The Nation Newspaper

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  • Taraba Assembly directs CJ to set up panel against Deputy Governor

    Taraba Assembly directs CJ to set up panel against Deputy Governor

    The Taraba State House of Assembly yesterday continued impeachment proceedings against Deputy Governor Alhaji Abubakar Sani Danladi. The lawmakers directed the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Josephine Tuktur as a matter of urgency, to constitute an investigative panel that will probe Danladi’s alleged offences. The deputy governor was on September 4, served with an impeachment notice, for alleged “gross misconduct, sharp practices and lack of capacity to function as a deputy governor”. He was given 14 days to satisfactorily respond, failure which he would be impeached.

    The deadline expired on Tuesday, a day after he (Danladi) was stopped from receiving the national honour of the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The directive (on the judiciary) followed Danladi’s response to the impeachment notice, which compelled the legislators who are on recess to convene an emergency sitting at about 9.30p.m last night. The dusk plenary was attended by 21 members, who formed quorum.

    Having deliberated on Danladi’s reply, which lasted for several hours, the Assembly members unanimously decided that the Judiciary should come in as an arbiter to investigate all the allegations that led to the impeachment process and whether the House’s moves were lawfully.

    19, out of the 23-member House had signed the impeachment notice. But yesterday the two members that initially refused to sign the impeachment notice appended their signatures on the document.

    To give Danladi fair hearing, the judiciary was given three months to carry out their investigation, which the House said they will abide by the outcome of the findings.

     

  • MOSOP says visit to President fruitful

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has said the meeting of the Ogoni people with President Goodluck Jonathan on the implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme’s (UNEP’s) Report was successful.

    MOSOP Provisional Council Chairman Prof. Ben Naanen spoke in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, during a meeting that witnessed the adoption of the presentation to Jonathan as a working document for the Ogoni people.

    On September 3, the Ogoni, led by King Godwin Gininwa and Senator Magnus Abe met with the President on the implementation of the report, compensation for damages in the area, the creation of Bori State, youth empowerment and the provision of basic amenities.

    Naanen dismissed claims that the delegation did not act in the best interest of the people.

    He said: “Our meeting with Jonathan was very successful. It is our prayer that the Federal Government speeds up the implementation of the document presented in order to alleviate the suffering of the Ogoni people.”

    Naanen urged the people to avoid making frivolous statements that can hinder their progress.

    Abe, represented by the Chairman of Gokana Local Government Area, Mr. Ledee Demua, said the implementation of the Ogoni Bill of Right was important for the survival of the people.

    He said surface and ground water contamination at levels over 900 times above the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) prescribed safety limit meant that every Ogoni person was a potential cancer patient.

    Abe said: “This is a potential public health disaster of monumental proportion, which warrants emergency action ahead of other remedial efforts.

    “Our environment and survival is of great importance to us and we expect the Federal Government to take our demands seriously.”

    Abe said despite their commitment to Nigeria’s unity, the Ogoni would continue to seek control of their resources.

  • Aregbesola signs 10 bills into law

    Aregbesola signs 10 bills into law

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has signed 10 bills passed by the House of Assembly into law.

    The Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Basiru Ajibola, spoke in Osogbo, the state capital, when he addressed the Assembly on his ministry’s implementation of this year’s budget.

    He listed the bills as: a Law for the Establishment of the Osun State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA) and other Matters 2012; Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law 2012; a Law to Repeal the Public Procurement Law 2012.

    Others are: State of Osun Bonds, Notes and other Securities Issuance Law 2012; State of Osun Legitimacy (Repeal) Law 2012; State of Osun Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (Amendment) Law 2012; State of Osun Security Trust fund Law 2012; State of Osun Debt Management Office (Establishment) Law 2012; State of Osun Fiscal Responsibility Law 2012; and State of Osun (Omoluabi) Conservation Fund Law 2012.

    The commissioner said the establishment of family courts and the Citizens Mediation Panel would serve as government’s alternative to conflict resolution among the residents.

    Ajibola said some other bills have been passed by the State Executive Council (Exco) but were awaiting the governor’s signature and letter to the Assembly.

    He added that some others were being processed.

     

  • NLC urges Uduaghan to resolve dispute with teachers

    NLC urges Uduaghan to resolve dispute with teachers

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Delta State chapter, has intervened in the dispute between the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Delta State Government.

    The NUT has been on strike for four days over the non-implementation of the 27.5 per cent Teachers’ Peculiar Allowance (TPA).

    NLC urged Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to intervene in the dispute between the NUT and the state Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.

    In a letter to the governor by its Chairman, Comrade Williams Akporeha, NLC said: “The issues at stake have lingered on for so long and deserve your immediate intervention to ensure continued peaceful industrial climate in the state.”

    Public schools were scheduled to resume for a new academic session last Monday, but they could not owing to the NUT strike.

    Commissioner for Education Prof. Patrick Muoboghare said the government has not implemented the TPA because the ministry has not completed the verification of teachers.

  • Proposed N13.6b secretariat: Opposition flays Chime

    Proposed N13.6b secretariat: Opposition flays Chime

     •I’m unperturbed, says governor 

     

    Opposition parties have condemned the plan by the Enugu State Government to build a new secretariat for N13.6 billion.

    Nine opposition parties, under the aegis of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), in a statement, frowned at the proposal.

    They said it was not necessary now.

    The parties have formed a coalition to present a common candidate to run against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 governorship election.

    The Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) is heading to court to stop the rebuilding of the secretariat.

    The party said: “We will not fold our arms and allow this government destroy the existing secretariat and bequeath a legacy of huge debt to the people of Enugu State.”

    Governor Sullivan Chime said he is unperturbed by the opposition’s attacks.

    In a statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Inter-Party Affairs, Mr. Chris Asadu, said those attacking the government have not given any substantial reason for their criticisms.

    Asadu, who is a CNPP chieftain, said only nine of the over 37 opposition parties were behind the attacks.

    He said those criticising the government were “merely exercising their right to freedom of expression to seek relevance, rather than pursuing any discernible cause”.

    Asadu said the governor should not be worried by the opposition’s “tantrums”.

    The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Chukwudi Achife, said: “The credibility of the opposition’s criticism has been undermined by their claim in the media that they decided to attack Chime because he had become inaccessible after they supposedly helped him to win the 2011 election.”

    He said the governor is running an all-inclusive government, with some opposition figures occupying public positions in his administration.

    Achife said Chime has maintained a “broad-minded and non-partisan policy” in the implementation of his transformation agenda.

    He said: “We understand these attacks as a mere exercise of the freedom of expression, not that there is any real substance to them. These things happen now and then. Democracy permits it and, as such, the governor is not perturbed.

    “He will remain focused on the job he has been elected to do, which objective minds have acknowledged he has been doing excellently well”.

    Achife said the governor is willing to listen to constructive criticisms and suggestions that would improve the state.

     

  • MASSOB urges Army to treat battered member

    MASSOB urges Army to treat battered member

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday urged the authorities of the Nigerian Army to fly its Regional Administrator, Onitsha Region 4, Chief Arinze Igbani, abroad for treatment.

    It urged President Goodluck Jonathan and rights’ groups to come to Igbani’s aid.

    Soldiers from the 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha, the Anambra State capital, allegedly stormed a hospital where Igbani was receiving treatment after an accident in which his leg was broken and beat him up, before taking him to their base.

    MASSOB said Igbani’s leg is decaying and he has lost his sight since the attack.

    In a statement by its Onitsha Region 4 Director of Information Chima Agu and Mr. Linus Madunago, MASSOB threatened to sue the soldiers.

    It said the attacks on its members by the Army have become unbearable.

    The statement reads: “We are raising this alarm and sounding the last warning to the soldiers who stormed the hospital where Igbani was receiving treatment after an accident in which his leg was broken.

    “Igbani, who had been in the hospital for over five months, was beaten up and whisked away by the soldiers. His leg, which was just healing, was broken. The attack was against God and humanity, because there was no reason for it.

    “The soldiers forcibly took Igbani away from the hospital and subjected him to severe torture. In the process, his eyes were injured and he cannot see again. His broken leg is fast decaying. We urge the Army to sponsor his treatment abroad, so that his sight and leg can be saved.”

    MASSOB criticised the stringent condition given by the magistrate for Igbani’s bail.

     

  • NURTW boss to members: shun politics

    The President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Nojeem Usman Yasin has warned his Members nationwide to shun partisan politics.

    Yasin was reacting to media report to the effect that a party was planning to use members for campaign in the forthcoming election in Ondo State.

    He denied insinuations that members of the union in Lagos were planing to invade Ondo State to cause trouble.

    Yasin said men of the NURTW could no longer be used as political thugs. He said those thinking that his members could be used to cause trouble were living in the past.

    He said the NURTW as a trade union organisation is not affiliated to any political party, but that members were at liberty to vote for political party of their choice.

    “I have said times without number that members of NURTW are not affiliated to any party.

     

  • Community protests monarch’s ‘high-handedness’

    Residents of Amenye Abagana in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State yesterday protested the alleged high-handedness of their traditional ruler, Igwe Patrick Mbamalu.

    They said the monarch has been selling the community’s land without due process.

    The protesters, comprising men, women, youths and the aged, alleged the unlawful detention of indigenes by the monarch in liaison with the police.

    They marched on the streets, carrying placards with unprintable names.

    The patron of the village, Mr. Paul Anunobi, and an elder, Mr. Isaiah Okeakpu, described the monarch as “greedy, selfish and money- conscious”.

    They said the land sold out by the monarch were meant for community projects.

    A woman leader, Mrs. Patricia Okeyemekwue, said the monarch had been victimising their children and husbands.

    When the protesters got to the local government secretariat, the Chairman of the village, Mr. Godfrey Elochukwu, told the council officials that Mbamalu sold part of Oyeagu Market and lied to his subjects that he gave it to the State Security Service (SSS).

    Elochukwu said: “We asked him to explain his reason for selling the land, of which the villagers and the local government are stakeholders, but he refused to do so.”

    The Deputy Council Chairman, Mr. Obi Okearo, said the matter was beyond the local government and it has been reported to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Town Union Matters.

    Mbamalu said he gave the land to the SSS to build their quarters. He said those behind the protest just wanted to humiliate him.

    Mbamalu said: “I have not sold anybody’s land since I was born. My father had enough land. Some miscreants are trying to instigate crisis in the town.”

  • MTN Project Fame winner for Red Ball event

    MTN Project Fame winner for Red Ball event

    WHEN the Foundation for Children of Bakassi, a pet project of Senator Florence Ita-Giwa (OON), holds this Sunday at the Zinnia Hall, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, the cynosure of all eyes will be Nigeria’s rave of the moment singer and winner of the first edition of MTN Project Fame concert, Inyanya Mbuk, the Kukere crooner.

    Others are award-winning Tu Face Idibia, Tiwa Savage and Timi Dakolo. Dignitaries who will grace the occasion include Culture, Tourism and National Orientation Minister, Chief Edem Duke, actresses Monalisa Chinda, Funke Akindele, Ini Edo, Shan George and others.

    Tagged, Red Ball and featuring the Middle East African Fusion, the event will feature Nollywood stars in a fashion show where they will don the attire and design of Vlisco, a textile manufacturing firm.

    Packaged to be an evening of fun and excitement, some Nigerian Nollywood stars who have contributed to the growth of the industry will be honoured.

     

  • 40 million voters’ cards ready for 2015 elections, says Jega

    40 million voters’ cards ready for 2015 elections, says Jega

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said it has produced 40 million permanent voters’ cards to ensure a smooth conduct of the 2015 elections.

    The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, spoke when he received representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Civil Defence and Nigeria Immigration Services in his office in Abuja.

    He said the balance of 30.5 million cards of 70.5 million registered for the 2011 elections would be ready by February.

    Jega said some people capitalised on the commission’s inability to authenticate genuine holders of voters’ cards in the last poll to perpetrate acts inimical to the success of the election.

    INEC, he said, has introduced a card reader that would be used to identify the holders of the cards in every polling unit before allowing such a person to cast his or her vote. He said this is to curb malpractice.

    He assured that voters would use the permanent voters’ cards to exercise their franchise in 2015 in line with the move by the commission to improve the nation’s electoral system, assuring that the election would be better managed than the last.

    Jega said: “We are working towards our mandate of improving on the country’s electoral landscape. Even as many analysts rated the 2011 elections high, we believe there is room for improvement and this is what we intend to achieve with the 2015 poll because we believe that every election should be better than the previous ones.

    “I know that some people out there were not satisfied with the outcome of the last election. But looking at the various parameters, when you compare the election we conducted in 2011 to the ones before it, you will know that it was better.”

    According to him, there would always be roles for the military to play in collaboration with the civil police, which the people are used to.

    He said without the assistance of the military personnel, the conduct of elections in Nigeria might be difficult because of the peculiarities of the average Nigerian politician, who, in most cases, sees election as more than an avenue to render service to the people.

    Speaking earlier, the leader of the team, Wing Cmdr. Idris Hassan, said they came to the commission in connection with the security challenges it faced in the conduct of elections and to find ways to collaborate with the electoral body to achieve free and fair elections.

    He assured INEC that they are ready to assist in areas where their services would be needed to improve Nigeria’s electoral process.