The Nation Newspaper

Category: News

  • 22 anti-impeachment protesters arrested in Nassarawa

    22 anti-impeachment protesters arrested in Nassarawa

    •I’ve not received impeachment notice – Governor

    •Assembly members may face probe over roles in N30b bond

    •CP denies death of three

    The Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, yesterday confirmed the arrest of 22 suspects and a fake policeman in connection with anti-impeachment riot in Lafia, the state capital, on Thursday.

    He said the police and other security agencies had launched a manhunt for four suspects, who were said to be the masterminds of the protest.

    Although he said nobody was killed during the protest, he admitted that two people sustained injuries.

    He said those wounded  were treated at Agu hospital and had been discharged.

    He said while five shops and a residential apartment were vandalised, a vehicle was burnt by the rioters.

    He, however, confirmed the recovery of a locally-made pistol, some ammunition, knives and dangerous weapons from some of the suspects.

    Idris, who made the disclosures at a briefing after a Joint Security Meeting, asked those fleeing the state to return.

    He said: “We have been getting information that people in and around Lafia have started to flee their homes based on media reports

    “I wish to appeal to the media to verify their information before going public. Any misinformation can cause panic and escalate the crisis.”

    As at press time, preliminary investigation revealed that the protest culminated in a bloody clash between Eggon and Gwandara youths at Tundun Gwandara part of Lafiahe Governor of Nasarawa State, Meanwhile, the state governor, Alhaji Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, yesterday said he had not been served an impeachment notice by the State House of Assembly.

    The governor, who had a three-minute interview with our correspondent before leaving Abuja for Lafia, said he was not a corrupt leader as being insinuated by the State House of Assembly.

    He said: “As I am talking to you, I have not been served the impeachment notice by the House of Assembly as required by the 1999 Constitution and the law of the land.

    “So, it is not true at all to assume or claim that I had received the impeachment notice. Some people are just insinuating that I had been served.

    “The House of Assembly can also not lay claim to substituted service on me because to do so, it must seek the leave of a court of competent jurisdiction.

    “There is no record that the Assembly has secured any order from a court of competent jurisdiction for substituted service.”

    On the 16 offences leveled against him by the House of Assembly, Al-Makura said: “I am not corrupt; I have not mismanaged the funds of the state, not to talk of diverting any allocation.

    “I have served the people of Nasarawa to the best of my ability. The fact that they are overwhelmingly against the impeachment proceedings initiated by the Assembly confirmed that the people of the state are pleased with me.”

    Asked of his next step, the governor said: “I have been consulting with different groups, the consultation is still ongoing.”

    Governor Al-Makura’s clarifications came against the backdrop of revelations that some stakeholders are pushing for the probe of some  members of the Assembly over their roles in the N30 billion bond obtained by the state.

    It was gathered that the stakeholders are seeking the intervention of anti-graft agencies, following indications that the disagreement between the governor and some of the lawmakers had to do with the alleged desire for more “perks” from the N30billion bond.

    A reliable source said: “There is more to the impeachment proceedings against Al-Makura than meet the eye. The governor had sharp disagreement with the lawmakers on conditions the Assembly gave him before the state could go for N30billion bond.

    “This is why stakeholders have agreed to call on anti-graft agencies to probe the lawmakers’ roles on how  the bond was approved. There were a lot of dirty undercurrents and demands on the governor.

    “There were allegations that some of the lawmakers asked for five to 10 per cent cut of the N30billion bond before they could approve it.

    “The stakeholders may also ask Al-Makura to open up on what transpired between him and the Assembly when the state was seeking the N30billion bond.”

  • Adamawa Acting Gov visits PDP’s secretariat, says ‘I have delivered’

    Adamawa Acting Gov visits PDP’s secretariat, says ‘I have delivered’

    Adamawa State Acting Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, yesterday stormed the Abuja National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), telling party leaders that “I have delivered”.

    Fintiri went ahead to tell the party chiefs that he had recovered and delivered the mandate stolen by ousted Governor Murtala Nyako to the ruling party.

    Speaking with reporters shortly after he had a closed door meeting with some of the national officials of the party, Fintiri said his emergency as governor had restored the state back to the PDP.

    The four-day-old Acting Governor said: “As a loyal and obedient party member, I came on a courtesy call to my party and the National Working Committee as my first assignment after the battle to remove Governor Nyako who had stolen the mandate of the PDP under which he was elected.

    “I came here to bring back the mandate and I have handed over to them (party leaders) the mandate. I promise that I will work together with the party, its leadership and the people of Adamawa to ensure that our party is restored to the people”.

    The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, stated that Fintiri  would restore dignity to the party as well as address the rot and the damage caused the party by former Governor Nyako.

    He promised the Acting Governor the support and encouragement of the party’s leadership.

    The party’s National Deputy chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, who received Fintiri and his team  said that the removal of Nyako and the emergence of the Acting Governor would help address the rot the people of the state had experienced.

  • Nyako’s impeachment:Nigeria is descending into fascism, says Tinubu

    Nyako’s impeachment:Nigeria is descending into fascism, says Tinubu

    National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday  lashed out at President  Goodluck Jonathan for encouraging fascism in the polity.

    Reviewing the events culminating in this week’s  impeachment of  Alhaji Murtala Nyako as governor of Adamawa State by the State Assembly, Tinubu  said the development is a setback for Nigeria’s democracy.

    “Under the constitution, a governor can only be impeached for ‘gross misconduct.’ For the PDP, Nyako’s crime was not the false allegations contained in the articles of impeachment. To them, his gross misconduct was leaving the reactionary PDP to join the progressive APC. His misdeed was to exercise his constitutional right of freedom of association and political expression by leaving their corrupt assemblage and joining the party that just may represent the best hope of rescuing Nigeria from its present descent into authoritarian darkness,” he said in a statement in Lagos.

    Continuing, Tinubu said: “Perhaps, Governor Nyako’s greatest sin is his temerity to speak truth to power albeit in a courageous way. On two different occasions, he gave an unvarnished insight into the Boko Haram menace and the insecurity engulfing Northern Nigeria.

    “At the Institute of Peace in Washington DC, this year when he visited with other Northern governors, he placed the blame for the Boko Haran insurgency on the Jonathan presidency. He then followed this up with a detailed letter to the forum of the Northern governors, in which he accused the Jonathan-led government of genocide against the North.

    “This rattled and unsettled the government. Repeated attempts to have Gov. Nyako withdraw his letter and apologize to the President failed. From the moment he wrote that letter, he became a marked man. The government savaged the governor through the media.

    “This kangaroo impeachment is government’s way of punishing Nyako. The plan is to use the contents of the letter he wrote to the Northern Governors as a basis to try him for treasonable felony and eventually sentence him to life imprisonment. Nyako’s frank, if rough-edged, letter concerning the security situation apparently infuriated the monarch of Aso Villa who has become so arrogant as to believe no opposition against him is justified, thus he has the liberty to impose his brand of injustice to crush those who oppose him.

    “Before our eyes and under Jonathan’s watch, Nigeria gradually descends into fascism. We must all act now before it consumes us al” Tinubu said.

    The former Lagos State governor also deplored  the President’s handling of the abduction of the Chibok girls by Boko Haram, especially his refusal to see the parents of the girls until  the recent visit to Nigeria of the Pakistani pupil activist, Malala.

  • Issuing ID card to Northerners in East, threat to Igbo investment in North —ACF

    Issuing ID card to Northerners in East, threat to Igbo investment in North —ACF

    The Northern socio-cultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has warned that the ongoing controversy over the issuance identity cards to Nigerians of northern extraction in  in the Eastern part of the country could endanger the multi-billion naira investments of Igbo businessmen living in the north.

    It will be recalled that Northerners doing business in Imo State were allegedly being registered by the state government in preparation for issuing them identity cards, following the Boko Haram insurgency.

    The ACF also expressed the fear that the country may be envloped in crisis along ethnic lines if it decides to carry out a similar action against the Igbo who are resident in the north.

    While the forum maintained that there was nothing wrong with issuing identity cards, it condemned the plan to target a section of the country for the registration, stressing that everybody deserved the identity cards if it is done in good faith to achieve a goal.

    Addressing members of the South-South/South-East Arewa Coalition who paid a courtesy call on the ACF yesterday, the Deputy Secretary-General of the forum, Engineer Abubakar Umar said statistics available to the forum indicated that Igbos’ investments in Kaduna, Kano, and Jos alone amounted to N45 trillion.

    Umar said with such huge investments in just three states of the north, Easterners have no reason to maltreat northerners doing businesses in the east. He said:  “If the table turns round, it could be disastrous, as these investments may suffer for it. But we are praying for understanding among  Nigerians, for us to accept ourselves wherever we live to earn legitimate means of livehood.”

    He explained that Yoruba and Igbo people in Jos, capital of Plateau State, lost N480 billion and N410 billion investments respectively to the 2011 post election violence, adding that the South-South also lost N970 billion in the same crisis.

    “We know these statistics; we have these statistics, so we expect the Igbos to treat our kinsmen, our brothers and sisters in the East as kings and queens, in view of the fact that they (Igbos) have more investments in the north than in the East.

    “Take Abuja, the Federal capital territory, for example, Igbos occupy over 73 percent of the land, so these are some of the reasons why they should be everybody’s keepers in their place,”Umar said.

    Earlier, the leader of the Coalition, Mallam Awwal Yusuf, told the ACF that northerners were doing business in fear in the east, and called on the ACF to intervene, because, according to him, “every trader or Muslims from the north is considered a Boko Haram”.

    Yusuf said the Arewa Coalition has gone to court on the issue of identity card in order to seek justice and be freed from undue molestation in the hands of the people in the area.

    “We are so embarrassed with this issue of identity cards. Why should it be only traders or Muslims from the north that should be identified. We have taken the case to a court in Enugu and we are that the state governor, Sulivan Chime, is ready to help us by sending his lawyer to stand for us,” Yusuf said.

    In his closing remarks, the ACF Secretary-General, Col. John Ubah (rtd) reminded the visitors that the ACF was established to protect the north and its people, saying that whatever happened to any northerner anywhere was always considered a serious issue.

    Col. Ubah said, “It is very sad to brand our people as Boko Haram in the East. But we want to tell you that we have not been sleeping; we will go through the northern governors to address the issue.

  • Senator Tinubu greets Dare at 70

    Senator Tinubu greets Dare at 70

    Senator Oluremi Tinubu, representing Lagos Central  Senatorial District, has congratulated  prominent newspaper columnist and journalism teacher  Prof. Olarunji Dare at 70, saying the birthday is a landmark worth celebrating.

    “Your sterling achievement in the fields of academics and journalism will continue to inspire many towards aspiring excellence,”  Mrs. Tinubu  wrote in a birthday felicitation letter she personally signed.

    ”As a newspaper columnist, you have contributed in no small measure towards enlightenment and understanding of social and developmental issues in our society,” she said.

    Wishing Prof. Dare many more years of good health and fulfilment, Senator Tinubu noted that attaining “the septuagenarian age is a testament of God’s abiding grace” towards the celebrator.

  • SSANU-LASU threatens to shut down varsity over members outstanding promotions

    SSANU-LASU threatens to shut down varsity over members outstanding promotions

    The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, Lagos State University (SSANU) Lagos State University chapter, has threatened to shut down the university if the management fails to resolve the lingering outstanding promotion of its members.

    The union, which is seeking promotion of its members for the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 sessions respectively, is alleging double standard by the Governing Council in its approach to the union’s ongoing strike action.

    The Nation gathered that discussions between SSANU-LASU and management have been rosy until ASUU-LASU suspended the strike on Monday, with SSANU now hinging its fate on the Council meeting, which was supposed to hold last week Tuesday. The Chairman, SSANU-LASU Comrade Saheed Oseni, had earlier told our reporter that the Council’s decision  would determinate the union’s next line of action. Prior to that, the members had been involved in skeletal services.

    However, the matter took a turn for the worse following the cancellation of the Council meeting. Our reporter gathered that neither the Vice Chancellor, Prof John Obafunwa, nor the Registrar, Akin Lewis, attended the meeting. They were said to have sent representatives, a decision, which The Nation gathered further infuriated the Chairman of Council, Mr Olabode Augusto.

    With the development, SSANU-LASU called a congress where the Registrar,  who is also a SSANU member, reportedly addressed the gathering, saying Council could not address the issues because the Congress representatives of SSANU were not in attendance.

    Oseni said the union smelled a rat, adding that their members, whom the Registrar claimed were not in attendance, called him on phone to intimate him of the VC and Registrar’s absence.

    ”We felt bad and cheated,” Oseni said. Speaking further, he said: “We believe that if there are similar issues affecting every union on campus, all should be treated equally. If the Council attended to ASUU issues, then it behoves on them to attend to SSANU too. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

    “We suspect the Council is trying to use divide and rule tactics here. But we are giving them till Thursday next week to address our issues; otherwise we will shut down this university. It is going to be a full blown battle. Nobody should marginalize us, because we are as important as ASUU. We are also going to draw the attention of all stakeholders to our cause.”

    LASU PRO, Kayode Sutton, said: “It is true that some members of SSANU scored over 65 (benchmark for promotion) in the 2011/2012 promotional exercise; but Council looked into it and realised the university did not have enough vacancies to fill them in. Besides, Council observed it had no financial muscle to cater for them. So they have been advised to sit for the 2012/2013 exercise.

    “Unfortunately, many of the members did not sit for the exam based on advice from the union leadership, which claimed the 2011/12 promotion was yet to be treated. Those who went and passed have been promoted accordingly. Therefore, Council advised that those who did not make it should sit for the 2013/2014 promotional exercise. Nonetheless, we are urging SSSANU members to resume to work in the interest of all.”

  • Infrastructure Bank 2013 profit before tax hits N875m

    Infrastructure Bank 2013 profit before tax hits N875m

    The Infrastructure Bank Plc,  recorded a profit before tax (PBT) of N875 million in 2013 compared with N82 million achieved in 2012.

    This is an increase of  N793 million, according to the  Chairman of the bank, Alhaji Lamis Dikko.

    Speaking   at the bank’s 3rd Annual General Meeting (AGM)  in Lagos, Dikko said that the bank’s total expenses in 2013 stood at N757million as against the N586 million recorded in 2012.

    He attributed the growth to the bank’s strength of transaction advisory offering; ‘one-off capital cost’ and well-managed operational cost.

    According to him, the bank remained optimistic on the economic outlook, adding that all the indicators projected continuous growth trend of the past decade.

    Dikko also said that Nigeria had continued to attract high level of foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in spite of the nation’s security challenges.

    He  was optimistic  that the Federal Government’s reforms and investment in the energy, agriculture and manufacturing sector would lead to significant job creation in the country.

    He also added that the key enabler for the growth was the provision of improved and increased infrastructure.

    Dikko said that the mandate to act as an advisor and fund arranger to the Federal Government showcased the bank’s potential in serving as a partner of choice for both the public and private sectors.

    Also speaking, the bank’s  Managing Director, Mr. Adekunle Oyinloye, said its  profit impacted positively in its current earnings per share of 54 kobo in 2013, compared with 20 kobo recorded in 2012.

    Oyinloye said that a key highlight of the year under review was the increase momentum in the transaction advisory and fund arranging business that represented tangible evidence of the bank competitive advantages.

    He also said that the continued demand for infrastructure assets nationwide and the need for the delivery though alternative financing method through its project opportunities, supports the belief that the current trend was sustainable.

    “The micro economy environment remains stable and promising.”

  • Scores  killed in fresh Boko Haram attack on Borno community

    Scores  killed in fresh Boko Haram attack on Borno community

    Maiduguri— Boko Haram gunmen returned to Damboa, Borno State, before dawn yesterday, killing scores of residents and setting    homes ablaze in a  fresh assault on the town.

    They threw  explosives into residential homes and shot dead civilians who tried to surrender.

    Residents  said yesterday  they were ‘piling up corpses.’

    Half the town ,about 85 kilometers from the state capital, Maiduguri,was   up in flames, according to spokesman for the  Nigerian Vigilante Group otherwise called Civilian JTF, Abbas Gava.

    The town’s  main market, the home of the local government chairman and the area’s top cleric were similarly  set ablaze.

    Well-armed  terrorists  extremists attacked as residents as they were  preparing for the  Fajr  dawn prayers and the civilian defence fighters could only resist with clubs and homemade shotguns, he said.

    “They killed many people. Women and children fled into the bush,” said an official with the Damboa  Local Government, who requested anonymity.

    “Those who could not flee surrendered and were killed by the insurgents,” he added.

    ”Most houses in the town have been burnt. Only a few still remain,” said resident Ahmed Buba. “The destruction is massive… This is the worst attack by Boko Haram on Damboa.”

    “We were defenceless because all the security personnel, including soldiers and policemen, have withdrawn,” Buba told AFP.

    He could not say how many people were killed.

    ”We have to go through the rubble to see how many people died.”

    Those who escaped  from  the overnight raid fled to the state capital Maiduguri and sought shelter in the palace of the area’s top cleric, Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, also known as the Shehu of Borno.

    The survivors “lodged a complaint with the Shehu because there are no security forces in Damboa,” the official said.

    Damboa has been besieged for two weeks, since the  July 4 attack by  Boko Haram terrorists on the  new tank battalion base set up on  outskirts of the town.

    The Defence Headquarters said that attack was  repelled  with 50 insurgents killed.

    Six soldiers including a colonel also died in the July 4 attack.

    But locals said the soldiers were driven from the base and that terrorists twice have ambushed military convoys trying to reach it in the past week.

    The militants had cut off access to the town from the south on Monday when they blew up a bridge further south. Damboa is on the main road south from Maiduguri.

  • Nigerians reject $1bn insurgency loan

    Nigerians reject $1bn insurgency loan

    Following the recent request by the President for approval  to ask for a loan of $1billion to fight insurgency in the country, prominent Nigerians have opposed the request,  indicating that it may be an insensitive issue at this time.

    Olubunmi Cardinal Okogie  said: “How would the people trust the government on the sending of such a loan. Things are tough in the country now, and I am not sure that the people will trust the government on such a loan.”

    On his part, activist lawyer Mr. Fred Agbaje said: “It is provocative and unreasonable. Has the president accounted for the previous security votes, more so, when the previous security votes were never judiciously spent. Hence the rise in Boko Haram activities and subsequent superiority in the Boko Haram fire power.

    “The National Assembly would massively be letting Nigerians down, if they accede to the president’s request. Such money should be channelled towards addressing our ill-equipped  hospitals, universities and similar institutions.”

    The president’s request was also opposed by Barrister Festus Keyamo who issued  a  statement which reads thus:  “I am totally opposed to the grant by the National Assembly of the request by the president for the approval of a $1billion loan to upgrade equipment and ‘re-energise’ the military to fight insurgency.

    “The simple reason is that billions of naira have been made available in our budgets in the last few years for the same purpose, yet the insurgents continue to grow from strength to strength.

    “This, therefore, raises the question of the prudence that has been employed in the past in spending the funds. In this regard, it is important that a thorough audit of previous allocations to that sector is carried out before further approval like is  made.

    “Granted that the audit may not be made before the public because of security implications, but a comprehensive audit before critical institutions and stakeholders is important to instill accountability and probity in the security sector. The military is not above the law.”

    Chief Ebenezer Babatope praised the president for the request and called on Nigerians to give him a chance to fight the insurgence by yielding to his request.

    He said: “The President is the head of the country. He is the one in the vantage position to know what the country needs. So if he comes out and says that this is what the country needs, I want to believe that he must have taken time to study the situation.

    “I will want the people of this country to support the president in taking such a loan and allow him to fight the insurgents in order to put an end to the threat that Boko Haram has become.”

  • NASU calls off strike

    NASU calls off strike

    The Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) of Educational and Associated Institutions in Colleges of Education yesterday called off its four-month-old strike.

    The General Secretary of the union, Mr Peter Adeyemi, announced the suspension at the end of an emergency meeting of the union in Abuja.

    Adeyemi said the suspension “takes effect from midnight on Sunday. The strike would be suspended for three months.

    “This is in order to enable the Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, to look into the union’s demands with the aim of resolving them.’’

    Colleges of education and other trade group councils of NASU participated in the emergency meeting to discuss the strike which began in March.

    At the end, the council resolved that arising from the positive disposition of the Minister of Education, Malam Shekarau, “the on-going industrial action is hereby suspended for three months.’’

    It will be recalled that the union’s grievances include the non-release of modalities for CONTISS 15 arrears.

    Others are non-release of White Paper, amendment of laws, infrastructure decay, security, demonstration primary schools and inadequate funding.