Atiku warns against blocking change

Former vice president and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar has warned that a violent change in the leadership of Nigeria might occur if the current political leaders fail to encourage peaceful change.

He also warned the PDP leadership to embrace reforms in the party or risk becoming irrelevant in the nation's polity.

Mr Abubakar spoke in Abuja at a national stakeholders conference convened by the Northern Political Leaders Forum, Igbo Political Forum, South South Unity Forum and Yoruba Redemption Group. The theme of the conference was ‘Building Consensus for National Unity." The former vice president, during his brief remarks, said the conference was not about him, but about the unity and stability of the country, adding that the conveners were determined to bring the country back to the path of honour and integrity.

"If the PDP does not bring reform, it stands the risk of making itself irrelevant. Let me again send another message to the leadership of our country, especially our political leadership - those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable. But that is not what we want for our country," Mr Abubakar said.

Zoning and Nigeria's future

The chairman of the occasion and former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, in his opening remarks, lamented that some political actors are not only trying to put the question of national unity in the back burner, but are actively trying to undermine it by jettisoning measures that are deliberately designed to promote and guarantee it.

He said the insistence of some presidential aspirants and their supporters to maintain zoning and rotation of power between the component parts of Nigeria is in the long term interest of the country and its people.

Mr Babangida recalled that when the PDP was formed, it was conceived as a big tent that would house the diverse sections, groupings and interest of the country in an amicable and orderly power sharing arrangement, stressing that dumping the arrangement will affect the electoral fortune of the party.

"The critical balancing fulcrum sustaining that arrangement is the principle of zoning and rotation of public and party offices," he said. "This is, without any doubt, what is responsible for the remarkable successes that the party was able to register in successive elections in the country. Any attempt to disrupt this arrangement therefore portends ominous prospect to the electoral fortunes of the party, but seriously endangers orderly political transition in the nation." A former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, who was the guest speaker at the occasion, said zoning and rotation of public offices are not limited to Nigeria, noting that it is practiced in other countries, like Switzerland as well as organisations like the European Union and United Nations.

According to him, those condemning the principle of rotation and zoning are merely endangering the unity of the country.

Noting that the concept of zoning was a concession to the south by the northern part of Nigeria, Mr Nnamani said the latter holds the aces because 61 per cent of the delegates to the national convention of the PDP are from that part of the country, while the south constitutes only 39 per cent.

PDP politics

He insisted that the PDP has a clause that recognises zoning in its constitution, adding that rather than implementing that clause, some people are overheating the polity.

Criticizing the position of Ohana eze Ndigbo, the socio-cultural organisation for endorsing the ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan to succeed himself, Mr. Nnamani said, "What if that individual endorsed fails to win the primaries? So, if you read such things, disregard it. To make matters worse, these people endorsing are not delegates."

Mutiny: 27 soldiers formally regain freedom

The 27 soldiers jailed for mutiny were on Wednesday formally breezed into freedom following their pardon by the Nigerian Army.

The Nigerian Tribune gathered in Ibadan, on Wednesday, that the released soldiers, who were put in different prisons across the country, arrived at the Kuje prison, Abuja, by 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

One of the counsel for the soldiers, Mr Peter Adonu, told newsmen in Ibadan that they (soldiers) left Kuje Prison around 12 noon to the Army headquarters, Abacha Barracks.

He said that it was at the garrison that they were addressed by the Garrison Commander on the decision reached by the Army Council to pardon them.

The soldiers were, however, given three weeks leave after which they were expected to report at their various units to claim their benefits.

Force admits losing eight officers in face-off with militants

The Joint Military Task Force, code-named "Operation Restore Hope", on Wednesday admitted losing eight of its officers in the recent face-off with militants in the Niger Delta. The JTF, however, denied embarking on indiscriminate shooting in the Ayakoromor community in the area. The commander of the task force, Charles Omoregie, a major general made the clarification in Yenagoa during a solidarity visit by some Ijaw elders led by a former minister of police affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo.

Mr. Omoregie, however, said the loss of the military personnel would not deter the task force from achieving its goal of apprehending and bringing self-styled "Gen" John Togo, a militant leader, to justice. The commander, who listed the fatalities in the gunfight in the waterways of the Niger Delta with Togo's men as seven soldiers and a mobile policeman, said the decision to downplay the casualties was to douse any tension in the region. The victims were part of the JTF personnel that were injured during an ambush by men of the camp belonging to Togo and amongst whom some died as a result of the lack of immediate medical attention.

False alarm

Mr. Omoregie described as mischievous the purported destruction of Ayakoromor community as peddled by some individuals in the Delta and also denied that the JTF had embarked on indiscriminate killings.

According to him, "We did not carry out a massacre in Ayakoromor as widely and mischievously reported. I tell you my elders without any fear of contradiction that the entire Ayakoromor incident has been politicised. The latest figure is that we killed 50. People are just mentioning numbers for selfish reasons. Let those with the facts on the massacre prove it. We are still focused on apprehending and bringing John Togo to justice. The immediate goal of the JTF is to assist the indigenes of Ayakoromor to return to their community."

Mr. Omoregie also informed the Ijaw leaders of the receipt of relief assistance from the Defence Headquarters in Abuja for the rehabilitation and restoration efforts needed for peace in Ayakoromor.

Earlier, Mr. Bozimo had said that though they had heard various accounts of the incident at Ayakoromor, they decided to get the version of the JTF in order to take a position on the issue.

"We don't think all we have heard is true and we have decided to get your own side of the story," he said.

He said the Ijaw leaders had refrained from talking on the Ayakoromor incident because of the uncertainties surrounding it. The residents of Ayakoromor had, at a news briefing in Yenagoa last Monday, alleged that men of the JTF killed 51 natives during the December 1 attack on the community, a claim the military had denied.

Police arrest Oyo lawmaker, 40 others at PDP rally

IT was a bad day for a member of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Honourable Jimoh Fadipe, on Wednesday, as he was molested and arrested along with about 40 other persons by the police for allegedly attending a political rally, fully armed with dangerous weapons.

Fadipe is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislator, representing the Ibadan South-East constituency in the state legislature and he is already campaigning to return to the Assembly for a second term.

The PDP chapters in the 11 local government areas in Ibadan had organised the rally, which was held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan, as part of the preparations of the party for the forthcoming general election.

However, before the arrival of the state governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, at the venue of the rally, the police, apparently acting on a tip-off, embarked on a stop and search exercise and, in the process, found several guns, including four pump action double barrel guns, pistols and charms in four vehicles.

Promptly, the cars - a Mercedez Benz salon (BC 254 EPE); Nissan Xterra Jeep (OYHA 09 A); Hyundai Accent salon (FP 682 KJA) and a Nissan bus (AW 69 BDG) - were impounded by the Police, while about 40 people, said to be loyalists of Fadipe, were also arrested and taken to the Mapo Police Station, Ibadan.

The lawmaker, from whom two English pistols were said to have been confiscated, was arrested while seeking to effect the release of his ‘boys’, an attempt which infuriated the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the police station, Mr. Francis Ojomo, who immediately ordered that he should be arrested and detained at the station.

Meanwhile, addressing the mammoth crowd and PDP members at the rally, Governor Alao-Akala, said that his administration had fulfilled all its electoral promises, maintaining that the PDP would retain its position as the ruling party in the state after the 2011 elections.

Promising not to let the people of the state down, he carpeted those who were opposed to him as he declared that nobody could frustrate his administration in its quest to improve the living condition of the people.

Dora Akunyili quits cabinet, joins APGA – Daily Trust

Professor Dora Akunyili has resigned her position as information minister with effect from yesterday to seek the Anambra Senatorial District ticket under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
President Goodluck Jonathan has since accepted her resignation and appointed Minister of State for Information and Communications Labaran Maku to replace her as the substantive minister.
Akunyili, who turned-in her resignation letter yesterday at the weekly Federal Executive Council, told the council that she has decided to cross-over to the APGA, which is the ruling party in the state, to seek for APGA’s ticket.
She also told council that having reflected over the years about events in Nigeria and in particular her state, Anambra State, “I have, therefore, decided to join my Governor, Peter Obi, who is doing a great job in continuing to build Anambra State as an APGA senator. In this regard, I intend to pick the nomination form today to run for the office of Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly.”
Shortly after briefing State House correspondents at the end of her last FEC meeting, Akunyili, drove in convoy of about 50 vehicles to the APGA national secretariat in Abuja where she paid N3.5 million for the nomination forms to run against Barrister Chike Maduekwe for the APGA senatorial ticket.

Recurrent expenditure gulps 59% of 2011 budget

The trend of disproportionately high rate of recurrent expenditure that has characterised Nigeria's annual budget estimates has persisted, as it will gulp 59 percent of the 2011 budget.

Figure from the N4.226 trillion budget that was presented to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday proposes N2.481 trillion for recurrent expenditures. This is contrary to government's earlier plan to cut recurrent expenses.

The Finance Minister,Olusegun Aganga, had the penultimate week, in a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Finance and Aids, Loans and Debt management in Abuja said that he was working on changing the trend in the country's supplementary expenditure which was suffocating capital expenditure.

Mr. Aganga's view was corroborated by the Senate President, David Mark who told Mr Jonathan on Wednesday, during the budget presentation ceremony in the National Assembly, that disproportionate ratio of recurrent and overhead expenditure to capital expenditure is unacceptable and unsustainable.

"No nation desirous of meaningful development can afford such a disproportionate allocation of its financial resources between consumption and investment towards its own future development," the Senate President told the President. "This means that the cost of running government has been increasing at an unsustainable rate. We must all rise together and address it."

Cutting it

He added that the National Assembly will henceforth re-evaluate budget aggregates and other major macroeconomic variables across the board for all Government(Ministries Departments and Agencies) MDAs and other arms of government to lower the personnel and overhead expenditures, and improve the level of appropriations for capital expenditures." we must drastically cut down the cost of running government vertically and horizontally in the three arms of government as well as the three tiers of our federating unit," the Senate President said. "In this regard, the National Assembly will lead the crusade. We will make the required sacrifice and review our recurrent expenditure. We expect others to make similar sacrifice."

Mr Jonathan, however, said the government is mindful of the unsustainable trend in recurrent expenditures and is implementing a wide range public financial management reforms which will boost fiscal prudence and increase quality and efficiency of spending.

"To ensure that this trend does not result in the crowding out of the critical capital investments required to achieve our development goals, a high powered Expenditure Review Committee was established to suggest practical measures to rationalise recurrent expenditure without compromising the quality of service delivery," the president said.

He added that the government has already saved N12 billion in personnel cost by introducing an integrated payroll and personnel information system in 16 MDAs.

Auditing NNPC

The president also added that the government intends to block all revenue leakages in the system by conducting audits for all revenue generating agencies including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

He also said the government will strengthen the pre-shipment inspection for crude oil and gases, fast track the implementation of key reforms by the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigerian Custom Service.

The 2011 budget estimates is 18% less than what was budgeted last year. It comprises N196.12 billion for statutory transfers, N542.38 billion for debt service, N2.481 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and N1.005 trillion for capital expenditure.

The 2011 budget is predicated on assumptions that reflect the outlook for 2011 and "our expectations for improvements in domestic oil production, stability in the international oil markets and sustained economic growth," the president said.

The assumptions include: oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day, benchmark oil price of $65 per barrel, exchange rate of N150 per US dollar, joint venture cash calls of $4.5 billion, and projected growth rate of 7%.

‘No vacancy in Aso Rock'

Former chairman of the board of trustees of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tony Anenih, on Monday, advised all presidential aspirants to forget such ambition, saying that there is no vacancy in the presidency, even as preparations for the presidential primaries of the party gathers momentum.

Mr. Anenih, who spoke in Benin at the opening of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation in Benin City, insisted that President Goodluck Jonathan remains Nigeria's consensus candidate for the election.

"We know that there is the Adamu Ciroma consensus candidate. We also know that there is a Nigerian consensus candidate and for that reason, there is no vacancy in Aso Rock. I don't waste my words, but we should prepare not only for the primaries, but for the general election to elect Goodluck Jonathan as president and Namadi Sambo as vice president," Mr. Anenih stated.

Speaking in the same vein, the director general of Jonathan/Sambo campaign organisation, Dahlatu Tafida, corroborated Mr. Anenih's comments, saying, "it is evident that there is no vacancy in every state we have visited. This is because we trying to sell a national product (Jonathan) and not a local product."

Mr. Tafida told the mammoth crowd at the ceremony that Edo State was the 27th state his organisation has so far visited, just as he called on warring PDP members of the state to close ranks and forge a common front to dislodge their opponent from the Edo State Government House.

Edo State coordinator of the campaign organisation and former deputy governor of the state, Lucky Imasuen, said the support for Jonathan was as a result of his ability to deliver democracy dividends to the people.

The event was witnessed by the deputy governor of Cross River State; a representative of the acting governor of Delta State; PDP senators, House of Representatives members, and PDP chairman in the state, Dan Orbih, amongst others.

Government budgets N4.2tr for 2011

The federal government has proposed a budget of N4.2 trillion for the 2011 financial year, with a crude oil benchmark pegged at $62 per barrel.

Capital expenditure is expected to take N1 trillion while the remaining N3.2 trillion will be gulped by recurrent expenditure.

It was confirmed that contrary to earlier reports, the federal government intends to commence a cut in the recurrent expenditure starting from the 2012 financial year. The Presidency was however still tinkering with the budget proposal ahead of its presentation to the joint session of the national assembly today.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, approved a request by President Goodluck Jonathan to extend the lifespan of the 2010 budget to March 31, 2011.

Mr Jonathan had made the request to the National Assembly two weeks ago, following the row between the House and the Executive arm over the poor implementation of the capital component of the budget.

The House had threatened not to consider the 2011 Appropriation Bill until it was satisfied with the implementation of the capital profile of the budget. It however, rescinded the decision last week after the president’s letter.

Cutting the work force

It was learnt that the government can only cut recurrent expediture if things can be reviewed, like the downsizing of the workforce in the ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) of government; and the merging of ministries, and parastatals.

Available information also revealed that the government is looking at the prospect of voluntary retirement and payoff for civil servants who are willing to leave the service.

“All these are cost saving measures but they are things that cannot be done overnight. It is not a six months thing. The government will have to do this gradually and over time,” a top Presidency official said yesterday in an interview.

The ministry of finance, as part of steps towards the auditing of staff of the civil service and MDAs had already spent over N12 billion in building a database of staff in 16 MDAs with a view to cover all the MDAs and parastatals of government by the end of the 2011 financial year.

“This processes require time,” the source said adding that “people who will be laid off will have to be paid or provided alternative jobs. It has to be planned carefully in order for it not to have a back lash effect,” the source said.

It was however gathered that the disproportionate budgeting pattern had been a subject of concern to the Minister of Finance Olusegun Aganga, hence the setting up of a committee in September to review the expenditure pattern and advise government appropriately.

The committee, as at the time of finalising the 2011 budget proposal, was yet to turn in its report.

300 soldiers take over Delta community

OVER 300 soldiers were, on Monday, alleged to have laid siege to Ayakoromo community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.

This is just as displaced members of the community have called for the arraignment of the chief of defence staff, service chiefs and members of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) at the International War Crimes Tribunal.

FG may drop charges against Cheney, Halliburton

EFFORTS of the Federal Government at prosecuting former vice-president of the United States (US), Richard Bruce Dick Cheney and other officials of Halliburton has yielded fruits, as the country may drop charges them.

According to The Will, an online news agency, the development was sequel to an agreement reached between Nigerian officials and top officials of the US and Halliburton, in a meeting held in London, at the weekend.

At the meeting, Halliburton was said to have agreed to pay about N20 billion as criminal penalty, while promising to liaise with the US government to recover the outstanding $I32 million currently frozen in Switzerland.

The source also hinted that former president of the US, George Bush (Snr) and former US Secretary of State, Mr James Baker, were part of the deliberations through conference calls.

The Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke, was said to have led Nigeria’s team at the negotiations, which included the secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Emmanuel Akomaye; legal luminaries, Damian Dodo and Godwin Obla and the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Roland Ewubare.

Halliburton’s Chief Executive and chairman, David Lesar, who replaced Cheney; president, Eastern Hemisphere, Ahmed Lofty; Deputy General Counsel, James Ferguson, were part of it.

Abducted doctor’s wife released in Ondo

Sixteen days after she was abducted by unknown men, the wife of a medical doctor in Ondo State, Mrs Juliana Ogunleye, was, on Monday, released by her abductors.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the 65 years old woman was eventually freed around 5.30 a.m on Monday.

It was gathered that the abductors called the family members early in the morning to go and pick the woman where she was dropped.

The woman was later picked up by her family members at about 5.40am on Ado-Ekiti road, where the kidnappers had dropped her.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on phone over the development, one of the children of the woman, Ayo Ogunleye, said the kidnappers put a call to one of their uncles early in the morning.

According to him, the people said they should go and pick their mother since they had refused to pay the ransom demanded from the family.

He said: “They (abductors) just called us to go and pick our mother, the voice said since we have refused to pay the N50 million ransom. It shows that our mother is worthless and that we should go and pick her.”

Adamu asks court to stop prosecution

A former member of FIFA’s Executive Committee, Amos Adamu, has dragged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Nigerian Police before an Abuja High Court, over alleged threats by the security agencies to arrest him.

Adamu is asking the court to declare that both anti-graft agencies lack the powers to investigate and prosecute him for alleged breach of FIFA’s code of ethics. His lawyer, Niyi Ayoola-Daniels, asked the court to declare that the police would be acting above their powers if they decided to investigate him for allegedly breaching FIFA’s code of ethics. Adamu also asked the court to declare that, by virtue of the laws establishing the offices of the anti-graft agencies and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, they lacked the power to prosecute him for alleged breach of FIFA’s code of ethics.

He also asked the court to restrain the agencies and the police from infringing his right to pers onal liberty as enshrined in Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution. When the matter came up on Monday, Ayoola-Daniels told the judge that FIFA was not an agency of the federal government and therefore neither the EFCC nor the ICPC could question him on his conduct while serving as an Executive Committee member. The judge consequently adjourned the matter to 17th January, 2011.

In an affidavit attached to the originating summons, Adamu said he was rattled by the statement credited to the EFCC’s Spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, which he alleged cast aspersion on his person. Adamu had been FIFA Executive member since 2006 until his suspension last month for breach of Articles 3 and 5 of FIFA’s code of ethics.

Central Bank sells $400m in auction sales

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday, sold $400 million in its by-weekly Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS).

This is the highest sale of foreign exchange at the official window since September 27 auction when $650 million was traded. The Central Bank has sold about $4.9 billion in the last two months in 18 auctions. Similarly, the foreign reserves dropped to $33.84 billion on Friday from $34.16 billion the previous day. Analysts forecast a surge in forex demand in the next few weeks due largely to the increased market reliance on CBN. Official data for the months of January-August 2010 indicate that the central bank supplied approximately 27.1 per cent of the dollar demand of $52 billion of inflows into Nigeria’s foreign exchange market with autonomous sources (oil companies, international institutions, and remittances) accounting for the rest. The naira sold at the official market at N149.01, while at the interbank it sold at 151.865, at the bureau de change at N152 and 153 at the parallel market.

Demand pressure

According to analysts at Afrinvest, an investment and financial services firm, the naira may “inch upwards this week as demand pressure increases towards the end of the year.” The firm in its weekly report however said sustained inflows from oil majors will likely stabilize the naira in the interbank market. The report noted that demand for forex increased last week when compared to a slowdown in the previous week. Although the CBN maintained its volume of supply, market demand of $548.7m outstripped the $450.0m offered. This demand pressure continued this week as $447.62 million was actually demand out of which the CBN was able to meet 89.36 per cent of demand.

A bureau de change operator on Broad Street in Lagos, Gali Kabiru, said the increase in dollar supply may be due to anticipation of increased demand. “People expect that after next week, the foreign exchange market may be closed until next year so many people are making provisions for such occurrence,” he said, adding that interbank rate at N153 makes parallel market rate. He said the demand may increase for the next few auctions before the closure.

Sustain dollar rate

Regional Head of Research, Africa Razia Khan, Standard Chartered, London, Razia Khan said it is important for the central bank to commit to meeting market demand in full, to sustain any given dollar-naira rate. “Because the auction cut-off represents the lowest successful bid, most bids for foreign exchange are likely to have been settled at higher dollar-naira rates, and the interbank market will normally trade at a higher rate than that determined by the WDAS auction,” she said. According to her, naira stability would be achieved with the supplier able to comfortably anticipate and meet market demand. “In this case, it would require the CBN to stay ahead of the market, and pre-empt any spike in forex demand,” she said.

Ibori goes to London

James Ibori, former Delta State governor, who is on a wanted list in Britain over allegations of corruption, yesterday in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, lost his appeal against his extradition.

The Gulf Arab Emirates’ cassation court ruled against Mr. Ibori’s appeal. The former governor, who has also been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was arrested in the Emirates in May. The arrest was at the behest of the London Metropolitan Police, and a Dubai court later approved a British extradition request.

Convicted associates

A British court had in August 2007 frozen his assets, worth over $35 billion, based on the suspicion that they were the proceeds of corruption. Some of Mr. Ibori’s associates in Britain have been convicted.

Among these are his sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori, and his ally, Udoamaka Okoronkwo (nee Onuigbo). Both are currently serving jail terms in a United Kingdom prison. Mr. Ibori’s wife, Theresa Nkoyo, and his UK-based lawyer, Bhadresh Gohil, were also convicted recently.

A statement by Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson of the EFCC, yesterday said, “The ruling today of the appellate court in Dubai only goes to confirm our earlier position issued after the first ruling in October that justice is universal and applicable anywhere in the world.

“We have been cooperating with authorities in other jurisdictions on this matter and we will continue to do this until the cause of justice is fully served, irrespective of the ignorance and misrepresentation being peddled by mischief makers.”

The anti-graft agency had in April tried to arrest Mr. Ibori before his trip to Dubai, to question him over allegations that he looted N44 billion from Delta State coffers. However, a large number of his supporters prevented police from arresting him in his hometown, Oghara. Few days after, he fled the country for Dubai. How he fled the country without being apprehended is still unknown.

Mr. Ibori governed Delta State from 1999 to 2007. He was a big power broker in the Peoples Democratic Party after he left power, dismissing all accusations against him as political.

It is not clear yet how soon he will be flown to Britain to face further prosecution.

Supreme Court re-validates election of former Delta Speaker

The Supreme Court yesterday re-validated the election of former speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Martins Okonta, whose election was nullified by the Court of Appeal on the grounds of illegal substitution. Not satisfied with the decision of the Appeals court, Mr. Okonta approached the Supreme Court with a notice of appeal, requesting it to overturn the verdict of the court which removed him from office. Mr. Okonta, in his appeal, said that the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, was in conflict with the one earlier given by its Benin division and that the Abuja division of the court shut him out of the case and was, therefore, not given a fair hearing before judgment was given in the case. The Court of Appeal, Abuja, presided over by Jimi Bada, had ordered INEC to retrieve the certificate of return from Mr. Okonta of the PDP and issue it to Noye-Kingsley Philips.

Mr. Bada also directed that Mr. Philips, who was proved to be the rightful candidate of the party for the 2007 State Assembly election, be sworn in as a member of the House by the secretariat of the Delta House of Assembly forthwith.

“This court is compelled to align itself with the decision of the trial court because the evidence supplied by the appellant respondent (Philips) clearly shows that Section 34 of the Electoral Act was violated by INEC and Okonta respectively. The appellant applicants, INEC and Okonta, are hereby directed to jointly pay the sum of N100,000 to the respondent as compensation for court processes,” Mr. Bada stated.

Apex ruling

Ibrahim Idris, Mr. Philips’ counsel, told the media after the judgment that his client clearly won the primaries. He said that the leadership of the party, in a clandestine arrangement with INEC, replaced him (Philips). “Being a pre-election matter, wisdom demands that we wait until the election was conducted before approaching the regular court and not the Election Tribunal,” he said.

Mr. Okonta had since lost the seat to Mr. Philips while another member of the house was sworn in as the speaker.

However, the Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja which upheld the decision of the Federal High Court that nullified Mr. Okonta’s election. Justice Dahiru Musdapher who led four other justices agreed with Mr. Okonta’s counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, that the suit that led to the appeal was incompetent because Mr. Okonta was not joined as a party at the Federal High Court. Justice Olufunlola Adekeye, in the lead judgment, said the refusal to join Mr. Okonta in the suit is a breach of his fundamental right to a fair hearing. She said it is trite law that proper parties are before the court so that they will be bound by the effect of the action.

“The decision of the Federal High Court which was upheld by the Court of Appeal is hereby set aside,” she said.

Mr. Okonta had gone to the apex court seeking a review of the verdict of the Abuja Court of Appeal which had nullified his election. The court also refused Mr. Okonta’s request for an order of injunction staying the execution of the Appeal court judgment delivered on May 12, 2009, pending hearing and determination of the appeal.

The apex court said there might be no need to hear the application as it would take the substantive case and gave instant judgment.

INEC gets 15,000 DCC machines

Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday said over 15,000 Direct Data Capture Machines have arrived the country in readiness for the 2011 elections.

Speaking at a national dialogue organised by Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre in collaboration with INEC, with support of MacArthur Foundation, the INEC boss urged Nigerians to ensure that they register for the coming voter registration starting from January 29. He warned that anybody who fails to register within the stipulated time may not vote in the elections next year.

He promised to tackle the flaws that were recorded in the 2007 elections, such as failure to capture people adequately with the biometric system and also failure to issue voter cards on time.

He also said that voters will get temporary voter cards within seven minutes of registering at registration centres across the country.

Poor security network

On the issue of the stolen DCC machines, he lamented the porous security in the nation’s airports, and described the act as unfortunate. He warned that electoral offences will not be tolerated any longer, regardless of who is involved.

Mr. Jega disclosed that the Electoral Act now permits INEC to arrest and prosecute offenders, as was done in Enugu during the bye-elections where a man was caught with 80,000 voter cards.

The representative of the MacArthur Foundation, Godwin Odoh, urged Nigerians to protect their votes during the 2011 elections.

He lamented that in spite of the enormous potentials the country has in human and natural resources, corruption and absence of free and fair elections have denied the country the status of the giant of Africa that she lay claims to.

Students’ vote

The INEC chairman said the current voting process put in place by INEC, which mandates voters to vote only at their points of registration, could hinder students’ participation, since tertiary institutions are usually shut down during elections.

“Unfortunately, if the calendars are not reliable, it will be difficult for us. If the calendar stabilises, it will be possible for us to know when to arrange the registrations and elections to coincide with when the students are away. Right now, whatever we do, we will not be able to accommodate the interests of most of the students,” Mr. Jega said.

Facing difficulties

The chairman said that the issue of students’ votes is one of the challenges which INEC does not think will be resolved before the April elections.

“It is the same problems we are facing with the Nigerians in Diaspora. The exigencies of the times constrain us. We have to take each of the problems one after the other. Maybe after the April elections, we can do everything possible to resolve these issues. For now, it is actually impossible logistically,” he said.

While making no promises, Mr. Jega, a former vice chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, said he is still in talks with his former colleagues on a possible way out of the situation.

“We have been discussing with the NUC (National Universities Commission) and some of the vice chancellors on what we can do. It is a difficult thing. Through consultations, it may be possible to allow one week for the students to go home during the registrations. But it is also going to be expensive and that will have to be repeated during the elections. Who is going to fund that?” Mr. Jega complained.

The event had the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Muhammadu Uwais, as chairman.

Tension as Northern govs meet in Abuja

GOVERNORS of the 19 northern states are due to meet in Abuja today, ahead of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The meeting, which was supposed to take place in Kaduna, had to be shifted to Abuja at the instance of the vice-president, Alhaji Namadi Sambo.

Sources said the meeting would allow the governors to take a common stand on the schedule of primaries of the PDP and the bid by National Assembly members to become automatic members of the NEC.

The governors, according to sources, had resolved to fine-tune a number of issues before the NEC meeting and they could also use the opportunity to take a stand on their support for President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice-President Sambo.

It was learnt that the governors wanted to take a common position ahead of the governors meeting and the meeting of PDP governors.

“The meeting could resolve a number of issues. We could see the governors adopt the Jonathan-Sambo ticket in view of current realities and we could see hem taking a final decision on the NEC membership issue by the National Assembly members,” a source told the Nigerian Tribune.

It was gathered that the northern governors were also planning a common position on the leadership of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), which was moving to effect leadership change.

Activists demand prosecution of Shell over Wikileaks revelations

Environmental activists have urged the Nigerian government to begin criminal prosecution of executives of oil giant, Shell, for alleged treasonable activities committed by the corporation as revealed by an online whistleblower, WikiLeaks.

In the released cables of US diplomats in Nigeria, WikiLeaks revealed that Shell’s vice president Ann Pickard admitted to a former US envoy to Nigeria that its employees were seconded to all the relevant ministries and agencies of the Nigerian government and thanks to the infiltration, the company was able to keep a tab on all governmental policies and deliberations.

But the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) said the revelation has shown that rather than operate as a company, the oil-giant had become “a pseudo-political organization bent on taking political power and undermining our national interest, national security and our sovereignty.” The group, in a statement, issued yesterday, said Shell had gone beyond merely doing business in Nigeria but had “perfected its despicable act of corporate rule through which it has over the years evaded justice for all its atrocious activities against the environment and the Niger Delta People.”

Quoting statements credited to Ms. Pickard that the oil company knew “everything that was being done in those ministries” as the Nigerian government had “forgotten” about the extent of Shell’s infiltration and unaware of how much the company knew about its deliberations, the activists claimed that it had finally “been vindicated!”, noting that it raised alarm several years back about “Shell’s surreptitious attempt to assume full control of our national systems.”

The group noted that Shell was not only in the drivers’ seat of the oil fields of the Niger Delta but also in government policy-making meetings where it consistently instigated policy sommersaults with the Petroleum Industry Bill and other far-reaching laws that would guarantee transparency and accountability which it did not want.

“With these leaks, it is time for the Nigerian government to reclaim our sovereignty from Shell and restore dignity to the Niger Delta people by forcing Shell to stop gas flaring, reckless oil leaks and total disregard of the environment,” ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey, said.

The group said that when Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former employee of Shell was appointed minister for petroleum, “we warned that it was a tactless surrender of Nigeria’s oil industry to Shell. We told Nigerians that there is irreconcilable conflict of interest in her appointment because the minister has never for once hidden her true identity as a protégé of Shell.”

Damaging cancer

The group also called on the Nigerian government to begin an immediate “investigation to identify those Shell agents planted in ministries and government agencies and flush them out of the system.” According to the group’s programme director, Godwon Uyi Ojo, “Shell has become a cancer that is damaging every organ of the Nigerian polity. No wonder Shell has been able to evade justice for ecological devastation, complicity in cases of human rights violation and other atrocities linked to its operations in the Niger Delta.”

Secret dispatches from Washington’s embassies in Africa also revealed that Shell swapped intelligence with the US, in one case providing US diplomats with the names of Nigerian politicians it suspected of supporting militant activity, and requesting information from the US on whether the militants had acquired anti-aircraft missiles.

Mr. Bassey pointed out that with these leaks, “we have been validated by our publication in 1993 that Niger Delta people have been trapped between a vicious global corporation and a visionless government.”

‘Don’t politicise data capturing machines theft’

The recent theft of data capturing machines imported by the Independent National Electoral Commission at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos is an internal security issue that should not be politicised, the minister for defense, Adetokunbo Kayode, said at the weekend. Mr. Kayode, who told reporters in Akure that those who stole the machines were petty thieves, said the government was doing everything to address the internal security at various airports and warned authorities of the airports to brace up.

“Internal security is one of the biggest challenges we have in this country,” he said. “That is why we have not left everything to the police alone. Mr. President has directed all the armed forces to support the police to ensure that our internal democracy is stabilized. Theft in any airport is normal, but it is not acceptable. What happened was that some petty criminals stole some computers. Though they have all been arrested, it just showed that it is not uncommon. Many times you travel outside the country and you discover that your bag is missing. In fact, some airports are even worse. You have to hold on to your trousers because before you know it your trouser is gone.”

On the forthcoming primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Kayode said the party was ready to field the best candidates and would allow for internal democracy where a level playing field would be provided for all the aspirants. He, however, said all the political parties in the country are facing challenges of internal democracy.

“The smaller parties are worse than the PDP when it comes to internal democracy,” he said. “Internal democracy is a challenge to all political parties. It will be foolish for any party to think that it is only PDP that has the problem of internal democracy. The PDP is huge and has bigger challenges than all these small parties. The small parties that control two or three states are not better than the PDP in terms of internal democracy. What is presently happening in the folds of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Lagos state is a good example. There were protests because some people said they were being sidelined.”

The minister who called for support for the candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan, said the people of Ondo state would support his candidacy because he offered the best credentials among those jostling for the position.

“The voting pattern in Ondo state has always remained the same,” he said. “When it comes to a presidential candidate, we always go the same way without party affiliation. I am very sure that those in the Labour Party and other political parties in the state will support President

Lawmakers to quiz Sanusi and Aganga over comments - NEXT

The National Assembly has summoned the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido, and the finance minister, Olusegun Aganga, to defend comments on legislative expenditure by the government.

The summons in both chambers of the National Assembly is following comments attributed to the CBN governor that the National Assembly is serviced with up to 25% of the overhead cost of annual budgets and the subsequent hint by the finance minister to cut down the budgetary allocation to the National Assembly.

The emotion laden Senate also summoned the special adviser to the president on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to clarify the issue about the administration of “constituency projects.”

While the officials will appear before a select committee in the Senate, the House of Representatives invited both government officials to appear before the whole House and before a live TV coverage.

Rep members argued that considering the implications of the comments attributed to Messrs Sanusi and Aganga on the image of the National Assembly, and the electoral values of members, both men should appear before the entire House on Thursday.

“These comments are lies. They owe us an explanation and most importantly, they owe the public an explanation. There is more to this than is coming to us now,” the Senate president argued.

The Senate, however, declined nudges to let the summoned government officials appear before the whole Senate, saying both government officials have lost the privilege to enter their chamber after such disparaging comments against them.

The Senate, rather, summoned both men to appear before members of the Senate committee on finance and banking, appropriation, MDGs, and the national planning committee, today.

Sanusi’s wikileaks

Some senators argued that Mr. Sanusi’s comments have incited the public against the lawmakers, and this is worse than the treason which the United States government is preparing to charge the CEO of Wikileaks, for releasing highly confidential cable communications between the US government and their envoys abroad.

Others complained the reports have caused them and their families’ psychological trauma and stigmatization.

“Let Sanusi and the finance minister appear before us so that we can dress them down,” Nuhu Aliyu (PDP, Niger State) urged his colleagues.

Others called for his sack for turning against lawmakers.

“We have treated Aganga (and Mallam Sanusi Lamido) very well in this chamber; why should they attack us?” Jubril Aminu (PDP, Adamawa State) lamented.

The senators said the comments of the government officials was an exhibition of “ignorance at high places”, arguing that the entire budget of the National Assembly for this year is N158 billion, which is “just about 3% of the total national budget.”

After an explosive recruitment interview with the Senate for his job, in which he countered some policies of the then president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Mr. Sanusi has gained the reputation of a radical technocrat who may not be intimidated by crowd or position.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Reuben Muoka, expressed delight at the passage of the budget, which he said has been long overdue.

“This is a 2010 budget that we are talking about. We are happy that the budget has been approved so that we can get to work. It is with mixed feelings that we receive this news. Our budget ought to have been approved earlier, but it has been delayed due to unnecessary controversy. All the same, we are happy that our promise to Nigerians to do the SIM card registration can now be fulfilled,” he said.