National Conference: 50-member consensus group agree on voting procedure – Official

Chairman of the National Conference: Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Idris Kutigi …. Photo: Courtesy www.nigeriaa2z.com

The delegates have not agreed on what constitutes the voting majority.
The 50-member consensus group selected by the National Conference chairman, Idris Kutigi, to resolve the impasse on the number of delegates required to approve a decision at the confab, has reached a resolution.
The Assistant Secretary, Media and Communications at the CONFAB, Akpandem James said on Friday in Abuja that an agreement had been reached. He said the agreement would be tabled before the delegates on Monday for adoption.
Delegates disrupted proceedings on March 24 and 25 when they failed to reach a consensus on whether to adopt a two-third majority or three-quarter majority on any issue.
Read the full post and other National Conference stories here.

TheNation

Amaechi, NJC clash over Rivers’ CJ

Amaechi

by: Bisi Olaniyi

The Rivers State Government yesterday dismissed as clearly partisan  and self serving, the  suspension of the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Peter Agumagu, by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

 It insisted that the NJC,by its decision,  had chosen the path of unconstitutional bullying, lawlessness and injudicious racketeering and described Wednesday  as a dark day for Nigeria, when the most senior justices and lawyers in the country “ resorted to high-handed self help, instead of judicial redress.”

 Speaking for the state government in Port Harcourt,the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, also accused a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), O. C. J. Okocha (SAN) and an NJC  member   of influencing the recommendation of  Justice Daisy Okocha.

Mr.Okocha, reacting,  said the Rivers State government’s allegation was nothing but  absolute balderdash, hogwash, nonsense, falsehood and totally irresponsible.

Semenitari said the  NJC appeared   ”not to have taken into consideration the judgment delivered by Justice Lambo Akanbi of the Federal High court, Port Harcourt in which it is a party.

 “The state government finds this position of the NJC rather curious especially as Justice Agumagu is the most senior judge in the Rivers State judiciary and a very respected judicial officer.

 “The Rivers State government had gone to the courts to seek interpretation of Section 271 (3-5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as regards the appointment of a chief judge of the state.  That section of the constitution clearly states that ‘A person shall not be qualified to hold office of a Judge of a High Court of a State unless he is qualified to practise as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for a period of not less than ten years.’

 “To enable it to act within the confines of the law, the Rivers State Government sought the court’s interpretation. The learned Justice Akanbi, in delivering his judgment faulted the deliberate omission of Justice Agumagu’s name among the list of senior judges qualified to be Chief Judge of Rivers State.

 “Justice P.N.C Agumagu is the most senior judge in the Rivers State judiciary and was seconded to establish the Customary Court of Appeal in 2008.

 “The Rivers State government is well aware that there is no constitutional provision compelling the Governor to appoint a Chief Judge based on his or her seniority or even the arm of the judiciary to which such a person belongs. What the constitution requires is a minimum of 10 years post-call qualification.

 “This is evidenced even by the appointment of the immediate past Chief Judge of the state, Justice Iche Ndu, who was appointed Chief Judge over his senior at the bench. At the time of Justice Ndu’s appointment, Justice Sotonye Denton-West was the most senior judge in the Rivers State judiciary, yet the NJC did not compel the governor at the time to announce her as Chief Judge.”

But Mr.Okocha, responding to the broadside from the Rivers State government, said: “As at the time when in July 2013, NJC met and took a decision to recommend Justice Okocha (Daisy) over Justice Agumagu, I was not in the meeting. I had to excuse myself.

 “Everybody knows that in keeping with due process, if you have a personal interest in a matter and of course, the personal relationship is enough to indicate that OCJ Okocha must have a personal interest. So, I left the room.

 “The allegation by the Rivers State Government that the NJC has been hijacked by political jobbers for selfish interest is absolute balderdash, hogwash and absolute nonsense. NJC is constituted by the most eminent judges in this country. The CJN is the chairman.

 “If they are accusing the entire NJC of being politicised, let them point to the particular member that is believed is a politician or being influenced by politicians. It is absolute falsehood and a totally irresponsible statement.

 “Agumagu is now being investigated. While his investigation is going on, it is only fair and right that he has to step aside, to allow for due process to be carried out. Agumagu is being investigated for what the NJC considers to be a bridge of his oath of office and a bridge of the code of conduct of a judicial officer. He has been asked to step aside and I hope that at the end of the day, we will all hear the outcome.”

  The Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha,  said that the NJC acted in error over Agumagu’s suspension, which he said would not stand, in view of the pending suit at the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, filed by Daisy.

 Chief of staff also noted that the NJC, headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, should have waited for the decision of the appellate court, accusing the council of taking

TheNation

Giant Rat That Terrorized Swedish Family Killed At Last

by  David Moye

Family Finds 15-Inch 'Ratzilla' In Their Home

A Swedish family's three-week nightmare is over: Ratzilla has been killed.
The gigantic rat that invaded the home of Erik Korsas and Signe Bengtsoon and set up shop under their kitchen sink was dted there was some kind of animal invader, but they didn't imagine an oversized rodent was in their midst.
"We thought it could be a little mouse, but after a while we figured it couldn't be because it was making too much noise," Bengtsson told The Local.
She got the shock of her life a few days later when she discovered the mutant gulping down leftovers under the sink.
"It was right there in our rubbish bin, a mighty monster. I was petrified. I couldn't believe such a big rat could exist," she told the website. "I couldn't help but do the old classic and jump on the kitchen table and scream."
The pest apparently got into the kitchen through a ventilation pipe, after gnawing through cement and wood.
Ratzilla was so horrifying that the family cat refused to enter the kitchen, the BBC reports.
RATZILLA (Story continues below)



Exterminators were called to the couple's home in Solna, Sweden, and they set thee rat traps for the monstrous rodent.
Eventually, the rat was trapped by its neck, but took its sweet time dying, preferring to crawl behind the dishwasher for its final moments on Earth.
The carcass measured about 16 inches in length, not counting the tail, and weighed around 2.2 pounds.
"The kids were afraid it would come back to life as some sort of zombie rat. They didn't want to touch it," Korsas told The Local.
HuffingtonPost

Unknown Gunmen Abduct Bauchi Businessman

Obed Minchakpu

Less than four hours after President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan left Bauchi after attending a Peoples Democratic Party Rally, unknown Gunmen have kidnapped a popular business man in the state, Alhaji Manu Soro in Soro town of the state.
Manu Soro of Soro town in Ganjuwa Local Government Area, sources told Leadership in Bauchi, was on Saturday, 29 March, 2014, at about 8:10 pm kidnapped by the Gunmen as he was moving out of a mosque after the evening prayers.
The source also told Leadership that the gunmen shot into the air as they made away with the businessman and it is not yet clear whether Manu Soro was shot by the gunmen or the gun shots were meant to only to scare people around.
Haruna Mohammed, DSP, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Bauchi State Police Command when contacted, confirmed the abduction of the Bauchi businessman.
Mohammed said the Businessman was abducted by the gunmen at about 8:10 pm Saturday 29th March, When he came out of the mosque behind his house at Soro town.
The police spokesman assured that effort is ongoing to rescue the businessman and arrest the gunmen.
Leadership

Drug Baron, Buruji Kashamu To Spend N1bn On Fayose…He Is Our Mobilizer, Says PDP

Buruji Kashamu

Indicted drug baron, Buruji Kashamu, is planning to spend N1 billion to ensure the return as governor of indicted former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose..
Kashamu is the man against whom former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, warned President Goodluck Jonathan in his famous letter in December 2013, calling him “a certified unashamed criminal.”
Obasanjo wrote: “Putting a certified unashamed criminal wanted abroad to face justice and who has greatly contributed to corruption within the judiciary on a high profile of politics as you and your aides have done with the man you enthrone as PDP Zonal leader in the South-West is the height of disservice to this country politically and height of insult to the people of South-West in general and members of PDP in that zone in particular.”
Last Friday, Buruji was present when Fayose went to the National Headquarters of the People's Democratic Party in Abuja to collect his certificate for winning the party's governorship primaries.
Women hired for the occasion were brought in three buses bought by Kashamu for the campaign and they arrived to sing the praises of the drug baron.
Kashamu was said to have provided the funds with which Fayose bribed the leadership of the party at the state and national levels in order to emerge as the winner.
It was the same Kashamu who also priced the logistics that dislodged a majority of the 13 aspirants from gaining access to the venue of the primaries.
As a form of loyalty, Fayose paid tribute to Kashamu and assured him that he would remain loyal to him if he wins the election.
A close confidant of Kashamu said, "Our chairman has vowed that he is ready tis spend N1bn to oust the Governor of the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and install Fayose.  He means it. He has bought vehicles, and also gave some money to Fayose."
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, referred to Kashamu as the leader and mobilizer of the party in the zone.
"Our mobilizer in South-West, a great mobilizer, we welcome you," Metuh said.
Analysts say, however, that Kashamu’s emergence and pride of place in the PDP is a measure of how much the politics of ruthlessness persists in the party and how much it is prepared to win at all cost.
Below is the full text of the comments made about Kashamu by Obasanjo in his letter to Jonathan:
Putting a certified unashamed criminal wanted abroad to face justice and who has greatly contributed to corruption within the judiciary on a high profile of politics as you and your aides have done with the man you enthrone as PDP Zonal leader in the South-West is the height of disservice to this country politically and height of insult to the people of South-West in general and members of PDP in that zone in particular.”
For me, my politics goes with principles and morality and I will not be a party to highly profiling criminals in politics, not to say one would be my zonal leader. It destroys what PDP stands for from its inception. By the government not acting positively and promptly in the case of Kashamu wanted in the US for drug trafficking and money laundering crimes, it is only confirming the persistent reports of complicity or involvement of high-level political figures in drug trafficking and condonation of the crime for political benefit. Whichever way, it is a very dangerous development for Nigeria.
Sooner than later, drug barons will be in control of large real estates, banks and other seemingly legitimate businesses; in elections, they will buy candidates, parties and eventually buy power or be in power themselves. It may be instructive if I quote fairly extensively from Lansana Gberie’s recent paper titled, ‘State Officials and Their Involvement in Drug Trafficking in West Africa’:
“...The controversial and puzzling case of Buruji Kashamu, a powerful figure in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), suggests that a successful and wealthy politician’s association with drug trafficking is hardly disabling.
Kashamu was indicted by a grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois in 1998 for conspiracy to import and distribute heroin to the United States. The indictment named him under his own name as well as two supposed aliases:
‘Alaji’ and ‘Kasmal’. His whereabouts were unknown at the time, however, and his co-accused were tried and convicted. Later that year, he was found living comfortably in England, and, on receipt of an extradition request from the US, the UK authorities arrested Kashamu. After a very protracted proceeding lasting until 2003, however, an English Judge refused to extradite Kashamu on grounds of uncertainty about his true identity.
Kashamu triumphantly returned to Nigeria and soon after became a key political figure. He is now believed to be very close to President Goodluck Jonathan, because of his ability to mobilise votes in key States in Western Nigeria. The US government reviewed Kashamu’s case, with the famous Judge Richard Posner presiding.
Posner concluded that while Kashamu’s identity remains murky, there is little doubt that the figure now exercising authority in Nigeria’s PDP is the same as Kashamu the ‘Alaji’ who was indicted for conspiracy to smuggle illicit drugs into the United States. Despite this, the Nigerian government has persistently ignored calls by civil society groups to investigate Kashamu and extradite him to the US.
On 2 July 2013, the Federal Court in Lagos determined that Kashamu should be extradited to the US. Kashamu immediately appealed against this decision, yet in November 2013, a new Panel of Judges constituted by the President of the Court of Appeal unanimously held that his appeal lacked merit, and that Kashamu should be extradited. His extradition to the United States will certainly set an important precedent... unless, of course, he uses his political skills and contacts to continue avoiding it...”
 Saharareporters

The Creepy Way Fathers Across the Country Are Controlling Their Daughters' Virginity

By Julianne Ross

"At this point, you're married to the Lord, and your father is your boyfriend." 

So says Pastor Ron Johnson to his 12-year-old daughter Caroline, before placing a ring on her left finger. Johnson and his family are the subject of a recent Nightline Prime investigation of Purity Balls, a "full-fledged national phenomenon" that has reportedly spread across 48 states and 17 countries. Despite the thought that first popped into my head, these balls are not some ironic term for Ben Wa sex toys, but rather formal father-daughter dances during which young girls pledge to abstain from all sexual activity until marriage (this includes kissing and dating). They also symbolically entrust their fathers — the "high priest" of the home — with their maidenheads for safekeeping.

The special was filmed back in October 2013, when Nightline reporters headed to the 14th annual "Super Bowl of Purity" (only in America, folks) to document the chaste event. As the cameras rolled, 60 father-daughter couples arrived at the Grand Ballroom of Colorado's Broadmoor Hotel to "celebrate the beauty of [their] daughters and the glory of their fathers."

Creeped out yet? You should be. Purity Balls might seem like a quirky, inoffensive ritual of uber-religious middle America, but they're emblematic of some very messed up attitudes about women and their sexuality that have serious implications beyond these communities.

Purity Balls stem from purity pledges, a practice that developed in the late '80s and early '90s in response to increased sexual liberation, the AIDS epidemic and rising rates of STDs and teen pregnancy. In 1998, five years after the Southern Baptist group True Love Waits popularized the first purity pledge cards, Randy Wilson and his wife Lisa held the inaugural Purity Ball.

Wilson is not a minister, but he is very concerned with young women's sexuality. As the father of five daughters, he started the balls in an effort to control what he deems a tumultuous transition from "girlhood to womanhood."

"What I hear from these young ladies is that there's this need for that physical touch, and from a male being," he tells Nightline. "I believe that's what the father's role is."

Girls typically take the purity pledge at the balls around age 12 or 13, not coincidentally around the same time they start getting their periods; however, young women of all ages can attend. The ceremony itself is rife with symbolism — some of it intentional, like when ballerinas clad in virginal white carry a large wooden cross to the middle of the dance floor:

And some of it not, like when two men then stand before the cross, each holding out a sword:

After fathers and daughters walk beneath these crossed swords, daughters lay white roses at the cross to silently commit to living "pure lives before God." Then everybody foxtrots.

The Wilsons are part of an evangelical community that views both hookup culture and the media's messages surrounding sexuality as deeply troublesome. So it's ironic that the method they've chosen to combat the hypersexualization of girlhood is, well, the hypersexualization of girlhood.

When you get down to it, Purity Balls are literally all about sex. If your worth as a human being is invariably tied to what you do with the parts between your legs, who you are becomes defined by your sexuality; you're either pure, or impure. Madonna, or a whore. As Jessica Valenti puts it in The Purity Myth:

"What's the difference between venerating women for being fuckable and putting them on a purity pedestal? In both cases, women's worth is contingent upon their ability to please men and to shape their sexual identities around what men want."

Let's be clear: What consenting adults do (or don't do) between the sheets isn't anyone else's business, and there's nothing wrong with a personal decision to practice abstinence. But that's not what this is.

In giving fathers (and by extension, future husbands) dominion over their daughters' virginity, Purity Balls both commodify female sexuality and completely rob women of sexual autonomy, instead granting power to men who, if Wilson's comments about "male beings" are any indication, have very little understanding of what it actually feels like to be a young woman.

And since purity pledges and abstinence-only education have both repeatedly been shown to be ultimately ineffective in preventing teens from having sex, what happens to those who inevitably slip, having been taught that their entire moral value is so contingent upon their sex lives (or lack thereof)?

Seventeen-year-old Katie Johnson, another of Pastor Johnson's daughters, has worn a purity ring for four years. She recognizes the difficulty of her chosen lifestyle, saying she would probably "give up" without the support of her church-going friends. But there are plenty out there who may not have such a supportive group, or who may give up in spite of it (and understandably so, since fighting against the biological impetus to use what God gave you isn't easy). Even if the community welcomes them back pending repentance, multiple studies have shown that teens who vow abstinence are less likely to use contraception than their peers, making them vulnerable to unwanted pregnancies and STIs.

Even worse, fostering a sense of dirtiness and shame surrounding sex can prohibit the reporting of sexual assault, as well as the healing process. Not to mention the fact that these balls completely ignore the existence of homosexuality, and that a universal definition of virginity arguably doesn't even exist in the first place.

At the end of her Purity Ball, Caroline Johnson looks ecstatic. "I felt like a princess with my dad," she says, revealing a mouth full of braces as she grins at the camera. "This is the moment I've been waiting for, to get my purity ring." Other Purity Ball attendees have expressed similar sentiments, asserting that the event and pledge are a way to encourage invaluable bonding between fathers and daughters.

That doesn't change the fact that sex does not define who you are, whether you're having a lot of it or none at all. Your daddy does not own your virginity, and neither does your husband. You do. This is just misogyny, dressed in white and foxtrotting around a cross. 

PolicyMic

PDP promised us millions to dump APC – NIPF

Commissioner Barr Chuma Chinye boosts Forum with donation of a bus

Ehi Ekhator
The Non-Indigenes Political Forum (NIPF) of the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State to desist from luring its members.
NIPF Coordinator, Chief Uchenna Okokoba, issued the warning yesterday during a meeting of the Forum held at the State APC Secretariat in Port Harcourt.
He said that the warning had become necessary following reports reaching him that PDP leaders in the State had been making overtures to NIPF members with a view to luring them away from the ruling APC. 

APC vs PDP

“The PDP leadership in Rivers State has approached some of us, requesting us to dump our great party and switch camp to them, assuring us that we will be paid in millions of Naira if we switch camp. What they forget is that we are not in this project for money but to ensure that Rivers State is blessed with good leadership under an APC government. We are committed and ready to ensure that our goals, vision and mission for Rivers State are actualised no matter the odds,” Chief Okokoba said in his welcome address.
He disclosed that based on their rejection of the overtures from the PDP leadership, the party in its desperate efforts to make a presence in the State has contacted one Dr. Peter Okoye residing in Nnewi in Anambra State to help it establish a sister body of non-indigenes in Rivers State to be named “PDP Rivers State Non-Indigenes Movement”. “We wonder why a fellow who is not residing in Rivers State should be contacted to form a political body in the State. We have instructed our people not to have anything to do with such a body when finally formed,” Okokoba stated.
The NIPF Coordinator, Chief Okokoba presented the final report from the 21 Local Government Areas of Rivers State, indicating that 148,497 non-indigenes registered with APC at the end of the recent registration of new members of APC in the state. This new figure, he noted, is far above the 100,000 registrants contained in the group’s preliminary report. Giving a breakdown of the figures, Okokoba said that Port Harcourt registered the highest number of 15,156 non-indigenes; followed by Ikwerre, 10,931; Obio-Akpor, 10433; Etche, 10,112; Eleme, 9,915;, Etche, 7,280; while Asari-Toru Local Government came last with only 2,090. The results of other Local Government Areas are as follows – Abua/Odua, 3,520; Akuku Toru, 4,560; Ahoada East, 5,612; Ahoada West, 4,991; Andoni, 8,931; Bonny, 6173; Degema, 2,860; Emohua, 10,112; Gokana, 4,131; Khana, 8,921; Ogun/Bolo, 2,920; Okirika, 2,550; Omuma, 4,272; ONELGA, 6,832; Opobo/Nkoro, 5,168; Oyigbo, 6,860 and Tai, 4,390 making the grand total of 148, 497 non indigenes that have registered with our great party, APC. He said that more non-indigenes would have been registered if not for the violence introduced by the PDP leadership during the exercise. The full list of Local Government by Local Government registration of non indigenes in Rivers State during the just concluded registration exercise is attached for doubting ‘Thomases’ who were at a loss on how the non indigenes are indentifying with the aspiration and vision of APC in Rivers State in such a large and massive number.
NIPF Leader, Barr. Chuma Chinye, who is also the Rivers State Commissioner of Commerce and Industry, surprised the meeting by donating a brand new air-conditioned Coaster Bus to the group. Chinye, said he made the donation to make it easier for NIPF to mobilise non-indigenes in the state to contribute optimally towards making APC the leading political party in the State. Barr. Chinye declared that the Forum stands on a firm ground, assuring the members that the era of non-indigenes being excluded in the affairs of the State is gone for good “as we have done much in contributing to the development of Rivers State through payment of our taxes and participating in good governance of the state.”
He charged the NIPF leadership and members not to feel intimidated by the acts and antecedents of the PDP leadership in the State as they have nothing good to offer them and the state in general. “To us in Rivers State, PDP is history as Governor Amaechi departed with the soul of the party leaving a mere corpse of the party in the hands of some confused and misguided elements to handle”. He concluded by urging other well-to-do members of the Forum to assist in any way possible to put the Forum on a solid footing.
An elated NIPF Coordinator, Chief Uchenna Okokoba, commended Barr. Chinye for his avowed commitment towards the Forum, assuring him and the revolutionary Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi that NIPF would work hard to ensure that both non-indigenes and the entire Rivers State elect an APC Government come 2015.
Other leaders of the Forum present at the meeting were Chief Ade Adeogun, Chairman of Rivers State Sanitation Commission, Mr. David Iyofor, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Amaechi, and Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, Alh. Yusuf Tanko, NIPF Secretary, Chief Joseph Udoh, Leader, Akwa/Cross, Chief Solomon Nwnoye, NIPF Igbo Leader, Chief Joseph Ijede, Edo/Delta Leader, Alh. Ahmed Adisa, Youth Leader, Alh. Halliru Imam, Hausa Leader, Hausa Leader among others. (4)

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