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Tag: Confusion

  • Confusion at Oko Poly over collapsed building

    There was confusion yesterday at the Federal Polytechnic in Oko, Anambra State, following the collapse of a two-storey building at the school’s extension.

    While some students said the building collapsed though without any casualty, the school management said such incident did not occur.

    Students, who spoke with our reporter, said the Public Administration building, which was at the roofing stage, collapsed in the early hours of yesterday.

    But the management claimed that a part of the building was deliberately pulled down when structural defects were noticed.

    Security agencies barricaded the road to the extension site to prevent people from accessing the place.

    Students, whose departments were located in the area, were advised to stay away.

    Efforts to see the affected building were rebuffed by the polytechnic’s security outfit, led by the chief Security Officer (CSO), who insisted that nobody would enter the site.

    Also, the school’s Rector, Prof. Godwin Onu, could not be reached for comments on the incident.

    The Deputy Rector in charge of Administration, Ejike Nwabuona, insisted that no building collapsed at the polytechnic.

    Nwabuona addressed reporters in company of the institution’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Obini Onuchukwu.

    He said: “Following the recent collapse of five buildings at Nwagu, Amaokpla and Ekwulobia, all around Oko town, the management of Oko Polytechnic decided to engage the services of building materials testing consultants to test all completed and ongoing buildings in the institution.”

    Nwabuona also said the area was known for having weak soil, making Oko and its neighbouring communities prone to gully erosion.

    He added: “In the course of the exercise, our engineer discovered that part of the Public Administration building had defects and the management decided to pull down the affected part for correction and fortification.

    “The present management of the polytechnic has completed 13 gigantic buildings and all of them are in perfect condition and ready for inauguration. It is, therefore, not true that any building had collapsed at Oko Poly.”

    Yesterday’s incident at the polytechnic was the second in less than two months.

     

  • ‘Sanction lNEC chief Nwuruku for creating confusion’

    ‘Sanction lNEC chief Nwuruku for creating confusion’

    A former aide to Second Republic Vice President Alex Ekwueme, has called on the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to sanction its National Commissioner (SouthEast) Ambassador Lawrence Nwuruku, who released the Certificate of Return to Dr. Uche Ogah.

    Mr. Ben Onyechere said the rush by INEC to implement the judgment which annulled the candidacy of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer, “is a clear indication of a well-scripted conspiracy and an attempt to disenfranchise the Abia electorate.”

    He described the judgment as “a threat to democracy and a dangerous trend especially in the face of a pro-Biafra rebellion, which the governor has been labouring to assuage”  He said in view of the admonition by the Minister of Justtce and Attorney General of the Federation Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) to allow the status quo to remain while appeals are pending, INEC should sack Nwuruku for misleading the organisation and creating tension in Abia State, thereby pushing the state to the brink of violence.

  • Confusion in Osun schools over wearing of hijab, choir robes

    Confusion in Osun schools over wearing of hijab, choir robes

    THE crisis over wearing of Hijab (a veil that covers the head and chest) by Muslim female pupils in Osun State’s public schools as ordered by a court’s ruling took another dimension yesterday with some Christian pupils wearing choir robes and white garments to school.

    At Baptist High School, Adeeke, Iwo, pupils were confused when their mates appeared in strange clothes on their government approved school uniform.

    The Christian pupils were said to have been hailed by their mates.

    It was gathered that the pupils, who were not challenged by their teachers, got to the school as early as 7am.

    Some of the Christian pupils were holding rosaries and their Muslim mates allegedly took to Tesbih.

    However, the pupils’ relationship remained cordial as they were seen exchanging pleasantries among themselves.

    Attempt to make the school’s coordinating principal, Mr. Omotayo Arowolo, to comment on the development failed.

    He maintained that normal academic work was on-going in the school without any crisis.

    He said: “You can observe by yourself that there is peaceful atmosphere in the school compound and learning is progressing well without disturbance.”

    In Osogbo, the state capital, some Muslim female pupils wore hijab to schools.

    But their Christian mates wore their normal uniforms.

    The Vice-Chairman of Christian Association Nigeria (CAN) in Iwo, Senior Apostle Awoyemi David, who spoke with reporters, said since the judge ruled on wearing of Hijab, it could be seen as a fundamental human right of the Muslim female pupils.

    “Wearing of choir robes to schools also by Christian student is a way of exercising their fundamental human rights. Since identity of the Muslims is retained with Hijab in the state public schools, there is nothing bad in it if the identity of the Christians is also retained with choir robes and other outfits,” David explained.

     

  • More confusion in PDP as courts stop Makarfi, Sheriff

    More confusion in PDP as courts stop Makarfi, Sheriff

    The threE gladiators

    Modu Sheriff

    •The former Borno State Governor claiming to be chairman after being sacked by the convention. The Federal High  Court in Lagos says he is chairman.  In Port Harcourt the same court nullified his chairmanship

    Ahmed Makarfi

    •The former Kaduna State Governor appointed caretaker chair by the Port Harcourt convention. In Lagos, the Federal High Court the committee a nullity. In Port Harcourt, the court says his committee stands.

    Jerry Gana

    •The former Information Minister leading a 57-man steering committee appointed by the parrallel convention in Abuja. He rejects the Makarfi committee and advocates that the Board of Trustees (BoT) should takeover.

    Conflicting rulings in Lagos, Port Harcourt

    From convention grounds and party offices,  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders have moved their legitimacy battle to the court room.

    The crisis was yesterday deepened by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos and Port Harcourt, which gave conflicting rulings on the status of the party’s leadership.

    After last weekend’s parallel conventions in Port Harcourt and Abuja, three people have been claiming the leadership of the troubled former ruling party. They are:  Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the caretaker chairman appointed in Port Harcourt, Prof. Jerry Gana, the Interim chairman picked in Abuja and Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, who was removed by the governors.

    In Lagos, Justice Ibrahim Buba declared the Makarfi-led caretaker panel a nullity.

    He declared Shefiff as the authentic chair and ordered the police to enforce the order.

    In Port Harcourt, Justice A.M. Liman stopped Sheriff from parading himself as the chairman and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Makarfi-led caretaker committee.

    Justice Buba held that the Sherrif-led executive should remain in office until the suit is determined.

    He ordered the police to ensure that the order is enforced.

    The committee, headed by a former governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, was appointed last Saturday following the party’s shelved convention.

    Members are Senator Ben Obi (national secretary), Sen. Odion Ugbesie, Sen. Abdul Ningi, Mr. Kabir Usman, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye and Alhaja Aisha Aliyu.

    Justice Buba held that the committee was appointed in violation of an order he made on May 12.

    He had barred the party from conducting elections into offices of PDP national chairman, national secretary and national auditor, pending the hearing and determination of the suit.

    The judge had also restrained INEC from monitoring the election.

    The plaintiffs – Sheriff, National Secretary Prof. Wale Oladipo and National Auditor Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju –  prayed the court for an interlocutory injunction restraining PDP from conducting any election into the offices of the National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor, which they occupied, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

    Justice Buba said he would not allow his order to be violated without consequences, adding that he had an obligation to ensure his directives were obeyed.

    “No court can make an order in vain,” he held.

    Oladipo’s and Adeyanju’s lawyer, Ajibola Oluyede, told Justice Buba about an application filed yesterday in which he prayed the court to invoke its disciplinary powers.

    He said: “Certain steps were taken to remove the plaintiffs from their office, notwithstanding your lordship’s interlocutory injunction which restrained the respondents from taking such steps.

    “The steps were taken over the weekend to remove them and it was during the pendency of this action. It is for that reason that we were constrained to file this application. We seek your lordship’s disciplinary jurisdiction to bring back matters to the status quo based on the order of May 12.”

    Justice Buba said although Oluyede’s application was not ripe for hearing, he was bound to protect the court’s sanctity against violation of its orders.

    He said to ignore the flouting of a court order was to invite anarchy.

    He quoted Section 287 (3) of the 1999 Constitution, which says: “The decisions of the Federal High Court, a High Court and of all other courts established by this Constitution shall be enforced in any part of the federation by all authorities and persons, and by other courts of law with subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Federal High Court, a High Court and those other courts, respectively.”

    The judge added: “Therefore, the Inspector-General of Police is directed to enforce the orders of this court until the order is set aside or all the applications before the court are disposed of.

    “Because of the nature of this matter, being political, time is hereby abridged for the hearing of all applications,” he said.

    The judge warned the Makarfi-led committee “not to act in that capacity in defiance of this order”.

    Before the ruling, there was a scene as two lawyers, Ahmed Raji (SAN) and Godswill Morakpor, were locked in a heated argument over who, between them, was authorised to represent the PDP. Both announced appearance for the party.

    Raji said: “There was no attempt to change counsel. I am the counsel on record for the second defendant (PDP). The new caretaker committee has re-validated my appointment. This is the letter,” he said, handing the letter to Justice Buba.

    But, Morakpor said he was the one authorised to represent PDP, not Raji.

    He said: “Today is like a nightmare to me. I never envisaged a situation where I would be dragging a client with a senior member of the Bar. We have filed a notice of change of counsel and served same on the learned SAN.”

    Raji, however, claimed he was not served with an application for change of counsel for PDP.

    The court’s bailiff was sent for, and he confirmed that he indeed served Raji with the application at his office.

    Justice Buba held that Morakpor is the recognised counsel for PDP, adding that both lawyers could not appear for the same client.

    Justice Buba said: “Granted, Mr Raji (SAN) is the former counsel on record, but the filing of notice of change of counsel and service of same has legal consequences. This court is one of record. The court can only grant Mr Morakpor audience. There is no room for response under Order 9 of the rules of this court,” Justice Buba held.

    He adjourned the hearing till Friday.

  • PDP Convention: Confusion in Sheriff’s camp

    PDP Convention: Confusion in Sheriff’s camp

    •Allies disagree over sharing of positions 

    Allocation of positions to supporters of the acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, in the six geo-political zones, is now tearing his camp apart, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    Sheriff’s supporters are said to be fast losing their cohesion on account of the issue ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for May 21, in Port-Harcourt.

    Sherrif who wants to remain as national chairman beyond the May 21 date of the convention was, until lately, the toast of most PDP state governors and the majority of the members of the outgoing National Working Committee (NWC).

    But following disagreements over who the camp should back for certain positions at the convention, it appears he may have lost the support of some of his backers.

    One of those in disagreement with him is Governor  Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State who is sponsoring his Special  Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, for the position of the PDP national publicity secretary.

    Sheriff, according to party sources, is not disposed to Olayinka’s candidacy following conflicting interests.

    A group from the Southwest loyal to Senator Buruji Kashamu, which had earlier put forward a former Director General of the Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2015 governorship campaign, Segun Sowunmi, for the same position, has now resolved to back Ondo State for the position.

    Olayinka is from Ekiti and the Fayose group wants the position of national vice chairman given to Ondo State while Ekiti gets the publicity secretary position. This scenario has also pitched delegates from the two states, who are largely supporters of the acting national chairman, against one another as the national convention draws nearer.

    Fayose’s insistence to have the senior position of national vice chairman taken away from his state and given to Ondo State may also not be unconnected with his alleged determination to truncate the re-election bid of the current occupier of the seat, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe.

    Ogundipe, who hails from Ekiti State, is an ally of Senator Kashamu but has been having a running political battle with Governor Fayose, his erstwhile associate of many years. Several efforts to reconcile the duo by Kashamu have proved abortive.

    The Nation learnt that the Fayose group may have decided to pull out of Sherrif’s camp following suspicion that the acting national chairman may have settled to support the controversial zoning in deference to Senator Kashamu, who, according to party sources, is seen by the national secretariat as the leading strongman of PDP in the Southwest.

    A well placed source said, “We are watching events. There is no way we will allow people who don’t understand how we have kept the party alive to hijack it from us in the Southwest.

    “Senator Sherrif is supporting Kashamu and his group to forcefully take over the PDP in Southwest. This is in spite of the support our leader, Governor Fayose, has given him.

    “We are politicians and we are going to respond to the current challenge appropriately. There is no way we will continue to co-habit with Kashamu. Don’t forget there are two factions in PDP today. Those who want Sheriff and those who rejected him. We have been with those who want him all the while but it appears he is forcing us to go with the other camp.

    “You saw Fayose at the Akure meeting with party elders who largely are opposed to Sherrif’s ambition. “This is not because he hates Sherrif but just because those people share his idea of how the party should be run in the Southwest. And if we are left to continue to find those who share our opinion on the other side, I wonder what will happen soon.”

    Sources also said Governor Olusegun Mimiko is angry over the alleged tacit support being given the Kashamu camp by Sherrif. The Nation learnt he may also jettison the chairmanship aspiration of the acting PDP boss if nothing happens to debunk spreading reports of endorsements by Sherrif.

    Sources at the PDP national secretariat also squealed that some members of the NWC may have decided to withdraw their support from Sheriff’s ambition following the zoning of their current positions away from their states. The Nation learnt that the affected officials have made their position know, to the acting chairman who is making frantic effort to appease them.

    Another source said:”There is a serious division amongst the NWC members. Some of them are unhappy that earlier agreement to have all of them returned to office at the convention is already broken by the zoning of offices. While some were surprised to see their position given to other zones other than theirs, others were shocked when the PDP leadership in their zones allocated their position to states other than theirs.

    “And when efforts to get the acting chairman to intervene failed, they suspected foul play and approached Sherrif. As we speak, frantic efforts are on to appease them. The current situation in the NWC is that of confusion as many of them are threatening to work against Sherrif’s ambition.”

     

  • Confusion mars Oduah’s, Andy’s congress

    Confusion mars Oduah’s, Andy’s congress

    •…Chris Uba’s peaceful

    There was confusion yesterday at the Marble Arch Hotels in Awka, the Anambra State capital, when a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held its congress.

    The confusion began at the hotel yesterday when one of the candidates presented a court order to the chairman of the group’s congress committee chairman, Ladi Edun, disqualifying his opponents- Ngozi Agudosi and Emeka Small- from the race.

    Other positions were filled by voice votes except the chairman’s in which Ken Emeakayi was returned.

    The congress was attended by some PDP chieftains, such as Senators Andy Uba, Stella Oduah, National Assembly lawmakers and other members.

    Another faction, led by Chief Chris Uba, conducted its congress at Emmaus House. It was well organised without any form of rancour.

    However, notable absentees during the exercise yesterday were former Governor Peter Obi and National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh.

    It was attended by Senators Annie Okonkwo, Ugochuwu Uba ,Chief Chris Uba, former Transport Minister John Emeka and House of Assembly members.

    The congress was conducted by Abubarka Mallam( Shettima Gwandu) with other members.

    The Nation gathered that the PDP congress committee sent to the state divided split to conduct the exercises.

    Speaking with reporters yesterday after the congress, Mallam said they conducted the congress based on the PDP constitution and guidelines.

    For Okonkwo and Emeka, there was no other committee except the one headed by Shettima Gwandu.

    After the congress, Mallam declared Oguebego as chairman; Edun declared Emeakayi winner.

    In their separate speeches, Oguebego and Emeakayi thanked members for electing them.

    Also, the two committee chairmen claimed to be the authentic group recognised by the PDP national leadership.

     

  • Confusion in Bayelsa APC over suspension of Sylva, 4 others

    Confusion in Bayelsa APC over suspension of Sylva, 4 others

    THE All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State was at the weekend thrown into confusion following the purported suspension of former governor Timipre Sylva and other members of the executive committee of the party.
    Sylva was allegedly suspended for “anti- party activities and attempt to frustrate the change agenda of the Buhari administration in the state.”
    A faction of the party accused him of holding clandestine meetings with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in contravention of the party’s constitution.
    The group said it suspended Sylva with the vice chairman (Bayelsa Central), Joseph Fafi; Publicity Secretary, Panebi Fortune; Organising Secretary, Tonye Okio, and a member.
    They also accused Sylva of trying to form a parallel state executive in contravention of Article 21 of the party constitution which stipulates that factionalisation or creating parallel party organs at any level is punishable by the extremists of means.
    A statement by Bayelsa APC’s chairman and secretary, Chief Timipa Orunimighe and Daniel Marlin, said the antics of the former governor betray the present posture of Buhari’s regime which has cardinal virtues of honesty, sincerity and transparency.
    The statement said: “After due consultations with relevant stake holders and elders in the state, the Bayelsa State executive committee at an emergency meeting today took the painful but necessary decision to suspend our guber flag bearer in the 2015 elections Chief Timipre Sylva.
    “We have it on good record Sylva, last week Tuesday precisely, paid a clandestine visit to one of the South South governors of the PDP, this is just one of the series of correspondences between them and we find it grossly unbecoming.”
    But the faction loyal to the former governor described Orunminigbe and others behind the purported suspension of Sylva as jesters.
    The Publicity Secretary, Panebi Fortune, said it was laughable for Oruminighe, who was earlier suspended, to turn around to say Sylva was on suspension.
    Fortune said: “They are fighting a lost battle because two people cannot suspend any of us. We properly constituted a meeting of the state executive council where about 21 of us took a decision that suspended Oruminighe and his cohorts.
    “Their suspension stands because it was done in accordance with the rules and procedures of the party. We have facts and proofs on their illegal activities that led to their suspension. Let them provide evidence that we ever engaged in anti-party activities.”
    Twenty-one members of the state executive council on Friday suspended Orunimigha, his deputy, Eddy Julius and the Secretary, Daniel Marlin.
    They accused them of gross misconduct, financial embezzlement and anti-party activities.
    The decision to suspend Tiwe and his group was at the end of an emergency meeting in Yenagoa.
    The members declared Fafi and Alabo Martins as the interim chairman and secretary respectively.
    The statement at the end of the emergency meeting read: “At an emergency State Executive Committee meeting held on 1st of April, 2016, the following were reached that the cases of gross misconduct, financial embezzlement and anti-party activity against the State Chairman, Chief Tiwei Orunimighe, the Deputy Chairman, Eddy Julius and State Secretary, Daniel Marlin.”
    “The State chapter of the party this day therefore has placed the aforementioned individuals on indefinite suspension pending the conclusion of investigations.”

  • Confusion as armed youths sack fishing Rivers communities

    Armed youths have attacked fishing camps situated at the boundaries of Bonny and Andoni, local government areas in Rivers State.

    The hoodlums were said to have burnt houses and other properties belonging to the fishermen and their families.

    The youths, who were allegedly armed with guns and cudgels, shot sporadically and injured the fleeing inhabitants of the camps.

    Over 10 of the thugs, who were identified as Andoni youths, were said to have stormed the area in two speedboats.

    The fishing camps, according to sources, were occupied by people from Okirika, Ogoni in Rivers State; Ifoko, Epelematubu, Ebeintubu, Forupaka, aka Ago Eri and Mumakiri, aka Ajengule.

    Other occupants of the camps were Brass Nembe and Southern Ijaw from Bayelsa State; Ilaje from Ondo State and some tribes from Delta State.

    One of the affected fisherman from Bayelsa State,  said the camps had been sacked, adding that the fresh attack occurred on Thursday.

    The source, who spoke in hushed tone from his hideout, said there was commotion, as the fishermen and their families ran into the forest for their safety.

    He said: “The armed youths arrived at exactly 2:48pm, beating up every young man on sight and threatening to burn down the entire communities along the coast. Nobody can pinpoint the cause of their provocation. The government should do something fast to save lives.”

    In a text message statement sent to our correspondent, the Federated Non-indigenous Fishermen, Farmers and Traders in Bonny Coast, called on the governments of Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Ondo states to come to their rescue.

    The statement said: “We have lived peacefully in Bonny lands and territories for more than 30 years, doing legitimate business without any form of molestation from Bonny youths, even in the heat of militancy in the Niger Delta region.

  • Confusion in Senate over ‘missing’ budget document

    The controversy over whether or not the hard copy of the 2016 budget proposal is missing has not been cleared.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday said the upper chamber has empanelled a high powered  team to resolve the matter.

    Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South)  came under Senate’s Standing Order 42 to insist the document was missing.

    Order 42 deals with matters of urgent national importance which the Senate is bound to consider if the Senate president allows it.

    Abaribe told the Senate that the grievous issue of the “missing and disappearance of the 2016 budget proposal” was widely reported in the media yesterday.

    He added that most of them had been inundated with questions by their constituents about the whereabouts of the budget proposal.

    Abaribe said their constituents who genuinely believed and saw the budget as the life of the country wanted to know how and why the budget got missing.

    He said the Senate should not sweep the matter under the carpet in the interest of their constituents and the country.

    The senator recalled that the matter of the missing document also came up during their closed session on Tuesday without satisfactory explanation on the whereabouts of the document.

    Abaribe, who prayed the Senate to debate the matter to tell Nigerians the truth about the disappearance of the fiscal document said it was also not in the interest of the Senate not to look into the matter.

    He insisted that “the matter is definite and urgent” and should be considered.

    Abaribe said: “The matter that I refer to is what is in every newspaper today, everywhere in all the talk shows on the radio of a missing budget and, therefore, Mr President, I want to bring to your attention and the attention of my colleagues that yesterday in our closed session, this matter also came up.

     “Some of us are worried, have been inundated by messages from our constituents who are worried, are asking us, where is our budget.

    “That is why Mr President, I think it is definite and it is urgent that we look into this matter.”

    Saraki agreed and said a team of senators had been constituted to look into the matter.

    The Senate president added that senators should be patient and await the findings of the search team after which the Senate would go into a closed session to discuss the matter.

    He also confirmed that the issue came up during the Senate closed session on Tuesday.

    Saraki said although Abaribe did not discuss the subject of his Point of Order with him as required by the Senate Rules, he would allow an exception in order to look into the issue.

    Saraki said: “Because of the importance of this (disappearance of the budget), I will allow an exception.

    “You know we are part of the decision at the closed session yesterday and as part of that decision we are still waiting for those we have referred to carry out the assignment to come back to us.

    “I think they will come back to us by today and we will go into a closed session and finish up the report and we will be able to debate it properly.”

    There was an attempt to cover up the issue when Senate president announced that the Senate would commence debate of the general principles of the 2016 budget proposal on Tuesday, January  19  through 21.

     Saraki also said copies of the budget proposal would be made available to lawmakers today to enable them go through before the debate.

    He asked lawmakers who intended to make contributions to indicate interest before the debate would commence.

    There was no mention of the reported disappearance of the budget proposal until Abaribe blew the lid open to confirm what some senators dismissed as speculation on Tuesday.

    Some senators spoken to yesterday wondered “whether anybody can circulate or distribute what you don’t have.”

    A source noted: “As at today, nobody has given or told us in clear terms the sectoral allocations contained in the budget proposal.”

    The senator said “it was wrong for the Senate to behave as if all is well when it is obvious that something is amiss.”

    He noted that “if the budget was withdrawn, it could have been appropriate and reasonable for those involved to say so.”

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi has said the 2016 budget proposal was not missing.

    He said no statement made by any senator during plenary yesterday could be interpreted to mean an admission that the 2016 budget was missing.

    Abdullahi made the clarification in a statement made available to reporters in Abuja.

    He insisted that no budget was missing and that the Senate will today distribute copies of the budget to senators to arm them to properly contribute to the debate which will take place between next Tuesday and Thursday.

    He noted that senators have indicated the date they would make their contributions on the budget.

    Abdullahi said during yesterday’s plenary Senator Abaribe sought clarification on the story in the media surrounding the information that the 2016 budget was missing.

    He said the Senate president replied that the issue he (Abaribe) mentioned and  others emanating from the executive sessions were being looked into by an ad hoc committee and that senators should wait for the committee to submit its report.

    He said: “We have reeled out our timetable for working on the budget. So, how can the same budget be missing?

    “The Senate president never said or admitted that the budget is missing and there was nothing that he said while presiding over plenary that could be logically interpreted to mean an admission that the budget is missing.

    “The media should please avoid unnecessary sensationalism. We assure Nigerians that our timetable of completing work on the budget by February ending remains sacrosanct and we will work assiduously to achieve it.”

  • 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”.