Sunday, June 12, 2011

I was not a party to June 12 annulment -Mark

The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark has disclosed that he is an unrepentant democrat and that his premature retirement from the military was because of his support for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria.

He also denied any involvement in the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election which was adjudged the best election conducted in the country and won by late business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola. Mark noted that “I was certainly not a party to it nor was I aware of it.”

Mark, who was recently re-elected Senate President, made this known in a book, entitled, “The shepherd cometh.” He said that he was retired from the military because of his conviction that democracy must be restored in the country.

In the book which is expected to be presented to the public soon, Senator Mark described the allegation that himself and some other senior officers held former President Ibrahim Babangida hostage and forced him to annul the election as wild, untrue and must be discarded.

According to him, “Although, I was a Brigadier General, I was not part of the administration at that time. I was not a member of the National Defence Security Council, NDSC, or the executive council. I had been assigned as Director of Strategic Studies at the National War College and in fact was lecturing on the role of military in a democratic society.”

The book which was edited by the former Editor of New Nigeria Newspapers, NNN, Mallam Yakubu Aliyu, chronicled the political events between 1992 and 1999, putting Senator David Mark in perspective.


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Fake dispatch: Presidency denies publication, demands apology

The Presidency has denied a publication by one of the nation’s media houses which reported, yesterday, details of a dispatch said to have been written by an official of the Embassy of the United States in Nigeria. The publication accused the Presidency of interfering with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) with the aim of using them for its personal and political interests.

The rebuttal was contained in a release made available to Sunday Tribune from the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity on Saturday.

“The Presidency is shocked, but hardly surprised that the newspaper, in an accustomed act of wanton irresponsibility, published today (yesterday) plainly false details of a fake dispatch purportedly written by an official of the Embassy of the United States in Nigeria.

“We wholly condemn this cheap and totally unimaginative attempt to denigrate the character and integrity of the President on the pages of a newspaper published under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which expressly forbid false publications, libel, defamation and sedition,” the statement stated.

While demanding for immediate apology from the newspaper and a complete retraction of the publication, the Presidency denied any interference with the activities of the anti-graft agencies, stressing that “President Jonathan is fully committed to the relentless prosecution of the war against corruption in Nigeria and will never, for personal or political reasons, interfere with the work of the EFCC, ICPC and other agencies involved in the effort to stamp out corruption.”


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PDP chieftains deride plot to remove Obasanjo as BOT chairman

One time Senatorial aspirant on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Adenigba Fadahunsi, at the weekend absolved former President Olusegun Obasanjo of blame in the dwindling fortunes of the party in the South-West, just as he said plans to dent the image of the former President as a leader in Yorubaland would fail.

Also, the Chairman, Osun State Chapter of PDP, said it amounted to scapegotism for anyone to ascribe the loss of South West by PDP to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), as he stressed that the people of the zone know the principal factors that made PDP to lose the zone during the last elections.

Fadahunsi also berated moves by some party leaders in the South-West to instigate the removal of Obasanjo as the Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), indicating that committed members of PDP in the South-West zone would stiffly resist the move in the interest of the PDP in the zone.

The former chieftain of Nigerian Customs made this known in a chat with newsmen in Abuja, as he debunked reports that he was part of a meeting which resolved to subvert the authorities of Obasanjo as the BOT chairman and a leader in Yorubaland.

He said he was never part of such a meeting, stressing that his name was only mentioned in media reports by certain individuals out of mischief and deep-seated aversion they had for Obasanjo’s leading role in Yoruba politics.

He contended that those behind the plot to rubbish Obasanjo had nothing to offer the people of South-West other than chaos, as according to him, the zone never requires any form of crisis in its leadership cadre in view of influences that South-West could tap from an experienced politician like Obasanjo.


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Nigerian jailed in UK for fake marriage

A Nigerian, Abraham Akinola, 32, also known as Gafar Makanjuola, and his partner, Roqsilmar Marti, 28, a lesbian from Netherlands, have been jailed by a court in the United Kingdom for conspiracy to enter into fake marriage.

Akinola attempted to go into a contractual marriage with Marti, an European citizen to secure his stay in London, United Kingdom.

Akinola and his supposed wife-to-be, Roqsilmar’s plan of getting married on August 25 last year at St. John’s Church, Tilbury, Essex in the United Kingdom, was thwarted by security operatives tipped off by the church priest, Father Tim Colding, after he suspected a foul play in their wedding plans when the couple made an application on June 6 last year.

Abraham gave two different addresses on the wedding paper.

The priest noticed a problem with the paperwork and tipped off the Essex Police and Borders Agency officials.

On the morning of the wedding, police officers and borders agency official already hiding in the vestry, waited for Marti, who dressed in a dark suit and white blouse to walk up the aisle, to later be joined by her husband and both were arrested moments before they were due to exchange their vows.

Reports had it that Akinola’s case was not the first time Colding had given away suspicious couples planning for their wedding, he had reported more than 60 cases to the police as the priest believed that fraudsters were targeting his church because of its growing ethnic diversity.

The presiding judge, John Lodge, said Akinola wanted to gain from the marriage by staying in the UK, but for Marti, it was for financial gain.

Akinola claimed he had suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of his family during his childhood and had fled Nigeria for a new life in the UK.

If the marriage to an European citizen was successful, he would have gained the right to live, work and claim benefits in Britain.

Marti, who had been involved in a lesbian relationship for the past eight years left her partner and travelled to the UK, but it was her worried partner who found her missing for days that reported her to the police on her wedding day.

Marti was reportedly promised £2,000 for her role in the sham marriage which she was said to be planning to use it to pay for her sick father’s medical bills.

Detective Sergeant Andy Harvey of Essex Police said after the arrests in August: “Sham weddings are big business with the organisers charging £10,000 or more to arrange ceremonies and to pay ‘brides’ and ‘witnesses’.

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