The Nation Newspaper

Tag: allegations

  • Kwara appeal panel denies allegations

    Chairman of the Kwara State Appeal Panel for the All Progressives Congress (APC) state congress Osita Egwuatu has denied allegations his members were prevented from having access to aggrieved members.

    He said the committee neither received a petition nor protest to warrant an investigation.

    On allegations that the government kept them somewhere, Egwuatu said: “Go and tell them, we have been here for three days; this is the party secretariat and we are supposed to be here, we even pasted the information about our activities on the secretariat board, and we are here in the party secretariat. So how could we have been camped?

    “The fact that they make such a claim means they acknowledge we were here. We have not received any petition up till now, so it is sufficient to say that all went well.”

  • LG polls: Back your allegations with evidence or face law, Army challenges PDP

    The Army has challenged the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to back allegations of its involvement in the just-concluded local council elections in Kaduna State with pictorial and visual evidence.

    The PDP had alleged that the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division Nigerian Army, Major General M Mohammed, was instrumental in doctoring the election.

    The Army urged the general public to disregard the publication and regard the perpetrators as mischief makers and enemies of progress bent on pitching the military against the people of Kaduna State.

    While demanding immediate apology over what it described as a desperate blackmail, the Nigerian Army called on the party to  issue retraction of the “unfounded allegation on or before May 26, threatening that  appropriate legal action will be taken against them.

    A statement by the Deputy Director Army Public Relations, Colonel Muhammad Dole, explained the military hierarchy has always emphasised on political stance of its troops in all the occasions.

    It said: “This allegation is totally baseless and irresponsibly conceived with ill motive of tarnishing the image and personality of the GOC.

    “The perpetrators of this falsehood are expected to back up their allegations with pictorial views or visual evidence of the scenes of the event to prove the involvement of the GOC or troops of the 1 Division NA in any part of Kaduna State.

    “In view of the foregoing, Headquarters 1 Division NA requests the immediate retraction of this allegation with apology to our gallant officers and men who are daily paying supreme sacrifice to ensure peaceful atmosphere in Kaduna State.”

     

  • House flays $30,000 bribery allegations

    MEMBERS of the House of representatives yesterday threatened court action over a publication alleging that lawmakers of the House collected $30,000 dollars each not to override the veto of President Muhammadu Buhari on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

    In the interim, the Green Chamber has sent the matter to its Committee on Ethics and Privileges for investigations and advice on if it should commence with a court action and the nature of charges it should file.

    The resolution of the House was sequel to a point of order of privilege raised by Danburam Nuhu (APC, Kano) during plenary.

    The lawmaker, while moving the motion, said the allegation was capable of discrediting the House as an institution.

    He said: “I am beginning to worry that my constituents are now doubting my integrity.

    “I want the House to support this matter so that the House committee on Ethics and Privilege can investigate this matter, which is alleged to tarnish our images as members of Parliament.”

    House Leader Femi Gbajabiamla said the allegation was a slap on the face of members of the House, adding that rather than sending the matter to Ethics and Privilege Committee, it should be contested in a court of law.

    After debate on the motion, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, in his ruling insisted that the investigation should start from within.

  • Parties’ proliferation and Wike’s troubling allegations

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently raised the alarm that the number of registered political parties in Nigeria had ballooned to 68. Its concerns bordered on the inherent challenges of such surge, which include complicated and expensive logistics. Newspaper editorials and Radio/TV flagship shows have subsequently followed suit, highlighting the implications of the proliferation and thus confirming INEC’s concerns. Indeed, the aggregate of opinions points to the same direction: the party system implosion would put a heavy strain on our already diminished public pulse and electoral process.

    But last week, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State took a reverse lane on the matter, alleging that the “mass registration of new political parties is a deliberate plan by INEC to manipulate elections in three states”, his state inclusive. The allegation, in my view, flies straight in the face of both fact and logic. My fear is that if unproven and wild allegations like this are allowed to fester ahead of the next general election, the outcome may be very sad. The political temperature is already getting high. We don’t need politicians to invoke a volcano, in the interest of us all.

    For starters, I will take a historical look at the implosion in our party system since the beginning of the Fourth Republic. In 1999, there were only three parties during the general election. It wasn’t that there were no agitations for more parties, but INEC refused to register them. Human rights activist and legal icon, late Gani Fawehinmi, had dragged the electoral body to the court for his party to be registered. On November 8, 2002, the Supreme Court finally granted his prayers and voided INEC’s guideline which had prevented the registration of more parties.

    The Supreme Court agreed with Fawehinmi that “INEC had no power to make guidelines on how an association can become a political party in so far as the constitution has covered the field in section 222”, stating that “to restrict the formation of political parties weakens the democratic culture”. This judgement gave birth to the surge in political parties ever since.

    Few months after the court ruling, INEC was forced to register 27 additional parties, bringing the number to 30 during the 2003 general election. In the next general poll in 2007, 20 more parties were registered, and by 2011, the number of political parties in Nigeria surged to 63! In an apparent bid to curb this galloping increase, the federal lawmakers empowered the electoral umpire to de-register political parties. Thus, on August 17, 2011, the election body delisted seven parties and on December 6, 2012, it ceased to recognise 28 more parties. This trimmed the number of parties in the country to 28. The action provoked reactions from the affected parties, some of them accusing then INEC boss, Prof Attahiru Jega, “of exploiting the deregistration exercise to settle personal vendetta with his foes”. Some of them actually challenged this action in court and defeated INEC. Ever since, the surge has rebooted.

    The registration of two new parties on August 16, 2013 brought the number to 30, ahead of the 2015 general elections. On October 21, 2016, INEC registered 10 parties. The latest registration of 21 parties, which increased the number to 68, understandably sparked debates about the challenges it portends for INEC in the next general election. Unfortunately, some politicians, such as Governor Wike, have feasted on this and included it in their ‘battle strategy’, should they lose.

    The reality is that the proliferation of parties will not abate unless an amendment is effected on section 222 of the Constitution. The requirements for party registration as contained in the section are so simple that nothing stops a family from registering their own party. According to section 222 of the constitution, all that a would-be party need to do is to ensure that, “(1) the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission; (2) the membership of the association is open to every citizen of Nigeria irrespective of his place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion or ethnic grouping; (3) a copy of its constitution is registered in the principal office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in such form as may be prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission; (4) any alteration in its registered constitution is also registered in the principal office of the Independent National Electoral Commission within thirty days of the making of such alteration; (5) the name of the association, its symbol or logo does not contain any ethnic or religious connotation or give the appearance that the activities of the association are confined to a part only of the geographical area of Nigeria; and(6) the headquarters of the association is situated in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”

    Those are the six requirements needed to compel INEC to register a political party.

    After the Supreme Court ruling in 2002, INEC can’t refuse to register any political association for any other reasons beyond the ones stated above.  It is sad that our lawmakers did not deem it fit to amend section 222 during the recent constitution amendment. Instead, they preferred to smuggle in the ‘order of elections’ for obvious self-interest, even though it was never discussed at the public hearing as specified by the constitution.

    In the United States, for example, for a party to be included on the ballot, it must meet specific requirements in the affected state. A requirement in some states is that you must have 10,000 registered members that are verifiable. So for you to have your logo in a presidential ballot, you must prove that you have 10,000 registered members from each state of the federation. That is why only the Democratic and Republican parties contest in presidential elections. Just imagine amendment to our constitution in the semblance of this proviso. How many of these mushroom parties in Nigeria do you think can show that they have at least 360,000 registered members, with 10,000 from each state? Until our laws are amended, the upsurge in party registration will continue unabated.

     

    • Ossai is an Abuja-based newspaper executive.
  • Allegations of rigging dog Anambra polls

    Allegations of rigging dog Anambra polls

    As the people of Anambra State go to the polls on Saturday, some of the factors that favour Governor Willie Obiano are zoning and incumbency. But, there is a question mark on the governor’s purported order three months ago that civil servants should submit their voters’ cards or forfeit their salaries. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI looks at this development and the odds against the governor’s re-election bid.

    WHY did Governor Willie Obiano order civil servants to submit their voters’ cards or forfeit their salary three months ago? A civil servant told The Nation in confidence that the Head of Service through a circular ordered every public servant in the state, including teachers and those working in boards and parastatals to submit both the original and photocopy of their voters’ card to their respective permanent secretaries or the chief executive of the department or agency, for sighting, endorsement and collation.

    The civil servant added: “The state government had threatened to seize the August salary of persons who fail to comply with the directive, insisting that the restoration of such suspended payments of salary will be based on the presentation of valid voters’ card by the affected public servant.”

    A copy of the purported circular has been posted on several sites on the internet.

    On the surface of the matter, it looks like an attempt to ensure that civil servants registered during the continuous voters registration exercise to enable them perform their civic responsibility in this week’s governorship election. But Governor Willie Obiano’s Director of Media Relations, Mr. Chuks Iloegbunam, told The Nation in an interview in Awka, the Anambra State capital, last week that the government did not give such directive and that it is one of those tales concocted to discredit his principal.

    His words: “That’s not true; that’s nonsense. Don’t give it a thought; perish the thought. Don’t forget that for some people, the time of political campaigns is the time of manufacturing of stories and fabrication of lies. So, they tell all kinds of lies. One must be cool-headed, seat down and analyse whatever one hears; you take the lies, which constitute the chaff and throw them away and you take the truth and deal with them.”

    Be that as it may, opponents believe that there is more to it than meets the eye. As the candidate of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Osita Chidoka, puts it, Governor Obiano is threatening civil servants in the state to vote for APGA or face victimization. A statement from the Osita Chidoka Campaign Organisation said: it has evidence that the Obiano government has threatened civil servants and teachers to vote for the ruling party or face victimization. The statement reads in part: “The Osita Chidoka Campaign Organisation has become privy, with documented evidence, of the threats by elements in the outgoing Governor Obiano’s administration to teachers and other civil servants in the state to vote for APGA in Saturday’s governorship election or face victimisation.”

    The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Tony Nwoye, equally agrees that for the Obiano administration is up to something with the directive to civil servants in the state. The Director of Media of the Tony Nwoye Campaign Organisation, Chief Charles Amilo, described the move as devilish. He said the mere fact that the government conjectured it means that it has plans of what to do with it.

    Amilo’s words: “This is the era of internet and hacking, where you stay in Russia and hack into America and direct the course of elections there. The point is, we don’t know what they want to do with it. They did not just wake up and order workers to bring their voters’ card, so that they can photocopy it front and back; they must have plans of what to do with the cards. Somebody must have thought out how to use the cards to do something devilish during this election.

    “All we can do now is to draw the attention of the general public to this devilish move. How can they ask people to bring their voters’ cards, so that they can photocopy it front and back? That is a devilish thought. It must have originated from somebody who has thought out a plan to do something sinister. This move is not transparent. Therefore, we must alert, to see how they want to use it to rig the election. We cannot just write it off. It will be to our own peril, if we do so.”

    The media chief of the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer said APGA has a habit of rigging. He said: “It does not have a habit of pursuing an election. The 2010 election was won by Sen. Chris Ngige. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said 97,000 votes were enough to declare (Peter) Obi governor. If the ballot papers were to be available and recounted today, you will discover that Ngige won.

    “In 2013, they had to deprive people from Idemili North, Idemili South, Onitsha South Okpoko and Orumba South the right to vote; there was no election in those areas. So, after the election, they said because there were no voting in five hundred and ninety-something polling units, election would be held in those polling units the next day, which was a Sunday. Our people protested that we cannot vote on a Sunday, but they did not listen. After that election, they allocated a number of votes to the man that is now in power and declared him winner openly.

    “So, what I’m trying to say is that, this time around, they couldn’t understand this tsunami called Dr. Nwoye; he’s now a tsunami snowballing into a movement. If you had come to Njikoka on Sunday and saw what happened there, everybody who is anybody in politics in Njikoka is now on Tony Nwoye’s side. In the Omambala region, which is the governor’s home turf, Tony Nwoye is clearly on the rampage their too.”

    The APC chieftain said Obiano is trying to replicate the sort of manipulation that took place four years ago. He said: “A few days ago, the police arrested one of their members with ballot papers at Orumba. This news is trending in Anambra at the moment. But APGA is denying that the man in question is not one of their members. They have not won any election since that of 2003, which happened because the people were desperate to get rid of former Governor Chinwoke Mbadiniju. In 2010, they rigged; in 2013, they also rigged. It’s now part of their culture. They can’t win any election without rigging.”

    Amilo’s PDP counterpart, Chief Okey Muo-Aroh, however dismissed the allegations, saying that APGA lacks the capacity to rig. His words: “One thing you can be sure of is that you can only rig an election in an area where you have absolute control and influence. Despite being in government, APGA does not have the capacity to rig the election, because it is not in control in the polling units across the state. The fear of rigging the election can only be orchestrated from the APC angle, because it can use the police or the army to intimidate and make people run away from the polling units. That way, they can do some manipulation.

    “The type of rigging APGA is trying to do is to use ordinary people residing in different areas of the state to intimidate others and make them run away from the polling units. But it is not going to work. We have people on ground all over the state that will monitor the process; because we have told our supporters to vote and wait to monitor the process, so they will not leave the polling area after voting. At the end of the day, the results of the election will be announced at each polling unit and later collated at the ward level. If some shenanigans happen between the ward and the local government collation centres, we would see how those can be sorted out.”

    Muo-Aroh who is the Director, Media and Publicity, Oseloka Obaze Campaign Organisation said the calibre of people that will represent the PDP at collation centres are not the sort of people other parties can compromise or intimidate. He added: “We have the capacity and the ability to enforce our decisions. Anybody who comes believing that the police or the army can help him manipulate the result would be in for a surprise. We have a lot at stake, because this is an election that will determine the political future and political direction of some of us.”

    There is mutual distrust among the major contenders. As the electioneering campaign enters the last phase, Obiano’s party which had earlier accused the APC of planning to use ‘federal might’ to rig the election, raised a fresh alarm. The APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Oye, last week Monday, alleged that two truckloads of electoral materials, including ballot papers, meant for the Anambra election were intercepted in a suburb of the capital.

    But the Anambra State Police Command denied knowledge of the interception of any voting material. When contacted on telephone the Police Commissioner, Mr. Gamba Umar, described the allegation as lies, saying nothing like that happened.

    Anambra State has been agog with political activities in the last couple of weeks. Obiano is believed to be facing a tough re-election battle. Observers have attributed this to two main reasons. The ruling party is going into this election as a divided house. Former Governor Peter Obi, who almost single-handedly made him governor in the last election, is not backing him this time around. Obi and Obiano fell apart almost immediately after the latter’s inauguration.

    Secondly, though the governor is riding on the power of incumbency and to a reasonable extent has acquitted himself well so far in his first term, his opponents insist that he has performed abysmally in the last three and half years. In this contest, Obiano is fighting not just for his second term mandate, but also for the survival of APGA as a viable political platform. He is the only governor on the platform of the party, following the exit of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State.

    The APGA flag bearer is faced with a stiff competition from the flag bearers of the APC and the PDP, Dr. Tony Nwoye and Mr. Oseloka Obaze respectively. Although the governor is riding on the power of incumbency and, to a reasonable extent, has been able to deliver so far, his opponents are not impressed with his performance and are determined to oust him from office. It is alleged that he has not been able to fix many of the roads that were flagged-off to secure his election four years ago, except few roads within his hometown of Aguleri.

    For instance, Amilo said the only promise APGA made to his town, Enugu-Ukwu, which is also the hometown of the Deputy Governor, Dr. Nkem Okeke, was a three-kilometre road from Nkwo Enugu-Ukwu to the express. He said: “Go there now; they have destroyed peoples houses under the premise that they are going to widen the road. But no compensation was paid and flood is now raging the lower part of that road. Yet, the contractors have practically done nothing. Go to all communities in Anambra, it is the same story everywhere. I have argued it many times over; this government has failed. It has only succeeded in the direction of propaganda and fake news.”

    One candidate who is leveraging on the governors’ flaws to escalate his prominence is Obaze, who was a senior United Nations official before serving as Secretary to the Anambra State Government in both the Peter Obi and Willie Obiano administrations. Besides his philanthropic nature that has endeared him to many electorates, one of his strengths is the support he is receiving from former Governor Obi, who appears to be the arrowhead of his campaign.

    Obi has been rigorously campaigning for Obaze in some of the big markets in Anambra State. Obi’s influence is said to be a strong blow to contend with by the other parties, because he remains one of the most respected former governors of the state. Obi said during one of such campaigns: “I am fully in the PDP, and I am determined to campaign vigorously to sell our candidate. This campaign will not be done anyhow; it will be aggressive but without mudslinging. We will all be in the campaign together and we will run it like the PDP has never done before. We know where we left Anambra State and because Obaze was part of the success story and was instrumental to attracting most of the international donor agencies by using his contacts as a diplomat; he will be in a better place to continue from where we stopped. I am optimistic that if he becomes the next governor, Anambra will be better than what it is today.”

    Obi said his reasons for fighting his successor were informed by the vow he made to the people in 2013. His words: “In 2013, I took Obiano around Anambra State, to the markets, to every part of the state and the people kept asking me if I was sure of him as they did not know him, but that they would vote him because of me. I told them I would be the one to lead a campaign against Obiano if he did not perform well in his first term. Today, can anyone show me what the governor has done within his first term? He has nothing to show for it.”

    Nwoye is another strong contender. As aptly demonstrated during the flag-off of his campaign, he has the backings of President Muhammadu Buhari and all the APC governors. The former students’ union leader and grassroots mobiliser is believed to be the APC’s best chance of taking over the state at this point in time. He was the governorship candidate of the PDP in the 2013 election.

    One of the factors in favour of the incumbent Governor Obiano is the zoning arrangement. Although both Nwoye and Obaze who are from Anambra North like the incumbent have signed an undertaking pledging to do only one term to complete the eight years allotted to the zone, indications are that, all things being equal, electorates from Anambra South would be more favourably disposed to back Obiano as a matter of expediency.

     

  • Nelly denies rape allegations

    Nelly denies rape allegations

    I am completely innocent,” says American rap artiste, Nelly, who on Saturday was allegedly charged with rape in Washington while on tour with Florida George Line.

    “Let me say that I am beyond shocked that I have been targeted with this false allegation,” he stated. “I am completely innocent. I am confident that once the facts are looked at , it will be very clear that I am the victim of a false allegation…I do want to apologize to my loved ones for the embarrassment and for putting myself in a situation where I could be victimized by this false and defaming allegation,” he added.

    Nelly, according to TMZ, was arrested in Auburn, Wash., and charged with second degree rape after a woman named him, specifically, as the person who had sex with her against her will on his tour bus

    Nelly’s lawyer has also released a statement vehemently denying the charges levied against his client. It reads: “Nelly is the victim of a completely fabricated allegation. Our initial investigation, clearly establishes the allegation is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness. I am confident, once the scurrilous accusation is thoroughly investigated, there will be no charges. Nelly is prepared to pursue all all legal avenues to redress any damage caused by this clearly false allegation.”

  • Allegations against Kano ex-Speaker embarrassing, says Dangote

    Allegations against Kano ex-Speaker embarrassing, says Dangote

    Africa’s leading businessmen Aliko Dangote has described bribery allegations against former Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Kabiru Rurum, as “falsehood”. He told the House of Assembly committee probing the allegation: “Don’t waste your time, it’s all falsehood”.

    Dangote Group spokesman Tony Chiejina said the allegation has no foundation whatsoever, and is an ‘outright falsehood”.

    An online media, on June 17, alleged that Dangote gave Rurum N100 million to kill the

    Chiejina told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday that the allegation has been embarrassing to Dangote.

    “Aliko Dangote does not even know Rurum, let alone being his friend, as alleged by the report,” Chiejina said.

    The Kano Assembly, meanwhile, has asked a five-man committee to investigate the allegations.

  • Abia Poly ex-Ag Rector denies allegations

    Former acting rector of Abia State Polytechnic, Prof Martin Ifeanacho, has  threatened to  go to court over a report which described his administration as incompetent and fraudulent.

    Speaking in Umuahia, Ifeanacho, who has been on suspension since February 3, denied wrong doing, saying it was wrong for anyone to accuse his administration of incompetence when the measures he introduced were being implemented by his successor.

    Ifeanacho said he was appointed acting rector on June 1, last year. He said on assuming duties, he was confronted with challenges, such as unpaid salary arrears, check off dues and cooperative money.

    He said he was surprised to read in The Nation that his administration was fraudulent. “That is a deliberate attempt to run down my good works for purposes which are not clear to me as we are trying to educate our children,” Ifeanacho lamented.

    He continued: “The report created the impression that my administration before the appointment of the current acting rector achieved little or nothing; but I make bold to say that what we set up is what the current administration is building on now.

    “The fake school fees receipt was discovered by me. We found out business centres across the road where school receipts were cloned when we implemented the e-payment which had been there for years.

    “We also found out that many students do not pay their school fees except when an examination was close by during which period they would clone the school receipts to confuse school authorities, but we stopped it.

    “When I assumed duties, I found out that the main problem of the institution was mainly the non-payment of arrears of salaries and the unions’dues; because of that they (workers) kept giving notices of strike.

    “We found out that the school was over staffed and we had taken measures to prune down staff strength by sending certificates to WAEC to know the authenticity of such certificates.

    “Our efforts were thwarted because the (governing) council meetings where the decisions that would have turned around the school were never held before my suspension was announced.”

     

  • Allegations against me, tissues of lies, Rector

    Allegations against me, tissues of lies, Rector

    Rector of the College of Health Sciences and Management Technology (ASCHSMT) in Abia State Prof Chidi Felix Ezeama cleared himself of allegations of employment fraud. He said due process was followed in the recruitment. He spoke with SUNNY NWANKWO (Aba)

    Workers accussed you of employing your wife, daughter and son-in-law through the back door including other 40 workers outside the approval of the government

    They are all false allegations! I wouldn’t want to talk much except that I would just refer to letters that were under investigation. Since I came here, I have never employed one person on my own authority. I have a list of people who have been employed here. The first set was four and they were duly given waiver by the government. And note that the rector doesn’t write letter of employment. The registrar does that.

    There has never been any employment here without waiver. Number 5 on the list (of employees) that I have here is my wife’s name and with a proviso; ‘contract staff’ because of her experience. This is because we needed an experienced nurse and a retired gynaecologist that should be on contract. We haven’t gotten that of gynaecologist because it hasn’t been easy for us to get one. So, what I’m saying is that I wasn’t the person that employed my wife, or my daughter. All of them came up under waiver.

    But workers have also alleged that you placed your wife far above others

    You should know that the rector doesn’t place anybody on salary scale. It is the registrar that also does that. I don’t even know where (salary scale) she is placed.

     But you as the rector can influence that.

    As far as I am concerned, there is no influence (on her salary placement), the registrar does that. It is not even my duty.

    Could it then be a coincidence that your daughter, wife and son-in-law were all employed at the same time in an institution where you are the rector?

    I don’t understand why that question should arise. Everybody, including you can be employed if you had whatever it takes to be employed; and I don’t think it has been out of place even before I came in here where people of (the same family) work in a place. There is no civil service rule that says even a family cannot work in a place. So it looks to me like you are trying to witch-hunt somebody for nothing. Even as it is now, there are places where it is happening even within this state now. I think there is something behind this allegation.

    Workers accused you of employing more non-teaching having staff despite the college over bloated figures in that cadre.

    That is why I’m saying people are giving you false information. I have many academic staff. They are in public administration, public health nursing and community health. It wasn’t one-sided.

    We were told that you have cleaners already and you still went ahead to employ more.

    We still need to get more cleaners here and even gardeners, but because of the economy, we didn’t go into those things. What I am saying is that we are still short of cleaners and academic staff, that is to say that we are still short of manpower and we cannot employ everybody at the same time.

    Workers are also worried that employing more people in the school will add to their woes in the face of six months outstanding salary arrears

    You see, you look for workers when you have areas of need. Waiver is our arears of need and I got that and the people were employed.

    Are you saying that the institution has the financial muscle to pay the newly employed and existing staff?

    When I took over, one of my initial steps was to close up gaps so that revenues that should come here wouldn’t be going away and that I have succeeded in doing. That is why the petitions are coming. If I don’t block them, we can’t survive here because government would not give us everything that we need.

    When will the workers get their salaries?

    It may interest you to know that I paid them before they left for Easter break.

    Which month did you pay?

    Are you after the month that was paid? I paid my workers before they went for Easter and they are happy because they weren’t expecting to be paid, but we went through the IGR and got something and paid them.

     Did you pay the whole workers or those that were newly employed?

    What I am saying is that I paid my workers and all these things that you are asking are not so relevant because what matters is whether I am moving on well with my staff. They know that since I came, I have been doing a whole lot for them. It is just that people don’t appreciate good things, but I am not bothered about that. I have been doing what is good for them.

     

  • Firearm allegations against me false, says ex-lawmaker

    Firearm allegations against me false, says ex-lawmaker

    A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Chibudom Nwuche, yesterday said those trying to rope him into allegations of illegal possession of firearms would fail.

    He said this in a statement  by his Media Assistant, Macklean Ezebuesor, on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Mr. Nwuche, who is also a lawyer, represented Abua/Odual/Ahoada East Federal Constituency, Rivers State in the National Assembly from 1999- 2003.

    The media aide said the latest allegation against the former law maker was engineered by politicians aiming to tarnish his image ahead of 2019 general elections.

    According to him, these politicians are trying to influence the security agencies against him by criminalising his businesses.

    The statement said: “These traducers began by trying to criminalise a purely civil contract between an NGO in which Nwuche is a trustee and the Amnesty Office, where the NGO has a claim of outstanding N5.4billion owed him on provision of sea time training vessel. Their intention was to stop the ongoing contract and deny Nwuche revenues in their false belief that he will run for political office in 2019.

    “They then proceeded to infiltrate the search of Nwuche’s residence after lying to security agencies that Nwuche had a stash of dollars in his residence. The search revealed no horde of dollars, even though there is no law prohibiting business people from earning and keeping dollars in their houses. The criminals who infiltrated this search stole and sold C of Os and planted firearms with the aim of incriminating/blackmailing Nwuche. The police have recovered these C of Os and declared the main culprit who illegally participated in the search wanted.

    “These criminals who infiltrated the search are also suspected to have been behind the armed robbery by five men in military camouflage bearing AK 47 rifles the next day in Nwuche’s office where they came to retrieve vital evidence and documents to cover their sponsors. These matters are still being investigated by the police to uncover those that stole C of Os, planted firearms and committed the armed robbery the next day 29th Nov 2016.

    “These political interests who have engineered several false petitions to the security and anti-graft agencies aimed at tarnishing Nwuche’s sterling political profile and criminalising his businesses as part of their 2019 ambition to be the only ones to be reckoned with, are going to ridiculous extents in trying to influence the security agencies against him.

    “These security and anti-graft agencies are not fooled and know that if anyone is to engage their interest it will be Nwuche’s traducers who have held executive positions and presided over budgets running into several billions with obvious questions of corruption to answer. Why the anti-graft agencies would be interested in Nwuche, who left office without blemish over 14 years ago and has always been an affluent legal practitioner and business man even before volunteering to serve his people in the National Assembly between 1999 to 2003.

    “How come it was after Nwuche made determined efforts to recover his C of Os and arrests were made that these spurious firearms allegations surfaced. Who knows what next these desperate people will either plant, concoct or dredge up in their determined efforts to undermine Nwuche for their 2019 political ambition.

    “Nwuche continues to repose great confidence in our anti graft and security agencies and knows that they cannot be swayed into persecuting innocent people as the truth will always prevail. They will in the course of their diligent investigations discover that the allegations and petitions are all false as you cannot dress a man known for humility, integrity and honesty in borrowed robes of criminality. We hope that they will at the appropriate time turn their search light on these characters and prosecute them accordingly.”