abuja
yesterday. PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA
PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has charged Nigerians to support the patriotic Nigerians soldiers who have put their lives on the line as they battle insurgencies in the northeast.
He noted that unnecessary criticism of their operations in the line of duty has the potential of demoralising the soldiers and unduly popularising the insurgents.
The President, who spoke yesterday while commissioning the first Nigerian Armed Forces Radio Station at the Mogadishu Cantonment in Abuja, noted that while it was right to criticise the military, just like any other national institution, such criticism should be constructive and must be in the national interest.
The establishment of the radio station, according to the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alexander Sabundu Badeh, was to correct inaccuracies of information emanating from the conventional news media within and outside the country about the ongoing counter insurgency operations in the north eastern part of the country.
He said because of the development, it was unanimously agreed that a Defence Radio Station should be established to disseminate true and accurate information about the Nigerian Armed Forces and its activities.
The President described the ceremony as a very special one that highlights the importance of communication of their activities to the wider society. “Today that you are launching your radio station will be a turning point; some of your operations will be properly covered and Nigerians will know.
If they know what you are doing and what you are passing through, they will remain grateful,” he said. “And I use this opportunity to call on all Nigerians both our senior citizens and our ordinary citizens to appreciate the commitment and the sacrifices of our armed forces. We wouldn’t have been sleeping if these people were not working.
I always feel a bit worried and at times angry when I read in the papers comments about our armed forces and the police.
“Ours is a society that sometimes doesn’t appreciate the commitment of individuals, suffering of individuals. These people fight and some times pay the supreme price, leaving widows and children.
Instead of commending and encouraging them, sometimes we criticise, ” he said. The CDS admitted that the media as a watchdog of the society plays a very important role in shaping public opinion for or against any activity of government and its agencies, including the conduct of military operations. “This is invaluable in maintaining the morale of troops.
Therefore, a balanced and objective reportage of the military helps to shape public perception of the military as a highly professional and patriotic organization which deserves the encouragement and the support of all citizens,” he noted.
Burundian opposition leader murdered: residents
Zedi Feruzi, the head of the Union for Peace and Development (UPD) was killed near his home in Bujumbura’s Ngagara district, according to an AFP reporter who saw the bloodied bodies of both Feruzi and a police bodyguard lying outside the house soon after the incident.
Expectation weighs on Nigeria’s Buhari as he takes over power
Buhari
Muhammadu Buhari formally takes over as Nigeria’s president
this week but his inauguration could not have come at a worse time, with
the country reeling from a cash crunch and a crippling strike over
fuel.Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) party accused President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration of sabotage for allegedly deliberately handing over the nation in its worst state since independence 55 years ago.
“No electricity, no fuel, workers are on strike, billions are owed to state and federal workers, $60 billion owed in national debt and the economy is virtually grounded,” APC spokesman Lai Mohammed said.
But across Nigeria, confidence is still high that Buhari, who headed a military government in the 1980s, will fix the mess.
“It’s not in dispute that the Jonathan government has messed up things,” said rice trader Mulikat Bello in the Agege area of Lagos, Nigeria’s financial capital.
“We know Buhari can do it. He has done it before. It’s the same way the (Shehu) Shagari administration destroyed the economy before Buhari’s coup of December 1983,” the 32-year-old added.
– To-do list –
Thirty years ago, Buhari’s 15-month military regime was characterised by a hardline crackdown against so-called “indiscipline” and corrupt practices, which sometimes crossed the line into abuse of power.
But he has said things will be different this time round, with decades of military rule abandoned since 1999 in favour of multi-party democracy, parliament and the constitution.
In February, the 72-year-old cautioned however that there was a need to “temper high expectations on the part of those who are expecting miracles to happen”.
But across the country many hope he can follow through on his election pledge of sweeping change to stop the rot in Africa’s most populous nation.
On a bus from Oshodi to Agbado in the Lagos suburbs, unemployed 27-year-old university accountancy graduate Solomon Abegunde said he expects the new administration to create jobs.
In Kano, northern Nigeria’s biggest city, private security guard Awwalu Maidawa, 41, wants an end to the Boko Haram insurgency which has claimed at least 15,000 lives since 2009.
Housewife Hajara Sani hopes for investment in education, with 10.5 million children out of school — the most in the world — and literacy levels low, particularly in the Muslim north.
Musa Mohammed, a 33-year-old auto mechanic, wants improved power supply, now at an all-time low of just 1,327 megawatts — below levels during Buhari’s last time in office.
Lagos beer distributor Abolaji Odumesi hopes to see Buhari tackle corruption in the oil sector, which accounts for 90 percent of foreign earnings but is dwindling due to falling global crude prices.
Elsewhere there are calls to diversify the economy, increase taxation to boost government coffers and tackle poverty that the APC says blights the lives of some 110 million of Nigeria’s more than 170 million people.
Almost everyone talks of corruption, which the austere Buhari believes has made the country a global laughing stock.
“I want him to maintain zero tolerance on corruption especially in the public service and ensure that whoever is found wanting faces the full wrath of the law,” said Maidawa.
– High hopes –
“One of the first things he (Buhari) has to do is assemble a competent strategic communications team to manage expectations,” said political commentator Chris Ngwodo.
“He has to be able to temper the level of expectation but without being a damp squib. It has to be skilfully managed.”
To be sure, Nigeria’s military has the upper hand against Boko Haram but there is still work to do to maintain the peace. On most other fronts, however, the incoming government has an uphill task.
To tackle the fuel crisis, Buhari, who once headed a government oil agency, has to convince fuel importers holding out for claimed government subsidy arrears by shutting depots, that they will be paid, said Ngwodo.
In the longer term, he needs to tackle “the absurdity of an oil-producing nation that imports fuel”, build domestic refineries and eliminate fuel subsidies that are open to corruption, he added.
“It’s a pity that Buhari has come at the wrong time,” said Debo Adeniran, of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders lobby group.
“The Jonathan government has mismanaged the economy with a lot of baggage too heavy for Buhari to carry.
“I still cannot fathom how the incoming administration is going to get the funds to implement its programmes.”
On the bus to Agbado, Abegunde is still confident. “To whom much is given, much is expected,” he said.
“Buhari has no excuse to fail because we gave him our votes with the hope that he would turn things around… We cannot continue like this. Things have to change.”
Nigerian bank announces early closing due to fuel crisis
“The current shortage of petroleum products in the country has limited our ability to supply diesel to all our branches in order to continue normal branch operations,” GT Bank said in a statement on Twitter.
“Due to this we unavoidably have to close our branches nationwide at 1pm (1200 GMT) from Monday 25th May, 2015.”
Guaranty Trust Bank plc has branches across Nigeria, as well as Anglophone and Francophone West Africa, East Africa and Britain, with an overall staff of more than 10,000.
Nigeria has been brought to a virtual standstill by fuel shortages, caused by a row between the outgoing government and importers, as well as strikes by petrol tanker drivers and oil and gas workers.
Despite being Africa’s biggest oil producer, petroleum products have to be imported to Nigeria because of a lack of functioning domestic refineries.
The government keeps the price at the pumps below the market rate for consumers and pays the difference to importers and marketers.
But they say they are owed $2 billion in arrears and have shut fuel depots until the balance is paid.
The government maintains the money has been paid and the importers are holding the country to ransom by demanding losses from the slump in the naira currency caused by the global drop in oil prices.
Telecoms operators said at the weekend they may be forced to shut down networks if no fuel supplies are found for generators that power base stations and switches.
Nigerian homes and businesses are forced to use generators because of poor to non-existent grid supply.
Spanish local election shakes up political landscape
In a dramatic shakeup of Spanish politics, an upstart group backed by the anti-austerity protest party Podemos could now govern in the capital, a longtime conservative stronghold.
The new political groups Barcelona En Comu and Ahora Madrid were formally launched just a few months ago, but the results of the vote show they are already loosening the grip of the two big parties that have run Spain for nearly four decades.
The new parties were born out of the “Indignado” (“Outraged”) protests that swamped Spanish streets during recent years of economic crisis, campaigning against corruption and unemployment.
Ahora Madrid, led by 71-year-old retired judge Manuela Carmena, came second behind Spain’s governing Popular Party (PP) — but it could govern the capital if it joins forces with the main opposition Socialists, who came third.
That would mark a stunning blow to the PP, which has governed Madrid for 23 years, and to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as he braces for a general election due around November.
“We will remember this as something special and extraordinary,” Carmena told supporters in the city centre.
Barcelona En Comu, which gained just one more seat than its nearest competitors in the city council, is led by 41-year-old activist Ada Colau, who rose to prominence defending poor homeowners from eviction.
– ‘David and Goliath’ –
“This will go down in history,” she told supporters.
“In this titanic struggle of David versus Goliath, we have won because we did incredible things with scarce resources and the power of the people.”
Thousands of supporters of both parties rallied in the streets of Madrid and Barcelona, cheering and yelling “Yes we can!”
“This result in Spain’s two biggest cities was the most demonstrative symptom of the political and social transformation which the country faces,” El Mundo wrote in an editorial on Monday.
Spain’s two mainstream parties, the Popular Party and the main opposition Socialists which have alternated in government for nearly four decades, captured a combined 52 percent of the vote, down from 65 percent four years ago.
The PP won 12 of the 13 regional government votes but lost its absolute majorities.
It won the most votes overall across the cities but saw its support plunge to 27 percent from 37 percent in 2011.
– Podemos eyes general election –
Podemos, an ally of Greece’s left-wing ruling party Syriza, did not run itself in the town elections but placed third in voting for several regional governments.
The PP and Socialists “have had one of the worst results in their history”, Podemos’ pony-tailed leader Pablo Iglesias told supporters after polls closed on Sunday.
“This spring of change is irreversible and will take us all the way to November. We will take up the challenge of winning the elections against the Popular Party.”
Alongside the left-wing protest groups is the economically liberal centrist party Ciudadanos, which came in fourth place in Madrid and Barcelona.
Like Podemos, it has pledged to fight corruption and heal a country stricken by unemployment and spending cuts.
Ciudadanos is luring voters from right and left, promising more moderate, market-friendly reforms seen as less alarming for foreign investors.
In Barcelona, Colau faces a tricky job forging a coalition among a mixture of small rival parties who could unite to block her.
To her supporters, however, her topping the vote felt like a triumph.
“I am not used to winning, it feels strange,” said one of followers, 63-year-old Fernando Ramo, who retired last month after a long time unemployed.
“Today is different. The losers have won and it is a great victory.”
Top-selling daily El Pais said the results “confirm the beginning of a political upheaval in Spain”.
Taliban truck bomber wounds dozens in southern Afghanistan
Pakistani Taliban
A Taliban truck bomber detonated around a tonne of
explosives outside a government complex in southern Afghanistan on
Monday, wounding at least 40 people as the summer fighting season sends
civilian casualties surging.Women and children were among those injured in the attack at the gate of the complex in Zabul province, which includes several government buildings including the provincial council.
The attack comes as the Taliban step up attacks on government and foreign targets despite Kabul’s repeated overtures to the insurgent group to reopen peace negotiations.
“Around 40 people were wounded in the suicide attack on the complex” in the provincial capital Qalat, local police chief Mirwais Noorzai told AFP.
“Around 1,000 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack,” he added.
Deputy police chief Ghulam Jailani Farahi confirmed the casualties, adding that the wounded were all civilians and some were in critical condition.
But provincial council chief Atta Jan Haqbayan gave a higher toll, saying 67 people were wounded, including 17 women.
The Taliban, waging a 13-year war against the US-backed Afghan government, claimed responsibility for the attack.
“As part of the Azm operation, this afternoon a martyrdom seeker… conducted an attack on the provincial council, where cruel and unjust decisions against Muslims and Islam were being taken,” Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said in a statement.
The Afghan Taliban launched their annual spring-summer offensive — titled ‘Azm’ (Determination) — in late April, vowing nationwide attacks in what is expected to be the bloodiest fighting season in a decade
The insurgents have launched a series of attacks in the capital and around the country as NATO forces pull back from the frontlines.
– Surge in attacks –
A blast triggered by a Taliban car bomber ripped through the parking lot of the justice ministry in Kabul on May 19, killing four people and wounding dozens of others.
Also this month, 14 people — mostly foreigners — were killed in a Taliban attack on a Kabul guest house that trapped dozens attending a concert.
Official efforts to bring the Taliban, who have waged a 13-year war to topple the US-backed government, to the negotiating table have so far borne little fruit.
The surge in attacks has taken a heavy toll on civilians, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan.
In the first four months of 2015, civilian casualties jumped 16 percent over the same period last year, it said.
The Afghan government has drawn public criticism for its inability to end insurgent attacks — a fact partly attributed by critics to political infighting and a lengthy delay in finalising a cabinet.
President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday nominated Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, a top official in the government body overseeing the country’s peace process, for the crucial position of defence minister.
The post had been left vacant for months due to disagreements between Ghani and his chief executive officer and former presidential election rival, Abdullah Abdullah.
Public criticism over the failure to appoint a defence minister has been especially fierce.
Afghan forces are now solely responsible for security after NATO’s combat mission formally ended in December, with a small follow-up force staying on to train and support local personnel.
Earlier this month NATO formally announced plans to retain a small military presence in Afghanistan after 2016 to help strengthen local security forces.
China executes patient who killed doctor over nose operation: report
Lian Enqing was sentenced to death last year for a fatal attack on an an ear, nose and throat specialist in Wenling, in the eastern province of Zhejiang.
Lian attacked the doctor because he “felt displeased with his nose and claimed to be suffering respiratory problems”, the official news agency Xinhua said.
The death sentence was carried out on Monday, the Chengdu Business Daily newspaper reported, citing family members who said they had met the condemned man briefly before his execution.
The attack last October prompted dozens of the doctor’s colleagues to protest outside the hospital in Wenling, urging stronger safety measures to deal with violent patients.
Doctors in China, the world’s most populous nation, are often poorly paid and overburdened with too many cases. Taking bribes for better care is reportedly a widespread practice.
Authorities have introduced security guards at some hospitals to protect staff from attacks.
Senate Presidency: APC Senators Bicker Over Choice
Buhari and Jonathan
Race Narrows Down To Saraki, Ahmed• Akume Steps Down For Ahmed
• Tough Days Ahead, Oyegun Warns Senators-elect
TENSION in the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the choice of the next President of the Senate heightened, yesterday, as APC senators failed for the umpteenth time to agree on a single candidate.
Senators Bukola Saraki, Ahmed Lawan and George Akume are vying for the plum Number Three job.
After hours of politicking behind closed doors at the Ibeto Hotel in Abuja, during a retreat organised by the APC, many senators stormed out of the conference room, sticking to their guns.
First was the group of senators, which styled itself as ‘Senate Unity Forum’. It declared that all its members had endorsed the candidature of Ahmed Lawan (Yobe) for the Presidency.
Spokesperson, for the group, Senator Barnabas Gemade, disclosed that Senator George Akume (Benue) had stepped down for Ahmed. However, he did not make open the numerical strength of the forum.
Then came the group of senators, which called itself ‘Senators Of Like Minds’. It adopted Saraki as sole candidate for Senate President.
Dino Melaye, who spoke on behalf of the group, claimed that they were 35 in number, maintaining that the North Central geopolitical zone, from where Saraki hails, deserves the seat.
Explaining why Saraki has the wherewithal to lead the 8th session of the National Assembly, he said: “The issue of National Assembly leadership is about integrity, competence, discipline and leadership skills and not about fixing of candidates just for mere horse trading. Our stand is about highlighting a senator who eventually becomes the Chairman of the National Assembly and relates with the executive on behalf of Nigerians, fellow senators and the National Assembly as an institution.
“Furthermore, leadership of the National Assembly is about the senator that has the wherewithal to stabilise the legislative institution, working with the executive and judicial arm of government to be effective and perform to optimal capacity.
“In addition, we are all aware of the fact that all senators from the North Central zone have taken a firm position that they are only interested in the office of the Senate President, which has been earlier zoned to it by the National Working Committee (NWC) of our party and we are also aware that North Central Senators have resolved to abide by the resolution of the zone on a single candidate and anything short of this is an attempt to jeopardise the collective interest of the zone.
“Of the 59 senators of the APC, 35 of us present here, today, hereby, reaffirm our collective commitment and resolution to ensure Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki succeeds as Senate President of the 8th Assembly. We have also resolved that the office of the Deputy Senate President be zoned to the North East.”
Melaye, however, failed to mention the person his group is considering for the office of Deputy Senate president, just as he brandished a sheet of paper containing all 35 senators who had signed to support Saraki.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie Oyegun, has urged APC Senators-elect to prepare for challenging times.
At the retreat, yesterday, Oyegun said: “Make no mistake about it, the days ahead will be tough, and this is not crying wolf…There is no magic wand to make our economy better overnight. Against the realities on the ground, some of which I listed earlier, reviving our economy will be a long and tortuous process. Bold decisions will need to be taken, and this can only be possible if there is a synergy among our party, the National Assembly and the President.”
Delivering his welcome address, the APC Chairman said: “From the first day of this government, a total of 4.1 trillion Naira will be required for sundry expenses, including oil subsidy payment, arrears of salaries at federal and state levels and debt servicing, just to mention a few.
“Put this against the background of the falling oil prices, the unprecedented 60-billion-dollar debt which the outgoing government has left for the incoming one, the largely depleted Excess Crude Account (ECA), the 60 billion dollars that have been lost in the last four years to crude oil theft (and which are perhaps still being lost as we speak), the need to rapidly create jobs for our teeming army of unemployed youths, enhance the security of the citizenry and improve the economy, and you will begin to understand the enormity of the challenges ahead.”
Oyegun noted that while the event is not a “lamentation forum,” it was necessary that “we tell ourselves the truth about the state of the nation, and the expectations of our people.”
According to him, “to a number of our compatriots, by May 30th, a day after the swearing-in of our President-elect, all the streets in Nigeria will be air conditioned while electricity will become stable and fuel scarcity will be a thing of the past. Yes, we will get there, but it won’t happen overnight.”
“You may be required to pass important bills at very short notices. This will not be unprecedented but will require a buy-in to the programmes of the President and the Party and a willingness to work with him and the party for the benefit of all Nigerians. The demands on you will be tasking, but you are up to the task!” Oyegun added.
Rivers CPs, military commanders reporting to Patience Jonathan –Amaechi
Governor Rotimi Amaechi
The Rivers State Governor, Chibuike
Amaechi, on Sunday said his disagreement with President Goodluck
Jonathan, was due in part to Mrs. Jonathan’s meddlesomeness.
He said this after the premiere of a documentary on the Amaechi years, at the Silver Bird Galleria, Abuja.
According to him, the President and the
ruling Peoples Democratic Party, would have taken him to the cleaners,
if they had found anything incriminating against him.
Amaechi said, “We had a disagreement in
principle between me and the President. Have you seen a country where
the Commissioner of Police is reporting to the wife of the President?
It’s in Rivers State.
“Have you seen a country where the
Brigade Commander or the Navy Commander or Air force Commander is
reporting to the Wife of the President? It’s in Rivers State.”
He explained that he was convinced that
such conduct would not help in the development of any nation and he took
a stand against it.
Amaechi stressed that Nigeria must never
again go back to such dark days, stressing that public officers should
learn to lead by the rule so as to avoid abuse of office by their
spouses.
He pointed out that it was the husband
who was elected. The governor revealed that in his own case, he ensured
that his wife knew her limits and he always told her she had no right to
call any of his commissioners for anything, because the people voted
him into office as governor not her.
Amaechi challenged anyone who had doubts about his performance in office to go to Rivers State and see for himself.
He also said all he did in the state were
not for self-glorification but were done to bequeath a legacy for
successive administrations in the state to sustain but added that 90 per
cent of the people who worked with him betrayed him.
He further showcased his achievements
spanning all sectors of the state economy, wondering why the Federal
Government was desperate about casting his administration in bad light
even when he spent N105bn on federal roads.
He also pointed out that he kept a proper
account of his stewardship and the books were open for all to see.
This, he said, gave him the courage to sustain the struggle, expressing
joy that history will vindicate him in the end.
In the documentary which featured some of
his projects in the areas of security, agriculture, education,
transportation, health and social development, Amaechi’s said the
documentary left out some projects he would love to see documented.
Senator Magnus Abbe, who also featured in
the documentary, explained how Amaechi pioneered the amnesty programme
through which insecurity in the state was drastically reduced.
Get ready for extradition hearing, NDLEA tells Kashamu
Buruji Kashamu
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
has advised the Senator-elect for Ogun-East senatorial district, Mr.
Buruji Kashamu, to concentrate his effort on defending himself before
the Federal High Court where he is expected to appear on Monday (today).
The agency reiterated that the decision
to drag him before the court followed a formal request for his
extradition by the United States.
In a statement by its Head of Public
Affairs, Mr. Ofoyeju Mitchell, on Sunday, the NDLEA urged Kashamu to
save his energy for the hearing of the extradition application.
Kashamu is the Chairman, Organisastion
and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP in the South-West and he was a
staunch supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.
He fell out with former President
Olusegun Obasanjo and teamed up with President Goodluck Jonathan during
the battle for the control of the party in Ogun State.
The agency said it was wrong of Kashamu
to finger Obasanjo and a leader of the PDP in Lagos State, Chief Bode
George, as being behind his present travails.
According to the NDLEA, Kashamu had been
on the wanted list of both the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and
the Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland
Security.
The statement read in part, “According
to an official report, Kashamu has been on the wanted list of both the
US Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security.
“Kashamu was indicted in the Northern District of Illinois, United States, on charges brought against him by ICE.
“According to the United States court
documents, Kashamu in his days as the leader of a prolific
heroin-trafficking ring based in Chicago, Illinois, was known as ‘god,’
‘Daddy, and ‘Kasmal.’ He is wanted to stand trial for charges of
conspiracy and importation of controlled substances, namely heroin, into
the United States dating back to 1994.
“Kashamu, who holds dual
Nigerian/Beninoise citizenship, has taken multiple pre-emptive actions
to thwart US extradition efforts such as claiming that he was being
mistaken for his deceased brother whom he claimed committed the alleged
offences in the US.”
The statement also said that Kashamu had
filed injunctions at courts in the Northern District of Illinois,
United States, and in Nigeria to prevent his arrest and prosecution.
The NDLEA said, “These are issues that
Kashamu should prepare to address rather than point accusing fingers at
eminent elder statesmen who have no connection with the ongoing
investigative process. The senator who was placed on house arrest at the
weekend is expected to appear in court in less than 24 hours.
“We expect Kashamu, as a distinguished
senator-elect, to demonstrate ample confidence in the Nigerian judicial
system and stop the blame game.”
Meanwhile, armed NDLEA operatives have
gained access into the residence of the embattled politician, where he
has been confined to his bedroom.
His lawyer, Ajibola Oluyede, who spoke
with our correspondent near the residence, on Sunday, said Kashamu had
not been allowed to leave his bedroom since Saturday.
Oluyede said, “He has been locked inside
the room while about 15 armed operatives are in the house. As I speak
to you, I have not even seen him. We have only been talking through the
door.
This is disheartening because his little children and his pregnant wife are all in the house with him.”
When asked to comment on the allegation
that Kashamu threatened suicide, the lawyer said, “He is obviously
traumatised but I wouldn’t say he is suicidal.”
Oluyede alleged that the NDLEA had no
plan of taking Kashamu to court on Monday (today) but only later decided
to do so because the media got involved.
“Their plan was to get him as early as
4am and put him on the plane to the United States. It was never their
plan to take him to court. It was when the media reported the incident
that they decided to take him to court,” he said.
About 15 patrol vehicles were seen
blocking all entries that lead to Kashamu’s home while over 20 security
agents were seen patrolling the street.
Residents of the estate were made to take alternative routes as all roads leading to Kashamu’s home were blocked.
In his reaction, the media aide to
Kashamu, Austin Oniyokor, however, berated the drug agency, accusing it
of being the mouthpiece of Obasanjo and George.
The statement said, “We do not know when
the NDLEA becomes the spokespersons for Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and
Chief Bode George. We do not need them to tell us to address our issues.
“We are addressing our issues. We had
told the court of the planned abduction of Kashamu and the NDLEA was
represented. The court had given an order asking all the parties to stay
action, pending the determination of the suit which had been fixed for
Wednesday.”
Oniyokor explained that Kashamu refused
to hand himself over to the NDLEA operatives, who stormed his Lagos
residence on Ladipo Street, Lekki Phase 1, on Saturday, because they
could not produce a warrant of arrest.
He said if the NDLEA provides a warrant
of arrest against Kashamu, the PDP chieftain would “hand himself over to
them but if not, he will not.”
But a member of PDP Board of Trustees,
Chief Ebenezer Babatope, described the allegation by Kashamu that George
was behind his travails as sad and ridiculous.
A statement by Babatope on Sunday said,
“It is sad and ridiculous of Senator-elect, Chief Buruji Kashamu, to
accuse Chief Bode George of being behind his current ordeal with the men
of the NDLEA.
“This allegation is not true. I have
known George for over 46 years and I know him never to go on a
witch-hunt of anyone as a result of personal differences or
disagreements. Though the wife of George is the Director-General of the
NDLEA, he can never attack the person of Kashamu.
“I call on Kashamu to look somewhere else in locating those who might have been involved in his travails.”
Fuel crisis: GTBank to close at 1pm
Our branches will close at 1pm from tomorrow. Apologies for the inconvenience. Pls tell someone and RT. pic.twitter.com/O0Edkpqqr2
— Guaranty Trust Bank (@gtbank) May 24, 2015
Shiroro power plant suffers system collapse
A power plant
The already bad state of electricity
supply across the country was made worse on Sunday following of a system
collapse at the Shiroro Hydro-electric Power Plant in Niger State.
The Shiroro plant has a power generating capacity of 600 megawatts and began operation in 1990.
Our correspondent gathered that the system collapse at the plant happened at about 4.10pm on Sunday.
The system collapse resulted in massive
load shedding as allocations to electricity distribution companies from
the national grid was seriously reduced.
It was learnt that the power allocation to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company was reduced from about 450MW to 15MW.
Officials of the AEDC stated that the
company was left with only 15MW at about 5.05pm, a development that made
it to supply electricity to only sensitive installations within the
Central Business District of Abuja.
On Friday, the Permanent Secretary,
Federal Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, had said power
generation nationwide had dropped from about 4,800MW to 1,327MW, leading
to the massive load shedding across the country.
In a bulk SMS sent by the AEDC to its
customers in the Federal Capital Territory, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger
states, the firm explained that the cause of the huge drop in power
supply in the region was due to the heavy drop in allocation to it from
the national power grid.
The drop, it said, was “from about 450MW
daily to less than 200MW in recent times. In fact, our allocation for
Friday, May 22, 2015 was 145MW, while both Saturday and Sunday, May 23
and 24, 2015, was115.6MW.
“And the situation has been worsened by the system collapse at Shiroro this evening, which brought our supply down to 15MW.”
Jonathan is handing over a distressed country – APC
National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed
The All Progressives Congress on Sunday
accused the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration of
deliberately sabotaging the incoming administration by contriving crises
without making any effort to resolve them.
The party said the Jonathan
administration was leaving behind a fractured economy without
electricity, with no fuel and disgruntled workers on strike over the
non-payment of salaries.
This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The APC however appealed to Nigerians not
to lose hope despite the daunting challenges currently being faced “in
this atmosphere of contrived chaos, saying help is on the way.”
The Peoples Democratic Party could however not be reached for comments.
Calls to the mobile telephone of the
party’s spokesman, Chief Olisa Metuh, indicated that it was switched
off. A response to a text message sent to him was still being awaited as
of the time of filing this report.
Mohammed said, “In a few days’ time,
President Jonathan will hand over to the President-elect, Muhammadu
Buhari. Never in the history of our country has any government handed
over to another a more distressed country: No electricity, no fuel,
workers are on strike, billions are owed to state and federal workers,
$60bn is being owed in national debt and the economy is virtually
grounded
“Today, Nigerians are roaming the
streets, jerry cans in hand, searching for everything from kerosene to
fuel to diesel to power their homes, keep their vehicles on the road and
keep their businesses going.
“They are paying as much as N300 per
litre for fuel, if at all they can get it. Yet their government is not
saying a word about the situation.”
The APC also said while the Jonathan
administration had “arrogantly told Nigerians that it remains in office
and in power till May 29, all it had been doing is sacking people and
making new appointments as if it had been deprived of the opportunity to
do so in the past six years.”
The party lamented that the outgoing
administration had shown no interest on how to end the fuel scarcity
that had paralysed the socio-economic lives of Nigerians.
“They are not interested in how to raise
electricity production from its unprecedentedly low level of 1,327
megawatts, they are not doing anything to end the strike by blue and
white collar oil workers, or to stop the impending one.
“They say they are in office till May 29,
but they do not care how workers in 18 states, who are owed a total of
N300bn in salaries under their watch or federal workers who are owed
N400bn, will be paid. Yet, they are running a budget of N1tn deficit,”
APC said.
It also alleged that the administration
had deliberately stopped meeting its obligations to oil marketers on
fuel subsidy, which the party put at about N200bn.
The statement observed that if the
current energy crisis was not solved soonest, the telecommunications
sector could even be grounded in a matter of days as service providers
would have neither electricity nor fuel to power their base stations.
“Of course, the aviation sector has
already been left comatose by the fuel crisis. The whole scenario reeks
of sabotage!,” the party said.
The APC explained that if the nation was
being well managed and there was no problem, it would not have embarked
on a campaign for change.
Mohammed said the “APC is ready, willing
and able to begin to address the mammoth challenges facing us as a
nation as soon as we assume office at the centre in a few days’ time.”
He, however, said the party would not
hesitate for a second to keep Nigerians informed of how “we have been
brought to this sorry state, with a view to avoiding such a tragic turn
in the future.”
The party also expressed sadness that the
nation had been on auto pilot for the past several weeks, as the
outgoing administration had shown neither the capacity nor the
willingness “to resolve any of the crises it has contrived and foisted
on the nation.
“This is the most vivid manifestation of
the old saying that literally translates to a departing office holder
defecating on the chair he is vacating,” APC said.
ECA: FG, states shared N6.2tn in four years, says Okonjo-Iweala
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
The Federal Government on Sunday night
released details of how N6.21tn was shared from the Excess Crude Account
by the federal and state governments between 2011 and 2014.
The breakdown was released by the
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, through a statement by her
Special Adviser on Communications, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu.
The minister had last week promised to
make details of the account available following a demand by the state
governors under the Nigeria Governors’ Forum that she should explain how
she had managed the over $20bn in the ECA between June 2013 and April
2015.
However, in the document issued on
Sunday, the minister said she needed to make public the details “to
clarify issues thrown up by recent claims made by Governor Rotimi
Amaechi of Rivers State on behalf of some governors.”
Analyses of the allocation as revealed
by the document showed that in addition to their constitutionally
approved receipts from the Federation Account, the Federal Government
received the sum of N3.29tn, while the 36 states got a total of N2.92tn
from the ECA within the four-year period
A further breakdown of the ECA
disbursement showed that the 36 states received N966.6bn in 2011;
N816.3bn in 2012; N859.4bn in 2013 and N282.8bn in 2014.
The document attributed the low figure
shared in 2014 to a steep decline in revenues due to the impact of the
crash in global oil prices, which began in the middle of that year.
Akwa Ibom, with N265bn, got the highest
allocation from the ECA; while Rivers and Delta states followed with
N230.4bn and N216.7bn, respectively.
Other states with highest allocations, according to the document, are Bayelsa, N176.3bn; Kano, N106.5bn; and Lagos, N82.9bn.
On the other hand, Kwara (N52.8bn),
Enugu (N51.6bn), Gombe (N47.7bn), Nasarawa (N46.9bn), Ekiti (N46.8bn)
and Ebonyi (N44.3bn) received the least amounts.
The summary of the inflows and outflows
from the account indicated that the opening balance was $4.56bn in 2011
and reached a peak the following year at $8.7bn before declining to
$2.3bn in 2013.
The document put the balance as of May
2015 at $2.07bn, noting that “the fluctuation in the ECA reflects the
sharing of the proceeds usually requested by state governors as well as
the practice of augmentation.”
It said the augmentation involved
additional sharing from the ECA by both tiers of government when
available funds were not adequate to meet revenue projections.
Okonjo-Iweala had last week described
the governors’ demand as strange because issues relating to the
management of the ECA were usually discussed by the commissioners of
Finance of the 36 states of the federation during the monthly Federation
Accounts Allocation Committee meeting.
She had said since the commissioners
were representatives of their respective governors at the meeting, there
was no basis for the demand.
Okonjo-Iweala’s statement read in part,
“It has come to our attention that governors under the aegis of the
Nigeria Governors’ Forum have requested that the Coordinating Minister
for the Economy and Minister of Finance should account for an estimated
$20bn oil revenue from the Excess Crude Account from June 2013 to April
2015.
“There is no basis for the demand and
the stated amount. The statement by the governors is totally strange
because FAAC meets every month and the ECA is discussed at every
session, with all the state commissioners of Finance present.”
Jonathan mismanaged Nigeria –Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo fired
a fresh salvo the way of President Goodluck Jonathan, on Sunday, when
he looked back at the last eight years and returned with a verdict: The
country had been poorly managed under Jonathan.
Obasanjo said this when the Iyalode of
Yoruba land, Chief Alaba Lawson, led a delegation of South-West women
leaders on a visit to his Hilltop residence in Abeokuta.
The 78-year-old leader said owing to the
mismanagement of the country in the last eight years, the incoming
administration of the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, should be
prepared to face the daunting challenges that lay ahead.
He said, “The country had been poorly
managed in the last eight years and it would take some time for Buhari’s
government to correct the anomalies. But I want to tell him not to be
frightened.”
Calling on Nigerians to exercise
patience with the incoming administration, Obasanjo said the damage that
had been done to the country in the last eight years could not be
corrected overnight.
“What I would say is that we should all
put our minds at rest. He (Buhari) is someone that will perform but we
must exercise patience because what has been destroyed for eight years
cannot be undone overnight.
“But like the Chinese proverb which says
the journey of a thousand miles starts with a step, it is not only the
first step (that matters) but the first step in the right direction
because if you take a wrong step, you’re not likely to get to the
destination,” he said.
The Owu-born leader recalled that when
he assumed power as civilian president in 1999, the country was in the
same situation it is today – battling fuel crisis and lack of power
supply.
“When I came in 1999, there was no fuel
and power. The situation was like this and I thought we have put that
one behind us,” he stressed, even as he expressed confidence in the
ability of Buhari to surmount the hurdle.
“The man that is coming on board has a
lot of experience in terms of governance. He is not a novice in
governance having ruled the country as a military Head of State from
1983 to 1985.
“Nigerians need to exercise patience
because what has been destroyed in eight years cannot be rebuilt in a
day,” Obasanjo maintained.
Recalling his years as military Head of
State between 1976 and 1979, Obasanjo said he worked closely with Buhari
and that their association produced results.
Urging Nigerians to pray for Buhari,
Obasanjo said the president-elect needs the cooperation of Nigerians in
order to put the country on the right footing.
“Let’s give him time. Let’s pray for him
and let’s cooperate with him. We are all concerned about the present
situation of Nigeria. The expectation is very high but at the same time,
there is a lot of goodwill internally and externally for the incoming
government.
“Once the incoming administration
realises this and takes every step, particularly in the first three
months when people will be watching and counting, I think for me, we
will get there,” the former Peoples Democratic Party leader said.
The former Chairman, PDP Board of
Trustees, however, warned Buhari not to take Nigerians for granted as he
called on him to always be honest in his dealing with Nigerians.
Obasanjo added that with Buhari at the helm of affairs, Nigeria would have a new opportunity.
He said, “God has provided a new
opportunity for Nigeria and Nigerians and I believe God does not make
mistakes. There are two things I believe the incoming President
appreciates; one is that he knows that the expectations of Nigerians are
high and two, that he should not be frightened by the situation on the
ground.”
Also, Obasanjo urged the incoming administration against squandering its goodwill at home and abroad.
Decrying the agony inflicted upon
Nigerians by the scarcity of fuel across the country, Lawson advised
Obasanjo to continue to support the Buhari government in advisory
capacity.
She said, “We are aware that you also
took over the reins of power of this country at a critical time and with
the help of the Almighty God, you were able to bring us back from the
brink. The same goes for now.
“We, therefore, appeal to you not to
leave this incoming government. Though we are confident of the
time-proven abilities of our incoming President, Muhammadu Buhari, we
also believe that two heads are better than one and where there is a
gathering of wise ones, wisdom will issue forth from there.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)