Crisis can consume PDP, says Oyinlola

Posted by: Yusuf Alli

The ousted National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola has raised the alarm that the party is at a crossroads and ought to resolve its crisis to protect its survival in the future.

He said PDP cannot be talking about the much touted “reconciliation’’ while some leaders are also taking steps to fragment the party.

He said with the proposed merger of some political parties, the PDP must watch it or else it will fail.

He said he suspected that some questionable scripts are being acted by some power brokers in the party.

Oyinlola spoke in a secret memo submitted to Governor Ibrahim Shema Committee looking into the problems facing the party’s Southwest chapter.

He said he had been committed to peace and reconciliation up to the extent of taking Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State to beg the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

In the memo, exclusively obtained by our correspondent, Oyinlola attributed the crisis in PDP to mutual suspicion.

He said it was sad that Alhaji Tukur backed parallel National Working Committee (NWC) than the elected NWC.

The memo reads in part: “Without any doubt, the political arena has now assumed higher levels of activity, with the planned merger of some political parties. To us, the leadership of the PDP, we must be able to avoid the problems associated with cynicism and resist the temptation to promote those issues that divide us instead of uniting us. In doing this, let us never fail to read the minds of people and situations correctly, while putting aside sentiments that have torn us apart.

“ Today, we stand at a major crossroads. It is through our people and supporters at the grassroots that we could make our great party unshakable and greater.

“ The truth is that majority of our members in the Southwest are disenchanted as a result of many issues. And the manner in which we resolve issues confronting us today will largely determine the future of our political activities as a united and cohesive mass movement that is destined to rule Nigeria for a longer period.”

He said he suspected that some power brokers are acting some questionable scripts.

Oyinlola said: “From the aforesaid and available indications, it seems to me that there is a deliberate attempt to shut out the Southwest from the PDP given the very hasty and questionable decisions taken against us on the orders of the National Chairman, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, following the court judgment in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/504/2012, delivered on January 11, 2013, by Justice Abdu Kafarati. The Learned trial judge nullified my election as the national secretary based on the complaint of the Engr. Bayo Dayo faction that I emerged as the national secretary based on the decision of the Southwest zonal congress.

“The PDP, led by the national chairman moved swiftly to implement this decision of the Federal High Court, Abuja by hurriedly organising a celebrated inauguration of my deputy, Onwe Solomon Onwe as the Acting National Secretary.

“Surprisingly, PDP disrespected the Court of Appeal to obey a Federal High Court ruling on the advice of Chief JK Gadzama, SAN, who is a personal friend of Dr. Bamanga Tukur.

“ Allow me to observe that it is normal for the Deputy National Secretary to act whenever the National Secretary is not available to perform the duties of the National Secretary. I believe there was no need to celebrate this development based on the fact that the PDP constitution is clear on the mode of stepping into the shoes of the national secretary by the deputy national secretary and the fact that the matter was still in court.

“Pronouncements in the newspapers after my removal from office by Mr. Buruji Kashamu and Mr. Joe Gadzama, SAN, stating emphatically that Olagunsoye Oyinlola will never return to office as the national secretary of PDP are very suspect.

“It is also a sad commentary that the PDP counsel went ahead to withdraw the PDP motion for a stay of execution of the Justice Kafarati judgment of January 11, 2013, and caused to be published, various statements antagonising me and my attempts to seek redress through a motion for a stay of execution of the Kafarati judgment.

“ That gave cause to me to suspect that some questionable scripts are being acted by some power brokers in the PDP. I say here that it is only God that is able to shut and no man would open; and conversely, open and no man would be able to shut.”

Oyinlola claimed that the crisis bedeviling PDP started shortly after the inauguration of the NWC led by Tukur.

He added: “A few months after our inauguration, I started hearing the rumour that there were planned moves to shut out those of us from my zone, and understandably the Southwest PDP from the NWC and remove us from reckoning within the PDP.

“I was informed that the plan was being hatched to obtain a ‘kangaroo’ court judgment against me on the grounds that I was not validly elected the national secretary of the PDP, as a result of my purported nomination by the Southwest zonal congress held on March 21, 2012, which had been nullified by a court order.

“I never took the information serious because I knew, as a matter of fact that nobody, who understands the constitution of our great Party would ever subscribe to, or canvass that position which is clearly patently false, ridiculous, misleading and pedestrian. I was to later discover, upon investigations and from records at the national headquarters that the crises in the Ogun State chapter of the PDP pre-dated the present NWC, into which I was validly elected.”

Oyinlola insisted that if the party is adamant on his sack from office, the same Federal High Court judgment had implied that Tukur should also vacate office.

He said: “I wish to also make it known that most of the decisions taken in this matter have been unilaterally taken by the national chairman who attempted on more than one occasion to rail-road the NWC into taking hasty and ill-conceived decisions.

“ I want it placed on record that our great party ignored the ruling of a Court of Appeal, Lagos which granted the motion for a stay of execution of the order of the Federal High Court which nullified the Southwest PDP congress. I hold that it is surprising that we could ignore the ruling of an Appeal Court which granted a stay of execution of judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and choose to respect the order of a lower court simply because it nullified the election of Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

“ This development could only ridicule all of us in the eyes of right thinking members of the society; and I must say that, expectedly, these sordid developments have had negative effects on the morale of members of the PDP in my zone.

“ Let me go further that going by this same Federal High Court, Lagos ruling cited earlier, both the national chairman and the national secretary have not been validly elected following the nullification of the Southwest zonal congress by the court. That aspect of the judgment concerning Olagunsoye Oyinlola has been implemented.

“ However, the Federal High Court ruling which annulled the Southwest Congress which also produced the national chairman and members of the NWC has not been considered in the process of implementing court decisions.

“Technically, that judgment also invalidated the election of the national chairman based on the fact that the Southwest delegates to the PDP zonal congress of March 21, 2012, also voted at our National Convention held on Saturday March 24, 2012.

“ I am of the opinion that if this lapse is not corrected, it would continue to be a case of great injustice and unwarranted assault on the Constitution of the PDP and that of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and against my person and office as a national secretary of the PDP. I believe very strongly, that I was removed from office in very questionable and unjustifiable circumstances.

“ I wish to state most respectfully, and without any fear of equivocation that my commitment is to contribute to a democratically constructed PDP that is predicated on peace, justice and truth. It is most painful that our confidence has been badly shaken by political antics and miscalculations which are capable of breeding disharmony in our great Party.

“ Coexisting with fellow human beings, even among immediate family members entail difficulties, not to talk about managing a huge political party like ours, which prides itself as the largest and strongest political party in Africa. It must be part of the gifts or endowments of managers of human resources to be able to organize them to keep friction among our members to the barest minimum.

“ We cannot in one breadth be talking about the much touted ‘’reconciliation’’ while also taking steps to fragment our cherished political party down the line. The Constitution of the PDP prescribes the mode of managing our Party and our differences.

“ I believe that major causes of internal conflicts in the PDP, apart from elite competition are mutual suspicion and our inability to pursue the path of moral rectitude.

He accused Tukur of backing a parallel NWC leading to a deeper crisis in the party.

he said: “Furthermore, the presence of ‘’parallel NWC members’’ at the national secretariat, who seem to enjoy the confidence of the national chairman than the constitutionally recognized NWC members has been one of the greatest problems confronting the National Secretariat.

“ A lot of doubts and suspicions could have been avoided, had all issues been handled transparently and made to follow the due process. It is not impossible that anybody so opportune to be functioning in a capacity that makes him/her to hijack the functions of an NWC member, could also be moving to position himself/herself for future political positions, and may indeed be influencing matters based on selfish interests.’’

TheNation

Have They Shamelessly Sold Igbo Presidency For N5 Billion Naira? By Obinna Akukwe

By Obinna Akukwe

It is obvious to informed political strategists that the Igbos have schemed themselves out of possible presidency for 2015 for a probable paltry sum of N5billion naira (subsidy thieves stole N1.7 billion naira). Since the Ohaneze crisis started in February 2012, various versions of how much was released to the body through various guise, means and reasons was rife. A news media (247ureports ) reported that ’’ Jonathan’s  N5billion bribe tears Ohaneze Apart ‘’and went on to publish together with another media site ( Elombah)  one of the secret bank accounts used to siphon the funds, but since the South East Governors set up a committee to look into the matter, facts before them suggested that the amount surpasses the N5 billion reported in the news. Some Committee members were availed of some  secret account including the Diamond Bank account where over N275 million naira was withdrawn over a period of about two years without the knowledge of Ohaneze Secretariat. Informed sources have explained that the South East Governors were shocked when they realized that the presidency have been bombarding Ohaneze with cash, contracts and businesses and some Reconciliation Committee Members were so ashamed that they buried their heads in  and sought an exit strategy. That is why a two-week assignment turned to over eight weeks and was concluded just before the Easter week. Their assignment is likened to a doctor called to cure malaria  fever only to discover that the patient had acute Hepatitis B and needs complicated medication.

Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma , at the peak of the Ohaneze crisis , put a call through to Governor Peter Obi, and asked what Igbo Governors were doing to checkmate the spiraling crisis. Peter Obi responded by scheduling a meeting of the five South East Governors at Government House, Enugu, and they responded within 24 hours to deliberate on the matter. The five governors of the South East set up 11 man committee to look into the Ohaneze crisis after the controversial January 2013 elections, unify the aggrieved chieftains and make Ohaneze stronger. The committee members include Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, Rev Prof Obiora Ike, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Senator Ben Obi, Prof Joe Irukwu, Hon Ohuabunwa and  among others, but the extent of shit oozing from the place was such that even the Governors were reluctant to call for speedy conclusion of the report.

Among the revelations which shocked them, though not new to the informed observers was that the Ime Obi meeting of Ohaneze was called only four times throughout the four year tenure of the immediate past leadership. Ime Obi meeting is like the council of elders and they hold monthly meetings during which they review situations that concerns Igbos with a view to taking appropriate positions. The aggrieved parties alleged that the organization was run front Asaba without due consultations to forestall any attempt for Igbos to rally in pursuit of common agenda.

Another revelation was that the past leadership had audience with President Goodluck Jonathan 21 times and there was no infrastructure in Igbo land to show for the meetings. They alleged that he never attended any of the meetings with President Jonathan in the company of any member of Ime Obi nor member of the National Executive Council, therefore nobody knows whether Igbo interest is being sold during the meetings. However, the immediate past president Ambassador Ralph Uwechue had countered that the president had always requested to see only himself and as such he cannot be expected to carry crowd to the Sate House.

The committee were told that all the monies collected on behalf of the group was never lodged into the account and that the organization as at the time of swearing in of new executives, had less than N100,000 naira in the account. They were informed that if not for the magnanimity of Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State who came to the rescue of Ohaneze with N2million naira , the elections would not have held, wandering why the deliberate starving of funds to the organs when the members know that Ohaneze had excess cash in secret accounts. The committee was told that the reason for the starvation of funds was to frustrate a free and fair election and impose some presidency anointed candidates on the Igbos .Uwechue  countered the starvation of funds argument by explaining that he personally released N1million naira to the body for conduct of the said election , describing the taunted intervention of Orji as a blackmail.

The committee members were told that there was never any agreement between President Jonathan and Ohaneze that the former will support an Igbo man for president either in 2015 or 2019 and that Ohaneze’s blind endorsement of Jonathan 2015 is motivated by personal and business interests and they revealed some multi billion naira business interests of some Ohaneze Chieftains championing Jonathan 2015 projects.

The committee members also discovered that the presidential aide on Subsidy Reinvestment Programme, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpa was not acting alone in the bribery scandal. They were told that some people, who returned their bribe cheques issued through a proxy company, were given cash equivalent of between $120,000-150,000 dollars to shut up their mouth while Igbo interests is being sold. Nze Akachukwu on his own part have threatened to expose anybody that tries to drag his name to the mud and reportedly told some Igbo elders that  he did everything with the consent of Ohaneze leadership.

Ambasador Uwechue had always maintained that the Ohaneze foundation was run by the Akachukwu in concert with the past publicity secretary, Chief Ralph Ndigwe, who was managing the Ikenga Express fleet of buses and that he was denied vital information and access to the funds. That was his submission to the earlier committee set up by Ohaneze to investigate the matter and that was the stance he maintained while speaking  with some members of the committee.

The committee was told that the new leadership of Ohaneze has already foreclosed any support for Igbo presidency in 2015. The statement by the Ohaneze spokesman Prince Tonnie Ogonna that  ” If President Jonathan declines to run in 2015, it then makes it quicker for the Igbo. The bottom line is that Ohanaeze supports Jonathan in whatever decision he takes in 2015”  was tendered as evidence that the new leadership have sold off without any concrete agreement. This stance of the new Ohaneze leadership is already yielding dividends of financial transformation for some members.

Some Committees members, together with the Governors were disappointed that all the hues and cries that Ohaneze lacked funding was all lies and that Ohaneze was swimming in billions. Some of them expressed disappointment that the group had acquiesced to the President Jonathan second term agenda cheaply while others believe that Ohaneze is in order.

Governor Martins Elechi of Ebonyi State felt slighted that a president was elected for Ohaneze from his state and he was not allowed to either make input. He demanded a new election whereby according to the Ohaneze constitution, three persons must be presented from the state from which the General Convention can chose one.

The Committee had concluded its reports, however, informed sources revealed that while Governors Obi and Orji of Anambra and Abia States respectively are in support of the continuation of the present executives, Okorocha and Elechi favours fresh elections . It is expected that the Governors will harmonize their positions and probably appease the aggrieved parties.

Whichever way it goes, through acts of sabotage, it is obvious that Igbo presidency has been sold and those expecting the Igbo to preside over Nigeria  in 2015 should blame their leaders for sacrificing their desting for paltry appeasement of a few billions.

.

Obinna Akukwe
Profetobinna2@yahoo.com

Femi Fani-Kayode: Who was Victor Adedapo Adetokunboh Kayode?

By Femi Fani-Kayode 

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Rev. Emmanuel Adedapo Kayode was an Anglican priest who studied theology at Fourrabay College in Sierra Leonne and who graduated with an M.A. Durham University in 1892. He was of the yoruba tribe and came from the ancient town of Ile-Ife in the old Osun province of south-western Nigeria. He served as an Anglican priest all his life and he established and pastored some of the earliest Anglican churches in Ile-Ife, Osun province, Ondo province and Ijebu province as they then were. Rev. Emmanuel Adedapo Kayode married the daughter of the famous Rev. M.S. Cole and they had eight children. The first of those children was Victor Adedapo Adetokunboh Kayode who is the subject of this essay. His mother, Mrs. E.A. Kayode’s (nee Cole) first cousins were lawyer William Akinlade Savage (who was called to the english bar in 1906) and Dr. Richard Akinwade, who with Sir Kitoye Ajasa, Dr. J.K. Randle and Dr. Orisadipe Obasa established the conservative People’s Union in 1909. This was Nigeria’s first political party.

The first son of Rev. and Mrs. E.A. Kayode , Victor Adedapo Adetokunboh Kayode, was educated at Kings College, Lagos. In 1917 he matriculated at Selwyn College, Cambridge University and in 1920 he graduated and was awarded his M.A. degree in law. He did his masters at Cambridge as well and he graduated and was awarded his LLB masters degree in 1921. Victor Kayode enrolled at the Middle Temple and was called to the British Bar in 1922. He came top in his exams at both Cambridge University (both the first and second year tripos) and at the Middle Temple. This remarkable feat was repeated by his own first son Remi Fani-Kayode approximately 20 years later when he followed in his illustrious father’s footsteps and attended both institutions.

Victor Adedapo Adetokunboh Kayode got married to Miss Aurora Fanimokun in Chelsea, London in 1920. Aurora Fanimokun was the first daughter of the respected Rev. Suberu Fanimokun of the Lagos colony (as it then was) and he was the Principal of the famous CMS Grammer School, Lagos. Like his colleague in holy orders and in-law Rev. Emmanuel Kayode, Rev. Suberu Fanimokun also graduated with an M.A. from Fourrabay College, Sierra Leonne and Durham University in 1892. Rev. Fanimokun was also a friend of Sir Kitoye Ajasa and apart from Aurora his daughter he also had a son that graduated from Glasgow University as a medical practitioner in the early 1920′s. It was by dint of fate and providence that the son and daughter of the Rev. E.A. Kayode and Rev. S. Fanimokun, the two great contemporaries and illustrious Anglican priests ended up getting married in 1920. The first child of that marriage was Remi Fani-Kayode who was born in Chelsea, London in 1921. At that time London was the most affluent city in the western world yet 30 per cent of Londoners were living below the poverty line. This shows that even the most developed cities and nations in the world once went through very hard times as well.

After being called to the British bar in 1922 Victor Adedapo Adetokunboh Kayode went back to Lagos, Nigeria where he set up one of the most successful legal practices of his day. He specialised in criminal law. He occassionally intervened in the politics of the day in Lagos colony but his forte was law and because he was acknowledged as one of the best lawyers of his day he was appointed as a magistrate in 1939. In those days there were no Nigerian magistrates and judges. They were all British.

Olumuyiwa Jibowu was the first Nigerian to become a magistrate in 1931 and then Adebiyi Desalu followed him in 1938. Adetokunboh Ademola was the third in 1939 and then came Victor Adedapo Kayode, F.E.O. Euba and George Frederick Dove-Edwin in 1940. F.O. Lucas was appointed in 1941. These were the first Nigerians to become magistrates and after all of them went on to the higher bench and did exceedingly well. Unfortunately Victor Kayode died in 1941 whilst presiding over an important land case.

A few of years after his death his wife Aurora Kayode remarried. Her second husband was Ernest ikoli, an ijaw man that was resident in Lagos, who was the financer and editor of two Lagos newspapers at the time, who was very active in Lagos politics, who was one of the founders of the Nigerian Youth Movement (which later metamorphosied into the Action Group) and who was the man that was Obafemi Awolowo’s mentor and benefactor and that funded his education in the United Kingdom where he went to study law. Ernest Ikoli was best of friends with Sir Adeyemo Alakija and many other Lagos elites in his day. Aurora Kayode had 8 children for Victor Kayode (4 sons and 3 daughter) but no children for Ernest Ikoli.

Victor Adedapo Adetokunboh Kayode and Madame Aurora Kayode were the parents of Remi Fani-Kayode, the former Minister for Chieftaincy and Local Government Affairs and Deputy Premier of Nigeria’s old Western Region and the grandparents of Femi Fani-Kayode, Nigeria’s former Minister of Aviation and former Minister of Culture and Tourism.

DailyPost

IMF recommends AMCON’s liquidation to curb moral hazard

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for the liquidation of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) in order to curb moral hazard and fiscal risks. The recommendation is contained in the Bretton Woods institution’s assessment of the country, after its 2012 Article IV consultations.

The directors of the Fund unanimously agreed that the continued operations of AMCON may wittingly and unwittingly increase instances of moral hazards and fuel fiscal risks. In economic theory, a moral hazard is a situation where a party will have a tendency to take risks because the costs that it could incur will not be felt by the party taking the risk. In other words, it is a tendency which encourages banks to take risks, knowing that the potential costs or burdens of taking such risks will be borne, in whole or in part, by others, in this case AMCON.

The IMF directors while commending the authorities’ success in restoring financial stability after the 2009 banking crisis, recommended the winding down of the operations of the asset management company to curb moral hazard and fiscal risks, in order to consolidate on the achievements so far.

They particularly welcomed the Central Bank’s commitment to address supervisory and regulatory gaps identified in the Financial Stability Assessment Update, particularly the need to strengthen cross-border supervision and the regime against money laundering and terrorism financing.

AMCON was set up by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as part of the efforts in restoring financial stability after the 2009 banking crisis. It was established in July 2010 specifically for the purpose of efficiently resolving the non-performing loan assets of banks in Nigeria.

The asset management company has bought over N5 trillion of these bad loans, which has freed most of the deposit banks to start lending again. BusinessDay investigations revealed that there is an increase in risk asset creation, which may have informed AMCON announcing that it would no longer purchase non performing loans from banks in 2013.

“No more non-performing loan purchases,” Mustafa Chike-Obi, CEO of AMCON told Business Day.

For most analysts, the banking sector resolution process seems to be largely complete, with AMCON said to have purchased non-performing loans (NPLs) for over N5 trillion at the rate of over N2 trillion.

This may have influenced IMF calling for the liquidation of the company.

On the macroeconomic front, IMF commended the authorities for prudent macroeconomic policies that have underpinned a strong economic performance in recent years.

Looking ahead, they agreed “that widespread unemployment and poverty remain key challenges for policymakers, and called for renewed efforts to make economic growth more broad-based and inclusive.”

They also supported the authorities’ strategy of consolidating the fiscal position while opening up policy space for needed investment in infrastructure and human capital.

To this end, they recommended the need to improve tax administration, better prioritise public expenditure, strengthen public financial management, and improve the fiscal framework. Particular, they encouraged the authorities to reduce poorly-targeted fuel subsidies, adopt a rule to set the reference oil price in the budget, and fully operationalise the Sovereign Wealth Fund as soon as possible.

BusinessDay

S/Africa to displace Nigeria as Africa’s oil, energy market hub

 

Biodun Coke

While South Africa moves a step closer to realising its dream of owning Africa’s biggest oil refinery, Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, is yet to manage its four refineries for optimal production.

South Africa, which recently signed a partnership with China’s Sinopec Petroleum for the building of a modern refinery, might displace Nigeria as key anchor of Africa’s oil and energy market, analyst have said.

South Africa’s $10 billion Mthombo refinery project at Port Elizabeth’s Coega industrial development zone, is expected to pump about 400,000 barrels a day, which analysts say will likely compete intensely with,  or take over Nigeria’s oil market.

Already, it is forecast to create 27,500 direct and indirect jobs at the height of its construction and 18,000 direct and indirect jobs when it starts operating. The 400,000-barrel-a-day plant would almost double the country’s current combined capacity of 497,000 barrels from its four refineries, according to data from the South African Petroleum Association. PetroSA conceived of the Mthombo project when diesel and gasoline imports rose on the back of economic expansion, with demand exceeding local refinery output for the first time in 2007.

On the other hand, Nigeria still relies heavily on imported refined petroleum products, despite owning four refineries (Port Harcourt Refining Company I and II, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited, and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company). The four refineries have a combined capacity of around 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) or 70.75 million litres per day, but because they are running below capacity, the country imports much of its refined fuel demand at world prices, which is then sold to the domestic market at a discount.

It would be recalled that in the wake of the June 2012 anti-subsidy protests, the Federal Government announced plans to build refineries which it said would be sited in Kogi, Lagos and Bayelsa states, but the projects are yet to take off.

Not long after ( in June to be precise) the Federal Government again signed a memorandum of understanding with a United States and Nigerian Joint Venture, Vulcan Petroleum Resources Limited and Petroleum Refining and Strategic Reserve Limited, for the construction of six modular refineries with a combined capacity of 180,000 barrels per day.

One of the modular refineries was expected to refine 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day, producing five million litres of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LFPO and was estimated to gulp N697.5 billion ($4.5 billion). The refineries were scheduled to be completed within 12 months and to be located in areas where there are crude oil pipelines, in collaboration with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Till date, these projects have not taken off.

“The inability of Nigeria’s ailing refineries to reach full production capacity has been linked to poor maintenance, insecurity and sabotage on crude pipelines feeding refineries, as well as theft and fire,” says Jimi Ogbobine, analyst at Consolidated Discount Limited.

“In 2009 and part of 2010 particularly, low refinery operations  forced the country to import about 85 percent of its fuel needs. In 2011, the operational capacity at the refineries averaged 24 percent, slightly higher than the 22 percent in the previous year, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration,” Ogbobine told BusinessDay.

He said it was a shame that government continued to make promises, while other African countries like Niger, Ghana and South Africa are taking the initiative.

BusinessDay learnt that between 2002 and 2004, the Federal Government ,through the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) issued nine licences to private investors with  a total refining capacity of 464,000 bpd, but none of the refineries has come on stream, as the enabling environment is said to be lacking.

Industry watchers are in doubt as to government’s seriousness on the issue of the Greenfield Refineries. Pointers to this arose last July, when China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) was forced to extend by one year, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2011 with the NNPC ,for the construction of three Greenfield Refineries and a Petrochemical plant in Nigeria.

According to a recent Business Monitor International (BMI) report, the construction of more refineries could help decrease the country’s imports of refined products and ease the country’s huge fuel subsidy bill. The report however stated that regulatory environment and security risks could delay efforts to build the facilities, adding that increasing Nigeria’s refining capacity could help the government in combating corruption in its fuel subsidy schemes.

Over the years, there have been calls from several quarters for government to privatise the refining industry in order to revive it from its present moribund state, but government has not heeded  the calls.

BusinessDay

Jay Hileman, Federal Prosecutor, Leaves Aryan Brotherhood Case Amid 'Security Concerns': Report

By Simon McCormack

A federal prosecutor has reportedly left a case involving members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas citing "security concerns."

The Dallas Morning News reports that Houston-based assistant U.S. attorney Jay Hileman told defense lawyer Richard O. Ely II that he was withdrawing in an email.

Ely is representing one of the defendants in the case, which involves racketeering charges.

Houston defense attorney Katherine Scardino also received the email from Hileman, according to Talking Points Memo.

"He sent the email to every lawyer representing a defendant in the Aryan Brotherhood federal case, and he said -- very short email -- that he was withdrawing for security reasons," Scardino told TPM.

Angela Dodge, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Houston, declined to confirm to The Huffington Post whether or why Hileman left the case.

"The case currently pending in the Southern District of Texas has been and will continue to be worked by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas in partnership with the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division," Dodge said in an email.

The news comes days after Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife were shot and killed in their home.

The Associated Press reports that authorities are investigating whether white supremacists could be behind a recent spate of deadly violence directed at prosecutors and a Colorado corrections official.

Texas law enforcement agencies have been put on high alert, the AP reports.

The killings also come months after 34 members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas were indicted, according to Democracy Now.

HuffingtonPost

Ben Carson: White Liberals Are 'The Most Racist People'

Dr. Ben Carson, a black Johns Hopkins University neurosurgeon and conservative favorite after challenging President Barack Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast, said Monday on "The Mark Levin Show" that white liberals are "racist."

"And you're attacked in many respects because of your race. You're not supposed to think like this, and supposed to talk like this. A lot of white liberals just don't like it, do they?" said Levin, host of the syndicated radio show.

"Well, they're the most racist people there are. You know, they put you in a little category, a little box -- you have to think this way. How could you dare come off the plantation?" responded Carson.

Carson is scheduled to speak at the Hopkins' School of Medicine commencement ceremony this year. A group of students petitioned to have him replaced as speaker after he compared gay marriage to bestiality and pedophilia last week. Carson said Friday that he was prepared to withdraw.

The school told HuffPost Friday that it had heard of no change in plans and said he was chosen for his medical accomplishments, not personal views.

Carson said Monday that it was "to be determined" whether he would speak and that he was going to "wait and see."

HuffingtonPost