The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Goodluck Jonathan

  • Foreign airlines may operate flights during strike

    There are  indications that foreign airlines operating into the country may not  be adversely affected over the  planned shutting of the Nigerian airspace by aviation unions during the proposed strike over agitation for National Minimum Wage.

    Investigations by The Nation revealed that in line with the terms of bilateral air services agreement, Nigeria signed with other countries, foreign carriers are not supposed to be affected by such development.

    This is coming as  aviation unions said on Monday that  domestic operators and other business organizations in the industry  would be affected by the action.

    The union said its affiliate members of labour centres have been communicated to  comply with the  directives.

    Speaking with our correspondent on phone, Comrade Illitrus Ahmadu, President of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) said aviation   unions would obey the directive of the labour centres and shut down the airspace.

    He, however, said  industry unions were not unmindful of existing Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) arrangements Nigeria had with foreign countries whose airlines operate into the country, stressing that the issue at hand was a domestic one, which should not be allowed to affect international airlines.

    He said  during the fuel pump price hike of January 2012, the unions allowed international airline operators to reschedule their flights from 6am to 6pm,

    Ahmadu  unions  allowed international carriers to operate into the country in the past because some Nigerians caught in the web  travelled into the country for holidays and needed to return to their respective countries to resume work, even as  some were equally travelling for  scheduled medical appointment.

    He said: “The fact is that we are affiliated to labour centres and we are under obligation to comply with directives. So, from the strike notice issued so far, we are to shut down by mid-night of today. However, as we speak, the tripartite discussions have resumed; they are in a meeting and our hope is that something good will come out of the meeting so that we will no longer embark on the strike.

    “You know, we are in a very volatile industry. This is our own national problem; we have several bilateral agreements with most foreign nations that their airlines fly into Nigeria. It is our domestic problem. We should not allow it to adversely affect the fortunes of the international operators. We have offered a corridor where we will accommodate them. The major shut down we have had in this industry so far was during the price hike of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Read Also: Airlines to save 37% cost with newer aircraft

    “You will recall then that in line with our respect for international obligations, we allowed a dispensation wherein the foreign airlines were advised to reschedule their schedules so that they can fly in within 6pm and 6am the following day. We are looking at that.

    “We hope the discussions will go on well so that we will not have to go with the plan. We empathize with the industry; however, they must see where we stand that we are under obligations to comply with the directives of trade centres. We are monitoring, waiting and as soon as information comes, we will issue appropriate notices if there is a change of direction as regards area of notice.

    “We should be able to reconcile our problem without adversely affecting the international carriers that we have BASAs with. We wish we could extend the same dispensation to the local industry, however, we have sat down in the past and we have argued this out.”

  • N2.1b laundering: Direct your probe at Dasuki, Jonathan – Dokpesi

    *Queries EFCC’s failure to question ex-President.
    *Court to rule Nov 12

     

    Businessman, Raymond Dokpesi has faulted the money laundering charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Dokpesi queried the exclusion of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan from EFCC’s probe of the allegation that he (Dokpesi) and his firm, Daar Investment and Holdings Company Limited were involved in the laundering of N2.1billion.

    The businessman, who is being tried with his firm, before the Federal High Court, Abuja also wondered why they were being prosecuted instead of the ex-National Security Adviser (NSA), Mohammed Dasuki, who is alleged to have laundered the money.

    Dokpesi’s argument is contained in a no-case submission adopted on Friday by his lawyer, Kanu Agabi (SAN).

    The case against Dokpesi and his firm, includes that they allegedly received N2.1b from the office of the National Security Adviser, under Sambo Dasuki, as payment for a “purported contract on presidential media initiative”.

    They are also accused of receiving the N2.1b from ONSA to prosecute the 2015 presidential media campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Adopting the no-case submission on Friday, Agabi, an ex-Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), argued that the prosecution’s case against his clients and evidence led so far are replete with contradictions and inconsistencies.

    Agabi argued that the prosecution failed to call vital witnesses such as Dasuki or former President Goodluck Jonathan whom he said his Dokpesi implicated in his statement.

    The ex-AGF said, “The money was paid by Col. Dasuki. His name is mentioned in the four counts of money laundering as the one who made the payment.

    “Therefore he is the one alleged to be laundering the funds. The money in counts one to four is not being laundered by the defendant. The launderer is Col. Dasuki.

    “So, if the launderer is Col. Dasuki, are we going to convict him behind him? We cannot convict him behind him.

    “Why is he not charged? His name is mentioned again and again in the charges.

    “Even if they are not going to charge him, they should have called him as a witness because it is his action that is in question here,” Agabi said

    ‎He equally noted that despite that Dokpesi implicated former President Jonathan, the anti-graft agency failed to interview him or call him as a witness.

    He said, “The 1st defendant (Dokpesi) in his statement implicated the former President. Witnesses testified that they did not interview the former President

    “The rules of the court is that once the statement of the defendant (Dokpesi’s statement) is tendered by the prosecution it becomes the case of the prosecution,” Agabi said.

    He argued that the prosecution failed to disclose ingredients of money laundering in count one to four.

    He contended that, for a transaction to constitute a money laundering offence, the money involved must be proceeds of crime.

    Agabi noted that, in the instant case, the money in the ONSA’s account with the Central Bank of Nigeria, from which his clients were paid, could not have been proceeds of crime.

    He argued that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against his clients to warrant their being called upon to enter defence.

    He argued that the charges were defective as they allegedly failed to disclose the ingredients of money laundering against his clients and were “riddled with inconsistencies from the head to the toes.”

    Agabi urged the court to dismiss the charge and discharge and acquit his clients.

    Responding, prosecuting lawyer, Oluwaleke Atolagbe urged the court to dismiss the no-case submission and order the defendants to enter their defence to the prosecution’s case.

    Atolagbe contended that the defendants’ submission, to the effect that Dokpesi should be held to account for any money laundering charge, was an admission that they committed the alleged crimes.

    Read Also: APC lambasts Ikpeazu’s car gifts to LG chairmen, Monarchs

    He argued that all the ingredients of the alleged offences were proved by the prosecution and all the necessary witnesses needed to prove the case were called.

    Atolagbe said the defence’s line of argument involving Dasuki’s roles was an admission that they committed the alleged crimes.

    He said for instance, the former Director of Finance and Administration of ONSA, Salisu Shuaibu, was called as the second prosecution witness.

    He noted that even though the charges before the case were not against Dasuki, the allegations of breach of trust, misappropriation and corruption leveled against the former NSA had been proved with the various witnesses called in the case.

    ‎Atolagbe added: “They said prosecution must prove breach of trust against Col. Dasuki. Even if that must be an element of the offence of money laundering, the evidence is enough to prove it

    “PW2 (Shuaibu) gave a very elaborate evidence of how he was instructed to just make payments without contract or any relationship.

    “Dasuki is not standing trial here. We don’t need to prove charge against Col. Dasuki here. He is being tried in another court. Even if that is what is required, we have proven it.

    “This is also an admission on their part that there is money laundering, so they should enter their defence.”

    Atolagbe faulted Agabi’s claim that the prosecution’s evidence was riddled with contradictions and inconsistencies in the charges.
    He said: “That cannot also stand, because money obtained in violation of Public Procurement Act, as admitted by the defendant, certainly cannot be legitimate.”

    Atolagbe asked the court “to direct the defendants to enter their defence” or enable them call witnesses, such as Dasuki and Jonathan, that they argued the prosecution failed to call.

    Trial judge, Justice John Tsoho adjourned to November 12 for ruling.

  • PDP stakeholders accuse Jonathan, Turnah, others of anti-party activities

    Stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  under the auspices of the Ogbia PDP Renaissance (OPR) has accused some leaders of Ogbia Local Government Area including former President Goodluck Jonathan of working against the interest of the party ahead of the 2019 general elections.
    The stakeholders specifically accused a prominent traditional ruler, King A.J Turner and the lawmaker representing Ogbia Constituency 1 in the state House of Assembly, Mietama Obodor of anti-party activities.
    The Chairman of the group, Obhioru Mitanoni, in a statement on Friday said that Turner and Obodor were sponsoring candidates in other political parties to challenge PDP candidates.
    Mitanoni said following failures of their preferred aspirants to emerge victorious in the just-concluded PDP primaries, Turner and Obordor allegedly purchased nomination forms in other political parties for them.
    He further alleged that the Chairman of the State Environmental Sanitation Authority, Chief Robert Enogha and former Special Adviser to the  Managing Director of the NDDC, George Turnah, were also involved in anti-party.
    He claimed that Turnah, who lost in his bid to clinch the PDP ticket for Ogbia Federal Constituency was backing one Cleric Awudum for the Ogbia Constituency 2 seat in the State Assembly.
    The statement said: “We are raising this alarm because of the emerging political development in Ogbia kingdom which is very disturbing. We want everyone to know that some people who call themselves leaders are working against our collective interest as a party.
    “We want our people to know that the likes of King A.J Turner, Hon. Mieteme Obodo, Chief Robert Enogha Ayalla and Barr. George Turnah are all guilty of anti-party activities. These men bought forms for those who lost the PDP primaries to go to other parties to contest against our candidates.
    “We are aware that for George Turnah the man he is sponsoring Cleric Awudum in Accord Party has not even resigned his appointment in the Niger Delta University. Everything is being done to ensure he wins the Ogbia constituency two seat. But we are ready for them”.
    Mitanoni lambasted Jonathan for failing to call some of the leaders, who are his known allies, to order, adding that the ex-president was promoting political divisions in Ogbia.
    He said Jonathan was the one who encouraged Chief Nimi Barigha-Amange to contest the Bayelsa East senatorial seat on the plattform of the ADC, having lost the PDP ticket to Blessing Ipigansin.
    He wondered why the former President  would conspire against a party that brought him to the limelight.
    He said the group decided to make a public statement and put the leadership of the party on notice to prevail on leaders to retrace their steps.
    He described the leaders as disgruntled and blamed them for the gross underdevelopment of Ogbia.

  • Nigeria, James and the future

    Nigeria, I Prophesy is a book which title attracts, especially those who believe in prophesies and the spiritual world. Written under the pseudonym I Am James, it is a book that is bound to attract lots of attention and interests among readers. As it is with issue of prophesies people are bound to agree or disagree with the writer in the manner in which he put his case (prophesies) about Nigeria across.

    In riveting over two hundred pages, James who claims to have had long meetings with those he refers to as “Guardian Angels”, tells of how many things about the country were revealed to him. For instance, in the chapter entitled ‘Buhari, Jonathan and a coup plotted in the spirit world’, he narrates his fear over the 2015 general elections before it was held. According to him, during all the cliff-hanger situation in which the country was embroiled in at the height of the collation of results for the presidential poll, he was busy communing with the ‘guardian angels’ to intercede to avert the crisis that he had foreseeing if things go awry.

    He writes, “I soared in Spirit and was able to view the source of the demonic attack to which the whole country was subjected. I also saw that the aim was to unleash mayhem, shed blood of thousands of people that would die in the violence to ensue. To dissipate the dark clouds that had engulfed the whole country, I reached out to the Guardian Angels, the Lords, and other Messengers of the Holy Spirit in the Spirit Realms. Grace was sought and granted.”

    The 2015 election crisis was averted and the country was saved the cataclysmic experience that would have followed if former President Goodluck Jonathan had refused to concede defeat to then candidate Muhammadu Buhari. And with the recent revelations by the Gen Abdulsalami committee about what transpired behind the scenes and what led to the decision the country was saved.

    James did not in any way claim infallibility in his prophesies, as he writes “No one can see all of the future; you only see some high points.” Perhaps this may help readers to situate some of his prophesies about the country and its leadership. In writing about the what the administration of President Buhari would usher in for the country, a dispassionate reader would likely pinch himself and ask whether all the things listed to be achieved by the administration were meant to be done during the first term that is gradually inching to an end or what would be done at his second coming (that is if he wins the 2019 election)!

    Does James possess the power of prescient? An answer to this is perhaps found in these words, “Most of those who clamoured for change and worked assiduously to bring the political change about will be victims of their own design. They will fall short of the spirit of newness that the people and the Lords demand and decree. The high and mighty will fall. The otherwise holy men and women will fall. The wise will fail themselves and their emptiness would be the sources of stand-up comedy. Their stories will be told in every home in Nigeria and abroad for a long time, as classic examples of human tragedy.” Haven’t many fallen? Remember the NYSC certificate forgery and none participation in the scheme that two ministers have been embroiled in?

    The treatises spelt out in this book are many and the future of Nigeria that he paints is rosy and beggars belief of the cynic. But whether you agree with his views and what he sees as the country’s prospect is another thing. It is a book recommended for both optimists and cynics alike to have a glimpse into the mind of the writer and the future he thinks the country is heading for.

    But this book would not find a friend in those in the academia because the rosy future he paints are not backed by any scientific data but with some spiritual beliefs!!!

    It is available for sale on online platforms both at home and abroad.  Happy reading.

  • Politics of peace

    HOW a discredited former president, Goodluck Jonathan, promoted peace has been highlighted again as an enduring lesson for political players in this political season. Though the story has been told in various forms since 2015 when Jonathan conceded defeat to then-challenger Muhammadu Buhari, it has now been retold in a more clarifying form.

    Jonathan shouldn’t have lost the presidential election if he hadn’t lost his sense of reality.  He underrated the response of the electorate to bad governance. The wave of change under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) exposed how mind-boggling corruption corrupted the Jonathan administration. Jonathan’s 60th birthday last year was a time to think about the power of performance and the powerlessness of non-performance.  In the final analysis, democratic leaders are expected to pass or fail based on their performance and the evaluation of the electorate.

    Three years after Buhari’s historic victory in the 2015 presidential election, the National Peace Committee, on September 25, released an illuminating report titled “2015 General Elections: The Untold Story.”  The main point of the report is that the committee did not pressure Jonathan to concede defeat.

    According to the report, the committee had, in the evening of March 31, 2015, requested an audience with Jonathan at the Villa. The report said: “As it awaited confirmation for the meeting with the president, the committee chairman, General Abubakar, also put a call through to General Buhari, who informed him that President Jonathan had only minutes earlier called to concede the elections. He particularly asked the committee to please convey his good wishes to President Jonathan for his great act of statesmanship. Shortly after that, members of the committee, who were greatly relieved, headed to the Villa where they met privately with President Jonathan and thanked him for his great courage.”

    The report explained: “At this point, the Buhari Campaign team were yet to address the press on the historic development and as such, many Nigerians got the news of the concession from General Abubakar’s brief media scrum with State House Correspondents, which perhaps helps create the wrong, but widespread impression that the committee sat with President Jonathan at the Villa as the results came in and had directly prevailed on him to concede.”

    It is noteworthy that Buhari had also painted a picture of what happened.  He told State House correspondents during the activities marking his first anniversary as president in May 2016 that he was shocked when Jonathan conceded defeat so easily after the March 2015 presidential election.

    Buhari had said: “This is where I pay my respect to former President Goodluck Jonathan. This is actually privileged information for you. He called me at a quarter-past-five in the evening. He said, ‘Good evening, Your Excellency, sir’ and I said, ‘Good evening.’ He said, ‘I have called to congratulate you that I have conceded defeat.’ Of course, there was dead silence on my end because I did not expect it. I was shocked. I did not expect it because after 16 years; the man was a deputy governor, governor, vice-president and was president for six years. For him to have conceded defeat even before the result was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, I think it was quite generous and gracious of him. Gen. Abdulsalami recognised the generosity of Jonathan to concede defeat and said we should go and thank him immediately and that was the first time I came here.”

    The 51-page report also drew attention to another significant happening that puts Jonathan in a good light.  The report said: “A meeting with Jonathan was held at the Aso Rock Villa in the afternoon of Wednesday, March 25, 2015. At the meeting, he (Jonathan) raised some issues concerning the state of the nation, the threat of violence by the opposition (APC) based on allegations that he (Jonathan) and his party were planning to rig the elections. He (Jonathan) noted that he took very seriously the threat by leading members of the opposition to form a parallel government in the event that they didn’t win the elections, but that he chose not to react to such apparent treasonable acts in the interest of peace.”

    It is unclear why the committee released its report at this time, three years after the event.  But, ironically, it is a timely release. With the 2019 general election within view, the report is food for thought. By conceding defeat, Jonathan demonstrated a desirable spirit of sportsmanship. The report is a reminder that he could have chosen another path, with consequences for the polity.

    When Jonathan was honoured with an award, 2015 International Person of the Year, by African Sun Times, his critics trivialised the recognition.  Jonathan had said: “We proved that nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian or any national of any country for that matter. That, to me, is a most worthy testimonial of the character of the Nigeria nation and the resilience of our people, which is why I dedicate the honour to them.”

    Politicians need to understand that politics is a stage and players will have their exits and their entrances. Whether they are exiting or entering, politicians must do so with a sense of what is sensible.

    It is commendable that the National Peace Committee has re-energised its efforts. It is a reflection of the political situation that General Abubakar told journalists  after the committee met  with the Independent National Electoral Commission chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, and the heads of security agencies in the country: “As you are all aware, we are approaching 2019 general elections and already you are very much aware of how politics has been heated as a result of which we decided to stop at nothing to ensure that there is peace in the country and that the politicians play by the rules of the game and also that security agencies and the INEC play their roles accordingly.”

    It remains to be seen whether the 2019 general election will be conducted peacefully; whether politicians understand that victory or defeat is not as important as peace.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Nigeria’s self-styled Macron wants to win power by ending corruption

    First there were the Brics. After coining that acronym in 2001, Jim O’Neill, then chief economist at Goldman Sachs, came up with the “Next Eleven” two years later, identifying 11 economies capable of joining the Brics as the world’s fastest-growing. Fidelity Investments developed this further when, in 2011, it identified the Mint economies, which it said could prove as rewarding for investors over the next decade as the Brics had been in the previous decade.

    The Mints — Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey — have not kept that promise. Indonesia probably has been the most reliable, its economy growing at just under 5 per cent or more in every year since 2011. Turkey and Mexico have delivered variable growth. The worst of the four and the biggest disappointment by far has been Nigeria, which slid into recession in 2016, going on to achieve GDP growth of only 0.8 per cent last year.

    Yet Nigeria boasts vast resources and huge potential. It is the world’s seventh most populous nation and by the middle of the century the United Nations expects it to be the third largest, with its population doubling from the present 200 million. Moreover, that population is urbanising rapidly, with Lagos projected to become the world’s biggest city by population by 2100.

    As well as one of the world’s youngest and fastest-growing populations, Nigeria enjoys vast natural resources, most obviously oil and gas. It owns 2.2 per cent of proven global oil reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, while accounting for 1.3 per cent of global natural gas production. It also boasts generous gold, lead, zinc, coal and uranium reserves.

    Why, then, does Nigeria’s economy underperform so dramatically? The most obvious answer is corruption. Nigeria is ranked 148th out of 180 in the latest corruption perceptions index published by Transparency International. Corruption and poverty go hand-in-hand, poverty is still rising and so is the jobless rate, because GDP growth is not keeping pace with population growth.

    All this will be keenly debated in Nigeria’s presidential election, due in February next year, in which the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari, will be standing. So, too, will be Atiku Abubakar, one of the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party, the party of former presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo, under whom Mr Abubakar served as vice president.

    The most intriguing candidate is Kingsley Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and candidate of the Young Progressive Party. A lawyer who worked for the United Nations for 17 years and who was educated in Nigeria, the United States and Britain (he has a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics), Mr Moghalu presents himself as a thoroughly modern presidential candidate in the mould of Emmanuel Macron.

    Last week, while on a visit to the UK, he said: “One of the major things I am going to do is move away from dependence on oil and move the economy towards innovation. We will have to look very seriously at the philosophical foundations that drive successful capitalist economies, make sure that there’s property rights, make sure that there’s innovation, make sure that there is capital. I shall be introducing a major venture capital fund that is going to fund small businesses and stimulate the economy.”

    Mr Moghalu’s policy prescription also includes more infrastructure investment. He accepts that while Nigeria has benefited from the process of “leapfrogging”, where a lack of landlines has encouraged rapid take-up of mobile technology and a lack of established electricity grids has enabled the rapid adoption of off-grid solar power, that can go only so far: “Nigeria, in particular, has a very high level of mobile phone technology and that’s a good thing, but I don’t think you can apply leapfrogging to every aspect of development. I still think Nigeria needs an industrial base. You can’t go into a post-industrial society, as some people recommend, without having been an industrial society.”

    The would-be president also has controversial views on Chinese investment in Africa. He says that many African nations have not benefited as they should have done, arguing that a lot of the continent’s leaders have lacked the “intellectual soundness” to drive a harder bargain with the Chinese. He argues it has exacerbated debt traps around Africa and increased dependency on foreign loans. Two thirds of taxes raised in Nigeria go on servicing its debts.

    Another key policy of Mr Moghalu is greater equality for women. He argues that Nigeria’s education and legal systems prevent too many women from reaching their potential and is promising a 50-50 gender balance in his ministerial appointments.

    But is Nigeria ready for a technocratic president? Mr Moghalu, who points to his work nation-building in Rwanda, Angola and the former Yugoslavia during his time at the UN, insists that it is. Pointing out that the country has become poorer since it became a democracy in 1999, he argued: “The people of Nigeria are tired of the old, recycled and corrupt political class, which President Buhari’s government represents.”

    Many will wish him luck. If this is to be the African century, the continent’s biggest country must fulfil its economic potential. If it does not and poverty continues to grow, the chances are that an increasing proportion of Nigeria’s growing population will head elsewhere, adding to the global migration crisis.

    .Ian King is the business presenter for Sky News.

  • Jonathan’s ally seeks Bayelsa Rep seat

    A political ally of former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Speaker in the old Rivers State House of Assembly, Chief Claudius Enegesi, is pushing to win the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for Ogbia Federal Constitueency.

    Enegesi, believed to be the favourite for the ticket, was on Saturday screened and cleared by the party in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Enegesi, a former member of the National Executive Committee of the PDP and pioneer Chairman of the party in Bayelsa, vowed to attract federal presence to Jonathan’s constituency.

    He said his top agenda would be the remediation of the Niger Delta environment if elected to represent the constituency.

    The former commissioner in three different ministries in the state said he was the most experienced aspirants for the position following his three-decade service in some of the highest levels of politics in the country.

    Read Also: I didn’t start vote-buying in Nigeria – Jonathan

    He said: “I have seen the devastation that oil has caused our land and up until now, this country has not given our people their dues even after bearing the brunt of environmental devastation due to oil exploration and exploitation.

    “I have a background in science. My focus when presenting bills would be how to leverage and ameliorate the plight of my people. There is kpo fire (illegal oil refineries) in my place and there is a high level of theft even by the security people.

    “If I am given the chance, I have the voice and I will cry out over the level of devastation currently going on in this area.”

    The politician who spoke at the PDP secretariat in Yenagoa, after undergoing screening, expressed optimism that the best and most qualified candidate would emerge eventually.

    “The chances are very bright. I am a former legislator who represented Ogbia constituency 1 under the National Republican Convention (NRC) where my colleagues found me worthy to become the Speaker.

    “After the creation of Bayelsa, I became the pioneer chairman of the PDP here and I saw to it that PDP was entrenched and it has been ruling the state.

    “I have garnered a lot of experience in the legislature, in business and even as a renowned administrator”,

    Aside the environment, he vowed to push for the establishment of an efficient transportation system in the region.

    “The transport system here is not developed. I am going to ensure that I present bills that will enhance the free movement of goods and services in this region” he added.

     

  • APGA blames Abia’s backwardness on PDP’s misrule

    Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has come down hard on the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state blaming the backwardness of the state on the party’s 20 years misrule.

    In a release titled “APGA access the living in Abia- console Abia citizens” and endorsed by Abia State chairman of the party, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere, APGA said that the heart of its members bleed daily for the continuous hardship the PDP-led government has brought on the people of the state.

    “Our heart bleeds daily for the continuous hardship, suffering and decay in the state which is making life miserable. It is both sad and shocking that after 20 years of democratic rule, Abia state is the only south-eastern state, perhaps in Nigeria as a whole that is worst in all aspects of developmental indices than it was before PDP took over political and economic control of the state”.

    Ehiemere enumerated some of the factors that have pulled the state in her present backwardness to include “Imposition of persons that lack leadership qualities as leaders, god-fatherism, refusal to allow people’s vote to count, insensitivity of politicians to the plight of citizens, civil service degradation, abysmal neglect of maintenance of basic amenities and rising corruption”.

    The APGA state chairman said whereas other states in the south east have extricated themselves from the monstrous god-fatherism, PDP in Abia state has retained it as tradition and style of governance, adding that the consequence is the persistent strangulation and draining of public fund to service the insatiable greed of the god-fathers and their agents.

    Read Also: Abia PDP chieftains defect to APGA

    “This trend has become more chronic under this regime. We do not know how we can describe a political party that for 20 years continue to plunder fund meant to develop the state and improve the living conditions of Ndi Abia and her residence.

    “We cannot see any justification for starving workers and pensioners for periods ranging from seven months to one year and some pensioners owed 18 months.

    “This starving of civil servants has impacted negatively and frustrated economic activities and families. The number of school dropouts is rising from time to time because their parents can no longer sustain them”.

    APGA said the government’s repeated excuses of shortage of allocation from the federation allocation were unacceptable as other states like Anambra which have similar experience in reduction of FAAC monthly allocation are doing very well.

    “States like Anambara that receives less allocation than Abia state pays their workers and pensioners on or before 28th of each month and also provide infrastructure for her people.

    “For clarity, the low receipt of FAAC allocation is as a result of reduction in revenue from oil, and other sources of income, and not by the arbitrary will of the president Buhari as most people are deceived by PDP to believe.

    “For example, the PDP regime of president Goodluck Jonathan got about $360 bill from oil sales between 2010 to 2014:while the present regime has got about $121 billion from May 2018 to August 2018. The low oil output notwithstanding president Buhari’s regime has not short changed any state”, APGA said.

    Ehiemere equally accused the State government of lack of maintenance culture which he said has forced all big and medium scale factories to collapse.

    The party chairman therefore urged the people of the state to do away with the party it said has deceived them for 20 years and vote in APGA in 2019 for a new lease of life for Abians.

  • I didn’t start vote-buying in Nigeria – Jonathan

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday denied the claims that he started massive vote-buying in the country.

    The Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, was quoted to have said that the unfortunate trend of vote buying started under former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    A statement by Ikechukwu Eze, who is the Media Adviser to Jonathan, entitled “Oshiomhole: The burden of blame game and tumultuous leadership”, said that the allegations were false and misleading.

    He said ‘Our attention has been drawn to a media report in which the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Mr. Adams Oshiomhole was alleged to have claimed that Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, started vote buying in Nigeria.

    “While featuring on a Channels Television programme, Roadmap, Oshiomhole was quoted to have said the following: “President Jonathan started this massive vote buying in Nigeria and the Media must play back and do proper interview and proper investigation to discover the origin of vote buying.”

    “We really do not know the real reason for this misleading falsehood, at this point in time. However, we can only guess that Mr. Oshiomhole who is currently operating under tremendous stress in the bid to steady the already floundering ship of his administration as the new leader of his party, may have got himself entangled in a voyage of tactless desperation.

    “His recent flip flops where he praised Governor Samuel Ortom and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso one day only to denounce them the very next day, is enough evidence of his fragile psychological state.

    “Not only is he content on squabbling with members of the opposition, we note the self-destructive tendencies of Oshiomhole who is locked in a feud with members of his own party including the minister of labour, Chris Ngige, and a host of APC Governors. It appears that Mr. Oshiomhole’s psychological strain may have reached boiling point.

    “On the vexatious issue of ‘vote-buying’, which has unfortunately found its way into our election lexicon, this is what we know: It is obvious that the shameful development in our democratic experience became very glaring during the 2016 gubernatorial elections in Edo State; an exercise that took place more than one year after President Jonathan had left office.

    Read Also: Jonathan hails Saraki’s leadership

    “It is therefore disingenuous for any politician or group to link the former President with the anomaly, no matter how they want to stretch the now-failing blame game.” he said

    He said that the issue of vote buying didn’t come up in the assessment of elections while Jonathan was in Office as President between 2010 and 2015.

    “Jonathan conducted many elections including the 2011 and 2015 general elections, and many off-season gubernatorial and parliamentary elections in some states like Anambra, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo; and not for once did the issue of vote buying come up.

    “It is instructive that in each case, the former President was given a clean bill, with both local and international observers commending him for having supervised a credible and transparent process.

    “One of those who gave the former President a clean bill of health, was Mr. Oshiomhole himself who on July 16, 2012 said: “What the Edo election has confirmed is that when the President and Commander-in-Chief puts the country first and he conducts himself as a statesman not just as a party leader, credible elections are possible.”

    “When you juxtapose the above statement with Mr. Oshiomhole’s current statement, it becomes obvious that the APC Chairman is suffering from multiple personality syndrome and has a Jekyll and Hyde schizophrenia.

    “We would like to point out that the wave of commendation for Dr. Jonathan’s electoral conduct has continued, long after he had left office. In November 2017 a United Nations delegation led by Ambassador Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, and Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC) commended former President Jonathan for the positive outcome of the electoral reforms he initiated during his tenure, and prayed that the institutions he built and the high standards he set in organizing credible and peaceful elections are maintained and sustained by his successors.” he added

    He said that it was instructive that Jonathan also received plaudits from the visiting UN team over his conduct of the same 2015 elections which “Oshiomhole had casually singled out for condemnation.”

    “This was how Ambassador Chambas verdict differed from Mr. Oshiomhole’s jaundiced assessment: “What we noticed in 2015 was that there was a display of maturity in the way the elections were handled. There was hardly any major incident between the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The problems were mostly internal to parties.”

    “It may be that Mr. Oshiomhole’s false accusations against Dr. Jonathan stem from his own guilty conscience arising from the unenviable behaviour he exhibited during the September 2016 gubernatorial election in his state, when his bid to anoint his successor pushed him into desperate measures and a win-at-all-cost mentality that introduced flagrant vote merchandising in our polity, thereby making Edo State the clear starting point of that cankerworm.

    “After observing the Edo 2016 gubernatorial election, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) a coalition of over 400 civil society organizations spread across the country, said the following about the exercise: “The most frequent reported incidents (of electoral irregularities) are vote buying/voter bribery.” The trend was later to spread to Ondo, Anambra and Ekiti States governorship elections, all taking place after Jonathan had left office as President.

    “What also changed was that Oshiomhole’s emergence as the national chairman of APC and the burden of ‘delivering results to his party’, has pushed him into exporting and escalating this vote buying dexterity to other states, as recently witnessed in Ekiti governorship poll.

    “The fact is that inducement as a tool in the hands of politicians is an old malaise that no Nigerian can be proud of.

    “It is bad enough that this has been allowed to fester and morph into the ugly trend that is today called vote buying. Given this circumstance, you would expect a statesman of Oshiomhole’s standing to offer perspectives on how to solve this problem that is already making our country an object of scorn in the eyes of the international community.

    “That Oshiomhole only resorted to blame game rather than offer any useful suggestions to the election management bodies on how to solve this shameful problem, in the cited television interview, is a sad commentary on the quality and character of today’s political leaders.

    “A Government that continues to blame its predecessor rather than show its scorecard, less than one year to the end of its four-year tenure, is only giving the impression that it is already at its wit’s end.

    “We believe that it is high time Mr. Oshiomhole began to put a leash on his unhelpful, ill-conceived comments and tumultuous style of leadership, to enable him offer quality service to the party he currently leads.” he said

  • N1.6bn Fraud: ‘I was asked to implicate Jonathan’s ex-aide’

    A banker, Iwejuo Joseph Nna, on Monday alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asked him to incriminate a former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Affairs, Dr Waripamo-Owei Dudafa.

    Nna told Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Lagos that his refusal to do so caused the EFCC to file a N1.6billion fraud charge against him.

    Nna, a branch manager in Bayelsa State, and Dudafa were, on June 11, 2016, arraigned by the EFCC on a 23-count charge of conspiracy to conceal the proceeds of crime amounting to over N1.6billion.

    The anti-graft agency alleged that the duo, between June 2013 and June 2015, used different companies to launder the money.

    At the commencement of proceedings on Monday, second defendant Nna alleged that after his arrest, the EFCC sought his cooperation in implicating Dudafa over the alleged offences.

    Led in Evidence in-Chief by his counsel, Ige Asemudara, Nna said he was told that he was not the target of the investigation, and that if he cooperated he would be fielded as a prosecution witness in Dudafa’s trial.

    He said: “I told them that I couldn’t understand what they meant and they asked me if I had a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, who would be ready to defend me and that I should be prepared for the consequences if I refused to cooperate.”

    According to Nna, his colleagues who were also arrested in connection with the alleged offence were fielded as prosecution witness rather than being prosecuted.

    The defendant’s testimony was halted when Asemudara applied for an adjournment to provide some exhibits needed for his defence.

    Prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo opposed his application, but, in a bench ruling, Justice Mohammed adjourned till September 18.

    According to the EFCC, The defendants allegedly concealed N1.6bn through a company, Seagate Property Development and Investment Ltd, an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under Section 17(a).

    They were also accused of knowingly concealing proceeds of crime through Avalon Global Property Development Company Ltd in the sum of N 399, 470,000.00, among others.

    EFCC said Dudafa “procured” Nna and Ebiwise Resources to conceal N150million being proceeds of crime.