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Tag: kicks

  • National Confab: Labour kicks against secret selection of leaders

    Organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), has criticised the secret selection of committees leaders by the National Conference leadership, stressing that the decision for committees to select or elect their officers was unanimously taken month and ought not to be changed without recourse to the general house.

    President of NLC, Comrade Abdulwahed Ibrahim Omar and TUC President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama declared that the committee of 50 acted in violation of their brief since their mandate was to determine what should constitute a majority vote in the absence of a consensus.

    The labour said this scenario of a few privileged people tinkering with the decision of a whole house is nothing but dictatorship and tyranny adding that if it is allowed to stand, it may become a feature of the conference. According to them, one of the reasons for convening the conference is to deepen democracy and not to reinforce impunity.

    They said: ”We demand the restoration of the original decision of the plenary session that committees should choose their leaders. The leadership should desist from taking for granted delegates to the conference. We are here to express our reservations as well as protest against the decision of the conference leadership to unilaterally reverse a consensus decision taken by the entire membership of the conference that chairmen and deputy chairmen of committees would be elected or selected by the committees.”

    The labour leaders said that the committees’ recommendations on the issue of presiding officers of committees, therefore, cannot and should not stand. “This scenario of a few privileged people tinkering with the decision of a whole house is nothing but dictatorship and tyranny of a few. If it is allowed to stand, it may become a feature of the conference. The reversal of the right of committees to elect/select their officers directly is an affront to democracy as well as a violation of the right of delegates to freely choose their presiding officers.

    ”We must warn that this seemingly innocuous act sends out dangerous signals and is capable of raising credibility issues in subsequent decisions,” they said.

  • Community kicks as police free ‘kidnap suspects’

    Residents of Shasha, a Lagos suburb, are angry at the Police Divisional Headquarters in the area for setting free two kidnap suspects caught and handed over to it by the community.

    The community had on November 19, last year, arrested the suspects – Madam Khalilat Lawal (65), who allegedly drove their operational car, and Mr Lawrence Oshodi, who “acted as a pastor.” The third suspect, who allegedly pointed gun at the victim, escaped mob attack.

    They were accused of kidnapping an SS-3 student of Shasha Community High School, Miss Pelumi Adeniyi (18).

    The suspects were, however, released by the police on the request of the victim’s uncle, Christopher Obu, who said it was a case of fraud. “I sent her on errand before she fell into the hands of the fraudsters,” he said.

    Pelumi explained what happened: “I was sent on errand by my uncle. When I reached the Mechanic bus stop, one man approached me and asked if I knew one pastor and I said I did not know what he was talking about. At this point, a Golf car driven by a woman with one person at the back seat came closer. The man inside the car said: “I am the pastor, come inside. He drew me inside the car. The woman gave him gun and told him to shoot me if I refused to answer.

    “The pastor asked me to spit on my palm. I did and the liquid passed through my fingers and settled at the back of my palm. He ordered me to go and collect my sister’s gold, N10, 000 and come back without informing anybody or they would kill me. I did what they ordered me to do. I did not get any money, but I went to them with only my sister’s gold before I was rescued.”

    A youth leader in the area, Mr Taofeek Akinola, who led the rescue team that fateful day said one of the kidnap suspects, Khalifat, a woman, first attempted to bribe the rescue team with N500, 000. He said when it was turned down, she increased it to N1million naira but the team still rejected it and took them to police station.

    Akinola said when they went to police station the following day, the police said they could not tow the suspected kidnappers’ car, marked DQ614 FST to police station because of N4, 000 towing charge.

    Addressing reporters on Saturday, a man who simply identified himself as Comrade Oniyide “for security reasons,” said: “I am a member of the Surveillance Patrol Team in Oguntade, Shasha. We monitor what is happening in this area and give police our report for onward arrest and prosecution of any person found culpable of any criminal offence. We are not happy the way the suspects were released by the police. We want thorough investigations to be done by higher investigative authorities like Area M Command, State CID Panti or Command Headquarters at Ikeja.”

    The traditional ruler of Shasha Kingdom, Oba Babatunde Akanbi Ogunronbi, who said he directed that the suspects should be handed over to police, promised to find out why they were released.

    Efforts to reach the command’s spokesperson Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), for comments failed.

  • APC kicks against blockade of Rivers Govt House

    APC kicks against blockade of Rivers Govt House

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has put the blame for last week’s blockade of the Rivers State Government House squarely on President Goodluck Jonathan. The party said what he called Dr. Jonathan’s unbridled disposition toward cheap political vendetta has pushed him to commit impunity and unconstitutionality perhaps more than any other President in the country’s history.

    In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also said the police could not have blocked Governor Chibuike Amaechi and his guests from his residence if they were not assured of support from higher authorities.

    It, however, warned that giving presidential backing to the police – or any national institution at all – to commit impunity and violate the Constitution is the fastest means to destroy such institutions and erode public confidence in them.

    ‘’In the case of the police, what is happening in Rivers is sending a wrong signal to the polity concerning the role of the force in 2015.

    “How can a malleable police be trusted to be neutral and to help ensure the conduct of a free and fair election – with the President as a candidate – in 2015?’’ the APC queried.

    The party said the Police under President Jonathan has increasingly become a lawless Force whose allegiance is only to the President and not to the Constitution, a Police Force that has become a tool in the hands of the President to harass, intimidate, arrest and persecute all his real and perceived political enemies.

    Said the APC: ‘’Since the outset of the President Jonathan-inspired political logjam in Rivers State and the implosion of his party, the PDP, the President has been depending on the Police to shore up his dwindling political fortune. The insubordination of the Rivers State Super Police Commissioner Mbu; the police-sponsored fracas in the Rivers State House of Assembly; the assault on the five visiting governors by thugs working under the direction and protection of the State Commissioner of Police and the unlawful occupation of the new PDP secretariats at Abuja and Lagos are clear examples.”

    ‘’President Jonathan, however, should be told in clear and unambiguous language that Nigerians will resist all machinations by him to turn Nigeria into a police state,’’ it said.

    The APC also said those who have been struggling to distance the President from the crisis in Rivers are being clever by half, since it is clear to all Nigerians that the President is the puppeteer in the crisis from day one, hence it has festered despite all efforts to end it.

    ‘’As far as the crisis in Rivers is concerned, the buck stops on the President’s desk. Here is a President who decided, unwisely, to make the election of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum a referendum on his administration’s credibility. Even after he lost woefully, he has failed to learn his lessons, as he has continued in his hot pursuit of a fellow-elected political leader.

    ‘’Today, no thanks partly to his political vendetta in Rivers and elsewhere, the President’s political empire has collapsed completely and no amount of police repression, subversion of the constitution or reign of impunity can savage it.

    ‘’President Jonathan has proven himself to be incapable of managing success. A President who presumably won a pan-Nigerian mandate, whose party controls 23 out of 36 states and has an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly has, in a period of less than 30 months, frittered all away and is today left with less than 16 state governors and lost control of the National Assembly.

    ‘’President Jonathan today holds the unenviable record of being the first sitting President of the country to suffer the indignity of being walked out upon by governors and federal legislators elected on the platform of his own party; as well as senior members of the same party at its National Convention in the full glare of local and international media.

    ‘’Under his watch, his party which at the height of its self delusion pride itself as the biggest party in Africa that is destined to rule the country for the 60 years has now imploded and the fallout of this implosion is threatening the fragile unity of the country. President Jonathan, more than any other President in the history of the country, has promoted and encouraged impunity and unconstitutionality, encouraged divisive policies and exploited religious and ethnic differences – all in his attempts to cling to power till 2015 and beyond,’’ the party said.

    APC, therefore, said President Jonathan should be held responsible for the current climate of impunity, unconstitutionality and overheating of the polity that is threatening the peace and stability of the country.

  • Group kicks against expulsion of ex-PDP’s deputy national chairman

    The expulsion of the former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Sam Jaja, has been described as “injustice” by a group.

    The Interity Group, a pressure body within PDP, said it would reject the expulsion by the Felix Obuah-led PDP in Rivers State.

    Speaking in Abuja yesterday, the National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Akaimo Bernard, said a national officer of the party could not have been expelled in the state on the eve of the party’s national convention.

    He said: “This expulsion can not be justified in any way. How can you say you have expelled a national officer from a party on the eve of the national convention?

    “We are against this. It is unjustifiable and unacceptable to us. The Obuah-led PDP in Rivers State did not follow due process. They did not even bring him to power, so they have no moral justification to expel him from the party.”

    The group advised the Chairman of the Special Convention Committee to disregard the candidate of the Obuah faction, saying to act otherwise would have aided the Obuah faction to succeed in tarnishing the image of Jaja as well as impact negatively on the nation’s democracy.

    “We demand that the so-called consensus candidate as proposed by the Obuah-led PDP be removed as he did not represent the interest of the Southsouth people.

    “A situation where officials of the PDP can give credence to questionable characters is not acceptable to us,” he added.

  • Arewa kicks against new state for South East

    Arewa kicks against new state for South East

    The pan northern socio-cultural organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is not favourably disposed to the creation of a new state from the South East geo-political zone or any other part of the country for now.

    The forum believes that creating additional states at a time the nation is clamouring for reduction in the cost of governance will be counter-productive.

    The ACF, in a communique issued by its National Working Committee (NWC) at the end of a meeting in Kaduna yesterday, also said the opposition by some northern legislators to certain provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) should not be misconstrued as a regional agenda but one aimed at correcting the anomalies in the overall interest of the nation.

    But it said that should there be any compelling reasons to create new states, the decision should be based on land mass and population.

    The ACF said its insistence on dialogue between the Federal Government and Islamist sect, Boko Haram, is not informed by any desire to encourage insurgency for the purpose of attracting government patronage, but the realisation that the use of military might rarely reins in terrorists anywhere.

    The communiqué reads in part: “The National Working Committee considered the agitations by the Southern Nigeria’s Peoples Assembly for correction of ‘the present national structural imbalance, which has foisted inequity, marginalization and given undue advantage to the North’.

    “It has been the considered opinion of the ACF, which bears repeating, that given the clamour for reduction of cost of governance across the country in favour of development of the real sector, any contemplation for additional states at this point in time could wholly be counter-productive.

    “However, should there be any overriding need for additional states now across the country, ACF appeals to the authorities to take into account factors of land mass and population in such an exercise. This is because inequity, injustice and unfairness occur not only when equals are treated unequally, but also when un-equals are treated equally.

    “The Forum must reiterate that its preference for dialogue between Boko Haram and the Nigerian authorities has not been informed by any desire to encourage insurgency as a viable way of attracting government’s attention for patronages, but by the fact of history: the use of hard power of military might rarely reined in terrorist activities anywhere. Nigeria may not be an exception.

    “Towards this end, the meeting still urged the governments to go as far as efforts can go and bring the leadership of the sect to the negotiation table for public good.

    “The meeting also deliberated on the implications of Bayelsa State Government’s acquisition of gunboats for surveillance of the creeks and other controversial actions like state anthem, coat of arms and flag.

    “It is against such backdrop that the ACF urges the federal government to ensure that such gunboats are used only by those charged with the authority and responsibility of overseeing the maritime borders and the creeks.

    “The meeting deliberated on some lapses contained in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the fact that those who point them out are being accused of pursuing a regional agenda.

    “This should not be the case, considering it is not only northern states that have no oil. Some states in the South also have no oil, and are opposed to some sections of the bill.

    “So, given the fact that the legislature is a deliberative institution which promotes democracy as contest of ideas and reasons, the forum urges the nation’s legislators and the media to concentrate on the issues relating to the lapses observed in the PIB and not on the places where the persons who raise them come from.”

     

  • $620,000 bribe: Lawan kicks against trial

    $620,000 bribe: Lawan kicks against trial

    The suspended Chairman of the House Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime, Mallam Farouk Lawan, yesterday asked the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), to ignore threats from a lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, to prosecute him over alleged $620,000 bribe.

    He queried Keyamo for allegedly leaving out a businessman, Mr. Femi Otedola, who admitted offering the bribe through a sting operation.

    He said if Keyamo is adamant, he would meet the Lagos lawyer in court.

    The Police investigated the alleged $620,000 bribery, questioning Lawan, Otedola and the Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Boniface Emenalo.

    Last year, the government appointed a prosecutor, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), to look at the report of police investigation and file charges as may be appropriate.

    But Awomolo, last December, raised some issues which required additional investigation by the police.

    The decision of the prosecutor is being awaited, but Keyamo has threatened to take legal steps to compel the AGF to prosecute Lawan.

    In a reaction, the House member, who spoke through his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), described Keyamo’s ultimatum to the AGF as empty.

    He said Keyamo cannot question the authority of the AGF on who to prosecute or not.

    He said: “The ultimatum of Keyamo both to the police and the AGF is vacuous, empty, vainglorious, grandstanding and it constitutes legal hara-kiri. He cannot even succeed with order of mandamus to compel the AGF to prosecute any person. The case of Gani Fawehinmi v. Akilu was cited out of context. At that time, I was the deputy of chambers at Gani’s law firm.

    “Under Section 174 sub-section 1 of the 1999 Constitution, the AGF has the sole prerogative and responsibility to be questioned by none, being lord and master unto himself in this regard.

    “The AGF has the power to “ institute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria other than a court martial in respect of any offence created by or under any Act of the National Assembly or to take over and continue any such criminal proceedings that may have been instituted by any other authority or person and to continue at any stage before judgment is delivered any such criminal proceeding instituted or undertaking by him or any other authority or person.”

    “Under Section 174 sub-section 2, “the powers conferred upon the AGF under sub-section 1 of this section may be exercised by him or through officers of his department.”

    “It is, therefore, clear that the AGF is the only one who can decide whether or not and when, if at all and where he desires and against whom and in what circumstances and for which offence he can prosecute a person in Nigeria . No one can force him to do that.

    “The best a lawyer can do is to go to court and ask for an order of mandamus, which I know no court will grant because of the clear provision of Section 174 of the Constitution.”

    Lawan said if Keyamo carried out his threat, he would ask the court to join him in the suit.

    The counsel added: “The AGF in defending himself is, if this empty and bombastic threat is carried, to question his bonafide, his locus standi and invoke Section 174 of the institution. In any proceeding emanating from this, Farouk Lawan is entitled to request the court to join him as the target of the attack.

    “And going by the Supreme Court decision in Green v. Green, Farouk Lawan will definitely be joined.

    “Another reason why Keyamo can never be allowed to prosecute Lawan is that the AGF and Lawan can accuse him of being a persecutor and not a honest prosecutor because he definitely left out Mr. Femi Otedola, who personally announced to the world that he gave a bribe. Keyamo’s statement did not say he was joining Otedola as a co-accused person. I thought as a lawyer of 32 years at the Bar that bribery is a criminal offence under Nigerian law.

    “Did Keyamo not read that the AGF actually outsourced this brief to a private legal practitioner last year as was reported in Nigerian newspapers and the distinguished SAN raised over 40 questions which must be answered by the Police before any person could reasonably prosecute Farouk Lawan based on the same evidence which Keyamo is relying on.

    “The AGF could say it is his prerogative on who to give a case to. That is why both AGF and Lawan could accuse Keyamo of an attention to persecute. The AGF is one of the finest and best legal minds in this country; he won’t allow anyone to threaten him or his office.”

  • Ijesa monarch kicks against planned installation

    The Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Gabriel Aromolaran, has written Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola on the planned installation of Mr. Rahaman Mohammed as the Olosunjela of Osunjela.

    In the letter written by his counsel, Jola Akintola, Oba Aromolaran requested that the event, slated for tomorrow, should be suspended.

    Akintola said copies of the letter were sent to the Deputy Governor, the Osun Attorney-General/Commissioner for Justice, the Secretary to the State Government(SSG), the Chief of Staff to the Governor and the Executive Secretary of Atakumosa West Local Government Council.

    In the letter, the monarch said “traditionally and historically, there cannot be and there is no Oba at Osunjela”, which is a community in Ijesaland, over which he is the paramount ruler.

    He said installing an Oba there will amount to rewriting the history of the community and Ijeshaland.

    The letter reads: “Mohammed was only installed by Oba Aromolaran as the Baale of Osunjela, a position that can be occupied in Ijesaland by anybody, but usually by a non-indigene like Mohammed.

    “Mohammed is not an Ijesa-man, neither is he from Osun State, so it is an aberration to install him or refer to him as an ‘Oba’ or crown him with beaded crown over a community in Ijesaland.

    “Traditionally and historically, the community is headed by a Looja, who must be a Prince of the Owa Obokun and who can only be installed by the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland.

    “The Owa Obokun was baffled when he received an invitation to the occasion by an Abuja consulting firm. Such steps intended to be taken as contained in the invitation letter, if allowed, will detrimentally rewrite the history of Ijesaland, which Kabiesi the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland will do everything within the ambit of the law to resist during his reign.”

     

  • North kicks against new state for South East

    North kicks against new state for South East

    •Kwankwaso alleges plot to alter constitution to appoint ministers on zonal basis

    THE path to the planned amendment of the 1999 Constitution appears already mined even before the commencement of the journey.

    There are fears in the North of a plot to create a new state from the South East without recourse to the rules.

    It also believes there is a plan to alter the constitution such that the President could appoint ministers on geo-political basis as against the present state basis.

    Both allegations, if they turn out to be true, are capable of eroding the perceived political advantage enjoyed by the North over the years and put it on an equal political footing with the South.

    Governor Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano State who raised the alarm yesterday spoke of a plan by the National Assembly Committee on Constitution Review to create a new state under the table.

    He named the Chairman of the committee, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, as the brain behind the agenda.

    He also allaged plan by the committee to alter the 1999 Constitution to empower the President to appoint ministers on the basis of the nation’s six geopolitical zones.

    Kwankwanso, who bared his mind in an interview in Abuja, said some politicians are trying to take advantage of the present weak position of the North to cheat the region.

    He spoke against the backdrop of comments attributed to the Deputy President of the Senate at a recent presidential retreat on Constitution Review at the Presidential Villa.

    The governor asked the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee to lay the criteria for state creation on the table for all Nigerians to consider and weigh.

    He said he could not understand why the South-East deserves an additional state when its population is not up to that of the North-West.

    Armed with the result of the 2006 Census, the governor said the population of the North-West alone is 35,786, 944 compared to the 37,396,384 combined population of the South-East and South-South.

    He claimed that the population of Enugu State (3, 257,298) where Ekweremadu comes from is about one-third of Kano State’s 9,383,682

    He queried why Ekweremadu would be scheming for a new state from Enugu and leave out Kano State which deserves three new states.

    He said going by the Census figures, “some states ought to be merged.”

    The governor pleaded with members of the Senate and House of Representatives from the North to be vigilant in respect of the planned constitution review.

    He also asked the Constitution Review Committee to be more transparent in state creation and other issues.

    He said: “As far as we are concerned, if we have to go for constitution amendment, all issues should be on the table. We do not want a situation where state creation would be a matter of yes or man-know- man or I have this or I have that.

    “Kano has 44 local governments because we are over 9.4million population by the last census and we have the landmass. Now if you want to change things, let us come up with criteria, don’t just do it under the table on the pretence that they have five states in the South-East.

    “They (the South-East) should not have five in my opinion. What is the population of the South-East?

    “I am saying this with all sense of responsibility; I am not playing any regional or ethnic politics. But you see, I am representing a state now. I will not allow anybody to go and make nonsense of what we have. If you want to create your state, go and create, do not call Kano anyhow.

    “Let us have criteria, there have to be criteria for creation of states. I am telling you the population of some states, local governments and some zones should be on the table. You don’t just say because you want to contest an election or make a name to create state. We have been yearning for more states in Kano; we want to have three states.

    “If you divide Kano State into three states, each state is more than Enugu State in terms of landmass, population and any criteria you can think of. They were lucky because offer at that time was from their side.

    “If you want to go and create local governments in Enugu or in the East, don’t call Kano by any name. If you call Kano, you stand the risk of getting your answer. And Ekweremadu should learn from experience. He is still a young man; hopefully he still has 20 or 30 years of politics.

    “That is why we are suggesting that they should mind their language. If they want their state, let them get it but not to be abusing Kano by claiming that it has 44 local governments.

    “I decided to speak on this issue simply because I realized that people are not being fair. I am an advocate of supporting state creation but not the way and manner these people are trying to do it because they are biased, they are unfair.

    “Go and check the 2006 census. You see, people will want to eat their cake and have it. Where they have advantage, they will say it is no go area, do not go there. We are disadvantaged. If there is any state that should be divided into more states, it is Kano.”

    Kwankwanso asked lawmakers in the National Assembly to be more careful and pay attention to constitution review.

    He added: “That is why I want to advise our own people to be more careful. They should not go to the National Assembly and do something else. You are on paper representing us and you go there and you are voting for others.

    “I want to challenge our members (from the North) to stand up. That is why I will support Northern governors to empower Arewa House, where they keep history, to go and put table in the gallery of the House of Representatives and in the gallery of the Senate. Any member of the House of Reps or Senate who is voting for any position should be recorded, his father, his constituency should be recorded.”

    Responding to a question, the governor said he raised the debate on onshore /offshore dichotomy because opinions on it are needed now.

    He said: “I am not talking about onshore /offshore because I wanted to abuse anybody. But this is the junction, this is the point to talk. People are going for constitution review, things are now on the table. I did not say it last year or year before but now things are on the table.”

    Kwankwanso also expressed concern over alleged plan to alter Section 147 of the 1999 Constitution on the appointment of Ministers.

    He said some people are pushing for the appointment of ministers on the basis of the six geopolitical zones instead of each of the 36 states having a representative in the Federal Executive Council.

    He said: “Another issue that is very important is zoning. In the review, we are aware that some people want zones to be recognized and they want appointment of ministers to be based on zone not on states. We say no to that. We cannot accept that.

    “What they want is to change the status quo where ministers will come three states in each of the six geopolitical zones. The issue is that when it comes to selection of ministers, it will be based on zone. It means the President may avoid certain states if he or she so wishes. This side of the country will not accept that.

    “We have to be careful, we have to understand the politics of now and we have to understand the politics of tomorrow.”

    He said his fears stemmed from the fact that if ministers are appointed on geopolitical zone basis a President would be at liberty to decide his preference for states or candidates.

    He gave example of the appointment of the present Minister from Kano with the state having no input.