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Tag: Lai Mohammed

  • APC seeks new strategy to curtail Boko Haram

    APC seeks new strategy to curtail Boko Haram

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned Monday’s deadly attack on military and other facilities in Maiduguri, saying it is shocked and saddened by its enormity and the deaths of innocent civilians.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the attacks on Nigerian Air Force planes and helicopters at the NAF base in the city was particularly disturbing, considering the hitherto effective use of aerial attacks against Boko Haram, which is widely believed to have carried out the attacks.

    It said nothing in the world could justify such deadly attacks on the military and the collateral deaths and damages inflicted on civilians.

    The APC called for a renewed strategy to combat the sect, which seems to retain the capacity to carry out such a massive attack in a major city, despite the successes which the military said it had recorded against it since the declaration of a state of emergency in three states – Adamawa, Borno and Yobe – last May.

    The party said such a strategy must emphasise the intelligence gathering through which such attacks can be nipped in the bud, adding that failure of intelligence, more than anything else, made Monday’s attack possible.

    It called for a probe into how hundreds of attackers could so easily infiltrate military facilities, which are believed to be highly secured.

    ‘’The probe must unravel why the security personnel in the city in general and the military installations in particular were apparently caught unawares by the attackers, who were reported by some newspapers to number as many as 500, riding in trucks and motorcycles.

    ‘’If military installations in a major city can be so easily overrun by a band of marauders, then no one and no facilities are safe. That is why the government and the military must work hand in hand to unravel why such a massive attack on military installations was possible in the first instance,’’ APC said.

  • APC to INEC: you don’t need court order to cancel tainted poll

    APC to INEC: you don’t need court order to cancel tainted poll

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected the stand of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that only the courts can cancel last Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State, in which about 1.3 million of the 1.7 million registered voters voted.

    In a statement in Lagos yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party reminded INEC that it did not wait for a court order to cancel the National Assembly elections in 2011, when it was obvious that many voters across the country could not vote due to the late arrival or non-delivery of voting materials.

    ‘’In announcing the cancellation of the National Assembly election in 2011, INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega said, among others, that it was to ‘maintain the integrity of the elections and retain effective overall control of the process’,’’ it said.

    APC said the situation in Anambra last Saturday was even more serious because, in addition to the fact that voting materials were either late or not delivered at all, most voters were disenfranchised by an INEC official who apparently tampered with the 2011 Voters’ Register for the state.

    ‘’Therefore, there are more compelling reasons now to cancel the Anambra governorship election than what led to the cancellation and rescheduling of the National Assembly election in 2011, unless of course INEC is still acting out the script handed to it for the ill-fated election,’’ the party said.

    It also said since the integrity of the 2011 Voters’ Register had been compromised by tampering, that register can no longer be relied upon by INEC to organise any election in Nigeria.

    ‘’The emerging allegations are very serious. First, the Voters’ Register for Anambra has been allegedly tampered with by an INEC official to disenfranchise a huge number of voters, to such an extent that only 451,826 voters were accredited out of the 1,763,751 registered voters in Anambra State.

    ‘’Secondly, the disenfranchisement started from the data capturing stage, when the machine was apparently manipulated not to capture those whose names start with ‘O’ or ‘U’, and that is a whole lot of people. Against this background, it is obvious to all fair-minded people, not the rabidly partisan PDP, that INEC ‘s computer data-base must have been fraudulently, irreparably and totally adulterated, such that no credible Voters’ Register can anymore be produced from the 2011 voters’ registration data.

    ‘’That is why we are not just calling for the cancellation of the Anambra governorship election, but also saying that even a fresh election cannot and must not be conducted on the basis of the 2011 Voters’ Register. Unless Nigeria embarks on another voters’ registration exercise, it is doubtful if INEC has the ability to ameliorate the damage already done to 2011 registration information by its corrupt and inept officials.

    ‘’That is why we are calling on Prof. Jega not to withhold the name of the main saboteur in Saturday’s poll, and to also investigate the level to which the Voters’ Register has been compromised, fish out all those involved, find out who their sponsors are and make all of them to face justice,’’ APC said.

    Meanwhile, the party has described as very strange indeed the role of the presidency and the PDP in the debate over the Anambra election.

    ‘’The conventional wisdom is that political parties take their bearing from their candidates on election day. But in the case of the PDP and the Presidency, not only have they abandoned their candidate in the Anambra poll, who himself has derided the election and called for its cancellation, they have also disowned him by going ahead to hail the poll as free and fair.

    ‘’It is now glaring to all that the disgrace that INEC has suffered from the Anambra debacle is because the electoral body is acting out the script written by the Presidency and APGA for the election. The claim by the PDP spokesman that our party is trying to discredit the entire electoral process is as shallow as it is laughable.”

    ‘’Pray, how more can you discredit an election that the organiser itself (INEC) has admitted was sabotaged by its own officials? Is it the APC that revealed the information concerning the role of INEC saboteurs? Did the PDP candidate find his name on the voters’ register used for Saturday’s election? Obviously, things have fallen apart in the contraption called the PDP and the centre can no long hold there,’’ it said.

  • Anambra: APC rejects supplementary election

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday rejected plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission to hold a supplementary election in Anambra State, saying that only the total cancellation of the election will be acceptable.

    The commission had earlier declared last Saturday’s governorship poll in the state inconclusive after the exercise was marred by irregularities.

    The party in a statement issued by its Interim National Publicity Secretary,  Lai Mohammed, on Monday, also urged INEC to come clear on how the election was sabotaged.

    It accused INEC of not taking seriously the opinions of Anambra residents as well as local and foreign observers that most of the registered voters in the state were disenfranchised during the election.

    The party said, ”First, the electoral commission proposed make-up election in only 65 polling units in Obosi before scaling things up to a supplementary election ‘in those areas where election was cancelled’. But we say, without equivocating, that a total cancellation of the election and the organization of a fresh poll, under the supervision of a credible Resident Electoral Commissioner, will be acceptable to our party.

    ”It is not enough for INEC’s Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to tell the nation that an INEC official sabotaged the election in a certain part of the state, he must tell the nation who this fellow is, who he/she is working for, what is the extent of the damage he/she has done to this and previous elections, and whether or not he/she has access to the commission’s database of voters’ register, which was apparently tampered with for Saturday’s election.

    ”Prof. Jega must also tell Nigerians why 16 Electoral Commissioners, who migrated to Anambra days before the election ostensibly to supervise things, could not ensure the success of an election in a single state, when even a polling unit behind the INEC office in Awka did not get voting materials till after 9am on election day.”

     

     

  • Party exposes PDP’s, APGA’s rigging strategies

    Party exposes PDP’s, APGA’s rigging strategies

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has exposed the plan by desperate politicians in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to rig Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State.

    It warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against allowing itself to be used to carry out such plan.

    In a statement in Ibadan yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party listed some of the rigging strategies as disenfranchisement of voters, especially in opposition strongholds; massive thumb-printing of ballot papers in secret locations; sloppy accreditation process; late or non-delivery of voting materials to opposition strongholds and the use of the police and other security agencies to intimidate voters.

    It described the strategies as old tricks, which INEC should be well aware of, if the electoral body was keen on delivering a free, fair and transparent election.

    “There are plans to use several secret locations, including Ogidi, for massive ballot paper thumb-printing, and it is an open secret that some of these locations are being fortified for secrecy.

    “Plans are also afoot to foist a sloppy accreditation exercise on voters by muddling up names and photographs of voters in such a way that most voters will be disenfranchised.

    “Also, areas where the APC candidate is the strongest will either be starved of voting materials or will not even receive such materials at all, while the police – which are fast becoming the armed wing of the PDP – as well as other security agents will be used to harass and intimidate voters.

    “These are some of the evil strategies, which the riggers are counting upon on Saturday. This is the same game plan that the PDP used to rig the Delta Central poll last month, with the collusion of some dirty INEC officials,” APC said.

    The party warned, however, that Anambra people would not allow a replay of such electoral heist and unmitigated brigandage, “neither would we condone any action that would not ensure a level-playing field for candidates at the poll.”

    It warned INEC, the police and other security forces to restrict themselves to their constitutional roles during the election, instead of conspiring with do-or-die politicians.

    “We will expose, challenge and shame those bent on ruining the election in Anambra, using our counter-measures.”

    APC urged INEC to present and use for the Anambra poll, an authentic, legitimate and reliable voter register; ensure a proper voter accreditation as well as proper documentation of agents and voting materials, starting from the polling units to the collation centre; and make sure that the distribution of election materials are timely, effective and well-monitored.

    The party enjoined its supporters to be extra-vigilant before, during and after the election; protect their votes within the limits of the law and their own safety.

  • Electoral malpractices marred Delta Senatorial bye-election – APC

    The All Progress Congress (APC) has said Saturday’s bye-election in Delta Central Senatorial District was marred by cases of electoral malpractices and widespread violence allegedly perpetrated by security agents and thugs hired by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) .

    In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said there was no voting at all in most of the eight local governments and the 85 wards in the District.

    APC  said the PDP used armed security agents to chase away voters in opposition strongholds while thugs working under the cover of security personnel beat opposition party agents and seized voting materials in many areas.

    It said electoral officials were either overwhelmed by the intimidating presence of the security agents or were coerced into submission.

    ”This election is nothing but a sham as the activities of the partisan security agents ensured that hundreds of voters were disenfranchised, while state government and PDP officials openly handed money to induce voters. Even in wards where voters successfully resisted armed security agents,the absence of complete electoral materials meant there was no voting.

    ”Knowing it could not win a free and fair elections anywhere in the country, the PDP simply took measures to suppress voting in opposition strongholds during the Senatorial election.

    ”From what transpired in Delta on Saturday, it is clear that the PDP has resolved that there will no be a free and fair election anywhere across the country henceforth. The party’s new strategy is to use security agents as agents of destabilization and suppression of votes,” APC said.

    The party said the Federal Government sent troops to Delta under the pretext of battling the notorious kidnapping lynchpin Kelvin and his cohorts, when in fact the deployment was a decoy for election rigging.

  • …ruling party’s beyond redemption — Lai Mohammed

    …ruling party’s beyond redemption — Lai Mohammed

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that the crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has gone beyond reconciliation.

    “PDP has broken into pieces,” he said at Banilux Event Place, Yaba, Lagos during the Eighth edition of Town Hall Meeting and Graduation of pioneer trainees under the Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Scheme (YESAS) initiated by Lagos Central Senatorial District Senator, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu.

    His declaration drew a thunderous “amen!” from the large gathering.

    He described two events that occurred on July 31 and August 31 this year, as watershed in the history of Nigeria.

    Alhaji Mohammed reminded the gathering that on July 31, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the birth of the All Progressives Congress (APC) while exactly a month later (August 31), seven governors and other bigwig politicians within the PDP staged a walk out from the party’s special convention in Abuja and announced the “New PDP”.

    The August 31 saga, he said, marked the end of PDP’s regime in Nigeria, because it was the first in the history of the country that seven governors and other party stalwarts would walk out on the President.

    The governors are Alhaji Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Mr. Rabiu Kwankwanso (Kano), Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Mr. Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers).

    It will be recalled that efforts led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo; former military head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; former Vice-President, Chief Alex Ekwueme; PDP’s ex-National Chairmen; PDP Chairman Board of Trustee, Chief Anthony Anenih and other leaders to resolve the crisis have been deadlocked, with Kawu Baraje-led faction threatening to form a new party or align with another party if the Bamanga Tukur faction did not yield to their demand.

    New PDP’s demands include the following: the factional National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, should be sacked; President Jonathan should do one term only and forget about re-election in 2015; the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Rivers State crises should be resolved; and the “harassment” of governors by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should stop.

    Alhaji Mohammed said: “The fight in PDP is ajatuka (fight to the finish).

    He, however, warned that PDP would not go down without a fight.

    “Already, he said, the party has been accusing APC of being the finger behind the crisis.

    “We are not unhappy that they are in crisis because we are not behind their crisis,” he said.

    The APC Interim National Publicity Secretary also said the 2015 presidential election battle will be determined by votes from South West.

    According to him, APC is not an opposition party but the government in waiting.

    “PDP knows this and they will do everything to destabilise APC in the South West. Their strategy is to induce voters with money stolen from the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P),” he said, describing SURE-P as “SURE PIT.”

    According to Alhaji Mohammed, SURE-P, which came out of Nigerians rejection of increase in pump price of fuel, is nothing but a way of saving money for PDP’s campaign in 2015.

  • ACN to Jonathan: no need for marking scheme

    ACN to Jonathan: no need for marking scheme

    The average Nigerian is worse off than he was when President Goodluck Jonathan came into office, the Action Congress of Nigeria (AC N) said yesterday.

    The party was reacting to the mid-term pass mark the Federal Government awarded itself on Wednesday.

    The ACN which is merging with others to form a mega party ahead of the 2015 poll, made its position known in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

    It said despite the seemingly impressive economic figures being reeled out by the administration, “what we are seeing is growth without development”. The so-called 6.5% economic growth announced by your finance minister is meaningful on paper,” the party said. It wondered how the statistic will help the thousands of university graduates who are scrambling to work as truck drivers or how it will make Lagos-Ibadan Expressway or the East-West road safer for Nigerians.

    The ACN wondered why President Jonathan is suddenly irritated that Nigerians have not given his administration a pass mark, after about three years in the saddle and two years since he was elected.

    ‘’Mr. President, Nigerians need no marking scheme to know that the rate of unemployment went up, under your watch, to an unprecedented 23.9% by December 2011, according to figures given by the National Bureau of Statistics. Today, the figure must be hovering above the 50% mark!

    ‘’Mr. President, Nigerians need no marking scheme to know that under your watch, security of lives and property, as well as the welfare of the citizens – the raison d’etre of any government – are at the lowest ebb. A day before you demanded a marking scheme from Nigerians instead of giving them better life, a popular musician was attacked by a nine-man gang that snatched his car and deprived him of his money in the country’s economic capital city – the fate being suffered daily by millions of your compatriots!

    ‘’Mr. President, what marking scheme does one need to know that despite the seemingly impressive economic figures being reeled out by your administration, the average Nigerian is worse off today than he or she was before you assumed office?

    “What we are seeing is growth without development. The so-called 6.5% economic growth announced by your Finance Minister is meaningful only on paper. How does that help the thousands of university graduates who are scrambling to work as truck drivers? How does it make Lagos-Ibadan Expressway or the East-West road safer for Nigerians?

    ‘’Mr. President, what has been the impact for Nigerians of the high foreign reserves figure and the stable exchange rates for the naira reeled out by your Finance Minister? Is it not a cruel irony that as Mr. President was luxuriating in phantom economic indices on the second anniversary of his administration. Nigerians across the land could not even watch him on television because the power situation has been exceptionally poor in recent times?

    ‘’And in case Mr. President thinks it is only the opposition and the media – his administration’s favourite whipping boys – that are scoring his administration low, the Washington-based global advocacy and campaigning organisation, ONE, was listing Nigeria – under President Jonathan’s watch – and DR Congo among.

    ‘‘Laggard countries’’ pulling Africa back from reaching the MDG goals by 2015? Surely, this global body did not use any ‘Jonathan-style marking scheme’ to name Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Ghana and Ethiopia as the top performing countries in Africa (on the MDGs), even when they are less endowed than Nigeria?’’ ACN queried.

    The party said it would not have wasted its energy on commenting on the mid-term performance record of the Jonathan Administration, had the President not isingenuously decided to blame imaginary enemies of his administration for his token achievements in the face of mounting challenges facing the country.

    It urged President Jonathan to shut his ears to praise-singers, “especially those of the pig-at-the-trough hue from across the Atlantic who have never seen an African government, no matter its governance record, that is unworthy of their association, as they hunt for cheap funds from despotic governments across the continent to rehabilitate themselves back home.

    ‘’Mr. President, it is never too late for you to put your shoulder to the wheel, shun the political jobbers around you, reinvigorate your cabinet by chasing away the deadwood there – though some of them come highly recommended on paper – and giving Nigerians a more purposeful governance.

    ‘’When that happens, Mr. President, you will not need to waste valuable time on lecturing your much-sapped compatriots on how to assess your administration, and you would have succeeded in rending those seemingly implacable critics of yours in the media and the opposition jobless,’’ the ACN said.

  • ACN, lawyers fault presidential power

    ACN, lawyers fault presidential power

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday accused President Goodluck Jonathan of insincerity by saying the democratic structure in the states where he has declared a state of emergency will be kept intact. The party accused the President of grabbing power in the states and castrating democracy.

    In a statement in Kaduna by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party quoted from the President’s speech to the nation on May 14, saying: ‘’The details of this Proclamation will be transmitted to the National Assembly in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. But, in the meantime, let me make it clear that within the purview of this Proclamation, the governors and other political office holders in the affected states will continue to discharge their constitutional responsibilities.’’

    It said the gazette published by the Federal Government on the declaration showed that “the President has virtually eviscerated the democratic structure and stripped the political office holders of their constitutional responsibilities, thereby reversing the assurance he gave in his speech on the declaration”.

    The ACN also warned that “unless this despotic tendency is checked, nothing prevents the President, in the name of the ongoing fight against Boko Haram, from extending this power grab to other states that catch his fancy.

    “This is dangerous and must be checked, in the interest of our democracy,’’ the party added.

    The ACN said in accordance with the gazette, the governors and local government chairmen in the states under the state of emergency can only rule under the control of the President or anyone he so designates; the President is allowed to hold state funds; while the House of Assembly is now only a rubber stamp, as any order made under the emergency is deemed to be a law enacted by the House.

    The party said it (ACN) has now been vindicated for not only rejecting the proclamation, but for asking the National Assembly to study it well before approving it.

    ‘’Here is what we said in our statement of May 16th: ‘Truly understanding the proclamation will enable them to make an informed decision when the issue is brought before them.’

    ‘’We also said that the state of emergency, which is essentially martial law, ‘has castrated democracy in the affected states, even though the democratic structures have been left largely intact’.Our warnings have now turned out to be prescient, a departure from the mass hysteria that greeted the declaration, a departure from the failure of all those who should have seriously scrutinised the declaration.

    ‘’A nation justifiably angry over the senseless Boko Haram killings, but inexplicably overly exuberant at a time that calls for sober reflection, simply failed to see the booby traps in the state of emergency declaration. Predictably ever-acquiescing Senate went ahead to approve the declaration even before reading its provisions!

    ‘’But the House of Representatives, whose members are always standing by the people of Nigeria, carefully scrutinised the gazette and acted in the best interest of the people. We salute this great chamber and its truly honourable members. We urge them not to relent until they have succeeded in protecting democracy, even as the country fights the insurgents who have turned parts of our country into a killing field,’’ the party said

    The ACN said it had not back-tracked from its rejection of the declaration of emergency rule in the three states.

    The party also said it remained convinced that only a combination of a responsible use of force and dialogue – which some have tagged a carrot-and-stick approach – can resolve the Boko Haram crisis and that the use of brute force has never totally resolved any insurgency anywhere.

    ‘’We do not need any lesson in patriotism and responsible opposition, because every action we have taken has been guided by patriotism and responsible opposition. Our interventions have never been based on cheap popularity but on rare courage and patriotism, and we will not relent in toeing this path,’’ it said.

    Senior lawyers said yesterday that the presidential power to spend the cash belonging to the states, amounts to crippling the governors and local government chairmen financially.

    Those who commented on the development include professor of Law Itse Sagay (SAN), Mr. Norrison Quakers (SAN), Mrs. Funke Adekoya (SAN) and Alhaji Yusuf Ali (SAN).

    Sagay said to start with, the 1961 Act is deformed and no longer a law.

    He said the Act was deleted from the country’s laws, with the enactment of the Laws of the Federation, 1990.

    Sagay said it was contrary to the provisions of the Constitution, which aptly states the financial independence of each federating unit.

    He said: “It is absolutely illegal. The powers of the President and National Assembly are clearly stated in Section 11. Funds are provided for in Section 162 as part of the Federation Account.

    “Moreover, there is a Supreme Court pronouncement on that in the case of AG Lagos vs AGF, 2004, where the apex court held that it is illegal for any part of the federating unit to withhold another’s funds.

    “If that is the case, it means that the President has applied the use of force to suppress the Constitution. I doubt he will do a thing like that.

    “If it is true, the states should immediately file an action at the Supreme Court over their rights.

    “But this does not mean that the state of emergency should stop. It should continue until Boko Haram is completely wiped out. The Federal Government has to fund it with its money, unless the states donate money to the Federal Government. It is a thing of force.

    “The 1961 Act is deformed and no longer a law. It was deleted when the 1990 Laws of Nigeria were being enacted. So, that provision is contrary to the present Constitution and will amount to an act of nullity because it went away with the First Republic.”

    Mrs. Adekoya spoke contradictory provisions in the Emergency Powers Act.

    She said: “The Gazette purports to issue Regulations under Section 3 of the Emergency Act 1961. it says:

    “2 (1) (2) A state governor or local government chairman in an emergency area shall continue with the general functions of administering the emergency area under the control of the President or any person designated or authorized to act on his behalf;

    “(3) says the President may give directions to a governor or chairman directly or through his designate or a duly authorised person with respect to the administration of the emergency;

    “3[e] says the President may make orders to provide for the utilization of the funds of any state or local government in the emergency area. This does not empower him to seize the funds of the state or local government;

    “He must utilise those funds in the emergency area but may do so in a manner other than as approved in the State Appropriation Law, without breaching the law;

    “In effect, the state of emergency has suspended the State Appropriation Law, Section two of the Regulations as gazetted is contrary to Section four of the Act which states that the regulations made under Section 3 ;may provide for empowering such authorities or persons as may be specified in the regulations to make orders and rules;

    “In the regulations now made, the persons to act for the President in Section two are not stated.”

    Quarkers said the Constitution neither provided for nor envisaged such actions.

    He said the Fiscal Responsibility Bill states that governors are responsible to their Houses of Assembly.

    “The governors are empowered to expend their money subject to the approval of their state Houses of Assembly. It is unconstitutional for the President to assume such powers as withholding or expending the state allocation because no provision empowers him to do that.”

    Ali said the provision does not accord with the dictates of the constitution.

    He said: “It does not accord with the dictates of the constitution for the President to withhold state funds using state of emergency as an excuse.

    “If media reports to the effect are true, then the action would amount to an illegality. It may require further interpretations by the Supreme Court to set the matter straight in such a circumstance.

    “That will amount to dissolution of the elected state executives and legislative arms of the government in the affected states, if it’s true.”

    More senior lawyers disagreed on the propriety of the powers granted the President under the state of emergency.

    Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN) and Dr. Ahmed Mohammed faulted what they described as an attempt to take over the responsibilities of the governors and legislature (with the exclusion of security issues). Dr Joseph Nwobike (SAN) and Sebastine Hon (SAN) said the President was in order.

    Fagbohungbe argued that the President, having decided to retain democratic institutions in the affected states, should allow them to perform their roles.

    “In as much as he did not remove the governors and the Houses of Assembly, they should be allowed to perform their roles, with the exception of security issues.

    “The President, by his proclamation, said he was taking over issues of security in those states. His intervention should be limited to security issues,” he said.

    Fagbohungbe blamed the controversy that greeted the emergency declaration on the failure of the Constitution in Section 305 to spell out the mode and shape a state of emergency should assume.

    “There is no law to explain how state of emergency should be. Section 305 only gave how it should be declared.

    “The National Assembly should learn from this and make laws to regulate and spell out how a state of emergency should be operated,” Fagbohungbe said.

    Mohammed said the President should allow the democratic institutions and offices in the affected states to function, having chosen to retain them.

  • Quotes of the day

    Quotes of the day

    “If the imposition of emergency rule on the most affected states is the only viable option left for President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle the crisis, then he should step down.

    “President Jonathan should emulate the late United States President Harry Truman by putting a sign on his desk at Aso Rock that reads, ‘The buck stops here’ to remind him that he bears the ultimate responsibility for the security situation in the country today, instead of any attempt to blame some state governors in the affected states.” –  ACN National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, on the proposed State of Emergency in Yobe, Borno and Nassarawa States.

     

    “Everyone must rise up to defend our fatherland instead of leaving security in the hands of security operatives alone.” –Senate President, David Mark, on the insecurity in the country.

  • Don’t declare emergency rule in troubled states, ACN, CPC warn

    Don’t declare emergency rule in troubled states, ACN, CPC warn

    Opposition parties – Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) – warned yesterday the Federal Government against the declaration of a state of emergency in the violence-ridden states of Borno, Yobe and Nasarawa.

    The parties made their position known in statements by their spokesmen – Alhaji Lai Mohammed (ACN) and Mr. Rotimi Fasakin (CPC).

    “If the imposition of emergency rule on the most affected states is the only viable option left for President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle the crisis, then he should step down,” Mohammed said.

    The CPC queried why violence is festering in states not controlled by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    But the Federal Government has denied that a decision to declare a state of emergency in any state has been taken.

    The ACN said the crisis has dragged on for so long because of the failure of the Jonathan administration to appropriately diagnose the problem, in the first instance, coupled with an exhibition of lethargy and an appalling lack of creativity in devising measures to end it.

    Said the party: ‘’Perhaps President Jonathan should emulate the late United States President Harry Truman by putting a sign on his desk at Aso Rock that reads ‘The buck stops here’ to remind him that he bears the ultimate responsibility for the security situation in the country today, instead of any attempt to blame some state governors in the affected states.

    ‘’Imposing a state of emergency on the states that have been mentioned, like Borno, Yobe and Nasarawa states, will amount to shifting responsibility and unduly victimising the governors of those states, who have done perhaps more than the President, in dealing with the crisis, even though they are not in charge of any security apparatus.

    ‘’It is important to state here that the President virtually abandoned the states as they reeled under the effects of the Boko Haram onslaught. For about two years after assuming office, he refused to visit the states until the APC Governors blazed the trail and left him with no option but to follow suit.”

    ‘’It is also important to warn that since the listed states are not under the control of the PDP and – going by precedence – President Jonathan is sure to appoint card-carrying PDP members to preside over the affairs of the state in the event that he imposes emergency rule on them, it will amount to robbing the citizens of those states of their mandate and capturing more states for the PDP..

    ‘’In any case, the affected states are already heavily militarised with the massive deployment of troops there to battle the Boko Haram insurgency, and one wonders what else will change if they are put under emergency rule….beyond just removing elected officials like Obasanjo did wantonly during his tenure,’’ ACN said.

    The party said if the President still finds the state of emergency option the most viable despite the arguments to the contrary, then he should go further by also putting Abuja, where the police headquarters, a military barracks and the UN complex have been bombed; the states in the South where kidnapping has become a daily occurrence as well as the areas where the nation’s crude oil is being stolen in millions of barrels under the state of emergency.

    It advised President Jonathan to stick to dialogue in dealing with the Boko Haram crisis, with the hope that a determined pursuit of the new measures, rather than a half-hearted, made-for-klieg lights posturing, will help end the crisis.

    The CPC described emergency rule as a knee-jack response to security challenges.

    Fashakin said the party suspected a sinister plot to declare emergency rule in the three states.

    The statement said: “There is every reason to believe that the President is contemplating declaration of emergency in three states- Borno, Yobe and Nasarawa – that have been embroiled lately in orgies of violence with attendant fatalities.

    “First, as a party, we condemn in strong terms these orgies of violence in these states.

    “Second, our hearts go out to the families of those whose lives have been cut short by these insurgencies.

    “ We commiserate with the gallant servicemen and women that paid the supreme sacrifice in Yobe, Borno and Nasarawa states while in the service of the nation. We are sure that their labour and sacrifice shall not be in vain.

    “Third, we wish to alert the nation about the sinister plot to invoke emergency rule in these states.”

    The party said recourse to emergency rule would amount to self-serving purposes.

    “The question is, what is the new thing that an administrator will hope to achieve, given the present scenario of militarisation in these states? Should this not be interpreted as another knee-jack response of this administration to situations that require out-of-the-box thinking? Is this approach not to be interpreted as a pre-meditated consequence of ineptitude of this regime?

    “It would be recalled that no other person than the former National Security Adviser, late General Andrew Owoye Azazi, had alerted the nation about the politics of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) being the locus of the insecurity in the nation state.

    “The question is, what did the Federal Government do to stymie the odiousness of the politics of the ruling party other than merely sacking the messenger?

    The statement added: “Fourth, as a party, we have noticed a dangerous trend that the states mainly embroiled in these spates of insecurity are mainly non-PDP states which further fuels the notion that these insurgencies are purposely orchestrated to create the ambience for the declaration of emergency rule in the states.

    “Fifth, on the basis of the foregoing, therefore, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, is vehemently opposed to any declaration of state of emergency because we are convinced that it is not only puerile but meant for self-serving purposes.

    “In this vein, therefore, we reject in its totality this intent at declaring any state of emergency and request the President, as the Leader of the PDP, to consult within his party for the panacea to the nation’s security nightmare.”

    Presidential spokesman Dr. Reuben Abati said at the weekend that no decision had been taken yet on the states that have witnessed escalation of violence as a result of attacks by members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday summoned an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.

    The meeting, attended by all the Service Chiefs, discussed fresh attacks in Bama, Borno State and Nasarawa State that left dozens of policemen dead.

    Dismissing the report of a planned declaration of emergency rule in Nasarawa, Borno, Yobe, Benue and Plateau states, Abati said: “No such decision has been taken and people should stop speculating.

    “The Federal Government is studying the situations in the affected states and would take a decision that would be in the overall interest of the security of not just the people of the states affected but the country.