I was cornered into resigning, ex-Adamawa deputy governor says

               

Murtatala Nyako, impeached governor of Adamawa state

Mr. Ngilari rather than address his resignation letter to the governor, addressed it to the Speaker of the Assembly.
The controversy surrounding the resignation of Bala Ngilari as the Adamawa State Deputy Governor continued on Wednesday with the principal character stating that he was cornered into resigning the way he did.
Mr. Ngilari’s resignation was read on the floor of the Adamawa Assembly on Tuesday and accepted by the lawmakers few minutes before the then state governor, Murtala Nyako, was impeached. His resignation has been questioned by Mr. Nyako and other lawyers who argue that since the then governor was still in office then, Mr. Ngilari should have submitted his resignation letter to Mr. Nyako.
On Wednesday, Mr. Ngilari said he was aware of the constitutional provision but was boxed to a corner by the lawmakers.
“The truth is that I have not sent any letter of resignation to the governor up till now,” Mr. Ngilari told journalists on phone late on Tuesday. “The representatives of the House only came to my house yesterday (Monday) asking me to tender my resignation and address the letter to the Speaker of the House which I did”.
He added that “When the lawmakers led by the deputy speaker met and asked me to write the resignation, I wrote it to the governor. But they asked me to change it and address it to the speaker”.
He said he simply acceded to the request of the lawmakers to send his resignation letter to the then Speaker of the Adamawa State Assembly, Umaru Fintiri, who has since been sworn in as acting governor.
Mr. Nyako had on Tuesday called for the reinstatement of his deputy, which would have seen the latter being sworn in as the governor of the state.
Mr. Nyako, who spoke through his spokesperson, in a statement cited Section 306 (5) of the Nigeria constitution, which requires the deputy to send his resignation letter to the sitting Governor.
Mr. Nyako said since he was then still the sitting governor, the resignation letter should have been addressed to him.
“No such was written to him, none was received by him and none was approved by him. It should, therefore, be known that in the eyes of the law, the deputy governor has not resigned. Barrister Bala James Ngillari is still the Deputy Governor of Adamawa state,” Ahmad Sajoh, Director, Press and Public Affairs, Governor’s Office, said in the Tuesday statement.
“This clarification is necessary to avert another subversion of the constitution, since the order processes relating to the impeachment saga have all been in contravention of the constitution and the law. We wish to observe that the continued abuse of the constitution and the law of the land will spell doom for our democracy,” he added.
PremiumTimes

I have not sent my resignation letter to

 Confusion enveloped Adamawa State, less
than 24 hours after governor Murtala
Nyako was impeached by the State House
of Assembly, as information emerged that
Barrister Bala James Ngillari did not resign
his appointment as the deputy governor of
the state.
Sources close to the deputy governor’s
office said the purported resignation letter
read on the floor of the House by then
speaker Hon. Fintiri, who is now the acting
governor of the state, was obtained from
Ngilari under duress.
The source disclosed to LEADERSHIP that
the drama took place when the deputy
speaker, now the acting speaker, Kwamoti
Laori, went to the deputy governor’s official
residence with an army of soldiers and
ordered Ngillari to tender his resignation
letter as directed from above.
The source added that deputy governor
had never written any letter to the
governor as demanded by the constitution
to intimate him (former Governor Murtala
Nyako) that he wanted to resign from the
office.
While confirming the development, the
embattled deputy governor said “the truth
is that I have not sent any letter of
resignation to the governor up till now,
because the representative of the House
only came to my house yesterday asking me
to tender my resignation and asked me to
address the letter to the speaker of the
House, which I did”.
When asked whether he signed the letter
under duress or not, Ngillari said what he
did was to simply send the resignation to
the speaker as requested.
The impeached governor, Murtala Nyako,
has called for the reinstatement of his
deputy as the governor of the state,
following his illegal removal.
Nyako, who spoke through his press
director in a press release made available
to journalists in Yola, said: “Our attention
has been drawn to the purported
resignation of the deputy governor of
Adamawa State, Barrister Bala James
Ngillari, which was supposedly read on the
floor of the State House of Assembly.”
Ngilari’s resignation illegal – Nyako’s
aide
However, the director of press and public
affairs to the former governor, Mallam
Ahmad Sajoh, said the resignation of the
deputy governor was illegally done as he
ought to have tendered his resignation
letter to Governor Nyako.
In a statement made available yesterday,
Sajoh said: “Our attention has been drawn
to the purported resignation of the deputy
governor of Adamawa State, Barr Bala
James Ngillari, which was supposedly read
on the floor of the State House of
Assembly. We wish to state categorically
that Section 306 (5) of the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as
amended, requires that the deputy
governor resign not to the House of
Assembly but to the governor.
“As at the time the supposed resignation
was said to have been tendered in the
House, Murtala H. Nyako was the governor
of Adamawa State. No such letter was
written to him, none was received by him
and none was approved by him.
“It should therefore be known that, in the
eyes of the law, the deputy governor has
not resigned. Barr Bala James Ngillari is still
the deputy governor of Adamawa State.
This clarification is necessary to avert
another subversion of the constitution
since the other processes relating to the
impeachment saga have all been in
contravention of the constitution and the
law.”

Impeached Adamawa governor, Nyako, rejects deputy’s resignation

       

Ben Ezeamalu

Photo:newtelegraphonline.com

“We wish to State categorically that Section 306 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as Amended requires that the Deputy Governor resigns not to the House of Assembly but to the Governor”.

—————————-

Despite being impeached from office, Tuesday, by lawmakers of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Murtala Nyako has rejected the resignation of Bala Ngilari, his deputy.
Mr. Ngilari, who was also facing impeachment charges alongside Mr. Nyako, had tendered his resignation before the  lawmakers, shortly before his principal was removed from office.
The Deputy Governor’s resignation letter was read at plenary by the Speaker of the Assembly, Umaru Fintiri, after which the lawmakers approved it.
But Mr. Nyako said that the purported resignation was a breach of Section 306 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We wish to State categorically that Section 306 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as Amended
requires that the Deputy Governor resigns not to the House of Assembly but to the Governor,” Mr. Nyako said in a statement on Tuesday issued by Ahmad Sajoh, Director. Press and Public Affairs, Governor’s Office.
“As at the time the supposed resignation was said to have been tendered in the House, Murtala H. Nyako was the Governor of Adamawa State. No such letter was written to him, none was received by him and none was approved by him.
“It should therefore be known that in the eyes of the Law, the Deputy Governor has not resigned. Barr Bala James Ngillari is still the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State. This clarification is necessary to avert another subversion of the Constitution since the other processes relating to the impeachment saga have all been in contravention of the Constitution and the Law.
“We wish to observe that continued abuse of the constitution and the laws of the land may spell doom for our democracy,” Mr. Nyako added.
Lawyers react
Following the impeachment of Mr. Nyako and the resignation of his deputy, Mr. Fintiri was sworn in as the Acting Governor of the state by the former acting chief judge of the state, Ambrose Mammadi, at the council chambers of Government House.
According to Section 306 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states that: “The notice of resignation of the Governor and of the Deputy Governor of a State shall respectively be addressed to the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the Governor of the State.
Furthermore, Section 306 (2) states that: “The resignation of any person from any office established by this Constitution shall take effect when the writing signifying the resignation is received by the authority or person to whom it is addressed or by any person authorized by that authority or person to receive it.”
Jiti Ogunye, a Lagos based constitutional lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES that by virtue of the Constitution, Mr. Ngilari’s resignation was illegal.
“The governor addresses his letter of resignation to the Speaker because he is the head of the Executive branch and the Speaker is the head of the Legislative branch. The deputy governor is not the head of the executive,” Mr. Ogunye said.
“The implication of this is, clearly speaking, the deputy governor did not follow the constitutional procedure in delivering his resignation letter.
“However, since the deputy governor had tendered his resignation, and he had not come out to say he is still the deputy governor, although he tendered to an inappropriate authority, does it lie on the mouth of another authority to say it is illegal?”
“If anybody is challenging the constitutionality of that move, the person should go to court to challenge it. That’s the recourse. The recourse cannot be an amorphous office of the governor,” Mr. Ogunye added.
Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, described the Adamawa State saga as a “litany of illegalities.”
“As far as the constitution is concerned, a notice of resignation by a public official cannot take effect until it is addressed to the
authority whom it is meant to,” said Mr. Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
“If he (Mr. Ngilari) is purported to have resigned when the governor is still in office, the resignation is illegal and so the assumption of the office by the speaker is illegal because the office is not vacant,” Mr. Falana added.
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Our Stand: President Jonathan Playing With Fire

 

Leadership Editors

           

Early this year, the newly selected national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, described his party members as master poachers. What he meant then is crystallizing: instigate (read bribe) troublemakers to pester the opposition, induce opposition members to cross over to the ruling party, and suborn state lawmakers to remove opposition governors and install PDP governors. The steamroller is on.
It seems most strange that a government that has failed on all fronts and buffeted by terrorists is opening up more war fronts. Has it come to this? Has the destruction of Nigeria become state policy? This madness must stop.
The world should see the hand of tyranny in the impeachment of Adamawa State governor Murtala Nyako and the forced resignation of his deputy Bala James Ngilari yesterday. Only on Monday, the Nasarawa State House of Assembly began impeachment proceedings against Governor Tanko Al-Makura. Edo State governor Adams Oshiomhole has been in the line of fire because some APC House members have been bought over and the minority PDP members are said to be dangling the impeachment threat. Rivers State governor Chibuike Amaechi knows that some of the state’s lawmakers are ganging up against him. Rochas Okorocha of Imo State is also facing a benign threat of impeachment. These five governors have one thing in common: they are APC members. There are fears that Kano, another APC state, may also have its governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, dragged to the execution range soon.
Anyone who doubts the motive behind the destabilisation plot should consider that the governors have six months to face the electorate again or about a year to leave office after completing two terms. Which impeachment offences remained hidden for seven years but were discovered only towards the end of their tenure?
And why is it that vestiges of trouble only begin to emerge in non-PDP states after their governors defect? Is it a coincidence that terrorists discover a state only when its governor leaves the PDP and joins the opposition party? And why is it that whenever a scandal is about to be unearthed – like the missing $20billion and the chartered jet saga – terrorist activities intensify to divert the people’s attention? It is about time these questions are answered.
But those who seek to destroy Nigeria through non-tolerance of the opposition should read the handwriting on the wall of history. There is no doubt that a good number of the evil people that have held the nation hostage operate freely under the umbrella of the ruling party. It is the same kind of people that wrecked the First, Second and Third republics. And, after the first round of elections in the Fourth Republic, they all found shelter under one umbrella, because they couldn’t play or stand opposition politics.
The Jonathan government is jittery because a mega party that could defeat the PDP in next year’s elections has been formed. Apparently unable to stop the wind of change and acting in desperation, the government has found a leeway by destroying everything and everyone associated with the APC.
Left to the PDP government, there should be no elections in 2015. After eliminating all the APC governors and replacing them with PDP stooges, for instance, the coast would be clear for a repeat of the Ekiti “magic” in other states.
Yet, there is nothing strange about what has happened in Adamawa, what is happening in Nasarawa and what could happen in Edo, Rivers, Imo and Kwara states. Party stalwarts are directed to dip their hands into nest-bags of money stolen from public funds; they gather members of a state assembly and haul scores of millions of naira on those willing to swear to an oath of trust. After Ghana-must-go bags have changed hands, it is time to gather impeachment offences.
Can the lawmakers in Adamawa look the public straight in the eye and swear that the impeachment of Nyako was done in the best interest of the state; that it was an altruistic exercise?
As the steamroller turns to Nasarawa, the lawmakers may find it convenient to argue that in a democracy the majority must have its way. But we know that their action is hardly in defence of democracy. Is there a relationship between the bond that the Nasarawa State governor has raised and the impeachment threat? At a time of serious national crisis brought on by the incompetence of the Jonathan-led government, politicians must stop playing with fire. They must stop playing with the future of the country. The madness must stop.
From the missing Chibok girls to the general insecurity in the country and from the unaccounted for $20billion to the troves of unattended reports on stolen funds, there’s more than enough serious work to be done. It beggars belief that at a time when the government should double-down on retrieving the country from the jaws of terrorists and thieves, it is very busy plotting to silence the opposition.
And we must say that we are worried by the deafening silence of elder statesmen, who only on July 8 met Jonathan on the state of the nation. Their continuous silence not only emboldens this government it gives the impression that the unfolding tragedy carries their stamp of approval.
It was Adamawa yesterday, Nasarawa today, where next? If we are serious about keeping this country together – as we believe we should – then it’s time to pay more than lip service to the ties that bind us.
We must stop the bull in the china shop now, or risk losing the shop, the wares and the bull as well. We advise the Presidency and the PDP against starting another fire. Nobody knows how it will end.
Leadership

Blamed by opponents for Boko Haram insurgency, Ali Sheriff dumps APC, joins PDP

             

Ola' Audu

“APC has no solid foundation; a party cannot be built around an individual.”
A former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, on Monday in Maiduguri, the state capital, said he was in the state to initiate the process of defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Mr. Sheriff arrived in Maiduguri alongside several members of the National Assembly and was received at the airport at about 2 p.m. by a mammoth crowd: supporters of both of the PDP and the state’s ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
A convoy of hundreds of cars, put at about 500, that snaked into several kilometres accompanied the ex-governor from the Maiduguri airport to his Giwa Barracks Road home.
Some Nigerians have criticised Mr. Sheriff for not doing enough when the seed of Boko Haram was sowed in his state while he was governor.
A few people have suggested the Boko Haram sect comprised disgruntled political thugs who worked for the Borno administration during his reign.
His arrest and prosecution has always been cited as a major demand of the Boko Haram sect in earlier efforts at negotiation with the sect, who partly blame him for the killing of their founder, Mohammed Yusuf; while various government panels had without mentioning him also always sought the prosecution of former and serving public officials who financed the sect at inception.
Mr. Sheriff has consistently denied the allegations against him.
On Monday, various posters of the PDP with the pictures of the former governor as well as some of his political cronies were hurriedly printed by supporters who brandished them along the highways.
Mr. Sheriff later confirmed his exit from the APC to journalists who interviewed him in his house. He said he also came to pull his “people” out of the APC.
“There is nothing to hide as you can see, I have come to consult with my people on our resolve to pull out of the APC and join the PDP. But this is just a private visit which turned out to be some kind of rally because our supporters wanted it that way,” the former governor said.
“We are still consulting with the national officers of the PDP on how to go about it, because the pull out is going to be big, and we hope to organise it after fasting. Presently, as you can see, majority of our people are fasting and praying for peace to return to our dear state. But after the Ramadan we will come back and pull our people out of the APC”.
Asked why he was dumping a party he helped built, Mr. Sheriff, who was involved in a near-fisticuff with another APC leader, Bola Tinubu, at a party leadership meeting recently, said the APC was not inclusive.
“The game has changed both in Borno and at the national level. APC has no solid foundation; a party cannot be built around an individual,” Mr. Sheriff said.
“I have taken time to study the package called APC and came to realise that it won’t work. And any serious politician, who knows his onions would not want to be in a ship that is bound to crash”.
“For now we are in high-level consultation with our people and also with the PDP national officers. It is sad that our people here are in serious want; I came and saw many of them in serious difficulties, and we feel pained that we have to do something fast to assist them. We have no option now than to come and tell them that we are sorry, that we brought them a wrong party, but now we have come to correct our mistakes.”
Mr. Sheriff did not say if he would be exiting the APC alongside his erstwhile political godson, Governor Kashim Shettima; although it appears the latter would remain in the APC where he remains its leader.
“Kashim Shettima was my commissioner for four years before God gave us the opportunity of assisting him become the governor of Borno state in 2011. It cannot be doubted that I took him round the 27 local government councils of Borno and sold his candidature to the people before he was accepted and voted as governor,” the ex-governor said.
“But now the game has changed, and we have no choice than to do what the people of Borno State want; we know there was too much sufferings but we call on the people to be patient. We all pray that God should bring us peace so that Borno state can regain its name once again as the home of peace.”
Mr. Sheriff’s visit to Maiduguri comes barely 24 hours after Governor Kashim Shettima left the state capital for Abuja by road, as the military insisted the airport was closed for security reasons.
The military had also barred intending pilgrims from access to the airport for the lesser hajj. They had to travel to the airport in Kano to commence their journey.
Governor Shettima’s adviser on media, Umar Gusau, said his boss was being politically witchhunted by the closure of the airport causing the governor and his family members to travel by road, even though they are at the highest risk of being attacked by the Boko Haram sect.
Mr. Gusau said this in a statement emailed to journalists on Monday.
Read excerpts of the statement below.

“Following the closure of the Maiduguri International airport by the Federal Government on June 27, 2014 for a period of three months, intending pilgrims for this year’s lesser hajj were forced to travel by road to Kano amidst fear over their safety.
“One of such intending pilgrims, Shettima Mohammed Shettima, the immediate elder brother of both parents, to Governor Kashim Shettima was on Friday involved in a ghastly motor accident resulting in the death of a policeman travelling with him while he had multiple fractures on both legs.
“A policeman was attached to him following threats to his life by Boko Haram elements in addition to being a high risk person due to his relationship with the Governor.
“The accident occurred 20 kilometres away from Damban in Bauchi State while the Governor’s brother was travelling to board a max airline to depart Kano for Saudi Arabia. The accident occurred at about 2pm.
“A max airline chartered flight had arrived Maiduguri airport on Friday, June 27, 2014 to airlift 276 intending pilgrims from Borno and Yobe States who had been screened and were awaiting airlift. Despite intervention by Governor Shettima, soldiers from the army however took over the airport and ordered the plane to take-off without a single pilgrim while the pilgrims were forced to travel by road, departing Maiduguri in the evening and arrived Kano at about midnight before they were airlifted to Saudi Arabia.
“Skynet International Limited which chartered the flight said it followed all processes and had gotten clearance from the army, air force and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria before it began preparations for the airlift. The airport was thereafter closed till September 29, 2014 by the time hajj airlift would have been concluded.
“As the airport closure was still in force, Governor Kashim Shettima yesterday embarked on a trip by road to Kano to see his immediate elder brother and most senior member of his family since the Governor has since lost both parents. The Governor’s convoy was without soldiers.
“While the Governor went about travelling by road, Ex-Governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff was permitted by the Federal Government to fly into the closed Maiduguri International Airport. Sheriff arrived the airport at about 1:32 PM, on board his private jet with registration number 5NBMH to the waiting hands of dozens of soldiers led by the Garrison commander, seven division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Colonel D.R. Hassan who led troops to give cover to the Ex-Governor.
“The plane departed the airport at 2:22pm and is expected to return on Tuesday to airlift the former Governor. Sheriff is expected to defect to the PDP and lead the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan in Borno State.
“Dismembered youth political groups called ECOMOG that was associated with rival violence during the Sheriff administration were re-mobilised by Sheriff’s men as they stormed the airport. Governor Shettima had in the last three years introduced a policy of suspending political thuggery to have youths provided with vocational skills to
become self employed. Some of ECOMOG thugs were last year trained on poultry agriculture.
“A campaign office belonging to Sheriff was painted in white while it is expected to wear PDP colours in coming days. Some key associates of Sheriff including a serving member of House of Representatives, Kangar, had in an interview published last week in some Newspapers said Sheriff had made up his mind to defect to the PDP.”

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Being the text of a press conference addressed in Abuja on Wednesday, July 16th 2014 by the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC),

President Jonathan is destroying Nigeria in his obsessive bid for re-election

Protocols.
Good morning, gentlemen of the press.
Please permit me to start off this press conference with a quote by Chilean writer Isabel Allende, which goes thus: ''What I fear most is power with impunity. I fear abuse of power, and the power to abuse.''Isabel, a victim of the Pinochet military dictatorship, is not alone. All Nigerians must be worried about power with impunity, which is what President Goodluck Jonathan and his party, the PDP, have resorted to in their desperation to crush the opposition and destroy Nigeria in the process.
I have called this Press Conference to address the grave dangers facing Nigerians as a people, our country as a nation and our democracy as our hope, at this very critical time.
Events in Nigeria in the past few weeks point to a return to the dark old days of state dictatorship,lawlessness, impunity and repression. Our freedoms are being emasculated, our economy being run to the ground, and our only hope of bringing about change - our democratic expression is being smothered before our very eyes all because President Goodluck Jonathan is so obsessed with reelection in 2015 at all cost that he is destroying not just all our key institutions but indeed the entire country.
At this critical juncture of our history and despite our desire for restraint and mature engagement with President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) it is evident that inaction is no longer an option and we must resist.
Indeed keeping quiet in the face of the ceaseless and unrelenting reckless violations of all known laws of the land and the Constitution will amount to complicity in the lawlessness and impunity that has become the norm under President Goodluck Jonathan.
We know it has been the dream of the ruling PDP to rule for 60 unbroken years, not minding if Nigeria becomes a desert land in the process.Their evil machination has manifested in Ekiti. It has manifested yesterday in Adamawa, They have carried it to Nasarawa, and they have Edo, Osun and Rivers in their sights.In the states mentioned, all of them opposition strongholds, President Jonathan and his party have abused national institutions, resorted to a crude use of force and engaged in unprecedented financial inducements to achieve their objectives.
All these anti-democratic tactics come under the umbrella of power with impunity!
But there is a bigger problem. President Jonathan is obsessed with his re-election in 2015, and he does not mind if Nigeria is destroyed in the process. He does not care whether every institution of state, be it the military, the courts, INEC or any other one, is destroyed. All that matters now is his re-election. This explains why he has embarked on this war against the opposition, this war against all of Nigeria.
Having bastardized the army, the police, the courts, aviation and the electoral commission, he has now moved to the next level: Impeachment. Every impeachment or threat of it in recent times has the imprint of President Jonathan. As we speak, the Governor of Adamawa, Murtala Nyako, has been impeached at the instance of the President and his party, they have moved to Nasarawa, their next stop, while Rivers, Edo and Borno, all APC states, are not being spared the destabilization that precedes their new-found weapon.
What was Nyako impeached for? Offenses he allegedly committed five years ago. Those offenses were not impeachable when he was in the PDP. But the moment he decamped to the APC, they became impeachable. The entire “impeachment” of Governor Nyako is so fraught with irregularities, bias, judicial contradictions and in violation of every procedural and constitutional provisions that it is the worst manifestation of impunity. We intend to mount an immediate and rigorous challenge to this gross injustice to the party and people of Adamawa State.
What is Gov. Al-Makura of Nasarawa being threatened with impeachment for? Allegations of extra- budgetary expenditure, the same offence that President Jonathan has committed many times. In fact, on only on the 10th of July 2014, the Senate passed a resolution asking President Goodluck Jonathan to prepare and submit to the National Assembly supplementary budget to cover the over expenditure in the sum of N90.693 billion (US$585 million) for PMS subsidy 2012 and the sum of N685.910 billion (US$4.430 billion) for Kerosene (DPK) subsidy expended without appropriation by the National Assembly in 2012 and 2013!
In Adamawa, each member of the State House of Assembly was allegedly given US $300,000 as part payment to impeach Gov. Nyako; some 500 million Naira has allegedly been moved to Nasarawa to induce the state's lawmakers to impeach Gov. Al-Makura, and in Edo, each lawmaker has allegedly been offered 75 million Naira to impeach Gov. Adams Oshiomhole.
Now, who is more guilty of gross misconduct than a President who is frittering away our commonwealth to induce perfidious legislators to impeach their state Governors? Who is more guilty of gross misconduct than a President who deploys troops to harass, intimidate and arrest the opposition during an election? Who deserves to be impeached for gross misconduct more than a President who uses national institutions against the opposition, and shuts airports arbitrarily?
President Jonathan's desperation knows no bounds, and he is willing to set a record of presiding over the greatest number of impeachments under his tenure. Before Nyako's impeachment on Tuesday, a total of five impeachments have been carried out in all of the 15 years of the Fourth Republic. But between now and 2015, President Jonathan is championing five impeachments, in Adamawa, Nasarawa, Edo, Rivers and Borno.
In doing so, he is subverting hitherto respected national institutions. The army has been so compromised that it can no longer be trusted by anyone to be neutral. The army has been so abused that it now carries out police duties. Soldiers were deployed to guard the residence of the Chief Judge of Adamawa while the impeachment proceedings were on. Soldiers were deployed to guard each member of the impeachment panel. Soldiers were also deployed to guard the venue where the panel sat.
In Ekiti, soldiers were deployed to hunt down the opposition and prevent them from moving around freely, in contravention of the nation's constitution. In Osun, soldiers are again to be deployed to shut down the state and go after the opposition.
By using the military for election duties, President Jonathan is clearly disobeying a court order as the Court of Appeal had ruled as far back as 2005 that the involvement of the military in the conduct of elections is an aberration and therefore unconstitutional. Indeed in the words of Salami, JCA on page 176 in the case of Yusuf v Obasanjo (2005) 18 NWLR (Pt. 956 96@174-5)
"It is up to the police to protect our nascent democracy and not the military, otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly militarised. This is not what the citizenry bargained for after 1999. Conscious step or steps should be taken to "civilianize" the polity and thereby ensure survival and sustenance of democracy."
The Akure airport was suddenly slammed shut just to punish opposition leaders who had converged in Ekiti for Gov. Kayode Fayemi's campaign rally. They had to travel all night by road to Lagos. In Borno, under the guise of ensuring security, the Maiduguri Airport has been closed for several weeks, hence the Borno Governor and the people of the state, including the pilgrims heading to lesser Hajj, have been forced to travel by road to Kano to board their flights. However, the reason for shutting the airport has suddenly vanished as the private plane bearing former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff was allowed to land at the airport on Monday, the same day the Governor had to travel by road to Kano to see his brother who was involved in an accident on the same road!
Obviously, President Jonathan is fast turning Nigeria into George Orwell's Animal Farm, where some animals are more equal than the others.
Welcome to Nigeria of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, where the only people who are deemed to be true Nigerians are those under the umbrella of the PDP, where the only people worth protecting are PDP members!
Conclusion
We have raised the alarm several times that President Jonathan's obsession with his re-election is a clear and present danger to our democracy. Today, we say this President's obsession with re-election is threatening the very existence of our nation.
Never in the history of our dear nation has any President waged war on the country the way this President is doing. Never in the history of our country has any President desecrated national institutions like this President is doing to the very institutions that sustain democracy. Never in the history of our country has our people been so divided along ethnic, religious, political and social lines, with poverty rising astronomically in the backdrop of a claimed rapid growth in the nation’s GDP.
We warn that excessive political greed will always have its consequences. Any student of Nigeria's contemporary history will realize what acts of impunity and desperation to win elections at all cost did to the country in 1965, 1983 and 1993, just to mention a few.
We call on all friends of Nigeria to prevail on President Jonathan to apply the brakes in his obsessive quest for power, because every action has consequences.
It is time for those who can still get the ears of this President to remind him that his ambition is not worth the destruction of a whole country. All those who can must act now before it is too late!
I thank you all for listening.
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun
National Chairman, All Progressives Congress
July 16th, 2014

Falana accuses NBA of falsifying voter register, threatens legal action

       

Nicholas Ibekwe

Lagos Lawyer, Femi Falana

Falana says the NBA has a habit of doctoring list, at one point using names of the dead for its elections.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has threatened to sue the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, if it fails to publish a complete voter register for the association’s election billed for Tuesday, July 15.
Mr. Falana said the lawyers’ body, which should play a key role in helping to validate national elections, has a habit of using doctored names for its own internal polls.
In a letter to the Chairman of the NBA Electoral Committee, Okey Ameachi, Mr. Falana warned of legal action if the register was not published by 6 p.m. Sunday.
He accused the NBA of refusing to release the electoral register 48 hours to the election, despite promises by its leadership to make the list available.
Mr. Falana said he was forced to file a Freedom of Information, FOI, request for the record, after the irregularities that characterised the conduct of the NBA election in 2012.
“The voter register for the 2012 NBA election contained some fictitious names including the names of some of our colleagues who passed on several years ago,” he said. “With the connivance of the leadership of the NBA, those lawyers were allowed to vote from the grave!”
“Even though the credibility of the election was called to question, those who were genuinely dissatisfied with the fraudulent results were advised to allow sleeping dogs to lie,” Mr. Falana said.
He said just like in 2012, he has evidence to show that the 2014 register contains the name of some ineligible voter.
“I have drawn the attention of the secretary of the NBA Electoral Committee to the evidence at my disposal that the voter register compiled for the election contains names of many lawyers who are not qualified to vote.
“For instance, some concerned members of the NBA have reliably informed me that the list of the 47 delegates representing the Abuja branch of the NBA was compiled in utter breach of the Constitution of the NBA. I have equally confirmed that the list of co-opted members of the National Executive Committee of the NBA contains 135 names contrary to the clear provisions of the NBA Constitution,” said Mr. Falana.
He said this is not the first time he would confront the NBA to checkmate irregularities in the election process. The lawyer said in 1992, he secured a court order to stop the election when it became clear that the military junta of the day had perfected plans to impose their “stooges” in the leadership of the bar.
“Lawyers cannot afford to fix election results as they are entrusted with the responsibility of filing and defending election petitions in the country,” Mr. Falana said.

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