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Category: News

What’s next with Nyako down, Al-Makura under threat?

As the country moves towards the 2015 general elections, President Goodluck Jonathan appears to be showing his true colour. Tuesday’s impeachment of Murtala Nyako, the commencement of a similar plot to remove Nasarawa State Governor Umaru Al-Makura and several developments on the political scene, say analysts, suggest that Nigeria is fast turning into a one-party state, reports Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI

With the impeachment of former Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the commencement of the process of removing another governor of the same party in Nasarawa State, Tank Al-Makura, Nigeria may be heading for a one-party state. Nyako was impeached on Tuesday by the House of Assembly, after 18 of the 25 members consented to the contents of the report of the panel which indicted him for alleged financial recklessness. His deputy, Bala Ngilari, resigned on Tuesday morning . His purported letter of resignation was read ahead of the day’s plenary by the former Speaker, Umaru Fintiri, who was sworn in as acting governor. Following this development, the PDP has taken over the state.

Members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly on Tuesday began impeachment proceedings against Al-Makura, who is also of the APC. The House directed its Clerk, Ego Maikeffi, to serve Al-Makura with an impeachment notice for alleged gross misconduct and misappropriation of funds the day before. The notice was signed by 20 of the 24 lawmakers during a sitting presided over by the Speaker, Ahmed Mohammed. The 16-count charge borders on alleged extra-budgetary expenses by the governor.

The plot to remove Al-Makura has been on for some time. The PDP has been angling to carry out the impeachment for over a year , using members of the Assembly, which is dominated by the opposition party, which was the ruling party before it was defeated by the APC. Indeed, Al- Makura’s Special Adviser on Special Duties Mohammed Abdullahi , alleged that members of the Assembly collected about N30 million each for the impeachment.

Aside from Adamawa and Nasarawa, a political crisis allegedly being fuelled by the PDP is simmering in Edo, Rivers, Ogun and a number of other states controlled by the APC. In Edo State, for instance, following a string of defections from the APC to the PDP, a crisis over the control of the Assembly has ensued. The House is now polarised along party lines and can hardly function. The allegation is that the former APC members who defected to the PDP were financially induced to do so.

In Rivers State, the PDP made an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Governor Rotimi Amaechi in May, last year, when eight lawmakers in the Assembly joined the camp of the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, bringing to 13 the number of anti-Amaechi lawmakers. But, the attempt to impeach the Speaker, who is loyal to Amaechi, backfired and so the process was stalled. The situation in Rivers now is one of uneasy calm, but the PDP, it is believed, has not given up.

With these developments, the opposition party is being emasculated in the power equation, as the country approaches the crucial 2015 general elections, no thanks to the machinations of the ruling PDP. This is made possible by the willingness of the ruling party to muscle its way through, using the financial wherewithal available to it from its vantage position.

The convener of the Nigerian Voters’ Assembly, a civil society group, Moshood Erubami, believes the PDP is getting ready to slam a one-party state on Nigeria.

He said: “Unfortunately when you look at the President and his mien, he looks so gentle, but when you see his body language and manifestations, you will know that he is a man that Nigerians should beware of. My fear is that the after-effect of all this anarchy might wake the military up and nobody can predict the end of the saga.”

A Lagos-based lawyer and the immediate past chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Monday Ubani, described Jonathan’s latest antics to neutralise the opposition before 2015 as “absurdity of the highest order.” Ubani declined further comment, saying it is a bad omen for the general elections.

Nyako’s crisis is premised on his attempt to pilot the ship of state against the direction preferred by his former benefactors. He was removed, following a prolonged political crisis that started with the bickering within ruling PDP over control of the state between him and then National Party Chairman Bamanga Tukur. Observers say Nyako would have been sitting pretty as governor, but for his conflict with the party that brought him into office and his hard, rebellious posture against Jonathan.

Erubami said: “Nyako was not a thief when he was dancing to their tune, but since he joined the APC, he has become a thief. By extension, all the governors that defected to APC are now rogues and must be given rogue treatment. But, they should not forget that Nigerians are not stupid; we know whose script is being played out. Very soon all their strategies and tactics would come home to roost.

“It is a very big threat to our democracy because the process through which Nyako was impeached is very much unconstitutional. The man went to court before the committee started sitting, but they ignored it. Where the rule of law is set aside in preference for personal ambition is an anathema to democratic norms.”

He told The Nation on Tuesday that: “We know those who are writing the script. It is not strange; we have witnessed a situation where seven legislators attempted to impeach a speaker in an assembly that has over 15 members, all in bid to remove the governor. We are hearing about Nasarawa now. So, where they cannot rig elections, what they do is to impeach?”

Elder statesman and Second Republic politician Alhaji Tanko Yakassai noted that whosoever advised Nyako and his deputy to shun the invitation extended them by the investigating to defend themselves did not give them a good advice.

His words: “It was not really helpful because in a matter like this you need to give your own side of the story. Maybe the people have made up their mind, but at least posterity would know what you have to say. This is because when you are accused of committing a crime and you keep quiet, whether you like it or not it would be deemed that you are guilty. Your defence might not make much difference, but it would be on record forever that this was your response.”

Yakassai does not believe that Nigeria is heading for a one-party state.

“Nigeria is not the kind of country that would end up with a one-party state,” he said, adding that what happened in Adamawa and what is happening in Nasarawa is a continuation of the PDP crisis.

“Nyako was a member of the PDP and Tanko Al Makura was also a member of the party before he crossed over to the defunct CPC just before the 2011 election and got elected. So, it’s a continuation of the PDP crisis,” he said.

Nevertheless, Yakassai said it is unfortunate that the crisis in Adamawa reached this stage.

July 17, 2014
‘PDP’s desperation to take over Nasarawa’ll fail’

Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura has said the move to exterminate the All Progressive Congress (APC) before 2015 elections will not succeed in Nasarawa State.

The governor spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Abdulhamid Yakubu Kwarra.

He spoke with reporters in Jos, the Plateau State yesterday.

Kwarra said: “The Federal Government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are on a mission to kill all opposition parties before 2015 election in a desperate move to win election in 2015. With the rising political profile of APC, the chances of PDP and President Jonathan in 2015 is getting slimmer each day, it is obvious PDP or President Jonathan has no chance at all, hence they have launched a persecution of the major opposition party APC to achieve their aims. They are now instigating Members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly to impeach Governor Tanko Al-Makura, just as they did in Adamawa State.

“But, I want to assure them, they will not succeed in the case of Nasarawa State because the people who elected Al-Makura are going to come out to resist this impunity. Nigerians should know that this is the 9th impeachment move on Governor Al-Makura. They have tried it eight other times, but this is the first time they are making move to serve impeachment notice on the governor.

“If the move is borne out of malice, it will definitely fail, but if it is based on genuine cause, that is only way it will succeed. But in doing so, the law makers should make sure they do not abuse the procedures. What we saw happened in Adamawa State in the name of impeachment will not stand. I see the judiciary reversing the whole thing because it was done in clear abuse of legal procedures.”

Kwarra, who is former Majority Leader of Nasarawa State House of Assembly, said: “The relationship between the Executive and the legislature in Nasararwa State has been mutual in the last three years. This impeachment move is based on external factor; it is all about 2015 election. PDP is just desperate to take Nasarawa State from the grip of APC.

“The authority in Abuja wants it by all means and at all cost. They are threatened by the formidable opposition party in this country and they are doing everything to retain power, despite the fact that they are a collateral failure with all the challenges and parts of their master plan is to destabilise APC control states.

“What PDP is doing amounts to a declaration of the war on the people of Nigeria and they way they are going about it, the thing may consume all of us if care is not taken.”

July 17, 2014
New SSG for Adamawa

•Tight security in Yola

Yola, the capital of Adamawa State whose governor was impeached on Tuesday, was calm yesterday as a massive security cordon was woven around it.

Acting Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri took the first step into his three-month stay yesterday, with the appointment of a university lecturer, Prof. Liman Tukur, as Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

Fintiri also voided all political appointments made by impeached governor Murtala Nyako.

While administering the oath of office on Tukur, the acting governor said the new wind of change would bring succour to the people of Adamawa State.

Fintiri promised that his administration would include all shades of opinion.

He said although the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had not reopened the state’s statutory Allocation accounts, he had ordered the payment of salaries for June and the May shortfall.

He promised to pay the two months outstanding from 2012 when the workers were on strike and the former governor had to apply the no-work-no pay rule.

Fintiri said the state consolidated revenue account is indebted to the tune of N6 billion.

The acting governor received a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegation from the House of Representatives at the Government House.

The leader of the delegation and member representing Lamurde, Numan, Demsa federal constituency, Anthony Madwatte, said he was happy to see a PDP man at the seat of government. Nyako was an All Progressives Congress (APC) governor.

Yola and its environs remained calm despite the heavy presence of armoured cars, military and Police personnel. There were also Air Force men and Civil Defence personnel on the streets.

It was learnt that Nyako had pleaded with his supporters during a solidarity visit two days before the impeachment, that there should be no demonstrations on the streets.

He pleaded with his teeming supporters to wait for the final outcome of the case in a competent Court of law should the House impeach him.

July 17, 2014
Nyako’s impeachment: APC will go to court, says Odigie-Oyegun

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, yesterday said the party would challenge the impeachment of Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako in court.

Nyako himself has vowed to head for the court.

Odigie-Oyegun said: “I don’t know how much I can say to that your question because I think if we are not already in court, I think we should be.

“But it is clear that there was no due process. Even as loose as the provisions are, they did not have the patience and decency to abide by them.”

Asked to be specific, Oyegun said: “For example, just to take the basic one: the law provides that the governor must be personally served. Was he served personally? “Secondly, there was a subsisting court order, which should have stopped the impeachment process until the governor’s petition was disposed off. But they went ahead. “There are a lot more other but when our lawyers go to court, you will see that. Concerning allegation of gross misconduct, it was the most fair- less impeachment procedure on record up to date.

“I have no doubt in my mind that any properly constituted legal tribunal is going to reverse the process.

We are going to vigorously challenge what has happened in Adamawa State.”

Oyegun was however taken to task by reporters on why APC had to blame President Goodluck Jonathan for the impeachment of Nyako after the former governor publicly absolved the President of complicity.

Oyegun insisted that there was no contradiction between the party’s position and Nyako’s purported statement.

He added: “There is no contradiction there. The governor did what he had to do. But we will agree as a party what to do when the need arises for us to do it. There is no contradiction, the governor is a governor, the party is a party. That is a bit different.

“On the loose provision of the constitution, our legal luminaries and representatives will look into it.

“In this nation, you know what happens, when the weakness of the law favours those who have the hammer in their hand, they use it to the fullest possible effect.”

July 17, 2014
Olajumoke donates building to Scouts on 70th birthday

Senator Bode Olajumoke has donated a four-bedroom apartment to the Lagos State Scout Council as part of activities marking his 70th birthday.

The building, located inside the Baden Powell Training Centre at Ibeshe, Ikorodu, is for the use of Lagos State Disabled and Special Scouts.

Dr Olajumoke said he was giving back to the society, especially to the physically challenged, to give them a sense of belonging.

He said: “This land was donated by Justice Adeoba 10 years ago. It has been lying fallow. So, I decided to build the four-bedroom chalet to help the disabled Scouts in Lagos to have a place to live whenever they come for training in the institute.”

Lagos State Scout Council Commissioner, Chief Joseph Tawose, thanked Olajumoke for the donation and his assistance for the growth and development of the national and Lagos State Scout Council.

The Chief Commissioner of Scout in Nigeria, Olori Omo Oba Olusoga Sofolahan, hailed Dr Olajumoke for his sundry philanthropic gestures.

She urged other wealthy personalities to emulate the senator, adding that wealth would not be taken to heaven.

July 17, 2014
FEC okays N1.3b feasibility contract for standard rail

THe Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved N1.3 billion contract for the feasibility study of a standard rail gauge system in six corridors of the country.

Information Minister Labaran Maku and his Transport counterpart, Umar Idris, broke the news to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, was also at the weekly briefing.

Maku said the rail corridors were identified under the 25-year strategic railway development policy of the Federal Government.

Umar said the contract includes studies of the viability of the rail project and identification of business and economic activities along the selected corridors.

The feasibility study, the minister said, would also involve identification of the rail stations along the route and the environmental impact assessment.

He added that the length of the six rail lines would be 4,430 kilometres, which will be completed within six months.

Umar listed the corridors as Kano/Dai/Jimbia, an approximate distance of 354 kilometres; Ilela/Sokoto/Jega/Kontagora, 408 kilometres; Aba/ Ikot Ekpene/Itu/Uyo/Uduopkani/Calabar, 340 kilometres; Kano/Nguru/Geshua/Damaturu/Maiduguri/gamburu Ngala, 707 kilometres; Calabar/Ikom/Obudu/Ogoja/Katsina Ala/Wukari/Jalingo/Yola/Maiduguri, 1,669 kilometres;and Port Harcourt/Aba/Umuahia/Enugu/Lafia/ Jos/Bauchi/Biu/Maidiguri, 550 kilometres.

The minister said the seven corridors earlier awarded had been completed, adding that the contract will soon be awarded for the construction of the standard rail lines.

According to him, the rail corridors were carefully selected to cover areas with strong economic potentials, such as mining, petro-Chemicals, solid minerals deposits, agricultural zones, linkages to airports and state capitals.

Umar said: “We want to ensure that within the next 25 years, government will put in more efforts to ensure the development of areas through funding and public-private partnership arrangements.

“The scope of work to be carried out by the consultants will include detailed studies to enable them establish the viability of these projects, bring out the technical, economic and financial models to establish the viability of the projects.

“They are also to provide proposals for the alignment and connections of the urban and commercial settlements along the proposed routes.

“They are equally to carry out detailed surveys and designs of the selected alignments to identify potential train stations and other rail base infrastructure to incorporate them into the design.”

Others, he said, include the environmental impact assessment and identify the rail stations, workshops and other rail base infrastructure along the route, including engineering design and the bill of engineering measurement and the tender document for the award of the contract in due course.

Aganga said the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) had established two regional offices in Nigeria and Ethiopia and placed the two countries under the accelerated intervention programme for industrial development.

The project, he said, is in recognition of the potentials and the industrial development efforts of the two countries in Africa.

According to him, the two African countries have shown the strongest and highest potentials for industrialisation on the continent.

“Through this action, UNIDO has not only associated itself with the unparalleled and rapid transformation taking place in Nigeria but has clearly endorsed Nigeria’s industrial revolution plan,” Aganga said.

He said UNIDO had also established an investment and technology promotion office, called the ITPO in Nigeria, to fast-track Nigeria’s ability to attract industrial investment and support for the sector.

Maku declined to speak on Tuesday’s impeachment of Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako and the impeachment moves against Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura.

July 17, 2014
Prosecutor reviews ‘link’ between UK aid, Ibori

Britain’s leading fraud prosecutor is evaluating a material alleging that the United Kingdom (UK) aid might have been channelled to companies linked with convicted former Delta State Governor James Ibori, a top government lawyer said yesterday.

“As part of that review, it (the Serious Fraud Office) is examining whether there is any indication of an offence falling within the criminal jurisdiction of England and Wales as opposed to criminal jurisdictions overseas,” Solicitor-General Oliver Heald said in a written response to a parliamentary question.

“No formal decision has yet been made in relation to this matter and no investigation has been opened.”

The Serious Fraud Office confirmed it had received material from the government’s Department for International Development (DFID) in February but said it was too soon to say whether or not it would launch an investigation.

A full-blown investigation could be an embarrassment to Prime Minister David Cameron, who brushed aside criticism at home, last year, to increase development aid – aimed at alleviating some of the world’s most abject poverty – by nearly a third to $19 billion at a time of austerity at home.

Ibori, who governed oil-producing Delta State from 1999 to 2007, was jailed for 13 years in Britain in 2012 after pleading guilty to 10 counts of money laundering and fraud in one of the biggest embezzlement cases seen in Britain.

July 17, 2014
NEPC, Elumelu Foundation partner for increased agric exports

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and The Tony Elumelu Foundation have signed a one-year partnership by improving its share of the global, non-oil export market and increasing agricultural export.

The move, it was learnt, was meant to create a more competitive Nigerian economy.

In a statement in Abuja, the NEPC said under the new agreement, the foundation provided the council with a technical advisor, Maureen Ideozu, through its Elumelu Fellowship Programme. Besides, two associates from the Elumelu Professionals Programme – Lawi Laktabai (a Congolese) and Jean-Yves Mutanda – are working with key NEPC officers to increase agricultural products’ exports.

NEPC’s Chief Executive Olusegun Awolowo said the council is benefitting from the public good initiative of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

He said the consistent input from the embedded Elumelu Fellow and visiting Masters’ interns were valuable to the strategic repositioning of the council.

Awolowo said: “I am very pleased with this partnership as we jointly work towards the socio-economic development of our country and the diversification of our economy.”

Among her numerous responsibilities, Ms. Ideozu will work directly with Mr. Awolowo to increase Nigerian private sector participation in global trade and liaise with the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, other government agencies, as well as private sector organisations to implement the NEPC’s strategic plan.

“The Elumelu Fellowship offers me an opportunity to contribute to increased competitiveness in by unlocking opportunities for Nigerian companies in a manner that equips them to compete globally,” Ideozu said.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s Chief Executive Wiebe Boer said the organisation was committed to implementing solutions that would improve the operating environment for its private sector.

July 17, 2014
Nyako’s impeachment: APC will go to court, says Odigie-Oyegun

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, yesterday said the party would challenge the impeachment of Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako in court.

Nyako himself has vowed to head for the court.

Odigie-Oyegun said: “I don’t know how much I can say to that your question because I think if we are not already in court, I think we should be.

“But it is clear that there was no due process. Even as loose as the provisions are, they did not have the patience and decency to abide by them.”

Asked to be specific, Oyegun said: “For example, just to take the basic one: the law provides that the governor must be personally served. Was he served personally? “Secondly, there was a subsisting court order, which should have stopped the impeachment process until the governor’s petition was disposed off. But they went ahead. “There are a lot more other but when our lawyers go to court, you will see that. Concerning allegation of gross misconduct, it was the most fair- less impeachment procedure on record up to date.

“I have no doubt in my mind that any properly constituted legal tribunal is going to reverse the process.

We are going to vigorously challenge what has happened in Adamawa State.”

Oyegun was however taken to task by reporters on why APC had to blame President Goodluck Jonathan for the impeachment of Nyako after the former governor publicly absolved the President of complicity.

Oyegun insisted that there was no contradiction between the party’s position and Nyako’s purported statement.

He added: “There is no contradiction there. The governor did what he had to do. But we will agree as a party what to do when the need arises for us to do it. There is no contradiction, the governor is a governor, the party is a party. That is a bit different.

“On the loose provision of the constitution, our legal luminaries and representatives will look into it.

“In this nation, you know what happens, when the weakness of the law favours those who have the hammer in their hand, they use it to the fullest possible effect.”

July 17, 2014
Why Jonathan shouldn’t contest in 2015, by Igbokwe

Pro-democracy activist Comrade Joe Igbokwe yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to jettison his re-election bid because it is not in the nation’s interest.

He said the harassment of the opposition, the Boko Haram insurgency and impeachment of opposition governors underscored the President’s desperation to retain power.

The activist said these are among incidents that put democracy under threat.

Igbokwe, who addressed reporters in Lagos, stressed that if the quest for power was anchored on good performance, Dr. Jonathan is unfit for a second term because his handling of national affairs had been tragic and disastrous.

The activist urged the President to respect the zoning in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding that Jonathan’s plan to rule for 10 years may break up the country.

The President has not declared his ambition for a re-election, but individuals and partisan groups have endorsed him for a second term and are urging him to publicly declare his interest.

Igbokwe said: “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, from the South ruled Nigeria for eight years. It was also expected that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, from the North, would rule for eight years, all other things being equal. But he died after two years in office. President Jonathan, Yar’Adua’s erstwhile vice-president from the South, took over the mantle of leadership. It was expected that he would complete the first term of Yar’Adua’s tenure and step aside for the North to complete their eight years.

“Against protests from the North, Jonathan sought another term and got elected. By 2015, he would have ruled for six years. Seeking another term of four years will endanger our polity and create ethnic and religious tension, as we are witnessing now. We are in a democracy and, if we are still one country, there is need for equity and justice. Jonathan’s ambition to rule Nigeria for 10 years may break Nigeria.”

The activist criticised the Federal Government for waging war against the All Progressives Congress (APC) in its desperation to make the PDP retain power.

He said the Presidency and the PDP have an agenda to decimate the opposition through crude means, citing the power plays in Ekiti, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Rivers and Edo states.

Igbokwe regretted that the PDP-led Federal Government is concentrating much effort on the emasculation of the opposition, instead of fostering good governance in the last 15 years.

He alleged that there was a curious media censorship and an affront on freedom of association, movement and expression by the Federal Government.

July 17, 2014