NEW YEAR MESSAGE TO EDO PEOPLE FROM MAJ. GEN. CHARLES EHIGIE AIRHIAVBERE

My dear Edo People,

My family and I wish to seize this opportunity as the year 2012 rolls to an end to wish all of us a happy and a prosperous new year 2013. A year I tag “The Year of Rebirth for Edo State”.
Evil triumphs where honest men and women in a society keep quiet and do nothing and for this reason good leadership has eluded us for too long in the State
My message to my people is from this memorable quote of Late J.F Kennedy. ‘’If a free society cannot help many who are poor; it cannot save the few who are rich”. I say no more.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!

Maj Gen Charles Ehigie Airhiavbere. MBA, mni.
PDP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE, EDO STATE 2012

Minorities issues, solution to Nigeria’s problem – Rita Lori

A woman activist and Itsekiri leader, Chief (Mrs.) Rita Lori Ogbebor, has reasoned that what can solve the country’s problem is addressing the issue of the minorites across the country in line with the recommendation of the pre-independence Henry Willikin Commission. The concerned elder stateswoman, who spoke with RAZAQ BAMIDELE, insists that creation of more states would create more problems for the country.
Excerpts:
Constitution review
I am very sad about the conduct of the exercise. At my age, I did not believe that I will see this kind of wishy-washy exercise when we are talking about the constitution, which can be called the bible of our country that will affect our lives and lives of children yet unborn.
Before independence, that type of exercise could not have been conducted the way it is being conducted. Questions drafted for us to answer were only good for the primary school pupils. It is not even good for the primary school pupils because before the examination, they should have been taught what they were likely to meet in the examination hall. That must have happened before they could be asked to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. But before the exercise commenced, we were given a paper that looked like examination script, which we were told to adhere to strictly without bringing in any addition. And funny enough, we were given only one minute to answer each question. In fact, they not ready to accommodate any other view besides the ones contained in the papers given to us. It was just a matter of ‘yes’ or ‘no’. you can imagine somebody in my position, I was here before independence; I participated in independence. And now, I am being told by people, who are more or less our children now, that I should say yes or no to their questions. It is sad and baffling that what our founding fathers fought for is being bastardised this way. I was sad and angry. And, of course, a lot of other people felt that way. It just did not go down well with us. And you can see all over the country, there is dissatisfaction, fracas and so forth. It is extremely sad that our own children can take the whole country for a ride! Yes or no!
Take the first question they asked us for example. They said according to section 8 of the Constitution, should the clauses that make creation of states difficult be removed or not, and they expected us to say yes or no. I mean, it is infuriating. First and foremost, it is not everybody, even some lawyers know what the Section 8 of the Constitution is all about not to talk of laymen who are not lawyers but who are definitely stakesholders? And these people have their own contribution to this country. And you are asking them to say either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ without  knowing what section 8 of the constitution is all about. In fact, that is where we had the deadlock because people like us called their attention to their mistakes. We said, look here, what does section 8 of the Constitution say? We told them that they had to explain to us. Or they should give us some days to go back to our children, who are lawyers to explain to us before we wpould come back to answer their ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. People in attendance were disatisfied and that was how all of us walked out on our ‘yes’ or ‘no’ teachers.
Setback
I participated in Warri Federal Constituency. And to my greatest surprise, the exercise started at 4 O’clock. It was initially slated for 10am. Later they shifted it because they said Mr. President was in Warri for the birthday of Pastor Ayo Oritsajefor. They moved it to 2pm. By that time, the exercise did not start until 4pm. How then did they expect us to carry out such an important exercise successfully with over 40 questions that were waiting for our ‘yes’ or ‘no’?
And most of us flew in from different parts of the country. I flew in from Lagos by 9am. I left my Lagos house by 5am to catch the plane. So, I sat down from 9 am till 4pm. You can see the exhaustion! It is not tenable.
I see the exercise as a way to rubber-stamp the agenda they already have. It is the way they are ruling this country that gave rise to Boko Haram and other forms of insecurity in the country. We are not surprised. In a society where there is no justice, people would look for justice. And if there is no justice, there would be no stability. That is what we are going through.
Verdict
The ongoing attempts at reviewing the constitution must be canceled so that it would give the public time to understand the questions they are posing to us and some Sections they are quoting from the Constitution before we can say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ They even told us that other questions beside the ones on the sheet are no go areas. That is incredible! As far as I am concerned, the problem of this country is not state creation. State creation is a way of bringing more problems because a number of states on ground now cannot take care of themselves. They are not viable. It means more revenues would be expended to create jobs for the politicians while there would be nothing left for infrastructure maintenance and development. And that is the problem we have today in the country. All the infrastructure are decay and there is no money to maintain, revive and bring them back to live. Presently, the system we are running is so bogus we cannot find money to maintain it. We have the Senate, the House of Representatives, the governors, States Assemblies, local governments and wards levels. The states are also running the same numbers of portfolios being run by the Federal Government. How many tiers of government can we say we are running?! Yet, they are not effective!
We that fought for Local governments have realized, rather sadly, that they have become cubic problem. We are just squandering resources without accountability. So, these are frightening signals we are seeing that make us believe that creation of more states is never a panacea to our problem.
TheSun

…Leading political parties: How they stand

Jega

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) PDP is the ruling political party in Nigeria. It has won all the presidential elections held in the country since the return to civil rule in 1999. Formed by a coalition several political organisation in 1998, the party has to its credit a national spread. It has membership virtually in all the nooks and crannies of the country.

The party which rightfully prides itself as the biggest party in sub-Saharan Africa produced Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as President in 1999 till 2007. It also won majority of the state governorship positions in the first election leaving the Alliance for Democracy (AD) with six and the All Peoples Party (APP) with nine.

In 2007, the party fielded the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as its presidential candidate and won. Upon his death, President Goodluck Jonathan emerged to complete his term. He went ahead to win the 2011 election on the platform of the PDP.

Though it has won all the presidential elections, analysts are of the opinion that the popularity of the party is waning by the day. Its loss in all the six states of the southwest, its hitherto North-central stronghold of Nassarawa and the twin states of Anambra and Imo in the southeast is a pointer to this argument.

According to pundits, the party in line with its identity as a conservative party, has a market-driven approach for the economy. With internal crises rocking many of its state chapters, the PDP is going into the New Year with a lot on its plate to battle ahead of the 2015 general election.

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)

This party has continued to prove its critics wrong since its emergence on the political scene in 2007. Formed with the merger of several parties, including Advance Congress of Democrats, Justice Party and Alliance for Democracy, not many people gave the alliance a chance to survive.

The party has a strong presence in Nigeria’s south-west, mid-west and north central regions. From these areas, the party has a total of six governors and about 19 senators, making it the second largest party in the country, following the inability of the ANPP to retain most of the seats it won in the early elections. and 2 representatives to the state houses. In the 2007 assembly elections, the party won 32 of the 360 seats in the House of Representatives but today, it boasts of more than 60 honourable members in the lower house. Given its progressive leaning, the party is seen by many as the masses’ party and it is going into the New Year with this appellation.

All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP)

This is another major political party in Nigeria. In the 2007 elections, the party had won about 27 per cent of the popular votes and also won 92 of the 360 seats in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, ANPP won 27 of the total 109 seats.

But today, left with only three governors and seven senators in its care, the party seems to have lost its winning streak. Unable to retain most of the governorship and senatorial seats in its kitty during the last general election, the ANPP performed very badly in the presidential race.

With a right-wing conservative ideology and a mass appeal, particularly in northern Nigeria, the party at inception was touted as the alternative to the ruling PDP. But its many battle with internal skirmishes didn’t help its quest to take over the leadership of the country.

Many see its involvement in the ongoing merger talk as an attempt to relaunch itself back on the track of national politics in the country. The commitment of its leaders to the talk will determine where it will be placed in the politics of the coming years.

Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)

This is another major political party in Nigeria. Formed hurriedly in time for the 2011 general election, it put up what many called a surprise performance, coming second in the presidential race. Its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, was even touted as the man to beat in many opinion polls prior to the election.

The party also got six senators elected on its platform and crowned its surprise victory run by winning the governorship seat in Nassarawa State.

Currently, apart from being deeply involved in the opposition merger talks, the CPC is undergoing serious restructuring with its leaders saying the exercise is meant to position the party to take over the government of the country at the national level.

Its popularity is also spreading wide, especially in the northern part of the country where it is seen as a veritable alternative to the ailing ANPP. It is expected to play a vital role in the politics of 2013.

TheNation

Cannabis ‘Makes Pain More Bearable'

Cannabis plant

Cannabis makes pain more bearable rather than actually reducing it, a study from the University of Oxford suggests.

Using brain imaging, researchers found that the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis reduced activity in a part of the brain linked to emotional aspects of pain, reports the BBC.

But the effect on the pain experienced varied greatly, they said.

The researchers' findings are published in the journal Pain.

The Oxford researchers recruited 12 healthy men to take part in their small study.

Participants were given either a 15mg tablet of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) - the ingredient that is responsible for the high - or a placebo.

The volunteers then had a cream rubbed into the skin of one leg to induce pain, which was either a dummy cream or a cream that contained chilli - which caused a burning and painful sensation.

Each participant had four MRI scans which revealed how their brain activity changed when their perception of the pain reduced.

Dr Michael Lee, lead study author from Oxford University's Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, said: "We found that with THC, on average people didn't report any change in the burn, but the pain bothered them less."

MRI brain imaging showed reduced activity in key areas of the brain that explained the pain relief which the study participants experienced.

Dr Lee suggested that the findings could help predict who would benefit from taking cannabis for pain relief - because not everyone does.

"We may in future be able to predict who will respond to cannabis, but we would need to do studies in patients with chronic pain over longer time periods."

He added: "Cannabis does not seem to act like a conventional pain medicine. Some people respond really well, others not at all, or even poorly.

"Brain imaging shows little reduction in the brain regions that code for the sensation of pain, which is what we tend to see with drugs like opiates.

"Instead cannabis appears to mainly affect the emotional reaction to pain in a highly variable way."

Mick Serpell, a senior lecturer in pain medicine at Glasgow University, said the study confirmed what was already known.

"It highlights the fact that cannabis may be a means of disengagement for the patient, rather than a pain reliever - but we can see that happen with opioids too."

The study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.

ThisDay

Jonathan Governs By Deceit, Lies - ACN

 STANLEY NKWOCHA and OLAOLU OLADIPO

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of adopting deceitful methods of administering the country.
Appraising the recent pass mark that President Goodluck Jonathan gave his administration, the ACN, in a statement made available to newsmen yesterday, accused the current administration in the country of making fake promises to Nigerians and bogus claims about its achievements.
However, the ruling PDP has responded promptly to these allegations, cautioning the ACN against making comments capable of causing anarchy in the country.
The presidency also reacted. The senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, berated the ACN, accusing it of mischievous intent.
But the opposition ACN fired back at once.
In the statement issued in Lagos and endorsed by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, faulted the president’s special adviser on public affairs, Dr. Okupe, for allegedly denigrating the country’s opposition parties for deeming it necessary to criticize the current government for below par leadership.
According to the party, the government’s claim that it would generate 780,000 jobs in 2013 through the ‘Young Graduate Employment Scheme’ and 5,000 jobs in each of the 36 states through SURE-P is the latest example of the government’s persistence in dishing out falsehood to the people.
  “Our advice to the teeming young graduates who have no jobs is that they should not allow themselves to be hoodwinked by this promise. They should remember that this same administration promised to create 10,000 jobs in each of the 36 states through SURE-P in 2012. The year is over, and all we have now are phantom jobs and more fake promises,” Mohammed wrote on behalf of the party.
It declared that the government’s promise of stable electricity in 2013 was unrealistic.
“The administration said it has generated an all-time high 4,500 mega watts and will increase the number to 7,000MW in 2013. What a celebration of tokenism! In the first instance, the government should be ashamed to tell Nigerians it has been able to generate only 4,500MW from a huge expenditure of $16billion!” the party said.
On the level of insecurity in the country, the ACN also faulted government’s claim that the bombings and killings in the north had decreased from January to December, calling it (the announcement) a disservice to millions of our citizens who are daily being subjected to terror attacks.
“Well, we are not surprised at the claim of reduced terror attacks by the Jonathan administration. After all, the same administration claimed that global anti-corruption body Transparency International acknowledged Nigeria’s progress in fighting corruption, when nothing like that ever happened,” it stated.

ACN’s criticism, act of mischief - Okupe
President Jonathan aide, Dr Okupe, described as pure mischief the criticisms of the achievements of the Jonathan administration by Lai Mohammed and the CAN, saying it was a deliberate attempt to disregard the achievements of the current administration in the country.
Okupe, who spoke via a phone interview with LEADERSHIP yesterday, said the ACN had tried to unsuccessfully sustain this impression even when it was obvious that some giant strides had been achieved by the Jonathan administration.
“The ACN and Lai Mohammed must realise that change is constant. It is no longer arguable that the Jonathan administration has made giant strides in the generation and distribution of power in the last 18 months.
“To compare us with South Africa is pure mischief as it is on record that the Jonathan administration inherited barely 3,000 megawatts with poor distribution facilities but has succeeded in boosting power supply above 5,000 megawatts,” Okupe said.
He cited the agricultural sector as one area that there had been a revolution, as, aside being the largest supplier of cassava in the world, 60 percent of the rice produced in the country is being consumed locally.
“What we have projected for 2013 is a carefully worked out plan for 2013. If it is beyond the scope and imagination of the ACN, then it is regrettable; there is nothing anybody can do about it.
“Jonathan’s administration is God-fearing and has been honest with Nigerians. What this administration has promised in 2013 will be achieved. Nigerians should disregard those who cannot see anything good in their country. Efforts of their countrymen; those whose trademarks is to spread fear and messages of doom and gloom,” Okupe said.
On the issue of security, the presidential aide said the figures showing a decline in bomb attacks which he released at his press conference in Lagos were factual and challenged the ACN to prove otherwise.
He further insisted that the Jonathan administration had also been tackling unemployment, revealing that 80,000 graduates would benefit from the government’s commercial farming scheme in 2013.
“No amounts of insults, blackmail and distortion of facts can change facts on ground. The ACN may need to go back to the drawing board and redesign its propaganda machinery as, clearly, truths, no matter how bitter, cannot be diffused,” Okupe said.

ACN courting anarchy – PDP
The PDP has rebuked the ACN, accusing it of trying to cause anarchy in the country through its caustic comments.
PDP national publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, while reacting to ACN’s criticism of the Jonathan administration, said that the PDP was not surprised at the ‘doomsday’ predictions of the ACN and other political parties in Nigeria.
“That ACN and opposition parties in Nigeria often resort to insults and doomsday predictions is not surprising as they have exhibited no capacity to govern by their failure to suggest alternatives and/or solutions as is the hallmark of credible opposition parties all over the world. To recycle insults and engage in doomsday predictions is a sign of a confused and demented opposition totally attuned to preferring anarchy as a system of government.      
“Nigerians have acknowledged the heroics of our patriotic security operatives in tackling the terror attacks never envisaged a little over two years ago. It is shear wickedness and downright absence of patriotism not to appreciate and commend men who are battling at the risk of their own lives to protect our families and our great country. The least ACN\opposition should is to console the families of our fallen heroes and families of other victims instead of playing cheap and dirty politics with human lives,” the PDP spokesman stated.
 Leadership

Senate discovers rot in FCDA

DURING the oversight visits to some of the projects brought before it by the Federal Capital Development Authority, (FCDA), series of sleaze was uncovered.

The committee members were stunned by the antics of the FCDA when it was discovered that a site of the official quarters of the National Assembly Principal Officers' could not be located with over 50 percent of the contract sum paid as mobilization fees to the contractors.

This was just as the Senators were told that over N7 billion official residence of the nation's Vice President which was awarded without banquet hall, security concept and furnishing was re-awarded at over N9 billion.

The Senators expressed disappointment at the two contracts with the alleged level of under dealing being perpetrated by officials of the FCDA in conjunction with the contractors, warning them to desist or be ready to face the consequences of the alleged involvement in fraud with foreign contractors.

The Senators had queried how the official residence of the number two citizen of the country could be awarded without conveniences, saying, 'how could it be justified that the Banquet hall, security concept and furnishing which is not part of the initial project but a new contract could be more expensive than the original contract itself.

Requesting from the contractor and the Executive Secretary, FCDA, who is also supervising the contract. Alhaji Ismaeel Adamu. the terms of the contract agreement and the Bill of Quantity, the Senators said the figures involved was disturbing. The Committee led by Senator Smart Adeyemi visited the Vice President's residence awarded in October, 2009 to Julius Berger at over N7.066 billion and has reached about 60 percent completion with zero outstanding liabilities and about N2.452 billion as balance to complete the project.

"Left to us m the senate, over N7 billion for the contract is already over bloated and even asking for another N9 billion is very disturbing or how do you explain that you were building a vice President residence without consideration for a banquet hall and security, I see it more of an intentional act to enable the contractor ask for variation, if this is N7 billion project without a security concept and you are now just bringing it at as additional at over N9 billion is not defendable.

"If somebody wanted to give us a proposal, it has to be within the concept of the society we live in, this additional contract sum is outrightly indefensible because ab initio, you should have an idea of the structure you want and for you to tell me that an official residence of a nation's Vice President would not have a security concept and a banquet, maybe the VP will not have opportunity to receive visitors in his official residence or what?

"From the first day of the conception of the project, you must have the idea of the concent of what should be there because that is why we are giving it to them as professionals, and for you to come and ask for additional N9 billion, it is even more than the original total sum of the initial contract, what I don't understand is whether Julius Berger is trying to help us as Nigeria or complicating our problems, this is a country where people are suffering and for a foreign company to join hands with some Nigerians to drain us more poorer, it is unfortunate.

"N9 billion is staggering, it is not reasonable at all, your proposals are disturbing and to add to the insult, you have been paid more than the work done, you nave been overpaid by N2.1 billion ahead of the job anticipatory to be done.

"You have to send to our office, details of the agreement, we want to believe that when we see that, we will be in better position to know what to say, the first segment of this project without the banquet hall and security concept costs over N7 billion, now they are asking for additional N9 billion for this alone, I think this is on a high side, it must not be done with the intention to affect the government purse and well Being of Nigenans.

The discoveries of more fraud however continued when the committee discovered another staggering revelation when it could not locate the site for the official residence of the President of the Senate, his Deputy, Speaker of the House of Representatives and his Deputy which was to cost over N3.045 billion and allocation of over N324 million in the outgoing 2011 budget.

Defending the inability, to commence job which was said to be at 10 percent completion, the FCDA Executive Secretary, Adamu Ismaeel said they are faced with the challenge of accessibility, saying the contractors cannot get to site to work.

Senator Adeyemi who frowned at the action and attitude of the FCDA official having made frantic efforts at discouraging the committee from getting to the site said, "who is the contractor handling these official residences, you have appropriated money, but we cannot get to the site.

"Wherever you like take us to, we are sports men, I'm a journalist and I criticise very well, so, I don't want to do anything that some people will have the opportunity to criticise me also, you work for FCDA and you are telling me you don't know how these people got here, that means you have not been here to inspect this project, we have to get there, if it entails entering the bush, we shall enter it together, where is the foundation?

"It is unfortunate that we cannot locate the site, not to talk of the allocated plots, the contractors are not on site and we are not happy as it simply shows that they are not serious contractors, we are to see how far the money we have appropriated have been utilized and we are here we cannot even trace any contractor on site, nor can we even spot the plots for any of the buildings.

"I can now see why you did not want us to come here because you discouraged us from coming here at all, you first said it win take us two "hours before getting to the site, now we are here m less than 20 minutes and cannot spot neither the site nor the plots and you expect us to appropriate funds for this in the 20T3budget, when we cannot be convinced how the ones allocated in the 2011 and 2012 budget had performed.

"It is unfortunate that the contractors are not on site and have been fully mobilized, could that be the reason why you are discouraging us from coming here, we are ready to go to anywhere you want us to go because they are collecting Nigerian's money, they have been paid.

"I detest people keeping our money in fixed deposits leaving the job undone; why are they no! on   site? Even  if they have Emblems initially, they could ave found their way to the site because the road is opened up."

Senator Adeyemi directed the acting Director to go out and look for the contractors because it is just inexplicable that they are not on site and don't want to believe that this place is inaccessible, saying, 'your excuse is not tenable because if we can get here ourselves, nothing stops someone who had collected our money not to have moved to site.

"It shows they are not committed or serious about the job, we are very disappointed and it has shown to a large extent that the contractors you have given the jobs to are not just serious, no equipment on site nor can we locate the plots, this is too bad.

"This is another case of pure misappropriation, misapplication of public funds. These people must all come to justify the 100 percent review. I am not impressed with what 1 saw here, we can never accept this, even, with the upward review,  it has been  only  30
Eercent since 2006 that has so far een executed, enough of all these injustice on the Nigerian

This same contractor was instructed not to use these inferior imported pipes by the 6th Senate but he continued in defiance of our order. Honestly, we will not fold our hands and allow all this to happen: if we do, these people will kill this country. he lamented.

Speaking further, the committee chairman said, "When all those people we summoned appear before us? we would asked them to present the approval paper as claimed by the contractor, the import duty percentage most especially how they conspired to waste our scarce foreign resources," he added.

In his own contribution, the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Domingo Obende described the review as criminal, while the committee chairman noted that they will not accept this injustice, because public funds are involved here. They must come to the Senate to tell "Nigerians how they came about the variation."

It was another revelation at the Government Science School, Maitama, which foundation was laid seven years ago and expected to gulp N2.4biIIion, but after the visit, the committee threatened to revoke the project, lamenting that the project had been unduly delayed since it was awarded in 2005.

"This is the seventh year of this project and every year, we appropriate funds for it. It should not be left as a conduit pipe to siphon public funds. Those of you supervising the project must also be upright. We will monitor what is happening here. The standard of work nere is very poor and it is inexplicable that le contract that was awarded seven years ago is still below 50 percent completion.

You need to tell the contractors to sign an undertaking that the money will be judiciously spent and that they will be back to fhe site, while on our own, we will appropriate funds for the project, ft does not make sense to leave the project the way it is. Irrespective of the status of the contractors, if they are not ready to do their job, we will ask the minister to revoke the contract. We will come back here after the budget defence to examine the level of work, and if there is no improvement, we will recommend that the project be revoked", the committee chairman warned.

Trying to justify the level of the execution, the FCT Deputy Director (Infrastructure), Education Secretariat, Mr Kamfut Awallan, said the contract sum of the project was increased to N1.6bihion in 2012 though was originally awarded for N900million.

He said 46 percent of the project had been accomplished 46, adding that it would take another N824 million to complete it, while N673 million had so far been paid to the various contractors. When the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed appeared before the committee to defend the 2012 budget performance, he said the execution stood at 99 percent, but the senate queried the expenses of the ministry.

Similarly, aside the Nl billion earmarked for the construction of official residence for the Vice President, Namadi Sambo in the 2012 budget, the minister also presented another N2 billion proposal to complete the residence, thereby raising the question who is in charge of the project, Presidency, Works Ministry or the FCDA?

In the 2013 budget proposal, the senate committee queried the repetition of the same projects in the 2012 budget with the same allocation.

The repeated projects include, construction or National Assembly Complex at N500million, construction of cultural center, Millenium Tower as well as the designing and construction of Vice President residence which would gulp N 2 b i 1 1 i o n each. Another project which the ministry earmarked budget for in the 2012 with about 70percent claimed to have been released but without land allocation was also repeated in the 2013 budget for N300million.

As the FCT minister disclosed that the designing and construction of the Presiding Officers in the National Assembly will also gulp additional N300 million aside from the N1.5 billion earmarked in the 2012 budget.

The committee chairman was however amazed over the allocation into the official residence of the National Assembly presiding officers, saying, "Is this nof the same project that we can not locate the land allocation and over 70 percent of the budget has so far een released during the oversight of the area by this same committee.

"Or have you forgotten the beneficiaries of the official residence, they are the Senate President, Deputy Senate President,, the House of Representatives Speaker and his deputy, but that time, you could not show us the land that was allocated not to talk of at what level the construction has reached?"

The committee, while rounding off its two-day oversight visit concluded that, two wrongs don't make a right and for us to allow an exclusion of an exercise of impunity or lawlessness, we are not going to condone this for any reason.

"They have given a lot of sentiments as a politician; I am not a civil servant. We have to go through the process, Nigerians entrusted us with their votes and we are their representatives, therefore, we have to get to the roots of all the loopholes and leakages we just discovered and ensure that they are blocked, while anyone involved is made to face the wrath."

NigerianCompass

I fed Okonjo-Iweala’s mum with bread, groundnuts – Suspect

BY EMMA AMAIZE & AUSTIN OGWUDA ASABA —  A member of the 10-man kidnap gang who earlier this month abducted the 82-year-old Prof, Kamene Okonjo, mother of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday, confessed his involvement in the abduction and narrated how he fed the retired professor of sociology with groundnut, water and bread in the kidnappers’ den.
The suspected kidnapper, Andrew Dime, aka Olokpa, 32, who hails from Enikorogha in Edo State, however, told Vanguard that he was only hired by the second-in-command of the gang to supply food to Prof. Okonjo on two occasions at a fee of N100,000.
Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, on the other hand, told Vanguard that Prof. Okonjo was kept in the custody of the suspect, who was in-charge of her feeding.
The second-in-command of the gang allegedly swindled him when he bolted with his N1 million share of the ransom collected for the release of Prof. Okonjo.
Apparently, to settle scores, the police said the suspect formed a new kidnap gang, which abducted an octogenarian at Aboh in Ndokwa area of the state.  But having obtained a database on the group after its leader, Nwaeze Nwosa, aka Bolaji was shot dead in Asaba, the police were able to track down the suspect.
Aduba told Vanguard that the police set a trap for him when it got information that he was in dire need of money for the yuletide by convincing him to sell one of the guns used for the abduction of Prof. Okonjo, which was in his custody. He fell for the trap and negotiated a price of N300,000 for a pump-action gun with a police officer, who posed as a buyer. He was, thereafter, arrested at Koka junction, Asaba, when he came to collect the cash.
Dark-complexioned Andrew, who spoke to Vanguard in an interview, debunked the claim that he formed a new kidnap gang and that he was the one that negotiated the sale of pump-action gun, which was used to ensnare him.
A police source said he was being economical with the truth, adding: “Most of these people (referring to criminals) will never tell you the truth when you arrest them until you get other members of the gang to confront them.”

Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and her mother, Prof. Kamene Okonjo

Below are the excerpts of the interview with the suspect
What is your name?
Andrew Idime.
How old are you?
32.
Where are you from?
I am from Enikorogha, Ovia South-West Local Government Area of  Edo State.
Where do you live?
I live at Army Barracks, Onitsha.
Do you know why you are here in police cell?
For now, I know why I am arrested. Some friends of mine, they indulged themselves in kidnapping act. One of them is Chiboy and another is Biggy.  The person I know very well is Chiboy. It was through this Chiboy that I met Biggy. I was trading on used shoes and my business was not moving well. So Chiboy called me that there is something that I was going to do. I asked him what it was, he said there was somebody I was going to drop food for and that I was going to drop food twice and that they would settle me. Therefore, I went there truly, he brought an Okada man (motorcyclist), the Okada man took me there, and I dropped the food twice.
He said that if I dropped the food there that he was going to call them. That if I dropped the food, I should call to let him know that I have dropped the food beside that bridge on that Kwale road. That when I dropped the food, they would come and take the food. I went there twice and dropped the food at that particular spot. They said they were going to give me N100,000. But the N100,000 I did not see it.
Were you not told who was kidnapped?
I do not know the exact person they kidnapped. They did not tell me. I am a neutral person. My job there was to go and drop the food.
Did you not know you were doing wrong thing as the person was in the hospital?
No, he said that his boys need food so I should go and drop groundnut, bread and water for them.
Why did he send you, why did he not drop the food himself?
He is a leader. He said he wants me to, at least have some token in the business.
Which business are you talking?
He said he had involved himself in kidnapping business
Which means you were told what they actually did?
They told me.
Are you saying you do not know when you were dropping the food that you will be counted as one of them if caught?
Yes, I knew.
So, why did you take part?
It is because of my condition
What is your condition?
I am not living well; my business is not moving well. I needed little money to assist my business.
What we heard was that Prof. Okonjo was kept in your custody?
No, no, no, I swear to God. I do not live in Delta State.
You have a house in Asaba?
Of course, I have a house but I have checked out for a long time based on the rent. The house was too costly for me
You said you were neutral, then, tell us what Chiboy and others told you about how they kidnapped Prof. Okonjo?
Until they rounded up their business, even up to date, I have not seen Chiboy. I was holding one of his numbers, but right now, the number is not going through.
There is no way you would be asked to go and drop food for somebody that was kidnapped without you asking or finding out the story of how the person was kidnapped. What  exactly were you told?
They only told me they have kidnapped somebody and that the person is at Kwale. That what I am going to do is to take the food to a particular bridge, that if I get to that bridge, I should flash him and he was going to call his boys. That if I dropped the food, I should not delay there. That I should drop the food, enter the bike immediately and move.
Were you taking bike from Onitsha to that place?
No, he was the person that brought the bike, not from Asaba. I entered bus to Ibusa and from Ibusa, he would now bring the bike. The bike person, it seems, is his private bike man, so the bike person would now take me to there.
From the story that you have told so far, it seemed you were party to the kidnapping?
I have involved myself already because of my going there to give them food, which has already made me a party. However, I do not know the exact person that they kidnapped but I have involved myself in this act.
You were arrested when you came to sell a gun?
No, the boy that wanted to sell the gun ran away.
Tell us how sharing of money brought misunderstanding among the kidnappers?
In bringing of food, he (Chiboy, the leader) told me to bring the food twice.
Did you buy food with your money?
He bought it; he was the one that brought the money. He does not reside in one place. He promised that he was going to give me N50,000 each. So, I accepted to go and drop and collect N50,000 because it was an easy one. Therefore, I went there twice. However, when they brought the money I did not see him. The N100,000 they promised as my share I did not see. Who am I to go and challenge him?
How were you arrested?
The police arrested me yesterday (last Thursday) because there was one of my friends, Chuks. He said that based on this Christmas period, that he does not have money and that he wanted to sell one of his pump actions. So he negotiated with one boy, so when the boy came, they were three in the car. He told me to go and inform them to drop and come out so that they would negotiate. I was to tell them to off the motor engine and that Chuks was waiting down there. Therefore, when they grabbed me, he ran away. In the process when I was asking what’s all about, I was arrested.
We learnt you also involved yourself in another kidnapping, what is your role in the new kidnap gang?
My role was to be with the man in the bush. I was supposed to stay in that bush with the victim
Vanguard