Friday, June 3, 2011

Again, Bombs Rock Maiduguri

Two bombs exploded at the main store of the Disease Control Unit (epidemiological) of the Borno State Ministry of Health on Wednesday. Drugs, vaccines and other property worth millions of naira were destroyed. The bombs were suspected to have been planted by members of the Boko Haram sect.

The explosions occurred at about 7:30pm, setting the place on fire. The bombs were also said to have destroyed vaccines, drugs and property belonging to private business men in a nearby warehouse.

An eyewitness said he was sitting at about 7:30pm when he heard an explosion, saying that the stores went up in flames after the explosion.

When our correspondent visited the scene of the explosion yesterday morning, the stores were still burning while fire fighters were busy trying to put out the fire.

A trader whose store was also affected, Mohammed Mustapha, told our correspondent that he lost over N25 million worth of goods to the inferno.

He said: "The fire destroyed Chinese carpet, blanket, wrappers and other materials I kept in the store. It also destroyed the store of my neighbor who sells food stuff."

Our correspondent further learnt that another bomb also exploded in the Saint Patrick Catholic Church, opposite Borno State secretariat. The bomb uprooted electric poles and cables and destroyed the bishop's office.

It was gathered that the explosion occurred at about 3:05pm.

When our correspondent contacted the state police public relations officer, ASP Lawal Abdulahi, for confirmation, he said he was waiting for the DPO in charge of the area to brief him. He added that he would get back to newsmen in due course.

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Kaduna disburses money to victims of election crisis

The Kaduna State government has commenced the disbursement of money to the families who were displaced as a result of the April post-election crisis. The victims are currently staying at various refugee camps across the state.

Speaking at the refugee camp located at the Army depot in Zaria where the displaced persons received money from the state government on Wednesday, the chairman of the Committee on Rehabilitation and Settlement, Saidu Adamu, said the government would do its best to provide basic essentials so that the displaced could be able to reintegrate into the larger society, adding that the gesture was to enable them find houses to rent and not compensation.

The assistance came as a reaction to the passionate appeal to the government by the internally displaced persons through their representatives who indicated willingness to leave the camps once they had money to pay rent. Representatives of the various ethnic groups at the camps expressed their appreciation to the state government and assured that the money would be judiciously utilised.

According to Mr Adamu, who is the immediate past commissioner of information in the state, the monetary assistance was to enable the victims who were staying in the camps and had no any other place to live, use the little money to start life again.

"The governor has already inaugurated the Judicial Commission of Inquiry and is saddled with the responsibilities of trying to know the causes of the problems; how many people lost their life, property and houses," he said. "After the submission of their report, government would take another decision on what ought to be done for those of you who lost everything. Our mission is to give you a minor assistance to enable you be in other houses before the main committee comes up with a comprehensive report."

He expressed appreciation to the Depot Commandant who together with his officers and men, took very good care of the displaced persons and ensured that they were protected and fed.

He said there were so many displaced persons across the state and government would ensure that every affected household received the assistance.

Earlier at the Mando camp near Kaduna, the chairman of the committee in company of other members, Red Cross officials and clergies, appealed to the victims in their hundreds to ensure that they compiled a good record of the authentic victims staying within the camp before the actual disbursement of money would commence.


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N10bn loan: Bankole resists EFCC arrest

Dimeji Bankole, outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, on Friday resisted efforts made for his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Hafiz Ringim, Inspector-General of Police’s intervention was said to averted what would have resulted in a bloodbath between the security personnel attached to Bankole who resisted the arrest of their boss and the ones dispatched by the EFCC to effect the arrest.

The EFCC source said the commission, which has been on the trail of the embattled speaker since the news of the alleged sleaze broke out about two weeks ago, had stationed its men at his private and official residences to monitor his activities.

The source stressed that when the commission got wind of Bankole’s alleged plan to run out of the country immediately after the expiration of his tenure as the speaker, said that the commission had since placed him on its watch-list.

According to the source, the EFCC operatives, on the order of Farida Waziri, the commission’s chairman swooped down on his private residence in Asokoro as early as 8: am Friday morning, with a view to arresting him.

The embattled speaker has before now consistently shunned several invitations extended to him by the commission over his involvement in the N10bn loan scandal that has shattered the peace of the lower House.


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House clears former speaker Etteh of wrongdoing

After four turbulent years that featured some of the most brazen scandals in Nigeria's legislative history, the House of Representatives ended its sixth session on a farcical note yesterday by overturning a 2007 corruption charge that ousted former speaker, Patricia Olubunmi Etteh. Ms Etteh, who was forced to resign after three months on an allegation of spending N648million to upgrade her official residence and her deputy's, did no wrong and had no case to answer, the House ruled in its final resolution for the session.

"There is no record or proceedings of the House where Patricia Olubunmi Etteh was ever indicted," read a motion hastily put up at the request of Ms Etteh. The motion was unanimously approved by the House.

Ms Etteh was the Speaker of the House of Representatives between June 6 and October 30, 2007 when she was forced to resign with her deputy, Babangida Nguroje. She was first elected to represent Ayedaade/Isokan/Irewole Federal Constituency of Osun State in 1999 under the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD) and then crossed to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2003 and got elected again in 2007.

The declaration was the highpoint of a dramatic, and at some point, emotional valedictory session, in which members delivered speeches framed by the reality that while more than 260 of them will not return, a few have left for the Senate, and one is now a governor in Zamfara State.

John Agoda, a three-term lawmaker from Delta state who lost re-election, wept as he addressed his colleagues, speaking of how his life had been shaped by an uninterrupted 12 years in the lower chamber.

"I wake up and carry my constitution"

"I have been here since 1999, and my life has been used to that for 12 years. Every morning I wake up and carry my constitution," Mr Agoda said before sobbing.

Ms Etteh, one of the earliest to speak, sang and recounted the allegations that led to her removal as Speaker in 2007. She urged her colleagues to proclaim her innocence since she had never been indicted after four years.

"I am saying this before this House and Almighty God that a kobo of this House or the government is not in my account," she said, ironically drawing applause from the same colleagues who moved against her.

"I came here in 1999; I have never stolen one kobo that belongs either to this House or the government. What happened happened, (and) the rest is now history."

Ms Etteh said any decision taken while she was in charge, was a joint decision, repeatedly challenging her colleagues to provide evidence to the contrary.

"A committee was set and till date, I have not heard anything. I have not been indicted. I want this House to pass a resolution before closing; if I am guilty, they should not hide it," she added.

The House subsequently passed the resolution clearing her of wrongdoing, but offered no apology for her loss of the speakership, or the allegations.


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Interparty clash claims two in Oyo

A violent clash between members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and those of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Oyo State has led to the death of two people in Igboho, Orelope Local Government Council.

The deceased, identified as Yekini Atunwa and Tajudeen Popoola, were said to be members of the PDP and ACN, respectively.

An eyewitness explained that the clash broke late Tuesday when some PDP supporters allegedly attacked supporters of the state deputy governor, Moses Adeyemo and the Oyo North senatorial candidate of the party, Wale Okediran who were gathered to welcome Mr. Adeyemo.

The attack led to bloodbath, which left no fewer than 20 persons seriously injured while several others barely escaped with gunshot wounds.

A source said the ACN members, who were going to receive the deputy governor, sang anti-PDP songs and rained abuses on the former ruling party in the state, which was said to have infuriated their attackers.

A free-for-all followed in which the PDP members allegedly attacked a convoy of the ACN leaders. Guns boomed and the people around had to run for dear lives.

The killed members were not so lucky as they were mowed down in the crossfire.

Despite the presence of heavily armed policemen, drafted to quell the fight and maintain law and order in the town, the situation was said to be tense still.

Baba Adisa Bolanta, Commissioner of Police in the state, confirmed the incident and the death, but said the command was yet to make an arrest.


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New revenue sharing formula coming Q1, 2012

Agitations over the current revenue sharing formula which is perceived as inequitable may end early next year when the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) plans to roll out a better and consistent disbursement plan.

The plan, which was disclosed Thursday by the Commission, follows intense pressure on the commission by the state governors and local government chairmen for a new revenue formula. In recent years, states had persistently requested for higher resources than what the federal government gets, having consistently argued that they perform more responsibilities than the federal government .

Eliam Mbam, RMAFC Chairman in Abuja, on Thursday explained that the much awaited formula is being delayed due to the intense process involved in looking into series of documents, making consultations and going to the field to verify some of the indices.


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U.S Offers to patner jonathan on Nigerias growth

THE United States (U.S.) government has expressed its readiness to work with President Goodluck Jonathan just as the Africans and Americans prepare for the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) summit next week in Lusaka, Zambia.

Recalling his participation last Sunday at the inauguration of President Jonathan, which he personally attended, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, disclosed on Wednesday afternoon: “I returned Monday from Nigeria, where I had the honour to lead the presidential delegation to the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s new president.”

According to Carson, “that event signified substantial progress in Nigeria’s democratic development and a new beginning for the Nigerian people. We in Washington look forward to working with President Jonathan and the people of Nigeria to help them build on the 2011 elections to create a just, strong, and more prosperous future for all Nigerians.”

Speaking to the press in Washington DC, as many Nigerians and their friends around the world await the composition of a new cabinet, Carson commended the progress of Nigeria’s electoral and democratic transition.


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Bankole weeps, apologises at valedictory session

Outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives Dimeji Bankole yesterday shed tears while speaking at the valedictory session of the sixth House. Wearing his usual white caftan with white cap to fit, Bankole could not hold his tears as he addressed the House for the last time as Speaker.

“It’s been a hell of a ride in the past three and half years but there is no circumstance a man or woman may find themselves which God cannot test you. They will come but it’s how you handle it and overcome it that matters,” Bankole said while wiping tears away from his eyes.

While apologising to his colleagues for any wrong he might have done them, Bankole said he meant well in the decisions he took given the exigencies of the time.


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