Published on July 30, 2017

National Assembly Senate member, Ben Murray-Bruce has said that elder statesman, Tanko Yakassai, failed to comprehend with the statement made by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar on restructuring.
Before now, Yakassai had castigated Abubakar’s comments on the method in which Nigeria should be restructured without following the due processes of the Constitution.
However, Bruce, representing Bayelsa East in the Upper Chamber was quick to attack him on Sunday, saying that the former Vice President understood the principle as far as restructuring Nigeria is concerned.
“I am a member of the National Assembly and participated fully in the budget process and I must say that Alhaji Yakassai is wrong to tie restructuring to just one budget cycle.

 
 

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Published on July 30, 2017

A former governor of Abia state and chairman of Slok group, Orji Uzor Kalu has said that the Biafran agitation being spearheaded by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, will not succeed.
Kalu, while delivering a lecture at the Inauguration of an Igbo support group for Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, in Lokoja on Saturday, Kalu insinuated that the actualization of Biafra will not be possible now.
In his words: “We must fix Nigeria to work for all inclusive of all aspiration of all. We (Igbo) have made progress but it is not yet Uhuru for us. This is not the time to pop champagne but a time for conscious reflection on the road we have passed, where we are and where we intend to be in the years ahead.
As Igbos, we must stop listening to people who says Biafra is possible. If we want Biafra we must first ensure that referendum is included in the constitutional review.
Nigeria should be thinking of annexing other Africa country rather than dividing it. China is 2 billion and not talking about secession. But Nigeria with less than 200 million populace is talking secession,”.
Kalu also decried the rise of Ethnic activism while reacting to the Igbo quit notice by Arewa youths. He said; “Recently, we have witnessed a rise in ethnic activism. A lot of people have expressed fears that Nigeria may be coming to an end.
Well in politics, you have to entertain all manner of fears while working on possibilities. However, because of that fears, we have seen a ‘quit notice’ order from some northern youth groups.
I will focus on the possibilities. And the first is that a United Nigeria is an easier possibility than a balkanized country. I see a more united country rising from the ashes of hate and fear. However, the issues raised have causes some to wonder if the Igbo have leaders. Of course, Igbo’s leaders are talking and dialoguing. In politics, you often dialogue more than you talk.

 
 

Politics

Published on July 30, 2017

The deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Timi Frank has reacted to the recent nullification of the suspension of APC legal adviser, Muiz Banire.
Frank, on Sunday, stated that the removal of Banire’s suspension by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party which has vindicated him. Banire was suspended by his ward in Lagos for alleged anti-party activities but the suspension was lifted by the APC NWC two days later.
The nullification of the suspension was announced through a statement signed by the party’s publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, citing reasons from the party’s constitution which stipulated that local chapters of the party had no powers to suspend a national officer like Banire.
Frank says that the Oyegun-led NWC were aware of this part of the APC Constitution but decided to keep ‘quiet’ He described John Oyegun as a ‘master of confusion’ who only danced to the tunes of his ‘paymasters’. In his words;

 
 

Acting President, Professor, Yemi Osinbajo has lauded the gallant efforts of staff of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company and University Of Maiduguri staff that were ambushed by the dreaded Islamic group called Boko Haram last week.
As at the last count, PoliticsNGR learnt that at least 14 soldiers, 11 civilian joint task force, CJTF, and five staff of the university who were on a mission to explore the Lake Chad Basin Frontier, were killed in the attack and subsequent rescue efforts.
Some of the staff of UNIMAID are still confirmed missing while three of their staff are in the custody of the terrorist group. However, in a statement by the Acting President spokesperson, Laolu Akande on Sunday, Osinbajo stated that Nigerians would never forget their sacrifices for the country and assured that his security forces won’t relent in securing the safe release of the abducted ones.

The Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has shared his thoughts on the efforts made by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to fulfill its 2015 electioneering promises to the Nigerian masses.
According to Onaiyekan, only a fool will expect Buhari to change every situation in Nigeria for good.
He stressed that real change took longer time to be achieved.
He, however, expressed the fear that Nigerians were no longer as enthusiastic about the All Progressives Congress (APC) government as they were two years ago, because they had hoped that the change that was promised them would be faster in coming.
The cleric maintained that if Nigerian electorates could vote out the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in 2015, the current APC government should know that they too can be voted out in 2019.
Onaiyekan told DAILY SUN: “The reality is there. It is only a fool who will think that a change of government would change everything for good.
“It will take time. But you see, it takes time doesn’t mean that you will sit and do nothing. Like I said, we need time. People will patiently give you time when they perfectly see the line you are following and if they can follow the line you are following and they see the line in the right direction, they will be patient.
“I am afraid that the reason why many Nigerians were hopeful two years ago are no longer precisely because they had expected that things would move faster than what it is.
“The question about whether it is a failure of those who rule depends on how you look at it. But what I will say is that we should give them the benefit of the doubt that they are doing their best, and that is giving them benefit of doubt because they are people who think that they are doing their best.
“But suppose they are doing their best, then we won’t complain. But the fact is, if this is their best, then their best is not good enough. But isn’t it why democracy is very good; why democracy has terms of office?
“In another two years, they will face us and we will mark their exams of either pass them or fail them.
“And if the Nigerian electorate were able to vote out the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) government, I am sure that the All Progressives Congress (APC) people should know that they too can be voted out.
“Will they be voted out in 2019? I don’t know. It depends on what the situation will be in 2019. In order words, it is possible for a lot of things to change between now and 2019 in such a way that they wouldn’t want this thing to continue.
“But if by 2019 a lot of Nigerians are not satisfied, they will try another group or party which I think was the right situation in 2015. We will continue to try.”
The Cardinal further declared that the nation was in dire need of reorganization.
He said the Federal Government needed to urgently look at the various agitations across the length and breadth of the country and chart a way forward.
Onaiyekan added that engaging the nation in another conference or a committee to look into similar past conferences was not a bad idea only if it would meet the yearnings of Nigerians
He said: “A few things have been happening of recent which is indicating that things are more difficult to sustain. When you combine all these phenomena, you get a general picture of a nation that is very fragile and of the need to seriously address certain undermining and abiding causes of disturbance, dissatisfaction amongst our people.
“Let me just mention a few of those phenomena: first, there is a call for secession from the Southeast, which is the Biafra issue. Then we have had a call for secession from the Niger Delta who are completely dissatisfied with the way the Nigeria government is treating them and in whose land much of our foreign reserve is acquired. Then we should not forget too that even the Boko Haram phenomenon started off as a revolt against the status quo in this country. Finally, the statement and utterances of a group that nobody knew about before, that call themselves Arewa youths, who made a statement that has gathered momentum on its own, namely: giving a quit notice to the Igbos to leave within a given time.
“Each of these ones, on their own affair appears like a joke. But when you combine them all together, they indicate that the country needs to reorganize itself well. When people talk of restructuring, the only thing I can get from it is that we have a country that needs to be reorganized.
“And if you are talking on that line, I think everybody in Nigeria will agree that Nigeria, as it stands now, is not a perfect country. Things have to change. The discussion is generally not so easy. Also, because one man’s meat could also be another man’s poison, the changes that some people want, maybe is not the kind of changes other people want. So, how do we handle this?
“This is where I believe the government should look at all these ideas that are coming out; Suggestions that are of how best to run this country in such a way that people will have a sense of belonging.
“Then the feeling of an institutional injustice will be removed. We have gone through this before on issues of how Nigeria should be studied in various constitutional conferences. And some of those congresses, the results have been kept in idleness.
“If we want to really face this now, it is wise not to re-invent the wheel, but to go back again to some of the ideas that have popped up before and see which of them can be useful.”

Nigeria: Dalung Inaugurates Boards of 29 Sports Federations

July 20, 2017

Two persons have been arrested in Bayelsa State for alleged involvement in human trafficking, the police have said.
The police spokesperson in the state, Asinim Butswat, said Wednesday that Erica Wolo, a 24-year-old woman, and Patrick John, a 19-year-old man, were arrested for being members of a syndicate that trafficked two Nigerian women from Bayelsa to Burkina Faso.
One of the victims, Ebitari Godfrey, 20, was said to have escaped from her captors at Burkina Faso to the Nigerian Embassy and was repatriated to Nigeria.
The police gave the name of the second victim as Lucy Samuel, 19.
Mr. Butswat, a deputy superintendent of police, said the police swung into action when a case of abduction was reported against one of the suspects, Ms. Wolo, who is from Agudama Epie, Yenagoa.
The suspects, according to the police investigation, took the victims to Lagos State to a woman identified simply as Madam Beauty and from there they were trafficked to Burkina Faso.
The police said they were making effort to arrest Madam Beauty and to repatriate the other victim who they said also escaped from her captors.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to set aside an earlier order, suspending the recall of Sen. Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi).
INEC commenced Melaye’s recall following the receipt of a petition from members of his constituency.
Melaye, however, approached the court, seeking an order stopping INEC from going ahead with the process, pending the determination of a suit he filed to challenge his recall.
The senator had in the suit alleged irregularities and fraud in the petition.
In the application which was argued by his lawyer, Mr. Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Melaye submitted that the signatories in the petition were fake, fictitious and concocted.
He added that some of the signatures were for dead members of his constituency.
In his ruling, Justice John Tsoho, ordered parties to maintain status quo, pending the determination of the matter.
He adjourned further hearing till September 29.
INEC, however, applied that the matter be heard before a vacation judge.
When the matter came up on Thursday, counsel to INEC, Mr. Sulayman Ibrahim, informed the court of an application seeking to set aside the ex-parte order made by the court on July 6, to maintain the status quo.
He also told the court about another application, seeking accelerated hearing of the matter during vacation.
In the application seeking the vacation of the ex-parte order, INEC argued that the order violated its right to fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
The Commission said the order was against its time-bound constitutional duty, which is the time frame stipulated by law to carry out a recall.

July 20, 2017

The Nigerian Senate

The Senate has suspended the confirmation of Rufus Akeju, a Lagos State nominee for reappointment as a Resident Electoral Commissioner.
Although Mr. Akeju had been recommended for confirmation by the Nasif Suleiman-led committee on INEC, the Senate resolved to step down his confirmation after Biodun Olujimi, PDP-Ekiti, raised legal concerns with the process.
Mrs. Olujimi waved a court document as she spoke, saying the Appeal Court had rejected Mr. Akeju’s appeal.
Efforts by Solomon Olamilekan, APC-Lagos, to ensure Mr. Akeju was confirmed, on argument the INEC committee had cleared him, failed.
Mr. Solomon was opposed by Peter Nwaoboshi, PDP-Delta, who said the Senate should not disregard pronouncement of a court.
It was therefore resolved that the Mrs. Olujimi furnish the INEC committee with the document she held, so that the committee would report back to the Senate later in respect of Mr. Akeju.
However, before Mr. Akeju failed the confirmation hurdle, Mr. Suleiman, APC-Bauchi, said his committee had decided to step down the confirmation of Mahmuda Isah, Kebbi State; and Ahmad Mahmud, Zamfara State for “further consultation” without disclosing any reason.
Then, the committee expressly advised the Senate to decline confirmation of the nominee from Niger State, Mustapha Zubairu, over claim he hails from the same senatorial district as the INEC National Commissioner for North Central, Mohammed Haruna.
In sum, therefore, four of the 12 nominees involved in the second leg of the Senate’s INEC committee screening, failed the confirmation hurdle Thursday, though three had cases stepped down “for further consultation”.
The Senate had in June confirmed 15 persons, out of the 27 nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari as RECs, to head INEC operations at the state level.
The eight that were confirmed are:
1. Asmau Maikudi, Katsina, new appointment;
2. Sam Olumekun, Ondo, reappointment;
3. Riskuwa Shehu, Sokoto, new appointment;
4. Kasim Geidam, Yobe, reappointment;
5. Jibrin Zarewa, Kano, reappointment;
6. Abdulganiyu Raji, Oyo, new appointment;
7. Samuel Egwu, Kogi, new appointment;
8. Mike Igini, Delta, reappointment;
The four that failed:
1. Mustapha Zubairu, Niger, new appointment; and
2. Ahmad Mahmud, Zamfara, new appointment.
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3. Rufus Akeju, Lagos, reappointment; and
4. Mahmuda Isah, Kebbi, new appointment.

Following the report of Senator Suleiman Nazif Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission to the Chambers Thursday, the Senate has screened 8 out of 12 recommended by the Committee.
Those screened are…
1. Dr. Mrs. Asmau Sani Maikudi Katsina
2. Sam Olugbadebo Olumekun Ondo
3. Dr. Mahmuda Isah Kebbi
4. Amb. Dr. Rufus Oloruntoyin Lagos
5. Professor Riskuwa A. Shehu Sokoto
6. Barr. Kasim Gaya Geidam Yobe
7. Jibrin Ibrahim Zarewa Kano
8. Abdulganiyu Olayinka Raji Oyo
9. Professor Samuel God. Egwu Kogi
10. Barrister Mike Igini Delta
11. Professor Mustapha Zubairu Niger
12. Ahmad Bello Mahmud Zamfara
Four nominees have unresolved issues with a heated debate on that of Lagos state nominee, Dr. Rufus Oloruntoyin as a result of court judgement against him.
Those stepped down for further legislative consultation were Ahmad Bello Mahmud, Zamfara, and Dr. Mahmuda Isah, Kebbi state while the Niger State Representative, Professor Mustapha Zubairu was outrightly rejected.
Meanwhile, Senator Biodun Olujimi who raised objection against the screening of Dr. Rufus Oloruntoyin posited that there was a sworn affidavit against him.
She further explained that the nominee appealed against that, but was thrown out.
“Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, there was court sworn affidavit against Lagos nominee, and I want to seek the leave of the Chambers to step down his screening”, she said.
In his contribution, Senator Olamilekan reminded the Chambers that the man was being reappointed based on his track records, canvassing that Senate should not allow pettiness to override serious issues.
“Mr President, distinguished colleagues, I beg you to leave out partisan politics and allow the screening because we are dealing with serious issues here”, Olamilekan said.
Senator Peter Nwaoboshi on his part, stated that the chamber cannot overlook the judgement of the court.
Senate Minority leader, Godswill Akpabio aligned that he should be referred back to the Committee on INEC.
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki upheld the decision that only those without encumbrances could be screened which was approved through a voice vote.

Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke once allegedly threatened to reveal everything that transpired in the controversial fraudulent transactions between her and co-conspirators, Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore.
She made the comment in a recorded telephone conversation, obtained by the prosecutors probing the corruption allegations against her.
It has now been filed as part of a civil complaint by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ),seeking the forfeiture of over $144 million slush funds.
In the recorded conversation with Aluko, Diezani said she helped her co-conspirators secure the multi-billion dollar Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) deals.
She expressed her anger over the acquisition of assets by Aluko and Omokore.
Dieziani warned that they may invite law enforcement agencies due to their lavish lifestyle.
“You and Jide [i.e., OMOKORE] had some of the most support that we could possibly give. At a time when we’re not doing anything else, we stuck our necks out regarding the SAA and we supported it. [INAUDIBLE] How the two of you have ruined it is incredulous and incredible to all of us,” she said.
“I spoke to you several times about your general behaviour, acquisition of assets, etc., asking you to be a bit more careful because [INAUDIBLE] will start following you. I remember we had this open discussion more than once. You kept telling me that there was no issue because you did it in a certain way, you did it in a certain—and I kept telling you that it doesn’t matter how you do it.
“Once you start acquiring, acquiring, acquiring at a certain level, then you’ll be—whether you like it or not, whether it was done in the most transparent—you understand?— manner or not, because they will want to trace where it came from. This is an age of terrorism.
“If you want to hire a yacht, you lease it for two weeks or whatever. You don’t go and sink funds into it at this time when Nigerian oil and gas sector is under all kinds of watch, as we have been for some time, and where Atlantic [i.e., AEDC and/or AEBD] itself has been the subject of all kinds of speculation,” she said.
In the recorded audio, the ex-Minister threatened that she was ready to reveal everything that transpired between them to Nigerians.
“I said tell him [i.e., ALUKO] to bring everything out, and then you know what will happen? No problem, I will be happy to escort all of you to jail along with myself. I said, in fact, you’ll be shocked by what I will do. Because when it comes to that, I will come out and tell the Nigerian people this is what happened.
“Oh, yes, I will blame myself, but it [INAUDIBLE] place and everything. Anything they want to say, I am happy to go. But I will come out openly and say it so that they can judge me openly. And then all of us go and sit on the gate. Let us see who survived [INAUDIBLE], me or you,” she said.

Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi, says there would have been chaos in Nigeria if Ali Modu Sheriff won at the Supreme Court.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary, Guild of Online Journalists, Jacob Onjewu Dickson.
The group had paid a courtesy call on Makarfi at his residence in Kaduna on Sunday.
Makarfi said: “The court verdict is a victory for democracy; it has brought stability to the political terrain.
“If a contrary verdict was pronounced, it would have resulted to chaos. And with other chaotic situations in the country, it would have been bad,” he said.
The PDP Chairman explained that though there was genuine plans to reconcile all the party faithful, only those willing to embrace same can be reconciled with.
Makarfi said though from the judgment, there was no victor, no vanquish, the caretaker committee would carry all members of the party along.
“We will provide a level playing field for everyone, that it how we can return the party to back to power at the centre,” he said.
Makarfi, a two-term Governor of Kaduna State, congratulated Nigerians for the victory, assuring of its people oriented policies that would reach all sectors of the society.

Eket (Akwa Ibom) – The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), has warned the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in Akwa Ibom against the sale of adulterated products to consumers.
Dr Joseph Frank-Briggs, the DPR Operations Controller in charge of Akwa Ibom, gave the warning in an interview in Eket on Sunday.

Frank-Briggs said that the department would withdraw the operating licenses of marketers involved in such practice and also seal their stations to serve as deterrent to others.
He spoke against the backdrop of kerosene explosion that occurred in Eket on July 4 which claimed two lives and left six persons with serious burns.
The operations manager expressed concern over the frequent incidents of kerosene explosion in the state.
He advised the people of the state to buy products from licensed petroleum stations only instead of patronising peddlers that are more likely to sell adulterated products to consumers.
Frank-Briggs said that the department was collaborating with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps to apprehend those involved in selling adulterated kerosene in the state.
He added that the department would also collaborate with the state Ministry of Information to sensitise the public on the dangers of adulterated petroleum products.
“A lot of people are ignorant of it and if such awareness is not created, people will continue to fall victims to such explosions,” he said.

araki, Okowa, Ibori express confidence in Nigeria’s unity