Opposition senators support merger

by Isiaka Wakili

Senate Minority Leader George Akume

Senators of five opposition political parties yesterday described the merger that resulted in the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a national redemption project.

The senators are of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Senate Minority Leader George Akume, who led 23 other senators, including Ahmed Sani Yerima and Chris Anyanwu, to a press conference at the National Assembly Complex yesterday, said with the merger, a new baby had been born in the nation’s political arena.

Akume said all the opposition senators had met on Wednesday to support the merger, asking Nigerians to see the newly formed APC as a serious group that would do things differently in the country.

Akume, who said from 2015, the nation’s politics would not be business as usual, also assured that under the current merger arrangement, Nigerians would see a very vibrant opposition in the National Assembly.

“We observed that the merger talks are aimed at salvaging the political, social and economic situation in Nigeria with a view to rescuing our nation from the rot and corruption bedevilling her and from the fangs of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) maladministration. We support our leaders and applaud their wisdom and patriotism in their epochal drive to stem this declining tide. We also appreciate the courage of our governors. We call on all members of our parties in our senatorial districts, our political associates and followers to work assiduously towards the realisation of this national redemption project”, he said.

Calling on all progressive-mind Nigerians, regardless of political platform, to join the new political terrain, Akume added: “It is our faith that this collective worthwhile and noble endeavour will lead all Nigerians to realise the dreams of our founding fathers to have a country that works for all and sundry.”

Akume, who said the Labour Party would “come on board if it is truly progressive”.

He said the statements credited to Anambra State Governor Peter Obi that APGA was not part of the merger should not be seen as implying cracks in the merger, saying “Imo State Governor Okorocha and Senator Chris Anyanwu are part of the merger which people of like minds have formed. If an individual decided to be left out, he/she is free.”

DailyTrust

Enugu High Court sacks Victor Umeh as APGA national chairman

By Emmanuel Uzodinma

A High Court sitting in Enugu State on Friday sacked the national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh from office.
The court presided over by the Enugu Chief Judge, Justice Innocent Umezulike said Umeh’s tenure elapsed in December, 2010.
It could be re-called that an aggrieved member of the Party, Mr. Jude Okolie had approached the court in June 2012 asking it to declare Umeh’s stay in office beyond December 2010 unconstitutional.
Okolie asked the court to determine “whether going by article 18 of the APGA constitution, the defendant, (Umeh) can be re-elected other than through a secret ballot system in an election organized by the National Executive Committee, NEC of the party.
“Whether the defendant can legitimately remain in office after 2010 without any valid national convention in line with the constitution of APGA”, adding that in line with the provisions of the party, Umeh was also supposed to have vacated office at least two months to a fresh election.
In challenging the suit, Umeh through his counsel, Patrick Ikwueto raised preliminary objections, which bordered on the jurisdiction of the court as well as the locu standi of the plaintiff.
According to him, the non-joinder of the APGA in the suit would lead to injustice. He also claimed that the plaintiff had since been expelled from the party, and as such lacked the locu standi to pursue the suit.
He also told the court that the suit was a domestic and internal matter of the party, insisting that the court had no right to dabble into such issues.
However, in his judgment, Justice Umezulike who dealt with all the issues raised by the defendant said although it may be desirable to bring in APGA, “failure in my view cannot affect the action in any way”.
The court held that independent of APGA as a party to the suit, it can interpret section 18 of its constitution.
“The provisions of APGA constitution which is before me is very clear, it is written in English and not in any strange language; so the position of this court is APGA as a political party is not indispensable in exercising the interpretative powers of this court”.
On the issue of locu standi, the court also ruled in favour of the plaintiff, holding that the expulsion of the plaintiff from the party does not exist to the knowledge of the court.
“If the said 3-man panel that recommended his expulsion really existed, where is the notice of proceedings, when was the plaintiff invited and was he given fair hearing? In the absence of all this, no sane court can hold that the plaintiff was expelled. It is a nullity; it was contrived for the essence of this suit”.

Umezulike also faulted the defendant’s opinion that the matter was not within the jurisdiction of the court. He noted that it was the constitutional responsibility of courts to interpret statutes, documents, agreements and constitutions binding individuals, or associations together.
“Accordingly, the court shall not run away from this suit in terror at the slightest mention of the word ‘domestic affair’. The court has a duty to insist that rule of law and constitutional provisions prevail in political milieu”, he averred.
The court, therefore, declared that the convention of APGA, which took place in February 2011 was unconstitutional, null and void and that Umeh’s tenure came to a legitimate end on the 2nd day of December, 2010.
The defendant’s claim that he was re-elected during a national congress of the party held in Awka, Anambra State in February, 2011 did also not change the mind of the court. The court observed that section 18 of APGA constitution was violated in the said election, as Umeh and other members of the national exco of the party were only presented through a voice vote, other than a secret ballot, as provided by the party’s constitution.
“By law, he has since 2nd Day of December, 2010 seized to be the APGA national chairman. I have not said that the defendant is barred from presenting himself for election, he may as well win, but the court insist that such election must comply strictly with the provisions of the party’s constitution.
“He is not and has not been the party’s national chairman since December 2, 2010”, the court further held.
It said following from the above, the NEC of APGA is bound to meet and fix a date for election, stressing that “the defendant cannot be re-elected other than by a secret ballot system in such election fixed by the NEC.
“His occupation of office after 2010 is illegal, ultra vires the constitution of APGA. He is thereby restrained from parading himself as the national Chairman of APGA”.
DailyPost

Bribery Scam: Farouk Lawan, Emenalo Granted Bail

Farouk Lawan

By Sani Tukur

An Abuja High Court, Friday, granted bail to the former Chairman of House of Representative Ad Hoc Committee on fuel subsidy payments, Farouk Lawan, and the secretary of the committee, Boniface Emenalo. The two men have been in held in prison for about a week.
They are being prosecuted by the Federal Government for collecting $620, 000 (N93 million) as bribe from business man, Femi Otedola, to remove his company, Zenon Oil, from the list of indicted companies.
The Judge, Mudashiru Oniyangi, granted them bail on the sum of N10 million each and two sureties each in like sum.
He also directed them to submit their international passports with the court registrar, adding that they can only travel outside Nigeria with the permission of the court.
The Judge based his decision to grant bail on the discretionary powers of the court and the inability of the prosecution to file a counter affidavit to the one filed by the accused persons detailing their reasons for asking for bail.
He fixed April 10 and 17 for hearing.
  Saharareporters

Nigerian Economic Order: A Titanic Injustice By Obi Ebuka Onochie

By Obi Ebuka Onochie

The great 19th century Jewish-German philosopher, economist and revolutionary Karl Marx believed that capitalism was radically unstable and a popular revolution would occur and bring a communist system into being that would be more productive and far more humane. I personally do not believe this anymore. I believe that capitalism offers everyone the benefits that in Marx's time were enjoyed only by the bourgeoisie, the settled middle class that owned capital and had a reasonable level of security and freedom in their lives.
Now over a century after Marx’s communist manifesto, the world has seen the best of both communism and capitalism but none has been able to solve problems plaguing the human race. Some have tried without remarkable success the mixture of both with the hope of milking the benefits the two can offer. Capitalism has some obvious advantages over communism and vice versa and the mixture of both fosters confusion and incoherent policies. Nigeria dabbled into mixed economy mainly in 80s but now wants to go fully capitalist but the route is hugely crooked.
Capitalism has been described as a process of creative destruction and the trouble is that among the things that have been destroyed in the process is the way of life on which capitalism in the past depended. Take Nigeria for a narrative example where in the past, pyramids were built with groundnut in the north; barrels were filled with red oil in the east while sacks of cocoa were churned out in the west. There used to be massive governmental interest in agriculture which provided a strong base for industrial growth and employment. They are no more and things have taken a chaotic and unguided direction socially, economically and ultimately politically. Nigeria’s capitalism has no proper economic and policy foundation which is why the chaos in our society persists unabated with so much policies coming and going with different administrations.
The richest African is a Nigerian, the richest African woman also a Nigerian and many Nigerians have found their way to Forbes rich list. Our country is reported to have over two hundred privately owned ostentatious jets with fabulous yachts on the increase as well. Oil wells are distributed among these same very few who do not stop at that but take close to half of the total budget through the oil subsidy fund, a fund which is hardly reflected at the pump stations. Government owned institutions and companies are sold to them at annoying prices, they collaborate with their puppets in government to turn the policies of government in their favour and they make sure that the masses are repressively held down.
The dawn of a new era in our democracy in 1999 brought a lot of policies which have created greater hardship for Nigerian citizens. Capitalism where a few are buying up all government owned firms is nothing but a “cabalism” of the highest order. Some of the bought over companies are either closed down or turned into warehouses or are kept unproductive just to take it further away from the “wrong” (masses) hand. Nigerians showed their unusual character of oneness in January of 2012 when the president gave them the strange New Year’s gift of a petroleum price hike. But it didn’t take long before Nigerians broke their rank and file.
Nigeria’s economic environment is structured in a way that it will always favour the rich and disfavour the poor. Somebody whose grandfather was poor and growing up under a poor father is likely to be poor and most likely train his children in deprivation and this is what the opponents of capitalism call the hallmark of capitalism. In some other capitalist economies like India and Brazil, over ninety percent of total millionaires every year are first time millionaires while ours create billionaires out of millionaires and trillionaires out of billionaires and hardly ever new millionaires. We are currently not at war but we are definitely in a state of war created by a biased economic order and unwillingness of the ruling class to tackle corruption and harmonize their policies for the benefit of the masses.
Good education is priced away from the affordability of the majority and mass education is more or less destroying the system rather than creating it. The percentage of unemployment in Nigeria cannot be ascertained and there is no social economic security for the unemployed, elderly or even the disabled. The horrendous insecurity situation which the government denied being fueled by poverty of all kinds but instead attributed the cause to political motivations is one problem too many. Different groups of renegades like the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), the Oduduwa’s People’s Congress (OPC), Boko Haram, Militants of Niger Delta, Egbesu Boys, etc are not seeking for identity but are products of hash, unbalanced and partitioned economic order.
A report from the United Nations shows that, about one in four Nigerians are currently unemployed and that Nigeria has one of the worst youth unemployment rates in sub-Saharan Africa at 37.7 per cent. These damning verdicts are contained in a 291-page publication called ‘The African Economic Outlook 2012’ jointly published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA, the United Nations Development Population, UNDP; the African Development Bank Group; and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. With these near truth statistics, there wouldn’t be a better motivating factor for crime and violence. The upsurge in crime is not an unanticipated event as the security agencies claimed but a well tailored event by the actions and inactions of the past and present governments.
Victims of this unjust economic arrangement are asking questions in various unconventional and inhumane ways of bombing, kidnapping, robbery, terrorism, intimidation, etc. The majority do not know where the problem lies hence the call for disintegration. If our economy is well organized to accommodate the majority and reward hard work, it will down play and possibly eliminate sectional and religious identification and politicking which is eating the nation up.
Obi Ebuka Onochie
Political Analyst
Port-Harcourt
 Saharareporters

Facebookmageddon: Apparent Bug On Facebook Brings Down Parts Of Internet

The Huffington Post  |  By Hunter Stuart  

A Facebook bug that briefly brought parts of the Internet to its knees has been resolved, Facebook told The Huffington Post in an email on Thursday evening.

"For a short period of time, there was a bug that redirected people from third party sites with Facebook Login to Facebook.com. The issue was quickly resolved," Facebook said.
But for about half an hour, lots of people on Twitter and several editors in the Huffington Post's New York office reported that, while surfing the web, they were suddenly re-directed to a Facebook error page. For example, clicking on stories on the HuffPost front page during that time bounced some people over to the Facebook page seen in the image below:

This was apparently happening from several websites, including, Reuters, Soundcloud and Business Insider, among others.
Buzzfeed reports that the issue affected only people who were logged into Facebook.
The Next Web speculates that the issue could have stemmed from Facebook Connect, which lets Facebook users connect their accounts with third party websites.
HuffingtonPost

Yar’Adua Suffered From Low Self Esteem – El-Rufai

Just as living former and serving major political actors in Nigeria are exposed in Malam Nasir El-Rufai’s memoirs, ‘The Accidental Public Servant’, so is the dead! Although it is prayed that the dead should rest in peace, El-Rufai will not allow Nigeria’s former President, late Umaru Yar’Adua be as he has said that one of the reasons the late President failed in office was as a result of low self esteem.
In his 628-page memoir, El-Rufai said that Yar’Adua always fretted and felt insecure among brilliant minds; hence he avoided surrounding himself with enough competent hands who could disagree with him based on superior arguments.
According to the former minister, it was in the character of the late Yar’Adua to find a way to sever a relationship, once he discovered one to be outspoken, intelligent and independent-minded.
El-rufai claimed that it was because of his deep understanding of the personality of the late president that he declined working in that short-lived administration so as not to spoil their cordial relationship.
el-Rufai said: “Knowing Umaru better overtime and longer than most people that worked with him as president, I was convinced that working with him would damage our cordial relationship. One of Umaru’s basic problems was that he was insecure and could therefore be irrational about many things.
“Part of the reasons I think he failed as president was that this deep insecurity prevented him from surrounding himself with enough numbers of competent, independent-minded people who could disagree with him. This is because good people often have strong opinions and necessarily disagree with others, including their leaders. They are naturally confident, outspoken and will not always agree with the leader’s views and will say so.

“Umaru had no tolerance at all for people who argued or disagreed with him.
“Once a person disagreed with Umaru once or twice, that person would never have access to him, ever again, he would just block him out.”
In what might be an interesting expose on the late Yar’Adua’s first 100 days in office, El-Rufai said governance began to suffer because the late president felt intimidated by the volume of work and challenges of the office.
“What was happening behind the scenes, and I say this only after hearing it from multiple sources who were on the inside, was that after those first 100 days or so, Yar’Adua had given up on being able to run the Federal Government. His first week, the amount of paperwork that came to his desk was so overwhelming. He could not believe that the president was required to read all those memos and approve or comment on each one,” el-Rufai stated.
InformationNigeria

Flash points in d new "APC"

Ahmed Garba AminuMovement For Accountable and Good Governance

1. BUHARI;
The North, obviously, being a done deal with him &, assuredly, armed with d over 12m votes, this 'broader' platform & chance may not be compromised by him or d North. Will he there4 clinch d presidential ticket by consensus & without challenge? If on d other hand, Buhari does not come off with d ticket, I cannot but to foresee serious voter apathy in 2015 in most parts, if not all, of d North &, this scenario is all d perfect setting d PDP will ever wish to have to do what it knows how to do best- RIGGING!

2. TINUBU;
The 'one man army' whose ego & authority is never questioned. He is wealthy, shrewd & more or less d Awolowo of d present West when it comes to influence. He is also flanked by intrigue veterans of d likes of Chief Tom Ikimi, Olusegun Osoba, Audu Ogbe, Niyi Adebayo & Lai Mohammed. Will Tinubu & these men agree to trust Buhari with that power all d way & through? Again, PDP & Ribadu's experience in 2011 on my mind.

3. The 10 Governors of d "APC";Driven by authority, wealth & ambition, this group has all it takes (in Nigeria) to guarantee its interest whenever & wherever it matters. Anyone of these men (& their retirees also) can declare interest (or be made to do so). After-all, it's all about 'democracy'. Will they compromise & accommodate other reasons against their personal or possibly induced interests? Yet & again, d often PDP's federal might & blackmail thru its anti graft agencies may come into play.

Head or tail, Buhari as an individual will still seem to remain d constant in d success equation of d merged parties- the APC!
 

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