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Tag: complicity

  • Ondo poll: Group warns judiciary against complicity 

    The Coalition for Stable Democracy (CSD), an alliance of pro-democracy groups, has urged the National Judicial Council( NJC) to ensure that the interest of justice is served in the struggle for the governorship slot in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The group said the judiciary should not allow itself to be used to subvert people’s will.

    CSD said the ruling delivered by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court Abuja was a miscarriage of justice.

    Justice Abang had last Friday ruled that the name of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, be substituted with that of Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim in a controversial ruling that has now been appealed.

    In a statement jointly signed by Victor Aderibigbe and Abdullahi Sanni, National Co-ordinator and Secretary respectively, the coalition said the event of 1983 political crisis in Ondo State would be a child’s play if the judiciary allowed itself to be used to truncate the people’s will.

    The group alleged that the ruling was part of plot to deprive Jegede’s candidacy to brighten the chance of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the election in Ondo State.

    CSD said: “Let it be made clear that Ondo State is a peaceful state, but we are hasty to warn that the people there should not be taken for granted. With the experience of the political crisis that engulfed  the state during the Ajasin/Omoboriowo saga, Ondo election should be treated with utmost caution.

    “We are therefore calling on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to pay serious attention to allegations of miscarriage of justice levelled against Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court Abuja, in which he ruled that Mr. Eyitayo Jegede’s name be substituted with that of Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim.

  • Kogi’s confusion and INEC’s complicity

    The cacophony of newspapers’ howling headlines such as ‘APC picks Bello as Audu’s replacement’, ‘Faleke picks Audu’s son as ruining mate’, Kogi’s State House of Assembly threatens to impeach any governor-elect other than Audu’s son’, ‘PDP and Wada pray court to declare Wada governor elect’, that daily hit us on the face, more than confirm the confusion going on in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

    The confusion as many have argued is a subterfuge by PDP and its INEC sympathizers to destabilise Kogi following their loss of yet another state to APC. And still  for many others, the logjam is the price the nation is paying for the indiscretion of President Buhari who many believe did not search deep enough for an independent-minded person that can measure up to the larger than life image of Jega, the immediate past INEC chairman.

    Those who speak of conspiracy theory base their analysis on the facts as presented by INEC. There is sufficient evidence to show that the election pronounced ‘inconclusive’ had been won ‘round and square’ by APC candidate. Matters are not helped by the actions and pronouncement of defeated PDP and its candidate who is scheming to reap from the misfortune of Audu in character with PDP that massively rigged elections in 2003, 2007 and which was wrestled to the ground in 2015 by Jega who insisted on the use of card reader machines to check electoral frauds.

    Preceding the current contrived confusion, INEC’s returning officer for the Kogi governorship election, Emmanuel Kucha credited APC’s Audu with 240,867 votes to PDP Wada’s 199,514, leaving the former with a positive variance of 49,953 votes. His report also showed Audu had secured no less than one quarter of the votes cast in 16 out of the 21 local governments of Kogi state while Wada managed to secure a quarter of votes cast only in five states. Audu by that declaration had fulfilled the constitutional and electoral acts provisions to be declared winner of the contest. The outstanding 25, 000 votes will not positively change the fortune of Wada and PDP.

    But curiously even though it was obvious that only 511,000 of the 1,379,000 INEC registered voters turned up for accreditation for the election, INEC’s Kucha still went ahead to pronounce an election already won ‘inconclusive’  on the basis of 49.000 registered voters out of which only 25,000 had permanent voter cards.  ‘This figure as well as the accredited number of voters ought to have been the concern of INEC’, according to Jiti Ogunye, a clear-headed legal mind. But INEC, according to him “went overboard and started talking about registered voters that they didn’t all give PVCs.” For him, “that was a pretext by INEC to stalemate, for whatever reason, the election.”

    That ‘whatever reason’, from the point of view of those who talk of conspiracy theory is the desperate rush by PDP and its thoroughly trounced candidate to court praying “that in view of the death of the APC candidate, Abubukar Audu, Wada should be declared the winner of the November 15 governorship election, that INEC be compelled to issue a Certificate of Return to Wada and finally that INEC be restrained from conducting the supplementary election scheduled for December 5”. PDP’s Uche Secundus and Wada seem to have forgotten St. Paul’s admonition to the foolish Galatians (Galatans.6:7) that ‘a man cannot reap what he does not sow’. But no one can blame PDP for catching on APC indecisions and mutual suspicions arising from intra-party struggles among coalition groups. For instance, it is the dumped APC deputy governorship candidate that is fighting the battle that APC ought to lead.

    Before APC oligarchy could settle down to address their internal demons after the party’s victory, Buhari, detested by northern parasitic elite that had held their people down for 16 years suddenly became their hero. Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank under Soludo, Yar’Adua’s  Minister of Finance  from May 2007 to January 2009 and Jonathan’s  Minister of National Planning between January 2009 to March 2010  representing the group, first tried to create disharmony among APC oligarchy by publicly claiming Buhari won the election on his own merit without the Yoruba votes.”So what’s it that the region is bringing to blackmail Buhari into handing over the government to Tinubu who thinks controlling Lagos is same as Buhari?” he was quoted to have said. What an old man sees sitting down may be invisible to a young man standing up, as Yoruba saying goes. Pa Akande alerted the oligarchy about the new strategy of enemies of change. Strangely, the president himself started saying: ‘I belong to no one; I belong to everyone’ adding that he was indifferent as to those who preside over the National Assembly. The enemies of change started quoting him to justify the trading off of APC victory to the defeated PDP.

    Those who wanted the president to celebrate his righteousness forgot he finally won the election after repeated failed attempts not by being righteous but by playing hard politics. Oyegun, the APC chairman is a perfect gentleman who believes society like our mother earth is governed by laws. But you cannot apply Biblical and Koranic moral laws and physical science absolutes when dealing with those whose Bible is the 1513 Niccolo Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’, which celebrates the real nature of man over abstract ideals such as morality.

    Mistrust and lack of coherence more than absence of strategic thinkers explain why there has been hardly any decision taken with sure-footedness since Nigerians gave APC victory. It was this weakness Saraki and Dogara exploited.  Today as Senate President and Ekweremadu as his deputy and with Dogara as Speaker, and PDP’s control of half of the chairmanship of the House committees including those of all important petroleum resources (upstream and downstream, gas resources, aviation, works environment and Niger Delta Commission), APC may be in government, it is PDP that wields power. In fact Saraki and his ‘like minds senators’ have become a threat to the change Nigerians fought for.

    These intra-party feuds, many believe deprived the President the much needed support and rigour required in the appointment of an INEC chairman. Yakubu Mahmood  the new INEC chairman, a  professor of political History and International Studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy with a first class degree in History from the University of Sokoto and a PHD from Oxford,  was first appointed the executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua  in 2007. He also served as Assistant Secretary of Finance and Administration at the 2014 National Conference. There were unproved allegations by ex-President Jonathan’s political enemies  that he secured his 2010 PDP ticket  by mobilizing funds from TETF with the help of Sanusi Lamido as CBN governor.

    Even if this was untrue, from the experience of Lamido Sanusi who ably supported PDP policies but was humiliated out of office following his criticism of government; General Patrick Aziza, former National Security Adviser to Jonathan, removed for alleging PDP was behind Boko Haram; and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who tried to ‘walk the tight rope’ by covering up PDP stalwarts that were involved in fuel subsidy and import waivers scams, we know PDP can hardly keep anybody who does not share its worldview in office.

    It is for the above reasons critics believe that Mahmood, although a first class material and an eminent Nigerian was a wrong choice for the INEC chair by virtue of his association with PDP. His involvement in the on-going INEC’s contrived constitutional crisis in Kogi seems to further confirm that. As Jiti Ogunye puts it: “He failed the litmus test in his first outing”.

  • Family accuses police of complicity in land dispute

    Family accuses police of complicity in land dispute

    A faction of the Ipetoro family of Ogijo in Ogun State has accused the Police of subverting an investigation into a disputed land involving two factions of the family. The 110- acre land is located in Ojijo.

    In a petition to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase, the family said the police had made another faction of the family to constitute itself into a nuisance, terrorising the community with dangerous arms and weapons.

    The Counsel to the petitioners,  Ebiwonjumi Obatayo of E. Obatayo and Co,  said his client has forwarded a petition to the IGP on the matter, adding that the petition was assigned to the Federal SARS, Abuja, to investigate.

    But Obatayo alleged that instead of allowing investigations into the matter, the land grabbers wrote a petition to the Ogun State Police Command, Abeokuta to thwart the SARS’ efforts.

    He also alleged that the counter petition was masterminded by Sheriff Akaun, fronting for the other family, a retired Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police, Usman Akaun and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Adesina, who he claimed, were the OC of X-Squad in Abeokuta.

    “The modus oparandi of these police officers is to harass, intimidate, molest, and level series of criminal llegations against my clients, and in the process, extort them of very huge amount of money. Besides, the other family faction boasted that the Policemen and the Force as an institution, is in their pocket and they will frustrate the investigation of the petition,’’ he said.

    Obatayo added that when the DIG directed the officers accused of taking side with other faction to hand over the case file to the officer of SARS, the directive was not adhered to. This impunity, he reckoned, has led to the suspects taking over the village, causing mayhem, and making life unbearable for the community.

    The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, explained that the petitions from the two groups were sent to the state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), and the matter referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for investigation.

    He declined comments, saying he had not seen the reports on the petition. He, however, said since the matter was under investigation, it would be wrong for anybody to accuse the Police of complicity.

    He declined knowledge of any complaint against the police on the matter, advising any aggrieved person to approach the CP first before any other thing, adding that he is convinced the CP had not received complaint against the police.

    “But, I know we handle such a matter. And if anybody thinks we are not handling the matter properly, the group or any individual having grudges against the police should approach the CP and complain of anything they noticed,” Adejobi added.

  • Ogijo land: Police accused of complicity in land dispute

    Ogijo land: Police accused of complicity in land dispute

    A faction of the Ipetoro family of Ogijo, Ogun State, has accused the Nigeria Police Force of surreptitiously subverting an investigation into a disputed land involving two factions of the family. The land, measuring 110 arces, is dispute is located in Ojijo, Ogun State.

    The family faction, in a petition to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase, said the police action or inaction had made another faction of the family to constitute itself into nuisance, terrorising the community with dangerous arms and weapons.

    The Counsel to the petitioners, Mr. Ebiwonjumi Obatayo of E. Obatayo and Co,  said on August 5, that his client had forwarded a petition, which he signed on behalf of the family to the office of the IGP on the matter for prompt action which he claimed was given attention, as the petition was approved and assigned to the Federal SARS, Abuja, to investigate the veracity of the allegation as contained in the petition    .

    But regrettably, Obatayo alleged, instead of allowing investigations into the matter, the land grabbers wrote a separate petition to the Ogun State Police Command, Abeokuta to thwart the SARS’ efforts. He also alleged that the counter petition was masterminded by Sheriff Akaun, fronting for the other family, a retired Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Usman Akaun and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Adesina, who he claimed, were the OC of X-Squad in Abeokuta.

    “The modus oparandi of these police officers is to harass, intimidate, molest, and level series of criminal llegations against my clients, and in the process, extort them of very huge amount of money. Besides, the other family faction boasted that the Policemen and the Force as an institution, is in their pocket and they will frustrate the investigation of the petition,’’ he said.

    Obatayo added that when the Deputy Inspector General of Police directed the officers accused of taking side with other faction to hand over the case file to the officer of SARS, the directive was not adhered to. This impunity, he reckoned, has led to the suspects taking over the village, causing mayhem, and making life unbearable for the entire community.

    When The Nation property contacted the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, he explained that the petition from the two groups was sent to the State’s Commissioner of Police (CP), and the matter referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for proper investigation.

    Adejobi explained that he would not like to make much comment on the matter since he has not seen the reports of the petition. He, however, said since the matter is still under investigation, it would be wrong for anybody to accuse the Police of complicity. He declined knowledge of any complaint against the police on the matter, and advised any aggrieved person to approach the CP first before any other thing, since he is convinced the CP has not received complaint against police action or inaction on the matter.

    “But, I know we handle such a matter. And if anybody thinks we are not handling the matter properly, the group or any individual having grudges against the police should approach the CP and complain of anything they noticed,” Adejobi offered.

  • NANS accuses Jonathan of complicity in Rivers crisis

    NANS accuses Jonathan of complicity in Rivers crisis

    The National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) yesterday accused President Goodluck Jonathan of being the brain behind the Rivers State crisis.

    It described Jonathan’s earlier denial of involvement in the crisis as false.

    NANS said: “President Goodluck Jonathan must stop distancing himself from the matter because, whether he likes it or not, he is vicariously involved in it. The direct involvement of the First Lady in the matter, which she publicly admitted to when 16 Bishops from the Southsouth paid her a visit at the Presidential Villa last week, implies Mr. President’s tacit involvement in it. Therefore, Mr. President cannot continue to feign ignorance or indifference in this sensitive matter.”

    According to a statement in Abuja by its Acting Senate President, Comrade John Shima, NANS gave the President and the Federal Government a 14-day ultimatum to resolve the crisis.

    Failure to heed to the ultimatum, the group said, “NANS shall be left with no option than to convene its next Senate Meeting at Port Harcourt, where it shall take a more decisive position and action on the Rivers State crisis”. “For the benefit of foresight, the action may include taking over the city of Abuja and paralysing all economic, social and political activities in the nation’s capital.”

    NANS demanded that “adequate security is provided for the Rivers State House of Assembly, so that the legislators can return to work”. “If that is done, then the majority will have their way and progress will be made, which is the true beauty of democracy.

    NANS called for “the immediate redeployment of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police (CP) Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, who from every indication has gone political”. “Since he has clearly shown that he cannot work harmoniously with the governor, then the CP should be redeployed immediately from the state. NANS hereby declares a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government of Nigeria and all its relevant organs to resolve the crisis in Rivers State.”

    The statement added: “The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), in keeping up with its traditional obligations as the bastion of democracy and vanguard of the oppressed and downtrodden, hereby condemns in its entirety, the show of ignominy unfolding in Rivers State, which culminated in the ferocious disruption of proceedings at the State’s House of Assembly on Tuesday 9th July, 2013.

    “We are, however, not oblivious of the fact that the festering crisis in the state has its roots in the acrimonious quest by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, to practically dictate to the ‘obstinate’ Executive Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, how he should run certain affairs in Rivers State.

    “Even though President Goodluck Jonathan can also not be said to be inculpable in the matter, he is also a member of the PDP and from the neighbouring Bayelsa State. So, we actually hope that the PDP would use its internal mechanisms to bring this lingering problem to end.

    “We must bear in mind that the situation in Rivers State depicts a huge threat to the security of the state and, by extrapolation, the entire nation. The Executive Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, has since made public, his own feelings of insecurity. There were reports last week of the deployment of policemen to the Rivers State Government House and the Rivers State Liaison Office in Abuja respectively, without the knowledge and approval of the state governor. That action by the police authorities is highly condemnable.

    “Mr. President should not forget that his cardinal responsibility to the state and its citizens is the provision of security for human lives and properties. This includes the lives of state governors and other high-profile individuals. Governor Amaechi has publicly declared that he is not comfortable with the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu. We wonder why the Inspector-General of Police is reluctant to redeploy Mr. Mbu from the state. Mbu clearly gave a clue in an interview with a national television station that he works at cross-purposes with Governor Amaechi.

    “The President’s thumbprint is firmly embedded in the ongoing crisis in Rivers State.

     

     

     

     

     

  • ASP detained for ‘complicity’ in Ekiti robbery

    ASP detained for ‘complicity’ in Ekiti robbery

    An Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) has been detained at the Ekiti State Police Headquartres in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, for alleged involvement in a robbery in Ikere-Ekiti.

    It was learnt that he was part of a five-man gang that robbed commuters on the Ikere/Ise-Ekiti road last week Monday.

    The robbers, armed with sophisticated weapons, including AK47 rifles, dispossessed their victims of phones, money and other valuables.

    They operated for about 30 minutes during the clash between the Ikere-Ekiti and Akure branches of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

    It was learnt that the robbers, dressed in plain clothes, blocked the road, giving an impression that they were on a routine check.

    On realising that policemen from Ikere had been alerted, they reportedly fled into the bush, but one of them left his phone on the scene.

    It was gathered that one of the robbers called the phone that was picked up on the scene and asked if the ASP escaped.

    Police Commissioner Sotonye Wakama said: “The officer’s number was on the armed robber’s telephone, which was picked up at a robbery scene and we want to ascertain the link between them.”

    Also yesterday, the parents of a 400-Level undergraduate of the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Seyi Fayese, alleged that their son was killed by policemen attached to the Oye-Ekiti Police Station because of the N100,000 he had on him.

    After collecting N100,000 for his school fees from his parents, the late Seyi was returning to school when the vehicle he boarded was attacked by robbers in Oye.

    It was learnt that the passengers abandoned the bus and ran into the bush in various directions.

    Seyi’s parents heard of the incident from a neighbour, who boarded the same vehicle as the late Seyi.

    When they did not hear from the late Seyi the following morning, they went to Oye Police Station to report the incident and found his body there, with his hands tied to his back.

    The police said he was either part of the gang that robbed a bank earlier or was caught in the crossfire between the robbers and policemen.

    But the boy’s parents insisted that he was killed at the police station.

    They said the fact that his hands were tied to his back showed that he was brought to the station alive.

    A suspected member of the robbery gang, Jimoh Sadiku, who was arrested by the police, said the late Seyi was not part of them.

    In a telephone chat with The Nation, the late Seyi’s father, Mr. Joseph Fayese, said: “They killed my son for a mere N100,000. Till now, they have not told us the person that killed my child, but we know it was Akobi Esu (devil’s first born) because he boasted that he killed my son. No one compelled him to sayit, he just did.

    “We appeal to kind-spirited lawyers and Nigerians to help us fight this unjust killing of the only star in our family.”

    It was gathered that Sadiku, who was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti, for treatment was discharged on March 8.

    A source at the hospital confirmed it.

  • Falana: sack Wogu for alleged complicity in subsidy fraud

    Rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu, following his alleged involvement in an illegal payment of N2.7 billion to a company for fuel that was never supplied.

    Falana also faulted the appointment of Steve Oronsanye and Ben Otti, members of the Nuhu Ribadu-led Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force (PRSTF) into the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    The activist-lawyer argued that the President, having earlier fired the Minister of Energy, Prof. Barth Nnaji, in a similar circumstance, would help the government’s integrity to also sack Wogu.

    Falana noted that it would be detrimental to the government’s reputation and President Jonathan’s earlier pledge to confront the rot in the oil sector should he retain Wogu both as a Minister and Head of the White Paper Committee on PRSTF.

    He argued that the call for Wogu’s sack was appropriate in view of the fact that despite the President’s pledge at the last media chat to tackle corruption in the oil sector, his aides have given the impression that the report by PRSTF would be ignored.

    The lawyer said the inclusion of Oronsanye and Otti on the NNPC Board negated the provision of sections 2 and 3 of the NNPC Act, which provide that the Board shall consist of the Petroleum Minister, who shall be the Chairman, the Managing Director of the NNPC, three persons appointed by the President and an alternate chairman.

    Falana threatened the Federal Government with a court action before the end of the year should the government decline to sack Oronsanye and Otti from the NNPC.

    He said: “In his recent media chat, President Jonathan reiterated the resolve of his administration to fight the rot in the petroleum industry.

    “In particular, he undertook to implement the reports of the various committees that probed the oil industry once the White Papers on them are issued by the Federal Government.

    “To assure the nation of the determination of the administration in prosecuting the war against corruption, more suspects have been charged to court in connection with the fuel subsidy scam.

    “However, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Wogu, who is heading the White Paper Committee on the Nuhu Ribadu-led Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, has been indicted in the illegal payment of N2.7 billion to a company for fuel that was never supplied.

    “As he cannot be a judge in his own case, Wogu should be removed from the White Paper Committee forthwith. More so that Reuben Abati, Doyin Okupe and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources have given the impression that the report of the PRSTF would be swept under the carpet.

    “Since a minister was recently forced to resign from the Federal Government due to a “conflict of interest”, President Jonathan should not hesitate to remove Mr. Wogu from the cabinet.

    “It has also been confirmed that while the PRSTF was carrying out its assignment, Messrs Steve Oronsanye and Ben Otti were appointed into the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

    “Although President Jonathan has denied the imputation that the appointment was designed to bribe and compromise Messrs Oronsanye and Otti, it is illegal, null and void as it violates sections 2 and 3 of the NNPC Act, which provide that the NNPC shall have six members and alternate Chairmen.

    “Specifically, the Board shall consist of the Petroleum Minister who shall be the Chairman, the Managing Director of the NNPC, three persons appointed by the President and an alternate chairman.

    “Instead of the seven members, the NNPC has nine members with the appointment of Messrs Oronsanye and Otti.

    “Since the NNPC Act has not been amended to validate the increase in the membership of the Board, Messrs Oronsanye and Otti should be removed.

    “In view of the serious implications of the illegal appointment on the activities of the NNPC and the national economy, the Federal Government should fire the duo as soon as possible.

    “However, if both are retained in the NNPC Board in contravention of the law, the Federal Government should be prepared to defend the illegal appointment at the Federal High Court not later than December 31.”

    The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) rose from a consultative meeting in Enugu yesterday with a call on the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godspower Orubebe, to resign.

    The call was contained in a statement issued after the meeting by the National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu.

    According to the statement made available to reporters, CNPP reviewed the state of the nation and came to the conclusion that corruption was taking a toll on the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration, hence the public trust deficit.

    The umbrella body of registered political parties said if urgent steps were not taken to arrest the situation, the administration might end up being labelled as the most corrupt in the history of the country.

    CNPP stressed that the Jonathan government needs urgent cleansing “to erase this ugly label either by compelling the two ministers who have been publicly found to have abused their oath of office and code of conduct for public officers as enshrined in the 1999 constitution, to resign, or sack them if there is no honour left in them to resign.”