Threat of Arrest: Jega Explains Absence to House

Thursday, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega explained why he did not honour the invitation of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, blaming it on communication gaps.

The House of Representatives had Wednesday threatened to arrest the INEC Chairman for not honouring its invitation to appear before it.
But Jega has in a letter to the chairman of House Committee on Public Accounts explained why he did could not appear before the lawmakers.
The INEC Chairman is expected to appear before the committee on to explain the expenditures of the commission between 2003 and 2011, following the queries raised by the Auditor General of the Federation on INEC’s accounts, within the period under review.
Dr. Abel Guobadia completed the tenure of Justice Ephriam Akpata in 2005 and Prof. Maurice Iwu who was appointed as INEC chairman was the chairman of the commission till 2010 when Jega assumed office. The probe by the House will look into the expenditures of the commission under three chairmen.
According to Jega in a letter dated January 31 2013, “My failure to respond to your committee’s invitation was wholly unintended and regrettable. I had travelled out of the country for a while and only returned to office early this week; and there was apparently a communication gap that made me unaware of the invitation to appear before the honourable committee on Wednesday.
"I learnt from the media this morning that your honourable committee has resolved to issue an arrest warrant on me, following my failure to appear before it at its scheduled sitting on Wednesday, January 30, 2013.
"The resolution, obviously, was borne out of the anger of committee members over my unfortunate absence at the Wednesday sitting. It is, thus, perfectly understandable," Jega said in the letter.
The INEC Chairman said he has no reason or intention to be disrespectful to the committee, or to shun its summons, promising that he would ensure to be readily available at the next scheduled sitting.
Naij

$620,000 Bribe: Farouk Lawan Faces Trial Today

At long last, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission (ICPC) will today arraign a member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, over a seven-count charge bearing on corrupt enrichment.
The charge stems from allegations by a businessman, Chief Femi Otedola, that Lawan demanded and received $620,000 as a bribe from him while he (Lawan) was the chairman of the House AdHoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime.
The arraignment of Lawan alongside the secretary of the adhoc committee, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, seems an indication of the Federal Government sudden readiness to up the tempo of its anti-corruption campaign.
On Wednesday, a former Assistant Director of the Police Pension Office, John Yusuf, was rearraigned and remanded in prison custody barely 24 hours after an Abuja High Court handed him a light sentence after admitting to conniving with others to defraud the office and pensioners of N27.2bn.
Many civil society groups and Nigerians, including students, had denounced the Abuja High Court judgment, saying it was an indication of Federal Government’s unwillingness to take on the fight against corruption headlong.
Lawan and Emenalo, will however, be arraigned before Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi of a Federal Capital Territory High Court today. Oniyangi had on Thursday granted the ICPC leave to file the seven counts against them.
Oniyangi said, “Upon careful consideration of the application and attached documents in support of same filed by the complainant’s counsel, leave is hereby granted to the complainant/applicant to prefer criminal charges under section 185 (b) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
“The case is fixed for February 1, 2013 for arraignment.”
Lawan and Emanalo are to be tried for “Violation of the Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Act, 2000.”
The charge sheet with reference number FCT/HC/CR/76/2013 was signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mrs. O.O. Fatunde, on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN).
The Federal Republic of Nigeria is the complainant, while Lawan and Emenalo are the defendants.
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Count one of the charge reads, “That you, Farouk Lawan (M) and Mr. Emenalo Boniface (M) sometime in April 2012 or thereabout in Abuja within the Federal Capital Territory under the jurisdiction of this honourable court did while acting in the course of your official duties as Chairman and Secretary (respectively) of House of Representatives AdHoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime, conspired between yourselves and with each other to corruptly obtain the sum of $3,000,000 for yourselves from Mr. Femi Otedola, Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, as inducement to remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd from the House of Representatives AdHoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime’s Report and did cause the House to remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd from the said list and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 26(1)(c) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Act, 2000, and punishable under section 8(1) of the same Act.”
In count two, Lawan was accused of corruptly asking for $3,000,000 from Otedola with the intention of favouring him (Otedola) in the report of the adhoc committee, an offence punishable under section 8(1) of the same Act.
While in count three, Lawan was said to have corruptly agreed to accept the $3,000,000, count four indicated that he obtained $500,000 from Otedola Otedola.
In the same vein, count five accused Emenalo of asking for$3,000,000 for himself from Otedola as a bribe, an offence punishable under section 8(1) of the ICPC 2000 Act.
The prosecution alleged in count six that Emenalo was offered bribe by Otedola but he failed to report the offer to any officer of the ICPC, an offence contrary to section 23(1) of the ICPC Act, 2000, and punishable under section 23(3) of the same 2000 ICPC Act.
In count seven, Emenalo was equally accused of receiving $120,000 from Otedola.
In an affidavit deposed to by one Chidi Amaeze, the ICPC disclosed that investigation into the criminal case had since been concluded.
Lawan had repeatedly denied Otedola’s accusations, saying he collected the $620,000 as evidence to expose the businessman’s attempts to bribe him.
The prosecution is coming several months after the police had concluded investigations into the allegation. The report of the police investigation, as well as the case file, was reportedly submitted to the AGF in August 2012.
The AGF’s silence on the matter had given rise to insinuations that the Federal Government had swept the matter under the carpet.
However, a lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, had last week, sent draft charges against Lawan to the AGF, and in a letter accompanying the charge, he gave the AGF a one-week ultimatum to indicate his readiness to prosecute Lawan.
The ultimatum expired on Tuesday.
Keyamo had explained that he decided to prepare, and send the draft charge to the AGF following indications that he (AGF) was unwilling to prosecute the case for undisclosed reasons.
But reacting to Keyamo’s ultimatum, government prosecutor, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), had informed journalists that Lawan would be arraigned during the week.
Naij

26 Killed As China Bridge Collapses

No fewer than 26 people were killed on Friday as a bridge collapsed in central China after a truck carrying fireworks exploded, state-run media reported.
The lorry “suddenly exploded” as it crossed the expressway bridge in the central province of Henan, China National Radio said, causing sections of it to collapse and sending other vehicles plunging to the ground.
An 80-metre long section of the bridge collapsed and six vehicles had been retrieved from the debris, China’s official news agency Xinhua said, adding that rescue efforts were underway.
The bridge is on the G30 expressway, the longest road in China, which stretches for nearly 4,400 kilometres (2,734 miles) from China’s western border with Kazakhstan to the eastern Yellow Sea.
Many of China’s roads are packed as the country gears up for its most important holiday, the Lunar New Year, when hundreds of millions of people travel back to their hometowns in what is billed as the world’s largest migration.
The season is also a peak period for fireworks producers, as Chinese traditionally buy the explosives to celebrate the festival, which falls this year on February 10.
InformationNigeria

“If The Money Is Good Enough, I Will Take It Even If Involves Exposing…” – Nollywood Actress

Celebrities are often faced with the challenge of ensuring they keep their acts together as fans are quick to give meaning to everything they do. It is the same for Nollywood actress, Mimi Quaker whom many have concluded is a lesbian because she always keep girls as her Blackberry display pictures. Mimi cleared the air on that in an interview with Vanguard saying the girls people see are the girls she arranges for people…she arranges girls for music videos.
“Most of the directors are my friends and they ask me to bring girls for music videos. So, I organise girls for their videos. All they do is ask me to bring girls with certain specifications and I search for girls with those specifications. Sometimes, I provide nothing less than five girls for a music video and what I do is to get paid from the girls’ payment.” Mimi says she takes up to 40 per cent.
Mimi’s girls have to suit the taste of her clients. She describes her kind of girls;
“The shape is the most important feature. The girl must be very curvy with nice skin colour, not necessarilylight-skinned and the height doesn’t matter. The type of girls to choose often depends on the director’s specifications. In some instances, the director may require a busty girl, big backside girl or even a slim-waist girl. Generally, a sexy curvy girl passes.”
Mimi was probed again about her s*xuality and she said an emphatic no to the lesbian question. In fact, she says she’s in a relationship. She didn’t mention the man’s name and she talked as if he was an imaginary man, so-to-say.
When asked what attracted her to the man she claims to be dating, Mimi answered; “I guess the physique. I also like guys with a good set of teeth. He must also be handsome, tall, well-built and God-fearing.” Draw your inference, people.
Mimi who said she started acting in the easiest of ways said she can take up any role in acting; exposing private parts, s*x scenes, etc., after all it’s make-believe.
“It was a bit easy for me. I met Chico Ejiro on Facebook and told him about my intention to go into acting. He invited me for an audition and that was how it all started for me,” she said on how she started acting.
S*x scenes, scenes with indecency? Bring them on! Mimi says; “It is only make-believe. You are not actually having s*x but making it look like you are having s*x.
“Well, if the money is good enough, I will take it. The whole idea is make-believe and getting the job done. It has nothing to do with my person,” Mimi says about showing private parts of her body on screen.
Still a student of Philosophy at the University of Lagos, Mimi Quaker prides herself in the success she’s achieved over the years. She appeared in six music videos in 2012 and was named as one of the top ten video vixens in 2012 by Linda Ikeji.
Mimi has worked with several artistes including KAN, Brymo, Rex, and Terry G.
In Nollywood, Mimi’s got herself role models like Mercy Johnson and Genevieve. “I used to like Rita Dominic but not anymore because she has not lived up to my expectation,” Mimi said.
InformationNigeria

Gay Dog Saved

Luckily, a "gay" dog was saved from euthanasia Thursday after someone launched a Facebook campaign two days earlier. A Tennessee animal shelter said an owner brought the dog in this week and called it "homosexual" after observing it mounting a same-sex dog. However, after a large response from the shelter's social media campaign, the animal was not euthanized.
A follow up report on Jan. 31 from the Atlantic Wire revealed a rosy ending to a strange news story in which a homophobic pet owner nearly caused an innocent canine to be put down.
The story about how the "gay dog" was saved began this way, according to the Facebook post by the Jackson Rabies Control Animal Shelter in Tennessee:

"This guy was signed over to RC, not bc he's mean or bc he tears things up, but because... His owner says he's gay! He hunched another male dog so his owner threw him away bc he refuses to have a "gay" dog! Even if that weren't the most asinine thing I've ever heard, it’s still discrimination! Don't let this gorgeous dog die bc his owner is ignorant of normal dog behavior! He's in kennel 10L and he WILL be put down tomorrow bc there is no room at the inn!"

If you're an animal lover, this story probably reads like something out of the "Twilight Zone" or sounds like a parody or spoof from SNL. However, it really happened, if you can believe the nerve of some people.
It makes you wonder: what human would call a dog "gay?"
As of the date and time of this writing, the Facebook post to save the pit bull/American bulldog has been shared thousands of times. This alone was reason enough to save the animal from an undeserved death sentence.
As the AW noted, the bigoted dog-owner likely doesn't know much about dogs in general. Supposedly, dogs, just like pack wolves, coyotes and other pack animals, typically hump other males as a way to display dominance. In short, the behavior in the animal kingdom is quite normal, despite the way it looks to uninformed or anti-gay humans.
Thankfully, the "gay" dog -- as the owner puts it -- was saved from being euthanized. It goes to show you the power of social media combined with the hearts of passionate people.
Now, it's time to find the pooch a good home where he will not be judged. After all, enough of that goes on in the world of two-legged individuals.
TalkOfNaija

‘Leaders should be held responsible for attack in own domain’

 by Hassan Ibrahim

Gbong Gwom Jos and Chairman Plateau State Traditional Council of Chiefs Da Jacob Gyang Buba has says leaders at all levels should be held responsible for any attack in their respective domain.

The monarch said in Riyom in the ongoing sensitization peace tour organized by Plateau State Special Task Force (STF), saying the best way to tackle the present security challenges is that in any location where there is an attack both traditional and political leaders should be arrested and faced the wrath of the law.

He said that “for those of us that are called leaders we must rise up to our responsibilities and also the people too must respect constituted authority for us to resolve this problems because you can never be good if you don’t know how to follow”.

Earlier, Emir of Kanam Alhaji Babangida Muazu said a good number Nigerians are guilty of the present security problems in the country because “We have compromised our right for money and ask the politicians to give us money in place of development.

DailyTrust

Nasarawa Assembly Scraps New Chiefdoms Created By Governor Al-Makura

The executive and legislature in Nasarawa State may be on a collision course as the House of Assembly on Thursday cancelled 10 new chiefdoms created by Governor Tanko Al-Makura.
The House said its action was because the Governor failed to follow laid down rules.
Al-makura had on December 13, 2012 approved the creation of 10 additional chiefdoms, a move the lawmakers did not endorse.
The exercise saw the Chun Mada of Akwanga, Nunku Chiefdom and Ngah Chiefdom upgraded to first class status and seven others to second class chiefs.
But the lawmakers in a statement, signed by the Chairman of the Committee on Information, Security and Special Duties, Mohammed Baba-Ibaku, described the development as illegal, null and void.
They further accused the executive arm of ignoring stipulated laws in carrying out the formation.

Meanwhile, the refusal of the state radio station to broadcast the House’ opposition to the matter, prompted it to summon the General Manager, Yusuf Abdullahi,.e General Manager, Yusuf Abdullahi.

While speaking, Baba-Ibaku said: “This singular act exhibited by you, means you are not fit to head the station, saying the station belongs to the people of the state, and the manager owes it as a duty to disseminate information”.
On his part, Abdullahi apologised to the members, adding that he was in Abuja for a function when the statement was forwarded.
“As a human being we can make mistakes, I want the members to forgive me, with the assurances that this type of mistake will not repeat itself,” he said.
The Speaker of the House, Mohammed Ahmed-Musa directed Abdullahi to tender his apology in writing and that the House’ verdict be read out to the people of the state.
Naij