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Tag: faults

  • Nwoye faults Uba’s emergence

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-backed governorship candidate in the November 16 election in Anambra State, Tony Nwoye, yesterday faulted Senator Andy Uba’s claim that he is the PDP candidate.

    Nwoye, who spoke through a member of his campaign organisation, Jude-Kingsley Onyeka, said it was a settled matter that no state chapter of any party has the power to conduct party congress.

    He noted that there was no parallel PDP congress in Anambra State as erroneously being claimed in some quarters.

    According to him, there was only one congress, the congress that was conducted by the National Working Committee/ the National Executive Council (NEC).

    Nwoye said the congress organised and conducted by the NEC is the congress that was recognised by the Electoral Act.

    He said: “It is the duty of the National Executive Council of the PDP to organise a congress and the party has done that and produced a candidate in the person of Tony Nwoye.

    “There is no where in the Electoral Act that the state party executive is empowered to conduct a congress.”

  • Yobe faults distribution of Fed Govt’s grains

    The Yobe State Government has accused a minister of using the grains donated by the Federal Government to advance his political interest.

    The grains were reportedly donated to the state to alleviate the suffering caused by the state of emergency.

    But the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the grains were not shared on political basis but to every resident, irrespective of party affiliation.

    Addressing reporters in Damaturu, the state capital, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political and Legislative Affairs, Mai Mala Buni, alleged that the minister hijacked the materials for his political interest.

    Buni said: “In an ideal situation, the materials meant for Yobe were supposed to be handed over to the state government for onward distribution to the victims. But they were diverted by the minister to serve his political interest. That is wrong.”

    PDP State Chairman Lawan Gana Karasuwa regretted that “the Yobe State Government is bringing politics into a matter that affects ordinary people”.

    He added: “The grains we are talking about here were brought by the Federal Government and handed over to the Waziri Ibrahim Foundation for onward distribution to everybody in the state.

    “It is regrettable that the state government is bringing politics into the matter. The grains were shared, irrespective of party affiliation. It is the most successful programme I have witnessed so far since the donations of materials to victims of this insurgency started.”

  • Lawmaker faults Okonjo-Iweala on payment of salaries

    A member of the House of Representatives representing Ifelodun/Boripe/Odo-Otin Federal Constituency in Osun State, Mr. Adeyinka Ajayi, has faulted the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s alleged conditions on the payment of workers’ salaries.

    The minister was quoted as saying that the Federal Government might not be able to pay salaries should the National Assembly fail to amend the 2013 budget as proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Speaking with reporters at his Ada country home in Osun State, Ajayi said President Jonathan should be blamed by Nigerians if the Federal Government owed salaries, especially those of the public servants, from October.

    The lawmaker said the disagreement between the executive and the National Assembly over the proposed amendments to the Appropriation Bill was caused by President Jonathan, whom he said only sent a letter to the Assembly seeking to amend the Appropriation Act.

    He described the letter as unconstitutional.

    Said he: “President Jonathan did not seek a supplementary budget to the 2013 fiscal estimate. To amend it is not just through a letter like the one written by President Jonathan. There are rules guiding this action and these are what we follow. The request of the President fell short of certain sections of the Appropriation Act because the letter seeking amendment is not a substitute for the supplementary budget. That was why the letter was treated the way it was treated.

    “What our law recognises is the supplementary budget. If I ask for N1 million and in the course of spending that N1 million, there is need for me to spend extra N300,000, you can come back to the parliament and seek appropriation of extra N300,000. It is not known to our laws that you should come and amend by letter, a money deal.

    “Even if we are going to follow that logic, what Mr. President presented to us was a letter, it wasn’t sufficient to constitute an amendment proposal or amendment clauses to the Appropriation Act. It would have required more from the President because we have special rules that govern money matters.”

    Mr. Ajayi further said that Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala was supposed to have given the revenue profile of the country rather than mere request via a letter for amendment to the 2013 Appropriation Act.

    “I was very surprised when I heard that the Minister of Finance or the Coordinating Minister of the Economy was reported to have made that statement. Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala is somebody I respect and admire because I have worked with her by virtue of my being the Chairman of Aids, Loans and Debt Management.”

  • Lagos Assembly faults amendment to 2013 budget

    The lagos State House of Assembly has frowned at the proposal sent to it from the executive seeking an amendment to the 2013 budget.

    In a letter signed by the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ben Akabueze, the executive noted that “budget deficit will be increased” to the tune of N7 billion to address the “considerable housing deficit” in the state.

    It was noted in the letter that the proposed amendment would not lead to increase in the budget estimate, but the increment would be sourced through a loan to build 600 units of houses.

    The Committee Chairman on Lands and Housing, Sikiru Osinowo (Kosofe I), pleaded with members to allow his committee investigate the proposed amendment since it is related to housing.

    According him, “the Ministry of Lands and Housing has not been cooperating with us whenever there is need for oversight function to be performed.”

    Supporting Osinowo, Rotimi Olowo (Shomolu I) wondered why the executive could not meet up with the budget as it was passed, adding that “it is imperative to ask certain questions before such a request is granted.”

    Funmilayo Tejuosho (Mushin I) said there is need to know the constraints of the ministries and agencies since, according to her, “a lot of time after passing the budget, the budget committee would still need to go back and re-order it.”

    The Committee Chairman on Budget, Mudashiru Obasa (Agege I), said: “With due respect to Osinowo, this is a special request on a law that we have passed. This has to do with the Committee on Housing. The committee has an oversight function in this regard.”

    Obasa told members: “I have made it known to the commissioner that it is right for him to seek audience with the committee whenever amendment is to be made. What they have given in the letter is not enough for us to take a position.”

    The Deputy Speaker Kolawole Taiwo, however, urged members to restrict the house to the loan aspect, saying “our major concern should be the loan. This has always been the conflict every year.”

    Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji mandated the Committees on Budget and Lands and Housing to investigate the matter and report to the House next Monday.

     

  • NGF crisis: Jang faults Fashola’s suit

    Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang, claiming to have won the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) chairmanship election, has faulted the suit filed by Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, challenging his claim.

    The Plateau governor is urging the Abuja High Court to dismiss it on the grounds that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear it. He added that the suit is frivolous and that the plaintiff lacks the right to sue.

    Jang’s position is contained in the notice of preliminary objection and statement of defence filed at the weekend on his behalf and Osaro Onaiwu (named as the third defendant).

    Fashola is seeking, among others, an order restraining Jang from parading himself as NGF Chairman and an order restraining Onaiwu from acting as the forum’s Sole Administrator on the grounds that Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amechi was validly re-elected as the forum’s Chairman.

    Named as defendants are: Jang, Asissana Bayo Okauru (NGF’s Director-General), Onaiwu and the forum’s Registered Trustees.

    Jang and Onaiwu, in their preliminary objection, urged the court to strike out the suit because Fashola lacked the locus standi to file it.

    They also raised other grounds, including the following:

    •A writ of summons was not issued, in accordance with procedural due process.

    •The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory lacks jurisdiction to entertain the plaintiff’s claims.

    The defendants also argued that even if the plaintiff has locus standi, the issues raised in the suit are not justiceable “as they relate to a mere dispute as to political dignity”.

    In challenging Fashola’s right to institute the suit, Jang and Onaiwu argued that since the Lagos governor did not claim to have contested the election for the NGF, he lacks the legal right to institute or sustain the action.

    They argued that Amaechi, who Fashola claimed won the election, has not complained that his mandate has been usurped, and was equally not named a party to the suit.

    Arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction, the duo contended that any dispute within the NGF cannot be taken to an Abuja High Court by virtue of Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which stipulates that disputes should be resolved at the Federal High Court.

    They contended that only the Supreme Court has the sole jurisdiction to adjudicate over disputes between state governments or state governments and Federal Government.

    The defendants said the way the suit is couched – the Governor, Lagos State versus the Governor, Plateau State and others – gives the impression of a dispute between Lagos and Plateau states, which automatically strips every court of jurisdiction, except the apex court, of the power to hear it.

  • Soyinka faults Alamieyeseigha’s pardon

    Soyinka faults Alamieyeseigha’s pardon

    Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka yesterday sided with opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan’s pardon granted former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

    The Nigerian Bar Association described the action as a moral burden for the president.

    Soyinka said government is justifying the unjustifiable.

    He said he had joined the “ignorant Nigerians” who condemn the pardon.

    Prof. Soyinka spoke on Ghost Missions on the gravy train in Lagos yesterday.

    Answering questions from reporters after inaugurating the NBA Web-Portal in Abuja, NBA President Okey Wali (SAN), said judging by the criticisms trailing the pardon to Alameyeiseigha, “it is clearly a bad signal”.

    “No doubt it is a moral issue. No doubt it is a bad signal put against the fight against corruption”, he said.

    Although he agreed that the president has the constitutional privilege to do so, Wali stressed the need to feel the pulse of the public before taking sensitive decisions.

    “Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) gives the president the power in consultation with Council of State, so does Section 202 give the states governors the power in consultation with State Advisory Council on prerogative of mercy.

    “Unless we knew what the council knew in respect of that decision, we can’t say much on that. But ask me as a lawyer, I will tell you that it is the constitutional privilege of the president. Whether he has exercised the power correctly or not, is a moral question on him.

    According to the NBA boss, all over the world, the issue of pardon has never been a popular act of any president.

    Replying to a question, he said:

    “I’m not going to ridicule the NBA. I won’t issue any ultimatum because if I do and the president failed to obey, I would have no right of legal action”.

    Urging the president to keep to his promise before the partial withdrawal of fuel subsidy, Wali said “it is not enough to say subsidy must go”, as Nigerians must be convinced and believe in the government.

    The NBA boss said the association would join coordinated actions by civil society groups to resist the unpopular policy if government insisted.

    The commissioned portal contains the list of lawyers called to the bar as registered in the Supreme Court from the time the late George Baptist Ayodola Coker was called to the bar in 1847.

    Wali said this would help the association to fight quackery in the profession.

    Also reacting to the president’s insistence on complete fuel subsidy withdrawal, the association asked Jonathan to account for what he has achieved with the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

    Soyinka also reacted to government’s clarifications on the budgetary allocations for the First ladies Mission mansion in Abuja saying “when did the private interests of the rulers’ wives become an international obligation?”

    He noted that even if the late former Head of Gen. Sani Abacha’s First Lady presumed to act for Nigeria, “how does this commit a democratic government to the presumptuousness of the mere appendage of the head of a member state?”

    Soyinka said though first ladies have the same right as all citizens to leave a legacy behind, they must work hard to source their funds where the rest of the world does, not dip their hands into public funds.

    He also decried the role ministers have played in elevating the culture of grovelling sycophancy to the status of governance virtue, which he said, has contributed in no small measure to the abuse of constitutional provisions and irresponsible budgetary attributions.

    “Instead of remaining a dark, embarrassing secret, it is confidently aired on international media such as the Voice of America, turning this nation into a space of ridicule and self-inflicted disdain. It is not all sycophancy however, it is projects! Projects with minimal overseeing and accounting, gravy trains with adept practitioners at the controls,” he added.

  • Capital Oil faults bank on judgment

    Capital Oil faults bank on judgment

    Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited yesterday faulted Access Bank Plc’s claim that it was not affected by a Federal High Court judgment voiding its indictment by the Report of the Presidential Committee on the Verification and Reconciliation of Oil Subsidy Payments.

    The bank refused to be drawn into any war of words with the companylast night.

    Contacted , Access Bank’s Company Secretary, Sunday Ekwochi, said the bank will “not dignify this statement (if true) with a response.”

    Capital Oil, in a statement, said the bank was misleading the public on the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which voided the report of the Presidential Committee headed by the Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.

    In the statement by the company’s spokesperson, Mr. Nick Hayes, it expressed shock “over the media theatrics engaged in by the bank over the matter.”

    The company said: “We wish to state that the Judgment delivered by Hon. Justice Aneke, quashed the Report of the Presidential Committee on the Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments, which had earlier indicted Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited and its Managing Director, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah.

    “The attempt by Access Bank to disclaim the judgment is futile.Firstly, it should be noted that the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede is the Managing Director of Access Bank Plc. Access Bank Head Office was also used by the Presidential Committee for all its sittings.

    “The Petition against Capital Oil and Gas Industries Ltd and its Managing Director, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah to the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian Police Force was signed by Access Bank’s Compliance Manager, Mr. Patterson Boligha, who was not a member of the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments.

    But Access Bank had in a statement last Tuesday said it will continue to furnish relevant regulatory authorities with updates on the status of its recovery actions. It was also determined will fulfil its obligation to its depositors and shareholders regarding the recovery of debts due from Patrick Ifeanyi Uba and Capital Oil and Gas Limited.

    The Bank said that it remained confident of the overwhelming success of the recovery actions it had initiated against Uba and Capital Oil and Gas Limited.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the bank confirms that the recovery actions it embarked upon against Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah and Capital Oil and Gas have not been in any form or substance affected nor prejudiced by the proceedings or judgments of the Honourable Court,”it stressed,adding: “The honourable court in its considered judgment of Monday February 19, 2013 did not make any declaration nor grant any perpetual or interlocutory injunction against the bank in favour of the plaintiff or any other party in the proceedings.”

    The bank said its attention had been drawn to news media reports and text messages purporting that a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos presided over by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on Monday February 19, 2013 gave judgment against Access Bank and three others in Suit No FHC/L/CS/07/13 involving Capital Oil and Gas Ltd and Patrick Ifeanyi Uba.

    It said: “The massive SMS campaign has triggered enquiries from our stakeholders regarding the status of our ongoing debt recovery actions against Patrick Ifeanyi Uba and Capital Oil and Gas Limited.”

  • $67b reserves: Fani-Kayode faults Presidency

    $67b reserves: Fani-Kayode faults Presidency

    A former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has faulted the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, for allegedly trying to run down ministers who served in the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    He said the attack on ex-ministers is one of the signs of weak governments.

    He insisted that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan should account for how it spent the controversial $67billion inherited from ex-President Obasanjo.

    Fani-Kayode, who issued a statement in Abuja , accused Abati of peddling malicious lies.

    The Minister was reacting to an article written by Abati titled ‘The Hypocrisy of Yesterday’s Men’’ published in some Nigerian dailies.

    The ex-Minister said: “Abati “sought to ridicule and demean those of us that served President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government and that are not very impressed with the performance of his boss.”

    “The essay written by Abati was nothing but the usual smear campaign and a crude attempt to intimidate, which has been the hallmark of this Government whenever they are faced with even the mildest form of criticism.

    “The fact that we asked President Goodluck Jonathan to account for the $67 billion that he squandered from our foreign reserves has clearly upset him.

    “We dared to ask about the money and so, we were singled out and targeted for a tongue-lashing and a long lecture from the Presidency. Yet we remain undeterred.

    “This is how weak governments that have nothing to offer and something to hide always behave. They come after their perceived enemies with full force and they are petty and over-sensitive.

    He said it was wrong of Abati to conclude that he shut down Port-Harcourt International Airport for two years as the nation’s Minister of Aviation.

    “Abati said “When one of them was in charge of this same estate called Nigeria, he shut down the Port Harcourt airport and other airports for close to two years under the guise of renovation…,”

    “Abati indulged in with a response other than to say that he told a shameless and pernicious lie when he wrote that as Minister of Aviation, I ‘shut down Port

    Harcourt Airport for two years’ and ‘allowed grass to grow all over it.’

    “This is false. It is a classic case of disinformation coming from a man that is

    obviously suffering from a very low self-esteem.

    “It is clear that Abati, who

    is a journalist, has forgotten the most important tenet of his

    profession which is that ‘facts are sacred and opinion is cheap.’

    “Ordinarily, one would have ignored his bitter rant, but it is important that I set the record straight for the sake of posterity,” Fani-Kayode declared.

    Fani- Kayode added: “Port Harcourt International Airport was closed on December 10, 2005, after the Sossolisso Air crash in which 100 people were killed. The crash affected the runway of the airport very badly and consequently, the then Minister of

    Aviation, Professor Babalola Borishade closed it.

    “I was redeployed from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to the Ministry of Aviation in November 2006. This was 11 months after the Sossolisso crash took place and that Port Harcourt Airport had been closed.

    “It is clear from the foregoing that I was not the one that shut down Port Harcourt Airport. When I took over at Aviation, my priority was to carry out all the necessary repairs at Port Harcourt Airport and to open it as quickly as possible.

    “I was saddened to discover that in the previous 11 months before I got there, nothing had been done and the contract to repair the runway had not even been awarded.

    “Consequently, within a month of my being appointed Minister of Aviation, we set to work and awarded the contract to Julius Berger at the cost of N3billion. 50 per cent of the money was paid upfront and Julius Berger set to work immediately. The runway was fully completed and the airport in pristine condition before I left office on May 29, 2007, just six months after I awarded the contract.

    “However, despite this, the airport could not be opened before we left because the runway lighting system was still in the process of being installed. The Yar’Adua government went ahead and opened the airport a few months after we left office even though the runway lights had still not been installed.

    “The record shows that from the day that I was appointed Minister of Aviation and the time that our mandate ran out seven months later, my staff at the Ministry and Julius Berger, worked night and day on the runway project at Port Harcourt International Airport in order to ensure that we finished it in record time.

    “And this we managed to do. It was my project. I sourced the money for it, I paid for it, I forced the contractor to move fast on it and I finished it. The fact that the Yar’Adua administration did not complete the lighting system and open the airport for another few months after we left office, even though the runway was ready, is for them to explain and not for me.

    “Even though nothing was done at that airport for 11 months before I got to

    Aviation, once I was appointed, we swung into action immediately.

    “I repeat that it was under my watch that work commenced, that it was rebuilt, that it was completed and that it was fully restored and after that, the airport was ready to be fully utilized.

    “Given these facts, how Abati can peddle the lie that I was the one that not only closed the airport, but that I also kept it shut for two years, did nothing there, caused it to remain idle and allowed grass to grow all over it honestly baffles me.”

    With what Abati wrote, he said he could not come to any other conclusion “rather than the fact that Reuben Abati is a liar.”

    He added: “And not only is he a liar, that he is also a malicious liar. I have known him for many, many years. I never knew that serial lying is one of the things that are his hobbies.

    “And the fact that he can lie whilst he is Spokesman to the President of the

    Federal Republic of Nigeria, may also be a reflection of the kind of government that we have in this country.”

  • Orji’s aide faults Kalu on 2015 presidential posters

    Abia State Governor’s Chief Press Secretary Ugochukwu Emezue has faulted the allegation by former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu that Governor Theodore Orji is planning the printing and pasting of Kalu’s presidential posters.

    In a statement in Umuahia, the state capital, Emezue said the government cannot waste its scarce resources to print the posters of a former governor, who he said had nothing to show for his eight years in power.

    The governor’s spokesman was reacting to an allegation that Orji was allegedly planning to cause trouble between the former governor and the government at the federal level.

    He said Kalu’s “antics” are well known to Nigerians.

    Emezue said the former governor is a desperate man who is capable of doing anything to seek relevance and sympathy.

    The governor’s aide urged Abia residents and Nigerians to ignore the former governor.

    Emezue alleged that Kalu spent Abia money on frivolities, adding that he is being intimidated by Orji’s achievements, which shows his desperation to distract the governor.

    He said the former governor cannot come into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after allegedly destroying it through the window.

    The governor’s spokesman urged Kalu to clear allegations of corruption against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a judicial panel of enquiry, if he wishes to be taken seriously.

  • Ex-CJN Musdapher faults judiciary’s self regulation

    Ex-CJN Musdapher faults judiciary’s self regulation

    The former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher has faulted self regulation in the Jdiciary.

    He advocated the creation of an independent body to be given the responsibility of ensuring probity and punishing unethical conduct among judges and lawyers. He said such body should have retired judges and non-judicial persons with proven integrity.

    Justice Musdapher argued that the National Judicial Council (NJC) currently saddled with such responsibility has performed inadequately.

    The ex-CJN, who expressed worry about the nation’s future, regretted that the country currently possesses all indices that qualify it as a failing state. He lamented the prevailing trend of violence, corruption and nepotism among Nigerians.

    He argued that the frightening dimension of insecurity, corruption, disunity among Nigerians and the inability of excising public institutions to effectively perform their roles combine to heighten public fears about the nation’s future.

    The retired jurist argued that the acceptance of the concept of rotational presidency, which places ethnicity and tribalism above competence in the choice of the nation’s leadership, was a reflection of the fact that the country has drifted from the path of unity.

    He argued that pervasive corruption and nepotism have adversely affected the Judiciary and the media, thus robbing both sectors of public acceptance and confidence. He called for a joint effort of the media and Judiciary to help reverse the current unenviable socio-political trend.

    The former CJN spoke at an event in Lagos where businessman and publisher, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, Mr. Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN) and Anthony Idigbe (SAN) sought a paradigm shift in media and judicial practices in the country.

    The event was the second anniversary lecture of the National Mirror. Justice Musdapher ‘s paper was titled: “Media and the Judiciary: A necessary symbiotic.”

    The event also witnessed the presentation of a book titled “For Law and for country”, a compilation of interviews of law personalities published in National Mirror in the last two years. The 337-page book was reviewed by former Edo State Commissioner for Information Louis Odion.

    Justice Musdapher said: “Please consider that thoroughly investigating petitions and allegations of impropriety against judicial officers as well as contraventions of the judicial code of conduct is too cumbersome for the NJC when viewed against the other responsibilities of the council.

    “Besides, an independent institution with adequate statutory safeguard s may be better positioned to deal with the issues of discipline and removal as opposed to an institution that is largely managed by those it is supposed to regulate.

    “I strongly believe that the creation of such an institution is the only way to properly focus on the problem of judicial corruption in Nigeria as it has been adopted in several common law jurisdiction,” he said.

    The former Chief Justice of Nigeria lamented the level of corruption in the Judiciary and regretted the negative effect the dispute between his predecessor, Aloysious Katsina-Alu and suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami had on the reputation of the Judiciary.

    “More than ever before in the history of Nigeria, the scourge of terrorism poses great challenge to the Nigerian state. Our slide into anarchy has assumed dangerous dimensions, perhaps beyond the capacity of our security agencies to deal with effectively.

    “Boko Haram insurgency, political violence, corruption, nepotism, tribalism, indiscipline, abductions and kidnapping, armed robbery, murder and extortion; bombing of places of worship and innocent Nigerians are killed are all indicators of a failing state.

    Ibrahim agreed with the retired jurist that the nation was on a precipice. While urging the media to ensure that its reports were balance and accurate, he said the judiciary should engage in self reassessment. “I am very, very worried. I pray that God will help us.”

    He expressed displeasure about cases of abuse of ex-parte injunctions by judges. He urged judges to be always aware that their decisions impact on the general society.

    Also in attendance were representatives of Lagos, Osun, Katsina, Kano, Ogun, Ekiti and Akwa-Ibom states. They include: Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos, Lateef Ibirogba, Information Commissioner Ogun State, Yusuf Olaniyonu, representative of Kano State Governor, Malam T. Wada and Salisu Ruma, Special Adviser to Katsina State Governor.

    Others include Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Funminiyi Afuye; Mr. Adeleke Ipaye, who represented Osun State and Commissioner of Economic Development, Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Sunny Nyang.