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Tag: disagree

  • Aisha Buhari, Rochas disagree over support for gov’s son-in-law

    The First Lady,Mrs Aisha Buhari  yesterday in Owerri canvassed votes for President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Imo State ,Senator Hope Uzodinma to the chagrin of Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    Represented by the wife of the vice president,Mrs.Oludolapo Osinbajo,the first lady was confident that the SouthEast and Imo State in particular would vote all APC candidates in the coming elections.

    “A vote for Buhari is a vote for progress. APC has done well and we must all support all APC candidates,” she said at a rally in Owerri  organized by APC women  and youths in the South East.

    She added:”I am happy with the crowd we saw today.Iit shows that Imo is APC and I want to urge all our youths not to fight, avoid any form of crisis because President Buhari is a peaceful man. From what we have seen today President Buhari has won the South East the same way all our APC candidates have won.”

    At the rally was Uzodinma whose candidature is strongly opposed by Okorocha.

    The governor is rooting for his son in law,Uche Nwosu,who is contesting the March governorship election on the platform of   the Action Alliance (AA).

    Nwosu was originally in the APC until the party gave its governorship to Uzodinma.

    An angry Okorocha said at yesterday’s  rally that nothing would stop Nwosu from succeeding him as governor.

    He said: “Let me say this madam First Lady, this time around we are not here to ask you to campaign for Buhari.What my wife has done is to tell you that Buhari is on ground.

    “Imo victory for Buhari is designed, sealed. In Imo state, we have 47 political parties and one of the perfect alliances is Action Alliance led by Uche Nwosu.

    “Nwosu is APC in spirit. APC, owes Imo people an apology because of the injustice meted to Imo people. In Imo state, Nwosu will win Imo state. It is not anti- party. We refused imposition in Imo state.”

    At some point during the rally supporters of Uzodinma and those of Okorocha/Nwosu began to tear each other’s  campaign posters,and eventually clashed.

    Security personnel had a tough  time bringing the situation under control.

     

    No fewer than 15 persons sustained injuries and were rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

    Speaking to reporters on the situation, Uzodinma  asked the APC leadership to “ look into the matter and take appropriate action.”

     

  • Sagay, Oyebode disagree on Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku

    Two eminent jurists, Prof.  Itse Sagay (SAN) and Prof. Akin Oyebode yesterday expressed divergent views on former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of his one-time deputy, Atiku Abubakar, for president.

    In separate telephone interviews, Sagay, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) chairman, said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku was of no electoral value.

    Obasanjo and Atiku, he claimed, performed woefully while in power.

    But Oyebode, a retired professor of International Law and Jurisprudence, said President Muhammadu Buhari, who is Atiku’s main rival in next year’s election, was overrated, having “underperformed”.

    He said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku was a welcome development, adding that it would increase the former vice president’s chances of winning the election.

    Sagay said: “The endorsement will make absolutely no impact, absolutely no impact on the election. The value is not more than the announcement. It won’t add one extra vote to Atiku. It’s just a waste of time. Obasanjo has no following whatsoever, so I don’t know what all the talk is about.

    “He can say anything. When he was there for eight years, the economy was grounded all along and he left it grounded. So if they knew the difference between handling the economy well and not handling it well, why didn’t they demonstrate it?

    “So, the man just talks, and because he is a former head of state, people listen to him. He does not add a single value to Atiku’s election prospects. It’s just rhetoric.”

    But Oyebode said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku was not unexpected, adding: “This is a man who was his vice president and he knows him inside-out. Obasanjo had said that Buhari was a non-starter. So, if Buhari is a non-starter, then Atiku might get the edge, because they’re the frontrunners.

    “Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku by necessary implication negates the prospects of Buhari. Buhari has been a big disappointment. He has underperformed. He’s overrated. People have seen through him that he would face a very hard task to get re-elected.

    “I think Obasanjo, in supporting Atiku, is saying: ‘Better the devil you know than the angel you’re yet to meet’. That is what happened.”

    National Chairman of United Progressive Party (UPP) Chekwas Okorie said the endorsement had no electoral value.

    He said: “It is good to forgive people who have offended you. So, it is a good thing to forgive. I have also forgiven so many people who have offended me. Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku as far as I am concerned is merely symbolic. I don’t think the former president can influence many votes anyway. He has not been able to show that he is in charge of the place; the Southwest in terms of votes. When the PDP won several times, Nigerians know what happened.

    “Don’t forget that the military tactically foisted Obasanjo on Nigeria and thereafter, the PDP continued to rig elections, until God decided that their time was up.

    “His endorsement of Atiku has no electoral value and this is what I call political somersault which does no credit to him.

    “Obasanjo did not only point out all the weaknesses of Atiku but went ahead to put them in his book. To now turn around to start saying a different thing means those he accused in his book may not have been done in good faith. This does not portray the former president in good light.

    “In fact, this is what I call political somersault and it does a lot of discredit to the person of Obasanjo”.

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Vice Chairman Southsouth, Utufam Hilliard Eta said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku would not affect the party’s fortunes in the 2019 election.

    He told reporters that “Obasanjo will be dimistified.”

    Eta said: “His (Obasanjo) endorsement has nothing to do with our (APC) victory in 2015. I know that politics is more of deception but I tell you that Obasanjo’s electoral value is little to nothing.

    “Remember that Obasanjo in all the elections lost from his ward level to everywhere. Obasanjo is more loved away than at home and like I said earlier, Obasanjo will be demystified.”

    On the presence of some religious leaders in Obasanjo’s home during the endorsement, he said: “One of the political wings of the PDP is one organisation called Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), so one is not surprised that CAN can do all they can do.”

     

  • Akpabio, Okon disagree on Emmanuel

    Former Senate Minority leader Senator Godswill Akpabio and a ex-senator representing Uyo, Anietie Okon, have disagreed on Governor Udom Emmanuel.

    Akpabio yesterday described Emmanuel as his greatest political mistake.

    Okon said the election of  Emmanuel as governor in 2015 was not a mistake.

    Akpabio, who dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC), asked Akwa Ibom people to forgive him for the mistake.

    He spoke at Ikot Ekpene  Plaza to youths and supporters, who welcomed him back to the state from Enugu where he had gone for the his mother in-law’s funeral.

    Akpabio described Emmanuel as a mistake he made in a hurry, insisting his successor has underperformed.

    “Udom is a mistake that must be corrected in 2019”, he told the people of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, who he represents at the Senate.

    According to Akpabio, “all hands must be on the deck to ensure the mistake is corrected for a people-oriented leadership is enthroned under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),  at the centre.

    “I want to thank you for defying the rain to honour me as your leader and troop out in this multitude even at short notice. It goes to show the level of love and confidence you have in me your leader, and I promise to also reward you for your time and energy in this all important project”, Akpabio said.

    According to the former Senate Minority leader, the administration of Emmanuel has failed the people, forcing him to take steps to correct the anomaly “so that posterity would be fair to me”.

    He spoke of the prevalence of hunger and deprivation in  Akwa Ibom since the administration took over on May 29, 2015, saying it was time to liberate the state from mis-governance.

    The state, he noted, should never be allowed to wallow as a ship without shepherd, adding that this informed his intervention to key the state back into central politics.

    Speaking at an endorsement rally in honour of Governor Emmanuel and his wife, Martha by the people of Eket Senatorial District at Onna Township Stadium, the PDP chieftain described Akpabio as a coward.

    He queried Akpabio’s Annang ancestry, adding that the Annang are courageous and resilient, qualities, which Akpabio lacks.

    Okon said a man of Emmanuel’s worth and integrity would never have come about by chance, but  a divine  gift from God.

    “We don’t know where they brought Akpabio from, he is a coward! I was angry yesterday when I heard Akpabio call Udom Emmanuel a mistake; God cannot be mistaken. That is the last insult the people of Akwa Ibom State would take from a man of such antecedent”.

    He declared that the people of Uyo Senatorial District had concluded the debates surrounding the 2019 elections as they consider Emmanuel’s re-election as the fastest gateway to return power to Uyo in 2013.

  • Businessman, bank disagree over ‘lost’ N177.5m

    A businessman, Mr. Elochukwu Emmanuel, has asked a Lagos High Court in Igbosere to compel Zenith Bank Nigeria Plc to pay him N177,500,000, which he lost through the bank’s alleged negligence.

    But Zenith Bank asked the court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the defendant’s loss was caused by his negligence and failure to seek financial advice, among others.

    The claimant filed the suit marked LD/ADR/1632/2018 through his counsel, Festus Keyamo SAN, via a February 23 statement of claim.

    He averred that he entered an agreement with one Ms. Muna, a Chinese with Nigerian business interests to purchase goods from China.

    Owing to his longstanding banking relationship with the defendant, he rejected other banks’ accounts provided by Ms. Muna for payment and insisted that she must present a Zenith Bank account.

    Muna complied and presented account No: 1005689704 with account name, Xian Fang Li.

    The claimant maintained that he confirmed that the account existed before transferring N177,500,000 into it. Shortly afterwards, Muna failed to deliver the goods and subsequently stopped picking his calls and blocked all his access to her contact.

    He visited China twice in search of Muna and even reported the matter to the Chinese Police and Chinese Embassy, but failed to locate her.

    According to him, Police investigation in Nigeria published in their report on the matter showed that the Xiang Fang Li  account was opened by the bank without regard to the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure for account opening.

    The claimant alleged that police investigation reveals that “the utility bills presented in opening the Xiang Fang Li account were fictitious; and the signature of one of the purported referees to the Xiang Fang Li  account, Mr. Kazeem Lawal, was conclusively found to be forged by the account officer, Mr. Muyiwa Onigbelusi. who opened the Xiang Fang Li account.”

    He asked the court to grant him the following reliefs among others:

    “A declaration that the defendant is negligent and reckless in her duties to the claimant and the public in general.

    “An order mandating the defendant to refund the sum of N177,000,090 to the claimant being the sum lost by the claimant due to the negligence of the defendant.

    “An order for the payment of the sum of N10,000,000 as general damages against the defendant for breach of contract.

    “An order of interest at the rate of 15 per cent before judgment and 21 percent post-judgment.”

    But in its statement of defence, Zenith Bank absolved itself of blame.

    It averred that the claimant failed to contact the bank for possible advice on the alleged business transaction he had with Ms. Muna before paying N177,500,000 into the said account.

    The bank stated: “The claimant failed to request a bank guarantee of the alleged sum from or requested that the defendant issued a confirmation or a letter of comfort before dealing with both Ms Muna and Xian Fang Li.”

    It said it verified the identity of the account holder and the customer supplied his International Passport and other sundry documents before the account was opened.

    “The defendant cross-checked, verified and established the identity of the referees supplied by the customer during the account opening.

    “The defendant stated that the referees exist and one of the referees by name Mr. Kazeem Lawal was arrested by the police.

    All the account opening documents filled and supplied by the customer were verified and cross-checked to be true.”

    No date has been fixed for hearing.

     

  • Tenure Elongation: APC NWC divided over technical committee

    INDICATIONS emerged yesterday that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may currently be divided over earlier resolution at the last NEC meeting of the party that a technical committee be set up to review President Muhammadu Buhari’s opposition to the elongation of the tenure of the party’s NWC which ends in June.

    Investigations by The Nation revealed that some members of the NWC and other prominent chieftains of the party are opposed to the setting up of the review committee, preferring instead to have the party announce dates and procedures for the immediate conduct of congresses that will usher in new leadership at all levels for the party at the expiration of the tenure of the John Odigie-Oyegun-led NWC.

    In a like manner, a former member of the NWC has said that the idea of a technical committee may be a ploy by the current chairman of the party and his allies to buy time and see if they can circumvent the directive of President Buhari in their bid to stay in office beyond June. According to him, this disagreement among party chieftains is responsible for the delay in setting up the technical committee 96 hours after the decision to do so was made public.

    A top ranking member of the NWC, while speaking with The Nation in Lagos yesterday, confirmed that the committee was yet to be set up. According to the politician, there are issues over the propriety of subjecting the outcome of a NEC meeting to a technical committee to be instituted by the NWC “which is a respondent in the matter to be adjudicated upon.”

    “The President, who is the leader of the party, spoke at the last NEC meeting and he was not contradicted by anybody. He made his position clear and buttressed it with constitutional reasons. We believe the way to go is to put modalities and dates in place for the conduct of congresses as advised by Mr. President and other leaders of the party. The idea of a technical committee, given the shortness of time, is unacceptable.

    “That the said technical committee is yet to be constituted 96 hours after the meeting is a proof that it is unpopular. We know those insisting on it and we know their intentions. We have told them we will reject it as we cannot be judges in our own case. The NWC is a party to the matter to be reviewed and it should not be the one to set up such a body,” our source claimed.

    The Nation also learnt that disagreement over the technical committee may have also militated against ongoing efforts by the party to get its chieftains currently in court against the planned tenure elongation of the NWC, to withdraw their cases. Miffed by the insistence of Oyegun and some of his officials to subject the issue to a technical committee, rather than announce dates and modalities for congresses, the aggrieved party chieftains are refusing to withdraw the cases.

    “We are sincerely talking to our members currently in court over the matter to respect President Buhari and save the APC from crisis by withdrawing their cases. But they are insisting that there must be dates and procedures for congresses in place for them to do that. Two of them invited to the national secretariat during the week were categorical in rejecting the idea of a technical committee.

    “But sadly, some of our people see the technical committee as an escape route from what is obviously an inevitable end. The party’s future depends on internal democracy and the President has warned us not to toy with that. Most of us are ready to seek re-election at the congress than threaten the future of the party by staying put in office through the back door,” our source added.

    Efforts to speak to the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, who earlier announced the decision of the party to immediately set up the technical committee after the NEC meeting on Tuesday, on the development, we’re not successful as calls to his mobile phone numbers did not go through. But another member of the NWC, who said he was not authorized to speak on the matter, confirmed that the technical committee was yet to be set up due to the need to iron out some grey areas.

    “The committee is not yet in place. We are trying to agree on some things before that could be done. It is all in the interest of the party. I can assure you that progress is being made to resolve all these issues. Mr. President has spoken and his opinion must be respected. As soon as there is an agreement on some issues, you will see us moving forward,” he said.

  • Minister, Reps disagree over TCN probe

    Minister, Reps disagree over TCN probe

    WORKS, Power & Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola has demanded the rationale behind the hiring Ron Van Arnault by the House of Representatives as consultant to probe the Transition Company of Nigeria’s (TCN) over the $1.5 billion World Bank loan secured to improve power supply nationwide.

    The minister wondered the propriety of hiring a firm, which according to him, was responsible for crisis that rocked the agency under the previous management.

    He spoke yesterday at the investigative hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Power on the interim management of TCN for the apparent delay in the execution of the National Electricity and Gas Improvement Project (NEGIP).

    The minister pleaded with the lawmakers to streamline their invitation of public officers to allow them enough time for their official duties.

    Fashola wondered why Ron Van Arnault was hired as consultant by the Power Committee, noting that the firm, while working with Manitoba, was behind the management breakdown suffered by the TCN under the previous administration.

    Manitoba Hydro International Nigeria Ltd, a Canadian company, was awarded the management contract for TCN in 2012 but the contract was terminated in 2016 for its failure to revive the company.

    Asked to explain why he questioned the involvement of the Van Arnault, Fashola said that the consultant apart from having worked for Manitoba, also benefited from contracts awarded without procurement approval in the Ministry.

    According to him, the consultant cannot be totally professional in providing advice to the committee.

    Chairman of the Committee, Dan Asuquo, however reminded the minister that he was not in a position to condemn the Committee’s decision to hire Van Arnault as a consultant to the Committee.

    Asuquo claimed he was privy to text messages exchanged between Fashola and the consultant wherein the minister solicited for the consultant’s professional advice.

    The committee chair said: “Just as you have your reasons for taking decisions, I also have my reasons for hiring Mr. Ron and it’s not up to you to question our decision.

    “Today, Mr. Eugene Edozie is seated here as Permanent Secretary of your Ministry, but I could remember in the Seventh Assembly, I served on a panel that investigated him on an allegation that he didn’t have NYSC certificate, and we recommended that he be removed from the post he was holding at the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), but he’s your Perm Sec and you have not questioned his qualifications.”

    On the management of time and multiple invitations to the National Assembly, Fashola complained that the initiations are taking a toll on the productivity of public officers.

    He pleaded that the lawmakers to synegize and streamline ýthe number of hearings involving the TCN since the subject matter was related.

    His words:  “Like the representative of the Speaker rightly pointed out, we closed here last week, and we are resuming this week with this committee.

    “Committees of the House also will be asking us of our budget performance, and we just need to work in the office so that we can also perform.

    “So, I think there’s a sense here that I respectfully ask you to sufficiently use this time so we can also work to serve the Nigerian people.”

    Fashola said his ministry got a letter issued on December 20 by committee Clerk Nnamdi D. Onuigwe,  stating that the House has constituted an ad hoc committee on the need to investigate the Fiscal Responsibility and Procurement Acts by the TCN, in pursuant to House resolution 114/ADHOT/TCN2 of the 20 December.

    Fashola said: “ýNow, we were waiting to be invited by the ad hoc committee when we got this letter asking us to come today, signed by Ibrahim Sidi, Committee Clerk pursuant to House resolution 189 of 5th December 2017.

    “Although, it’s headed as ‘Need To facilitate Swift action on management of TCN Electric Power Reforms’, it goes in the body to ask us to come and explain to this investigative committee the interim management of TCN on the delay in the implementation of projects such as the Nigerian Electricity Gas Improvement project that will improve power sector in Nigeria.

    “So, I seek clarification in order to assist the committee in its work and if it’s possible to harmonise all of what we want to do together, bearing in mind that this House substantially is handling some possibly over-lapping issues.”

    But Asuquo denied any contradiction or ambiguity in the letters, even as he assured  that the leadership would seek ways of harmonising the terms of reference of both committees with the regards to the TCN probes.

    In his opening remarks, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, who restated the House commitment to tackle the challenges bedeviling the power sector, expressed concern over the delay in the implementation of such projects with the potential to improve electricity supply in the country.

    Dogara said: We cannot emphasize enough the pride of place that electricity occupies in the life of any modern nation. Indeed, electricity is the lifeblood of our national economy.

    “This is why any issue that affects the power sector always receives priority attention from the House of Representatives in particular and the National Assembly in general.

    “We will continue to revisit the challenges that confront the power sector as that is the only way to fix the sector and get our country firmly on her way to unleashing her enormous industrial and developmental potentials.”

    He said the intervention of the House on the matter should not be misconstrued as interference in the job of the executive.

    “However, there is a corollary to this doctrine which is that there is the need for the arms of government to apply some checks on each other in order to create a balance in the system. Today’s hearing is one of the ways that the National Assembly exercises its checks on the executive arm of government.”

    According to him, the aim of public hearings is to give room for fair hearing and citizen participation in legislative processes, and called on all stakeholders present to cooperate with the committee.

     

  • Fed Govt, investors disagree on naira’s future

    Fed Govt, investors disagree on naira’s future

    The Federal Government and foreign investors have disagreed on the future of the naira.

    Government officials are of the view that the local currency has stabilised against foreign currencies, but some foreign investors  think otherwise.

    Portfolio inflows have risen in the past three months with crude prices rising above $60 (it was $62 yesterday) a barrel and money managers taking heart from a new foreign-exchange trading window in which the naira has converged with the black-market rate.

    That development prompted Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele and Debt Management Office (DMO) Director-General Mrs. Patience Oniha, informing investors in London that the currency was set to strengthen.

    Finance Minister Mrs. Kemi Adeosun also joined the fray, saying the government saw no significant exchange-rate risk as it prepares to raise $5.5 billion from Eurobonds.

    However, a Bloomberg report said Nigeria’s system of capital controls, multiple exchange rates and the the Nafex trading window would struggle to survive a drop in oil revenue, or sentiment turning against emerging markets, according to investors, including Ashmore Group Plc and Standard Life Aberdeen Plc.

    “At the moment, it’s easy for them to manage the current system and muddle through,” said Brett Rowley, a Managing Director at TCW Group Inc. in Los Angeles, which oversees $200 billion, which recently started buying naira debt after pulling out during the 2014 oil crash.

    “That could change if we got a significant drop in crude production or prices. It’s not clear how Nigerian officials would react. That would be a key test to reassure investors they can get their money out even in times of stress.”

    Yield-starved global investors have piled billions of dollars back into the country in the second half of this year, attracted by the naira’s devaluation after the Nafex window opened in April and yields on one-year Treasury bills of above 21 percent for most of the year.

  • Lawyers disagree on spying on judges

    Lawyers have held divergent views over the plan by Acting Chief Judge of Cross River State Justice Michael Edem to covertly monitor judicial officers in the state for corrupt practices.

    Justice Edem pledged to clamp down on corruption, lateness and slow dispensation of justice on the Bench.

    He announced the creation of an agency to monitor judicial officers, at a church service in Calabar, to mark the beginning of the 2017/18 legal year.

    Edem said: “The prying eyes of the public are on us all because if one finger of any hand of the judiciary is soiled by oil, the oil shall spread and pollute the entire body.

    “The judiciary would not be a collective victim of an individual malfeasance and I will let go the axe ruthlessly on anyone who does that.

    “To this end, I have set up a secret monitoring agency to spy on and report to me all acts of corruption, no matter how slight.”

    Calabar-based Mr. Daniel Mgbe praised the Chief Judge’s will to tackle corruption.

    Mgbe, however, observed that mere monitoring was inadequate to stem the tide of corrupt practices.

    He suggested that the issue of judicial officers’ welfare be revisited.

    Mgbe said: “Once a covert operation is announced, it is no longer covert. The resolve by the CJ to monitor judges and magistrates to check corruption is welcome.

    “However, their welfare and security should be taken more seriously. I’ve observed two magistrates sharing a tiny cubicle without fans or air-conditioning in the name of an office. This can only lead to low productivity.

    “I was in court one day when two men standing trial for armed robbery startled the court by bolting throughthe window becausethe court windows were damaged. In spite of d commotion, themagistrate was brave enough to continue proceedings, but one could only wonder how insecure he felt. They will dispense justice without fear or favour if conditions improve.

    But Ogoja-based Mr. Igwe Lawson Nyebuchi pointed out that the ‘spies’ themselves were not insulated from corruption. He urged the Chief Judge to go further and boost judicial officers’ welfare.

    “I must appreciate the Acting Chief Judge of Cross River State for expressing his determination to get rid of judicial corruption in the state.It is true that the extent of corruption in the judiciary is on the increase and ought to be check-mated.

    “However, the fight against judicial corruption goes beyond the constitution of spies.In my opinion the use of spies is quite unhealthy to the system, even though we know that spies are not insulated against corruption.

    “They should take issues concerning the welfare of Judicial Officers so seriously as well as strengthen the institution against corruption.”

  • We beg to disagree

    •No, Governor Ortom, the local government system is not a fraud

    It is a searing irony, one whose critical interrogation could lead to the bottom of the current ills buffeting Nigeria’s local government system. Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State had recently told news men that local councils, the third tier of government in Nigeria, is a fraud.

    Speaking from Gbamjinbi, the headquarters of Guma Local Government Area (LGA) which is his home council, he opined that the rot in the third tier of government is too deep to allow for the desired growth and development in the rural areas.

    Ortom was Chairman of Guma LGA for two years and he is currently in charge of the entire state, but he has woe tales to tell about the councils in his state: “I know a local government here where a traditional ruler in the council has 15 wives. All the wives and their children are workers of the local government. In some instances, unborn children are listed as staff of local government.

    “Go to any local government area during working days, you can hardly see up to 10 workers. But go there when they are receiving salary; the crowd always overwhelms the council.”

    These are just a few fantastical tales as told by Governor Ortom coming out of the LGAs, not only in Benue but virtually across the country.

    The rot is indeed very deep and the reason councils were created in Nigeria seems to have been long forgotten. Both the provisions of the 1976 Local Government Reforms Committee Report and Section 7 (1) of the 1999 Constitution allow the sanctity of a third tier of government that would galvanise development from the grass roots

    To catalyse this ideal, the Constitution recognises the 774 LGAs in the federation and indeed allows for direct and individual revenue allocation from the Federation Account to them. However, in the quest for probity, the funds would not go directly to the LGAs but would be warehoused in joint accounts with state governments. This would be managed jointly for the benefits of each LGA and under the oversight of each state House of Assembly.

    But this noble objective has long been bastardised and now operates in total breach of the letter and spirit of the stipulations of the Constitution.

    What has happened since 1999 at the inception of the 4th Republic is that state governments (read governors) have managed to repudiate the meaning and essence of the third tier, hijacking, viring, manipulating and misappropriating LGA funds. It has degenerated to the point that LGAs which ordinarily have enough monthly allocation from the Federation Account to pay salaries and carry out development projects cannot pay salaries today. That is how bad it has become.

    And even worse: many LGA offices across the country are now overgrown by weeds, with just foot paths snaking to some offices. The pay roll is long but the workers are few. Even then hardly any work is done. But on pay day, offices are packed full with crowd, including ‘ghosts’ crawling out of every wood-work.

    This is the juncture we are in today – at the tragic end-stage of Nigeria’s third tier of government. This also explains why there is so much turbulence in the polity – acute poverty especially in the hinterland, insecurity, heinous crimes, insurgency and militancy. The virtual collapse of LGAs has left the polity with vast swathes of ungoverned and indeed unmanned territories where terrorists, kidnappers, cultists and robbers enjoy unfettered rein.

    It is this situation that Governor Ortom bemoans and describes as a fraud. We disagree. It seems he would rather neglect the fact that the LGA system has been  damaged largely by governors who have hijacked the allocations due them; who have refused to be accountable and who all seem to favour the current aberrant situation they have created.

    We urge Governor Ortom to stop living in denial; he can elect to be exemplary and do the right thing.

  • Defection: Lagos lawmakers disagree

    Two lawmakers in the Lagos State House of Assembly have disagreed on why six lawmakers left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) last Thursday.

    The defectors are Minority Leader Akeem Bello (Amuwo Odofin); Minority Whip Mosunmola Sangodara (Surulere II); Olusola Sokunle (Oshodi/Isolo I); Jude Idimogu (Oshodi/Isolo II); Dayo Famakinwa (Ajeromi Ifelodun II) and Oluwa Fatai (Ajeromi/Ifelodun I).

    Idimogu insisted they left the PDP due to disagreement and factionalisation but Victor Akande (Ojo 1) differed, saying a crisis was not peculiar to the party.

    The two lawmakers, who spoke in separate interviews, admitted the PDP needed to put its house in order.

    Idimogu said the crisis in the PDP was getting out of hand.

    “The vision of achieving things in the PDP is difficult.  Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has impressed me,” he said.

    Akande berated the defectors for abandoning the party that brought them into office, saying it was obvious they would abandon the APC during a crisis.