The Nation Newspaper

Tag: confused

  • Confused

    There is confusion in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as it challenges the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Ekiti State governorship election of July 14. The Ekiti State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja highlighted the confusion when it dismissed an application by the PDP for the recount of ballot papers used in the July 14 poll. The Chairman of the three-member tribunal, Justice Bolaji Belgore, declared that the application lacked merit.

    A report said: “Belgore noted that the state has 177 wards with 2,197 polling units in 16 local government areas but the petitioners only complained of 325 polling units in their petition before the tribunal. The chairman said PDP and its candidate did not complain about all the 2,197 polling units in the state. ‘To pray for recount in all wards and polling units across the state is to make firm nonsense of the petitioners’ pleading,’ Belgore said.”

    The report continued: “According to him, pleadings are written statements of parties in a procedure wherein they clearly state the materials, including documents they will rely on in the proceeding. He said the tribunal could only admit where it was supported by pleading, adding that what the petitioners wanted could not be situated in their pleading before the tribunal.” Now that the tribunal has defined its focus, specifically 325 polling units, the clarification should help to reduce the confusion in the PDP.

    The confusion in the PDP had started before the tribunal entered the picture. Outgoing Governor Ayo Fayose had once again showed his stuff as he reportedly went on the air to declare Prof Kolapo Olusola as the winner of the governorship election. Olusola, the deputy governor and PDP governorship candidate, was Fayose’s personal choice, but he needed to win the election.

    While the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) prepared to officially announce the election result, Fayose had announced on the Ekiti State Broadcast Service (EKBS) that his choice had won the election. Olusola didn’t win. Dr Kayode Fayemi of the APC won the election.

    Fayose’s radio broadcast was illegal. He knew it was illegal. The information was erroneous.  He knew it was erroneous. Fayose’s moves reflected confusion.  Confusion was in control.

    The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had swiftly shut down EKBS. The NBC accused the station of breaching provisions of the electoral act and broadcasting code by allowing the governor to declare the result of the governorship election, which was INEC’s responsibility.

    If PDP is confused about the Ekiti governorship election, it should not think that the public is also confused.

     

  • Babayaro: Oliseh is confused

    Babayaro: Oliseh is confused

    Former Nigeria International goalkeeper Emmanuel Babayaro has said Super Eagles head coach Sunday Oliseh is at a loss over the best way to handle the Super Eagles.

    Speaking after the team’s 2-0 loss to Congo DR in a friendly game played in Belgium, Babayaro blamed the coach’s starting lineup and substitutions.

    “Oliseh is confused,his starting lineup is proof that right now he doesn’t know what he’s doing” Babayaro told News24.

    “A coach, who has a central defender like Efe Ambrose and chooses to play Leon Balogun a right back as a central defender is confused.

    “Shehu Abdullahi didn’t do badly as a right back but still Ambrose is in the team and from that same spot he was untouchable in the team for four years,why is he on the bench?”

    He called on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure Oliseh stays in Nigeria and watch the local lads himself, as those presently being called up by the coaches in charge are not the best legs in the local league.

    The newly appointed Super Eagles coach lost his first game against Congo DR and has so far won just one in the three games he has managed the Eagles, being the 2-0 win over Niger Republic in a friendly.

    Nigeria under Oliseh will play Cameroun next on Sunday in Brussels, in another friendly game in preparation for AFCON 2017 and World cup 2018 qualifiers.

  • ‘Lagos PDP confused’

    ‘Lagos PDP confused’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State has described the comments on Governor Akinwunmi Ambode by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as uninformed.

    The PDP had urged Ambode to declare his assets or “be regarded as a pretender governor”.

    But in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the APC said: “Lagos PDP is lost and needs help to survive the demeaning fate it faced in Lagos and the country.

    “PDP Lagos continues to make us believe it exists in Lagos where it has been dealt serious electoral blows year in year out. Lagos PDP is an unserious group that periodically amuses itself with such hollow vituperations as asking Governor Ambode to declare his assets or be regarded as “pretender governor”-whatever that means.

    “This can only be the fruits of uncoordinated thoughts of serial losers who have no inkling on how to handle its latest round of electoral defeat.

    “Governor Ambode is full of energy, full of ideas, robust, capable and totally committed in dealing with the complex problems of a mega city like Lagos for which he is elected.

    “Distracting him through such baseless and laughable display of crass ignorance and naivety, as Lagos PDP, is an exercise in futility for majority of Lagosians knows that Lagos PDP is gone for good in Lagos.”

     

  • Jonathan’s confused presidency

    SIR: President Goodluck Jonathan administration is a labyrinth of confusion. Nigerians’ aspiration that he would someday put himself in the right column of history has been dashed, once more. He ought to be the fate of Nigeria and the fate could not be sustained. Now, a thousand years will pass and the guilt of his government will not be erased.

    By his ceasefire deal with the Boko Haram, President Jonathan has practically exaggerated the malevolent power of Boko Haram in an effort to legitimise his bankrupt rule. Pitifully, he has openly disembowelled his government by his disdain for the armed forces for which he is a commander-in-chief.

    In 2011, a Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North-East Zone, set up after bomb attacks by the Islamic sect, submitted its final report, asking President Jonathan to consider granting amnesty to members of the sect wishing to surrender their arms to the federal government. The panel, headed by Ambassador Usman Gaji Galtimari, recommended that the federal government consider the option of dialogue and negotiation which should be contingent upon the renunciation of all forms of violence and surrender of arms, to be followed by rehabilitation. In November 2012, the sect said it was willing to cease all hostilities and attacks if the federal government would arrest a former Borno State governor, Alli Modu Sheriff and meet its other demands.

    Sheriff has since become a PDP financier.

    On January 7, 2013, the insurgents for the second time restated its commitment to ceasefire in order to pave the way for dialogue. One Sheikh Abu Mohammad Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, who claimed to be a top member of the major faction of the group led by Sheikh Abubakar Shekau, spoke on behalf of the group.

    In April 2013, the Federal Government set up another committee to consider the feasibility or otherwise of granting pardon to the sect and to collate clamours arising from different interest groups who wanted the presidency to administer clemency on members of the barbaric group.

    The president followed this up in May with a promise to release a number of Boko Haram members, including all women in prison custody. In July, Nigerians happily looked forward to the end of the insurgency when the federal government said it had signed a ceasefire agreement with the militant group. Minister of Special Duties and Chairman of the Peace and Dialogue Committee in the North, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, announced the ceasefire agreement on the Hausa service of Radio France International.

    Since then, there has been no cessation of hostility.

    In May this year, Minister of Youth Development, Boni Haruna, told the country that President Jonathan had granted conditional amnesty to the terrorists group with a view to putting permanent halt to insurgency in the North-east. He added that series of integration programmes had been lined up for the members of the sect who would surrender their arms and embrace peace. Shortly after he made the statement, the Presidency debunked the statement. Special Adviser to the  President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the President did not mention the word amnesty in his Democracy Day broadcast that Boni Haruna relied on to make the statement.

    Is it really difficult to put the Boko Haram rabble to rout? Is it just that the Jonathan

    administration is profiting politically from the insurgency? That is why the purported ceasefire reached between the militia sect and the Federal Government is comical.

    You can now understand why Nigerians have been hankering for a strongman; a leader who would stamp out insecurity, corruption, reverse growing inequalities and make the country tall in the comity of nations. A president with common touch and toughness who can snare the sacred cows that have fed fat from the common till.

    • Erasmus Ikhide,

  • Final 23: Keshi convinced, confused

    Final 23: Keshi convinced, confused

    Super Eagles coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi took his wards through another rigorous  session Monday morning, one of the last before the announcement of the final 23- man list for the World Cup in Brazil later this month and came away with a damning conclusion, “these players have all convinced me of their abilities but they are also confusing me on  who to or not to drop.”

    He said so far all the players deserved to go to the World Cup but there was nothing he can do to change the laws governing the World Cup. Adding that the players who will be  dropped should take it in good faith and not conclude that they have been victimised.

    “God, it’s a good, difficult decision to make regarding the naming of the final 23 but we have no choice but to do it, otherwise we will be failing in our duties. The players have been so committed, professional that you feel like shedding   tears because some of them must just go home.”

    The list of the final 23 players that will be taken to the World Cup is billed to be sent  to the NFF for onward release to World football governing body, FIFA and the Nigerian and global soccer public.

  • Jonathan’s govt is confused, says Bishop of Lagos

    Anglican Bishop of Lagos West, Revd Peter Adebiyi yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is “confused” on how to solve the myriad of problems facing the country.

    He said many who call themselves leaders ought to quit their positions and apologises to Nigerians for misleading them.

    Rev. Adebiyi spoke while presiding over the Second Session of the Fifth Synod of the Diocese of Lagos West, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).

    It was his last major assignment as he will retire on April 27.

    The Bishop regretted that Nigerians have suffered so much in the hands of its rulers and have been “cheated, punished, battered and pauperised”, with their lives and those of their children wasted.

    “The country is being battered and is on the precipice of failure because it does not have true and sincere leadership. The future of our children hangs in the balance. “Politicians who are in various Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly appear to have no clue about what to do to make things better soonest.

    “The Presidency itself is confused. The fabric of the country is being torn apart and less unity is obvious.

    “In several parts of the country where there is no menace of Boko Haram, one of the terrorist groups presently in Nigeria, ethnic clashes are the order of the day,” Adebiyi said.

    According to him, the government is not serious about fighting corruption.

    To him, many of those who regard themselves as leaders are not representing the country in a befitting manner.

    “Many of them are corrupt in various ways. They are corrupt in behaviour, in speech, in action and of course in governance.”

  • Oyerinde: I was never confused, says AGF

    Oyerinde: I was never confused, says AGF

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke(SAN) yesterday said his office was never confused in the investigation into the murder of Oyerinde Olaitan, a former Principal Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    He also said it is the responsibility of the Nigeria Police to handle investigation into the murder and not the State Security Service (SSS).

    He said the Federal Ministry of Justice has no power to prosecute all suspects arrested in respect of the killing of Oyerinde.

    Adoke made the clarifications in a February 28, 2013 letter to the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions.

    He said: “My attention has been drawn to the representations made by Mr. O.T. Olaitigbe, Deputy Director, Public Prosecutions of the Federation on behalf of my office and the Federal Ministry of Justice at the Public Hearing organised by your Committee on February 27, 2013 on the alleged complicity and improper investigation in the murder of Oyerinde Olaitan, an aide to the Edo State governor.

    “It has been widely reported in the electronic and print media that Mr. Olaitigbe, while making his presentation to the Committee, stated among other things, that the Ministry of Justice was confused as a result of the investigation reports it had received from the Nigeria Police Force and the State Security Service (SSS), which appeared to have indicted different suspects for the alleged murder of Oyerinde and that the Ministry could not proceed further with the prosecution of the suspects because of the need to harmonise the two reports .

    “I wish to completely dissociate myself from the comments purportedly made on my behalf by Mr. Olaitigbe as the comments were at best, a figment of his imagination and very far from the truth. Mr. Olaitigbe was under firm instructions to inform the Committee that:

    (a) the Federal Ministry of Justice had examined the powers of the State Security Service as provided by Section 3 of the National Security Act, Cap.N.74 LFN, 2004 and the powers of the Nigeria Police Force as provided by section 4 of the Police Act Cap. P.19 LFN, 2004 and had come to the reasoned conclusion that the power to investigate crimes of the nature under consideration (murder) resides with the Nigeria Police Force while the power to gather intelligence lies with the State Security Service, and

    (b) the offence allegedly committed by the suspects is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the States in the Federation. The Criminal Procedure Act, Cap., C. 38 LFN, 2004 is very clear on this matter. The Federal Ministry of Justice therefore has no power to prosecute murder cases as murder is a state offence committed against State law and that the matter was already been handled by appropriate authorities in Edo State.

    “In view of the foregoing clear instructions and position, I am shocked, embarrassed and utterly disappointed by the representations reportedly allegedly made on my behalf by Mr. Olaitigbe. I have accordingly instituted an internal investigation to unravel the mystery and appropriate measures will be taken to discipline any officer found wanting in this deliberate propagation of falsehood.

    “In the meantime, I wish to assure your esteemed Members and the general public of the principled stance of my office on this matter as already elaborated above and to inform you that my office was never at any material time confused as to the steps to be taken in this matter. I sincerely regret the misrepresentation and the apprehension that it has generated in the minds of members of the Committee, as well as the general public.”

  • You are confused, Sylva tells Dickson

    Former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva has described his successor, Seriake Dickson, as a confused man, who does not know how to tackle the responsibilities of his office.

    This, according to Sylva, explains why the governor has been blowing hot and cold with spurious accusations against him.

    A statement by Sylva’s media aide, Doifie Ola, yesterday expressed concern that the Dickson administration has chosen to peddle half truths and “lamentable lies”.

    The statement reads: “In a seeming retraction of its earlier claim that former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva left only N4,451 in the state purse, Dickson admitted that he took over government from the former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Nestor Binabo.

    “Yet, the Dickson administration insisted that Sylva left a debt of N110 billion, comprising N50 billion bond and a N60 billion bank debt.

    “The Dickson system suffers from a credibility deficit. But even a government of doubtful legitimacy can be consistent. Dickson and his lieutenants are confused.

    “They have no idea how to run a government. They think that running Bayelsa State is about cheap propaganda.”

    The aide clarified that the Sylva administration took a N50 billion bond in 2010 following approval by the House of Assembly and the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

    According to him, the idea of the bond was to fast-track infrastructural development in power, healthcare, education, roads and water.

    Ola said funds from the bond were not paid to the government but were paid directly to the contractors.

    “At the time Sylva left office, specific projects linked to the bond were about 90 per cent completed.

    “Since the bond was on a determined interest rate, it is absurd for the Dickson administration to suggest that Sylva left a N50 billion bond debt as if it has not been serviced since 2010. This is simple arithmetic.

    “More importantly, the Sylva administration inherited debts from the previous government, and some of these debts were absorbed into the bond. Thus, Sylva could not have been responsible for a N60 billion bank debt as Dickson sought to suggest.

    “It is irresponsible of the Dickson administration to blame Sylva continually for its incompetence.

    “Now that he is governor, even if through an ungodly process, the Bayelsa people expect Dickson to lead in developing the state, not to make excuses,” the statement added.