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Tag: crisis

  • Crisis over council poll in Ondo

    Crisis over council poll in Ondo

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are quarelling over the proposed local government elections in Ondo State. Correspondent DAMISI OJO examines the bone of contention and its implications for grassroots administration. 

    Eight years ago, the elected local government administration was dissolved in Ondo State by Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

    Since then, grassroots democracy has been stalled. The councils have been at the mercy of caretaker committees set up to run them.

    The Adedayo Omolafe-led Committee of Council Chairmen inaugurated by Agagu sued Mimiko for the dissolution of the democratic structures. The case is still in court.

    For seven years, Mimiko turned a deaf ear to the agitation for council polls. But, as the government is winding up, he suddenly changed his mind. The governor directed the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission(ODIEC) to conduct the poll, few months to the governorship election. On April 23, voters will choose new local government chairmen and councillors, who will run the councils for the next three years. This will be the first time in nine years that such election will be taking place.

    Mimiko has inaugurated members of the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission. It is headed by Prof. Olugbenga Ige.

    The last council poll was conducted in December 2008. But, the elected officers only spent few months in office because they were sacked by the governor. The embattled council chairmen and councillors, who were mainly members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenged their dismissal in the court. But, they lost out at the High Court and the Appeal Court. The matter is still pending at the Supreme court.

    Mimiko had hinged his refusal to hold another poll on the litigation. Thus, the sudden change of mind by the governor has raised suspicion, not only among party chieftains, but also among the generality of the people.

    The opposition parties are  worried. They believe that the governor is setting a trap for them, ahead of the governorship poll. They said one of the major claims of Mimiko was that the pending case on the local government election had rendered him incompetent to conduct the poll since he was sworn-in 2009. They became more cautious because the litigation is not yet over at the  Supreme Court.

    Already, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) have distanced themselves from the poll.

    The APC Chairman, Hon. Isaac Kekemeke, described the election as illegal and a sham, maintaining that it is a trap. He accused the members of ODIEC of partisanship, saying that they are PDP members.

    Kekemeke said: “Our participation or otherwise has been thoroughly discussed at the Central Working Committee, the state executive committee and the expanded executive.

    “The conclusion reached was that the election is a sham meant to trap our party. It is an illegal ‘election’ about to be conducted when there is a subsisting case on the matter at the Supreme Court.

    “Besides, Mimiko’s ODIEC is composed of LP/PDP card carrying members. Worse still, this LP/PDP government is highly deficient in character, integrity and fairness that it cannot be trusted to midwife any free and fair process”.

    A House of Representatives member from Akoko South West/Akoko South East, Hon. Kolawole Babatunde, said the poll will be a fruitless exercise. He said: “Governor Olusegun Mimiko has concluded plans to write the results from his Alagbaka home and if the APC participates or not, that does not change anything. So, I will advise the party leaders not to allow our members to participate in the election”.

    Also, the SDP, led by Chief Olu Falae and Dr. Olu Agunloye, who are allies of the governor, explained why it will not participate in the poll.

    The party said the preparation by the government indicated that the ODIEC was not independent and therefore, could not be fair in the conduct of the election.

    The Chairman of the SDP, Korede Duiyile, said  no credible opposition party will participate in the election.

    The SDP leaders alleged that the composition of the electoral body favoured the ruling PDP.

    Duyile added: “We believe that, as a principled political party, the SDP should not participate in the election because it would be more of an appointment exercise rather than an elective process.”

    Agunloye described the poll as a waste of resources and another way of compounding the hardship in the state.

    According to the former minister, conducting an election when workers have not been paid for over four months is not a wise decision.

    CNNP said its withdrawal became inevitable, owing to the abnormalities in the government’s decision to conduct the poll, seven years after Mimiko became governor.

    It said its decision was hinged on the prevailing poor state of the economy that has rendered government machinery incapable paying salaries of workers regularly.

    The CNPP advised the PDP-led government to use the money earmarked for the election to pay workers’ salaries  and retirees’ allowances.

    But, the PDP Chairman, Mr. Clement Faboyede, described the APC and others parties, who are boycotting the poll, as cowards.

    He said the PDP was already coasting to victory, judging by its popularity among the people.

    Faboyede said the opposition parties were only crying foul and afraid of participating in the elections because of losing out completely to the ruling party.

    He said the APC has no political relevance, adding that it caanot match the PDP at the polls.  He added: “There is no APC in Ondo state as far as I am concerned? and they are only clamouring on the case before the court which was not instituted by them.

    “The sacked local government chairmen had gone to the court demanding for reinstatement but now they are pleading for compensation since the matter had been taken to the Supreme court.”

    Faboyede said the PDP has started mobilising grassroots people for the election, urging other parties to take a cue. He said nothing would stop the ODIEC conducting the exercise.

    Mimiko is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that his right man emerges as the next governor. One of his strategies, according to sources, is the conduct of local government polls.

    The source said: “Since last year, he has been appointing so many people as political aides. As at now, he has over 120 Special Assistants.

    “Majority of them have no offices and they are not delegated for any special assignments, but they are just collecting salaries and they have been directed by the governor to start mobilizing for the party ahead of governorship poll.

    “He is also conducting the local council poll so that he would be able to plant is loyalists in the grassroots ahead of the gubernatorial poll”, the source disclosed.

    Opposition parities have been commended for boycotting the exercise. A stakeholder, Mr. Femi Obada, said: “There is no how APC and other parties participate in the poll and win a council or ward because the ruling party has power over members of the ODIEC”.

  • Ekiti slips back into crisis

    Ekiti slips back into crisis

    Ekiti State has been in the news again, following the detention of some members of the House of Assembly and the State Executive Council by the Department of State Services (DSS), which is investigating them for alleged crimes. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports.

    History may be repeating itself in Ekiti State. Ten years after top government officials were investigated for alleged graft, diversion of public funds, operation of foreign accounts and execution of a phony poultry project, the Department of State Services (DSS) is beaming a searchlight on the Ayo Fayose administration.

    The investigation, which was spearheaded by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), led to the impeachment of the Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose by 24 of 26 members of the House of Assembly. Less than two years after he returned to power, the governor is facing another storm over sundry allegations against some officials of his administration and state legislators.

    On March 4, DSS men stormed Ekiti and arrested four legislators. The Speaker, Hon. Kola Oluwawole, alleged that they were abducted by the operatives. He said: “More than 10 DSS men armed to the teeth” stormed the Assembly complex and shot sporadically into the air causing panic among legislators and staff. Among the legislators arrested was Hon. Afolabi Akanni from Efon Constituency. They were taken to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territoty (FCT) for interrogation.

    However, police spokesman Alberto Adeyemi also denied knowledge of the invasion of the Assembly complex or abduction of any honorable member.

    Oluwawole described the alleged abduction as a clandestine plot by “the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government to destabilise Ekiti State, using the instrumentality of DSS.”

    He alleged that the DSS was acting a script aimed at crippling the Fayose administration by arresting and detaining its top functionaries.

    Oluwawole said:  “The plot is to harass, intimidate and embarrass top officials of the Ayodele Fayose government because of his critical stance on the Buhari’s government.”

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of plotting to liquidate its leaders. It alleged that the party had been compiling a list of its chieftains and legislators for the Department of State Services (DSS) . Its Publicity Secretary, Jackson Adebayo, said those allegedly pencilled down for arrest would be coerced to implicate Fayose in a bid to impeach him from office.

    Adebayo said: “The PDP takes exemption to this act of using brute force to truncate the will of the people.”

    But, the APC fired back, saying that some government officials and state lawmakers arrested by the DSS should answer for their misdeeds. The alleged crimes, in the APC’s view, include attacks on the court of law, beating up judges in the temple of justice, illegal sacking of the House of Assembly and toppling of a legal government, as revealed in a secretly recorded tape.

    APC Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatunbosun warned the PDP against blackmail. He said  the two lawmakers and other government officials arrested have a case to answer for alleged crimes perpetrated before, during and after the June 21, 2014 governorship election. “How can we blame DSS for arresting Fayose’s aide, Ademola Bello, and Commissioner for Works, Kayode Oso and others after they were arrested by the police and caught with charms, acid, guns and cutlasses to attack APC lawmakers during the House of Assembly crisis?” he queried.

    Olatunbosun said it was hypocritical for the Speaker not to see Fayose’s invasion of the court to beat up the judge and tearing court records in the Chief Judge’s office, chasing House of Assembly members out of the state for six months, impeaching the Speaker with seven members in the Assembly of 26 members and holding a gavel by the governor to pass the budget into law as gross violation of the law.

    He added: “Instead of addressing their various crimes against the law, including unresolved secret murders, N1.3b poultry project fraud, invasion of the court, illegal sacking of the House of Assembly, toppling of a legal government through treason as contained in Captain Sagir Koli’s audio tape, Fayose and his league of criminal suspects are engaging in dishonest scheme to blackmail the Federal Government to draw public sympathy to escape justice.

    “Fayose’s statements in Koli’s audio tape that he collected INEC copies that he printed to win the election, including his statement in the tape that the result of his election was collated on June 19, two days before the election, are too weighty for a responsible national security agency to be inactive in playing their constitutional roles.

    Sources said the detained officials are being investigated for various offences which border on alleged murder, destruction of government property, tax crimes, fraudulent procurement of judgment, attacks on courts and judges, fraudulent diversion of reimbursement on federal roads, subversion of electoral process, violence, among others.

    A source said one of the detained commissioners has been telling his interrogators what about the alleged receipt of N5.8 billion reimbursement from the Federal Government on the rehabilitation of federal roads including Ado-Ifaki Road.

    The reimbursement on the project executed by the Fayemi administration, which was paid to the Fayose administration, was not reflected in the 2015 Budget speech presented by  Fayose to seven PDP lawmakers of the Fourth Assembly.

    Checking Page 2, Item 7, Table 1 Ekiti Budget Revenue Performance, the reimbursement was not reflected, despite the fact that former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Minister of State for Works Prince Dayo Adeyeye claimed that the state had been reimbursed on federal roads.

    The Commissioner is also being grilled on the N2.4 billion Ecological Funds received from the Federal Government, but allegedly mismanaged with available records tendered at DSS showing that only N400 million was spent on ecological projects executed.

    The source said a lawmaker is being grilled on multiple offences which include alleged murder during a political crisis in Efon, assault on a High Court judge, Justice John Ademola Adeyeye, his alleged presentation of a forged House of Representatives PDP primary election result for Ekiti North Federal Constituency 2, which produced Thaddeus Aina as winner.

    One of the contestants in the primary election, Cyril Fasuyi, has presented evidence before the court to show that a forged result was presented when no election was held. The lawmaker is also being investigated for blocking the highway during the violence that trailed an attempt by the APC lawmakers in the Fourth Assembly to impeach Fayose for alleged gross misconduct.

    He is also under investigation for alleged complicity in the murder of one Kareem Modupe a.k.a. Eleyele  during the crisis that erupted in Efon last year. Kareem’s body is still in the mortuary.

    The DSS is also investigating the lawmaker over a petition that he did not possess a valid Senior School Certificate, which is the minimum requirement to contest for a House of Assembly seat. He was said to have stopped education at Form Three at the CAC Grammar School, Efon Alaaye.

    The source said: “When he (the lawmaker) was asked in the DSS custody about where his secondary education, he said he attended a secondary school somewhere in Lagos, but he could not remember the date, but evidence on ground shows that he lacks the minimum education requirement to run for the seat.

    “You will recall that the day of the incidence coincided with the first day of the sitting of the Election Petition Tribunal when Fayose came to the court premises with large number of his supporters but he missed his way and a case was being heard at Justice Adeyeye’s court.

    “Adeyeye advised him (Fayose) to control his supporters but the lawmaker and and another governor’s aide assaulted him (Adeyeye) in the presence of witnesses that had confessed to the act. All these he will tell the DSS in the course of their investigation.”

    The source also disclosed that three lawyers, who are officials of the Fayose administration, are being investigated for their allegedly masterminding an attack on Justice Isaac Olusegun Ogunyemi, who was hearing a suit filed by the pan-Ekiti group known as e-11.

    “Ogunyemi was to deliver a ruling to stay action on the planned swearing-in of Fayose, but these lawyers masterminded the sacking of the court by inviting hoodlums who carried attacked the court.”

    The second lawmaker in detention is at the centre of a fraudulently procured judgment from the Federal High Court, Abuja  in which a lawyer was hired for the candidate who won the Ado Constituency 1 primary, Odunayo Talabi Arinka without the latter’s knowledge. The lawmaker in question in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/ CS/125/2015 had sued PDP, INEC and Talabi and secured an order to accept his nomination and reject Talabi’s candidacy.

    Talabi’s name had appeared on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) list of candidates who had won primary polls and he had been given a nomination form by the agency as the candidate for the Assembly poll. Following the judgment, he petitioned INEC and other relevant agencies claiming that he was not put on notice and did not commission any lawyer to represent him.

    Another legislator who has not been arrested is also under investigation for allegedly destroying seven ballot boxes, which are the property of the Federal Government during the House of Assembly election in Moba Constituency 1 after the results on the field showed that the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Babatunde Yinka, had won.

    The source added: “You can check the INEC Report and Police Report on the election in which the lawmaker who was then the PDP candidate destroyed seven ballot boxes after he had lost to the LP candidate.

    “The record is also with DSS on the electoral fraud the lawmaker committed in the constituency. He also blocked the highway up to Kwara State boundary on the election day.

    A former senior revenue official is being grilled for the missing  N1.9 billion as he was alleged to have opened a separate account into which “big returns” are diverted.

    The source said: “Huge sums of money are transferred into accounts he opened with two new generation banks in Ado Ekiti.

    “He is building a petrol station and has built a mansion in his hometown and last year, he travelled to the USA in December. He is expected to shed light on alleged fraudulent deals with a vey senior government official and he has been cooperating.”

    However, there was a new twist to the unfolding drama when the legislators alleged that a $1 million was offered to them to impeach the governor.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Gboyega Aribisogan, alleged that Akanni, is being held incommunicado in DSS custody in Abuja and had not been granted access to his doctors and lawyers.

    However, human rights lawyer and activist Morakinyo Ogele warned members of Ekiti State House of Assembly against blackmailing the DSS. He condemned the House of Representatives for summoning the DSS Director General, Lawal Daura, maintaining that the Ekiti Assembly Complex was not invaded by its operatives. Ogele charged the security agency not to shirk its responsibilities to get into the root of the alleged impunity and constitutional breaches in Ekiti. The National Coordinator of Ekiti Reformed Group (ERG) also urged the Supreme Court to review the April 14, 2015 judgment, which validated Fayose’s election on grounds that “the judgment was obtained by fraud.”

    He said: “This is a cheap blackmail and equally a serious offence if they fail to prove this allegation because it is trite in law that he who alleges must prove.

    The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) also faulted the claim that DSS invaded the legislative. It accused the lawmaker of raising a false alarm. Ekiti CNPP Chairman Tunji Ogunlola said the body had conducted an independent investigation and found that the purported invasion was untrue, baseless and patently false.

    The  factional Chairman, Trade Union Congress, Ekiti State chapter, Comrade Odunayo Adesoye, described as a dangerous trend that could expose workers of the state civil service to serious security risk.

    He said   workers in the state are now apprehensive of what could happen at their duty posts due to anxiety created by the alleged invasion of the House by security agents.

    Branding the action as ‘brutish and barbaric,’,Adesoye said the arrest was a flagrant infringement on their fundamental  rights as enunciated  in the United Nations Human Rights’ Charter.

    The DSS released Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance, Toyin Ojo, after about four days of grilling over the alleged diversion of N5.8 billion refund on federal roads and N2.4 billion ecological funds.

    Flaying the DSS over the arrest, Fayose said his financial records are clean. He vowed to continue his criticism of the Buhari administration.

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, the governor expressed confidence in the House of Assembly  members, saying his future and theirs are “tied together.”

    Fayose said: “This is not the first time people will harass me. It is a conspiracy and it will collapse like other attempts before it. I will remain critical of the activities of the Federal Government, especially when they do things that are inimical to the welfare of Nigerians.

    Observers of the political drama in the state believe that the latest battle would be a long one, but it remains to be seen whether Fayose and his men will survive the storm.

    There are puzzles: Is the latest DSS crackdown justified or is the crisis a self-inflicted one by Fayose, who will not shy away from controversies? Did the arrested officials commit the alleged crimes for which they are being investigated? Are the alleged offenses within the purview of those to be investigated by the DSS? Was the probe aimed at getting Fayose out of office for the second time in ten years? How long will the resistance of the lawmakers last?

  • How to solve oil sector crisis, by workers

    How to solve oil sector crisis, by workers

    How can the oil industry’s problems be solved? It is by the collective efforts of its stakeholders, say oil workers.

    According to the workers, under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), the sector’s problems too many for an individual, group or government to solve.

    Its President,  Mr. Francis Johnson, told The Nation: “What we (oil workers) want is an all-inclusive stakeholders’ meeting so that Nigerians will hear the position of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); PENGASSAN; National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG); civil society; government and all other interest groups.”

    According to Johnson, no responsible union enjoys protests as they are the last resort where dialogue fails.

    “All what we want is for everyone to agree to work as one indivisible entity in the interest of Nigeria, so that the benefits from the oil and gas industry can come to all Nigerians,” he said.

    He identified some of the industry’s problems to include crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism, backlog of joint venture cash calls, poor state of refineries, corruption in the importation of petroleum products, subsidy payment to marketers and abuse of Nigerian content policy.

    Others are the status of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), and interfering role of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the performance of their mandates.

    On the restructuring of the NNPC, the PENGASSAN chief said the concern of his members was not to oppose what would bring the greatest benefits to all Nigerians, but to ensure that due process was followed and all interest groups were carried along.

    The main grouse of the oil workers on the re-structuring of NNPC, according to him, was the government’s insistence on carrying out the exercise without their involvement, despite that they would be involved in the implementation of the decisions taken.

    He added that the government could not go ahead with the restructuring of NNPC without first laying a solid foundation by removing all issues capable of posing problems or frustrating the exercise.

    He cited the NNPC Act of 1977 that set up the corporation, arguing that as a legal entity established by the Act of the National Assembly, there was no way the government would think of unbundling it without first either repealing or amending the Act.

    Johnson said the unions were concerned about the way the government was going about the restructuring, which suggested that it did not know what it wanted to do.

    “Initially, the minister spoke about unbundling NNPC and when there was so much pressure from the National Assembly over the issue, the Minister of State turned around to say the government was not unbundling, but restructuring or reorganising NNPC.

    “There is no way the unions or anybody would be against any decision that Nigerians are convinced would yield benefits to the people, provided such decisions are open, honest transparent and with sincerity of purpose,” he said.

    The PENGASSAN chief said there must be consistency in policy formulation and implementation. He said there must be an informed consensus on all issues.

    “There must also be a buy-in by everyone. All interested parties must be on the same page. Everyone must understand the direction the industry is heading,” he added.

    He further said it was not too good for the country that the oil and gas industry, the economy’s mainstay, would show such inconsistency in the way policies are formulated and implemented.

    “We seem to be moving one step forward today and two steps backward tomorrow,” he said.

  • UI crisis: Facts, fictions and fights

    The current financial crisis rocking the University of Ibadan (UI) in which the management team says it can no longer pay some allowances, after struggling to pay salaries, clearly confirms what has always been suspected: insolvency, if not bankruptcy. Following the crash of prices of crude oil in the international market, observers had predicted that there would be tough time for the country.

    Indeed, the tough time is here. Many states across the country are not only impecunious, their workers are as indigent as their dependents who are in the poverty trap as a result of non-payment of salaries. The distress scenario is fast spreading to federal government’s agencies and institutions with major shortfall in financial allocation. This is the genesis of the on-going crisis in UI where workers are giving the new Vice Chancellor , Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka sleepless nights over non-payment of what they called “earned allowance” for the month of February.

    This “earned allowance” which is a fallout of the 2009 agreement between the government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is being paid in installment through the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), pending  when the government will reimburse the university. But with the shortfall in personnel grant released by the government, the VC had no choice but to cry out that the university will not be able to pay the allowance. The workers, under different unions, including Non Academic Staff Union (NASU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) scoffed at the dilemma, insisting that the allowance must be paid. They believe that UI has the wherewithal to pay the money.

    Determined to douse tension, Prof. Olayinka in a release dated February 22, explained the financial situation to the workers, citing paucity of funds as his headache. According to him, In 2015, the institution received N932,714,026.24 from January up to November. In December 2015, the allocation on personnel cost was drastically reduced to N663,972,634.60 – a reduction of N268,741,391.64. He stated that the shortfall accounted for why deductions for the month of December 2015 could not be paid to all deserving cooperative societies and unions.

    For the month of January, instead of a monthly allocation of N1,080,954,864.75, the institution got N782,346,495.95, a reduction of N298,608,369.16 – the reason it could not meet up with 100 percent  of its commitment on personnel cost .

    Unfortunately, the workers believe that there is money in the system to pay the allowance. However, since the union leadership appears to know better than the ordinary members, a congress was called in which members of the three unions, excluding Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) were enjoined to converge on the main entrance of the university. As early as 7am, staff members had taken over the place, itching to be updated. The gates had been locked as usual. The vehicular movement had been effectively paralyzed.

    Wale Akinremi who spoke on behalf of other leaders, called the vice chancellor Prof. Olayinka unprintable names. Much sadder still, and more disappointing was the way he spoke with mannerisms of a street fighter, boasting with garage argot “ Omo Igboro l’emi o, mo de le ba anybody loju  je. Wa sa kaba kaba” roughly translated to mean “I am from down town and I can dent anybody’s face, you will run in defeat.

    This is indeed a sad commentary on civility, coming from a decent academic environment of Ibadan status. It is impertinence of the worst kind which must be condemned by all men and women of good moral standing. By the way, how did Mr. Akinremi emerge as SSANU chairman of Ibadan chapter? Well, what do we expect when decent people avoid politics and unionism like a plaque, leaving just any character to parade himself as chairman? One had thought Akinremi was too well bred and too fine a person to make a public display of such appalling bad manners, more so when he is said to have read Law from a sister’s institution. Beauty is truly skin deep. How else is indiscipline spelt?

    Respect for elders is one of the cardinal imperatives of our traditional customs. Anyone who could be audacious enough to make the UI VC the butt of his public grandiloquence, calling him unprintable names and describing him as “bastard” simply lacks good breeding.  Such a person doesn’t deserve to lead a union. A union leader who is worth his salt must employ cultured language and definitiveness of logic to fight his battle. Decent use of language is, to me, a maturity index. Importantly, linguistic competence dictates that one must be familiar with principles of politeness in spoken discourse. Insulting the VC, pelting him with a satchet of pure water as someone reportedly did at an earlier meeting is not only satanic, but repugnant to good conscience. It is a desecration of culture of civilization.

    Perhaps it is relevant to ask for Prof. Olayinka’s offence in all of this. Is he the one who caused economic crisis? Did the VC get more allocation than he has disclosed? Akinremi alleged that Prof. Olayinka did not behave as his predecessor, Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole! Haba! No two individuals are ever the same. Not even twins who passed through the same womb. In 2009, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua offered amnesty to the Niger Delta boys and achieved peace. The former President Olusegun Obasanjo had approached the same problem with force and failed. Does it mean Yar’Adua was the wisest president ever? Does it mean Obasanjo did not succeed in other areas? Every leader comes to the stage with his peculiar style and flavour. Therefore, it is invidious comparing Olayinka with his predecessor.

    Again, the VC was accused of reporting the union leaders to the security agents, the move which they said exacerbated the crisis. However, going by Akinremi’s pugnacious conduct and sadistic temperament, only a VC who will like to see UI burn will not report to the Directorate of State Security. Here is a supposed union leader who has created an impression that there is no evil from hell that is too heinous for him to sprinkle on his perceived enemies. Clearly, the threat deserves the attention of the Commander-in-Chief in Abuja!

    It is obvious that Prof. Olayinka has been unjustifiably maligned and publicly denigrated. He deserves apologies. Although that is part of the sacrifices he has to make as the 12th UI VC, he nonetheless deserves respect. His office as well commands regard of those who truly cherish intellectualism. Here is a man who has been demonstrating admirable maturity and wisdom since he took over on December 1, 2015, the mindset you associate with humble and confident learner-leader. He remains the leader to be proud of. He is the symbol of our collective academic excellence and achievement. Why then should anybody take joy in disparaging him?

    However, the earlier the workers in UI adjust their budgets to the current economic reality in the country the better. Manna does not fall in perpetuity. Heaven will not fall if the government directed the management to reduce the workforce by 30 or 40 percent because there is no money to pay everyone. Many will lose their jobs. They won’t be able to protest and lock gates.  Already, many state governments have started retrenching. Who says federal government cannot do the same? It is better we don’t push our luck too far. Incessant strikes over agitation for sundry allowance should be checked. It may sound stupid to those who have capacity to challenge their opponents to a roadside brawl, and dance naked in a market place, the fact is that the universities across the country should watch it.

     

    • Saanu is of the Directorate of Public Communication, University of Ibadan.

  • Nasarawa crisis: Lawmaker cautions against reprisal attacks

    Member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly Mohammed Udege-Okpoku on Tuesday cautioned his constituents against reprisal attacks or using of arms against one another in the interest of peace.

    Udege-Okpoku, member representing Udege/Loko constituency at the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, gave the advised during a meeting with stakeholders at Ogufa community in Loko Development Area of the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the community was attacked by unknown gunmen two weeks ago where several lives were lost and property worth millions of Naira destroyed.

    The lawmaker decried the loss of lives and property, calling on the community to be law abiding.
    He urged the residents to continue to report their grievances to appropriate authorities for necessary action.

    “I came to this community to see for myself what really happened, the level of destruction; but it is unfortunate and uncalled for that people who live together take up arms against each other; such act must be condemned by all.

    “Now that the community has been attacked by unknown gunmen and the perpetrators of the evil acts are yet to be known, I will do my best to report the matter appropriately to the government so that the perpetrators are arrested and must be brought to book.

    `I want to advise you and other communities against reprisal attacks and you should continue to live in peace and tolerate one another irrespective of your ethnic, religious and political affiliation.

    “I also want to advise you against inflammatory statements capable of fuelling another crisis as no nation or society can develop in an atmosphere of rancour and confusion,” he said.

    According to him, peace is priceless and non-negotiable and is the necessary requirement for the development of any society, hence the need for people of the diverse ethnic and religious and political groups to embrace it.

    Besides, he called on Nigerians to be law abiding, respect constituted authority and always report their grievances to the appropriate authority in the interest of peace and national development.
    Responding, Mr Ishekpa Akumuson, the Osu Ogufa of Ogufa community, commended the legislator for the visit towards ascertaining the level of destruction visited on the communities by unknown gunmen.

    The community leader noted that his people have been living in peace and wondered why unknown gunmen attacked the community.

    NAN reports that the lawmaker also had a peace meeting with Pastors and Imams from his constituency at Mararaba Udege where he stressed the need for peaceful and harmonious co-existence among adherents of the two major religions.

     

  • AGF blames forex crisis on saboteurs

    The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN),  yesterday said the Federal Government  discovered that some individuals and institutions were behind the persistent distortions in the foreign exchange (forex) market.

    Malami, who did not disclose the identities of the “individuals and institutions,” said the government would soon expose them and prosecute those found culpable.

    Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Malami identified the activities of those involved to include “round-tripping of foreign exchange sourced from the interbank market, rendition of false foreign exchange utilisation data, non-repatriation of export proceeds, use of foreign exchange for non-eligible purposes, consumption of foreign exchange transactions with inadequate, expired and or forged documents and failure to report exchange end users, who default in the submission of required documents.

    “Government is aware of the insidious activities of certain elements within some of our strategic national institutions, who rather than exert their regulatory powers, have chosen to use their strong accomplices within the system to manipulate the foreign exchange market for personal corrupt gains and to the detriment of the national economy.

    “Let me restate in the strongest terms that theses nefarious malpractices by unscrupulous individuals and institutions will no longer be tolerated. In this regard, measures are already in place to deal with the infractions decisively and relevant security agencies are on the red alert to investigate these infractions and appropriate sanctions shall follow accordingly.

    “I have therefore directed the economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant security agencies to further investigate and confirm the information already available,” the AGF said.

    He said the government’s action was informed by its realisation that the crisis in the forex market was artificial as against the claim that it was from the interaction of market forces. He said those behind it resorted to this because they have failed in their effort to make the government devalue the nations’ currency

    “There is an urgent need to review our foreign exchange market from the perspective of the degree of compliance with extant laws and regulations due to certain disturbing developments which  increasingly are  confirming the initial suspicions of government that the current state of the naira is not the result of neutral economic factors or directly related to demand and supply forces alone,” he said.

  • Enyeama’s exit: Genesis of Eagles crisis -Rufai

    • Cites law of equity 

    Former International and ex-Super Eagles goalie, Peter Rufai has identified the exit of Vincent Enyeama as one of the problems bedeviling the national team. He said though every player in a team is relevant and contributes to whatever result is ultimately achieved , some players go beyond playing but have  leadership qualities that act as stabilizing factors to keep the team on course,  especially at difficult moments.

    The former Enyimba safe hand, according to Rufai, should not have been allowed to exit unceremoniously considering his contribution to the national team over the years and the need to encourage up and coming ones to see a committed example worth following.

    “Eagles current problems started with the exit of Vincent Enyeama. He has sacrificed for the nation and his exit should not have taken place the way it did. We heard about losing his mother and other personal issues at that time and I believe the issue should have been handled differently,” he said

    Rufai, who was a guest of The Nation/Sportinglife crew within the week, did not stop there but went spiritual when he said that there is always a repercussion when players who commit their heart to serving the nation are improperly treated.

    “There is always a force that is there for everyone who has been noble but has been inappropriately treated,” he said, adding that he does not see anything wrong with the return of the Lille of France first choice goalkeeper to the national team.

    Although Enyeama, who won his 100th cap for the national team on March 26 in a lone goal loss to Uganda has for the umpteenth time said he won’t change his mind following  his October 8 retirement last year, opinions have continued to pop up whether or not it was the right time and right moment to quit

    Interestingly, the former Ibom Stars and Hapoel Tel Aviv ace only few days ago made another history making his 100th appearance for his French side Lille, and bagging FIFA hard work award for the feat.

    He took to his Instagram handle to share the news of the FIFA award to his fans. “This is how goodness and mercy will follow you all this month of March. First day of the month, FIFA got me a trophy for hardwork, dedication, success,” he wrote under a photograph of himself with a plaque. “Thank you @FIFA. I want to wish everyone reading this message a wonderful month of March. God did it for me. God will do it for us,” he prayed

     

  • Forex crisis won’t derail financial obligations, says CBN

    Forex crisis won’t derail financial obligations, says CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has assured that Nigeria will continue to meet matured financial obligations to foreign investors and her international trading partners.

    Speaking to visiting members of the German business delegation in Abuja, Emefiee said that Nigeria has been going through economic crisis due mainly to shocks arising from falling global oil prices, pointing out that the effect has been a severe shortfall in foreign exchange revenues.

    He told the visitors that given the development, the country is left with no option than to diversify the nation’s economic production base and curtail frivolous importation.

    The apex bank’s sued for their  understanding on the regulator’s policies, which he said are meant to conserve foreign exchange, assuring them of the CBN’s effort to meet demands within the available forex resources.

    Earlier, the leader of the visiting team, Vice Minister and Member of Parliament, Uwe Beckmeyer of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, said the essence of the visit was to familiarise themselves with developments in Nigeria’s financial sector and to devise means of articulating business relationships between the German business firms and their Nigerian counterparts.

    He said that members of his team, with interests in such areas as power generation, light machines for Small and Medium Enterprises, were having some challenges in sourcing inputs for their production as well as the issue of double taxation.

    He pleaded that German companies doing business in Nigeria would appreciate being assured of the certainty in areas of currency control as it affects profit remittances.

  • PDP crisis: I will meet Sheriff in court, says Fani-Kayode

    A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode yesterday said he was prepared to meet the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), Sen. Modu Ali Sheriff  in court over his condemnation of Sheriff’s choice.

    Fani- Kayode, who made his position known in a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Jude Ndukwe, said the days of silencing people with threats had gone.

    The statement said: ‘’We read the newspaper advert in which Ali Modu Sheriff has threatened to sue Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

    “Though we have not received a formal letter from his lawyers to that effect we wish to inform him and members of the public that we have briefed our lawyers, we welcome the suit and we shall gladly meet him in court.

    “The days of silencing people with arrogant threats and frivolous litigation are long over. We cannot be silenced by Modu Sheriff’s threat to sue and we are not losing any sleep over it.

    “Such a course of action will prove not only to be counter-productive for him but by the time it is all over he will get the shocker of his life’’.

    The Forum of ex- PDP Ministers had last week warned Sheriff over recourse to threats against Fani-Kayode.

  • PDP crisis: Battle of the caucuses

    PDP crisis: Battle of the caucuses

    The emergence of former Governor of Borno State Ali Modu Sheriff as the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has divided the party hierarchy. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE examines its implications for the party.

    The recent appointment of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the substantive National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has factionalised the leadership of the party.

    Sheriff was endorsed for the position by the PDP Governors Forum and ratified by the National Working Committee.

    The crisis generated by his emergency is affecting the cohesion of the party and ability to play its role as the main opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Since the party was defeated in the 2015 general elections, there have been accusations and counters accusations from one quarter or the other for the defeat. The blame game was equally extended to the succession process in the party.

    Though PDP faced succession challenge in the past, it was able to manage it being the party in power and the enormous resources at its disposal. The then ruling PDP ensured that members toe party line. Those who refused to obey were expelled from the party.

    With the PDP under the watch of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, those who emerged as the party chairmen were influence by him. It was easy for the party to put its act together, especially when the President showed the commitment.

    The resignation of the party’s former chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, however, after the election became the testing moments the party which was no longer in control of power.

    Alhaji Mu’azu from the Northeast was billed to pilot the affairs of the party till March this year, but was cut short due to internal wrangling. This resulted in the emergence of Prince Uche Secondus from the South South as acting chairman.

    As a result of this, the party hierarchy was divided as stakeholders from the Northeast insisted that someone from the region must completed tenure of Alhaji Mu’azu. Party faithful from the Northeast zone questioned Secondus’s stay in office, in contravention to the provision of the party constitution.

    For instance, when Chief Vincent Ogbulafor from Abia State resigned the position, he was replaced by Chief Okwesileze Nwodo from the Southeast. When Chief Bamanga Tukur from Adamawa State resigned his position, it was taken by Mu’azu from the same region.

    Scecondu was grappling with acceptability crisis when a court injunction obtained by PDP stalwart Ahmed Gulak to restrain Secondus grounded his mandate to ensure the stability of the party.  Gulak got a court ruling to invalidate the Secondus’s appointment and went ahead to declare himself the chairman of the party.

    It was in a bid to save the party from the unfolding internal strife that the PDP Governors Forum with other stakeholders chose Sheriff to pilot the affairs of the party. The decision was roundly rejected by the party’s Board of Trustee (BoT), the forum of former PDP Ministers, led by Hon. Taminu Turaki, PDP Rescue Group, led by Ambassador Wilberforce Juta.

    An emergency meeting attended by the Governors Forum,  the National Working Committee (NWC) and the National Assembly caucus was summoned during the week to resolve the crisis that followed the announcement of Sheriff. They resolved that Sheriff should lead the party for three months and position for the coming national convention.

    The governors were against any act that would amount to disgracing Sheriff out of office. They resolved that since they were the ones who presented him for the position, it was incumbent on them to shield him from disgraced.

    Some of the governors present at the meeting were chairman of the Governors Forum,  Segun Mimiko (Ondo), Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti).

    Defending the embattled chairman, Mimiko said all the organs of the party agreed to accept Sheriff’s leadership and cooperate with him to conduct a credible national convention within three months.

    He said: “We are all aware of the controversy generated by the appointment of our new national chairman. In view of the recent development in our party, I want to let you know that all the organs of the party, the governors, National Assembly caucus and BoT agreed to stand by our national chairman to ensure that our party moves forward.”

    The BoT chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, who was present at the meeting, thanked the governors for their concern and resolution. But, at another meeting under the auspices of the PDP ex-Ministers Forum, the governors’ resolution was rejected.

    The chairman of the forum, Turaki, said the three months of grace extended to Sheriff was unacceptable. He said the process that produced Sheriff was dictatorial. “The forum rejects Senator Modu Sheriff due to the illegitimacy of the process that purportedly produced him.”

    The forum maintained that it would take legal action to stop the chairman. Buttressing the stance of the former ministers, former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, said he will continue to challenge the leadership of the PDP by Senator Sheriff.  He expressed disappointment that some people were foisting him on the party.

    According to him, the leadership of PDP under Sheriff would compound the party’s credibility challenge, making allusion to Sheriff’s alleged link to Boko Haram sponsorship in the past.

    Responding to the call for his resignation, however, Sheriff said his mandate was to reposition the party. He called on those linking him to the dreaded terrorist group to prove their claims.  He said he will not bow to pressure from some sections of the party calling for his resignation and enjoined aggrieved members to work with him to reposition the party ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    He said his resignation would not be in the interest of the party as he was in a vantage position to make the party stronger.  Sheriff said the task of repositioning the party was sacrosanct, noting that the people at the grassroots were the owners of the party.  He said: “The era where just a few people dictate how the party should be run is over.”

    The battle for the soul of PDP may be tabled before Dr. Jonathan. Being the immediate past National leader of the party, his input in resolving the crisis would count.  Some members had threatened to defect to other parties if Sheriff remains adamant. The chairman of the opposition to Sheriff planned to see former President Goodluck Jonathan, where they will tell him to reject Sheriff.

    The anti-Sheriff team will inform the former President of the grave implication of retaining Sheriff for the job beyond its deadline.  A party source said: “We believe the ex-President was ill-informed about the choice of Sheriff. We want him to withdraw his backing so that Sheriff can step aside in March. “We are not happy that someone with such a record that (allegedly) linked him with Boko Haram is leading our party. This is not good for PDP and we will not be taken seriously now that we a battling to bounce back.”

    “Some of us made it known that we cannot even wait till end of March to determine our stay in the PDP; once Sheriff is in charge, we will abandon PDP for another party,” the source maintained.

    Sheriff had not envisaged opposition of this magnitude when he went into a secret agreement with those who worked for his emergence.  The source said Sheriff was already strategising on how he would retain office till 2018, when the PDP will be in good position to confront the APC at the poll in 2019.  But his plans to reposition the party are not likely to see the light of the day because the party is divided over his tenure.

    PDP House of Representatives member, Hon. Bitrus Kaze, said it would be difficult to achieve any genuine reconciliation in the PDP. According to him, it is very tough to build things, but easy to destroy. “I doubt if anything meaningful can be done in the short space of time allocated to Sheriff.  Another thing is that the emergence of Sheriff itself is another problem. I do not see him putting back the party on track because of the controversy surrounding his emergence.”

    There are strong indications that party will shrink if no genuine and acceptable medium to resolve the crisis is reached.  Analyst says if those who threatened to quit carry out their decision, it means that the plans to make PDP stronger ahead of 2019 general election would end as mere wish.

    The party had lost a good number of its member to the APC and efforts to reverse the trend have not succeeded. The PDP that had prided itself as the largest in Africa will be counting losses if adequate attention is not given to the issue at stake.