Why I’m Fighting To Stop Wike’s Probe Of My Administration – Amaechi Reveals

Why I'm Fighting To Stop Wike's Probe Of My Administration – Amaechi Reveals

The quick past legislative head of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, has again clarified why he is against and needs to stop the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by his successor, Nyesom Wike to probe some chose government exchanges, while he (Mr. Amaechi) was representative.

In an announcement discharged by the previous representative's media office Sunday, Mr. Amaechi said he's not anxious of a reasonable and better than average probe or examination or request of his organization; and would participate and bolster such probe or examination or request in as much as it's done inside of the ambit of our laws.

The announcement proceeds:

"However what Wike has embarked to do is definitely not a reasonable probe. The commission won't be reasonable to Amaechi on the grounds that it was set up to arraign him.

Wike had more than once held that Amaechi, the individual to be researched, acted illicitly in the dispensing of open trusts and that Amaechi ran a degenerate government.

Plainly, Wike has prejudged the matter and demonstrated his inclination that Amaechi is blameworthy even before examinations.

This implies Wike, with his preferential, made up psyche has taken a position of a blameworthy decision even before the result is known or built up.

"The same Wike who had declared the yet-to-be-examined behavior of Amaechi as unlawful and Amaechi as degenerate, is the same individual that has proceeded to set up a commission of request and will have the last say on the discoveries of the commission. What a sham!"

"This predisposition and foreordained plan to prosecute Amaechi is clear even in the terms of reference of the commission.

In one of the imperfect terms of reference, Wike said the Commission ought to examine the circumstances that prompted the 'offer of the state Hotel Olympia'.

"With a reasonable and nice probe, the Inquiry ought to have been 'to analyze (or research) the exchange concerning Hotel Olympia'.

The distinction is so clear: In the previous, embittered Wike's Term of Reference, it has been biased and inferred that the Hotel was sold, while in the recent, the Inquiry is transparent, and may prompt a finding of a deal or a lease or even a blessing or even a vow.

"Presently, having so presumed that Hotel Olympia was sold, would Wike be tolerable and sufficiently humble to switch himself if archives demonstrated to it was never sold yet concessioned or rented?

"This is one of the threats of Wike's bonus that harbors a foreordained result for the sake of an Inquiry and Amaechi won't subject himself to Wike's misdirection and fraud shenanigans.

Inn Olympia was never sold. The inn was just concessioned (or rented) on the regard of the State Executive Council and not sold."

"Indeed, even while initiating his yeoman bonus of Inquiry, Wike couldn't cover his feud plan. He was clear to the board individuals that their occupation is to arraign Amaechi.

What's more, to do this his grimy hack work, he got Justice G. O. Omereji (the commission director), a man who is surely understood to harbor a long-held, compelling outrage, disdain and enmity against previous Governor Amaechi. What's more, Justice Omereji has never camouflaged this his position and air towards Amaechi.

"Point of fact, Justice Omereji even prompted a previous Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) administrator in Rivers State on measures (to take) against then Governor Amaechi.

He had communicated his scorn for Amaechi a few times to the NBA executive who was likewise an Attorney-General of Rivers State.

By what method would we be able to now anticipate that Justice Omereji will be reasonable to Amaechi, the individual he enthusiastically abhors with compelling perniciousness and venom?"

"Any individual who has been taking after occasions in Rivers State knows this Wike probe is only a deceitful sham, a beguiling mission to prosecute Amaechi. Wike's one-point motivation is to pursue his antecedent.

Promptly Wike assumed control, he made a show and gave an execution of his false allegations that Amaechi stripped the Governor's Lodge uncovered, saying that the previous representative stole spoons, plates, blades, mugs, sleeping pads, forks and even blinds from the Governor's Lodge!

"On the other hand, in the pictures Wike demonstrated to back his lies, the window ornaments in the hotel were obviously there, seen and in place. Once more, Wike asserted he met a totally discharge treasury. That again is another enormous untruth and fabulous double dealing.

"This current Wike's probe is dead on entry. It's misguided and poorly propelled. Wike's probe is intended to bend and contort, or even totally change chose honest to goodness government exchanges in his distress to concoct, and manufacture sham instances of debasement against Amaechi.

"At last, Amaechi will keep on utilizing each sacred and lawful means accessible to shield his name and picture from this monstrous smear battle, State-supported assault against him by Wike drove government whose sole plan is a frantic quest for a Rotimi Amaechi political ruin

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 05:40 No comments:

Senate has taking up the task to Probe EFCC Chairman, Lamorde's Alleged Diversion Of N1tn

The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions will on Wednesday start a test/probe of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, over a claim that he falsely occupied over N1tn continues of debasement recouped by the counter join organization.

A piece of the cash claimed by a candidate to have been redirected by the EFCC manager incorporated the plunder recouped from a previous Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; and ex-Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun.

The candidate, Mr. George Uboh, whose grievance to the Senate incited the test, has been welcome to show up before the Senate board of trustees at Meeting Room 120 of the New Senate Building, National Assembly Complex, Abuja, by 10am on Wednesday.

Comparative welcome, it was learnt, had been reached out to Lamorde to show up before the Senate panel the same time on Wednesday.

The extortion professedly executed by Larmode was said to have gone back to his days as the Director of Operations of the EFCC somewhere around 2003 and 2007, and in addition an acting Chairman of the commission between June 2007 and May 2008, when the then administrator of the counter join organization, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, was away for a course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos.

Uboh, Chief Executive Officer of Panic Alert Security Systems, a security firm, in his appeal dated July 31, 2015, blamed Lamorde for some particular occurrences of under-settlement and non-divulgence of continues of defilement recouped from criminal suspects, including Balogun and Alamieyeseigha.

He guaranteed the Senate that he would deliver "overpowering confirmation" to back his cases against Lamorde.

Uboh likewise asserted that the EFCC had not represented "seaward recuperations" and that "over 50% of the benefits seized from suspects are not reflected in EFCC display records".

The candidate just as blamed Lamorde for contriving with some EFCC officers and outside reviewers "to work and hide a recuperation account in the Central Bank of Nigeria and rejected the equalizations from your evaluated money related explanations somewhere around 2005 and 2011".

"Lamorde keeps on disguising the points of interest of the unsold properties relinquished by both Tafa Balogun and DSP Alamieyeseigha regardless of getting rent incomes from some domain operators on the said properties," he further asserted.

Alamieyeseigha, the man who previous President Goodluck Jonathan succeeded as Bayelsa State senator in 2005, had relinquished property and stores in different financial balances as a major aspect of terms of supplication deal in his trial by the EFCC.

He had confessed to six checks of debasement allegations under the steady gaze of a Federal High Court in Lagos on July 26, 2007 and served simultaneous two years detainment on every number, however he was later acquitted by Jonathan in 2013.

Balogun had additionally relinquished landed resources and supports and was sentenced to six months detainment by a Federal High Court in Abuja after he confessed to different numbers of debasement allegations.

Uboh, asked that Lamorde be arraigned and proposed 10 include of extortion his request, which was tended to the Senate President Bukola Saraki, through the Delta State Senator in the National Assembly, Peter Nwaoboshi.

In the request bearing Nwaobohi's affirmation, Uboh charged that Lamorde in March 2013 occupied the whole of N779m out of the aggregate N3bn relinquished by Balogun to the Federal Government and that the EFCC manager plotted with a few authorities of the counter join organization to under-transmit the ex-IG's relinquished stores of about N5.85bn into the Consolidated Revenue Account by keeping down about N2.65bn.

Uboh additionally affirmed that Lamorde plotted with some EFCC authorities to dispatch to Bayelsa State the total of N3.1bn rather than the aggregate entirety of N4.3bn continues of defilement recouped from Alamieyeseigha.

The applicant said that Lamorde, as Director of Operations of the EFCC, planned with a few officers of the commission to control records of advantages recuperated from Alamieyeseigha, a demonstration which supposedly made ready for him to exchange with about N3.7bn of the recouped stores for right around two years.

"Sir, the total trusts occupied by Lamorde/EFCC expressed underneath in the joined criminal charges is over N1tn. Be that as it may, on the grounds that more than 95 for every penny of abroad seizures are occupied, there is a critical need to explore and recoup those stores too," Uboh's request read to some degree.

Our journalist, on Sunday, acquired a duplicate of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions' letter, which was marked by the board of trustees' representative, Freedom Osolo, welcoming Uboh to the Wednesday's meeting.

The letter of welcome entitled, 'Welcome to a meeting of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions', somewhat read, "I am coordinated to welcome you to a meeting of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions of the National Assembly in appreciation of your request (duplicate connected) against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde."

"You are by this welcome, needed to show up before the advisory group with all essential confirmation to bolster your claim," the welcome letter likewise noted.

A piece of the proposed charges arranged by Uboh read, "That you Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, as the official director of EFCC in March 2013, in the offer to cover an extortion of N779,155,004:62, being the occupied sum from the relinquished trusts by Tafa Balogun, misrepresented reports in light of the solicitation made on you by properly constituted powers, wherein you deceitfully expressed the aggregate of 13 bank equalizations as N2,258,100,576:98 rather than N3,037,255,521:60

"That you Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, as the Director of operations, schemed with a few officers in the EFCC to control the relinquishments and recuperations from DSP Alamieyesiegha, which occasions occurred somewhere around 2006 and 2007, as though it occurred in July 2008, with a perspective to moving obligations to the administration or residency of Mrs. Farida Waziri. By this demonstration, you exchanged with recuperations adding up to over N3.7 bn for just about two years prior in the past archiving the exchange."

At the point when reached, the representative for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said, "I am not mindful of it (the request)."

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 05:18 No comments:

Capt Wada Picks PDP Nomination Form, Kogi state

Captain Idris Wada

Kogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada, has formally reported his aim to compete for his second term in office on the stage of the decision Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying he needed to bow to weight from the gathering older folks and partners in state.


Captain Wada made the discourse on Wednesday in Lokoja in a meeting with individuals from PDP older folks and basic partners.

As indicated by him: " The expressions of our older folks are useful tidbits, I now acknowledge in the most recent couple of weeks that before senior citizens talk, they more likely than not utilized experience, persistence, openness and strength.

"This most recent motion from our pioneers has added to the heaviness of obligation that I bear. My promise and reaction is to surpass your desires, God helping me." He expressed.

Prior, the PDP partners led by the previous delegate legislative leader of the old Benue State, Alhaji Sule Iyaji, approached Wada to look for re-race taking into account his track records of accomplishments in the state.


Additionally, the discriminating partners from the three senatorial locale, and the Elders Advisory Council, have consistently embraced the re-decision offer for another term in office for Capt Idris Wada furthermore received him as the party's sole competitor in the pending governorship race slated for November 21, 2015.

The partners have additionally embraced Capt Wada as the sole competitor of the gathering for the governorship decision even as force turn has been settled in the state.

The meeting included that after the residency of the occupant, force ought to pivot between the west and focal senatorial locale of the state.

The choice to embrace Capt Wada, as indicated by Alhaji Iyaji, was a result of his humble execution in the last three and half years.

Those present at the meeting were Alh Sule Iyaji, Chief Patrick Adaba, Prince Olushola Akanmode, the Speaker Kogi State House of Assembly, and a large group of other gathering dedicated.

In the interim, game plan has been finished up by the Elders Council and the basic partners to acquire the selection structure for the senator at the PDP base camp Abuja tomorrow.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 22:04 No comments:

NCS manager abdication acknowledged by Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has acknowledged the
abdication of the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service Service, Alhaji Abdullahi,
As indicated by reports, Abdullahi is intended to begin

with his abdication promptly.
Buhari has said thanks to the NCS manager for his diligent work
all through the most recent six years.
Abdullahi had before composed to Buhari by and by of
needing to resign willfully in right on time August of which his
solicitation was acknowledged by the president.
The president is yet to name Abdullahi's successor who
will assume control traditions.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 13:24 No comments:

Okonjo-Iweala denies abusing Kano-Lagos rail funds

Lagos – The workplace of the previous Minister of Finance, Dr

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has rejected affirmations purportedly

made by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of

Transport, Alhaji Mohammed Bashar, that a generous

some piece of a $1 billion credit got from the China-


EximBank by the Goodluck Jonathan organization for a

Kano-Lagos rail venture was redirected to different activities.

Paul Nwabuikwu, Okonjo-Iweala's representative, said he

needed to state completely that there was no truth in the

reported charge.

"Any individual who is intrigued can cross-check with the

China-EximBank or the Chinese Embassy," he said.

"It is paramount that despite the fact that President Buhari, in his

reported remarks on the charge, made no reference

to Dr. Okonjo-Iweala however rightly focused on the requirement for due

procedure and straightforwardness in the execution of open

ventures, a supported media battle has at the end of the day

been propelled by political components to make the previous

Clergyman the guilty party in a non-existent outrage."

Nwabuikwu said the method was that supports for

affirmed credits stayed in the China-EximBank and are

discharged specifically to the Chinese firm executing the agreement

when the presentation of properly confirmed evidence of work

by the mindful Ministry.

All things considered it would have been the Federal Ministry of

Transport, in light of the concurred breakthroughs.

"For the purpose of accentuation, the China-EximBank does not

dispense cash specifically to government and consequently the

issue of redirection does not emerge," said Nwabuikwu.

"This is yet another case of the sort of whispering

battle of backbiting, allusion, falsehood, and

altogether mutilations being executed by certain political

components against Dr. Okonjo-Iweala in an offer to attempt to

harm her notoriety."

Nwabuikwu said the previous clergyman's office was sure

those behind the affirmed battle will keep on coming up short.

"We deferentially ask for the media to avoid

appending Dr.

Okonjo-Iweala's name and photos to spurious and

unwarranted affirmations. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala as a Nigerian

national in a vote based system, a native who has served her

nation with genuineness and uprightness, additionally has some

crucial rights to equity and reasonable play

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 08:05 No comments:

Buhari follows up unreturned government resources

An advisory group has been set up by the Federal

Government saddled with the obligation of recouping

government property from previous government authorities.

Sources near the Presidency have uncovered that a

number of previous government authorities are still in

ownership of vehicles, structures, generator sets and other

privileges that accompanied their past positions.

As indicated by the sources, in resentment abandoning their different

workplaces right around three months back, numerous are yet to return

these administration properties.

To this impact, government has set up a board made

up of common workers and security operators to recoup the

unreturned open resources from the political office holders,

who had left office.

Amid a talk with some newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, the

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and


Exposure, Mallam Garba Shehu, affirmed the circumstance.

"That is exactly the case, even here at the Villa, there

are autos and other property fitting in with the legislature

which are yet to be returned."

As per him, the Buhari's organization will soon

start to interest for the arrival of these advantages.

He focused on that the point was not to humiliate anybody but rather

to give back the properties to government.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 07:49 No comments:

APC blames Jonathan for plundering N11.11trillion

The All Progressives Congress on Sunday alleged

that about $56bn (N11.02tn) was plundered amid the

organization of previous President Goodluck Jonathan and


that the Buhari government expected to recuperate the trusts to

satisfy the change guaranteed by the APC, Premium Times

reports.

In the breakdown by the decision party, it said $6bn (1.2tn,

at the rate of N197 to dollar) was stolen by some of

Jonathan's clergymen and that 160 million barrels of rough

worth $13.9bn (N2.74tn) were lost somewhere around 2009 and

2012 while $13bn (N2.56tn) in NLNG profits was

for the most part unaccounted for.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai

Mohammed, said this in an announcement on Sunday.

Mohammed's announcement read to some extent, "A few cases of

the plundering are as per the following: N3.8tn out of the N8.1tn

earned from raw petroleum (2012-2015) withheld by NNPC;

$2.1bn (N413.7bn) from Excess Crude Account

unaccounted for; Department of Petroleum Resources'

unremitted N109.7bn sovereignty from oil firms.

The APC hence lashed out at those telling

President Muhammadu Buhari not to waste time testing

the Jonathan organization.

The announcement is by all accounts in response to an announcement by

the National Peace Committee, which allegedly told

Buhari that testing the past organization was not a

substitute for administration.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 07:22 No comments:

Wole Soyinka: No One Should Vote For Jonathan-He Has Shown A Total Failure In Leadership

 Prof. Wole Soyinka, declared on Thursday that no one should vote for the continuation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, saying that there has been a total failure in leadership. He said he has sixty reasons not to vote for the Jonathan regime. “I will not vote and I will not encourage anyone to vote for the continuation of this government, simply because your colleagues numbering over two hundred were kidnapped, ” Soyinka told students at the 2015 edition of Vision of the Child (VOTC), a yearly programme inaugurated in 2012. He said the Chibok girls kidnapped on 14 April of last year were sent on a mission to acquire an education, but ended up being kidnapped. “And the government of this nation failed to show leadership. So anyone who says after that event that I will vote or cast my vote or encourage anyone to vote for this regime must be living in Sambisa forest,” Soyinka said, referring to a forest in Borno State where the Chibok girls are believed to be held by Boko Haram. “There has been a failure of leadership. Our children whom you represent today have been betrayed,” Soyinka said, adding that no appropriate action was taken to retrieve them. Soyinka said it took the Jonathan government ten days to even accept that the Chibok girls were even missing. “After that dereliction of duty, after that failure of leadership, after that betrayal for our future, for anyone to think or to put words in my mouth suggesting that I will vote or encourage anyone to vote for this regime is a travesty of intelligence, ” Soyinka said. Soyinka laughed off those who had claimed on the social media that he was dead, telling journalists at the event that they should not misquote him. If they do, he added, he will rise from the dead to correct them. The 2015 edition of Vision of the Child has for theme “The Road to Sambisa”. This year, a total of 250 student participants from 60 primary and secondary schools within Lagos attended the interview. The age bracket for the participants was 9 to 12 years. Their entries were assessed by a panel of eminent judges comprising teachers, artists, child carers and social workers. The finalists will be invited on the 7 March to the National Conversation Foundation Park. Lekki, and provided with brush, paint and easel, and will be required to illustrate their literary presentation in the complementary medium painting. This year, 60 finalists were drawn from 35 schools within Lagos State, said Foluke George, Festival Secretary and Programme Manager for the Vision of the Child.

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Posted by Donatus Joshua at 11:29 No comments:

One week and some days to Election, politice splits Nigeria pastors

igerian Christians at home and abroad will be shocked by the reported crass opportunism of some of their religious leaders as next week’s presidential polls draw closer, SaharaReporters has learned. Ayo Oritsejafor Authoritative sources disclose that during a meeting of Christian leaders held recently, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor expressed a strangely personal reason why he is not supporting the clamor of Nigerians for change in the country. Oritsejafor told his colleagues at the event, which was convened at the Redemption Camp of the Redeemed Christian Church of God on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that oil bloc leases are due for renewal this year, and if the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket prevails, his chances of owning one would diminish. “The oil in my father’s backyard,” he specifically said. “I don’t own one bloc, and all these Northerners have oil blocs!” The CAN president has been known to be an ardent supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan, and anopponent of his leading challenger, General Mohammadu Buhari. What shocked many of the Christian leaders at the meeting, howver, was his message that he was less interested in good governance or the killing of innocent Nigerians by Boko Haram in the Northeastern part of Nigeria, and more so about his desire to also own an oil bloc this year. Reported to be an even more vocal supporter of Jonathan at the meeting was Bishop David Oyedepowho reportedly said it would be an insult to have any of the Christian leaders at the meeting to vote for Buhari. At a point, a respected pastor, Bishop Mike Okonkwo of TREM, lambasted the meeting for not inviting Pastor Yemi Osinbajo to witness the meeting, being himself a Christian leader and pastor. According to Okonkwo, the least the Christian leaders could have done was invite Osinbajo and hear from him, adding that not doing that was “an act of cowardice.” Oyedepo, our source said, did not take kindly to that suggestion from a Bishop of equal caliber, and demanded an apology from Okonkwo. Okonkwo, equally annoyed, insisted on his position and refused to offer an apology at the tension-filled meeting. Sources said the conveners of the meeting did not want to invite Osinbajo as the candidates on the other ticketwere also not represented. But some sources at the meeting said it was a disgrace that a fellow pastor at their level, running for Vice-President was not even allowed to sit in at the meeting which was convened under the banner of the Nigerian Apostolic Coalition,membership of which he was entitled to. While Oyedepo maintained his advocacy for President Jonathan at the meeting, at times in vehement anger and outright disrespect for the opposing views of the other pastors, a leading Bishop from the North spoke up against the plans of Oyedepo and Oritsejafor to mobilize support for the president. Christian leaders in the North have always criticized the lust of some Southern Christian leaders for material things making them not to empathize with the sufferings of the Christians in the North, who are facing persecution. Bishop Jonas Katung of the Maranatha Churchin Josexplained that President Jonathan has done nothing in the past four years deserving of a second term. Katung, who is known as the Lion of Jos, was ordained Bishop in Jos by RCCG’s Pastor E.A. Adeboye in 2013. He strongly advocated that the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket should be given a chance given the level of failure of the incumbent. Pastor Mathew Kasali of the Foundation of Truth Assembly in Lagos also spoke passionately at the meeting, calling on the Christian leaders to remain neutral and not become encumbered with partisan issues for any reason. He also supported Bishop Okonkwo that Pastor Osinbajo, “who is one of us,” should be allowed to address the meeting. A source at the meeting disclosed that the national clamor for change in the country as being captured by the Buhari- Osinbajo ticket has now become a source of great fear by several Christian leaders in the Southern part of the country, essentially because of their own selfish interests. He asked in disappointment, “Where is the fear of God in the lives of some of these leaders?”

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Posted by Donatus Joshua at 07:51 No comments:

Court fixes February 9 for Suit against Buhari

Court fixes February 9 for Suit against Buhari » »A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday fixed February 9 for hearing of a suit seeking the disqualification of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari, from contesting the February 14 election, Guardian reports. Justice Adeniyi Ademola gave the order on Monday in a suit FHC/ABJ/CS/14/2015 filed by an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Max Ozoaka, against Buhari and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. In the substantive suit, Ade Okeaya-Inneh, SAN, counsel to the Mr. Ozoaka, is seeking among other relief: "A declaration that by the combined provisions of Sections 31(1)(2) and (3) of the 2010 Electoral Act as amended and INEC Form CF 001, the 1st defendant is mandatorily obliged by the law to comply strictly with the provisions laid down under the Electoral Act as amended and INEC Form CF 001 as it relates to attaching evidence of the 1st defendants birth certificate and evidence of his educational qualifications as required under INEC Form CF 001;

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Posted by Donatus Joshua at 08:13 No comments:

Pregnant Tiwa Savage dances shoki at APC campaign rally [Photo]

The fact that she is pregnant is not slowing her down at all, the mummy-to-be was present alongside the rest of the Mavin crew last week Friday January 30, 2015 at an APC rally supporting presidential candidates Buhari and Osinbajo. Tiwa displayed her impressive shoki dancing skills to the thrill of the large crowd.

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Posted by Donatus Joshua at 08:04 No comments:

If APC Didn’t Withdraw From The Debate They Would Have Been Stupid – Okupe

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe has said the All Progressives Party made the best decision by letting their presidential candidate and his vice pull out of the presidential debate organized by Broadcast Organization of Nigeria (BON). Here’s what he tweeted through his official tweeter handle.

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Posted by Donatus Joshua at 00:47 No comments:

YOUR OPINION:- Should INEC Postpone The Election To Allow More People Collect Their PVC?

Away from the political campaign by the 2 major political parties in the country, there is another issue that has become a source of controversy. It is the collection of Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) by registered voters by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Daily Trust reports: “A total of 15.5 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), representing 29 per cent, are yet to be distributed, according to a document of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)”. Many Nigerians are agitated by the fact that they have not been able to collect their PVC and the National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki was reported to have said he had discussed the matter with the INEC Chairman Prof Attahiru Jega, adding that a delay within the time allowed by the law will not be a bad idea. “That is what we are encouraging at the moment,” he said, noting that INEC had been able to distribute 30 million PVCs but had an outstanding 38.8 million others to hand out. “The provision (for holding a general election) is for not more than 90 days and not less than 30 days before the end of the administration.” So what do you think? Should INEC postpone the elections to allow more Nigerians collect their PVC and vote or should the elections hold regardless of the millions that might potentially miss out on voting if they do not get their PVCs in time?

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Posted by Donatus Joshua at 05:00 No comments:

Storm rocks Oba of Lagos stool

A storm is raging over the Oba of Lagos stool presently occupied by Oba Rilwan Akiolu. At the centre of the storm is the Akinsemoyin Royal family of Lagos which is accusing the Monarch’s family line of monopolising the stool for centuries. According to findings by Daily Times Nigeria, since inception of Lagos, two royal families have been in existence, rotating the Obaship stool. They are the Akinsemoyin and the Ologunkutere families. The two are said to be the descendants of King Ado, the son of Ashipa who founded Lagos and reigned around1570 . Ado, who reigned after him had three children- Gabaro, Akinsemoyin, both males and Erelu Kuti, female whose son, Ologunkutere started the Ologunkutere family branch since a woman cannot be king. But Gabaro had no surviving child, hence leaving only Akinsemoyin and Ologunkutere to rotate the Obaship of Lagos Stool between them. Akinsemoyin was said to have reigned first between 1704 and 1749, whose reign spanned 45 years. After him came his sister’s son, Ologunkutere, whom Akinsemoyin insisted should reign after him in succession in order to maintain the rotation. However, since the Ologunkutere assumed the stool in 1749, the family has not allowed the Akinsemoyin family near the throne as they have been relegated to the background. The Akinsemoyin family has now moved to challenge the status quo alleging that the incumbent is planning to substitute his branch with the Akinsemoyin family in order to make it extinct. The Ologunkutere or Erelu Kuti family has five branches- Akitoye, Adele-Ajosun, Eshinloku, Olusi and Akiolu, who were the children of Ologunkutere while the Akinsemoyin Ruling House comprises of six branches- Sadeko, Amore/Olukokun, Abisako, Jolasun, Gbosebi, Ambose, Adeyalu and Aderogba. The first major move the Akinsemoyin family made in order to recover their lost stool was shortly before and after the installation of Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, when they protested their being schemed out from the stool for about 200 years. Thus, following the widespread clamour and protest against the injustice, the state government in 1975 set up the Sholanke Tribunal of Inquiry into the Lagos Chieftaincy including the Oba of Lagos Chieftaincy. The tribunal, after its sittings where many people gave evidence submitted its report on 15 January, 1976. In its report, it concluded that there should be two ruling houses in Lagos- the Akinsemoyin and Erelu Kuti, adding that the next ruling house should be Akin­ semoyin since the current one was from Erelu Kuti. Perhaps to further shed more light on the branches, the state government sent the report of the inquiry to another tribunal headed by Justice J. O. Kassim which submitted its report on 19 September 1978 and also recommended six branches – Sadeko, Amore/Olukokun, Abisako, Jolasun, Gbosebi and Aina Egbe who were the children of Akinsemoyin. Erelu Kuti’s branches were given as Akitoye, Adele-Ajosun, Eshinloku, Olusi and Akiolu. The report, as accepted by the state government also indicated that there should be two ruling houses for the Oba of Lagos stool- Akinsemoyin ruling house and Erelu Kuti ruling house and that since the current ruling house is Erelu Kuti, the next ruling house should be Akinsemoyin. The recommendations were placed before the Council of Lagos Chiefs which unanimously accepted and endorsed the report. It was then sent by the Lagos State government to Oba Oyekan as the Chairman of the Lagos Island Chieftaincy Committee before it could be registered. But since then nothing has been heard. After the demise of Oba Oyekan, the Akinsemoyin fam­ ily presented candidates for the throne but before anybody knew anything, Oba Akiolu had been nominated suddenly and taken to Iga Iduganran , on 23 May, 2003 for traditional rites. The Akinsemoyin family then went to court to stop the process demanding that it was its turn to present a candidate for the stool having been shut out for so long. But to preempt them, the state government quickly announced Rilwan Akiolu as the new Oba of Lagos. Promptly, the Akinsemoyin challenged the nomination and the eventual coronation of Akiolu in court and the case ragedin court for some time, raising tension in the city of aquatic splendor. But the tension was doused when the Oniru of Iruland approached the court asking to be allowed to meditate and later brokered a terms of settlement between the two royal families for peace to reign. Part of the terms agreed upon included: that after the reign of Akiolu, the Akinsemoyin family should present the candidate to fill the vacancy of Oba of Lagos. As a result of this agreement, the Akinsemoyin family withdrew the case from court for an amicable settlement. However, since the terms were agreed upon, Oba Akiolu has not signed the agreement for over a year now, raising tension that Akinsemoyin may be shut out again. The family has been in limbo since then. The head of the family, Alhaji Prince S.M. Olowonifela Akinsemoyin told Daily Times Nigeria that the family was at a quandary over the injustice meted out to them pointing out that they might be forced to return to Court. According to him, the Ologunkutere family has been us­ ing power and might to cheat them out of their inalienable right. He assured that they were ready to go to any extent to seek redress. However, when contacted, Oba Akiolu said it was a storm in a tea cup. According to him, they were all one and the same family pointing out that the Akinsemoyin family had nowhere to go but to come to the palace where he said everything will be resolved amicably like brothers.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 01:35 No comments:

So SAD:- Former Peter Odili’s Aide Dies In Fire Inside His Room, Burns To Ashes

  So SAD:- Former Peter Odili’s Aide Dies In Fire Inside His Room, Burns To Ashes (18+) Abazi Bazeno Yeigbagha, a former police officer and one time aid to Dr Peter Odili, when he was Governor of Rivers state, died inside his room at his home at Bazeno plaza, off Aka Rd, Rumolumini, Rivers state, yesterday morning Saturday January 17th. According to a family source who spoke exclusively with LIB, Abazi was alone in his room in the morning when the fire started, while his wife and kids were in the family sitting. They said he was an agile man but got burnt to ashes in the fire. No one knows the cause of the fire and family sources claim it was only his room that got burnt down. They even sent a pic of him after the incident that they wanted me to share… it’s quite graphic so discretion advised. See photo below:-

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 07:14 No comments:

5 Killed, 11 Injured In Suicide Bomb Attack In Gombe

5 Killed, 11 Injured In Suicide Bomb Attack In Gombe

No fewer than five persons were on Friday, January 16,
2015 killed and 11 others injured following an attack
by a suicide bomber believed to be a member of the
Islamist extremists around a market in Gombe state.
The state head of operation of the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA), Saidu Ahmed Minin,
made this disclosure to journalists in the state.
He said, “It was a suicide bombing.
“Six people were killed including the bomber and 11
others were injured. We evacuated them to the
hospital.”
According to Vanguard, witnesses said the blast went
off at 7:25 pm (1825 GMT) in the packed market
neighbourhood of Kasuwar Arawa, close to the public
university in Gombe, which is capital of Gombe state.
Narrating the incident, a taxi driver, Idris Babandada
told AFP by telephone that the bomber set off the bomb
at a charging station where people were waiting to
recharge their phones.
He said, “The bomber went into the crowd of people
waiting to recharge their telephones at a public
charging station and then set off the explosive.
“The explosion shook the whole neighbourhood.”
The injured victims were said to be receiving treatment
from some volunteers and nurses since the medical
doctors in the state had embarked on a strike action.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 05:38 No comments:

Police discover bomb at INEC office in Owerri,

The Imo State Police Command Bomb Disposal Unit yesterday uncovered bomb at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in the State. Also another bomb reportedly planted under a palm tree at the Owerri Capital Development Authority, (OCDA) few metres away from the INEC Office and the state secretariat along Port Harcourt –Owerri Road was found. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Andrew Enwerem who confirmed the two incidents said that the Police acted on a tip off to avert what could have been a total calamity if the two bombs had been exploded. “On arrival at the scene we discovered it was an Improvised Explosive Device, IED planted somewhere near OCDA.” He said that the bomb was detonated without any harm, adding that the police had thrown its dragnet to fish out those behind the act. When our correspondent visited both INEC and OCDA along Port Harcourt Road at about 10 am, there was heavy presence of armed Policemen that condoned off the entire areas. The Secretary of the Electoral Commission, Mr. Obi Olucha said, “we saw something when we reported to work this morning and we called in the police who said it was fertiliser chemical.” Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday confirmed that about 50 percent of eligible voters in the State are yet to get their Permanent Voter’s Card(PVC). The Commission also disclosed that some electoral Wards in eleven Local Government Areas out of the 27 Council Areas of the State would not be part of the fresh distribution of PVC that would commence today (Thursday). The affected LGAs include Oru East, Okigwe, Ohaji/ Egbema, Ezinihitte, Isu, Obowo, Nkwerre,Njaba, Ngor Okpala, Ideato South and Orsu Council Area where no PVC was supplied at all. Speaking at a news conference yesterday at the INEC state headquarters, the new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Gabriel Ada, disclosed that the PVC yet to arrive the State, but expressed worry that the people are yet to collect the once available. He said, “the statistics of the card distribution in the state is still below 60 percent and this does not augur well for a full participatory democracy which we anticipate. This is totally unacceptable to the Commission”. He stated further that, “given this, the Commission has recommended that we go back to the field for another ten days to distribute these PVCs to their rightful owners, but at the Registration Area (Ward) level. This is in bid to ensure that every Nigerian is given an opportunity to exercise his/her franchise”.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 10:31 No comments:

Balogun Market Inferno

There was pandemonium at dawn in Lagos on Tuesday, January 13, as Lagosians woke up to the news that the famous Balogun market on Lagos Island has gone up in flames. IT’s the morning after, signposted only by the mourning. Balogun, the ever burstling market in Lagos State was a shadow of itself on Tusday. Gone were the bright faces that usually welcomed visitors. In its place were forlon looks, as traders, and passersby beheld the shadow of a billion-Naira market. About 24 hours earlier, there was pandemonium all over. Lagosians had woken up to the news that the famous Balogun market on Lagos Island had gone up in flames. Learning about the fire, big time merchants, importers and traders that ruled the market besieged Balogun Street, only to meet a barricade of police and fire fighters battling to bring the inferno under control. The fire, which razed a large area of Balogun and Gbadebo streets, the trading hub and nerve centre of business for decades, started about 3am, and there was very little the fire fighters could save. There is no clue yet on what led to the inferno, which some of the shop keepers and security operatives hinted might have been the result of electrical discharge, when power came on in the wee hours of the day. The smell of burning leather, plastics and textile products hung heavily in the air as the reporter approached Balogun Street from the Broad Street end. When Naijadoops  arrived, security men had barricaded the street from about 200 metres from the Broad Street end - six Lagos State Fire Service vehicles and two Rapid Response Squad (RSS) patrol vans formed part of the barricades, with security men milling around the scene, both preventing anxious and wailing traders from going in to assess their losses. A crane could be seen at work further down the street hoisting and shooting water directly onto the multi-storey buildings oozing thick black smoke into the atmosphere. The whole of Balogun Street was a sea of misery, chaos and wailings. Traders and business men, women, many of them young hawkers for their masters, could be seen sitting in rows and in silence; also young women, all commission sales persons, who eke out a living from what they sell. Gbajumo Street, off Davies Street, directly behind Balogun Street, is a haven of leather goods; the fire had engulfed a greater part of the street known for its wholesale trading activities, retail and hard bargain leather businesses. Alhaja Tura is one of the most grieved. Pushing 70, Tura has been in Balogun market since her middle age. She wept as she revealed that she has never dreamt one day that she would lose all her life’s labour to fire. Speaking in her native Yoruba dialect, Alhaja said she could not quantify her loss; all her life’s efforts and investment had perished before her eyes in her old age. Nothing can be more wicked, she lamented. “I’m finished,” said Sylvester Ike, an Aba businessman in his 40s whose shop had been razed. “My life is cut off and this is the end for me,” he wailed. A fair-complexioned young woman whom the Naijadoops  had trailed from Balogun to Gbajumo finally gathered enough wits to talk. She had been struggling with security men to allow her in to see what she could with her eyes, so that she would know what to report to ‘Alhaja’, but her demand was firmly turned down. Giving her name as Mrs. Sulaimon, she was in charge of Alhaja’s many shops. “Ah, what will I tell Alhaja?” she lamented. “The goods in that shop were more than N10 million. ‘Alhaja’ must not hear of this; what am I going to tell her?” ‘Alhaja’ turned out to be her mother; she had been the one running the chain of three shops - two on Gbajumo and the biggest one on Balogun - and all had been razed by the mysterious fire. “We took in market only on Monday. Then I was called up on phone on Tuesday that Balogun was on fire. I didn’t know how I got here. “The cash in the Balogun shop,” she seemed to have just remembered the cash, as she spoke, and held her head and screamed: ‘Yeeeeeh’. It was gathered that she had been selling for her mother since she left secondary school, over 15 years ago. Another of the women lamented that “Iya Ruka has heard thenews. She is still in shock. She has not spoken a word since yesterday. Her husband is the one keeping her inside, assuring her that it was not a serious fire and her area of the market was not affected. I just came from there. Baba has turned off the television and radio so that Iya Ruka will not hear any news. If Iya Ruka knows the truth, she would die.” “Mummy is not okay o,” another said. “How can she be okay? You cannot know what we are talking about. Six shops she has been building up for more than 20 years. All our lives are in that business, then all of them burnt down; just like that? I hope it is a dream.” An Igbo woman who gave her name as Ifeoma was biting her thumb in her grief when Naijadoops  approached her. She managed to tell her story. “They called me early in the morning that Balogun was burning o. I don’t know how that could happen because I have been selling in this market before I married; more than 10 years ago, and this kind of thing had never hap­ pened. “We were calling ourselves on phone and everybody run up here, but police will not let us in. See, everything is burnt. The shoes I have in my shop are more than 500 pairs; that is all my life,” Ifeoma sobbed. As she talked, a policeman on guard accompanied a young man holding wads of completely burnt out money, and Ifeoma exclaimed, pointing, “Look at money; our goods and money are all burnt.” She held her head in both hands and lamented in Igbo language: “O God, what will I do? This market is my life and my blood.” It was gathered that the heavy losses of merchandize, including cash, is the result of massive trading turnovers, especially those that come in the evenings. “Before you close, the banks have closed, so we are used to keeping huge amounts of money in the shops. This is Balogun market; everybody keeps cash over night, sometimes for many days. Then when the banks open, you go and put them there, but now,” she pointed, “all are gone, gone.” Ifeoma said she started as a sales girl in Balogun before she married, and it took a life time to build her business that has now gone up in flames. A second woman beside her, Monika, said she was able to reach her shop on Monday early enough to retrieve some of her cash. “I was here yesterday (Monday) and I rushed there inside the fire, recovered part of my money in the drawer, but the rest got burnt with all my shoes.” Many of the victims said they had never experienced this tragedy in Balogun market. “I used to hear of fire in other places, even that one that happened in Great Nigeria House, but it never happened to me,” Ifeoma wondered. “How can this kind of thing hit us when we are just beginning a New Year?” Seeing the despair on the faces of the crowd and traders, you know that their losses in the last two days can never be quantified. It is a colossal loss. According to Ifeoma, “everybody lost everything…from this part to that place, fire is burning; nobody could save anything. Evil visited us today.” The big time losers Top Igbo and Hausa business men were the biggest los­ ers. Naijadoops  gathered that some of them have not fully resumed business this January, as they traveled abroad. Others are still taking their time before they resume, but their sales managers and apprentice sales- boys have been up and doing, since the second week of the new year. Naijadoops  tried to get word from an importer of textile who was said to have opened four container loads on Monday; he was unable to speak a word. His boys could not take him away from the scene, so they just gathered around him and mourned over the destruction of their business empire. One of his boys was able to give a hint of his master’s loss. “We used to offload two containers every Thursday and Friday but, last Monday, because of the holidays, we opened four containers. Customers have paid and we were sorting out their orders for them to collect from day break, when the fire started. Now all those are gone.” Mr. Innocent Ikeguonu, one of the top importers there said nobody can know what this disaster is, “many of us cannot even feel it yet.” This may well be so as most of Balogun traders do not carry insurance covers for their businesses; even cash- in-transit covers are few and far between. Panic calls were still being made when our correspondent left the scene. Some of the business owners are not even in Lagos yet…they had to be informed on phone. Balogun market is as old as Lagos Island, all markets from Idumota, Nnamdi Azikiwe Street, Martins, Davies, Gbajumo, even the very corporate Broad Street all flow into Balogun market. Many businesses on the mainland draw their life-line and resources from the razed market.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 01:55 No comments:

Tompolo: Evolution of an ex Niger Delta Warlord

Reclusive. Covert. Self-effacing. These words aptly describe ex-Niger Delta warlord, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, who has of recent evolved into one of the most influential kingmakers in Delta State and indeed in the Niger Delta. He’s seldom seen, rarely heard, yet the Ijaw traditional title holder’s hold on the happenings in the Niger Delta waterways and lately his image of a political heavy weight, pulling the strings in many puzzling instances compels an analysis. Born in 1969, Tompolo was just another regular Niger Delta youth and little was known of him until a few years ago when he emerged one of the fiery commanders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a militant group which said it was fighting the injustices visited on the region. However, those who have followed his evolution also say that in 1993 Ekpemupolo dropped out of college and joined a resistance group in the Niger Delta and later the Ijaw Youth Council, which was then still very new. Spurred on by the exploits of their compatriots, including Mr Adaka Boro and the popular playwright, Ken Saro Wiwa, who both paid the supreme price in their attempt to ‘liberate’ the Niger Delta, the youths who took up arms against the federal government were bent on proving a point that it wasn’t going to be business as usual. Having substantially empowered himself and his lieutenants, Ekpemupolo, perceived to be one of the most financially buoyant ex-militants in the region, took on the authorities in what would later prove to be a watershed in the history of Nigeria. When it became apparent that Tompolo and his ilk would not budge in their confrontation against the Nigerian military and their attempt to cripple the economy largely dependent on crude oil from the Niger Delta, the Federal Government came up with a quick fix–the amnesty programme. Counted as one of the most visible achievements of the late President Umar Yar’adua’s government, the ex- militants were, by the agreement, required to submit their arms to the authorities while the Federal Govern­ ment would in turn rehabilitate and empower them. Though critics argue that a substantial portion of his riches came as a result of his involvement in illegal oil bunkering, which he has denied, and of course from his recent closeness to the government at the centre, those who are close to him see him as a staunch businessman with the magic wand. “My name became associated with oil business when I was in Camp 5. When people were doing illegal business in my area (front of Camp 5), I had people with me and would ask them to go and ask these people to give them some money so that we could feed with it. But I would never do it myself,” he said. “Everybody knows that I am not a bunkerer and that is the more reason why I am surviving up till date”, he once said. He secured a multi-billion naira deal to secure the waterways after reluctantly accepting the amnesty on June 27, 2009, thereby publicly renouncing armed militancy. Ekpemupolo does not necessarily court controversies, but controversies have become a part of his relatively short life, despite his attempt to draw attention to his human side by floating a foundation which caters for the needs of the less privileged. He has renovated dilapidated schools and put brilliant kids on scholarship. Less than two months ago, a widely published statement by the taciturn ex-militant stopped the federal government from inaugurating the $16bn gas project in Delta state. The Ijaw people currently have a disagreement with the Itsekiri over the ownership of the land on which the project is located and its naming Just before the dust raised by that action had settled, the issue of some journalists who were allegedly held by some boys loyal to the ex-warlord surfaced and then later the accusation that he had imported some gun­ boats which the navy later said belonged to the military. With a frail figure which he tends to balance with unri­ valled courage, Tompolo, born to a royal house in Okerenkoko in Gbaramatu kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government, Delta State has the uncanny ability to read his environment calculatingly and take full ad­ vantage of the opportunities. Even before his recent cryptic foray into politics, there were insinuations that Tompolo’s influence sustained his kinsman, Chief Wellington Okrika who was then the Executive Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, for the period he (Okrika)headed the commission. He was said to have also influenced the enthronement of the late Godwin Bebenimibo, a retired Superintendent of Police, as Gbaran III Agadagba, the traditional ruler of the Gbaramatu kingdom, where he (Tompolo) hails from. However, away from the armed struggle, Tompolo who says he practices Christianity, Islam and African Traditional religion, has found a new pastime- that of a political kingmaker. In the build-up to the 2015 elections, three incidents of his fresh journey in politics readily come to mind. The overnight standing down of an Itsekiri candidate by Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, governor of Delta State, in last November’s local government elections in the state after serious pressure from Tompolo. Festus Keyamo, a well-known lawyer of Delta State origin, who took up the case, accused Governor Uduaghan of playing politics in Warri South-West Local Government Area, the affected council, which he said was capable of igniting a serious crisis in the State. Mr. Weyinmi Omadeli, the candidate who was displaced less than 48 hours to the election, had emerged the PDP chairmanship candidate of the L.G.A after the primaries were conducted, but was suddenly asked to withdraw for Tompolo’s brother, George Ekpemupolo. Riled by the alleged injustice, Keyamo wrote, “However, in a strange twist of fate, you (Uduaghan) summoned Mr. Omadeli to your private residence in Warri on Thursday, October 23, 2014 (barely 48 hours to the elec­ tion) and informed him that you had given orders to DSIEC to replace his name with that of Mr. George Ekpemupolo who is the younger brother to Mr. Govern­ ment Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo). For the records also, Mr. George Ekpemupolo is an Ijaw by tribe.” “The decision was taken whimsically and it is unjust, unfair, illegal and ungodly,” he declared in the letter. “Consequently, it is unacceptable and will be challenged legally and politically”, he added. The deci­ sion was not reversed. Tompolo was also responsible for forcing Uduaghan to step down for Senator James Manager during December’s National Assembly primaries in the contest for Delta South senatorial seat. Both Tompolo and Senator Manager are of the Delta Ijaw stock. In his speech announcing his withdrawal from the poll, Uduaghan said the decision was to ‘give peace a chance’ and not to jeopardise the fragile calm in the state. The former warlord also single-handedly ensured the emergence of his longtime ally who is said to be his cousin, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, as the Deputy Governor nominee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State. Otuaro is currently a commissioner at the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC). The deputy governor nominee, an Ijaw man himself, emerged despite opposition from the Isoko people, another major ethnic group in Delta South, who relied on a seemingly unwritten zoning arrangement of the ruling PDP in the state. The battle for who should become the deputy governor of the state had squared the trio of Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, an ex-chair of Burutu local government, who reportedly preferred former Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Braduce Amakazi Angozi. Senator Manager was said to have supported one Mr J.T. Government, a former chairman of SUBEB in the state under the administration of Chief James Ibori, while Tompolo supported Otuaro, who eventually emerged as the officially recognized nominee. Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the governorship candidate of the PDP also emerged as a result of Mr. Ekpemupolo’s ‘’long legs’’ and rising influence in the politics of the state. He changed the political arithmetic of the state by teaming up with Delta north to ensure the emergence of Okowa against Uduaghan’s initial candidate, Mr Tony Obuh and later Mr David Edevbie, who was a last minute choice of the establishment. Yet, despite the political rigmarole, Okowa won, thereby paving the way for an Ijaw deputy governor nominee who was appointed by Mr Tompolo. Already, he has been crisscrossing the state, holding se­ cret meetings with traditional rulers, drumming support for President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP standard bearer, Senator Okowa over next February’s general election. However, there are critics who feel that given his antecedents in armed militancy, it would be a misfit for a former militant to decide who governs and who gets what, when and how in the state. Mr Robinson Ariyo, a development expert and lawyer believes when there are persons of impeccable character in the society, such humongous respon­ sibilities should not be handed over to people who have a ‘questionable’ past. Ariyo urged the government to desist from rewarding bad behaviour by awarding contracts to the armed gangs, urging them to clamp down on those who wield sophisticated arms to intimidate their neighbours. ‘’ These youths have weapons the least of which is the AK47’’ the rights activist said. He demanded the disarming of the armed youths, describing their alleged continuous protection by the Nigerian state as a ‘dis­ grace’. But, depending on which side of the divide both critics and loyalists belong, there is the general consensus that the ex-militant has evolved from being a warlord in the creeks to being a kingmaker whose opinion is sought when issues of leadership in Delta and indeed the re­ gion are concerned. However, whether he will still be relevant politically as he currently is, when President Goodluck Jonathan, also an Ijaw man, serves out his tenure(s) in Aso Rock, remains to be seen.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 00:33 No comments:

Meet Nigerian Female Presidential Candidate Remi Sonaiya

The 2015 election season is undoubtedly an interesting one, as people from different walks of life vye for public office. People like Remi Sonaiya , female presidential candidate running on the KOWA party platform, is one of such individuals that makes this period enthralling. Sonaiya intends to change the face of Nigerian politics without help from a godfather and without spending millions on campaigns, CHANNELS reports. “I have a stake in Nigeria. I am qualified to run for the presidency of Nigeria…Like what Barack Obama said, he thought there was a skinny little black boy who thought that America had room for him. Well, this not so skinny woman thinks that Nigeria has a place for her, at the leadership level also,” she said. She also stated that she had avoided joining one of the two major political parties, because she did not agree with their ideologies, internal lack of democracy, and godfatherism. Sonaiya, who reportedly holds a doctorate in linguistics, decried the culture of spending millions of Naira on campaigns, stating that such funds could be channeled into developmental projects for building the nation.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 23:34 No comments: