The Nation Newspaper

Tag: demands

  • Activist demands apology from Chime

    A group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has asked Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime to apologise for alleged violation of the rights of his wife and women.

    Faulting the manner the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has handled the case, it urged the commission to speed up its investigation.

    HURIWA praised rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), for making public the alleged unjust detention of Mrs. Clara Chime in the Government House.

    The group, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, Nneka Okonkwo (Gender specialist) and Zainab Yusuf (National Media director), enjoined the Enugu State House of Assembly to impeach the governor if he fails to apologise.

    HURIWA accused the government of discriminating against women, saying it said was yet to domesticate many pro-women and pro-children legislation, such as the Child’s Rights Act of 2003.

    “In fact, Enugu is one of the 12 states and the only state in the South yet to domesticate the Child’s Rights Act 2003.”

    NHRC after its council members’ meeting last week, said it would conduct further probe into the case.

  • Baraje’s PDP demands Tukur’s resignation

    Baraje’s PDP demands Tukur’s resignation

    The Abubakar Baraje-led New Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded the immediate resignation of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as national chairman of the party.

    According to the faction, Tukur is not a registered card-carrying member of the party and such, has no business being its national chairman.

    A statement by the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Chukwuemeka Eze, said Baraje should replace Tukur as national chairman.

    The statement said: “ Alhaji Tukur was expelled from the PDP in 2006 with nine others following disciplinary action taken against them for anti-party activities.

    “Since then, he has not officially returned to the party. All the records at our disposal show that Alhaji Tukur has not followed due process for his readmission into the party.

    “He neither applied for nor obtained the requisite waiver by the National Executive Committee of the party before offering himself for election into the office of national chairman in 2012.

    “This makes his membership incurably defective and his emergence as PDP’s national chairman null and void and of no effect whatsoever since he is the product of a flawed process.

    “Consequently, all the actions he has taken as the chairman of PDP since his purported election in March 2012, including the illegal, contentious convention of August, 2013, are null and void and of no effect”

    Baraje added that his faction learnt that Tukur had been making desperate moves to wriggle out of the situation by falsifying records, with the view to revalidating his membership through the back door.

    “We wish to put him on notice that this is criminal and we hope he understands the consequences of his actions.

    “In this regard, Alhaji Tukur’s continued occupation of the office of PDP national chairman is clearly fraudulent, illegal and unconstitutional.

    “We hereby urge Alhaji Tukur to toe the path of honour and throw in the towel. This is the best option open to him,” the faction added.

    Baraje said should Tukur fail to resign, the faction would appeal to the Presidency and the leadership of the PDP to ease him out of the party, stressing that the party cannot be held hostage by one man.

    The faction advised the Presidency to compensate Tukur with a ministerial appointment, considering his age, zeal and commitment to serving the party.

    It continued: “This is a good opportunity for the Presidency to demonstrate if it is serious about restoring peace and unity to the party.

    “We hereby formally suggest the immediate recall of Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, who erroneously handed over to Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the national chairman of PDP, thinking he was a member of the party.

    “This will enable Alhaji Baraje to organise a proper, unified convention that will usher in a duly elected National Working Committee of the party as early as possible to enable us face the business of positioning PDP as the ruling party come 2015.

    “It will also pave the way to restore PDP’s past glory based on the visions of the founding fathers of the party. A word is enough for the wise.”

  • Group demands removal of council secretaries

    Members of a group in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, the Good Governance Group, yesterday called for the removal of council secretaries.

    The members from the 30 local government areas, stormed the state secretariat in Osogbo, the state capital, in 18-seater commercial buses around 10am.

    Their leaders, Ade Ipadeola and Joel Oyekunle, said the removal of the council secretaries was overdue because they were not adding value to local governments.

    They alleged that many council secretaries were “corrupt, arrogant and selfish”, saying they could no longer cope with the hardship foisted on them by their “misrule”.

    Morufu Adegoke (Olorunda Ward 3); Oluwaseun Komolafe (Olorunda Ward 8); Adekola Adegbite (Boripe Ward 1); Saheed Adebayo (Ifelodun Ward 8); Tajudeen Aderemi (Boripe Ward 9); Ibrahim Busari (Olorunda Oba-Ile Ward 9) and Sarafa Adeyeye (Odo-Otin Ward 4) said they had nothing against the governor, but felt it was time the council bosses were removed in state’s interest.

    They said: “Many of them are just building edifices about and buying state-of-the-art cars without considering the people whose money they are spending. Party leaders cannot even call them to order, as they appear too big to be corrected.

    “We are tired of them and we do not want the situation to degenerate into violence, that is why we are protesting and asking the governor to relieve them of their jobs before their misdeeds cost the party winning chances at the next election.”

    State Chairman of the Justice Party Prince Adesoji Macillo urged the protesters not to personalise the issue but to see it from a broader perspective.

    He said it was not the governor’s wish to make the council secretaries stay in office without being elected, adding that there was a pending case on the appointment of the state electoral body, which conducts council polls.

    Macillo said now that the governor had inaugurated seven members of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), council chairmen would soon be elected.

    Commissioner for Information and Strategy Sunday Akere said the protesters had a right to express their grievances, but cautioned them not to be violent.

    He said the governor would look into their demands.

  • APC demands release of authentic results of Offa poll rerun

    APC demands release of authentic results of Offa poll rerun

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the immediate release and announcement of the authentic results of Saturday’s rerun in the Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State by the state Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC).

    In a statement yesterday in London by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the cooked up results announced yesterday by the Kwara State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in which the party brazenly converted its defeat to victory, are totally unacceptable and would not stand.

    It said the authentic results of the elections, which are in possession of KWASIEC as well as security agencies, showed that the APC got 11,526 votes to PDP’s 4,668, as against the cooked up figures announced by the PDP in Ilorin, which awarded the PDP 35,937 and the APC 20,161.

    APC expressed shock at the antics of the Electoral Officer (EO) of Offa Local Government and other KWASIEC officials, who sneaked out of the collation centre when the results were to be announced and have yet to carry out their assigned duties.

    “The next thing was that the PDP took the law into its own hands and announced the cooked up results via the state’s radio station on Sunday morning. This impunity is condemnable and will be fought to a logical conclusion, using the instrumentality of the law.

    “There is no iota of doubt that the APC won the elections. It is common knowledge that if the elections were conducted 10 times, APC will beat the PDP 10 times. Offa people know who they voted for and are ready to defend their votes. Therefore, any attempt to thwart the will of the people will be resisted to the hilt.

    “Thanks to technology, which has made rigging unfashionable and untenable, the results of the elections were collated ward-by-ward and available to all. Even the people successfully challenged the PDP’s plan to rig the polls by ensuring that only 100 of the 500 ballot papers for each polling booth were supplied. The people demanded and got all 500 votes for each of the 86 polling booths, thus making it impossible for the PDP to steal 400 votes from each polling booth,” it said.

    While appealing to its members and supporters to remain peaceful, APC warned against any attempt to provoke the people who went out peacefully to elect their councillors and chairman on Saturday.

    “For any government to have legitimacy, it must derive such from the people. But where the will of the people is being wilfully subverted, it can only be an invitation to anarchy, which has now become the hallmark of the PDP. Little wonder the party has now broken up. That is what happens when a party is anti-democratic and recklessly subverts the will of the people.

    “Therefore, we demand the immediate announcement of the authentic results and the swearing in of the chairman, who was elected on the platform of the APC. Nothing else will be acceptable to our party and the people of Offa Local Government,” the party warned.

    A chieftain of the Kwara State All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Dele Belgore (SAN), and the candidate of the party , Prince Saheed Popoola, have rejected the purported announcement of the result on Radio Kwara.

    The duo said the radio station was acting the familiar script of the PDP.

    KWSIEC yesterday declared Prince Abdulwaheed Olanipekun of the PDP the winner of the election on Radio Kwara’s 6am news bulletin.

    Belgore was the 2011 governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He urged the KWASIEC to announce the duly signed result, which was given to party agents before the Returning Officer “secretly” left the local government collation centre for Ilorin, the state capital.

    In a statement by his media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, Belgore asked: “When did the Kwara Radio become the exclusive place to announce results of an election that held in open space across a local council? Why were all other media representatives and party chieftains, who were at the KWASIEC till daybreak, not called to witness the announcement?”

    The statement added: “I am scandalised beyond words the impunity that is playing out following the peaceful and orderly conduct of the Offa Local Government rerun. As at 12.50am, the KWASIEC Chairman, Dr Uthman Ajidagba, was telling all parties’ agents and representatives, who had come from Offa to Ilorin, that they should return to KWASIEC office in Ilorin at 10am for the official announcement of the result.

    “Strangely, at 6am on Sunday, Radio Kwara – in a martial manner mimicking the military overthrow of a civilian government – repeatedly announced that the PDP had been declared winner of the rerun.

    “We take it that Radio Kwara, in its characteristic manner, was merely acting the script of the party in power in the state. We are expecting proper announcement from the umpire, the KWASIEC. What has been announced on Radio Kwara is not known to the law and we take it that KWASIEC will still call us for result announcement. They should come and announce the election result in accordance with the duly signed result that has been given to political parties in Offa.”

    He said: “I am shocked, as everyone else here and everywhere across the world where the Offa rerun was monitored. As everyone else, I am still waiting for KWASIEC to say: ‘Look, we never authorised the silly announcement on Kwara Radio;just ignore them, please!’

    “Interestingly, by 5.30pm on Saturday, the duly signed result from the 12 wards in Offa was already in at the local government collation centre in Offa. The result showed clearly that APC trounced the PDP in 11 of the 12 wards. The PDP won only in Igboodun Ward. In all, APC scored 11,526 as against PDP’s 4,668.

    “For the avoidance of doubts, the results from the 12 wards are as follows: Balogun Ward: APC – 1,129, PDP – 504; Shawo Central: APC – 1,132, PDP -435; Shawo Southwest: APC – 1,171, PDP – 372; Shawo Southeast: APC – 1,054, PDP – 370; Essa A.: APC – 639, PDP – 363; Essa B.: APC – 644, PDP – 381; Ojomu Northwest: APC – 1,314, PDP – 446; Ojomu Central I: APC – 866, PDP – 373; Ojomu Central 2: APC – 866, PDP- 373; Ojomu Southeast: APC – 1,374, PDP – 427; Ogbodun: APC – 268, PDP – 381; and Essa C: APC – 972, PDP – 351. “The grand total is APC – 11,526 and PDP – 4,668. “This is the total result contained on the forms signed by all the agents and KWASIEC officials. We have copies of them as obtained by our agents who had gone to the local government secretariat of the KWASIEC in Offa for the final collation and announcement.

    “This is one impunity too many. It cannot stand. We shall challenge it in every peaceful and lawful manner. As every Nigerian of good conscience, I join the good people of Offa to condemn this atrocious behaviour of the electoral body, which has no doubt stripped it of any claim to civility or credibility. Clearly, the election was just a mere window-dressing! We cannot continue on this catastrophic path; not any more. It is unacceptable.

    “As law-abiding party and citizens, we will challenge the whole mess in the court of law. But clearly, whatever has been announced on Radio Kwara is provocative and a deliberate attempt to provoke the Offa people into violence.

    “To be fair to the security agents, the conduct of the poll was peaceful and orderly. But what happened between 5pm, when the results from the polling units were collated, and this morning, when Radio Kwara announced that PDP had been declared victorious, has confirmed the fact that election results are altered only behind people’s backs.”

  • APC demands extension of date for council poll

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State has asked the State Independent National Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) to respond to its letter of August 22, 2013 from the party’s national secretariat, asking the electoral body to shift the September 21 local government election, to enable it participate.

    The Minority Leader in the House of Assembly, Mr. Alex Irek, in a statement in Calabar yesterday, said the umpire’s decision to disqualify the party on the basis that it was not up to 90 days old after its registration as stipulated by the electoral law, portrayed the body as “a bundle of contradictions.”

    His words: “That the chairman of CROSIEC said the basis of our disqualification is because we have not clocked 90 days after our registration speaks volumes about the honesty and transparency on the part of CROSIEC. For your information, what that relevant part of the electoral law applies to is for the election into the offices of the President, National Assembly, Governors, Houses of Assembly as well as Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory. It does not apply to states. CROSIEC turned the truth upside down when it further asserted that APC did not meet this requirement and so is automatically disqualified.

    “In any case, on July 17, the merging legacy parties (ACN, ANPP and CPC) sent a letter to CROSIEC, which was acknowledged, notifying it on the intention to merge. The merger was consummated on July 31. The questions are: 1. When do you start counting? In this regard, is it from the date of the notification or from the date of registration that the 90-day countdown begins? 2. Is the 90-day for merging or newly-registered parties? 3. Perhaps it is wise to look at Section 84(2) of the Electoral Act (2010) as amended.

  • Man demands 50m for unlawful detention

    Producer of Silver Nitrate, David Chinedu Dingba, who was recently detained by soldiers for allegedly manufacturing bomb in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has headed for the court to demand N50 million from Nigerian Army and the Police.

    Dingba, who was detained for one month in State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Port Harcourt, before he was granted bail, said he is innocent.

    He said he was unjustly accused and arrested by soldiers, whom he said, alleged, had been looking for a means to dislodge him from his residence.

    Narrating his ordeal to The Nation, Dingba said: “My mother teaches at Army Children School and that is why we stayed in one of the military quarters far from the army command and barracks. When a new army commander was transferred to Port Harcourt, I personally introduced to him the kind of business I do.

    “Later, the army commander said I should bring the product to his office which I did, but I was surprised that he arrested me, saying what I produced resembled products used in making bomb. I also brought the goldsmith and the people I bought the mechanical tools from; they all testified that I am not a bomb manufacturer.”

    The suspect said while he was in detention, some military officers and policemen were asked to visit his workshop and investigate all the materials used in the business and they confirmed there was nothing found relating to explosive devices and recommended that he should be released.

    “After the investigation which proved me innocent, they still would not release me. The truth of the matter is that the bomb is not the issue. It is all about asking me and my mother to vacate the premises which they plan to illegally sell.

    “What I do is a clean business. I buy waste chemicals from photography laboratories, distils the chemicals to collect silver nitrates and sell them to blacksmiths who turn them to earrings and such other items. It was just a knowledge acquired to defeat poverty since getting job in our society is a nightmare,” he said.

  • Okitipupa NBA demands fresh election

    The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Okitipupa branch, Ondo State, at the weekend urged its National leadership to dissolve its current executives and conduct a fresh election.

    The branch’s Vice-Chairman, Mr. Segun Lema, accused the Chairman, Mr. Amuwa Benson, of handling the election matter with levity.

    But Benson attributed the delay to the planned reception organised for Justice Tayo Ikujuni of the State High Court, who is a member of the association.

    He also said members, particularly the aspirants, have not been attending meetings.

    Lema, a former secretary of the association, said the executive’s continuous stay in office after the expiration of their tenure is illegal.

    He said their tenure expired about six months ago but Amuwa refused to conduct election.

    Lema alleged that Benson’s “refusal” to conduct the election was political.

    He threatened to relinquish his position, if the chairman fails to conduct the election in the next one month.

    Lema said the association’s interest supersedes individual interest and urged the national body to interevene.

    Benson said he had convened three meetings to discuss plans for the election, but the attendance was low.

  • Policeman demands N9.4m compensation from firm

    Five months after a transceiver mast belonging to May and Baker Pharmaceutical Company fell on the roof of his four-bedroom bungalow home in Ota, Ogun State, a police Sergeant attached to the Lagos State Police Command, Emmanuel Alademehin, is demanding N9.4 million from the company as compensation.

    Taking reporters round the house, which is located behind the company’s branch in Ota, Alademehin said his wife, Josephine and their four children narrowly escaped being killed.

    The policeman, who was away on a national assignment when the incident occurred, said his family was rescued by their neighbours.

    He decried the company’s alleged nonchalance to the incident.

    Alademehin said the company did not remove the mast until three days later and has failed to renovate his house as well as replace his damaged property.

    He said the house has been written-off by a certified building engineer.

    Alademehin said: “Since the incident occurred, my family has been in trauma. My children cannot sleep without the fear. The company re-erected the mast at the spot where it fell without showing remorse or compensation my family.

    “I was on an assignment outside the state when it happened. The company did not remove the mast until after three days. My family was exposed to sun and rain. The building is now weak to the foundation. You can see the cracks on the walls.”

    He said anytime he approaches the company, they direct him to their Lagos office.

    The company’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Eugene Olewuenyi, said the company is safety conscious and the incident was an unforeseeable accident.

    Olewuenyi said the company repaired the building and is ready to listen to Alademehin instead of going to court.

    He said: “A truck accidentally pulled down the mast when it came to deliver some items to the company and we took care of the damage without minding the cost almost immediately. We are ready to listen, if he has any new complaint, instead of taking a legal process.”

  • I don’t have the passion for sex but my woman demands for it

    Mine always demand for sex but I don’t get the passion and I love her so much.

    I wish I knew why you do not have a passion for sex. One thing I’m sure of however is that women enjoy being chased for relationships and later sex. So when a man acts like he’s not interested at all, it makes the woman do the chasing in order to be sure that nothing is wrong.

    I don’t know how old you are, but I know that later on in men’s life, some may slow down on sex. Work pressure, family problems and so on may also contribute to lack of interest in sex.

    Below are so some tips to get the burner on for you in the bedroom:

    Get a medical checkup: To eliminate physiological causes for your lack of desire, a trip to your family physician or gynecologist may be in order. Ask if hormone replacement therapy such as testosterone would be appropriate. Evaluate whether side effects from medications or medical conditions are a factor in your situation. Discuss whether herbal remedies or dietary changes may be helpful.

    Make having a satisfying sexual relationship a bigger priority in your life: There are at least two very important reasons that you should take your sex life off the back burner and pay attention to it. The first is your relationship with your spouse. Your marriage depends on it.

    Your spouse’s feelings about himself/herself depend on it. Your future together depends on it. You have to stop thinking you can have a great relationship without satisfying sex unless your partner wholeheartedly agrees. Don’t resign yourself to passionless lovemaking or a relationship void of true intimacy.

    Even elderly and chronically ill people can enjoy a robust sex life. The second reason is that unless you are truly enjoying your intimate relationship, you are really cheating yourself! If you aren’t all that interested in sex at the moment, you are probably thinking, “I don’t feel cheated at all,” but I’d like for you to take a moment and think back to a time when sex was more fulfilling.

    Really think about it. Wasn’t it wonderful? Didn’t it feel great? Recall what it felt like to be a more passionate, sensual person. Didn’t you feel better about yourself? Wasn’t it more fun? When you think back to times when things were better between you sexually, you may ask yourself what happened to your passion and what caused this to change in you. You may also wonder if you will ever feel the same way about being sexual as you once did. Perhaps it’s the seesaw phenomenon at work; the more one person does of something, the less the other person does. Well, this holds true for sexual issues as well.

    Since your spouse has been the one to focus on sex in your marriage and you have felt pressured about it, you have backed away. In fact, it’s entirely possible that the cat and mouse dynamic in your relationship has dampened your desire, even fooled you into thinking you don’t like sex anymore. But this isn’t necessarily so. Your negative feelings or apathy may have more to do with the chase than sex itself. In order to change this, one of two things must happen. Your spouse can stop chasing (and you better believe that this will be one of my suggestions), or you can become more proactive for making things better between you. Since you are the one asking for advice, I am going to strongly suggest that it is you who has to take charge of changing things. You need to start to figure out the steps you ought to take to feel more passion and desire. Make feeling sexier your pet project. If you don’t, you are missing out on one of life’s greatest joys, feeling truly intimate with the person you love. Don’t shortchange yourself. Forget about doing this strictly for your partner or the marriage, do it for you!