The Nation Newspaper

Category: News Update

  • Reps to probe Otedola’s AMCON payment

    Reps to probe Otedola’s AMCON payment

    …Set up panel

    The House of Representatives on Thursday set up an eight-member panel to investigate the payment of N140.9 billion to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria by businessman Femi Otedola.

    Speaker Aminu Tambuwal named the members of the panel to investigate the transaction which took place during the end of legislative year recess of the House.

    The Minority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila,  heads the panel.

    Other members are Sani Kalgo, Idris Wase, Jerry Manwe, Pally Iriase, Muraina Ajibola, Evelyn Ojakovo and Uzo Azubuike.

    The House had criticized the N140.9 billion debt settlement deal between Otedola and AMCON, saying the transaction was suspect.

    The payment, which was credited to AMCON’s managing director, Mustafa Chike-Obi, was Otedola’s outstanding debt to the corporation.

    Obi confirmed that AMCON board approved the transfer of Otedola’s assets as well as undisclosed cash to the corporation as full payment and final settlement of his liabilities.

    The House, however, said the transaction was done with “confidentiality and secrecy” and that “the National Assembly would be interested in getting full details of the transaction.”

    According to the House, the procedure was unacceptable.

    “It is curious that AMCON, being a government establishment, which is under the purview of the National Assembly, could do that without the knowledge of the House,” Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Zakari Mohammed, had said.

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  • Nigeria records success in anti-drug trafficking measures – Adoke

    Nigeria records success in anti-drug trafficking measures – Adoke

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, on Thursday said the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency had recorded tremendous success in the fight against drug trafficking and its abuse in the country.

    Adoke told the News Agency of in Addis Ababa that Nigeria was determined to eradicate drug trafficking and its abuse, especially among the youth.

    “It was our success story in fighting drug trafficking, abuse and other related issues like consumption that made the United States government to recognise our efforts and delisted Nigeria from the list of trafficking nations,’’ the minister said.

    Adoke, who is attending the fifth session of the African Union Conference of Ministers of Drug Control and Prevention in Addis Ababa, said the NDLEA would not relent in its effort at ensuring that Nigeria was not used as a transit nation by drug traffickers.

    “Nigeria is not a consuming nation for hard drugs, and we will ensure that the country is not also used for transit or as a route by drug traffickers, ’’Adoke said.

    The minister commended the Chairman of the agency, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, for his courage in the fight against the scourge which he said had been reduced to the barest minimum, and urged him to sustain the tempo.

    He said that the country would consider the report of the commission on the implementation of the decisions of the fourth session of the AU Conference of Ministers of Drug Control and Prevention.

    He further said that the report of the experts’ meeting and existing continental best practice in Drug Policy and Practice in Tanzania would also be considered.

    NAN reports that the session will elect the new bureau for the Conference.

    Nigeria’s delegates to the meeting included officials from the NDLEA and NAFDAC.

     

  • Clinton to deliver lecture on peace, leadership

    Clinton to deliver lecture on peace, leadership

    Former President of the United States, Bill Clinton is to deliver a lecture on peace and leadership.

    The National President, Coalition of Nigerian Youths, Chief Mike Loyibo, disclosed this while reacting to the killing of four students of the University of Port Harcourt.

    Loyibo said: “We are trying to see how we can preach peace to promote a united Nigeria. We have contacted Bill Clinton and he has confirmed that when we are ready he will come to Nigeria and lecture on peace and leadership.”

    The event is to hold in Abuja in partnership with the government of Imo State. It is targeted at educating the youth on peace, leadership and empowerment.

    Describing the UNIPORT killing as barbaric, loyibo tasked the Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi to speed up administrative actions to ensure that perpetrators of the evil are brought to justice within three months.

    He urged the Police to be proactive in their duties to prevent likely re-occurrence.

    “The people of Nigeria are not well policed. We have security problems in this country. It is the duty of the government to provide adequate security for the people. If adequate security has been provided, this kind of situation won’t have risen.

    “That is why we are organising an enlightenment campaign so that youths won’t take laws into their hands,” he added.

     

  • Politicians are our main problem – NLC President

    Politicians are our main problem – NLC President

    The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Abdulwaheed Omar, on Thursday attributed most religious crises in the country to politicians’ manipulation.

    Speaking at a the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria Annual October Lecture in Abuja,Omar said the politicians were using religion for their selfish interests.

    The lecture was titled: ‘Religious Tolerance and Peaceful Co-Existence (Muslim and Christian Perspectives).

    He said: “The problem we have in this country is that religion is being used as bedrock for some individual to pursue their personal interests. Our politicians use this effectively in our communities. We were living peacefully together in this country. These problems are arising now because we have polluted and desecrated our communities.

    “Religious houses must go back to the drawing boards and start to separate what is for God from what is not for God. Dialogue is the answer and our leaders should decide to do the right things.”

    Delivering a lecture from the Muslim perspective, Prof. Ibrahim Suleiman, also maintained that politicians are the main cause of problems in the country.

    “In the communities, we don’t have problems with religions. The problem is with our politicians. I can assure you that there will not be any war on religion in this country. If there is going to be any, it will be war on injustice.”

    “Another problem is that a lot of bad money is going into the various religious bodies. Religion is being polluted by people who are already polluted. For instance a minister in government donating part of stolen money to a religious body is polluting the religion.

    “The problem of Nigeria includes decay of ethics, decay of power, and decay of happiness, which will make life itself to decay. That is the problem we are facing in Nigeria. The failure of the state is hugely responsible for our problem,” Prof. Suleiman stated

     

  • Human Rights Watch indicts Boko Haram, JTF

    Human Rights Watch indicts Boko Haram, JTF

    The Boko Haram sect and the Joint Task Force might well have committed crimes against humanity during three years of conflict that has killed at least 2,800 people, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

    Crimes against humanity are offences that can lead to prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

    Boko Haram said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria, and its fighters have killed hundreds in bomb and gun attacks since launching an uprising in 2009.

    Reuters says the sect has become the No. 1 security threat to Nigeria.

    The report documents multiple cases of abuses by Islamists, including brutal killings of Christian civilians and the assassination of Muslim clerics who criticised them.

    Some of these attacks were “deliberate acts leading to population ‘cleansing’ based on religion or ethnicity”.

    The ICC defines crimes against humanity as grave offences that are “widespread or systematic.”

    There was no immediate reaction from Boko Haram.

    The report also accused the JTF of “physical abuse, secret detentions, extortion, burning of houses, stealing of money during raids, and extrajudicial killings of suspects.”

    “Despite allegations of widespread security force abuses, the Nigerian authorities have rarely held anyone accountable … further solidifying the culture of impunity for violence.”

    The study came as the JTF tried to fend off accusations of a shooting spree in the insurgent stronghold of Maiduguri on Monday that residents said killed at least 30 civilians.

    Asked about the report, the JTF spokesman for Borno State, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, reiterated a statement on Wednesday that there was no evidence of such abuses.

    “There is no established or recorded case of extrajudicial killings, torture, arson or arbitrary arrests by the JTF in Borno State”, where most of the violence has occurred, he said.

    “It is important to state that terrorists killed were during gun battles with the JTF troops”, not executions,” he said.

    The military campaign against Boko Haram has had some success – limiting Boko Haram’s ability to carry out large scale attacks, but the heavy-handedness has angered locals.

    “These killings, and clashes with the group, have raised the death toll of those killed by Boko Haram or security forces to more than 2,800 people since 2009,” the report said.

     

  • Floods: UN to assist Delta

    Floods: UN to assist Delta

    Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, said on Thursday that the United Nations would assist the state in the rehabilitation of persons displaced by flood.

    The governor, who disclosed this during a meeting with political office holders in Delta, said the state had already been listed by the world body for the assistance.

    He said the World Health Organisation and other UN agencies had indicated interest to assist the state.

    The governor explained that the state government applied to the body, cataloguing the problems generated by the flood.

    “We applied formally to the UN for assistance in the management of the flood problems and they have responded positively and have listed Delta as one of the two states in the country for assistance now,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the governor as saying at the meeting.

    He also disclosed that Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) had promised to donate relief materials to the victims relocated to various camps created by the government.

    The governor solicited the cooperation of all government officials and agencies in the management of the flood problem, especially in the evacuation and rehabilitation of victims of the disaster.

    “This is not time to quarrel; not time to think along ethnic lines. Let us all come together in this matter,” he said and asked people in the state, especially those in government to donate clothes to the victims.

    “Those of us who can pray should visit the camps and pray with the people and I appeal to professionals to visit the camps and impart knowledge or use their skills to provide services to the victims,” he added.

    Uduaghan directed that commandants of the camps should “throw out” any voluntary organisation asking for stipend to be paid to its members.

     

  • FG to provide befitting resettlement for flood victims – Jonathan

    FG to provide befitting resettlement for flood victims – Jonathan

    Reprieve came the way of flood victims across the country as President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday directed the provision of comprehensive rehabilitation and befitting resettlement for them.

    Jonathan spoke at the inauguration of National Committee for Flood Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the 34-member committee, co-chaired by business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Chief Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), is charged with the responsibility, among others, to raise funds to augment government efforts at cushioning the effects of the flood.

    The president said that government was concerned about the post-flooding conditions of the victims and would ensure that they did not remain in shanty camps.

    He said, “That is most critical because when people are under stress they can endure a lot, but the flood will surely recede.

    “We believe that before the middle of November the flood will go, if it is the normal flood we have witnessed before.

    “After that, what happens to these people? That is even what disturbs me more than when people are under stress.

    “When you raise the fund, we will be able to see how we can rehabilitate these people.

    “We would not want people to begin to live in camps, they should be able to go back to their communities and settle down.

    “You will also have to advice government on other areas from your own experience how you think we can handle these victims.”

    The President said that beside the fund raising and ensuring effective post impact rehabilitation of victims, the committee should also carry out other things that were incidental to its mandate.

    He called the attention of the members to the fact that the issue of flooding was a global affair and they should reach out to international donors for assistance.

    Jonathan also gave them a time lag of 12 months to complete the exercise.

    He said members of the committee were selected based on their credentials and philanthropic antecedent.

    “All of you here have, in one way another, been involved in philanthropic duties because this is an assignment that you need people with empathy not people that will see it as a privilege of touring or getting allowance for travels.

    “So you have enormous responsibility, but we believe you are equal to the task.

    “Let me, especially thank our development partners, for accepting to serve on this special committee, Nigeria will continue to be grateful to you especially to the organisations you represent,’’ he said.

    The president re-assured that government would do everything possible to ameliorate the impact of the flood.

     

  • Senate to remove bitumen from PIB

    Senate to remove bitumen from PIB

    The Senate Committee on Solid Minerals on Thursday insisted that bitumen will be expunged from the new Petroleum Industry Bill that is presently before the National Assembly.

    The committee chairman, Senator Adamu Abdullahi, who made the disclosure while addressing journalists in Abuja during an oversight function to the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, described the inclusion of bitumen in the Bill as an anomaly.

    He said, “We are not talking of the effects first. We are talking of somebody saying you are a woman while you are a man. Will you take it? Does it make sense to you? We have been served with copies of the PIB from the Presidency. And when we start debating be there and watch what you are going to see. Definitely, we are going to ensure that bitumen goes to its right position. It will go to the Ministry of Mines.”

    NGSA Director General, Prof. Siyan Malomo, noted that bitumen is part of the mining act, while PIB is on petroleum.

    He said that there is need for more data on bitumen in the country.

    While seeking measures for moving the mining sector forward, Abdullahi told the NGSA director general to explain the challenges that have accounted for the stagnancy in the sector despite the acclaimed huge potentials.

    Abdullahi said:”how can we reverse this ugly trend? How can you assist us? You are the people wearing the shoe. What is it that has brought about this static position? What is the problem so that we can improve? What area of legislative assistance do you require? What anxiety has the investors expressed?”

    Responding, Malomo urged the country to ensure that there is security of tenure because investors do not seem to see any security for investment.

     

  • Shell faces lawsuit over Niger Delta pollution

    Shell faces lawsuit over Niger Delta pollution

    Oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc will defend its environmental record in the Niger Delta on Thursday as it faces a lawsuit that may set a precedent for damage claims related to the activities of international companies.

    The case, filed in a local court in The Hague where Shell has its joint global headquarters, seeks to make Shell and other corporations responsible for pollution resulting from three oil spills in 2004, 2005 and 2007 in Nigeria, Reuters says.

    Plaintiffs are four Nigerians and campaigning group Friends of the Earth.

    The four, who are fishermen and farmers, are seeking unspecified compensation and argued they can no longer feed their families because the area has been polluted with oil from Shell’s pipelines and production facilities.

    Shell said the pollution was caused by oil thieves and that it has played its part in cleaning up.

    “The real tragedy of the Niger Delta is the widespread and continual criminal activity, including sabotage, theft and illegal refining, that causes the vast majority of oil spills,” the group said in a statement.

    Friends of the Earth said it hopes the case – set to last a day during which attorneys for both sides will present arguments before the judges retire to give their verdicts next year – will set a precedent and lead to “an end to the corporate crimes committed by oil giants like Shell in Nigeria and around the world.”

     

  • ANPP inaugurates committee on national rebuilding

    ANPP inaugurates committee on national rebuilding

    The All Nigeria Peoples Party has inaugurated a 20- man committee on national rebuilding and inter-party contact in preparation for 2015 general elections.

    The National Chairman of the party, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said in a communiqué issued at the end of the party’s meeting on Wednesday in Abuja that the committee would recommend ways to make the party more attractive.

    The committee would sensitise leaders to the need to participate in the party’s functions and programmes held in states not controlled by the ANPP.

    It stated that the meeting discussed the issue of funding and made recommendations on how the party could be effectively funded.

    The communiqué urged the committee to identify party leaders who join other parties and those that left without joining any other political parties with a view to bringing them back.

    “ Our party is ready, focused and is moving in the right direction in order to stabilise after the decline of the previous years, “the communiqué said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that members of the committee include Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, the chairman of the committee, as well as Mr. Lanre Amosun, Alhaji Modu Sheriff and Alhaji Gambo Magaji.