Iran says Nigeria arms "misunderstanding" settled

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it has resolved a "misunderstanding" over an arms shipment seized in Lagos which Nigeria is likely to report to the United Nations Security Council as a possible breach of sanctions.

"The seized cargo belonged to a private company and it was for sale legitimately to a West African country," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters, without naming the country. "I think the misunderstanding has been resolved."

Diplomatic and security sources outside Iran said the intended destination of the weapons had not been clarified yet, but they added that investigations have focused on two Iranians believed to be senior members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

"One of the Iranian citizens ... provided all the necessary explanations to Nigerian officials," said Mottaki, who visited Nigeria last week. He also criticised suggestions which "are aimed at harming our relationship with Nigeria", but did not elaborate.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia said on Friday that Lagos would report Iran to the Security Council if it found any evidence that the shipment broke U.N. sanctions imposed over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities.

The United States and its allies fear Iran's nuclear programme is a cover to build bombs. Tehran denies this, saying its nuclear work is aimed at generating electricity.

Ajumogobia added that he did not currently believe Iran had broken the sanctions. However, a Nigerian diplomat in New York told Reuters that the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee would definitely be informed.

A Security Council resolution bans Iran from "supplying, selling or transferring directly or indirectly from its territory or by its nationals ... any arms or related material".

Buhari’s party raises alarm over blackmail

CONTRARY to claims, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) on Sunday said its alliance talks with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and other parties was fully on course.

It said some opponents of the alliance were jittery thereby resorting to blackmail.

Raising the alarm in a statement on Sunday, CPC National Publicity Secretary, Mr Dennis Aghanya, said no amount of blackmail or propaganda could stall or derail the ongoing alliance discussions.

The party said, “The insinuation or assumption, that our talks with the ACN have collapsed, is not only false but was done in bad faith.

“For now, our discussions are centered on the nature of our alliance and not who becomes what. You must get to the bridge before you cross it. You cannot start sharing positions when you have not agreed on the terms of the relationship.

The CPC stated that it was not surprised that opponents of the alliance were resorting to propaganda because they were afraid that its success would break their stranglehold on the citizens.

Because it appreciated the importance of the 2011 elections, it said it was determined to establish a wider platform with other progressives, adding that Senator Bola Tinubu, who is the arrowhead of ACN, remained a major political force that should be carried along.

“We are also happy to have him as a political friend. The more the oppositions can come together, the better our chances to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] government in 2011,” the CPC stated.

Nigeria interrogates Iranian over Lagos arms shipment

Investigators are holding an Iranian in custody in connection with the shipment of arms discovered last Month at the Apapa Port in Lagos. Security sources told NEXT at the weekend that the man, who had taken refuge at the Iranian embassy, has been with officials of the State Security Service for about three days now and is already providing useful information.

“He is expected to throw more light on the involvement of the Nigerian consignee, who is also involved in the shipment of the arms,” the source said.

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Odein Ajumogobia had, last Friday after talks with the Iranian Foreign Affairs minister, Manouchehr Mottak, told journalists in Abuja that security agencies had been granted access to the Iranian embassy to interrogate the Iranian in their probe of the incident.

Mr Ajumogobia, who travelled to New York at the weekend, is also expected to brief the United Nations on the incident. The Nigerian official is in the United States for a Security Council discussion on Sudan where participants will be briefed on the preparations for the January 2011 referendum in south Sudan, the situation in Darfur and progress of the Doha peace talks.

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon is expected to do the briefing along with the Head of the AU High-Level Implementation Monitoring Panel, Thabo Mbeki; the Head of UN Mission in Sudan, Haile Menkerios and the Head of UN/AU Mission in Darfur, Ibrahim Gambari.

UN arms sanction

But Mr Ajumogobia is also expected to raise the issue of the arms export, especially as Iran is under a UN conventional arms ban. The resolution affirming the ban also empowers states to seize and dispose the prohibited items when they are found.

On Oct. 26, Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS) discovered 13 containers of illegal weapons at the port. A French-based shipping company, CNA CGM, said the shipment originated from the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and was delivered to Lagos in July. The shipping company said labels on the crates indicated they contained stone and glass wool.

The shipment was subsequently taken to a depot where it was left untouched. The cargo was later opened and found to contain artillery rockets and shells, mortars and hand grenades, among others.

Lawmakers oppose N6b plan to register SIM cards

The controversial registration of phone users by the Nigeria Communication Commission breaches sections of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, lawmakers argued on Thursday, in support of their opposition to attempts by the NCC to conduct the N6.1bn exercise.

The prolonged debate between majority of the House of Representatives members opposed to the plan, and the House communication committee which supports it, reached new heights yesterday with lawmakers citing the anti-419 Act to defeat the plan, and also naming an Ad hoc committee on the matter.

Within 10 days, the House ruled, the new committee comprising of heads of three other related committees, would meet with Dave Salako, the communication chairman, and resolve how the planned registration infringes on section 12 and 13 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act.

The committees involved are Ethics and Privileges, Drugs, Narcotics and Anti-Corruption and the committee on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Against the proposed registration which Mr. Salako has come to be identified with, the sections of the 2006 law puts the responsibility of registration on the telephone operators, which a majority of the House members have argued for more than three months now.

The section says “Any person or entity providing an electronic communication service or remote computing service either by e-mail or any other form shall be required to obtain from the customer or subscriber full names; residential address.”

Further details of the section outlines penalties for a defaulting user or provider. According to the edict, the defaults are to be administered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The Act stood central to the lawmakers’ opposition to the NCC’s plan yesterday, as the budget of the commission came up for discussions again.

Although the entire budget is meant for 2010, it has yet to be finalised by the House, barely two months to the end of the year, solely on account of the contentious registration plan which members have faulted.

Whose interest is it?

Representatives have maintained that the responsibility of the exercise is that of phone operators and not the regulator, the NCC. The N6.1 billion is to cater for an exercise estimated at N120 per user within six months.

Defending the plan in an interview with NEXT a fortnight ago, the NCC spokesperson, Reuben Mouka, said the commission is concerned about the exercise, since the operators have protested that they cannot complete the work within the given time.

The operators are said to be arguing for three years, against the six months the commission claims it wants because of the upsurge in kidnapping, supposedly to forestall losing customers that may be disconnected if there is no sufficient time.

“We don’t believe that N6.1bn for millions of users is too much. Security of lives is not comparable to N120 per person,” Mr. Muoka, the NCC head of public affairs, said.

Some members also told NEXT they fear the resolved attempt to pass the bill may point at other interests.

“For me, I would not know what is beyond,” said Sekonte Davies, a member from Rivers State.

“But I don’t care whose ox is gored; I believe there are certain interests who want to use the opportunity to siphon money. I may not know them, but I believe very strongly that it could have political purposes.”

The House spokesperson, Eseme Eyiboh, denied that charge at a news conference yesterday. He said the recurrence of the rejected bill does not imply other motives.

“We are not promoting any interest,” he said.

Colleges Of Education Teachers Mull Strike Over Plan To Scrap NCE

THE standard of education in Nigeria may dip further soon as the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) is perfecting plans to embark on industrial action to protest the planned proscription of National Colleges of Education (NCE).

President of the union, Mohammed Ibrahim disclosed this in Abuja yesterday while reacting to the declaration by the Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi that government plans to discontinue with the NCE programmes.

He said: “If this trend, which is conspicuously anti-people, is not halted, we will have no option but to mobilize the hapless Nigerian masses who have a future in the college of education system to resist to the last man, this dastardly act of insensitivity to the implication of such an unbecoming executive arrogance.”

He explained that the Certificate in Education being awarded by the Colleges of Education is meant to serve as a benchmark certification for teaching at the basic education level in the country.

Ibrahim argued that despite the award of degrees by some Colleges of Education duly certified by the National Universities Commission (NUC), the colleges have not lost focus on the special role of acting as a midwife in facilitating the academic progress of a fairly good percentage of less privileged Nigerians who cannot afford direct university education for numerous and obvious reasons of poor governance and deliberately imposed poverty on the seemingly helpless masses in this country.

He said: “Considering the critical roles that the Colleges of Education have been playing in the country for several decades now, the recent idea of scrapping out colleges of education from the tertiary education tripod spells grave implications for common Nigerians and the system as a whole.”

Nigerian military warns of action in oil delta

Nigeria's military threatened on Saturday to carry out raids against what it said were camps of criminal gangs in the creeks of the oil-producing Niger Delta, and told civilians in the vicinity to leave.

Any major offensive by the armed forces would be the first in the Niger Delta, the heartland of the OPEC member's energy industry, since an amnesty programme brokered by President Goodluck Jonathan began in August 2009.

Seven expatriate workers were kidnapped from an oil rig off the Niger Delta almost a week ago, while the home of President Goodluck Jonathan's main adviser on the region was attacked with explosives late on Thursday.

"We have observed with concern some criminal acts within the past few days by some people claiming to be militants ... Many of these criminals are known to be hiding in camps within the creeks of the Niger Delta," Chief of Defence Staff Oluseyi Petinrin said in a statement.

"These camps will no longer be tolerated. To avoid any collateral damage, we are seizing this opportunity to instruct all law-abiding citizens who live around the vicinity of these camps to leave immediately," the statement said.

The military taskforce in the Niger Delta (JTF) said one camp in Bayelsa, one of the three main oil-producing states, was raided on Friday. Officials said there was an exchange of gunfire, and weapons and maps of oil facilities were seized.

The Niger Delta had been hit by years of militant attacks on oil infrastructure prior to the amnesty. At its peak, the unrest prevented Nigeria from pumping much above two thirds of its 3 million barrels per day (bpd) oil production capacity and cost it an estimated $1 billion a month in lost revenues.

A resurgence in violence would be an embarrassment for Jonathan, the first Nigerian head of state from the region who faces a tough battle in presidential elections due next April.

Okah’s Bail Application Suffers Another Hitch

Henry Okah, the alleged Nigerian terror mastermind, will only know, in a week’s time, whether he will be granted bail or not after his case encountered further problems at the Johannesburg Magistrate Court.

The South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reports that Magistrate Hein Louw told the court that he was not yet ready to hand down judgment on Friday, saying that he needed time to finish listening to the court recordings.

Louw said he had had problems accessing the audio transcripts and that he would only be able to do so some time in the following week.

Okah also lost an application to be kept in police custody, pending the outcome of his bail hearing.

He has been accused of being behind Nigeria’s Independence day bombings.

At least, a dozen people were left dead and many others injured.

Nigeria’s state security services have also linked Okah to the bombs attacks that rocked the southern oil city of Warri in March this year.

He is currently facing charges of terrorism.

Ex-Senator’s Mother-In-Law Rescued

The Ebonyi State Police Command has rescued the kidnapped mother-in-law of the former senator representing Ebonyi Central Senatorial zone in the National Assembly, Mr. Julius Ucha, while four suspects have been arrested for their alleged complicity in the abduction of the victim.

Accordingly, 15 suspects have been nabbed by the command for their involvement in various crimes of kidnapping, robbery, child theft and murder in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Emmanuel Ayeni, disclosed this in Abakaliki, on Friday, while briefing newsmen on the efforts made by the command in combating criminal activities in the state.

According to him, “Mrs. Mary Nwainya, the mother-in-law of Senator Ucha has been rescued unhurt, while four suspects have been arrested, who are at present assisting the command in the investigation, “ he said.

Mr. Ayeni said that four suspects had also been arrested in connection with the death of one Otubo Moses, who was murdered by some hoodlums a fortnight ago.

Kidnapped ex-UBTH CMD regains Freedom

Former Chief Medical Director (CMD), University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Professor Eugene Okpere, was in the early hours of Thursday left of the hook after spending four days with his abductors.

Chairman of the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) , Dr. Philip Ugbodaga, who said no ransom was paid for his release, however vowed that his association would continue its protest against incessant kidnap of doctors in the state until there are concrete assurances for their security.

But in a protest march on Thursday to Edo Government House, medical doctors in their hundreds, said government has not done enough to combat crime, especially kidnapping, in the state.

They were received by Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr. John Ejale, and a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) in the Economic Management Team of the governor, Taiwo Akerele.

They told the protesting doctors that the state government was doing all it could to stem the rising wave of crimes but that its actions were limited by the fact that security agencies are under the direct control of the Federal Government.

Nigerian security rejects reports that arms were bound for Gaza

Security forces in Nigeria believe a recently-seized arms shipment -- reportedly from Iran -- was bound for the western African nation, not another land.

Marilyn Ogar, spokeswoman for the county's security service, on Friday rejected reports that the material was headed to the Palestinian territory of Gaza, as claimed by some reports in Israel.

In fact, some observers speculate, the weaponry was seized ahead of the 2011 controversial elections which would pit Goodluck Jonathan, the current president from the Christian south, and presidential candidates from the Muslim north.

The country's security service said that it had seized 13 shipping containers in the port of Lagos filled with illegal weapons, including rockets, grenades and bullets.

Each shipping container carried 20 wooden crates, and a leading global shipping company has said that the weaponry came from Iran.

Nigerian officials won't confirm that the materiel originated in Iran, and the country's foreign ministry issued a statement knocking down reports that Nigeria was targeting a particular nation in its investigations and that it was planning to go to the United Nations to lodge a complaint.

This comes as the foreign ministers of Nigeria and Iran met on Thursday.

"If at the end of these investigations, there were breaches of international instruments or conventions to which Nigeria is party, the country would, as a responsible member of the international community, 'do whatever was necessary,' " the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The company, CMA CGM, said it was a victim of a false cargo declaration. The shipper -- who the company identified as an Iranian trader -- had listed the materials inside the containers as "packages of glass wool and pallets of stone."

The containers in question were loaded in Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran, and discharged in Lagos in July, the company said.

There has been Christian-Muslim sectarian violence in northern Nigeria, and analysts say the upcoming vote will potentially be one of the most controversial and violent election periods in the country's history.

Liberty Stadium Named After Awo •As Jonathan Visits Ogun

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday announced the re-naming of the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, Oyo State as Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, just as he paid tribute to the visionary leadership the sage offered Nigeria while alive.

Jonathan made the announcement at the Ikenne home of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, when he paid a courtesy call on Yeye Oodua, Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo, as part of his official tour of the state.

The president was accompanied on the visit by dignitaries, including Ogun State governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel; his counterpart in Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala; Minister of Works, Senator Sanusi Daggash; Minister of Commerce, Senator Jibril Martins- Kuye; Minister of Youth Development, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi; members of the National and state assemblies, among others.

The renaming of the stadium came shortly after the president inaugurated an expressway in Ikenne town named after the sage and which was constructed by the Ogun State government.

The president, who expressed happiness that he was visiting the Awolowo home for the first time in his life and for him to be received and blessed by Mrs Awolowo, disclosed that the renaming of the Liberty Stadium was a decision reached between him and the affected state governor.

According to him, the Awolowo family’s significance transcends Ikenne and Ogun State where the family took its roots, declaring that the sage remained a national figure.

Dr. Jonathan recalled the struggle made by Chief Awolowo as a young man and through his old age to establish his foot-prints on the evolution of the country’s march towards greatness, noting that his efforts resulted in the building of Cocoa House, the Liberty Stadium and Western Nigerian Television (WNTV) now Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), which was the first of its kind in Africa.

The president, who noted that Awolowo distinguished himself among his contemporaries in his pursuit of an ideal society and life abundant for the masses, promised to pursue the vision of the sage in order to transform the country.

“We will continue with his vision to transform the country into a better place,” President Jonathan promised.

While welcoming the president, Chief (Mrs.) Awolowo assured him of her prayers and support for the success of his administration, just as she recalled the very cordial relationship between her husband Awolowo and the Ijaws, urging the president to feel at home.

Chief (Mrs.) Awolowo noted that there existed enormous challenges in governance of the country, especially at the level of the presidency, but said such challenges were not insurmountable.

“The presence of challenges is not to stop a man from reaching his goal, but to bring out the best in him,” she said, adding: “I equally wish to encourage you to be very strong and focused in your service to over fatherland.”

However, Mrs Awolowo, who recalled that Papa Awolowo, like some of his contemporaries, devoted quality time to analysing these challenges and proffering solutions to them as expressed in some of his various books, later presented the president with a few of them.

“I will not only recommend these books to you, but would rather present you with some copies to help you in discharging your constitutional responsibility. It is my honest belief that Your Excellency will find them very interesting and insightful,” she said.

Speaking further, she paid tribute to the Ogun State governor, Chief Daniel, whom he said had transformed the state into one of the fastest growing states in Nigeria.

“Having commissioned some projects during your short stay, I have no doubt that you have been convinced that Ogun State is one of the fastest developing states in Nigeria,” Mrs Awolowo said.

“On this note, I wish to commend the efforts of our indefatigable governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, for all his achievements,” she further said.

Dignitaries, who also joined her in welcoming President Jonathan to Ikenne include Bishop Michael Olusina Fape, who prayed at the event; Chief Mohammed Jobi-Fele, Reverend Adebajo Olusesan and Chief Kessington Adebutu.

Members of the Awolowo family were also in attendance and they included Reverend (Mrs.) Tola Oyediran, Publisher, Tribune titles, Master Oluwole Awolowo and grandchildren.

It will be recalled that the Liberty Stadium was built and declared opened on September 30, 1959, a development which heralded sporting development in Nigeria.

The sage had built the stadium when he was Premier of Western Region and the stadium was recorded as the first of its kind in Africa.

According to findings, the stadium was so named to commemorate the attainment of regional self-government by Western Nigeria.

The stadium’s construction was handled by a reputable chartered architect, JEK Harrison, in consultation with the then Ministry of Works and Transport of Western Region.

Liberty Stadium was as well known as the only Olympic Standard Stadium in the country until 1972 when the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, was inaugurated in preparation for the All Africa Games, hosted by Nigeria in 1973.

Among the major events that brought glamour to the stadium was the famous world title fight between Nigeria’s Dick Tiger and Gene Fulman in 1963.

The stadium had also hosted world football tourneys, including the group games of the Africa Nation’s Cup held in Nigeria in 1980 and the Group C games of the 1999 World Youth Championship, Nigeria 99.

Two killed in attack on ex-Oyo Deputy Speaker

Some unknown gunmen Thursday stormed the house of former Deputy Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Kazeem Ayilara, killing one policeman and a guard.

Ayilara was among the eight suspended lawmakers against Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala’s style of governance.

His head was broken during the attack. He was rushed to the hospital.

The house of the Chairman, Oyo State House of Assembly Parliamentary Caucus, Hon. Mohammed Inakoju, was also attacked at Ogbere-Tioya, Adeyemo, Ibadan.

The gunmen were said to have first visited his house before attacking Ayilara’s house at Kuola, Apata, Ido Local Government.

Inakoju was an anti-Alao-Akala lawmaker.

Iran arms-smuggling case roils Nigeria

Nigeria will take actions against Iran if an investigation shows it violated international law and U.N. sanctions in an arms smuggling case, Nigeria's foreign minister said Friday.

The artillery rockets and other weapons, loaded in 13 shipping containers that were labeled as building supplies, were seized on Oct. 26 at a port in Lagos, Nigeria. Nigeria's security service believes the arms were imported by some local politicians to destabilize the country if they lose in upcoming elections that are expected to be hotly contested.

An international cargo shipper based in France has said one of its ships picked up the containers from Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran.

"The consignment did originate from Iran," Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia told a news conference Friday "That has been confirmed from our own shipping documents and the Iranian authorities have also confirmed that the consignment did originate from Iran."

Underscoring the sensitivity of the matter, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met with his Nigerian counterpart here late Thursday.

Ajumogobia said that as a result of his "very productive meeting" with Mottaki, the Iranian official authorized Nigerian officials to interview one of two Iranians implicated in the arms case. But Ajumogobia said the other man has diplomatic immunity.

Nigerian authorities believe both men are hiding in the Iranian Embassy, located down a quiet street in Abuja, the capital, and which is being watched by Nigerian security officials.

On Friday, for the second consecutive day, two unmarked patrol vans with long radio antennae waited outside the Iranian Embassy.

The vans looked similar to others used by Nigeria's State Security Service. Like other official vehicles used for security purposes, they did not have license plates.

"If Nigeria finds at the conclusion of the investigation that there has been a breach of international law, a breach of U.N. sanctions, Nigeria is a member of the U.N. Security Council (and) we will do what is necessary," Ajumogobia told reporters.

In a 2007 resolution stepping up sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, the U.N. Security Council banned Iranian arms exports, forbidding the sale or supply of weapons by Iran, whether directly or indirectly. It requires nations to prevent any such transfers and prevent their citizens from obtaining any weapons from Iran.

Mottaki's visit came after Nigerian authorities had concluded that Iran's government was behind the arms shipment, according to internal Nigerian government documents seen Thursday by The Associated Press.

The Nigerian foreign minister said Mottaki cleared the way for Nigerian security officials to interview Azimi Agajany, one of the men who Nigeria says organized the secret arms shipment through a Tehran-based company called International Trading and General Construction. Ajumogobia said Agajany may be questions as early as Friday.

The internal government reports seen by AP say Agajany received a visa to travel to Nigeria after getting an endorsement from Sheikh Ali Abbas Othman, also known as Abbas Jega, a Nigerian who worked for Radio Tehran's Hausa language service and studied in Iran. Jega is in the custody of Nigeria's State Security Service, a Nigerian government official told the AP.

The other Iranian implicated in the case, Sayed Akbar Tahmaesebi, entered Nigeria after Nigerian authorities received a letter of recommendation from Iran's foreign ministry saying he would "provide administrative support" at its Abuja embassy, according to the internal Nigerian reports.

Tahmaesebi has diplomatic immunity and cannot be questioned without Iran's consent, Ajumogobia said.

"If the Iranians are willing to waive immunity then we will pursue that, but in the meantime we are taking one step at a time," the Nigerian foreign minister told journalists.

Inside the cargo containers at Nigeria's main port in Lagos, inspectors found 107mm artillery rockets, rifle rounds and arms. The rockets can accurately hit targets more than 5 miles (8.5 kilometers) away with a 40-foot (12-meter) killing radius. Insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq have used similar rockets against U.S. troops. China, the United States, and Russia manufacture versions of the rocket, as does Iran.

Displaying a lack of knowledge about Nigeria's geography, Agajany initially wanted the consignments shipped to Abuja, the documents said. When Agajany was told there is no port in Abuja, which lies hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the coast, he came up with Lagos as the destination.

By shipping arms to the country, Iran may be attempting to "tweak" Western powers by showing it can influence affairs in a country vital to U.S. oil supplies, said David Bender, a Washington-based analyst who studies Iran for the Eurasia Group.

"From their perspective, it doesn't cost anything," Bender said. "But it gives the impression that they are a global player."

Nigeria has a predominantly Muslim north and Christian south. Targeted killings allegedly committed by a radical Islamic sect have been shaking the north while militants have launched attacks in the oil-rich southern delta. Presidential elections are scheduled for next year in Africa's most populous country that embraced democracy only a decade ago after a string of military dictatorships and coups.

I will win again, Uduaghan says

Deposed governor of Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday said for the first time since 2007, he no longer had to attend to files or contractors who besieged his office.
The governor, who spoke about how he has been spending his days out of office said he now thinks of the forthcoming rerun elections, which he said he was sure to win because of his achievements in office in the last three years.

The former governor was at the PDP national secretariat Abuja where he held a meeting with the party leadership. Others at the meeting, presided over by the chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo, were the acting governor, Sam Obi; acting speaker of the state house of assembly, Basil Ganagana and the state PDP chairman, Peter Nwaoboshi.
Mr Uduaghan admitted that he was shocked by the judgement, but preferred not to go into details since his legal advisers are looking into it.
He also refused to comment on the alleged plot by a group of party members led by Edwin Clark to shop for another candidate to replace him. "The National Working Committee has come out with a statement on who the PDP candidate is and I think I want to leave it at that," he said.

Speaking further on the rerun election, Mr Uduaghan said it is a PDP election. "First of all let me say this, that it is a PDP election and PDP is firmly on ground in Delta State. It is a PDP election PDP are there from the councilors, local Government Chairmen, house of assembly, national Assembly," he said.
"Coupled with the things we have done and I must emphasize that our emphasis in our campaign will not be just on the big issues that people talk about - airport and all that - but will be more on the grass root things that we have done."
Before the meeting went into closed-doors, Mr Nwodo declared that the PDP will not field another candidate besides Mr Uduaghan.
"Our tradition is that where elections are annulled, be it in the National Assembly or any other place, we go back with our candidate in that election. Our candidate in this election is no other person but Uduaghan," he said.
Mr Nwodo said the party was not expecting the court judgement. According to him, "we had thought that the crucial issues had been ruled on, little did we know that there was yet another matter."
He said the party has implicit confidence in the acting governor to keep its flag flying and asked the indigenes of the state to give him support.

Mr Obi said he and the leadership of the party in Delta State had gone to brief the national leadership on the strategy they were putting in place to win the rerun election.
The acting governor said he was merely holding the seat for Mr Uduaghan, whom he said was on vacation. He said he had met with the party leadership with a view to soliciting support in running the state.
Others at the meeting were a member of the House of Representatives, Dan Reneju; state secretary of PDP, Solomon Ogba; former SSG, Ifeanyi Okowa; former speaker, Martins Okonta; Health Commissioner, Joseph Otumara; Transport Commisisoner, Lawrence Osiegbu; Chief of Staff to the former governor, Solomon Areyarka; and Director of Protocol, Godwin Abigor

Senate plans law on May 29 handover date

AGAINST the backdrop of speculations that the May 29 handover date might be tinkered with, the Senate yesterday began a move to enact a law aimed at making the date sacrosanct.

The chamber also yesterday finished the second reading of another bill seeking to amend the Electoral Act 2010 with a view to democratising the National Executive Committees (NECs) of all political parties.

The Senate, however, threw out a motion sponsored by Lee Maeba from Rivers State, which sought to honour the executed Ogoni rights activist cum environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, post-humously.

Maeba had prayed the chamber to name a major street in the Federal Capital Territory and observe a minute silence in Saro-Wiwa’s honour.

According to the report submitted by the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, which was passed by the chamber yesterday, at the inauguration of the President and the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the swearing-in ceremony shall be organised and executed by the National Assembly while the “inauguration shall take place in the arcade of the National Assembly.”

The proposed bill, in Section 1(ii), also provides that “the entire inauguration ceremony, apart from the actual administration of the Oaths of Office, shall be conducted and officiated by members of the National Assembly.”

Clause 6 (1) of the bill proposes that all serving and former presidents, heads of state, heads of the Federal Government, vice presidents or their equivalent, Senate presidents and Speakers of the House of Representatives and the Chief Justices of the Federation shall be in attendance with their spouses while “the president-elect and the vice president-elect and their spouses with the immediate families shall be the last to come in the procession for the inauguration’’.

The inauguration shall have a committee headed by a chairman appointed from the National Assembly with 12 other members drawn from the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary.
The Clerk to the National Assembly, the bill further stated, shall be the head of the secretariat of the inauguration ceremony.

In another development, the problem of protracted electoral litigation in the country again took the front burner yesterday with former President of Ghana, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor; Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, erstwhile Chief Justice of Nigeria, Muhammadu Uwais and a retired jurist, Justice George Oguntade, all proffering the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism as panacea to the vexed issue.
However, Kufuor charged INEC to be fair, independent and transparent in its conduct of the 2011 general elections to stem the deluge of litigation that had trailed past elections conducted by the commission.

In a related development, President Boni Yayi of Republic of Benin has called on Nigerians to ensure that they elect a transparent and peaceful leader as President come 2011.
Briefing the media after holding bilateral talks with President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House, Abuja yesterday, President Yayi noted that Benin Republic looked up to Nigeria for guidance as “a big brother,” stressing that Nigeria had come of age to elect credible leaders through transparent polls.

Yayi’s charge came on the heels of a similar call yesterday by President John Atta Mills of Ghana who said Nigerians should be allowed to choose their own leaders through the ballot box next year.

Yayi also solicited President Jonathan’s support and input, in his capacity as chairman of ECOWAS, towards transparent and credible polls in Benin Republic, saying: “Benin’s problems are Nigeria’s problems too and vice versa”.

He added: “President Jonathan and I discussed areas of greater cooperation with Nigeria as our big brother, issues of security of our borders, better infrastructure for our peoples, the prosperity of our citizens, and how we can choose transparent and peaceful leaders in the ECOWAS sub-region.

“I am going back to Benin satisfied and happy that President Jonathan is ready to help us.”
Meanwhile, the Federal High Court, Abuja Division on Wednesday acceded to the request of 13 plaintiffs to serve some respondents in a suit challenging the zoning of the Presidency by substituted means.

The plaintiffs noted that although they have served majority of the defendants, they could not serve 11 of them despite several attempts by the court bailiff.

Ruling on an ex-parte application moved by a team of lawyers led by Babatunde Bamgboye, counsel to the applicants, Judge Gabriel Kolawole granted their prayer “for leave to the plaintiffs to serve all the defendants save and except 8th, 11th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 23rd, 27th 37th, 50th, 53rd, 58th, 59th defendants by substituted means, to wit: By advertising same in a newspaper circulating within the federation and by a notice put up at the Federal High Court, Abuja and for such further order(s) as this Honourable court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this case”.

The court adjourned the suit to December 6, 2010 for mention and report of service on the said defendants.

Also, yesterday, the chamber began the process of amending the 2010 Electoral Act with a view to institutionalising internal democracy in the nation’s political parties.

Senate Majority Leader, Teslim Folarin, who introduced the bill titled: “A Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act No. 64 of 2010,” said one of the highlights of the bill is amendment to section 87 of the principal Act to strengthen internal democracy by ensuring that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of a political party is the highest decision making body, and including in its membership presiding officers of the National Assembly, chairmen and vice chairmen of standing committees in the Senate, chairmen and deputy chairmen of standing committees in the House of Representatives.

The bill was sponsored by the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution led by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu.
Folarin explained: “The rationale here is to ensure robust discussion on party issues by a larger number of party members and to avoid a situation where a very few party members sit to decide the faith and affairs of a political party.”

The amendment sought reads: “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of nomination of candidates for any election, except such a political appointee is also an elected officer of a political party” and “every political party in Nigeria shall establish in its constitution a National Executive Committee (NEC) which shall be the highest decision making body of a political party.”

The bill listed the members of NEC to include the President and Vice President who are members of the party as well as presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives who are members of the party and chairmen and vice chairmen of standing committees of both chambers of the National Assembly who are members of the party.
Speaking at the fifth ADR summit organised by the Negotiation and Conflict Management Group (NCMG) at Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, Kufuor said the ADR had been used to resolve disputes in Africa over the ages.

According to him, in modern times, the complex nature of disputes, with their deep and wide implication on society, makes advocacy for ADR take on new dimensions.
Of all modern disputes, he said, none was of more urgent nature than the quick resolution of electoral cases, “since the outcome of elections affects the whole spectrum of our lives, be it social, economic, environmental, health, education, sports and cultural.”
The former Ghanaian President said the ADR mechanisms must be welcomed on the African continent since “our court system is already over burdened with cases some of which stretch into many years.”

The ADR, he argued, would engender a speedy resolution of election disputes as well as equip the courts with specialised personnel who could be relied upon to give fair and impartial verdicts.

Kufuor added: “ADR offers flexibility to the regular court system, it is cost effective, time-saving, and offers a multi-dimensional approach to remedy justice.

“With a few months to the 2011 general elections in Nigeria, perhaps, it is appropriate that the question of resolving election disputes has caught the attention of several well-meaning Nigerians and Africans.”

He recommended that the ADR panel should be made up of three or five members, with the chairman appointed with the consent of the parties by the president, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Nigeria).

Jega argued that it was time for a major shift in the orientation of politicians in the handling of political and electoral disputes, observing that it is now common practice for litigants to exploit the multiplicity and the hierarchy of courts to either delay or frustrate the course of justice.

According to Jega, INEC has initiated moves to facilitate the resolution of political and pre-election disputes through the ADR.

This, he said, was done to provide a structure and create awareness for the “availability of these processes which, with their inherent quality of flexibility, can accommodate the peculiarities of political disputes, while contributing to the creation of a conducive atmosphere for elections.”

Jega, who spoke through INEC National Commissioner, Philip Umeadi, added that it was gratifying to note that other agencies of government and non-government organisations like the NCMG had also shown keen interest in the ADR.

Chairman, NCMG Board, Uwais, described election-related conflict as one of the major threats to democracy and political stability in Nigeria and several countries across the world.

He stressed the important of the ADR and other conflict management processes like mediation, arbitration and conciliation as potentially more accessible, cost-effective and rapid means to address such disputes.

In his remarks, Oguntade, who had sat over several election-related cases, said some had remained protracted due to “the monetisation of the nation’s political system.”
He canvassed a re-orientation and sustained efforts to solve the problem since according to him, “it is a difficult task.”

For Chief Arthur Mbanefo who presented the NCMG’s new initiative tagged: “Zero violence and litigation project,” the group prides itself on the successful projects it has been able to initiate to promote mediation in Nigeria like the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse and the NCMG African ADR summit.

Mbanefo said the new project was aimed at eliminating election-related violence by 2015 and reducing the number of post-polls court cases drastically by encouraging mediation in place of litigation in the courts.
He submitted that the courts were yet to dispose off no fewer than 300 documented cases arising from 2007 general elections.


Speaking with The Guardian on Wednesday while on a familiarisation visit to the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse, (LMDC), Kufuor, who successfully handed over power to an opposition party candidate in January 2009, said INEC should also ensure a hitch-free printing of ballot papers and appointing credible electoral officers who would uphold the integrity of the polls.

He also said that all political parties must subscribe to the values of democracy by respecting the right of the people to choose their leaders.

His words: “The electoral commission should be transparent and above board. All parties should subscribe to the same value of democracy by respecting the people’s right to choose their leaders.”

According to him, if the 2011 elections are flawed, it would hamper the growth of democracy.
Kufuor argued that if Nigeria must get it right this time, INEC must embark on a biometric voters registration exercise.

His words: “To avoid impersonation and forgeries, the voters registration exercise should be done biometrically. When that is done, the voting itself would be more or less a confirmation because if a person thumb-prints and he is not the person in the register, it would reject him.

“In a very populous nation like Nigeria, I think it will make for quite a clean electoral system. India did it with hundreds of millions of voters and succeeded, so I believe that Nigeria too should be able to do it.”

On the LMDC, Kufuor said: “With this system, I can see a judiciary with a sense of initiative. I am convinced that the LMDC system should be the system to operate not only in Nigeria but all other countries that subscribe to justice as the cornerstone of peace.”

But a Justice at the Supreme Court of Ghana, Julius Amsah, who represented the Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Georginia Theodora Wood, said the ADR bill in Ghana was sent to their National Assembly when Kufuor was president but was never passed.

Amsah added: “The most unfortunate thing is that we are still lagging behind in ADR in Ghana after what I have seen in Lagos today, we have to emulate Nigeria back in Ghana.”

Market defies industrial action as investors stake N4.6b

ACTIVITIES at the nation’s capital market yesterday, continued as usual, as authorities of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), investors and other stakeholders defied call for industrial action.
Despite the nationwide strike action, equities transactions on the floor of the Exchange were on the upbeat as investors staked a total of N4.6 billion on 557.2 million shares yesterday, compared with a total of 524.8 million shares valued at N3.98 billion traded in the previous day.
Similarly, corporate performance indices of the Exchange closed the day on a bullish note, as the All-Share Index rose by 32.84 points or 0.12 per cent from 25,383.37 points recorded on Tuesday, to 25,416.21 points yesterday, while market capitalisation of listed equities appreciated by N11 billion or 0.13 per cent from N8.105 trillion to N8.116 trillion.
With transactions done in 3,259 deals, the banking sub-sector remained the most active in volume terms trading 300.9 million shares worth N2.3 billion followed by the insurance sub-sector with 141.4 million units valued at N83.2 million, while the mortgage companies sub-sector ranked third with 21.9 million shares valued at N13.4 million.
Accounting for the volume of transactions in the equities sector, 58 million shares of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc worth N284 million buoyed the sub-sector’s volume, while Zenith Bank Plc’s 34 million units valued at N 519.6 million followed in 407 deals.
Similarly, African Alliance Plc’s 104.6 million shares worth N52 million enhanced activities in the insurance sub-sector, while the mortgage companies sub-sector was boosted by activities in the shares of Resort Savings and Loans Plc, which traded 14. 8 million shares valued at N7.4 million in eight deals.
On the day’s price movement chart, Nigerian Breweries Plc traded higher at the end of yesterday’s transactions, leading 47 other stocks with 197 kobo to close at N78.97 per share, followed by Lafarge WAPCO Plc, with 149 kobo to close at N42 per share.
Other gainers of yesterday’s transactions include Cadbury, Oando, and Ashaka Cement, adding 100 kobo, 100 kobo and 90 kobo to close at N29, N66 and N24.50 per share each.
Dangote Flourmills, Zenith Bank and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria garnered 79 kobo, 73 kobo and 70 kobo to close at N16.78, N15.40 and N14.70 per share respectively.
Furthermore, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated added 69 kobo to close at N16, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company gained 46 kobo to close at N9.96 per share.
However, Dangote Cement topped the losers’ chart with 672 kobo to close at N127.94 per share, while Conoil followed with 204 kobo to close at N38.94 per share.
Similarly, Flourmills, African Petroleum, Nigerian Bottling company lost 98 kobo, 94 kobo and 60 kobo to close at N70.02, N24.00 and N31.95 per share each.
Unilever and UPL shed 50 kobo and 34 kobo to close at N28.00 and N6.48 per share each, while May& Baker and Berger also dropped 21 kobo and 20 kobo to close at N4.40 and N8.00 per share respectively.

Biometric enrolment: 40,000 ghost pensioners weeded out of payroll -FG

THE Federal Government, on Wednes day, said the biometric enrolment of federal pensioners and those with states share conducted in June this year, has yielded tremendous result as about 40,000 ghost pensioners were weeded out of the government’s payroll.

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye, who disclosed this in Abuja, said another N15 billion was saved by the Federal Government through the review of the Group Life Insurance Scheme for the federal workers.

Oronsaye said in spite of the controversy that characterised the conduct of the biometric capture of the federal pensioners, he was fulfilled that the gains had far outweighed the cries and hues that greeted the exercise, saying people were always resistant to change.

He said the verification and biometric enrolment of pensioners would enable government to determine the accurate number of pensioners, accurate amount of monthly pension liability, build a database of pensioners’ information that would be used to facilitate as well as streamline the administration and direct payment of monthly pensions.

He said before the exercise, his office was inundated with complaints of non-payment of pension, and others who had retired so many years ago were not captured in the payroll and about N24 billion was being paid by the government monthly for the pension.

He added that investigations by his office made startling revelations that there was collusion, recycling of documents, and introduction of fake pensioners.

Seized weapons meant for Nigeria -SSS declares •Arrests clearing agent, consignee

THE Department of State Security Service (SSS), on Wednesday, cleared the mystery surrounding the actual destination of the arms and ammunition seized at the Apapa Ports in Lagos recently, saying that the destination of the cargo was Nigeria, contrary to claims that it was meant for another country.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja on the update of the seized arms and the Warri and Abuja bomb blasts, SSS spokesperson, Mrs Marilyn Ogar, Assistant Director, Public Relations, disclosed that available facts at the disposal of the Service showed that the destination of the cargo was Nigeria.

Ogar, who gave account of how the illegal cargo came into Nigeria before the seizure, explained that its bill of laden actually read, “building materials comprising glass wood and pallets of stones with destination as Nigeria.”

She declared that with this development backed up with necessary documents, “any argument that the cargo came into this country by mistake is false.”

According to her, “the ship that carried the cargo arrived at the Tin Can Port on 10th July, 2010 with 371 containers from which 85 were discharged at Frano Bonded Warehouse, Cele-Ijesha area of Lagos. The said ship departed on 11th July, 2010.

“On 20th October 2010, 13 containers out of the 85 were moved from Frano to AP Molar Terminal Apapa Port, where service personnel requested 100 per cent inspection of the containers,” she explained further.

Mrs Ogar, who assured that the Service would get to the root of the matter with the ongoing investigations, said that at present, both the consignee and the clearing agent were in their custody and declined to reveal the identities of the suspects due to ongoing investigations.

On the Warri and Abuja bomb blasts, Ogar said that further investigations had revealed that the two blasts were perpetrated by the same group allegedly under the supervision of Henry Okah, who is currently facing trial in South Africa.

She, however, disclosed that more suspects, including Lagos-based car dealers and a welder connected with the blasts had been arrested along with the receipts for the cars used in the bombing.

She explained that after the purchase of the cars, they were moved to Charles Okah’s residence in Apapa, Lagos, where the welder, welded the compartments in the cars for housing the bombs from where they were subsequently moved to Port-Harcourt and then finally to Abuja.

Ogar equally disclosed that some suspects had been nabbed over the Warri bomb blasts as they were the same set of people allegedly used by Henry Okah to execute the October 1, 2010 bombings in Abuja.

She explained that investigations had revealed that Henry Okah allegedly came from South Africa for the Warri bombings, purchased the cars which were used for the operations, moved them to the welder and later to the house of one of the suspects on March 13, 2010 where he personally wired the bombs.

According to her, “on 14th March, 2010, Okah departed the country, apparently to create an alibi for himself over the bombings that eventually took place the next day.”

On the alleged secret trial of the suspects, Ogar denied the claims, saying that, “the Service has been absolutely procedural and lawful in the ongoing prosecution of the affected suspects.”

Africa exceeds 500m mobile phone subscriptions mark

THE number of active mobile phone subscriptions in Africa has crossed the half-a-billion mark in the third quarter of 2010 to reach 506 million at the end of September 2010.

This development has been attributed to the various investments across the continent in telecommunications infrastructure, especially the landing of the various submarine cables across Africa.

Presenting the latest research on Africa’s telecommunications industry at the on-going AfricaCom telecommunications exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, Informa Telecoms and media analyst, Thecla Mbongue, said Africa accounts for 10 per cent of the world’s mobile subscriptions and is one of the fastest growing regions – with the subscription numbers increasing by 18 per cent over the years till September 2010. This was attributed to low mobile penetration rate on the continent as well as demand for new services, such as mobile Internet access that increase the need for telecoms connectivity.

Mbongue said “although the rate of growth in mobile subscriptions in Africa will slow as markets mature, the continent continues to offer great opportunities for investors in the voice segment in under-penetrated markets and also in the non-voice segments with mobile broadband and mobile-money services taking off.
“By 2015, there will be 265 million mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa, a huge increase from the current figure of about 12 million, and accounting for 31.5 per cent of the total of 842 million mobile subscriptions that the continent will have in five years’ time. There will be almost 360 million users of mobile-money services on the continent by 2014.”

Mbongue, in the statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, noted that the mobile revolution that has swept through Africa has made mobile telephony widely available, but there are still substantial under-served markets, especially in rural areas, where the rate of mobile penetration is typically below 10 per cent.

The Informa Telecoms and Media analyst explained that the landing of a series of new submarine cables on both the East and West coasts of Africa over the past 18 months has given the continent a good level of international connectivity for the first time, and has greatly expanded the opportunities for data services.
Mbongue posited, however, that terrestrial backhaul threatens to become the next bottle-neck, and must be extended if the benefits of the new connectivity are to be made widely available and, in particular, reach rural communities and countries in the interior of the continent.

“The past year has seen a big change in the line-up of key players in the African mobile market, with the sale of Zain Africa – one of the biggest pan-African players with 15 operations on the continent – to Bharti Airtel of India. Airtel, which is poised for the formal launch of its services in Africa, is expected to introduce elements of its Indian operating model, including its extensive use of outsourcing as a means of maximising efficiency. Airtel has also set out major network-expansion plans in Africa,” she stated.

The research revealed that Nigeria remains the largest mobile market in Africa, accounting for 16 per cent of the continent’s mobile subscriptions. Egypt and South Africa are the second and third largest mobile markets on the continent.

Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania and Zimbabwe together accounted for 48 per cent of the 54 million net additions to Africa’s mobile subscriptions market up till September.

2011 elections: Commonwealth threatens to sanction Nigeria

The Commonwealth of Nations on Wednesday in Abuja advised Nigeria to organise free, fair and credible elections next year or face expulsion from the world body.

The leader of the Head of Africa Section, Commonwealth Secretariat, Ambassador Ayo Oke, who handed down the warning while speaking during a workshop on credible elections in Nigeria at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters, Abuja, said that the Commonwealth was prepared to assist Nigeria to conduct elections that would meet international standards.

According to him, the workshop was a clear evidence of the commitment of the world body to Nigeria and the importance attached to assisting INEC to organise a credible and well-managed elections in 2011 that Nigerians would be proud of.

Said he: “The Commonwealth is committed to supporting the development and consolidation of democracy in its member states, and has developed a strong international reputation on the basis of that political commitment and its practical support to democratic processes and institutions. Indeed, no country can now aspire to be a member of the Commonwealth without demonstrating adherence to democratic values.”

While noting that, “democracy is a belief, and an aspiration, a process, a work-in-progress, and one which often involves challenge and change”, Ambassador Oke said that the people of Nigeria had greater expectations on INEC to conduct free and fair elections and promised that the Commonwealth would assist Nigeria in every possible way in meeting the democratic aspiration of the people.