thursday, january 30, 2014

Vol. 3 N0. 657 Thursday, July 4, 2013 N150

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

Vol. 4 N0. 777 Thursday, January 30, 2014 N150

Senator queries CBNs N98bn convention centre

2014 budget: Opposition lawmakers to dump proposals

BRT moved 45 million

passengers last year

LAMATA

2015: PDP mobilises Bankole against Amosun

GEORGE OJI ABUJA The Senator repre-senting Akwa Ibom North-East, Sena-

tor Ita Enang, has queried

the authority of the Cen-tral Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Mallam Lamido

...says its loaded with foreign debt proposals, defi cit

P.10

P.9

P.6

P.2

SURE-P coordinators to get N240.2m locally-made jeeps

helipads, hospitals, others too

Shekarau cross-carpets to ruling party

GEORGE OJI, TORDUE SALEM AND OTHMAN SALIHU

Barring any last-minute develop-ments, 11 senators elected under the platform of the ruling Peoples Dem-ocratic Party, PDP, will to-day formally defect to the opposition All Progres-sives Congress, APC.

Already, former Chair-

Modalities for national conference out today P.6

P.4

We made heavy investment to reposition Newswatch

Sanusi Fashola

11 PDP senators set to defect today

L-R: World Bank officials: Mr. Gboyega Aiyemomi and Mr. Giovani Caprio with Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, at the 2014 retreat for top government func-tionaries in Ota, Ogun State, yesterday.

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Bankole


National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net2 Thursday, January 30, 2014News

11 PDP senators set to formally defect today

2014 budget: Opposition lawmakers to dump proposals

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1



man of the Nigeria Gover-nors Forum, NGF, and the arrowhead of the defecting governors, Senator Bukola Saraki, yesterday submit-ted a formal letter to the Senate President, David Mark, which contained the names of the defecting sen-ators and the request to be so recognised.

The senators are Saraki himself (Kwara Central), Magnus Abe (Rivers South-East), Wilson Ake (Riv-ers West), Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) and Mo-hammed Jubrila (Adama-wa North).

Others are: Umaru Da-hiru (Sokoto South), Aisha Jumai Alhassan (Taraba North), Mohammed Lafiaji (Kwara North), Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West), Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto East) and Ali Ndume (Bor-no South).

Saraki stormed the Sen-ate yesterday at 12.15p.m. during the plenary session and the debate on the 2014 budget was still ongoing to tender the letter to Mark.

It was not particularly clear what Saraki told Mark but shortly after Saraki had

delivered the letter contain-ing the names of the defect-ing senators and took his seat, Mark immediately invited the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba and the Deputy Senate Presi-dent, Ike Ekweremadu, for a brief conference.

Immediately after the plenary, Mark invited the principal officers of the PDP in the Senate and some other senators of the party to a meeting in his office, apparently to discuss the issue and strategies on the best way to approach the matter.

It was also learnt that Dahiru met Mark after-wards to dissociate himself from the defecting senators.

Sarakis letter reads: We the undersigned senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria elected under the platform of Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, wish to notify you that we have sev-erally and jointly joined the All Progressives Congress, APC.

This action and deci-sion is (sic) as a result of the division and faction-alisation of PDP that spon-sored our elections into the

Senate.In view of the above, we

write to inform you that fol-lowing the division and fac-tionalisation in the party, we have formally joined the APC.

This communication is made pursuant to Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) for your information, guidance and purposes.

Senate spokesman, Sena-tor Enyinnaya Abaribe, who fielded questions from correspondents, however, denied knowledge of the letter.

Abaribe said: There is no such thing on the floor. In that case, I cannot confirm what has not been read on the floor. As at today, there is no such thing until their letters are read on the floor, then I can confirm.

Thirteen senators had last week written a letter to the Senate president, in-timating him of their plan to defect to the opposition APC.

The senators had in the letter appealed to Mark not to declare their seats va-cant in the event that they

formally announced their defection.

Among the reasons they advanced for the appeal was the ruling of an Abuja Federal High Court, which directed that the status quo ante be maintained by all the parties, particularly the Senate president and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal.

Mark was reported to be opposed to the defection and had consistently coun-selled against such moves, while efforts were being made to resolve the issues in the PDP that might have given rise to such dece-sions.

Mark had told the lead-ership of the PDP, which came to the National As-sembly late last year on a fence-mending mission, that he would not declare the seat of any defecting senator vacant as required by the constitution.

Since the recently re-ported fresh moves by some senators of the PDP to defect to APC, Mark had maintained that if any sen-ator was bent on defecting, he or she should write a let-

ter to that effect.He said that since the

senators were elected dif-ferently by their separate constituents, it followed that their defection must not be done as a group.

In a related development, former Kano State gover-nor and ex-presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, has of-ficially defected to the PDP along with his supporters in the defunct ANPP in the state.

Shekarau, who is a foundation member of the APC, led hundreds of his supporters drawn from the 44 local government areas of the state, who thronged his Mundubawa Road resi-dence off Hadejia Road in Nasarawa GRA, Kano yes-terday.

He accused the APC of lacking in leadership struc-ture, internal democracy and a detailed political pro-gramme six months after its registration that could enable it to win the 2015 general elections.

Shekarau, who had been nursing the idea of defect-ing to the PDP in the last

three months finally, did so yesterday, following the ex-Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, who dumped the APC a few days ago.

Some of the support-ers chanted, Nigeria, sai PDP, Kano sai PDP, PDP is now a Muslim party among others while denouncing their member-ship of the APC.

They even renamed President Goodluck Jona-than as President Junaidu Garba.

Shekarau narrated his predicament in the APC leadership, citing lack of internal democracy.

The former governor said he was dumping the party because a cabal has hijacked the leadership of the party for their own self-ish interest.

He explained that the de-fection of PDP governors in Kano, Rivers, Kwara, Ad-amawa and Sokoto states further created complex leadership problems within the APC.

Six months after, there has not been membership registration in the APC

L-R: President Goodluck Jonathan; Nigerian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Ambassador Paul Bulus Lolo (third right); Supervising Minister for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri and Juistice Minister, Mr. Bello Adoke during arrival of President at the Bole International Air-port, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia yesterday, for the 22nd Ordinary Assembly of the African Union.

TORDUE SALEMABUJA

The All Progressives Congress, APC, cau-cus of the House of Representatives yesterday set the tone for a tumultu-ous session ahead as they threatened to throw out the 2014 Appropriation Bill presented to them last year by the Presidency.

The caucus, through its leader, Hon. Femi Gbaja-biamila (Lagos), said they would not be acting against the budget based on an ear-lier directive by the APC leadership to block all bills from the executive.

He said their position was based on the principle that it was skewed against the poor and was loaded with foreign debt proposals and deficits.

It is a budget where the economics do not trickle down to the common man, Gbajabiamila said.

He said that the APC, even before the partys directive, had fought and killed some toxic propos-als from the Presidency as

introduced by the Major-ity Leader; Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola.

We will not support a budget that does nothing for the people we represent. We will not rubber stamp a budget that seeks to borrow more money at ridiculous rates and further impover-ish the country. Indeed we refuse to support a budget that comes in with a huge deficit.

We certainly do not agree with a budget that al-locates a pitiable 25 per cent for capital expenditure, which capital component will only be implemented 30 per cent while recurrent will be implemented 100 per cent.

How in the world do you stimulate an economy the size and population of Nigeria with a 25 per cent allocation to capital?

We cannot in good conscience support a bud-get that comes with a (oil price) benchmark and si-phons away 30 per cent of the countrys revenue into an illegal excess crude ac-count in violation of the

provisions of section 162 of the constitution we in-dividually swore to defend, with the resultant effect of shortchanging the states we all individually repre-sent. A budget where the economics do not trickle down to the common man, Gbajabiamila said.

He added that the party

would not go for a budget presented by a minister who was yet to give answers to weighty questions on rev-enue and other matters.

We do not want to be ac-cessories after the fact by passing a budget when the President or minister of finance who has publicly admitted to the disappear-

ance of $10bn has not given explanations but seeks to borrow more money and who continues to blame shortfall in revenue on crude theft by some phan-tom thieves.

We refuse to participate in what has become an an-nual ritual and approving a document in the name of

passing a budget that tells a lie about the true state of our finances and liquid-ity and where our revenue is being deflated by about N500bn annually through the fraudulent and indis-criminate grant of (import) waivers.

More importantly we will

3Thursday, January 30, 2014National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net

Photo News National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, January 30, 20144

L-R: Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Central Business District, Mrs. Derin Disu;Governor Babatunde Fashola; Chairman, Honeywell Group, Dr. Oba Otudeko and former Lagos Attorney-General, Mr. Supo Sasore, at the 2014 Lagos Central Business Districts Stakeholders Forum in Lagos, yesterday.

Plateau State Acting Chief Judge, Justice Pius Damulak (left) and his wife, Jessica, asDamu-laks issworn-in Jos On Wednesday. PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Executive Director, Convention on Business Integrity, Mr. Soji Apampa; Executive Director, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Haruna Waziri and Secretary, Mrs. Josephine Igbinosun, at the press briefing on corporate governance rating system, in Lagos, yesterday.

L-R: Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr. Aminu Diko; Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Lamido Sanusi; Chairman, ICRC Gov-erning Board, Sen. Ken Nnamani and Deputy Governor, CBN, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, during a courtesy visit to CBN recently.

National NewsWe made heavy investments to reposition Newswatch -Makinde KAYODE KETEFE

The Deputy Managing Director of Global Media Mirror Ltd (Publisher of National Mir-ror newspaper), Mr. Bankole Makinde, yesterday told a Federal High Court presid-ed over by Justice Ibrahim Buba how the new man-agement committed both monetary and intellectual resources to revitalise the Newswatch magazine.

Makinde disclosed this while giving testimony as the company (and three al-lied respondents) continued their defence in the case instituted against it by two minority shareholders, Mr. NuhuWada Aruwa and Prof. Jibril Aminu.

He spoke while being cross examined by the peti-tioners lawyer, Mr. Adekun-le Oyesanya, SAN.

This was shortly after-he had been led in examination by the respondents lawyer, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN.

The two petitioners had filed the petition, accus-ing the new management team of Newswatch, led by Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim, OFR, of assuming control of the

company illegally, even though they admitted that majority of the companys shares had been legally transferred to Ibrahim via a Share Purchase Agreement, SPA, signed by all the par-ties.

The petitioners are there-fore, praying the court to quash the powers of the current management elect-ed by the majority of the shareholders.

In their petition, with no. FHC/L/CP/1367/2012, brought pursuant to sec-tions 310 (a), (b) and (c) and 311 (1), (2) (a) and (b) of the Companies and Allied Mat-ters Act, the applicants are also praying the court to, among others, set aside the SPA on the basis of which Dr. Ibrahim assumed ma-jority shareholding in the company.

Apart from Newswatch Newspaper Ltd, the three other co- respondents in the matter are Newswatch Communications Ltd and Global Media Mirror Ltd and Dr. Ibrahim.

Makinde said that al-though he was not a mem-ber of the board of direc-tors of the Newswatch magazine, but as a senior

hand who in August 1993 joined the conglomerate that eventually acquired the Newswatch, he was privy to some important decisions concerning the acquisition of the News-watch Company.

He said: I was involved in the negotiation that led into the agreement, which has to do with the sale of 51 percent shares of News-watch Communications Limited to Dr Ibrahim and Global Media Mirror Lim-ited.

I am also aware that the sum of N510m was transferred for the acqui-sition of the Newswatch, but I cannot give details of how this was done since this is accounting matters and I have never worked in account departments and dont know the details of their works.

Makinde added that it took 15 months from the time of the acquisition for the headquarters of the company to be relocated to its new place at Broad Street, Lagos.

He said soon after the acquisition, he was aware that the new management made a lot of investment both in terms of procure-

ment of new facilities and to improve and upgrade the existing ones.

Oyesanya then stated that since the new man-agement was under the obligation in the existing agreement between the parties to make additional investment of about N500 million to the company he would like Makinde to say whether or not such further money was committed.

Makinde said Well, I know the new management made a lot of investment in terms of the infrastructure and facilities. We also did a lot of refurbishment. For example, some of the facili-ties in the company were no longer compatible with modern trends.

There were modifica-tions after the takeover. new vehicles, computers, tables and other modern equipment were purchased so as to be able to meet up with modern journalism practice in Nigeria.

Specifically we bought 250 new computers, among other things, to facilitate our operations.

When asked by Oyesan-ya whether he knew that the Newswatch magazine

was suspended by the new management, Makinde in-sisted that the magazine was not suspended but rather the operations of the magazine was stopped for a short time to enable the new management take strategic measures to repo-sition the company.

Makinde gave further de-tails that the time the News-watch was closed could not be said to exceed one month in practical terms.

This, according to him, it is because while the News-watch Company was closed down in August 2012, the managerial and other skill-ful workers resumed work for repackaging of the mag-azine in September 2012.

He added that the pre-view of the magazine was done in December 2012; the first edition came out in February 2013 while it was widely circulated in March 2013.

Makinde concluded that since that time the maga-zine has been coming out every month.

Earlier, the court had accepted Makindes state-ment on oath as exhibit D5, after Oyesanya expressed no objection to its admis-

sion.The court consequently

adjourned further hearing in the case till February 27 and 28, 2014.

It would be recalled that the Managing Director of the Newswatch Commu-nications Ltd, Mr. Moses Jolayemi, had earlier given evidence similar to Ma-kindes testimony.

In his evidence, Jolayemi had told Justice Buba that the insinuation that that the Newswatch magazine was no longer in existence was false.

When Oyesanya had asked him whether he was aware that the Newswatch Magazine had suspended operation and no longer in existence, Jolayemi had said: That is absolutely untrue. The magazine was only suspended for a re-package. It has since been repackaged, rebranded and it is on the streets. You can get the magazine every-where.

Jolayemi had also add-ed that a rebranded and repackaged Newswatch magazine primed for com-mercial success is not only alive but also vibrant in the Nigerian market.



11 PDP senators set to formally defect today 2014 budget: Opposition law-makers to dump proposals


Senator queries CBNs N98bn convention centre

L-R: Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum, Chief Godswill Akpabio; National Chairman, Dr. Adamu Muazu and Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, during a meeting with the PDP caucus in the House of Representatives yesterday.

Sanusi, to embark on the construction of a N98bn international convention centre in Abuja without the approval of the National As-sembly.

The lawmaker raised the issue yesterday during his contributions to the ongo-ing debate on the general principles of the 2014 budget proposal.

He noted that the contract for the centre was approved by the contracts tender board of the CBN without the approval of the Bureau of Public Procurement.

The centre, according to Inang, will comprise an au-

ditorium, exhibition/multi functional halls, restau-rants, shops, a five-star and a three-star hotel.

The lawmaker also raised the alarm over the reported purchase of the NITEL building at the Central Busi-ness Area of Abuja, where the international conven-tion centre would be cited.

How much did the CBN use in buying the NITEL building at the central area? How much and who was paid to control- bomb the building, which land is now for the CBNs five-star hotel and convention cen-tre? Could this money not be used to fund the national

budget?, Inang said.The lawmaker also raised

the issue of some other un-authorised spending by the CBN, including the funding of other hotels in Jos and Ilorin to the tune of N10bn each and the N50bn pro-posed for one hospital in Lagos.

Inang also sought to know the funding of the construction of helipads at some of the business loca-tions of the apex bank.

According to the lawmak-er, These are done with excess money, which would have been used to fund the federal budget if the Minis-try of Finance and the Na-

tional Assembly have done what the law the National Assembly passed mandated her to do.

Who owns who? Is it the CBN that owns Nigeria or Nigeria that owns the CBN? Is the CBN a government within a government or a government unto itself?

In their contributions to the debate on the general principles of the 2014 bud-get, senators queried the low amount voted for capital budget as against the recur-rent budget, insisting that government must reverse the trend if the nation must experience growth, infra-structural development and

job creation.Senator Smart Adeyemi

argued that efforts must be made to seek avenues to gen-erate more revenue for the country and not concentrate unduly on the sharing of only revenue from oil.

He also advised that the international oil companies must be encouraged to in-vest in the gas sector of the economy to boost power generation and increase em-ployment.

The lawmaker called for the speedy completion of the Abuja-Lokoja Ex-press- way, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge in Anambra State. He also appealed for improved allocations to the North-East to ensure the re-gions rehabilitation follow-ing the debilitating effect of terrorism.

Senator Olushola Adey-eye (Osun Central) called for the cancellation of waivers by the Federal Government, particularly to the companies that we do not know what they are contributing to this coun-try.

Senator Hope Uzodinma however described the budget as refreshing and reassuring, noting that the executive had through the

budget taken the bull by the horns.

The lawmaker described the 2014 budget as being more prudent than that of last year.

Senator Bukola Saraki said that if the nation must make progress with the budget, the National As-sembly must first re-exam-ine the performance of last years budget.

Until we do that, we will continue to say that the ex-ecutive is not performing whereas the fault is here in the National Assembly. Otherwise, this years bud-get will not also perform.

Senator Ayogu Eze described the budget as a focused budget, a con-solidated budget based on the transformation pro-gramme of government, stressing that, power (supply) has improved and many roads constructed.

According to him, the budget is directed at pro-viding jobs and employ-ment to the people.

He noted that the fail-ure of past budgets was the result of unnecessary emphasis on the sharing of revenue without corre-sponding efforts at generat-ing more revenue into the nations coffers.

from national to the ward level, no single member has been officially registered.

Shekarau expressed re-gret that six months after installing an interim na-tional leadership, the APC had not deemed it right to conduct elections that would usher in duly elected leadership.

The ex-governor has been at loggerheads with Governor Rabiu Kwank-waso over the leadership of the party in Kano State.

On behalf of the lead-ers of the defunct ANPP, it is my great pleasure to wel-come you all to this gigantic stakeholders meeting of the Kano State Elders Forum.

In the past couple of weeks, we have held series of consultations, we have held series of interactive sessions in respect of devel-opment and growth of the new found party, APC.

The APC is today six complete months, six months after its formal reg-istration on July 31, 2013.

Within these six months, there is nothing to show on ground, not a single member of APC has been registered, not a single lead-ership structure exists any-where within the states.

No structure of interim leadership at ward levels, at local government levels, at state levels. Up till this time, we are yet to receive any detailed programme of democratic elections to pro-duce leaders of the party at various levels.

To our dismay and to our surprise, within the six months, which was the formal and official consti-tutional period given the in-terim leadership of the par-ty, we now hear that their is no limited period.

Within these six months, various unconstitutional de-cisions have been passed by a clique of the leadership of the party. In our position as bona fide members of that party then, we challenged such decisions. We present-ed written petitions signed by over 250 stakeholders on

December 18, 2013. Today is exactly six weeks since we presented that petition, no acknowledgement, no con-tact, no one has referred to us to address the petition we have submitted, he said.

But members of the APC from Kano State in the House of Representa-tives have dissociated them-selves from the defection of Shekarau.

Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Sulei-man Abdulrahman Kawu, who disclosed this at a press briefing with other lawmakers, insisted that the APC is still the party to beat in 2015.

He said: Eleven mem-bers of the All Progressives Congress, who were mem-bers of the defunct 9 ANPP and 2 CPC in the House of Representatives from Kano State have reaffirmed their stance on the current wave of defections and political realignment in the polity, especially in Kano State.

We also wish to make it categorically clear today

that we are not leaving the APC for any political party. We have sacrificed a lot and have come a long way in the struggle to emancipate our people from the bondage of PDP misrule.

Today, under PDP, we are witnessing unprece-dented level of corruption, insecurity, poverty and po-litical instability in Nigeria more than ever before.

We, therefore, see the coming of APC as an op-portunity to right the many wrongs of the PDP and once again put Nigeria back on the pedestal of growth, de-velopment, economic pros-perity and make it an egali-tarian society where rule of law and social justice pre-vail for the common good.

However, inasmuch as we express hope and aspi-ration for a better Nigeria under the APC, we are not unaware of the daunting challenges confronting our new party since we are all coming from different political parties and back-grounds.

not be party to the appropria-tion of funds and taxpayers money to a police force that will turn around and use same to maim and kill the same taxpayers. No we will not, the lawmaker insisted.

On how the APC has always blocked bills spon-sored by the PDP-led ex-ecutive, the APC leader said: As far as the House is concerned, keen observ-ers would have noticed that since last year, most bills presented on the floor of the House through Adeola have suffered an almost in-stant and premature death.

The kick against such bills came from mostly APC members and progressive members within the rank and file of the PDP.

So the directive was really nothing new. What it did was to put a govern-ment determined to bring our democracy down on no-tice that it was no longer go-ing to be business as usual.

So really what the party did was only to lend sup-port to what was already going on across party lines in the House. We must be clear and put the party posi-tion in perspective.

Whilst the focus for now remains the happenings in Rivers, our broad and overall concern remains good gover-nance and covers the whole gamut of our national life.

According to him, the lawmakers will continue to frustrate executive bills un-til the crisis in Rivers State is resolved.

Let us be categorical, we intend to continue to protest the culture of impunity, im-morality and illegality this government insists in en-trenching in our system.

We intend to insist on good governance, we in-tend to stand firm on our oath of office to defend the constitution and discharge our legislative duties in the interest of the people of Ni-geria.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 5Thursday, January 30, 2014 News

OMEIZA AJAYI

Barring any last minute change, the Federal Govern-ment will today unveil modalities for convening the much expected na-tional conference.

Our correspondent gath-ered that the Secretary to the Government of the Fed-eration, SGF, Senator Any-im Pius Anyim, is expected to release the modalities for convening the conference at a ceremony in Abuja to-day.

The conference was pro-posed by President Good-luck Jonathan during his Independence Anniversary speech of October 1, 2013, consequently setting up a 13-member advisory com-mittee to come up with modalities for the national dialogue.

The committee, which was given one month to complete its assignment was headed by a former senator, Femi Okuronmu, while Dr Akilu Indabawa,

was the secretary.The committee had at

the end of its assignment submitted an over 4,000 pages report to the Presi-dent.

According to President Jonathan, the proposed dialogue offers a unique op-portunity for the country to deepen its democracy and strengthen its institutions rather than to destroy or weaken the union.

In spite of the circum-stances of the birth of our country in 1914 and the sev-eral challenges of nation building, Nigerians have in the last 53 years demon-strated the belief that our diversity notwithstanding, we are a nation with great potentials.

The task before us is to build a strong and united union. In the last few de-cades, there have been is-sues that have challenged our determination as a people brought together by God in this great land of promise, the President had said while receiving the report.

TORDUE SALEM ABUJA

A bill seeking to de-clare illegal the sale and use of uniforms of the members of armed forces, the police and other security person-nel in the country, yester-day scaled second reading in the House of Representa-tives.

Majority of the House backed the bill after a long

and exhaustive debate. A Bill for an Act to pro-

vide for the prohibition of Illegal Use and Sale of Uni-form of the Armed Forces, Police, Paramilitary and Other Government Se-curity and Other Related Matters, the bill was spon-sored by Hon. James Faleke (Lagos, APC).

Leading the debate, Hon. Falake said the eventual passage of the bill into law would help curb the issue

of impersonation of securi-ty personnel by criminals.

He was also worried that the uniforms were easily purchased in the open mar-ket.

Lending support to the bill, Honourables Nkiru Onyejiocha (Abia, PDP); Uzo Azubuike (Abia, PDP); Samson Osagie (Edo APC); Aisha (Adamawa), among others, said that the bill would ensure the enforce-ment and procurement of

the uniforms.They described as an

abuse of the uniforms the current trend among secu-rity agencies whereby some security personnel, espe-cially the police are made to buy their uniforms in the open market.

According to them, there is budgetary allocation for the uniform and mainte-nance of police personnel, wondering why they should be made to buy it.

BY ISE-OLUWA IGE

The Federal Govern-ment yesterday ap-proved the purchase of 44 locally-made IVM G5 Jeeps for the 37 chairmen of states and Federal Capi-tal Territory coordinators and other officers of the Subsidy Reinvestment Pro-gramme, SURE-P.

The 44 jeeps will cost N240.2 million in all, includ-ing Value Added Tax, VAT.

The government which made the disclosure yester-day after the weekly meet-ing of the Federal Execu-tive Council, FEC, also said

that it has approved the draft of the Nigerian Metal-lurgical Industry Bill, 2014.

The bill is meant to regu-late the countrys metal in-dustry.

Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku; Minis-ter of Labour and Produc-tivity, Chief Emeka Wogu and the Minister of Solid Minerals, Mine and Steel Development, Muhammed Sada, briefed State House correspondents of the meet-ings outcome yesterday.

Wogu, who shed light on the purchase of the ve-hicles, said the council de-cided to buy the jeeps from Messrs Innoson Vehicle Manufacturer Company

Limited based in Nnewi, Anambra State, in line with the Federal Governments policy to encourage local manufacturers through di-rect procurement method.

He said the purchase would be carried out within one week.

His words: The council approved a memorandum I brought to seek councils approval for the award of contract for the direct pro-curement of 44 IVM G5 Jeeps for the 44 chairmen of the state and FCT Coor-dination and Implementa-tion Commission, SCIC, of the Community Services, Women and Youths Em-ployment, CSWYE, project

of SURE-P and the Imple-mentation Unit, FPIU, at the headquarters.

To effectively imple-ment this project, it becomes important that utility vehi-cles are procured which will enhance monitoring and su-pervision of the community services, women and youths employment activities at the state and local government levels nationwide.

There is a budgetary provision in the 2013 appro-priation for the project.

The minister debunked insinuation that the SURE-P is being used to empower only members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

ISE-OLUWA IGE

The Federal Govern-ment yesterday ac-cused leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, of plotting to ruin the nations fledgling democracy with their recent directive to their members in the Nation-

al Assembly to block the pas-sage of the 2014 budget and the screening of presidential nominees for both civilian and military positions.

The opposition party had, last week, issued the directive.

The APC had predicated its decision to issue the di-rective on the Presidencys

alleged interference in the Rivers State crisis.

Notwithstanding criti-cism against the directive by Nigerians from all walks of life, the party had insist-ed that those criticising it were ignorant of the work-ings of democracy.

It had said that the direc-tive was a political ploy to

exterminate the shadow of the Federal Government in the Rivers crisis.

But joining issue with APC yesterday on the direc-tive while answering ques-tions from State House cor-respondents shortly after the weekly Federal Execu-tive Council meeting, Min-ister of Information, Mr.

Labaran Maku, said con-trary to the partys claim, the directive was not in the interest of Nigerians and democracy.

He said as far as the gov-ernment was concerned, national interest should be paramount in the mind of anybody that is a democrat.

He said such a directive to elected representatives to block bills or policies that would lead to the develop-ment of the nation was not expected of political leaders across party spectrum.

Maku said the govern-ment expected that mem-bers of the National As-sembly would be allowed to use their conscience and judgement based on their understanding of any bill before them and based on the fact that they swore to an oath to defend the consti-tution in order to advance national development.

His words: If you say that the budget should not be passed, it means you want to stop the nations economy, you want to en-sure that traders, farmers, citizens, teachers who de-pend on the budget, to either go to hell or that you are en-

dangering their survival be-cause of partisanship.

I believe that this kind of directive or position is anti-national interest, it is anti-development of Nige-ria and it is not something anybody who loves this country and who is a demo-crat should encourage.

The minister said gov-ernments belief was that all politicians should be working for the progress of the country irrespective of their different platforms.

He warned that politi-cians should not at any point heat up the polity or truncates the development of ordinary Nigerians.

When you say they should block bills which are for the development of the country and the well-being of the people, you are killing democracy itself and you are truncating na-tional development.

I believe that was a mis-take, it must have been one of those slips of tongues. This democracy should be supported. If this nation progresses, it does not be-long to Goodluck Jonathan alone or any party, Maku concluded.

FG blasts APC over directive to block passage of 2014 budget

Jonathan to announce modalities for national confab today

L-R: Deputy Minority Leader, Suleiman Kawu; Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila and Deputy Minority Whip, Samson Osagie, during a press briefing on plans by PDP lawmakers to shelve the debate on the 2014 Budget at the National Assembly, Abuja, yesterday.

Reps pass bill criminalising illegal use of security gear

SURE-P coordinators to get N240.2m locally-made jeeps

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net6 Thursday, January 30, 2014News

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Thursday, January 30, 2014 7

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netNews8 Thursday, January 30, 2014

L-R: Administrator, Lagos State Central Senatorial Constituency, Mrs. Franca Ndubueze; Chairperson, Nigeria Labour Congress, Lagos State chapter, Princess Olubunmi Abikoye; Guest Speaker/President, Campaign for Democracy and Women Arise, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin and National Chairman, Campaign for Democracy & Workers Rights, Mr. Rufus Olusesan, during a programme on Women in Workplaces, Issues and Challenges in Lagos, yesterday.

OBIORA IFOHABUJA

The Northern Elders Council yesterday attributed the con-tinued Boko Haram insur-gency to what it described as mutual distrust and provocative statements.

The group said it is yet to take a position on who to support as the North agitates for power shift in

next years presidential election.

The body, however, promised to support all ef-forts aimed at ending vio-lence in the country.

Addressing journalists after a crucial meeting in Abuja, one of the groups leaders, Alhaji Tanko Yakassi, listed poverty, unemployment and mu-

tual suspicion as some of the critical factors that are promoting violence in some parts of the country.

Yakasai said: The se-curity challenge of Boko Haram and other ethno-religious crises in the North as well as violent crimes of kidnapping and armed robberies in other parts of the country pose

a serious challenge to the nation, including wide spread poverty and unem-ployment.

In an effort to find lasting solution to this na-tional malaise, there have arisen mutual distrust and suspicions leading to utterances by some people capable of affecting the standing, respectability

Why Boko Haram insurgency persists Northern elders

SAM OLUWALANAPORT HARCOURT

The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has decided to take its case against the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, to the United Nations court, even as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted that the state is financially insolvent.

The APC has, therefore, set up a three-man committee to compile list of the atrocities allegedly committed by Mbu since he assumed office as the police boss in Rivers State.

The three-man committee is headed by Chief Andy Nweye. Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze is to serve as secretary, while Chief Emeka Bekee is

member.While inaugurating the

committee at the partys secretariat in Port Harcourt yesterday, the Interim Chairman of APC in the state, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said the members were chosen based on merit and expressed confidence that they would do a thorough job.

Ikanya said: This committee is made up of well-informed political experts and meticulous researchers. So, I expect you to come up with a comprehensive list of all the sins committed by CP Mbu against Rivers State and its people for formal submission to the United Nations, as it seems that the people in charge of the Police Force in Nigeria are toying with the security and lives of the people of Rivers State.

True, the assignment is difficult, but CP Mbu has made your work easy by his brazen partisanship in favour of the opposition Peoples Democratic party (PDP) in Rivers State. As a result of his overzealousness to impress his masters and as an undeclared member of the PDP, the Police Commissioner commits series of sins against the good people of Rivers State almost every day.

Dr. Ikanya cursed the day Mbu was redeployed to Rivers State, saying: Since he assumed duty here in February 2013, Rivers State has not known peace.

He reiterated APCs position that Mbu should be immediately redeployed from Rivers, adding that the police boss is a curse to the state and

Rivers crisis: APC drags Mbu to UN court ISE-OLUWA IGEABUJA

Barring any last min-ute change, a Fed-eral High Court sit-ting in Abuja is expected to begin hearing on Febru-ary 27 in a suit challenging the eligibility of Anambra State Governor-elect, Willie Obiano, in the last gover-norship election.

The court fixed the date yesterday after getting the status of the proceses filed by both parties in the case.

The trial judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, said he would roll both the substan-tive suit and the prelimi-nary objection in the case together to save time and deliver a composite ruling.

Obiano had contested the November 16, 2013 gov-ernorship election as thr candidate of the All Pro-gressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Com-mission (INEC).

He is expected to assume office soon.

But the plaintiffs claimed that Obiano was not quali-fied to contest the election.

Specifically, the plaintiffs - Ugochukwu Ikegwuonu and Kenneth Moneke - are seeking Obianos disquali-fication on the grounds that he possesses two voter cards, having allegedly en-

gaged in double registra-tion.

Sued with Obiano is the Independent National Elec-toral Commission (INEC)

The plaintiffs claim that the voter card Obiano ten-dered before he was cleared to participate in the partys screening exercise was not the same he submitted to INEC.

They raised three ques-tions for the courts deter-mination and sought five reliefs, including an order disqualifying Obiano from contesting the election.

They also seek an order of mandatory injunction compelling INEC to strike out Obianos name from its record as a candidate in the election.

The plaintiffs want the court to determine wheth-er, by his alleged conduct, Obiano was qualified to contest the election by vir-tue of the provisions of sec-tions 12(2), 16(2)(3) and 31(5) of the Electoral Act.

In a supporting affidavit, Ikegwuonu averred that Obiano allegedly possesses two voter cards the one he purportedly obtained in Lagos, which he tendered during his partys screen-ing exercise in August, and another one he claimed to have obtained in Otuocha, Anambra State, on Septem-ber 3, 2013, which he alleg-edly presented to INEC.

Anambra guber: Court to determine Obianos eligibility Feb 27

and unity of the North in particular and the coun-try in general.

Boko Haram started in 2002. We do not sup-port any form of violence whatsoever. We are a peace-loving people.

He recalled that the na-tions founding fathers demonstrated tact, wis-dom, courage and modera-tion in their conduct of public affairs.

Yakasai said: Rather than follow the footsteps of these elders, today poli-ticians and leaders have been inciting people and promote hatred, intoler-ance and violence.

It is unacceptable to allow some people to ex-ploit the situation to cre-ate disharmony, hate and general instability in the polity.

He, however, alleged of moves by some politicians to drag traditional rulers to political controversy, describing such move as dangerous.

Yakasai said the group would not comment on the agitation by the North to produce the next Presi-dent until all political par-ties made their presiden-tial candidates known to Nigerians.

He said: When we know the presidential can-didates, we will make up our mind.

Yakasai added: We are not out to compete with the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). We recog-nise ACF as the umbrella organisation for all north-erners and we are there-fore part and parcel of the ACF, but we are not in parallel of ACF, we are in harmony.

Say North yet to take position on 2015 presidency

its people. Ikanya said arguments

by well-meaning Nigerians, including the National Assembly that Mbu should be redeployed were ignored by the police authorities in Abuja and the Federal Government.

He, however, said: There will surely be a day of reckoning and when that day comes, CP Mbu will be called to account for his stewardship in Rivers State. When that day of reckoning comes, the work of the committee will play a big role in getting Mbu to pay for his sins against Rivers State and its people.

Meanwhile, PDP reiterated its earlier claim that the state is at the moment unable to fulfill all its financial obligations to its creditors and workers.

In a statement issued yesterday, PDP said that available evidence in its possession showed that the state government could no longer meet its responsibilities because it is broke despite the contrary view expressed by state officials.

FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

Indication emerged yesterday that stake-holders in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State have com-menced moves to field for-mer Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, as its flag-bearer in the states governorship race in 2015.

National Mirror reliably gathered that PDP stake-holders drawn from the four major factions of the party held a meeting at Ipe-ru in the Remo North Local Government Area of the state, where the decision to field Bankole was sealed.

It was further gathered that the former speaker

himself was at the meeting that was held at the country home of a former member of the House of Represen-tatives, Dave Salako, last Monday.

A source further told our correspondent that the Iperu meeting was a follow up to the series of meetings held across the three sena-torial districts of the state that were aimed at wres-tling power from the incum-bent Governor Amosun, who is currently having a hard time with stalwarts of the All Progressives Con-gress, APC, in the state.

The PDP chieftains were said to have expressed the confidence that a formida-ble candidate like Bankole, who is also an Egba man, remains the only credible

KENNY ODUNUKAN

Determined to rap-idly decongest its prisons, the Lagos State government yester-

Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has identified lack of data base as a major im-pediment to tax collection at all levels of government in the country.

He stated this while re-ceiving Team Seven of Se-nior Course 36 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Ibadan on Tuesday.

Governor Ajimobi, who said that no government could deliver on its promises without good revenue gen-eration, however, expressed regret that lack of good data base had made it extremely difficult for governments to generate appropriate rev-

enue.One major problem

which has militated against tax collection is lack of ro-bust demographic data, which would have provided necessary information about peoples real income to allow for payment of ap-propriate taxes, he said.

The governor also called for a change in the culture of impunity, the unwilling-ness to pay tax and the atti-tude of people trying to get virtually everything for free.

Most of our people want government to pro-vide good services but they dont like paying for them, whereas no government can function without tax-es, he said.

KENNY ODUNUKAN

Lagos State govern-ment yesterday warned that it would henceforth bring the full weight of the law down on anybody caught engaging in jungle justice.

State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Jus-tice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, said anybody caught engaging in such act would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

Ipaye gave the warning while responding to ques-tions from journalists on the Ejigbo incidence dur-

candidate that could wrest power from Amosun.

It was further gathered that the stakeholders also threw their weight behind the new PDP National Chair-man, Alhaji Adamu Muazu and backed his ongoing ef-forts at reconciling aggrieved members of the party

Members of the PDP stakeholders who attended the Iperu meeting includ-ed those from the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjos faction as well as loyalists of the former Minister of Commerce,

Senator Jubril Martins and those led by party financier and the Chairman of the partys Organisation and Mobilisation Committee in the South-West, Prince Buruji Kashamu and oth-ers belonging to the former governor, Gbenga Daniels group.

The party chieftains said to be present at the meeting in which strenuous efforts were made to convince the former speaker to fly the party flag against incum-bent Governor Ibikunle Amosun included Dave

Salako, Senator Lekan Mu-stapha and Chief Wale Ogunbanjo.

Others were Sina Ad-ejobi, two serving members of the Ogun State House of Assembly - Abiodun Ako-voyon and Minority Leader, Job Akitan, Pelumi Olu-sola, Tunji Akinosi, Nasiru Isiaka, Chief Dele Ajayi, Chief Wale Egunleti, Mi-chael Fasinu, Alhaji Wale Abeeb Ajayi and Chief Yin-ka Sosinde.

Confirming the devel-opment, host of the meet-ing and leader of the JMK

group, Dave Salako said the party in the state was cur-rently searching for a cred-ible and strong candidate that will take the reins of governance from Amosun.

Salako said unlike what obtains in other states, PDP members in Ogun were not willing to defect to the APC.

Reacting to the develop-ment, however, the deposed PDP state Chairman, Sena-tor Dipo Odujinrin, who said he was yet to be briefed on the latest development, said the plan had been on before now.

2015: PDP mobilises Dimeji Bankole against Amosun

Lagos sentenced 2, 324 offenders to community service in 2013

Ajimobi identifi es impediment to tax collection

Jungle justice: Lagos vows to punish offenders

L-R: Special Adviser to Oyo State Governor on Security, Mr. Segun Abolarinwa; Coordinator, Team Seven of Senior Course 36 of Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Capt. Anthony Nweke; Governor Abiola Ajimobi and Team Leader, Brig.-Gen. Ol-ubunmi Oyebade, during a courtesy call on the governor in Ibadan, yesterday.

ing the monthly press brief-ing of his ministry held at the Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja.

The attorney-general said the culprits who were involved in the alleged tor-ture of a woman and her two daughters said to have stolen pepper in Ejigbo market would soon appear before a court of competent jurisdiction.

He said the police are currently investigating the matter and that once that is concluded and the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, is re-ceived, government would

commence prosecution of the matter.

He added that the Of-fice of the Public Defender, OPD, was part of the public hearing on the Ejigbo mat-ter and that it was on its ad-vice that the Ejigbo market was shut.

He said the closure of the market forced the peo-ple to produce those who meted out such heinous punishment on the women.

Ipaye added that it was unfortunate that the video footage of the incident was circulated rather too late.

But I can assure you that if there is any case we

are very much interested in, it is this case. That is be-cause we want to discour-age such ugly acts from happening again in this state, he said.

The Lagos attorney-general said that the civil suit instituted in respect of the victims of January 2012 fuel subsidy victims has been concluded and that the court awarded N4 million in their favour as damages while the crimi-nal suit against the former Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Pen Cinema Police Station, Agege, Mr. Segun Fabunmi was on-going.

day said at least 2, 324 of-fenders were sentenced to various terms of commu-nity service between Janu-ary to December 2013.

Lagos State Attorney-General and Commis-

sioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye disclosed this yes-terday at a monthly press briefing in Lagos.

Ipaye said; Between January and December 2013, a total of 2, 324 of-fenders were sentenced to various terms of commu-nity service.

Ipaye added that the various community ser-vice sentence given to the offenders has so far proved to be a successful strategy in reducing con-gestion in all the prisons accross the state.

His word: The impli-cation of the community service outcome is that the number represents those who would have been otherwise incarcer-ated in prisons with the consequential disruption in their economic, social and family lives.

The state attorney-gen-eral also disclosed that the Directorate of Public

Prosecution, DPP, in the state is currently pros-ecuting 1, 103 criminal cases in the high court of the state.

He also said: DPP is currently handling 1, 142 cases in various courts from magistrates courts through high courts, ap-pellate courts and the Su-preme Court.

He, however, added that the figure represent an in-crease from the 1, 001 case which was reported in the preceeding year.

Speaking further, the attorney-general said a total of 35 judgements and rulings were also recorded in 2013.

He added that; The total value of settlement of debt related matters achieved by the Citizens Mediation Centre, CMS, last year increased and over N405 million was col-lected on behalf of par-ties.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 9Thursday, January 30, 2014 South West

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net10 Thursday, January 30, 2014South-West

ABIODUN NEJO ADO-EKITI

A 14-year-old pupil of Government Science College at Iyin-Ekiti in Irepodun/If-elodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State has been found a day after she was alleged to have been missing.

Sources said the girl, who is still recovering, was discovered uncon-scious and was taken to the Federal Medical Cen-tre in Ido-Ekiti for treat-ment.

The incident occurred when the girl told her school mates during a prep session at about

8.30pm on Tuesday that she was not feeling well and therefore went back to the dormitory to rest.

Before she got to the dormitory, she allegedly got missing and all efforts to locate her by her school mates, housemaster and other teachers proved abortive.

The sources, however, said that the girl, who they claimed might have been kidnapped for ritual purpose, was discovered unconscious and naked the following morning (yesterday) at the prem-ises of a private school in the community.

The Ekiti State Com-missioner for Education,

Mr. Kehinde Ojo, con-firmed to journalists on telephone yesterday that the girl was discovered at a remote section of Femi Balogun Nursery and Pri-mary School at Iyin-Ekiti at the early hours of yes-terday by a retired princi-pal and the school propri-etor.

Ojo said that the pro-prietor had reported the case at Iyin Police Station before the girl, who was already in an unconscious state and stripped naked, was taken to the Federal Medical Centre in Ido-Eki-ti for treatment.

The commissioner said: Preliminary medical examination had shown

that the girl was neither raped nor hit by hard ob-ject. Though she has re-gained consciousness and responding well to treat-ment.

The police spokesman, Mr. Victor Babayemi, said nobody had been arrested in connection with the cir-cumstances surrounding the situation.

Babayemi said: We want to make sure that the girl is on her feet to give us enough information to help our investigations be-fore we start saying what actually happened. It can be ritual or kidnap attack. We are not leaving any-thing to chance because it can be anything.

School girl found unconscious day after being declared missing

L-R: Chairman, Governing Board, National Root Crops Research Institute, NRCRI, Chief Oluwole Aina; Osun State Deputy Governor, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori and Governor Rauf Aregbesola, during a courtesy visit of the board and management of NRCRI in Osogbo, yesterday.

KEMI OLAITANIBADAN

A cleric, Pastor Olabisi Gabriel A d e g b o y e , yesterday called on Nigerians to seek Gods intervention against the spread of the Boko Haram sect insurgency.

The Presiding Pastor of the Worksword of God Church, Ibadan, made the call while addressing journalists in Ibadan over state of insecurity in the country.

According to him, the call became inevitable to avert what he called plan by the fundamentalist sect to attack Christian prayer camps in the South-West area of the country.

He said it was a

revelation shown to him by God, stating that security must be beefed-up at various entrances of churches and prayer camps in the region.

Adegboye, while urging prominent clerics to avoid conflicts and hostility among themselves, said the planned attack is going to be used to cause damages in the friendly relationship existing among the great fathers of faith in the South-West.

He then called on Christian leaders in the Southern part of the country to stand against the aggression of the Boko Haram sect, saying: People in Eastern, Western and Southern parts of the country must not feel unconcerned

because the activities of Boko Haram are presently limited to just the North-Eastern part of the country.

Speaking on how the menace of Boko Haram can be fully tackled, Adegboye urged the government not to relent in handling the issue.

He urged the government seek the face of God for solution to the crisis, saying: It is purely a spiritual affair; military intervention alone cannot bring an end to it.

The cleric added: You dont use gun to fight satan, if you kill one thousand members of Boko Haram, you have not killed the devil, we must go spiritual, if the government is not

God-cratic about the insurgency, it will shake the country and the government any moment from now .

The crisis by the Niger/Delta militants was over because we sought divine intervention, God did the job before the military was able to disarm the boys, let the government give God an opportunity to proof Himself, He is not only the God of Churches, but the God of nations.

For these Boko Haram boys to surrender their arms, let us invite the Man of war, the Mighty Man of Battle to stand through His chosen vessel, then, the boys will run for their lives.

ABIODUN NEJOADO EKITI

The Nigerian A s s o c i a t i o n of Small Scale Industries (NASSI) has appealed to the Federal Government to begin the disbursement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N200 billion micro scale and medium enterprise intervention fund.

NASSI urged the Federal Government to ensure that the fund, which is meant for businesses to thrive, got to the right people who had forwarded their business plans to the body for onward transmission to the Bank of Industry (BoI).

In a communiqu issued after a meeting of NASSI South-West zone hosted by the Ekiti State Chambers of Commerce in Ado-Ekiti, NASSI National Vice-President, Duro Keteyi and the Secretary, Prince Akinwumi Idowu, praised President Goodluck Jonathan for the intervention fund initiative.

NASSI urged the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to extend its training programme to its members and as well appealed to the National Economic Reconstruction

Fund (NERFUND) to extend its facilities to the South-West.

According to the communiqu, NASSI is looking forward to how its South-West body can benefit from the Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC) in its one product per one local government to develop ward-based clusters.

NASSI appealed to the First Bank to start disbursing the fund expected to grow their business, having signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the bank and subsequent payment of the participatory fee of N70 million.

Earlier, the NASSI vice-president urged all chapters of the association to mobilise their members to access fund and capacity-building for their various state ministries of agriculture and natural resources to boost their businesses.

Keteyi urged member states to collaborate with the Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Ministry in their respective states for empowerment and skill acquisition. .

Representatives at the meeting came from Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Lagos, Osun and Ekiti states.

The Lagos Metropoli-tan Area Transport Authority (LAMA-TA) yesterday said that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) moved no fewer than 45 mil-lion passengers in 2013.

The External Relations Specialist of LAMATA, Mr Kolawole Ojelabi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the buses had moved more than 250 million commuters since inception in 2008.

He said: BRT has been moving between 40 million and 45 million people yearly on its corridor.

Since the BRT started, it has moved more than 250 million passengers and very soon we will also have it carrying more passengers.

On overloading, Ojelabi said: I will not comment about the operations because that is not my area.

He, however, noted that the age of the BRT lane coupled with the weight of the buses and the load they carry were responsible for the potholes visible on its lanes.

According to him, the government has promised to find a permanent solution to the corridor by changing the flexible pavements with concrete.

Ojelabi said: We are very much aware of the potholes on the BRT lane and the government is set to change the flexible pavement with concrete and very soon, that work will start.

Group urges disbursement of CBNs N200bn intervention fund

BRT moved 45 million passengers last yearCleric urges prayer to prevent spread of Boko Haram crisis

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Thursday, January 30, 2014 11South East

separately narrated their ordeals to journal-ists.

Nnabuchi, however, said that he owed the woman only N6, 000, add-ing that the incident was not intentional.

He said that the acid was bought for his ve-hicle and not to bath the victims.

CHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

The management of the Federal Poly-technic, Nekede, Imo State, has sanctioned no fewer than 49 students for various offences and examination misconduct.

A statement issued yesterday in Owerri and made available to journal-

An Abuja High Court yesterday sentenced a for-mer Commissioner of the National Insurance Com-mission (NAICOM), Mr. Okechukwu Chukwulozie, to 15-year in prison for N10.4 million fraud.

The Independent Cor-rupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commis-sion (ICPC) had, in 2007, charged Chukwulozie, his wife, Angela; and a former Deputy Commissioner in charge of Finance and Ad-ministration, Adedolapo Ogungbe, with 15-count of N10.4 million fraud. De-livering judgement, Jus-tice Mudashiru Oniyangi sentenced Chukwulozie to three years on each of the five counts.

Justice Oniyangi, who did not give the convict an option of fine, held that the anti-graft agency had proved all the ingredients of Section 19 of the ICPC Act against him.

The judge said: The ICPC has proved beyond reasonable doubt that a commissioner of NICON, Mr. Okechukwu Chukwul-

ozie, demanded 50 per cent of fees paid to liquidators of Gateway Insurance Plc.

Beyond reasonable doubt is the standard of evi-dence required to validate a criminal conviction. Gener-ally, the prosecution bears the burden of proof and is required to prove its case.

The prosecution has presented to court evi-dence to support its charg-es against the convict.

In this case, it has done so. The court hereby sen-tences you to three years each on each of the five counts level against you, which will run concur-rently.

However, Justice Oniyangi held that the ICPC had failed to prove its case against the second and the third accused per-sons.

The court, therefore, discharged the second and third accused persons, who were charged with aiding and abetting the crime.

To the second and third accused persons, Justice Oniyangi said: You are hereby discharged and ac-quitted.

No fewer than 10 persons have been allegedly bathed with a substance suspected to acid follow-ing a misunderstanding over a debt at Mgbakwu community in Awka Lo-cal Government Area of Anambra State.

The Police Public Re-lations Officer (PPRO),

CHARLES OKEKE AWKA

Members of the newly formed fac-tional Anambra State Executive Commit-tee of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have pledged their support for the partys National Chairman, Chief Maxi Okwu and Governor Peter Obi.

The members said they decided to support the leadership of Okwu and Obi because of the gover-nors robust performances.

Addressing journalists yesterday after the meet-ing of the faction in Awka, the groups Acting Chair-man, Chief Shedrack Anakwe, said Obis admin-istration had done well in all spheres of the states economy.

Anakwe said: Gover-nor Obis leadership has shown the light on what APGA stands for.

Anyone who claims not to have seen the robust per-formance of Obi in Anam-bra State is either not tell-ing the truth or is outright

trying to make mischief. In a communiqu is-

sued after the meeting, the faction resolved that it would continue to remain loyal to the leadership of Chief Okwu.

It also promised to con-tinue to support the gov-ernor and the acting state chairman.

The faction, however, condemned the leadership style of former APGA Na-tional Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, whose ten-ure they claimed expired in 2010.

The group claimed that Chief Umeh ran the party like his personal estate without consultation with relevant stakeholders while he was the national chairman.

Earlier, Anakwe told the party members that his emergence as the act-ing chairman was necessi-tated by the suspension of the former chairman, Hon Egwu Okoye.

He said: I am sure that I will be here for another six months before the chairman, who is on sus-pension returns.

ists by the polytechnics registrar, Mr. Matthew Aligbe, stated that 26 of the students were ex-pelled, while the 22 other were rusticated for one academic session.

Aligbe explained that 54 students had appeared before a disciplinary pan-el instituted by the man-agement to investigate their alleged involvement

in examination miscon-ducts.

This is even as one of the students was asked to retake some courses while five others were exoner-ated from any misconduct after thorough investiga-tion.

He stressed that the polytechnic would not compromise its high aca-demic standard, warning

Mr. Emeka Chukwueme-ka, who confirmed the incident yesterday in Awka, the state capital, said investigation had begun into the matter.

The spokesman for youths in the communi-ty, Mr. Onochie Nzekwe, told journalists that the incident happened on January 28 when a

group of persons went to invite a man over a N15, 000 debt owed a woman.

He said that the man, Mr. Uche Nnabuchi, was invited to appear before the group to explain why he refused to pay the debt.

Two of the victims, Mr. Obiadimma Nnebife and Onyeka Nwaenu,

that any student who dis-played acts of misconduct would not be spared.

The registrar, therefore, urged the management of other tertiary institutions as well as members of the public to take note of the details of the sanctioned students which has been posted on the polytechnic website: www.federalpoly-nekede.net.

49 Poly students sanctioned for exam misconduct

Ex-NAICOM commissioner jailed 15 years for N10.4m fraud

10 bathed with acid over N15,000 debt in Anambra

APGA members pledge support for Okwu, Obi

Abia State Governor Theodore Orji (right) and Mr. Barth Azukowa who led Umuhute Azueke Ndume Ibeku community on a cour-tesy visit to the governor in Umuahia, yesterday.

Stop issuing licences to unqualifi ed motoristsCHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has resolved to ensure 30 percent and 25 percent reduction in road accidents and death on the nations highways this year.

This is just as the FRSC warned managers of driv-ing schools to desist from issuing licences to unquali-fied drivers.

As part of efforts to achieve the objective, the Zonal Commanding Officer,

RS9 Headquarters ,Enugu, Mr. Kehinde Adeleye, said that adequate measure had been put in place to en-sure that all motorists pass through government ap-proved driving schools be-fore driving licences would be issued to them.

Adeleye stated this at a one-day meeting with ma-jor stakeholders in trans-port industry in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

He said that professional motorists need rigorous training, warning that the FRSC would henceforth

sanction driving schools that issue licence to unqual-ified motorists.

The FRSC boss, who was in Imo in continuation of his familiarisation tour to units within his area of jurisdiction, asked drivers who still operate with old driving licences to obtain new ones, saying: We are opening up more process-ing centres for licence re-newal and period for the renewal has been extended from October 2013 to June 2014.

Adeleye added that the

FRSC would soon com-mence a massive enlighten-ment programme for mem-bers of transport unions and managers of driving schools and also re-inspect drivers who had gone through formal training.

He appealed to motorists, commuters, pedestrians and all other road users to always be safety conscious while on the roads, stress-ing that promotion of road safety should not be seen as the exclusive responsibility of the FRSC, but that of all members of the public.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net12 Thursday, January 30, 2014 South-South

Bayelsa Assembly suspends session over power failure

Why we are loyal to Rivers governor - Ogoni people

Insecurity reduces our revenue -Amaechi

L-R: Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole; former Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, during his visit to the governor in Benin, yesterday.

EMMA GBEMUDU, YENAGOA

The Bayelsa State House of Assembly yesterday suspended its plenary indefinitely ow-ing to a break-down of the power generating set in the premises which led to pow-er failure.

It was gathered that the generating set reportedly caught fire during an at-tempt to switch it on for leg-islative business.

Extent of damage to the power generating set could not be ascertained when our correspondent visited the Assembly complex, but

a senior staff who craved anonymity said the sitting by the lawmakers had been suspended till further no-tice.

Before the power failure, the legislators were con-ducting the defense of the 2014 budget by government agencies and ministries in the state.

Lately, public power supply in the state is very epileptic as electricity con-sumers groan over frequent power outages which are adversely affecting eco-nomic activities. Most con-sumers now resort to their private generating sets as a last resort in order to enjoy power supply.

Occasioned by the black-out in the Assembly com-plex most of the offices kept their doors open to allow in flow of air, while most of the lawmakers and staff abandoned their offices.

In a reaction, the Special Assistant on Media to the Speaker, Piriye Kiyaramo confirmed the breakdown of the generating set and power outage in the Assem-bly complex.

Kiyaramo said the gen-erator had a technical problem, adding that the law makers would resume plenary as soon as the fault was rectified.

On the delay on the completion of the ongoing

reconstruction work at the Assembly chambers, Ki-yaramo said the completion time given to the contractor had since elapsed.

According to the media aide, funding was not the problem on the project as he insisted that the pace of work by the contractor was slow.

The legislators had last year embarked on a long recess following the com-mencement of reconstruc-tion of their chambers.

On resumption, the work was still far from comple-tion, forcing the lawmakers to relocate to a hall in the building meant for staff of-fices.

Rivers State Gover-nor and Chairman of the Nigeria Gov-ernors Forum, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has attributed the dwin-dling fortunes of the inter-nally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state to the ris-ing insecurity in the State.

He said the insecurity came at a time when des-perate politicians resorted to power play at the Nation-al level ahead of the 2015 elections and the recent influx of political thugs and miscreants that were chased out of the state when he assumed office in 2007.

Amaechi disclosed this Tuesday when officers and students of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Plateau State paid him a courtesy visit in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

He explained that the prevalent insecurity in the state, hampered com-panies to operate outside Port Harcourt, which neg-atively affected the states internally, generated reve-nue that could have hit ten billion naira monthly.

If not for the insecu-rity in the state, and if all companies that were here before had remained to operate their business, we would have generated up to

N10billion. Like you know, most of the companies ran to Lagos and some of them came to Port Harcourt, and later also ran back.

Things were improving before now with the Army, Police and the State Secu-rity Service (SSS), which enabled us to arrest the insecurity in the state. But, recently, because of the power play at the National level ahead of the 2015 election, the security of the state had degenerated badly, that one is wonder-ing whether we should not differentiate between poli-tics of election and politics of leadership. Because, it is also important for you to know the economic in-terest of the people, and our private interest too, Amaechi said.

Governor Amaechi also described the reckless dis-regard for the protection of lives and property in the state by men of the police force as a serious lacuna as enshrined in the nations constitution.

He spoke on how his ad-ministration worked out feasible modalities that in-creased the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from N2.5 billion to N6 bil-lion monthly shortly after he assumed office in 2007 without introducing new taxes.

Edo teachers declare strike over unpaid salaries SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN, BENIN

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Edo State Wing, has served Edo State govern-ment a notice of a fresh strike, which may com-mence after the 14th of February.

The teachers commu-nicated their grievance in a communiqu that emerged from an en-

larged State Wing Execu-tive Council held behind closed doors at the Con-ference Hall of Teachers House on Upper Siluko Road, Benin City.

Signed by the duo of Comrade Mike Osagiodu-wa Uhunmwangho, the state chairman and Com-rade Akin Adeojo, the state secretary, the com-muniqu that was made available to the media yes-terday reminded the state

government that teachers merely suspended their last strike in the state so as to allow for an amicable resolution of their unpaid salary arrears that accu-mulated between July and November last year.

The NUT warned, That Edo State Govern-ment should urgently pay the arrears of July to No-vember, 2013 10.5 per cent TSA balance to all pri-mary school teachers not

later than 14th February, 2014; failure of which, the union would resume her earlier suspended indefi-nite strike action of July 10th, 2013; come Monday 17th February, 2014.

The NUT particularly called on the state govern-ment to act quickly and fulfill its promise to set up a committee of stakehold-ers to review the cases of the over 836 primary school teachers who were

disengaged from service in December in order to have them return to work as done in Oyo and Ondo states.

The state union reit-erated that its members have unanimously reject-ed the call by the state gov-ernment to make public school teachers to write a fresh competency test to determine their suitabil-ity for teaching jobs.

The communiqu fur-ther declared, That on

no account must public school teachers in Edo State attend or submit themselves for any form of competency test in Edo State before advising That teachers should not be moved by any intimi-dation, propaganda or announcement on radio/television or text messag-es by Edo State govern-ment or any of her agents that will call on them to come and write any com-petency test.

SAM OLUWALANA

The Ogoni people of Rivers State have given reasons why the state Governor, Hon. Chibui-ke Amaechi has been enjoy-ing the support of the entire Ogoni Kingdom. According to a prominent politician form the area, Amaechis

reliability, uncommon cour-age and trustworthiness are qualities that have endeared him to the people of the oil-rich area in the past years.

Speaking on behalf of the Ogoni people in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, Deputy Speaker of the Riv-ers State House of Assembly, Hon.Leyii Kwanee disclosed

that the Ogonis have been supporting Amaechi and the Pro-Amaechi, Save Riv-ers Movement, (SRM) and the groups rally at Bori, headquarters of Khana Lo-cal Government Area, last weekend despite intimida-tion by the opposition, be-cause Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is a reliable,

courageous and trusted lead-er that can be counted on, at all times.

The Deputy Speaker told journalists, the Abuja camp did everything within their ambit to discourage the Ogo-ni support including intimi-dation through violence.

He further disclosed that the Abuja camp went round

to warn parents to discour-age their children from at-tending the rally out of fear for their lives.

The Ogonis turned down their counsel because those leaders do not have any plan for the Ogoni people and are unreliable, but with Gover-nor Amaechi, the Ogonis know that supporting him

will be reciprocated now and anywhere he is, in the future.

Those who are against the governor will be wonder-ing what manner of man he is, despite being stripped of security power, he still en-joys massive support from the people, despite threats to the peoples lives, they still support him he said.

INEC timetable: Setting stage for political gladiatorsWith the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, formally rolling out its time table for the 2015 general election, it is expected that the tempo of politicking will be on the upswing. OBIORA IFOH, OMEIZA AJAYI and UBONG UKPONG take a look at what the political climate will be like in the next one year.

Jonathan Jega

The Independent National Electoral Commission!, INEC, in a statement by its Secretary, Augusta Ogakwu, at the end of its retreat in Kaduna last Fri-day, rolled out the much expected time table for the 2015 general election. The time table showed that the presiden-tial and the National Assembly elections were scheduled to hold on February 14, 2015 while the governorship and states Houses of Assembly elections were slated for Febru-ary 21, 2015.

The terse statement read: Pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amend-ed), the Independent National Electoral Commission has released the timetable and schedule of activities leading to the 2015 General Elections and the Ekiti and Osun gov-ernorship elections.

As expected, the reaction to that release was instan-taneous as politicians and political watchers have gone to town with critical appraisal of the election timetable; while some say that INEC ought to fix singular date for all elections, many others argue that staggered election is all the system needs because of the past experience where INEC couldnt handle simple task of credibly holding elec-tions in states like Anambra, Delta and Edo.

In these election, particularly, in Anambra, INEC scored itself below average and watchers are of the view that nothing has changed and that if INEC should hold all elections same day, Nigeria will certainly witness another calamitous exercise.

But with the release of the time table, the next one year will certainly witness a beehive of activities as the stage will be set for the political gladiators, starting with contentious debate over the suitability or otherwise of a Goodluck Jonathan presidency, the return ticket demand by the federal lawmakers as well the succession politics in the states.

There will also be cases of alignment and realignment by the political parties, particularly, in this era of cross carpeting and decamping from one party to another both in the floor of the legislature and by the state governors amongst others.

Will Jonathans declare soon?Coincidentally, a day prior to INECs release of the time

table, President Jonathan, who was in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, told CNBC Africa that it would be wrong and unlawful for him to declare his politi-cal ambition when the commission had not given its nod for politicians to do so. Before then, the President had of-ten cited the need to concentrate on governance as reason for not openly making his intention known but his body language and the utterances of some of his lieutenants had often indicated that he is interested in taking another shot at the presidency next year.

THE NEXT ONE YEAR WILL CERTAINLY WITNESS A

BEEHIVE OF ACTIVITIES AS THE STAGE WILL BE SET FOR THE POLITICAL GLADIATORS,

STARTING WITH CONTENTIOUS DEBATE OVER THE

SUITABILITY OR OTHERWISE OF A GOODLUCK JONATHAN

PRESIDENCY

He had told the CNBC reporter that he would declare his intention after INEC gives the go-ahead. He said: INEC has a time frame within which candidates are ex-pected to declare. If you declare before that time, you are actually contravening the Nigerian laws. So I wont tell anybody that I am contesting or that Im not contesting. It is not proper for me to do that. It is not proper for any Nigerian to declare any interest now. If you do that you are contravening our electoral laws.

Recall that late last year, the then Bamanga Tukur led Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had shut the door on the aspiration of any other party member, insisting that all over the world, a sitting President is giving the privilege of the first right of refusal to contest the presidency. That decision had significantly contributed largely to the crack in the PDP with about seven governors (G7) opting to chal-lenge that party position.

The heat even became unbearable latter last year when the chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Tony Anenih openly accused President Jonathan of stok-ing the crisis in the party because of his reticence on the 2015 presidency particularly as it concerns his declara-tion.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 13Thursday, January 30, 2014

Politics

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

the fear that governance will suffer. Already, the directives by the APC to its legislators to block all executive legisla-tion as a result of an entirely party matter has been eliciting some condemnation from all quarters except the APC.

Now that INECs time table is out, it is expected that as many as are in the government that has electoral am-bition would quit office as directed by the President. It is also expected that attention will shift from delivery of democratic dividends to election campaign funding.

The 2011 elections was said to have been the most ex-penses venture in the history of any elections in Africa and it is believed that 2015 will even be more. Opposition are already insinuating that reason why there is cash crunch in the economy is because of the 2015 and the pil-ing of cash by the politicians for the elections.

Season for political jobbers In 2011, one witnessed several groups lined up to drum

up supports and campaign for whoever they felt paid them better or could be useful to them if eventually emerged victorious from the polls.

For instance, the Stella Oduahs Neighbour 2 Nigh-bour group suddenly emerged as a political campaign tool, aligning with President Jonathan, who deployed massive men, materials and money into the course. It paid off, as the sponsor used it to penetrate the citizens and the coordinator eventually now has a place in Aso Rock Villa, within the federal cabinet.

Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Political Mat-ters, Ahmed Gulak, leading the Goodluck/Sambo Cam-

Muazu

However, since INEC has now done its part, Nigerians are waiting with bated breath to hear from the horses mouth. Jonathan has no other reasons why he should not clear the air about his future political ambition.

Chains of other declarations expected.Undoubtedly, many partisan individuals and parties

have been waiting for the presidents declaration before knowing their next line of action and since politics is not exactly of ideas in this part of the world, some individuals will only jump into the fray only to find a way of reach-ing out to the incumbent president, pledging electoral support and then stepping down.

In the coming weeks, some opposition politicians are also expected to declare their ambition even as these decla-rations will also generate a lot of debates and court cases, ostensibly because certain politicians, relying on section-al and sectarian interests, may want to stop another politi-cian from contesting.

At the national level, the contest is expected to be be-tween the PDP and the All Progressives Congress, APC. The other two major parties, the Labour Party and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, appear not to be in-terested in the top spot and may likely not be presenting candidates for the presidency.

However, notable political top shots, including former Vice President Atiku Abubarkar, former and serving gover-nors from both the PDP and APC are expected to context the presidency alongside President Jonathan. In a few weeks, the tempo of intention to contest declaration will intensify.

Parties putting their houses in orderPresently, both the PDP and APC are in crisis, in that

while the formers big umbrella is clearly leaking, the big broom of the latter is no longer a united bunch, but rather, mere broom sticks; but it is expected that they will also be-gin to put their houses in order, if they have any chances to compete favourably.

The PDP only two weeks ago had a change of leader-ship, with former governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Muazu, now in the driving seat whereas, the APC, with interim leadership still holding fort is expected to elect a substantive executive.

Muazu only Tuesday accused the APC of being a poaching expert but has boasted that in run to the general election, PDP would out-poach the opposition party. He has also kick-started the troubleshooting efforts by paying a visit to former President Olusegun and he is also in ad-vanced stage of wading into the crisis in the South-West zonal chapter of the party.

As for the APC, the wind of prosperity and enlarge-ment has not ceased as many defectors are daily besieging the party with a few also leaving. It is believed that if and when the party conducts, expectedly, a successful conven-tion later this quarter, the party will be in a good position to put up a claim to the presidency. But observers are of the view that the convention and the possible allocation of party and elective positions to zones will make or mar the chances of the party come 2015.

In the coming weeks, more political realignments and defections would be witnessed in the National Assembly. Media reports of thousands of people defecting to either of the two leading parties are also expected while some mushroom political parties will queue behind either of the two major parties. This time around, with the APC also having a lo

thursday, january 30, 2014

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