The Nation Newspaper

Category: News

  • APC’s allegation unfounded, says PDP

    APC’s allegation unfounded, says PDP

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has denied the allegation that the impeachment of the Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako was instigated by President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP.

    In a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP described the allegation as wild and unfounded, adding that it was meant to cause confusion and incite the people against the President, the PDP and institutions of government.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) accused Jonathan and the PDP of instigating and bankrolling Nyako’s impeachment and the gale of impeachment threats hanging over other APC governors.

    The PDP said: “While we do not wish to join issues with a party that has become notorious for falsehood, deceit and blackmail, we wish to alert Nigerians that this is part of the  orchestrated plot by the APC to discredit and blackmail institutions of government, particularly the legislature, the citadel of democracy and stronghold of the will of the people and ultimately set the stage to destabilise the polity.

    “We note that this onslaught against the legislature is not spontaneous. Nigerians may indeed recall the vicious attack on the National Assembly early this year wherein the APC also raised a false alarm that federal lawmakers were being induced with millions of dollars to defect to the PDP.

    “We invite Nigerians to note the anti-democratic and anti-Nigeria actions of the APC. Indeed, never in the history of this country has an opposition constituted itself into a rebellion against our dear nation and its corporate existence.

    “Never in the history of this country has the opposition sought spiritedly to cause confusion to destabilise our nation using wild allegations and lies; never has an opposition resorted to supporting insurgency and instigating violence through their utterances for political capital; never has an opposition taken it upon itself to continue to insult and attack the person and office of the President and government institutions for parochial interests.

    “We in the PDP believe in democracy and the principle of separation of powers as enshrined in our constitution. As such, we have never and will not for any reason whatsoever interfere in the activities of the legislature at any level.

    “Our advice to the APC is that resorting to blackmail and unfounded allegations will not help them. They must understand that in a democracy, the will of the people and the rule of law are paramount.

    “Nobody is above the law or above the will of the people. Also they must note that the law does not exonerate an erring official simply because he is in the opposition”.

     

  • Writers honour Dare at 70

    Writers honour Dare at 70

    Today, a star cast of writers honours journalism teacher, Prof. Olatunji Dare, with the public presentation of a book of essays to mark his 70th birthday.

    The book, to be publicly presented by Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, is titled Public Intellectuals, The Public Sphere & The Public Spirit: Essays in Honour of Olatunji Dare. It is edited by Dr. Wale Adebanwi.

    The event will hold at the Agip Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, from 11am.

    Besides Gen. Danjuma, who is the chairman and chief presenter of the book,  others expected at the ceremony include Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Chief of Staff to Edo State Government House, Patrick Obahiagbon; the cream of the media, the cream of the academia and other distinguished Nigerians.

    The contributors, among the best minds in Nigerian journalism and academia, include former Chairman of The  Punch, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, who wrote the Afterword;  Prof. Bayo Williams, Lanre Idowu, Dr. Doyin Abiola, Chidi Onuma, Adidi Uyo, Odia Ofeimum, Dapo Olorunyomi and Kunle Ajibade.

    Others include Prof. Niyi Osundare, Dr. Sina Odugbemi, Prof. Olu Obafemi, Dr. Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju, Prof. Lai Oso, Dr. Ismail Ibraheem, Ms Aje-Ori Agbese, daughter of iconic columnist, Dan Agbese, Dr. Ndadeyo Uko and Dr. Ebenezer Obadare.

    The other contributors are Kole Odutola, Dr. Wale Adebanwi, conceiver and editor of the volume, Segun Ayobolu, Ogaga Ifowodo, Taiwo Abioye, Akin Aadesokan, Tunde Oladipo and Olakunle Abimbola.

  • Ekiti Tribunal begins sitting as APC alleges plot to burn INEC office

    Ekiti Tribunal begins sitting as APC alleges plot to burn INEC office

    The Election Petitions Tribunal set up to hear grievances relating to the June 21 Governorship Election in Ekiti State yesterday began sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    The Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Mohammad Siraj of the Federal High Court, Jos Division, was the only Judge who appeared  at the inaugural sitting on the premises of the High Court complex.

    A motion ex-parte filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow it (the APC) inspect the materials used for the conduct of the election was struck out by Justice Siraj on the party’s request.

    APC’s counsel said it withdrew the petition because events had overtaken the demand, adding that the parties joined in the application were different from the parties in the substantive petition filed against the respondents’ action for the withdrawal.

    Although the APC lead counsel, Alhaji Lateef Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) was absent at the inaugural sitting, he was represented by Kabir Akingbolu.

    Security was  strengthened around the premises of the High Court. Armed policemen barricaded the courts entrances including the dual carriageway facing the court.

    The state APC said  it has uncovered a plot to burn the INEC office in Ado-Ekiti.

    The party, in a statement, said: “We have it from reliable source that plans are being hatched to have ‘strange fire’ occurrence at the INEC office in Ado Ekiti and all the materials relating to the just concluded election will get burnt. The fire incidence would be blamed on some faulty power surge. But why would any person or persons want to set the ballot papers of a ‘free and fair’ election on fire, especially now that the APC has decided to test the result with the tribunal? Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.”

  • Lagos committed to quality education, says commissioner

    Lagos committed to quality education, says commissioner

    Lagos State Commissioner for Education Mrs. Olayinka Oladujoye has said the government’s commitment to the provision of quality education is unshaken.

    Oladunjoye spoke yesterday at the 2014 Stakeholders’ Forum of the Advocacy Committee on Special Education Matters  at the Events Centre, Agidingbi, Lagos.

    The commissioner said the need to accommodate children with special needs informed the state government’s decision to establish the inclusive schools, adding that parents should take advantage of the opportunity and not hide their children with disability at home.

    Chairman,  House of Assembly Committee on Education, Science and Technology  Wahab Alawiye-King, pledged the continued support of the House to education, noting that children with special needs also have the right to quality education.

    The General Manager of the State Office of Disability Affairs (LASODA), Dr. Babatunde Awelenje, highlighted the various challenges of children with special needs, adding that 98 million pupils  living with disabilities constitute the group of those who are marginalised in the society.

  • Lagos Oracle University graduates students

    Lagos Oracle University graduates students

    The Lagos State government yesterday graduated the first batch of 50 graduates under its Workforce Development Programme (WDP) designed to equip them with information communication technology (ICT) skills .

    Lagos State Head of Service,  Mrs Olusuyi Williams said the initiative is a trail blazer as other organisations have started borrowing a leaf from it.

    Mrs Williams said Governor Babatunde Fashola has directed the Ministry of Science and Technology and allied agencies to engage original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Microsoft, Oracle and Cisco to develop training programmes  to allow “our citizens to benefit from the state’s engagement with all our ICT partners, especially in skill transfer to the  population of unemployed graduates.”

    She said: “The Lagos State government has identified ICT as a sector with potential for high growth and employment generation and an area that can help in reducing the prevailing level of graduate unemployment with its attendant social ills.

    “I am glad to report that under the Human Capacity Initiative, which we launched  off seven weeks ago, we have successfully completed training for over 45 lectures from universities, colleges of education as well as polytechnics in the state and over 76 employees of the state  including unemployed graduates under the WDP Programme whose graduation ceremony we are doing today.”

     

  • Detained Ibadan businessman petitions NJC

    Detained Ibadan businessman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pelly Foam Industry, Mr. Dapo Davies, has petitioned the National Judicial Council(NJC) for the alleged bias of Justice Aderonke Aderemi of the Oyo State High Court, who issued the bench warrant for his arrest.

    In the petition dated July 14, the Pelly Foam chief, said: “Justice Aderemi’s bias against me has intensified and manifested in worse forms” ever since she got wind of the earlier petitions, as the Judge “interpreted the petitions to mean contempt of court and summoned me to appear before her even though I do not have any criminal charges filed against me.

    “On July 2, 2014, she issued a bench warrant on me and ordered that I be remanded in the prison. I immediately filed an appeal against the order. The appeal has been fixed for November 18, 2014 for hearing…Despite this fact, Justice Aderemi continued as if my appeal did not matter or that the appellate court is subservient to her court.”

  • Oyo unveils plan to promote locally-made products

    Oyo State government,  Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Japan  International Cooperation Authority (JAICA) are to promote agro-based locally-made products.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on  Investment Promotion and Public Private Partnership, Mrs Folake Akinleye, spoke this at a meeting with the local government chairmen  yesterday at the conference room, Head of Service Office, Secretariat, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    Akinleye said: ” The products to be promoted include  shear butter, tomato, black soap, cassava, melon, ofada rice,  palm product.

    “ The programme was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, which was modelled after a project similar to it in Japan where they place much priorities on products that have an advantage over the other. So,  the government decided to help the people that are working without any mechanised imput and help them grow their business, finance them and help them to market their product.”

  • INEC plans heavy security deployment for poll

    THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will  deploy heavy security in the August 9 governorship election in Osun State just as it was in Ekiti State.

    State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Segun Agbaje spoke in Abuja yesterday at an event tagged: “Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room.”

    The event was a platform provided by a group, the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), for civil society organistions to assess the level of INEC’s preparedness for the Osun election.

    Agbaje said the decision was informed by Osun’s heightening security situation, arising from the unfriendly utterances of the major political players.

    “There will be improved security deployment. I cannot say the level of security deployment in Osun will be less than that of Ekiti. This is because of the utterances of the political leaders and the heavy threat of violence,” he said.

    But the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday sued President Goodluck Jonathan to a Federal High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, where it is seeking an order restraining the President from deploying soldiers to Osun during the election.

    Joined in the suit is the Attorney-General of the Federation.

    According to the originating summons filed by M.A. Banire & Associates, the legal chamber of the National Legal Adviser of the APC, Dr. Muiz Banire, the suit was brought pursuant to Order 3, Rules 1, 6 and 9 of the FHC (civil procedure) Rules 2009; Sections 217 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    The party is contending that by provisions of the 1999 Constitution, it is ultra vires for the President to deploy members of the Armed Forces in Osun State for the election.

    The REC, however, said of the 1,407,222 total registered voters, INEC had distributed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to 63 per cent, translating to 792,200 of the registered voters. He said 1,250,569 of such PVCs were received from the INEC headquarters as at July 11.

    Agbaje said 19 candidates had been cleared to contest the election. He said no voter would be allowed to cast the ballot without a PVC. He assured that as against the case in Ekiti, any voter with valid voter card will be allowed to vote.

    The REC, who said his commission would engage in its final phase of PVC distribution on July 26 and 27, assured that INEC has done all it can to ensure that the Osun election serves as an improvement on the Ekiti poll and a prelude to the perfect job it envisages in 2015.

    “The Anambra case was not as bad as being portrayed.  If Ekiti is said to have been an improvement, we want to build on that improvement with the Osun election to ensure that we have the best in 2015,” he said.

    The REC said aside the security challenge, INEC was working on ways of overcoming the challenge of the state’s prevailing political culture of violence, where all the politicians see election as a do-or-die affair.

    He said although non-sensitive electoral materials have been deployed since last Thursday, the commission would allow the release of the sensitive materials from the state’s branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from August 6.

    Agbaje said about 7,000 mats had been ordered to complement available bedding facilities provided in all the Registration Areas Centres (RACs) to afford INEC officials the minimum comfort preparatory to their deployment to the field.

  • Reps summon commission over alleged chaotic voter cards’ delivery

    THE House of Representatives has resolved to invite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to appear before its Committee on Electoral Matters with progress reports on the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards’ in all the states where the exercise is ongoing.

    INEC is also to explain to the lawmakers the modalities for distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards’ in all other states before the 2015 elections.

    This was sequel to a motion brought under urgent public importance by a member, Yakub Abiodun Balogun (APC, Lagos), on the alleged haphazard distribution of Permanent Voter Cards by the INEC and the imminent disenfranchisement of eligible voters in some states.

    Lawmakers supported the passage of the motion at plenary when the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, who presided, called for a vote.

  • Governor’s wife to women: be part of new success story

    THE wife of the Osun State Governor, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola, has enjoined women to unite and key into the transformation agenda of the state’s current administration in order to be part of its success story.

    Mrs. Aregbesola spoke in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, at a rally tagged: “Women in Politics” organised by her office and Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.

    She said the “moving train of development is going through the state” and they cannot afford to be indifferent.

    The event, which was held at Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, was attended by political office-holders, party chieftains, lawmakers, civil society groups, market women among others.

    Mrs. Aregbesola noted that the only way to ensure that the ongoing transformation continued unabated is to ensure that Governor Rauf Aregbesola emerged victorious in the forthcoming governorship election.

    She enjoined them to always champion crusade for peace by warning their children to shun act of thuggery and violence in the coming election.

    Expressing her appreciation over women’s support for her husband over the years, appealed to them to do more by voting for him in the next August election, so that jointly, they can take the state to the land of promise where equal opportunities and abundant welfare abound.

    Governor Aregbesola, who also spoke at the event, expressed optimism in women, stressing that his administration has been recognising their role since inception.

    He added that his harmonious relation with women has given him courage, confident and tenacity to forge ahead against all odds.