The Nation Newspaper

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  • Delta ACN crisis: Group lashes impostors, reaffirms Ogbuagu’s leadership  

    FOLLOWING the lingering crisis that has trailed the Delta State Chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) state executive, a group, Urhobo Young Generation for Change (UYGC), yesterday lashed impostors in the party and reaffirmed the leadership of former Commissioner for Education, Dr. (Mrs.) Veronica Ogbuagu, former Senator (Prof) Adego Eferakeya and others.

    In a statement by the National President of the Urhobo Young Generation for Change (UYGC), Comrade Wilson Akpos, who alleged the state executive of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and its cohorts are impostors, said they were sent to the party to upturn its activities in favour of the ruling party.

    Akpos said, “We know those impostors in the ACN and it is for this reason we are making this issue public because of their antecedent in the 2011 general election and they are still the same people piloting the affairs of the party in the state, so we are calling on the national body to come fish them out if the party must forge ahead.”

    “We only have confidence on the leadership of Dr. (Mrs.) Veronica Ogbuagu, Senator (Prof) Adego Eferakeya and Hon. Harvest lgben as pillars of the party in the state, and in a strong term l will say these are the only dedicated and committed leaders the party has of this moment.”

    Comrade Akpos, Personal Assistant to late Chief Ogbe Onokpite said this while reacting to a publication in one of the national dailies accusing Dr. (Mrs.) Veronica Ogbuagu as a woman being used to destabilise the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in favour of the PDP as claimed by a forum of Urhobo Political Agenda.

    He alleged that it was noticed that the Adolor-led state executive and cohorts had bargained and sold ACN out to PDP before the 2011 elections and betrayed the party and that there is likelihood that history might repeat it self.

     

  • Govt to punish truant teachers at unity colleges

    Govt to punish truant teachers at unity colleges

    The Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has declared strict disciplinary measures will be taken against teachers and administrators of Federal unity colleges who play truancy.

    The Minister spoke in Owerri while paying an unscheduled visit to Federal Government Girls College, Owerri. He noted that the ministry was committed to curbing indiscipline amongst staff of the schools.

    Wike was visibly disturbed by the absence of teachers in most classes that he visited in the school. He randomly visited five classes cutting across the different arms of the school, without finding classroom teachers in four classes, even though they had scheduled classes on their time-table.

    He said: “We will not allow a situation where teachers and administrators are not at their duty posts. These teachers are paid as at when due and the Nigerian child must get value for the investment of government.

    “More heads will roll. We will not tolerate any form of truancy and lack of commitment to duty on the part of teachers and administrators of Federal Unity Colleges”.

    He directed the director, basic and secondary education, to issue query letters to the absentee teachers.

    He also summoned the principal to Abuja to explain why she was not in the school at the time of the visit.

    Wike inspected the library project being constructed for the Junior Secondary School of the school. He charged the contractor to maintain the tempo and work in line with approved specifications.

  • Flood: Ex-lawmaker faults FG’s N17bn release to states

    Flood: Ex-lawmaker faults FG’s N17bn release to states

    A  former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Ralph Okeke, yesterday, faulted the Federal Government’s decision to channel the N17.6 billion flood disaster relief fund through the governments of the affected states. According to Okeke, the bureaucracy in government would eventually reduce the fund by 50 percent before it gets down to the victims.

    While commending President Goodluck Jonathan’s quick response by mapping out fund to assist the flood victims in 35 states, the former lawmaker, however, expressed fears that victims of the natural disaster now in various refugee camps might not get the benefits for which the fund was intended.

    “My problem is the channel through which this assistance will get to the victims.

    Sending the fund through so many Ministries, Agencies, Departments and a Presidential Committee, will eventually reduce the fund to about 50 percent before the assistance arrives its destinations not because anybody is a thief but because of government bureaucracy,” he said.

    Noting that the government does not know what the flood victims need at this point in time, Okeke added, “this money (N17.6bn) may be wasted on things that the direct victims will not need and appreciate, and the result is that we shall keep hearing of billions and more billions but in the end, nobody will see anything and therefore no assistance as usual.”

    He said that as an indigene of the most affected area in the country (Anambra West LGA of Anambra State), “I know what would be meaningful to these suffering flood victims; what they really want is direct financial assistance.”

    “The little money they will get individually will enable them survive the impending hunger throughout next year’s farming season.

    It will also enable them buy seed yams and other seedlings for next year’s farming season which starts from December.

    “As we speak, there is an impending problem for the nation, which is hunger for the whole of next year, not only to the flood victims, but the nation at large because the flood washed away all the seed yams, seedlings of other crops harvested and un-harvested crops, including their properties which some of them acquired since the past 20 years.”

     

  • Otedola’s N141b settlement not inspired by CBN directive, says AMCON

    Otedola’s N141b settlement not inspired by CBN directive, says AMCON

    The settlement reached by the oil tycoon, Mr. Femi Otedola with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) on his N141 billion debt to banks had nothing to do with the Central Bank’s directive cutting off credit facilities to some categories of individuals and companies, AMCON Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi, has said.

    The CBN had directed the banks to desist from giving further loans to 139 companies and 419 directors indebted to them until they liquidate such debts.

    But soon after the directive came a report that Mr. Otedola had reached a settlement with AMCON on his debt by transferring his assets worth the amount to the corporation, prompting the House of Representatives to threaten to probe the deal.

    Speaking in an interview with The Nation on Sunday, Mr. Chike-Obi said the deal with Otedola was concluded before the CBN’s directive.

    He said it was just a coincidence that the transaction became public knowledge shortly after the apex bank’s announcement.

    The House of Representatives on Thursday set up a nine-member committee to investigate the alleged payment of N140 billion outstanding debts owed the AMCON by Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited and Forte Oil Plc, owned Otedola.

    The committee which is headed by Femi Gbajabiamila, the Minority Leader of the House, has other members like Sani

    Kalgo, Uzor Azubuike, Idris Wase, Jerry Manwe, Pally Iriase, Evelyn Ojakavo and Muraina Ajibola.

    The committee is expected to report back to the House in four weeks.

    The resolution emanated from a motion moved by Bimbo Daramola (ACN-Ekiti), which was unanimously adopted without debate.

    According to Chike-Obi, “This settlement with Femi Otedola had nothing to do with the CBN directive. We have been engaging with him for at least nine months. We had to value the assets and that takes time. But it is just unfortunate that people are insinuating that these settlements had something to do with the CBN announcement.

    “There are people who have now approached us because of the CBN directive and that process will take anywhere from three months to six months. I wish it was that easy to recover debts. He had court injunctions, we had to negotiate. So, it is a complicated matter.”

    He is happy that a lot of those on the debtors’ list have been making efforts for settlements.

     

  • Confusion at Northern leaders summit over secession call

    Confusion at Northern leaders summit over secession call

    • Govs boycott meeting over political undertone

    • Danjuma, Ciroma demand withdrawal of remark

    Confusion broke out yesterday at a meeting of eminent North East geo-political zone in Bauchi after the convener of the summit asked that the North should pull out of Nigeria ‘if need be’ to take ‘our destiny in our hands’.

    Alhaji Bello Kirfi, a retired Federal Permanent Secretary spoke at what was scheduled to be the inauguration of North East Forum for Unity and Development (NEFUD), which he is promoting to address the peculiar socio-economic problems facing Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States, which constitute the zone.

    He was, however, called to order by former Chief of Army Staff and ex-defence minister, General Theophilus Danjuma, who first dissociated himself from Kirfi’s position and then asked him to withdraw the statement immediately.

    He said he would not be a party to any move to dismember Nigeria having fought for its unity in the Civil War.

    Gen. Danjuma described Kirfi’s statement as weighty.

    “As someone who went to the war front and survived it, I must warn that this statement be withdrawn immediately,” he declared.

    He got a supporter in former Finance Minister, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, who was the Chairman of the occasion.

    The veteran politician and one time governor of the Central Bank announced the withdrawal of the offending statement contained in paragraph 15 at page 9 of Kirfi’s speech.

    The crowd in the 5000 capacity Sports Hall, Bauchi applauded the decision.

    Kirfi then formally withdrew the sentence although he said it was for the “meantime.”

    The summit itself appeared doomed from the beginning following its boycott by Governors Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Danjuma Suntai (Taraba) and Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), for ‘political reasons.’

    They were primed as the key drivers of the forum but opted out on the suspicion that the organisers had not revealed their true intentions.

    Gen. Danjuma himself was not comfortable with the governors’ absence and called for the postponement of the summit until the governors would be able to attend.

    As the programme was about to get under way he drew attention to their non-participation and recalled that just a few days ago, one of the governors told him they had all agreed to stay away because they suspected there was a hidden agenda.

    He said: “ one of the governors told me that all of them had resolved not to come and even advised me to stay away, that there’s a hidden agenda.”

    Gen. Danjuma said based on this advice, he went back to read the minutes of the forum’s previous meetings, saying “I am not in a position to pass judgment but this development has created doubt in my mind regarding the motive of the forum. I therefore suggest that this meeting be adjourned immediately and reconvene at a later date when we would have been able to persuade the governors to join us in this noble undertaking.”

    He said the inauguration of all the action committees save that of security be shelved.

    “I suggest that the security committee when inaugurated should approach and persuade the governors and in fact should be the conveners of the meeting,” he added.

    He volunteered to be a member of the security committee, which he suggested should meet the state governors.

    Others at the meeting were former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, Professor Jubril Aminu, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former Presidential Adviser on Food security, Professor Ango Abdullahi, Alhaji Adamu Maina Waiziri, Gen Timothy Shelpidi (rtd), Alhaji Bunu Sheriff, and Alhaji Aliyu B. Modibbo.

    Also in attendance were: General Yakubu Usman; Deputy Senate Leader, Sen. Abdul Ningi; Senator Aisha Alhassan; former Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Inna Ciroma; and former Education Minister, Alhaji Dauda Brima.

    The Nation recalled that the Forum’s first meeting was held on June 13, 2012 under the aegis of North East Forum of Concerned Leaders before it transformed into North East Forum for Unity and Development (NEFUD). The Forum according to its founders is concerned about the ongoing insecurity, unemployment and economic underdevelopment, marginalisation, and corruption challenges in the six states of the region.

  • PHCN stakeholders kick over transfer of N1 billion

    PHCN stakeholders kick over transfer of N1 billion

    Stakeholders in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria Plc (PHCN), are questioning the depletion of the company’s account to the tune of N1billion in the first quarter of this year alone through what they see as curious requests from the supervising ministry- Power.

    They are worried by the frequency of the requests and the true intentions.

    Documents on to the transfer of funds obtained by The Nation revealed that on December 20, 2011, a PHCN executive director and a senior manager, in a memo to the Manager, Access Bank Plc Aminu Kano Street Wuse II, Abuja asked that “the Current Account of our station specified below be funded from our outstanding Debt Account No 0430010004816 with you”.

    They specifically asked that N180 million be transferred to the Federal Ministry of Power (Project) Account in Zenith Bank Plc, Maitama branch and another N50 million transferred to the Industrial Training Fund at Keystone Bank Ltd, Wuse II, Abuja.

    This was preceded by a December 9,2011 transfer of N395, 281, 000 from the company’s outstanding Debt Account

    0430010004816 on 9th December 2011.

    In a letter marked ED-MO-TCN/002-003-1706-2011, the same PHCN executive director and an assistant general manager asked Access Bank Plc, Aminu Kano Street, Wuse II, Abuja to transfer the sum to the Federal Ministry of Power (Project) at Zenith Bank Plc, Maitama branch, Abuja.

    A note attached to the letter suggested that the request was approved by the top management of the ministry.

    The request came via a letter FMP/PPRU/163/VOL.11/6 of December 8, 2011 and was tagged ‘media budget’.

    On January 17, 2012, the executive director wrote to the Head, Public Sector Group, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Central Business District, Abuja to transfer N200million from the company’s market clearing Account No 2005859094 into the Presidential Task Force on Power ostensibly for the sensitization of the Public on Power Sector Reform .

    Another PHCN executive director and a senior management officer in a June 7, 2012 letter to Diamond Bank, Aminu Kano Street, Wuse II, Abuja requested that N84 million be transferred from PHCN outstanding Debt Account to Federal Ministry of Power (Project).

    The transfer was in response to a June 5, 2012 memo requesting ‘logistic support’ for increased patrol of transmission lines and projects nationwide.

    The memo said in part: “the prevalent vandalism of transmission lines and the increased collapse of towers had often led to the instability in the power supply causing, as it were, frequent system collapses. There is need to nip this trend in the bud and speedily attend to such issues when they arise especially with the coming on board of the National Integrated Power Projects. In order to harvest the gains of these completed projects and to ensure the strengthening of the transmission system, it becomes necessary to patrol these lines more frequently.

    “…In the light of the above, it is recommended that the lines should be constantly patrolled jointly by the officials of the ministry, Transmission Company of Nigeria and security and agencies. In order to provide the necessary logistics support for the period exercises, the following vehicles should be procured: 4 no. SUVs at N21 million each, totalling N84 million.”

    Another N98,985,000 was made available to the ministry on the strength of a presidency approval for the procurement of two treated security vehicles for the minister.

    A director in the ministry asked PHCN to “take necessary action to ensure the prompt release of the sum (N93, 985,000.00) into the ministry’s project Account.

    A source in the ministry informed The Nation that the leadership of the ministry had unfettered access to PHCN’s accounts after the company’s achievement of its target of 4,000 megawatts and the determination of the Jonathan’s administration to privatize it.

     

  • Ex-militants threaten fresh violence over amnesty

    FORMER armed youths of Urhobo extraction in Delta State have threatened fresh round of violence in the Niger Delta region if they do not get “fair share” of the 3,642 slots recently approved for the 3rd phase of the Federal Government’s amnesty programme.

    The Acting Chairman of the Urhobo unit (ex-freedom fighters) in Delta State, Great Godwin Anuke, in a statement yesterday, said a rehash of the phases 1 and 2 of the programme, which saw the alleged marginalisation of his kinsmen, would not be tolerated.

    He advised the Special Adviser on Amnesty to the President, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, to ensure that there is justice to the Urhobo ethnic group to avert violence. He said it was unfair that the group, which is host to over 653 oil wells, is subjected to such treatment by the amnesty office.

    “Mr. President Goodluck Jonathan knows what we can do, if the amnesty programme refuses to put Urhobo youths that are in the 3rd phase into the programme. We will cause crisis in the region and bad things will happen,” he said in statement issued after a meeting of the Urhobo Youths, in Ughelli.

    Anukwe further stated that “Mr. Goodluck is not helping the youths of Urhobo. 500 youths were taken from the Itsekiri National Youth Council, 100 from the groups led by the Late John Togo and 200 slots from Lato group in the Bakassi Peninsula while others are from groups of 200 slot and 842 for oil communities and Urhobo, that has oil producing communities, are being neglected.”

    However, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, amnesty office spokesperson, allayed the fears of marginalisation raised by the Urhobo ethnic group, stressing that the amnesty programme is not based on ethnicity but on those who played one role or the other during the armed agitation.

    Alabrah, who was contacted on telephone, said there was no need for the group to make threats, stressing that there are 2,000 slots available for sundry groups that they could fit into “if they present their cases well and it is verified.”

     

  • 13% derivation: Group threatens court action against Amaechi

    13% derivation: Group threatens court action against Amaechi

    The Association of Ogba/ Egbema /Ndoni, (ONELGA), communities, in Rivers State, has threatened to institute a legal action against the executive governor of Rivers State, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, if he continues to play down on the issue of setting up Rivers State Oil Producing Commission in the state.

    The group made the threat in Port Harcourt recently, saying that the process for the action has already been set in motion, and that after exploring all necessary avenues, and he remained resolute to his resolve, they would take him to court.

    The president of the association, Dr. Innocent Masi, a onetime senatorial candidate in the state, noted that the directive for the establishment of the commission was given by the federal government in 1999, to ensure that the 13% derivation accruable to oil bearing communities would be properly managed and accounted for.

    The elder statesman however regretted that despite the federal government’s intervention, oil producing communities in the state has remained grossly marginalised.

     

  • ‘Africa needs infrastructure to develop’

    THE president of the Africa Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM), Mr. Jean-Louis Ekra, has identified infrastructure inadequacy in Africa as an impediment to growth of the continent, saying it is responsible for industries operating on the continent not beeing able to compete with the industries in other parts of the world.

    He added, while speaking at a workshop at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank /International Monetary Fund, in Tokyo, Japan, that concrete steps must be taken to address the problem if the continent was not to be left behind.

    Ekra lamented that even within the continent, it had been extremely difficult to trade among member states due to lack of transport facilities such as good roads, rail and effective flights.

    The AFREXIM boss lamented that Africa “has the highest cost of transport in the world”, which he noted was impacting negatively on the cost of goods and services even among neighbouring countries.

    Ekra said, “In the whole of Africa, no single kilometre of rail has been added since independence”, adding, we must act fast.”

    He said that in the face of the enormous challenges, “innovation in financing instrument is key” and that pension funds should be deployed to provide long-term infrastructure funding as was the case in the United States of America and elsewhere in the world.

    Ekra revealed that annual financing requests to the bank had grown as high as $25bn per annum and pledged to focus on value addition in the consideration of loan requests by private sector operators in the region.

    “We will focus on value addition, not on duplication. We will not want to repeat what other banks are already doing. We want to add value to exports”, he stressed.

    Ekra advocated the use of some of the Africa’s $468bn foreign reserves, now sitting in European and American banks, to provide the long-term financing required for infrastructure development on the continent.

    He said that the position of the bank was informed by the fact that the continent, which currently suffered a wide gap in infrastructure development, could put some of its reserves to better use, rather than allow them idle away in foreign regions.

    Nigeria currently has over $ 41bn in foreign reserves and targets $50bn in the months ahead.

     

  • NANS condemns Mubi, PH students’ killing

    NANS condemns Mubi, PH students’ killing

    THE leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has added its voice to the condemnation of last week’s mass killings of students of Mubi Polytechnic and University of Port Harcourt.

    Comrade Ken Okorodas, Vice President (Special Duties) of the association, in a statement in Yenagoa expressed deep sadness over the killing of harmless students in Mubi and Port Harcourt, while advising the government to always put on standby armed security personnel to protect all institutions of higher learning in the country.

    Describing the killings as the height of evil, NANS advised the governments of Adamawa and Rivers States to take proactive steps without delay to bring the perpetrators to book.

    While enjoining students all over the country to observe a period of mourning for the murdered students, Okorodas added, “We should coordinate ourselves in the most peaceful manner possible, and await further directives from the central body of the association.”