Friday, 28 February 2014

Is Nigeria’s President A Terrorist?

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By Dr. Peregrino Brimah

While Goodluck Jonathan was acting as president of Nigeria, in October 2010 shortly before the Presidential elections, there was a large bomb blast during independence celebrations in Abuja. Immediately after the attack, before an investigation was ever conducted by Nigeria’s security services, the President suddenly categorically exonerated MEND terrorists of involvement. This was a SERIOUS and dangerous submission, within hours after a bomb attack and before any evidence could have been fully investigated. This suggested prior knowledge of the attack and prompted questions of why if it was known by the President, the people were not protected and given advanced warning. Jonathan blamed northern elements for this bombing, seeking to utilize it to his advantage for political gains. The bombing appeared to ‘favor’ him.
Nigeria was given its second shock shortly after this terror blast when MEND terrorist, Henry Okah submitted that the then Acting President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan ordered the Abuja bomb blast ‘to lay blame on his political adversaries, in hope of tarnishing them and securing his victory.’ This was a powerful accusation, most especially since the relationships of Goodluck Jonathan with Niger Delta militants who were engaged in similar acts of terrorism had been clearly established. Terror which had been significantly quelled by the Yar’Adua regime, with his NSA Sarki Mukhtar, was returning to Nigeria as a political instrument.
The above were not the first linkages of the President of Nigeria with terrorism. During his rule as governor of Bayelsa, a post that fell on his lap with the arrest and prosecution of the corrupt governor he had served as deputy to, Alamesigha, Goodluck Jonathan was noted to not only be rabidly corrupt, but also to finance militant terrorists as detailed in Wikileaks US intelligence cables among other sources.
From the start to date of the Goodluck Jonathan regime, it has been marked by continuous, unabated terror and deaths. Terror has returned to the creeks, with high sea piracy, kidnapping and episodes of pipe-line vandalism and sabotage. The north east and entire north and middle belt of the nation has been riddled by intractable extremist terrorism. Terrorists have operated with impunity, battles have been bloody, unabated and chronic between Fulani herdsmen and farmers. Nigeria is practically becoming a free war zone where anyone can possess any grade of deadly weaponry. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced and the nation has become torn up in religious and tribal, political inspired fracas.
The question can no longer be avoided. Is the rising state of anarchy and free terrorism in Nigeria an accident or the result of the nation being under terrorist rule; by which terror will be officially endorsed and sired on the nation with government assistance?
On March 9th, 2011, the President of Nigeria announced that he knew the sponsors of terror and he has given the order for them to be apprehended. This never happened. Terrorist sponsors remain to date, protected by the President.
In April of 2012, the then NSA Andrew Owoye Azazi made a compelling submission that internal workings of the President’s political party were responsible for Boko Haram terrorism. He was fired not long after and died of a helicopter explosion under very mysterious conditions December 15th of the same year.
In a publication in the Punch of May 16th, 2012, the chairman of the ruling PDP party, Bamanga Tukur said, “Boko Haram is fighting for justice; Boko Haram is another name for justice.” The president of Nigeria fought to keep him as the chairman of the party for another 2 years, finally letting go, only to immediately re-appoint this terror suspect as the chairman of Nigeria’s railway corp.
As published in PremiumTimes of April 28, 2013, a White paper report chaired by Interior Minister Abba Moro indicted several prominent Borno politicians in the metamorphosis of Boko Haram from its ‘Ecomog’ baby. President Jonathan ‘directed’ his NSA Dasuki to act on this paper. Today, after thousands more deaths, the nation is still terrorized, innocent poor are dying and not a single sponsor of terror has been brought to book, rather they are embraced and funded in evil political desperation.
In July of 2013, to the shock of most Nigerians and in what has been described as political motivated betrayal of the nation, Hamza Al-Mustapha, charged with the murder of Kudirat Abiola among other crimes, was released from prison under the Jonathan regime. This terrorist was embraced by the president and flown around the nation as part of an executive presidential campaign team and think-tank.
Unrepentant terrorists like Mujahid Dokubo Asari and Tompolo are part of the president of Nigeria’s inner circle. Billions of naira is given to these agents to ‘secure’ the Niger Delta that is today in such a state of insecurity, even the President’s adopted father is not safe from the terror reign. Note- By not signing the amnesty agreement, these persons are still active terrorists engaged in terrorism against the state.
Linked to Boko Haram and also to a Hezbollah arms cache discovered in Kano, serial coupist NSA Aliyu Mohammed Gusau was astonishingly appointed by the President of Nigeria to head the nations defense ministry… also for cheap political assistance. Mohammed Gusau is a remnant of Nigeria’s worst regime, the Babangida-Abacha dictatorships. He is also a three-time NSA and the NSA under whose watch MEND terror and Boko Haram comfortably came into being, unchecked and unabated. Gusau has also been described as a foreign spy in Nigeria. All of these security risks were attractive to the President who begged and bowed to private conditions to get this retired soldier into his government.
This February, a sudden attack of Boko Haram at a school in Yobe, killing 59 students and concurrent attacks in Borno, as well as earlier attacks have again been found to coincide with pressing matters of government incompetency that threaten the Jonathan regime. The reports of sudden withdrawal of troops ahead of the attacks raised suspicion of government hand in the attacks. With the Reno Omokri–Wendel Simlin “Sanusi-Boko Haram Saga document,’ a possible motive was suddenly revealed.
If the Presidents circle can cook up such a treacherous plan to take advantage of recent Boko Haram carnage to tarnish the image of their current worst ‘adversary,’ is it too far to ask whether they could have gone as far as setting up/staging the attack to utilize for a diversion and to slander the person of the CBN governor? These are questions Nigerians are asking today. There are several more cases of political terrorism that are coincident with political meanderings of the current regime. Eg, the March 18th bombing of a bus-stop at Sabon Gari, Kano, which coincided with the APC merger and registration battle.
If this government is not responsible for these political attacks, the onus is on them to either apprehend those who are or to resign in the interest of life of the citizens and progress of the nation.
Finally, the case of the missing billions of dollars, which is estimated as between $56.4 billion and $127 billion over the four years of the Jonathan administration is a great global security concern. Where is this money? This money could have been utilized for social and security programs that would have made terrorism a thing of the foregone past. Rather the money is being used to finance terror. Experts say the missing billions of US dollars is being traced to terrorism, not just in Nigeria but across the world. This is a tall sum of money to go missing. This type of money typically sponsors terrorism. Terrorism today is an intercontinental network. Money from the billions ‘missing’ under the Jonathan administration gets into the hands of AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb) through their Boko Haram partners in Nigeria and from there these billions easily travel all the way to al-Qaeda’s headquarters to support terrorism across the world.
Nigeria and the entire free world is at grave risk and urgent, severe action is necessary to protect and secure life and hope. We need to act.
Dr. Peregrino Brimah

NewsRescue

Confab: Northern Elders, ACF Fault Selection Of Delegates

Bode Gbadebo, Ejike Ejike, Oladayo Odunsi

The Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) and the Arewa Consultative Forum have condemned the process of selecting delegates to the forthcoming national conference, saying it is not a true representation of the views of the masses, but those of the friends of the governors and the president.
At a press conference yesterday in Abuja, addressed by members of the two groups, with the NEF deputy leader and Second Republic minister, Paul Unongo, alongside Prof Ango Abdullahi and Alhaji Sani Zangon Daura in attendance, the groups expressed its support for the conference and pledged to contribute its opinion to the conference whether or not it was invited.
They also congratulated the federal government and Nigerians on the attainment of 100 years of nationhood, stressing the need for Nigeria to stay united in the face of various challenges facing the country.
They noted that despite the incessant crises the country was witnessing, it is indeed a thing of celebration that the different entities in the country have stayed together for 100 years without breaking up.
In his speeach, Unongo urged President Goodluck Jonathan to apply a holistic approach in tackling the issue of insurgency, as it had been proven over time that military options only cannot address the unrest especially in the northern part of the country.
He, however, condemned the recent killings of students in a unity school in Yobe State, as he advised the president to call for dialogue with the Boko Haram insurgents by involving important stakeholders, who would be truthful in handling such case as late President Umaru Yar’Adua did in the case of the Niger Delta militants.
The northern elders also condemned the suspension of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, as it maintained that the issue of exposing missing funds that accrued to the nation is the job of the CBN as the custodian of national revenues and Sanusi was only carrying out his statutory duties.
They congratulated the Southern People’s Assembly (SPA) for finding it fit to come together as one body, but warned the group against making any inciting statements against any individual or group in the north that would cause disunity.
Leadership

FG Should Expose Source Of Weapons

Bayo Oladeji, George Okojie, Juliet Alohan, MILLIE IBE, Mohammed Ismail, Okechukwu Obeta, Solomon Ayado

Less than 48 hours after suspected members of Boko Haram killed over 50 students in Yobe State, the sect members on Wednesday night killed 33 people in Madagli and Michika local government areas of Adamawa State.
Adamawa State governor Murtala Nyako has said that there is need for the federal government and military authorities to expose the source of weapons being used by the members of the Boko Haram on the grounds that there is ulterior motives behind the insurgency attacks in the north-east.
Nyako further criticized the federal government for failing to foil an attack on a secondary school in Yobe even though other schools in the state had been attacked previously, leading to the death of many students.
The governor, who was reacting to the latest attacks on two LGAs of the state, said that the rate of insurgent attacks in the state was getting out of hand. He called on the federal government to resolve the situation without further delay, adding that the emergency rule clamped on the state had been totally defeated.
He said that the incessant Boko Haram attacks on innocent civilians has ridiculed President Goodluck Jonathan’s claim of success against the insurgency.
‘’Enough Is Enough,’’ Governor Nyako said, stressing that the Boko Haram crisis is getting out of hand and needs new measures to tackle.
Nyako, who was visibly disturbed by what he called the insincerity of the federal government in its fight against the insurgency, said: “There is no excuse whatsoever. We want to know more from the authorities.
“By now, the authorities should be able to know what is happening. We should be able to know where these arms are manufactured and even the signatures of the weapons. We ought to know who ordered them, who paid for them, how they came into the country. Where were they shipped? Which port in Nigeria did they arrive, who cleared them?
To buttress his point further, Nyako said it still beats his imagination that security checkpoints and roadblocks are manning every nook and cranny of the nation, conducting stop-and-search and wondered how weapons are being transported across the nation.
He stated: ‘’President, vice president, governors and the military are the only groups that pass checkpoints without being checked, and which of the two groups is conveying those arms to the scene of these actions we want to know.
‘’The other aspect is that the army withdrew from the checkpoint before the attack on Yadi-Buni. Who ordered the withdrawal? We also have a case where General Shuwa was killed by so-called Boko Haram. There were army units there but they didn’t respond during the incident. Who told them not to respond when Shuwa was being attacked?
‘’The Air Force base was being raided; there was a unit of army nearby; who gave them order not to respond until all the aircraft were destroyed?
‘’These are questions that need answers. So, either this thing is controlled by unknown fellows or unknown Boko Haram strategic commanders in the defence system, or stage-managed. We have reached a point to come out and tell them our displeasure over the way the situation is escalating.’’
33 killed In Fresh Attack On Adamawa
Madagli and Michika local government areas of Adamawa State yesterday came under fresh attack leading to the death of about 33 people.
Insurgent attacks have escalated within the borders of Adamawa and Borno, resulting in the sacking of over 20 border villages.
The unknown gunmen first struck the border village of Kirchinga in Madagali LGA about 8:30pm where they set houses ablaze before proceeding to Shuwa where they killed scores of people.
The source added that the attackers came into the town in a convoy of 13 Hilux pick-up vans, shooting sporadically as people scampered into different directions for safety.
The source maintained that the military personnel manning different checkpoints staged a retreat as the gunmen laid siege to the border villages for more than five hours.
A resident of Shuwa, Mr Kwaje Bitrus, said the gunmen launched attacks on many places in Shuwa including a bishop’s house, a theological school, a police station as well as houses of prominent people in the town, leading to the death of two people.
The chairman of Madagali LG, Mr Maina Ularamu, confirmed the incident, saying that the gunmen attacked many places including schools, residential houses, banks and a police station.
A pastor who preferred anonymity said the gunmen destroyed three banks and many shops in the town while two lives were lost in the attack which lasted throughout the night.
“When the soldiers at the military checkpoints saw the number of the attackers, they retreated into the nearby bushes and the gunmen operated without challenge during the operation that lasted throughout the night.”
Also, the member representing Michika LGA in Adamawa State House of Assembly, Hon. Adamu Kamale, confirmed the attack on Michika.
We slept in the hills – Michika residents
Some residents of Michika town in Adamawa said they slept in the hills and nearby bushes during Wednesday night attack on the town by suspected insurgents.
Some of the residents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on phone, yesterday that the attackers arrived in the town around 9pm to unleash the mayhem for about five hours.
We’re ready to end Boko Haram menace – Defence Hqs
The military yesterday disclosed that the counter-insurgency war aimed at stopping the Boko Haram terrorism in the country has entered into a new phase that is expected to end the menace once and for all.
The Defence Headquarters, through its director of information Major General Chris Olukolade, who briefed defence correspondents in Abuja, also condemned in strong terms the terror unleashed on the Federal Government College in Yobe State that led to the killing of many students.
“The dastardly act has expectedly attracted the reaction of well-meaning individuals who have been condemning the senseless bloodletting. Disturbing as this trend proves, the fact remains that the chilly episodes are simply typical of terrorists’ intention to intimidate the people into subscribing to their false claim to invincibility,” he said.
Olukolade explained that the new approach adopted by the military has started and it is aimed at strengthening efforts being made at apprehending the terrorists before they escape to the neighbouring countries.
“The purpose of this briefing is to intimate you with the elevation of counter-terrorism campaign in the country. The new approach marks another phase in the operations designed to further contain the terrorists and their activities. The specialized campaign which has commenced is being undertaken simultaneously in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states. This operation is also in furtherance of efforts at apprehending the terrorists and ensuring they do not escape out of Nigeria as they are now so desperate to do.”
He also gave a vivid account of another attack on some communities in Adamawa State on Wednesday night that led to the killing of six terrorists, one soldier and three civilians.
Yobe school killings: Jonathan’s broadcast on centenary misplaced – APC
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has sharply criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for devoting his broadcast to the nation on Wednesday night to the centenary celebrations instead of the national tragedy involving the cold-blooded murder of over 40 schoolchildren in Yobe State.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its interim national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the president’s action sends a wrong signal to the world about the value which the Nigerian government places on the lives of the nation’s children.
It wondered what was so important about the centenary celebrations that it would be elevated over and above what in any nation would be considered a monumental tragedy, describing the president’s broadcast as insensitive, misplaced, and an embarrassment to the nation. ‘’Even as the nation is still counting the death toll from Monday night’s senseless and gruesome murder of our children, and the ceaseless killings of innocent civilians before that, the president has already switched into a celebratory mood, dwelling on themoney-wasting centenary celebrations instead of leading a clearly distraught nation in mourning. “Nothing better illustrates the fact that the president showed more concern about the centenary celebrations than the calamity that befell the nation than the mention, in only about three paragraphs, of the tragedy in a speech that spanned over 40 paragraphs.”
The party said now that the president has goofed again, he should quickly make amends by visiting the scene of the tragedy to empathize with the families of the victims as well as the government and people of the state, which is what any leader worth his salt would do under the circumstance.
It said in case President Jonathan is still in doubt on whether or not to take a trip to Yobe, and indeed Borno where hundreds of innocent citizens have been dispatched to their early graves by rampaging insurgents in the past few weeks, he should take a cue from what other presidents do in times like this.’’In the US, for example, President Barack Obama was his country’s ‘consoler in chief’ as he visited scenes of the tragedies that have occurred in his country since he assumed office, whether it is the school massacre in Connecticut, the mass shooting in Fort Hood,Texas, or the tornado in Joplin, Missouri.
Boko Haram Kingpin Arrested in Makurdi
A man suspected to be a Boko Haram kingpin on a mission to unleash terror in Benue has been arrested by men of the police in Makurdi.
A statement signed yesterday by the special adviser to the governor on media, Dr Cletus Akwaya, said the suspected terrorist was nabbed on Tuesday by policemen.
It stated that “the Boko Haram agent ( name withheld), a Fulani, who hails from Taraba State, was arrested by the police at the Kanshio area of Makurdi following a tip-off.”
“The Police Command disclosed that the Boko Haram suspect was found with six blank cheques with the total value said to be in millions of naira. Also found on him were copies of maps of some parts of Benue State especially Makurdi, the state capital.
The detailed description of the targets were contained in an exercise book which was found on the suspect. Some of the places included a high-profile hotel in the Nyiman area of Makurdi as well as some major infrastructural facilities central to the economic life of the state capital,” the statement said.
It further added that the suspect was whisked away to an unknown location where he is being questioned by
security operatives.

Leadership

'I couldn't believe my luck!': 17-year-old's boast as married teacher, 35, avoids prison for spending the night with him

Teacher Bernadette Smith said to be infatuated with student Gary Ralston
Obsession cost her job and her reputation, Stirling Sheriff Court heard
He said: 'I was thinking I was quite lucky. A lot of the boys fancied her'
Smith under supervision for two years as part of community payback order

A woman teacher who spent the night in a pupil’s bed wearing only her jeans and bra has narrowly avoided a prison sentence.
Bernadette Smith was said to be infatuated with Gary Ralston, who was 16 at the time.
That obsession cost the married 35-year-old her job and reputation, a court heard.

Abuse of trust: Sheriff Wyllie Robertson told Smith (left), 35, who kissed Gary, then 16, (right) and lay beside him wearing only jeans and a bra, that she had committed a serious abuse of trust. She was spared jail

Waived anonymity: Gary, now 17, in his bedroom where one of the incidents took place. He said his relationship with Smith, who was his teacher during third, fourth and fifth year, began during secret meetings at school

Gary, who waived his anonymity to speak of their relationship, said Smith had been his favourite teacher before she targeted him for particular attention.
He said: ‘I was thinking I was quite lucky. A lot of the boys fancied her. I couldn’t believe she was with me. It was the last thing I expected. She said she thought she was going crazy but couldn’t help the way she was feeling.’
Placing the mother of three under a supervision order yesterday, Sheriff Wyllie Robertson told her she had committed a serious abuse of trust.

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He said it was only the fact that she had not gone further with the boy that had saved her from a jail sentence.
Gary revealed how his relationship with Smith, who was his teacher during third, fourth and fifth year, began during secret meetings at school.
‘When I started year six, Bernadette was no longer my teacher, but we’d pass each other in the corridor, say hello and smile,’ he said. He said that Smith later summoned him to her classroom.
‘I walked in and as soon as I sat down she said, “Ever since we’ve been back at school and I’ve seen you around, I’ve been realising I have feelings for you”,’ he said.

Sexual misconduct: Bernadette Smith, left and right leaving court, drove the boy to a park and kissed him

Describing himself as ‘curious’ and ‘excited’, Gary agreed to meet the history and English teacher on September 13 last year.
The pair drove to a park in Falkirk, Scotland, and went for a walk but when they got back to the car, Smith kissed him passionately.
Gary said he worried for Smith’s job, husband and family but said she ‘didn’t seem too bothered’.
He confided in his father, who warned him to be careful but his grandmother called Bannockburn High School to complain. Smith was suspended immediately.
Despite their relationship being made public, they stayed together the next night at Gary’s home in Cowie.

The affair started in Smith's classroom at Bannockburn High School, Stirling, where she confessed her feelings to the boy, before the pair went to a park and had their first kiss

Gary said: ‘We got ready for bed and I felt nervous. I got into bed with my boxers on. She took off her top, but kept her bra and jeans on, and slid in beside me.
‘We cuddled and talked – nothing else happened.’

His father Richard Ralston, 42, said: ‘I wasn’t pleased about what happened, but you’re an adult at 16 in Scotland so I didn’t want to interfere too much.
‘I want Gary to make decisions and learn from any mistakes.’
Prosecutor Ann Orr told Stirling Sheriff Court that when interviewed, Smith said ‘she loved the boy and they both wanted to be together’. She admitted kissing Gary and staying the night in his bedroom.
There was no suggestion that Gary had suffered any long-term harm, the court was told.
Smith, of Denny, Stirlingshire, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity with a pupil while in a position of trust, between September 13 and 20 last year.

Gary, now 17, revealed how his relationship with Smith, who was his teacher during his third, fourth and fifth years, blossomed during secret meetings at Bannockburn high school

She was placed under supervision for two years and will remain on the sex offenders’ register for the same period.

Her solicitor, Andrew Gibb, said she was suspended by the General Teaching Council for Scotland and would be struck off at a hearing in a few weeks’ time. She has also separated from her husband.
Sheriff Robertson told the court Smith’s conduct was towards the lesser end of the offending scale, adding: ‘It is serious enough of course when a teacher admits this kind of conduct towards a pupil.
'We expect teachers to ensure children under their care are safe from abuse and that has not happened.’
He told Smith that it may have been that ‘difficulties within your marriage contributed to this aberration’, but he said many other teachers coped without resorting to such ‘bizarre’ behaviour.
He said it was to her ‘credit’ that she had not blamed her victim and she was assessed as at low risk of re-offending. He ordered her to return to court on November 12 for a supervision order review.

DailyMail

Nigeria’s National Judicial Council Forces 2 Judges Into Compulsory Retirement, Reprimands 3 Others

The National Judicial Council of Nigeria today rose from its quarterly meeting in Abuja sanctioning five Nigerian judges for different acts of corruption, gross misconduct and low productivity. First to be axed was a federal high court judge Gladys Olotu, while Mrs. olotu was forced into retirement for delivering a judgement that had lasted for 7 years, Saharareporters learnt that Mrs. loot’s real crime was due to investigative reports by the Economic and financial crimes Commission (EFCC) accusing her of owning several accounts in Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, First Bank (United Kingdom), as well as significant stock in various companies. She is also reported to own several properties in Abuja, Lagos and Benin. A source said Ms. Olotu is believed to be worth more than N2 billion in cash, going by findings by EFCC and other investigators.
A statement issued by the the National Judicial Council meeting held under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, at its meeting which held on 26th February, 2014 has recommended the compulsory retirement from office of Justice G.K. Olotu of the Federal High Court and Hon. Justice U. A. Inyang of High Court of Justice of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, respectively for gross misconduct.
See the full text of the NJC statement below:
Justice G. K. Olotu was recommended for compulsory retirement from office to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, pursuant to the ‘Findings” by the Council on the following allegations inter-alia, contained in the petitions written against His Lordship:-
· That the Judge failed to deliver Judgment only to deliver same in Suit No. FHC/UY/250/2003, eighteen months after the final Address by all the Counsel in the suit, contrary to the Constitutional provisions that Judgments should be delivered within a period of 90 days;
· The Hon. Judge admitted before the Fact Finding Committee of the Council that investigated the allegations that she forgot she had a pending Ruling to deliver in an application for Joinder; and
· That the Judge entertained a post Judgment matter in Suit No. FHC/UY/CS/250/2003 in Port Harcourt after delivering Judgment, which made her functus officio.
· That in another case: Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/505/2012, Hon. Justice Olotu failed to deliver judgment twice.
Hon. Justice U. A. Inyang of High Court of Justice of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja was also recommended for compulsory retirement from office to President Jonathan, sequel to the “Findings” of the Council on the following allegations leveled against His Lordship:-
· That the Judge included in his Judgment, references to the Garnishee Proceedings, which came after the Judgment had been delivered on 20th December, 2011.
· That His Lordship also included the name of the Counsel to Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Chief Chukwuma Ekomaru, SAN, who came into the matter after the judgment of 20th December, 2011 was delivered;
· That the Judge recklessly signed a Writ of Execution, a day after delivering his judgment of 20th December, 2011, the same day a Notice of Appeal and Motion on Notice for Stay of Execution were filed.
· That the Judge continued with the Garnishee Proceedings despite application for Stay of Execution; and
· That before delivering his Judgment of 20th December, 2011, Hon. Justice Inyang ignored a properly filed Motion on Notice for leave to file additional witness Statement on Oath.
In the meantime, the National Judicial Council has in the exercise of its disciplinary powers under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, suspended the two Judges from office with immediate effect.
The Council also issued warning letters to Hon. Justice Dalhatu Adamu, CFR, the Presiding Justice of Court of Appeal Kaduna Division, Hon. Justice A. A. Adeleye of High Court of Justice, Ekiti State and Hon. Justice D. O. Amaechina of High Court of Justice, Anambra State, respectively.
Hon. Justice Dalhatu Adamu, CFR was warned by Council at its Meeting which was held on 26th February, 2014 for deliberately absenting himself from duty, which is an act of gross misconduct contrary to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended and the Code of Conduct of Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It would be recalled that Council at its last Meeting which was held on 4th and 5th December, 2013 considered and deliberated on the Report of its Five-Man Committee who were mandated to invite Judicial Officers with Very Low performance or Non-performance to appear before it. At the end of deliberation on the Report of the Committee, Council found Hon. Justice A. A. Adeleye of High Court of Justice, Ekiti State and Hon. Justice D. O. Amaechina of High Court of Justice, Anambra State, respectively culpable of very low performance. Consequently, Council decided to issue warning letters to them for decline in their productivity.

OsunDefender

EDITORIAL: Boko Haram attacks, an inept government and the survival of the Nigerian state

On Tuesday, in an act of breathtaking savagery, members of the extremist Boko Haram sect murdered more than 40 innocent children in their school in Yobe State. For sheer barbarism, there is nothing to compare it – except of course the killing last year of another set of students in Borno State by the same vicious group.
Over the last five years, Boko Haram has been responsible for the most violent death of Nigerians outside the civil war. It is the worst threat to national security and even national unity.
Yet we continue to prevaricate. We are still not sure whether to woo them with amnesty or mow them with bullets.
Even the presidency which is privy to more facts than the rest of us seemed to think that we exaggerate the menace of the deadly Boko Haram sect. Or perhaps it just likes to play down the threat, in the hope that we will be lulled into a false sense of security.
Last week when the harried governor of Borno State, Kashim Shetima came to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan after another horror attack on a sleepy community, he told the press that what we face was war and that our army was less equipped and less motivated than the enemy.
Anyone who has followed events in that unfortunate part of the country knows that the governor had merely stated the truth. Yet the president and his handlers decided to subject him to very brutal attacks. The Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, accused the governor of peddling hysteria while the president himself used his last presidential media chat to lambast Mr. Shettima .
After Tuesday’s savage attack however, we now know who suffer from hysterics and histrionics. The presidency has made the usual condemnation, issued renewed marching orders and offered condolences. There is even talk of the army chief temporarily relocating to Maiduguri.
The Chief of Army Staff, General, Kenneth Minimah who appeared before a Senate Committee to defend his budget said the army did indeed needed more money, and more arms. In essence, the governor was right: we are not winning this war. Not yet.
But there is no talk of a presidential visit. In not standing by the governor, in never visiting the schools and villages where all the mayhem took place, President Goodluck Jonathan has deepened the people’s sense of abandonment. He has given the impression, unwittingly perhaps, that the lives of those children mean less than they should.
The sorrow of their parents will find no relief in the visit of the nation’s leader. In any civilized democracy, such a massacre would have merited at least one condolence visit by the President to the school. Indeed, the president would have been judged by how well he responded to the crisis, including whether he had shown the right amount of emotion. The quality of his empathy would have been the subject of intense national discourse for a long while. And how his visit was judged would have reflected on the opinion polls, with serious bearing on his presidency.
If we have any sense at all, the next elections will be lost or won solely on this administration’s record on security or the quality of the opposition’s alternative strategy. We cannot continue to condone a situation where a group of terrorists kill at will, cheapening the very essence of our being.
The taking of any human life is a horrible thing. The brutal murder of over 40 students in a boarding school is the height of bestiality. It is also proof that the government has failed in its most important task of protecting the lives of the people. There is no way of sugarcoating this fact, and no public relations gimmick can put a fine face on this matter.
This country cannot long bear the kind of savagery that took place on Tuesday. No government, indeed no system, can survive this sort of impunity.

PremiumTimes

What Does Tambuwal Want?

280214N.Tambuwal.jpg - 280214N.Tambuwal.jpg

Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal

Personality Focus

After several months of publicly siding with the All Progressives Congress, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal, remains unable to declare for the opposition. His prevarication has left many wondering what the speaker wants. Ojo M. Maduekwe writes

As political re-alignments continue to take shape in the country ahead the 2015 elections, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, appears to be in dilemma. His political career is at stake here. It’s unclear whether he is for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) or remains with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Many hold the view that although his body is with the PDP; his soul belongs to the APC. Tambuwal has come out to deny claims that his allegiance was with the opposition. Those close to him, like many Nigerians, believe that his remaining in the PDP is just to bid time and watch the turn of events. They believe that he’s resolved to leave the PDP. When and to which party, no one knows.

The leadership of the APC has not stopped wooing the Speaker to defect from the PDP and become one of their members. It was reported last year that former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and a national leader of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, held a private meeting with the Speaker to persuade him to join the party.

As well, it was allegedly reported that when last year the five PDP governors, out of the defunct G-7, who dumped the PDP for the APC, engaged in a private meeting with Buhari, Tinubu and the APC governor’s at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, Tambuwal was at the meeting briefly for about 30 minutes, before leaving.

Presently, Tambuwal is even more pressured being that the governor of his state, Aliyu Wamakko, had since left the PDP and defected to the APC. Normally, like the House of Representatives members and Senators who followed their governors in defecting to the APC, Tambuwal was expected to follow in the footsteps of his governor, Wamakko.

At the time Wamakko was suspended by the national leadership of the PDP, as was then led by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the governor had described Tukur as an incompetent party leader who should be sacked immediately, saying, “The people of the state are not fighting PDP but injustice and unfairness.”

Seen by Wamakko during the declaration was Tambuwal, who was reported to have pledged the continuous loyalty of all the National Assembly members from the state to Wamakko and the PDP, maintaining that under the leadership of Wamakko, the state remained a united political family.

“The purported suspension is of no effect to us and there is no retreat or surrender. Wamakko will continue to be our leader even after he finished his term as a governor,” Tambuwal was reported to have said.

Political watchers said his refusal to join Wamakko, after making such a bold appearance, was a deft political calculation. They thought he needed to observe how the defection in the House would unfold before deciding whether it was wise to defect or maintain the status quo for the time being.

But it appears ironic that after years of frolicking with the APC and shunning many events and gathering sponsored by his party, the Speaker himself is alleged to be unsure where to pledge his allegiance; hence his reported recent consultation around the country.

He was in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the weekend, allegedly to consult with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, another PDP stalwart whose membership of the party remains suspect. After the closed-door meeting, Tambuwal briefed journalists that his visit to Obasanjo was to consult on ‘matters of national interest.’ He would even cite the PIB bill as an example.

“Baba Obasanjo is a leader not only in Nigeria but in Africa, and it is only appropriate for us in positions of authority and leadership to occasionally come and consult Baba on matters of national interest.”

Submitting that he was still a member of PDP, Tambuwal, regarding the suspension of the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi by President Jonathan said “Whether it (the suspension) is lawful, legal or illegal, the personality involved has told everybody that he is going to court and I believe he is already in court on that suspension.”

Afterwards, the Speaker visited the State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, where he described the on-going urban renewal programme in the state as a display of politics of development, noting that the state government, for its successes in terms of infrastructural development, has re-defined the state’s landscape.

“I was even asking myself where the governor has gotten the money for these laudable road projects. This is my first official visit to Abeokuta and I can tell you that I am impressed by what I have seen. Sometime last year, I was in Ijebu-Ode and I saw what the governor is doing there too,” he said. Amosun is APC and Tambuwal’s comment was certainly an endorsement.

It is expected that by now Tambuwal should know which party to pitch tent, but looking at the Speaker’s situation from his standpoint, one gets a clearer picture of his dilemma. Although the PDP has never been home for him, due to the way he emerged as Speaker, APC’s failure to maintain its short-lived majority position in the House is not helping Tambuwal’s case.

With the PDP leading the House, the rumour is that should Tambuwal defect to the APC, with the current House classification, there’s the likelihood that PDP, through its numerical strength, wouldn’t hesitate in taking over control of the House leadership and relegating Tambuwal to an ordinary House member.

Perhaps, the proper question Nigerians should be asking is not what Tambuwal wants but what he’s waiting for. It’s been long established that all things being equal, the Speaker of the House would defect to the APC. But as it looks, with the PDP regaining majority lead in the House, he won’t be defecting soon. Doing so would be suicidal, and could cost him the Speakership, obviously.

Naturally, Tambuwal wouldn’t have had so much challenge if elections into public offices, especially in the complexity called Nigeria, were all about achievements, without regards to political intrigues, calculations and scheming. If that was so, then Tambuwal would not have found himself in this dilemma of trying to adjust to the changing political dynamism in Nigeria.

What does Tambuwal want other than to further his political career and remain relevant, under a political party that shares same ideology as he does? There have been speculations that the APC may want to field him for the presidential election in 2015. Also is the rumour that his state governor, Wamakko, would likely be handing Sokoto over to him in 2015.

However, the speculated presidential kite seems most likely being that as the number four man in the country at the moment, going to become governor of Sokoto State in 2015 might appear more like a demotion. Besides, many believe that with the bridges he’s built as Speaker of the House of Representatives, such achievements would serve him well if he were to lead Nigeria as president.

Former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, was reported earlier in the year 2013 to have said Tambuwal’s conduct “has shown that the upcoming generation has the capacity to sustain the labour of our heroes past. When leaders like Tambuwal have delivered on their electoral promise, we advise them to try something higher.” A shot at the presidency is higher and more prestigious than vying for Sokoto governorship, many would reckon.

If he decides to observe Babangida’s advice and take a shot at the presidency, many Nigerians believe he has more chances with the APC than the PDP which never liked his outspokenness and public romance with the opposition. Also, whichever party he decides to pitch tent with, it is believed that his credentials speak volumes for him and Nigerians will most likely back him.

Although his failure to decide on time may cause some time-bound damage, it does not really matter what those opposed to the Speaker think, because from his achievements and quality leadership, the fact remains that Tambuwal is a material for the future and poignantly, an asset to Nigeria.

ThisDay

Boko Haram attacks: Governor Nyako blames Nigerian government, says emergency rule defeated

Governor Murtala Nyako

Mr. Nyako blasts the federal government for poor handling of the Boko Haram crisis
By, Babayola Jauro
As anger and frustration continues to mount over the incessant killings by suspected Boko Haram members, the Adamawa State governor, Murtala Nyako, on Thursday said the federal government imposed state of emergency in affected states had failed.
Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe have been under emergency rule since May 2013.
Mr. Nyako in an interview with journalists in Adamawa on Thursday said the Boko Haram crisis was getting out of hand and new strategies were needed to tackle it.
The governor was reacting to the latest attacks by the sect in Madagali and Michika, in Adamawa. He said the state of emergency slammed on Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States had been defeated.
Mr. Nyako criticised the federal government, which controls all Nigeria’s security agencies, for failing to foil Monday’s attack on the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State, where at least 29 students were killed. He said the attack was predictable since school children had previously been murdered in the same way, in the same state.
“There is no excuse whatsoever. We want to know more from the authorities. By now, the authorities should be able to know what is happening. We should be able to know where these arms are manufactured and even the signatures of the weapons. We ought to know who ordered it, who paid for it, how did it come to the country, from where were they shipped, through which port in Nigeria they arrived and who cleared it.
“President, Vice President, Governors and the military – they are the only groups that pass checkpoints without being searched and which of these groups are conveying these arms to the scene of the action. We want to know,” he stated.
He alleged negligence on the part of security officials in preventing several attacks including that on the school and in the death of a retired army general, Mamman Shuwa, in 2012.
The governor said the army often failed to respond during the course of attacks by the outlawed sect. He demanded to know why there was always delay in the military’s response to attacks.
“The other aspect is that army withdrew from the checkpoint, before the attack in Yadi –Buni, who ordered the withdrawal. We also have a case where General Shuwa was killed by so called Boko Haram. There are army unit there but they didn’t respond during the incident, who told them not to respond, when Shuwa was being attack?
“The air force base was being raided, there is unit of army nearby, who gave them order not to response until all the aircraft were destroyed?
“These are questions that need answers. So either this thing is controlled by unknown fellows or unknown Boko Haram strategic commanders in the defence system or staged-managed. We have reached a point to come out and tell them our displeasure over the way the situation is escalating,’’ he said.
He said the recent attacks in a nation already fatigued by Boko Haram killings had ridiculed President Goodluck Jonathan’s claim of success against the sect.

Premium Times

Published: February 27,2014

Governor Murtala Nyako

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Indian Neurosurgeon Arrested For Practicing Without Licence

A team of delegates from Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) headed by Professor Innocent Achanya Otobo Ujah, Director General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Dr. Abdulmumini- A. Ibrahim, Registrar

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has arrested an Indian Neurosurgeon, Dr. Raju Bhuvaneswara for operating without a practice licence.
The council who went with policemen from Apo resettlement Division on Monday in Abuja, arrested the 53 years old doctor at Asokoro District Hospital in the Federal Capital Territory.
He was said to have been conducting Neurosurgical operations at Asokoro District Hospital for more than a year without licence from MDCN, the regulating agency for doctors and dentists in the country.
Basina was performing a Craniotomy (brain surgery) in an operating theatre when police and MDCN’s inspectorate officials led by Dr. Henry Okwuokenye arrived at the Hospital for his arrest.
The team was also accompanied by President of the Guild of Medical Directors, Dr. Tony Phillips.
The Chief Medical Director of Asokoro Hospital, Dr. Ahmadu Abubakar, had to prevail on officials of MDCN to wait for him to finish his surgery before thy could pick him up.
Okwuokenye who is Head (Inspectorate Unit) of MDCN, told journalists that investigations have revealed that Basina had already been working as a Doctor at Asokoro Hospital for many months before eventually applying for a licence in August last year.
He said, “The MDCN is yet to process Basina’s application while response from our counterpart in India’s medical regulating agency is pending.
But Basina has continued to work on contract, insisting that he had applied.
According to him, mere application did not constitute the temporary licence meant for Doctors who are trained outside Nigeria adding that Basina should have waited for response before practicing.
“We wrote a letter to India to tell us about the status and license of Basina but they are yet to get back to us.
Although he claimed to have applied, mere application is not a license to practice.
When we asked him of a Doctor could practice in India without license, he said No. Why then is he practicing in Nigeria? Time has come for us to sanitize the system, Nigeria is not a banana Republic where anything can happen”, Okwuokenye stated.
Among documents Basina filed in his application are photocopies of credentials from Nazims Institute of Medical Sciences and Rangaraya Medical College.
As at the time of this report, it was not clear if Basina has been granted bail by the police.
During talks with regulation officials at the Hospital, Basina insisted he trained in the United States among other places, but added that getting a practice licence in Nigeria was too long and inconvenient.
At a point, he insisted that practicing licences were easily ordered “over the phone” in India or took “less than two days” in the US.
“Can I do this in India? I go to india, I apply, and while waiting for them, I start practising?”, Okwuokenye queried.
Okwuokenye insisted that an “application was not equivalent to licence”, pointing out that there were other Indian and foreign doctors practicing in Nigeria with due licensing.
He said the MDCN was committed to clamping down on undue practice by persons claiming to be Doctors in new crackdown ordered by its Registrar/CEO, Dr. Abdulmumini Ibrahim.
At least three separate cases involving improper licencing are facing prosecution in court, the council revealed.
Basina is in his second one-year contract at the Hospital but his arrest questions how his contract was renewed, his services hired or posted to Asokoro DH without a practice licence
The FCT Administration, through its establishment unit and Health Secretariat, centrally hires and posts Doctors to its district hospitals, managed by the Hospitals Management Board.

Leadership

Reps Probe: Nigeria Loses $8bn Yearly To Crude Oil Swap

Adesuwa Tsan And Edegbe Odemwingie

Nigeria loses a staggering $8 billion yearly to the Crude Oil-Product Exchange, otherwise known as crude oil swap arrangement.
This was revealed at a joint House of Representatives Public Hearing into alleged shady transactions between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and two top oil companies in Switzerland, Vitol and Trafigura.
In the crude swap deal, oil trading companies are allowed to lift crude oil in exchange of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.
The joint House Committees on Petroleum Resources Uptream, Downstream and Justice conducting, the probe observed that in most cases, some of the companies involved lift crude oil without commensurate product being supplied.
According to documents obtained by LEADERSHIP from the committee, the NNPC allocated 445,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the following companies: Vitol Ltd, Trafigura, Mercuria, Glencore, Taleveras Nigeria Ltd, Sahara Energy Ltd, Etenal Oil and Gas Ltd, Aiteo Nigeria Limited, Ontario Oil and Gas and Rahmaniya Oil and Gas.
The joint committee remarked that Nigeria loses $8 billion yearly in under-delivered products from the crude oil swap arrangement.
Again, based on a report submitted by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and obtained by LEADERSHIP, four of the oil trading firms “under-delivered” products in 2011.
They are: Trafigura (173,786,600 litres); Trafigura (654,440.7 litres); Taliveras (152,308,878 litres); Aiteo Nigeria Limited (193,046,590 litres) and Ontario Oil and Gas (180,278,732 litres).
The total under-delivered products according to NEITI amounted to 500,075,239.3 litres in 2011.
The crude swap deal based on the report from NEITI is a drainpipe as Nigeria has lost huge revenue. It was also alleged that some of the oil trading companies owed the NNPC products worth over $800 million.
It was further alleged that Duke Oil Company (a 100 per cent subsidiary company of NNPC) was brought in as a middle player to protect some of the local companies being used in the deal.
However, the NNPC in a presentation at the Public Hearing stated that the crude oil-refined products exchange agreement with Duke Oil Company started in February 1, 2011. PPMC allocates 90,000 barrels of crude oil to Duke Oil Company in exchange for the delivery of refined products equivalent to value of the Crude Oil.
According to NNPC Duke Oil Company operates and manages the swap arrangement my loading three cargoes through its nominated operators Messrs Aiteo Energy Resources Ltd, Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd and Taleveras Group. Each company handles 30,000 barrels per day crude oil contract which represents one cargo of about 950,000 barrels per month and delivers an equivalent value of refined petroleum products in cargo sizes of 27,000MT tto 38,000MT, or as maybe agreed by both parties on behalf of Duke oil.
The NNPC stated that at the time of the contract to Duke Oil in 2011, the company did not have sufficient capacity to operate the contract. It therefore subcontracted the 90,000bpd to the nominated operators Messrs Aiteo Energy Resources Ltd, Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd and Taleveras Group to operate the contract at the rate of 30,000 barrels per day per company.
Berne Declaration:‎ $6.8 Billion Oil Scam
Meanwhile, the NNPC yesterday opened up on its alleged shady transactions with the Swiss oil firms, insisting that the loss of $6.8 billion (as alleged in a 2013 report) in its transactions with the Swiss oil firms was not a “remote possibility”.
A November 2013 report titled “Swiss Traders’ Opaque Deals in Nigeria”, published by Berne Declaration, a Switzerland-based non-governmental advocacy group alleged among others that Nigeria loses yearly “billions of dollars” as large volumes of oil are exported below the market price, and the subsidy scheme for imports of refined crude oil products is systematically defrauded.
The report accused Swiss firms, Vitol and Trafigura, of colluding with NNPC to siphone subsidy payments to the tune of $6.8 billion in two years, an allegation a joint House of Representatives Committee yesterday opened an investigative Public Hearing to verify.
Speaking at the House hearing, NNPC Group Managing Director, Andrew Yakubu at debunked the claim by the Bernes Declaration that the NNPC in collaboration with Swiss Oil Trading Companies disposed the country’s crude oil at prices lower than market value.
“We submit that our pricing strategy is aligned to international best practice in the industry. Our prices are based on a reference to the bench mark crude Brent whose prices are published by Platts for the international trading community,” Yakubu told the joint House Committe probing the NNPC transaction.
The NNPC GMD said the corporation’s pricing strategy apply to all buyers of Nigerian crude based on the terms prescribed in the General Sales Agreement entered by all parties.
“we see no remote possibility of the loss of USD6.8 billion from sales below market value to the companies described by the petitioners as “Swiss Trading Companies”.
On the alleged sale of 36 per cent of total country’s crude oil to Vitol and Trafigura, the NNPC GMD rejected allegations that the NNPC unduly favoured the Swiss firms.
He said by the corporation’s records Vitol and Trafigura account for 30.7 million barrels out of the total of 341.07 million barrels disposed by the Corporation in 2013 lifting.
“The lifting of Trafigura and Vitol in 2013 therefore represents 9% of the total lifting as against 36% reported by the “Bernes Declaration”. Additionally Nigerian traders collectively account for 98.2 million barrels during the same period. The other international traders including the “Swiss Trading Companies” account for 61.2 million barrels while off-shore and the Nigerian refineries took 36.2 and 38.3 million barrels respectively.”
He said the selection of buyers of Nigerian crude are done on transparent and competitive basis that seeks to establish financial and technical capabilities, promotion of Nigerian Content and general quality safety assurance.
On the allegation by Bernes Declaration that 100 per cent of Nigerian crude are disposed through Private Trading Companies rather than the Corporation selling directly to the market with attendant loss of trading margins, the NNPC GMD said the country’s marketing strategy of the disposal of Nigerian crude is sale on Free-on-Board (FOB) basis.
He said the model allows the transfer of delivery risk to off-takers at the loading port and is standard practice by most National Oil Companies (NOCs).
On the sale of un-utilised Crude Oil at knock down prices to Swiss Companies through the Crude Oil-Product Exchange (“Swap Arrangement”), the NNPC GMD stated that the claims by the Bernes Declaration are “baseless and without material substance”.
He requested the House Committe to set aside the allegation “in its entirety”.
“The Swap Arrangement referred to by the Bernes Declaration is a known practice in the industry where equivalent value of product is exchanged for crude oil offtake. This is a typical procurement strategy for supply constraint but resource dependant nations to hedge for supply security challenges. It is to be noted that the NNPC delivers the international market value of the crude to the Federation on the basis of the General Sales Agreement and Conditions. There is therefore no value loss to the Federation”.

Leadership

SSS Interrogates Two CBN Directors In Bid To Nail Lamido Sanusi

The State Security Services (SSS) has interrogated two directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as officials of Nigeria’s secret agency intensify effort to nail suspended CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
The invitation to the two CBN directors came a day after the Goodluck Jonathan administration withdrew the security detail of the ousted CBN governor. Mr. Sanusi, who is believed to still be in Lagos, has not stopped talking to local and foreign reporters since his removal last Thursday.
A source at the Presidency told SaharaReporters that Mr. Jonathan was upset about Sanusi’s outspokenness, especially the CBN Governor’s granting of interviews to the foreign media which continue to see his ouster as an audacious attempt by the government to cover up the missing $20 billion. Mr. Sanusi had told a panel of the National Assembly that the Nigerian National Oil Corporation had not deposited $20 billion of Nigeria’s crude oil earnings with the CBN. The embattled CBN Governor reportedly believes that the missing money was pocketed by cronies of President Jonathan.

The SSS has emerged as the weapon of choice in the government’s reprisal against Mr. Sanusi. A source at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told SaharaReporters that the anti-corruption agency was reluctant to get involved in the Sanusi case for fear of being accused of serving as an instrument used by Mr. Jonathan and Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke to cow Mr. Sanusi into submission.
Some agents of the EFCC have also reportedly received documents that detail suspicious transactions. The documents reportedly disclose how some cronies of Mr. Jonathan moved out huge sums of money from the NNPC crude sales.
Tomorrow, SSS agents are scheduled to interview the two CBN directors who received summons today.
A source at the Presidency revealed that the interrogation of the directors became necessary after it was discovered that the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), whose report Mr. Jonathan relied upon in suspending Mr. Sanusi, had accepted some N500 million from the CBN and a few commercial banks to build an institute. Also, the council’s executive director, Jim Obazee, has a pending petition from an Abuja-based Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL). The petition accuses Mr. Obazee of sexually harassing a married Nigerian woman, Abimbola Patricia Yakubu.

TheParadigm

Dad Delivers Baby After Doctor, Nurse Flee

By Katie Moisse

A Boynton Beach, Fla., hospital is staying mum after a maternity ward mix-up that left a dad to deliver his own daughter.
Zaheer Ali says he and his laboring wife, Indira, were abandoned by hospital staff when another patient needed an emergency C-section.
"My wife was screaming," Zaheer Ali told the Palm Beach Post. "The nurse says, 'You have to wait.'"
The Alis arrived to Bethesda Hospital East Saturday night and were given an induction drug to speed up the delivery, according to the Post.
Indira Ali's labor was moving along quickly. When a patient down the hall needed the C-section, her doctor stopped the induction drip to stall the birth until she could return, the Post reported.
But baby Aaliyah couldn't wait. She was born weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces, with just her mom and dad in the room.

"It must have happened very rapidly, because I was only in the C-section for 30 minutes," obstetrician Dr. Elana Deutsch told the Post, adding that a nurse should have stayed with the couple but was likely "nervous" about being there alone. "By the time she [the nurse] was back in the room, the baby was in the bed," Deutsch said.
Deutsch returned to the room just in time to cut the umbilical cord, the Post reported.
"The patient was obviously very upset," she said. "I was very upset."
Study Raises Concerns That Induction Drug Pitocin May Harm Babies
Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Kronhaus declined to comment on the ordeal, citing patient privacy rules, but stressed that mom and baby are "doing very well."
She also confirmed to ABC News that the family was offered "special accommodations" at the hospital but said she couldn't say whether they were still there.
ABC News was unable to reach the family for comment, but Zaheer Ali told the Post that their treatment was "wrong."

"The hospital is saying, 'Sorry,' but I just feel it's wrong," he said. "It's a hospital. There are supposed to be nurses and midwives. A nurse should be there with you."

abcNews

Multinationals, NNPC, DPR Responsible For Fuel Scarcity – NUPENG

Michael Oche

Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) yesterday in Abuja yesterday blamed multinationals, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for the current fuel scarcity being experienced across the country.
Speaking in Abuja, NUPENG’s president, Achese Igwe, also threatened to stop fuel distribution and shut down the nation’s oil sector over alleged unfair labour practices and other nefarious activities by major oil marketers and multi-national oil companies in Nigeria.
Igwe claimed that the activities of oil marketers and multi-national companies amounted to economic sabotage and if not checked would lead to unrest in the sector, calling on the government to quickly intervene before it was too late.
He refuted insinuation that the current scarcity of petroleum produce is being caused by the labour union, and noted that the continuous importation of petroleum products in the country, contrary to the advice by the labour union that government revamp the refineries, was the reason for the scarcity.
He said: “Nigerians deserve to know the actual cause of the scarcity. It is very unfortunate that it is only in the country that refineries build with tax payers’ money are not running. Why are multinationals not encouraging the building of refineries in the country. They are the ones advising the government on the continuous importation of petroleum products.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted the supesnion of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as CBN governor, saying it was flawed and negated due process and the Act establishing the CBN.
The labour unions said Sanusi’s suspension was capable of discouraging future whistle blowers in government as well as casting a pall on government’s fight against corruption, none of which is good for the image of the government at the moment.
In a statement signed by its national president, Comrade Abdulwahed Omar, the NLC said government’s action was negatively pre-emptive and malicious by virtue of the fact that full investigations into the allegations had not been concluded before it removed Sanusi, and also the fact that it had sent to the Senate for confirmation the name of his successor.
The statement reads in part: “We find it intriguing that government and Sanusi could part ways in this fashion. We recall Sanusi’s anti-worker policies/statements and, especially his stance during the fuel price increase protests in January 2012 which was clearly in support of government and the fuel subsidy scammers. To this end, it could be argued he was not really interested in fighting corruption but in seeking the headlines.”

Leadership

N832bn Spent On Fuel Subsidy In 2013 – PPPRA

Juliet Alohan

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has said that it paid a total subsidy claims of N832 billion to fuel marketers under the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) in 2013.
This was disclosed by the immediate past executive secretary of the agency, Reginald Stanley, while handing over to his successor, Farouk Ahmed, in Abuja yesterday, after attaining 35 years of service.
Stanley noted that the N832 billion paid as fuel subsidy in 2013 was a little lower that the N862 billion paid in 2012.
The former PPPRA boss, in his hand-over remarks, also disclosed that the downstream petroleum industry witnessed total investment inflow of about N70 billion under his watch, adding that the agency was able to eliminate previous manipulation of the bill of lading and made cost savings for government.
While emphasising that the agency underwent strategic reform measures aligned with government’s plan for the oil and gas industry, he said the PPPRA saved N409 billion and N326.57 billion for government in 2012 and 2013.
The savings, he explained arose from the reduction in daily fuel consumption figure from 60.25 million litres per day in 2011 to 39.79 million litres in 2012, while it recorded 42.11 million litres per day in 2013, a reduction of 18.14 million litres compared with the 2011 figure.
“What is spectacular about the 2013 consumption figure is that it showed a modest increase of 5.5 per cent in the 2012 figure in an economy growing at 6.9 per cent per annum. Statistically, gasoline consumption tracks the gross domestic product (GDP) growth very closely,” Stanley said.
Noting that the pruning in the number of marketers, deployment of global tracking of vessels, among others, were part of measures adopted, Stanley said, “today, it has been well established that national consumption is around 40 million litres per day.”
He further appealed to the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in order to sustain a vibrant downstream sector, adding that in the last 24 months many depots and jetties have been built through private initiates, thereby generating thousands of jobs in the economy.
Remarking, Ahmed while thanking government for the opportunity to serve, urged staff of PPPRA to ensure the sustenance of the ongoing reform in the agency, even as he warned against any form of gossiping or sycophancy.
Leadership

Inter Targets Mikel Obi

Chelsea midfielder John Obi MIkel is a target of Italian giants Inter who are looking for a defensive midfielder to shore up their middle.
Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Walter Mazzari has sent his main scout to monitor the Nigerian whose contract at Stamford Bridge lasts till 2017.
Mikel has seen his Chelsea place come under threat with the arrival of Nemanja Matic in January and has also been curtailed by minor injuries.
Rated at 15 million Euros, the prize could be too high for the San Siro club who are also mauling a loan move in the summer transfer window.
Inter will also wait to see if Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has an interest in signing any Inter player which could result in Mikel being thrown into the negotiations.
Mikel is expected to lead Nigeria’s charge at the World Cup in June and an impressive performance with the Super Eagles would shoot up his profile and asking fees.

Leadership

Why PDP can’t retain Rivers in 2015, by Amaechi

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi spoke with reporters in Port-Harcourt, the state capital, on the visit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crises, the future of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the 2015 elections. Excerpts:
Why did you request former President Olusegun Obasanjo to commission your projects?
He was a foremost Head of State and Government that we have had in the country. So, what is wrong in asking him to commission the projects. It was important that he came to have a look at what we have done. Like I told him in the public, we same a common friend and anytime and anytime common friends say what about these things, is Amaechi working, that can be assessed. It was important to bring him so that he can assess things for himself so that next time that question is put forward, he will give them an answer.
Don’t you think that the President will be annoyed that Obasanjo has taken the shine off him by not being invited to commission the projects as the President and Commander-In-Chief?
Today, some governors commission for themselves. Would you take offence when they commission their projects by themselves? I saw Fashola recently as he was commissioning projects. I saw Akpabio as he was commissioning a General Hospital. Why will the President take offence about that? It depends on the choice that the governor makes. I can ask the President or governor to commission projects. My colleagues have invited me to commission projects before in Jigawa. I had an invitation from Yobe. Adamawa has invited me. I don’t think that the President will take offence with that.
Will the commissioning by Obasanjo enhance your profile?
Well, looking at Obasanjo’s status, you will certainly get some benefits by identifying with him. He is a man with this national clout. I was surprised by the kind of reception he got among the people that came out to receive him. There were those that were brought by the organisers. There were those that came on their own hailing him, shouting baba, calling him all sorts of name, baba iyabo, baba this, Olusegun. Some calling him without respect by calling the former President by such name. I can share this with you. He told us how he acquired the name, Mathew. He said that his parents said that he should have a Christian name and when he got to the secondary school, they looked at how long his names were and one has to be dropped and that he decided to drop Mathew and the reason he dropped Mathew was that Mathew was a tax collector. I think you can’t ignore the fact that identifying with such an important character will rub off on you, and I think positively.
Does the likelihood exist that you will return to the PDP, which is the predominant party in Rivers?
You should be careful with your choice of words. How do you know that the PDP is the predominant party? Why can you wait and see whether it is true? You have to be careful. What you assume to be the predominance of the PDP may be the predominance of the manipulation of the elite. It is now that we will source the votes from the down-trodden and then, you can say whether it is a predominantly PDP state or not. I think we should be careful in the choice of such words.
What is likely to be the fate of the APC in Rivers in 2015?
I am not God. Don’t give me such powers.
How about your succession plan?
I leave that to God. Don’t forget the way I was anointed as the governor. Even, the greatest of all Christians never thought that it will happen. There were occasions where I had sat down in Ghana and asked: how did it happen? I started thinking about these prophets who prophesised that you will be governor and I asked, how will it happen? We don’t know. We just wash and see how God does His things. You must take that into consideration. So, there is God’s elements. Then, you do your human planning. But, I am not focusing on human planning. I am focusing on building a party called the APC because there was none some few months ago. That is why we say, if the PDP says that they are the biggest party , the largest party in Africa, I will say APC is the fastest growing party in Africa. No party has grown at the rapid rate the APC is growing. Some few months ago, there was no opposition party in Sokoto. But, the PDP is now struggling to retain its status as the opposition party in Sokoto. It is the same in Kano. It is the same in Kaduna where the Vice President comes from. And the APC is rearing its head in Bayelsa. So, you can see we are the fastest growing party.
Are you saying there is tension in the PDP?
Honestly, the tension in the PDP over the sharing of the loot in Nigeria is enough to put it into crisis. But, look at here now, all of us are at peace with one another.
What is your comment on the NNPC 20 billion dollar controversy?
You heard Asiwaju saying that the NNPC is the ATM of Jonathan. We are not involved. We are not talking about it. We will allow the country to decide.
What does the revelation about the missing oil money portends?
Nigerians should react. The Governors’ Forum has taken a position that he dwindling revenue at he state level is not because of the oil theft, but because of financial diversion.
Would all these your projects be completed before you leave or they would be abandoned, especially the mono-rail?
Where you there when I was interviewing the contractor? Everything about that mono-rail is inside the city of Port-Harcourt. They say they will complete the terminus in October. We will start the power project very soon so that the train will have power to use. The train is built in such a way that, if there is no power, automatically, it will use diesel. You can see the cost. You have power and diesel.

TheNation

Of political thugs and elections

by: Ignatius Adegoke

The great body of critical discourse on the politics of the era seems to have little good to say about those in government, the politicians and their parties. Thus, when years ago, a military ruler sought to change the face of the country’s transition chain by decreeing a five-party structure into existence, the arrangement was rubbished by a political leader of thought who called it “the five fingers of a leprous hand.”
Who would want to be part of a terminally diseased system? So, it didn’t last. Earlier, another military creation- a two-party affair that held much promise at the beginning- collapsed because of the chicanery of the evil genius behind it. Successor governments- military and civilian- have borne the scars of the woeful failures of those which came before them.
The reason they posted lack-lustre performance wasn’t difficult to locate: they did not have lofty ideas, revolutionary concepts of governance that marked them out as serious custodians of the mandate to rule. It is claimed that ideas rule the world. But they did not seem to believe this axiom and so they stormed the scene largely without a plan. In a word, they were unprepared for the high office they occupied.
He, who fails to plan, plans to fail! And how abysmally our politicians might descend again as governorship polls hold in two south west states in few months while general elections come up nation-wide in 2015, if they refuse to learn from the past; if they refuse to bring up new ideas. Apart from the preparations being put in place by the electoral umpire, INEC, where else needs better tender attention, whose neglect could make nonsense of INEC’s “fool-proof” strategies and spell doom for the poll and the soul of the nation?
So, how are we planning in order not to fail? As I said, we must not restrict ourselves to what INEC or its state counterparts say regarding having worked out a good measure at ensuring an acceptable outing at the poll. We must put on our thinking cap to identify what can upturn the umpire’s “perfect” plans.
A governor in one of the south west states, Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo has done just that by coming up with the position that in the past, political thuggery involving the unholy alliance between governors and warring road transport union workers, was responsible for the violence that gave elections and campaign rallies a bad name.
His claim is that armed with an understanding of this ruinous enterprise, his predecessors engaged in a battle to unleash sorrow on the people of Oyo state. But this Oyo state performing governor is tell whoever cares to listen that including, he all the warring road transport union workers that his government was not interested in making use of them for election as was done in the past. He should know! He is governing the cradle of political thuggery, where one of his predecessors jettisoned the official security outfit and opted for a faction of the transport worker’s unions for protection. Members of this unofficial police killed and maimed during campaign rallies and elections as they “escorted” the governor across the state.

It was the height of impunity. These hooligans engaged open and perceived political opponents of the then sitting governor. Since the governor of that era procured the weapons and cash for them, they could not be accountable to the law. They operated above the law and trashed any outcome of the ballot. They could raid homes and offices of those not on the side of government in power. They instilled fear in the society and therefore to fear them was the beginning of wisdom.
Almost every week in the period that preceded Ajimobi’s advent, you had deadly clashes between the union on the side of the government and those on the opposite side. They were fatal encounters that led to casualties not only on the part of the thugs but alas, also on the part of innocent passers-by and motorists!
Such heavy toll on the society all because of one man’s inordinate ambition to stay put in power which he was not even wielding appropriately in the interest of those he claimed put him there! Ajimobi’s prompt and decisive rejection of these hirelings is what is responsible for the sanity and peace in Oyo in the past three years of his rule. Ibadan motor parks which used to be the hub of crime, violence and training ground of the ex-governor’s dogs of war have been tamed.
There is no governor this time around to recruit and shield them. There is no governor to pump tax payers’ money into their bottomless war chest. There is no governor to fund their insatiable taste for extravagance and lust for drugs. What you do not feed starves and dies. The present governor has refused to feed political thuggery and so the union workers who were suborned for the devil’s work have been starved to death. They have been shoved off the scene to make way for tranquillity, not only during the poll in 2015, but also for all times.
If other key political players’ nation wide follow the foot steps of Governor Ajimobi on this score, it is certain that we shall by the Grace of God enjoy a violence-free ballot in the country in the years ahead. Then the conversation will change, with critical observers reviewing their stand that there is nothing good to say about our politicians.
• Adegoke is a political scientist in Lagos.

TheNation