We Know Those Who Shot at Edo Deputy Governor in Auchi – Aide

On Saturday, April 30, 2016, Edo Deputy Governor Dr. Pius Odubu, on campaign tour, was attacked in Auchi while meeting delegates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the area. Imoudu Afe, a member of the campaign organisation, who witnessed the horrible scenario, gives an account.

Looks like violence has become the norm in this early stage of the contest. Not long ago your campaign team alleged that it was shot at, also a few days thereafter, Godwin Obaseki’s team alleged that a gunman attacked them. What do you think that this portends?

A friend of mine, a lawyer, who is also a member of the civil society, told me that he has read section 308 and he is aware that the Deputy Governor enjoys immunity under the constitution. He also affirmed that much attention is being paid to his protection and that is why he is protected using tax payers money. That he would have given orders to his security details to shoot at the people that attacked his team during that scenario in Auchi because we knew them. The people did not come from outer space we saw them and were even discussing with them. We know them. They are our friends.We are members of the same political party. We were telling them that what they were doing is wrong. We thought it had ended. We were at the entrance of the two doors leading into hall when we started hearing gun shots. It was when one of the bullets hit somebody close to me that I knew they were direct shots. Before you know it the escort commander that was trying to tell his men to take position and defend his principal was shot in the eye. The DSS (Department of State Security) operative was shot on the shoulder. Why we said it was an assassination attempt is that you know that in security issues the DSS is the last body of security before the principal. For the DSS man to be shot on the shoulder that means if the bullet had missed him God forbid what would have happened. It is wrong to say that the Odubu campaign team was shooting themselves. My brother, we are one; we are not violent people. But let me warn that nobody has monopoly of violence. You can push somebody to the wall and he would react. What has happened after (the second shooting incident)  is not APC matter. It’s a local political contest between two opposing political divides who are supporting a particular candidate that want to show relevance. That was what happened. Somebody was coordinating and another person wanted to take over from him. Politicians believe that it’s what you put in now that will determine what you will benefit after the election. So everybody wants to be serious. On our own part, we’ve visited other local government areas after that and we were well received even in some local government areas where they were given instructions by some persons that we should not be received.  They disregarded those instructions.


Your principal, Pius Odubu, is now planning what seems to be a herculean task, to succeed his boss in September. Do you think that this is possible?
It has happened in Kano State. It’s a clear example. The Governor of Kano State was the former Deputy Governor of the state. It has also happened in Enugu and so many other states. Some even moved up to be governors from their former position as Secretary to State Government (SSG), Chief of Staff to the Governor, commissioner etc. History is made by people who are bold and strong. People who are determined and driven by their passion for the people. People who know their constitutional rights and want to enforce it. History is not made by those who are lily-livered or sit on the fence. We pray that our Comrade Governor who started well ends well and history will be kind to him.
Your principal and his boss have been serving the state on their joint ticket for almost eight years running and the belief is that they have a cordial relationship. But accusations, counter accusations and denials between them recently has shocked Nigerians. What is your take on this?
Let me tell you, even as we speak the duo still enjoy a cordial relationship. They’re still best of friends. The nature of the Deputy Governor is a result of his exposure. He didn’t do all his schooling here (in Nigeria). At the age of 18 years he went abroad on scholarship. While abroad he attended three Ivy league universities in America. He came back to Nigeria with a doctorate in law. He realised early that there can never be two captains in a ship. He realised early that he has a boss, who is the Governor, and he is the Deputy. He realised early that he must be loyal and be able to work with his boss so that there will be an environment for them to entrench development. And that is what you have seen in the last seven and half years. It’s what the Deputy Governor has learnt in the Oshiomhole’s school of developmental society that inspired him to seek to succeed his boss. He is the only person who’ll hit the ground running as soon as he is elected. The man is intelligent and he knows his onions. On the issue of the attack (of his campaign team in Auchi) he has not taken it serious because he has faith in the security agencies that they’re going to do their investigations. I think that names have been mentioned and I also think that very soon we’ll get to the end of it all. Coming to the issue of use of juju(diabolic), it was very appalling to have read it in the papers. We also knew all these issues before now. We heard it on the corridors of power that these were the things that were happening, that the governor and his deputy held a reconciliatory meeting. But the press was wrong. There was never a reconciliatory meeting between the governor and the deputy governor. They have never been involved in any quarrel or altercation. It’s only mischief makers and some politicians I call hustlers that want to be in the centre of attraction at all times that were putting together these meetings. Before now,  you will remember the issue of Gentleman Ameghor. That he is very close to the Deputy Governor and has said that he (Deputy Governor) can win election without the Governor. It became an issue. You also recall the issue of the Vice Chairman of the party,  Alhaji Magaji. That too became an issue but later died down. Then after that you heard the issue of security. They all resolved that it was a non-issue. The informant they agreed was not somebody that has a good character or is reliable. A source at the meeting (not Deputy Governor) quoted the Governor as saying: “I am the Governor today. I didn’t know that I will be governor many years ago. It’s God that gives power. I cannot stop my Deputy from exercising his rights.” The governor went further to say: “if you hear that I say anything about you tell me.  If it’s true I will tell you why I said so. But let us be on the same page.” If anything goes wrong with this administration the Deputy Governor knows that he would share from it too that is why he is determined to ensure that the current administration under the leadership of Comrade Aliu Oshiomhole ends well.
Many people fear that this argument and counter argument may not augur well for the APC at the polls. What are you doing to reconcile with the opposing camps?
There is no rancour at all. We are all members of the same political party. The philosophy of the deputy governor is that we’re all members of the same political family. That after the primaries everybody will come together and work together because we must keep Edo State in safe hands. He had earlier said he has no enemies what he has are opponents. In a contest you must have opponents. He is pursuing his own political aspiration by the rules. That is why he has control over his social media team and other organs of his campaign organisation. I know that most of the time he doesn’t sleep early because he wants to ensure that no member of his team is saying anything that is wrong against the other aspirants. He wants to ensure that everyone is cautious and we use good language when we are expressing ourselves. This is about canvassing votes from the delegates. It’s only twelve persons per ward, the local government area executives and members of the party’s state executives that are going to participate in the primaries. You cannot rule out the fact that this is the only state under the control of the APC in the south south geopolitical region so, the party is also very careful. The National Chairman of the party (Chief John Odigie-Oyegun) is from the state and he has assured that there is going to be a level playing field during the primaries. The only way you can be angry is when aspirants feel cheated; feel that there is no level playing field; there is no sincerity. That’s why you feel that you cannot manage the system. But if they go through the rigours of the primaries and the system is transparent everybody will congratulate the winner and they all work together during the election. The deputy governor has always said that whoever gets the ticket in a sincere and credible primaries would have his backing in the election proper. He also said he will need the support of all Edolites if he gets the ticket in a transparent way. We know that we have bigger enemies to confront after the primaries. We are talking of the other political parties.

If at the end of the day your principal does not get the party ticket would you volunteer to work with the elected candidate?

I have told you earlier that some of us are very experienced. Some of us have a history and a culture and we have conquered fear many years ago. I am an activist and I operate at my own risk to the extent of been imprisoned so that Nigeria can return to democratic governance. People will attest to that. So, we’re not just local names, we are people known internationally because of our courage to fight for what we believe in. When the aspirants began to reach out to me about their aspirations I sat back and assessed them. I did a SWOT analysis on all the aspirants – their Strength, their Weaknesses, their Opportunities and their Threats (SWOT). On that scale, I chose to work with the Deputy Governor. He didn’t approach me. He has been a father to me. He is somebody that I relate with as he has known me over the years. So, I approached him and told him he is the best person to be the governor of the state after Comrade Oshiomhole. I have made allusions to three very important factors in a contest, namely transparency, credibility and ability to authenticate what is right. If the primaries meet these three factors, I am telling you we’re going to support whoever wins. But I know that the contest is between the deputy governor on one side and the others on the opposite side. What we are saying is that the process should be plain so that at the end of the day during the election everybody will back the aspirant that emerges as the party’s flagbearer.

COURTESY GG PLATFORM @ TMZ: On Fayose and his madness

I hear our prof and rationalization of the call to violence . think a lot of us are  just too young to remember how the civil war started. Violence yields nothing, and when violence is mixed with ethnic and political undertones it has to be a smoldering powder that every educated person must condemn unequivocally. Fayose made statements like "his state", well he is just a governor (an usurper some of us think) and it is not his state. He has no right to stop economic activities by fiat and even his law if passed will be tested in the courts against the constitution and I can already tell you it will be struck down. If ranching is a solution, then the duty of the governor is to support that industry to inflame passion and call for inter ethnic strife and killing. That is just plain irresponsible . Ranching is not a bad idea but won't happen overnight, even as we work to harmonize cattle rearer and farmer positions across Nigeria. The only thing that will come out of Fayose's madness is death, hunger due to unemployment and high cost of beef in OUR state.

As an Ekiti man, and specifically an Ikole man (so this gets home and no need to cry more than the mourner)..this is not protection, this is lunacy. Omo ale Ni Fayose, ridiculing Ekiti people and our hard won brand for intellectualism and common sense. No one plays to the gallery with security. The reality on ground is that this issue will only lead to more progrom and death, as Ikole borders huge husbandry states of Kwara and Kogi, and have benefitted economically from being a center of trade and commerce in cattle and yams. What is oncoming is clash and massive unemployment & economic depression for the already "left behind" who barely survive already. The consequences of his misadventure will soon be obvious


PS: People talking about death toll of recent clash between criminal herdsmen and farmers are just plain gullible. We have higher death toll from maternal deaths in our hospital and bad roads cause by corruption and even armed robbery than cattle rustling. The issue is just the right one for ethnic jingoist seeking to undermine Nigeria for their own narrow interest and distract the current government from its war against their looting- Fayose inclusive.

FG Appoints New CEOs For NTA, NAN, NBC, Others

SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has appointed new chief executives officers for the information-related parastatals in the Ministry of Information and Culture.
The new appointees, whose appointments are with immediate effect, will fill the posts left unoccupied following the disengagement of the previous heads of the agencies on February 15, 2016.
The appointments as announced by the Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed are as follows:
Mr. Ishaq Modibo Kawu – Director-General, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC)
Mr. Mansur Liman – Director-General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN)
Mr. Yakubu Mohammed – Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)
Dr. Garba Abari, Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA)
Mr. Bayo Onanuga – Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Mr. Osita Okechukwu – Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON).

Edo Govt withdraws letter approving new Oba of Benin

Crown Prince of Benin, Eheneden Erediauwa

The Edo State Government has withdrawn a letter earlier issued on the Oba of Benin, saying it was issued in error.
In a retraction signed by the Secretary to State Government, Julius Ihonvbere, dated May 25, 2016, the government said: “In deference to the revered age-long tradition and respect for the sensibilities of the people of the great Benin Kingdom, the Government of Edo State hereby withdraws a letter issued on 24th May 2016 entitled: “Appointment of His Royal Highness Edaiken N’Uselu, Crown Prince Eheneden Erediauwa as the Oba of Benin”
“The said letter was issued in error as the rites of passage of His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba of Benin are still on.
“The government will, in due course, issue a fresh letter on the installation of the Edaiken N’Uselu, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Eheneden Erediauwa, as the Oba of Benin, in line with the age-long succession tradition of the Benin Kingdom and in line with Section 19 (1) of the Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Law, 1979 (as amended) and by virtue of all other laws enabling it in that behalf, after all necessary traditional rites are concluded.”
Mr. Ihonvebere had on Tuesday circulated a letter approving the appointment of Crown Prince Eheneden Erediauwa as the Oba of Benin, with effect from April 29, 2016.
In the letter dated May 24, Mr. Ihonvbere, had said, “It is hereby notified for general information that in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 19 (1) of the Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Law, 1979 (as amended) and by virtue of all other laws enabling it in that behalf, the Executive Council of the Edo State Government of Nigeria has approved the appointment of His Royal Highness Edaiken N’Uselu, Crown Prince Eheneden Erediauwa as the Oba of Benin, with effect from 29th day of April, 2016.”
The palace of the Oba announced the death of Omo n’Oba n’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Oba Erediauwa on April 29 even though it is believed by many Nigerians that he passed on long before the formal announcement.
Oba Erediauwa, who ascended the throne in 1979, was 92.

Almost one year ago, the monarch, , was rumoured to have passed on after an undisclosed illness.
Crown Prince Eheneden was formally installed as the Edaiken of Uselu, the heir apparent to the throne on March 7, 2015.

"FULANI HERDSMEN KILLINGS; MODUS OPERANDI, THOSE INVOLVED, AND THE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS.

Professor Charles Adisa
Startling research findings on Fulani herdsmen
Must read

The Result of the Research about Fulani herdsmen.

The most significant problem that African nations face is lack of leadership. Normally, Leadership should be an intentional conscious effort to attend to the people’s needs and aspirations. But in Africa, even though many of those that are thrust into the position of leadership mean well, they lack the capacity to lead and meet the people/s hopes and aspirations. Apart from lack of adequate preparation for leadership, one other notable factor that had inhibited good leadership among African leaders is the seemingly non-existent structures for research and information management in the society. Hence, many well-meaning leaders often do not have the requisite information needed for a thorough appraisal and resolution of problems as they arise.

A clear example is the recent terrorist attack in Enugu State of Nigeria and the obvious ignorance of the State Leadership on the modus operandi of the Fulani Herdsmen which led to poor leadership decisions. For a long time, the Nigerian state has been under siege by Fulani herdsmen terrorists operating under a predictable pattern of reconnaissance, attack and withdrawal, leading to many deaths and social dislocations. Since January 2016, there has been documented deaths of approximately 1000 Nigerians from across the middle belt, the South-south, and Southeastern parts of the country from these coordinated Fulani herdsmen attacks.  The Fulani herdsmen are credited with destabilizing the city of Jos, a once tourist destination; and their history of mayhem extend beyond the borders of the Nigerian state. They are also the major actors/catalyst to recent conflicts in the Central African Republic. Armed with adequate information about these murderous group, one would have expected the Governors in the Southeastern states, especially those whose citizens were murdered in cold blood by these terrorists to come out with a strong condemnation of the Fulani herdsmen carnage and unify towards a common cause solution. On the contrary, events in the past weeks only showed confused state executives, who do not even understand the magnitude of the problem at hand. 

In fairness to these Governors, some of them mostly followed the normal state security protocol in responding to this abnormality, Hence, the failure to protect the citizens was the liability of the Federal Government of Nigeria and its armed forces. Though we do not excuse the shabby response of these Governors to the Fulani Herdsmen tragedy, we are inclined to give them a slack because to solve a problem, one needs to first understand the problem. The Governors did not understand the problem. Most Nigerians and international bodies do not understand the Fulani herdsmen problem and we at CACLD did not initially. We therefore dispatched a fact finding team to the Southeastern part of the country to unravel the intricacies and complexities of the Fulani terrorist group; a group rated as the fourth most dangerous by respected international conflict organizations (According to the Global Terrorism Index 2015 report; "Fulani militants" killed 1,229 people in 2014 -- up from 63 in 2013, Making them the "fourth most deadly terrorist group").

Our fact finding team visited “Ama Hausa and Garki” camps in both Enugu and Abia States. They also interviewed neighbors from the local communities living within and around the Hausa communities in both states. Both the Northerners and the local community were very open and volunteered valuable information to our team. There seems to be a willingness and eagerness for the violence to end. Below, we will present our findings in numbered points.

1. The Fulani herdsmen terrorists are Fulanis but mostly non-Nigerians: This may come as a surprise to most of us. About ten percent of the terrorists are Nigerians and they live within the Hausa Fulani communities in Ama-Hausa and Garki’s in the South East and South-south regions.

2. The Fulani Herdsmen terrorists do not own cattle: This is another revelation that may come as a surprise to many. Fulani herdsmen killers’ major job description is just to kill. They do not own any cattle. Most of them are employed by the cattle owners as “security men” whose job is strictly to protect the cattle. They do not however follow the cattle around, but move in separate vehicles along a defined route within the states where cattle are being reared.

3. The Ama-Hausas and Garkis harbor 80% of the Fulani herdsmen killers. This is a very important revelation. The Garkis are mostly Hausas and other minorities from the north, but within them, they Fulani herdsmen killers reside. The northerners were able to show us these Fulani herdsmen “security personnel” and they were dressed differently from the normal Northern Nigerians within these settlements. They were young, less religious, most of them use drugs, and consume alcohol. A majority of these herdsmen terrorists are migrants from Chad, Niger, and other Fulani enclaves outside the Nigerian state. A small percentage of these Fulani youths are Nigerians born in the states where they reside. They are the ones vested with the responsibility of leading these Fulanis on their regular rampage; serving as compasses to the blood-hungry terrorists.

4. The Fulani herdsmen that accompany cattle from the North to the South per season do not own cattle. This is another surprise coming out from the investigation. The cattle are owned by more prominent Fulani leaders in the country. Most Nigerian Fulanis are no longer migratory herdsmen, but are either Emirs, Sultans, heads of parastatals, oil barons, Imams, Christian Pastors, Governors, Federal Reps, and Senators. However, they still maintain their cultural ownership of cattle. These wealthy Nigerians increase their wealth astronomically through cattle rearing by using their not well off brothers from outside Nigeria to rear these cattle. Instead of investing in ranches and buying of grasses from the South, they chose the cheaper alternative of having their kinsmen, imported from outside the country, take these cattle from the north to south seasonally; using the entire Nigerian space as their “grass kingdom”. These cattle, in turn, destroy farms in their path, rendering farmers economically bankrupt to further enrich the wealthy Fulani “remote herders”.

For clarity sake, let us present the breakdown of Fulani people in Nigeria as we deduced from our investigation.
There are about 5 million Fulani people in Nigeria making them one of the smallest ethnic group in the country.
Out of the 5 million Fulani people, only about 3 million of them are Nigerians. The remaining 2 million come from outside the country and are first generation immigrants.

About 60 percent of the Fulanis in Nigeria are governors, Pastors, Imams, Emirs, Sultan, House of Rep members, Importers, Exporters, Ministers, Oil well owners, lecturers, Vice Chancellors, Ministers, and Senators etc. In a nutshell, the Fulani control all sectors of the northern economy. These rich Fulani’s own all the cattle being reared in Nigeria.
The remaining 40 percent of Fulanis come from outside the country. These are the poor and peasant Fulanis. These immigrant Fulani’s are mostly in charge of the cattle owned by the Bourgeois Fulani. Because the Fulani’s have the highest income per capita in the Nigerian state (Fulani’s who are Nigerians), they constantly need to import their poor brothers and sisters from outside the country to increase their population (the Fulani’s always either marry into rich families or they would marry only Fulani to maintain their pure race) and to help with menial jobs.

In Garki and Ama-Hausa settlements all over the country, there exist a few Nigerian Fulanis (some are born in these states) who coordinate the cattle business. These Fulanis either help manage family cattle or are just contracted middlemen in charge of the business on behalf of various millionaire cattle owners. They themselves are also millionaires. Under these middlemen are about a group of 20 to 40 Fulani boys within the ages of 20 and 35. These are the unofficial Fulani herdsmen security team whose job is to protect the Fulani herdsmen cattle.
Lastly, there is a group of Fulani herdsmen who rear the cattle from the north to the south. These are at the bottom of the Fulani Herdsmen ladder. Some of them do not even know how to speak English and are so poor that they are paid just a little amount of money for their job. These herdsmen do not carry guns. They only carry arrows and machetes to help them navigate the bushes on their way down to the South.

6. Fulani Herdsmen Attack.
We learned from the surrounding communities and from some of the Hausa elders about what constitutes a Fulani herdsmen attack. According to information we received, when there is a disagreement between host communities, or between herdsmen and farmers, the Fulani herdsmen who accompany the cattle will locate the nearest Fulani settlement and if there is none, they will locate the nearest Garki or Ama Hausa. When they arrive, they will narrate their story. The Fulani (Nigerian middlemen) cattle managers will notify their top Fulani Herdsmen which in this case, include governors (like El Rufai) and other top Fulani Bourgeois who own the cattle.  A decision will be made about whether there should be an attack or not on the said village or host community. If an attack is sanctioned, then modalities will be mapped out and a date will be chosen for the attack. Most times, Fulani herdsmen in the military and police are notified and everyone sends a representative. Neighboring settlements sends out representatives and arms cache are opened and arms are distributed to the participants. The major participants are the 20 to 40 Fulani herdsmen who reside in the Garkis and Ama Hausas. These are the Fulani warriors whose job is to kill.

During an attack, every Fulani person in the area knows there will be an attack and all will contribute to make sure it goes on successfully. Fulanis in the higher levels of the military will ensure all commands under them stand down, and the top Fulani police officers will do the same. The road is then clear for the Fulani herdsmen to carry their attacks.

7. Solution
Many of those who interacted with us suggested solutions that are very interesting. Most of the northern Hausas and the local communities suggested a ban on grazing in the affected states. A total ban would be the only way to solve this problem. Some argued that with the Fulani’s nature of encroaching on other people’s land and territories, any attempt to give them land would aggravate the problem and not solve it.

Most villagers from Abia State suggested that these cattle be penned in the north while government releases money for people in the South to cut grasses, process the grass, and send to the north. This is the practice all over the world. They indicated that any attempt to take their lands and give to the Fulani would definitely result to a civil war.

We agree, the solution is very simple; ban grazing, establish ranches for the cattle in the north, pay the southerners to harvest grass and send to the north. With this, everyone would be pleased with the outcome. This solution is expected to generate 1 million jobs in the South and about 500,000 jobs in the North. Also Fulani herdsmen terror will be totally eliminated.

Conclusion
Next time when we talk about a herdsmen attack, we must understand that the attack was not carried out by the herdsmen you see escorting cattle on the roads and bushes. These attacks are well coordinated and sometimes involves the approval of senators and influential men in Abuja. Even our president Mohammed Buhari has a herd of cattle and hence is a Fulani herdsman, corroborating the information we received from respondents on ground. Fulani herdsmen attacks involves all Fulani ethnic members in Nigeria. Most times, these attacks happen only because “respectable men” sanction them.

Issued by the News Team of Chinua Achebe Center for Leadership and Development
shared as received."

Fuel price hike: FG meets labour today

NLC President Ayuba Wabba

Fidelis Soriwei and Olusola Fabiyi

The Federal Government has invited the leadership of organised labour to a meeting in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on Monday to discuss the increase of fuel pump price from N86 and N86.50k to N145.

Representatives of organised labour and the civil society had, after a meeting in Abuja on Saturday, given the Federal Government till midnight on Tuesday to reverse the increase or face an indefinite national strike.

The group gave the strike notice in a joint communiqué issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress after the meeting.

The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Sunday that organised labour had received invitations via text messages from the Ministry of Labour on Sunday to attend the meeting with the government at the office of the SGF.

Ozo-Eson said while organised labour would honour the invitation to attend the meeting, the only thing that could stop the planned action was a reversal of the fuel price increase and the 46 per cent increase in electricity tariff.

He said if the Federal Government failed to reverse the two increases, the government should be prepared to meet Nigerians on the streets.

Ozo-Eson added that the first meeting between organised labour and the Federal Government over the dispute would hold at 3pm on Monday.

He said, “I have received a text message inviting us to a meeting tomorrow (Monday) at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and we will attend.

‘‘We will attend those meetings but the notice given is not conditional to our action.  It is conditional on the reversal of the hike in the price of petroleum and the hike in electricity tariff.

“But we are saying that is not what is crucial; what is crucial is that we will mobilise unless there is reversal. If there is no reversal, we will meet on the streets.”

Ozo-Eson dismissed the reports attributed to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that the increase was necessitated by the scarcity of foreign exchange.

He said it was inconceivable for the government to make an arrangement that would allow the black market exchange rate determine the price of fuel in the country.

He argued that there was nothing new in what Mohammed said as it was part of the presentation by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, which was rejected by organised labour.

He stated, “The nation does not submit to the pronouncement that the fate of Nigerians will now be determined by black market exchange rate because that is the bottom line of what they are doing.

“There is nothing new in what he is saying; we reject it and the position we are taking is based on part of that information. It changes nothing. It is unacceptable.”

A source in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, who confided in one of our correspondents, said the government was “reaching out to labour.”

The source believed there would be no strike as the Federal Government would make every efforts to ensure that there was dialogue.

“The Federal Government does not want strike, we will discuss. Government is making every effort to ensure that there is no strike,” the source stated.

The Special Adviser to the Minister of Labour and Employment on Media, Mr. Nwachukwu Ngige, said he could not reach the minister for his comment on the issue on Sunday.

But the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties on Sunday warned Nigerians not be deceived again ahead of the planned industrial action by organised labour over the increase in the pump price of petrol.

CNPP also urged Nigerians not to trust the labour unions, alleging that they had been compromised.

It said the planned strike, scheduled for Wednesday, wouldn’t last beyond Friday.

If further alleged that the labour unions were using the strike as a ploy to scuttle genuine actions against the increment in pump price as they did in 2012.

The umbrella body of political parties in Nigeria said these in a statement jointly signed on Sunday by its National Chairman, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, and the Secretary-General, Chief Willy Ezugwu.

The CNPP said, “What the labour unions are doing now by calling for a strike was what they did in 2012 during the Occupy Nigeria protests in response to similar increase in the pump price of petrol under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“The labour unions later scuttled the action by purportedly entering into an agreement with the then government on behalf of Nigerians and ended up fixing the pump price of petrol at N97.00 per litre.

“We have it on good authority that the labour leaders have been compromised.

‘‘Recall that the labour leaders were at a meeting, where the decision to inflict more and more pains on the already impoverished Nigerian people by increasing the pump price was taken and never protested against it. Why the sudden U-turn by the same labour leaders?”

The statement added that the ever increasing hardship enthroned on Nigerians by the current government could not be tolerated.

“The Federal Government and its labour collaborators must be told that the CNPP, the masses and the civil society shall occupy Nigeria until the reversal of the pump price of petrol. Enough of more and more suffering under the guise of fuel subsidy removal,” the statement added.

 PUNCH.

Avoid what’ll put you in opposition, Oyinlola tells APC members

From Tony Osauzo,Benin
THE Chairman of the fact-find­ing and reconciliation com­mittee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Edo State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has advised stakeholders in the state to avoid anything that would put them in the opposi­tion political party.
Prince Oyinlola, former governor of Osun State who gave the advice while address­ing Edo APC governorship aspi­rants and other stakeholders of the party in Benin at the week­end, told them that being in the opposition was not a pleas­ant thing.
He assured the aspirants that the party would provide a level playing ground and urged the party’s leadership to resolve their differences.
He explained that the APC won last year’s election because of a transparent party prima­ries that saw the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as the party’s flag bearer.
“My belief until I came was   that nobody has done anything that will surpass the achieve­ment of Dr. Ogbemudia. We have a performing governor who has done so much credit to our party, why then do we not want to con­tinue with this trend of achieve­ment by going into the election united and deliver Edo State.
“It is the only state that is under our control in the South South zone. It is an open se­cret that governors in the South South have gone to do meeting on how to take Edo. God will not allow that to happen. We have in­teracted with the aspirants. They came out with what they be­lieved is needed to be done for us to move successfully. All of them are talking about a level playing ground.
“We must allow a level play­ing ground. That is what is going to happen. God forbid; we should not lose election in Edo State. It is not a pleasant thing to be in op­position.
That is why I want to plead with our leadership that we must be able to resolve our differences” , Prince Oyinlola said.
 Sun