What Does Tambuwal Want?

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

 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.

PremiumTimes

Indian Neurosurgeon Arrested For Practicing Without Licence

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