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Tag: Niger State

  • The power show in Niger

    The power show in Niger

    In the last one week the political landscape of Niger State has been held spellbound by an intriguing power play.  Jide Orintunsin reports.

    Niger State lived up to its acronym, “Power State” last week. Virtually all the three arms of government were involved in a display of power in the state. Even the highly revered traditional institution and retired military generals were all active participants. The security agencies, except the military, lost their status as impartial umpire and got enmeshed in the power show.

    The week began peacefully, full of promises. The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Adamu Usman, did not have an inkling of the imminent turbulence when he summoned members to an executive session at the Press Centre of the assembly complex to discuss sundry matters, especially as it affects their welfare.

    Usman, who had enjoyed unalloyed support of his colleagues, was shocked to his marrow, when he along with three other principal officers, was given till 12 mid-night to ensure that the executive arm release their outstanding allowances, the assembly over-head and imprest being owed since January, all amounting to about N1 billion and to equally secure commitment on when their severance allowance will be paid.

    The tone and body language of the legislators at the executive session, according to a source at the meeting, were unambiguous. The legislators, who were yet to get over their defeat at the April 11 polls, blamed their electoral misfortune on the non-release of their allowances to enable them have adequate funds to pursue their ambition.

    A majority of the members who were in attendance at the executive asked the Speaker and other principal officers to get the governor to meet their demands and feed them back at plenary session later, a decision the Speaker vowed would not be. For Usman, there was no justification for the plenary session.

    It was reliably gathered that the Speaker sought and got executive permit to flood the house on Tuesday with armed policemen, agents of the Department of State Security, DSS, and civil defence, all in a bid to stop the sitting for fear of the inevitable: his impeachment.

    As early as 6:30am, a detachment of over 200 armed security agents with twelve Hilux vans were drafted and stationed around the assembly. The security men stamped their power on and cordoned off the main road leading to the assembly, forming vehicular and human barrier at the gate of the assembly.

    The power show of the police, DSS and civil defence impacted pains on commuters. Their action led to a traffic gridlock as vehicular movement on the ever-busy Minna-Suleja Road and adjacent linkages were brought to a crawl.

    The Clerk of the house, Mohammed Kagara, became the first casualty of the police power show. His arrival early at work was truncated at the gate of the house. He was politely told to go back. Even the production of his staff I.D card and disclosure of his status as the chief custodian of the assembly fell on deaf ears.

    By 9:28am, twelve law makers, led by Hon. Yusuf Kure, had a taste of the power show. A police officer told them they could not drive their cars into the assembly.

    Not deterred by the setback, the law makers decided to walk the 250-metre distance to the gate, only to meet a tougher power show. The House of Assembly Station Officer, Mr. Aaron Sunday, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, denied knowing the law makers. As a matter of fact, Sunday told the law makers he had orders not to allow anybody into the complex.

    After a fierce exchange between the police and the law makers, the security agents caved and allowed the law makers, staff and journalists into the complex.

    Their access to the complex left them with the reality of the absence of the Sergeant-at-arms and the Mace-in-the house symbol of authority. The Clerks appearance and later the Sergeant-at-arms gave hope to the law makers who were spoiling for war.

    No sooner the house settled for business, 19 out of 25 members exercised their powers and impeached the Speaker, Adamu Usman, deputy speaker, Hon. Abdulraham Bala Gambo, Majority leader, Hon. Haruna Labaran and Chief Whip, Hon. Abdullahi Lawal.

    The house also elected the proverbial “rejected stone”, Rt. Hon. Isah Kawu, as the 7th Speaker in the last eight years. Kawu was first elected and removed a week after in a “palace coup” allegedly bankrolled by the executive, only for the impeached Speaker, Usman, to run to the judiciary to stop his colleagues from sacking him. He got his prayers answered, but the court order granting him an interim injunction restraining his colleagues from impeaching him by the state Chief Judge, Justice Fati Lami Abubakar, got to the house about 10 minutes after sitting.

    Even when the police became wild and openly released tear gas to disperse the law makers, their resolve to stick to the impeachment remained unrelenting.

    Moves by Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu to put his executive power to test were deployed. He summoned the new principal officers for a meeting by Wednesday, with the hope of using his oratory prowess to beat the law makers to revert their decision. The law makers stood their ground, at least for once in eight years. They told the governor blatantly that his intervention was belated. The legislators also said further parley with the governor may not hold until security men who are still stationed at the complex are asked to leave.

    Aliyu was stunned by the unrelenting spirit of the members. It dawned on him that with the realisation of the enormity of the power the legislators have and their resolve to exercise it, he may be the next in the line for impeachment. He was gripped with fear and thus ran to the court.

    Unlike the impeached Speaker, Aliyu succeeded. He got Justice Idris Evuti of Minna High Court to impose the power of the bench to restrain the law makers from initiating his (Aliyu) impeachment. The judge fixed hearing of the motion for May 27th, a day to the end of Aliyu’s tenure.

    The judicial option by the governor fell flat on his earlier position that he was never a target for sack by the law makers. He boastfully told who ever cared to listen that the face-off was internal and had nothing to do with him. He said that he was not to be impeached because of the cordial relationship with the legislators.

    Hear him: “The impeachment speculation on me is false and should be treated as such. I have worked with the lawmakers, establishing and sustaining robust partnership to deliver dividend of democracy to people of the state since 2007.

    “I am not the target for impeachment in the crisis that erupted in the Assembly on Tuesday, which led to the sacking of the House’s principal officers, including the Speaker Adamu Usman.

    “Those parading themselves as new leadership led my Hon. Isah Kawu met with me to explain their action and pledged their continuous support.

    “Let me debunk speculation over the alleged impeachment threat against me. The speculation is sponsored by mischief and should be discarded for what it is. I have enjoyed robust relationship with the House and that has not changed.

    “The action of the House is internal and the decision to change leadership has no other ulterior motive than the change of leadership which they have allegedly done. Let me therefore call on my supporters within and outside the country to remain calm.”

    But one of his aides justified the legal option as only being pro-active. “The governor cannot sleep with a fire on his roof. The action is just to protect him from any unholy action by the legislators. If they can remove their Speaker, nobody can be spared,” the aide stated.

    Efforts to engage the royal influence on the law makers also failed in the on-going show of power in the “Power State”. On Thursday, an attempt to make a first traditional ruler and a retired military general to trouble shoot the power show also hit the rock.

    The show of power that has engulfed the state in the last six days may drag on till the end of this administration. The impeached speaker wants to continue to hold sway in the Alhassan Jikantoro House of Assembly, Kawu is not ready to relinquish the mandate this time around, while Governor Aliyu will do everything not to be humiliated out of office as the first governor to be impeached in the state.

    The only reprieve the people of the state have is that virtually all the dramatis personae will be off the political scene by May 29.

  • Niger gets new Speaker

    The impeachment saga ravaging the legislative arm across the country caught up with Niger State House of Assembly Tuesday when 19 of the 25 members of the assembly impeached the Speaker, Hon. Adamu Usman.

    The house also unanimously elected Hon. Isah Mohammed Kawu as the new Speaker.

    Kawu was first elected Speaker in 2012 but was impeached after one legislative week.

    In his acceptance speech, the new Speaker commended his colleagues for honour done him.

    He also called for people’s understanding and appealed that no erroneous meaning be read to the change in leadership of the house.

    Also impeached are deputy speaker, Hon. Abdulraham Bala Gambo, Majority leader, Hon. Haruna Labaran and Chief Whip, Hon. Abdullahi Lawal.

  • 2015 Polls: Large voters’ turnout in Niger

    2015 Polls: Large voters’ turnout in Niger

    In Niger State the turn out of electorates in Minna the state capital was relatively fair while in Kontagora axis of the state, large number of voters were seen on queues as early as 7 am awaiting the electoral officers for accreditation.

    Reports from other parts of the state showed that the accreditation did not start on time but when it eventually did, it was peacefully conducted.

    Unlike during the Presidential and national assembly elections, the Smart Card Reader Machines were found to be more efficient during the elections in most polling units visited.  

    In Bida, Lapai and Mokwa voters came out in large numbers while in Borgu and Magama local government areas of the state accreditation did not start until 9:30am due to late arrival of electoral officers as a result of delay in distribution of election materials.

  • Impunity: Like Nigeria, like Niger State

    Impunity: Like Nigeria, like Niger State

    When the Chinese want to curse you they say “May you live in interesting times,” or some words to that effect. It is hard, if not impossible, to dispute the fact that these are indeed interesting times in Nigeria, as in much of the world, where impunity seems to have become the bye-word for politics.

    Politicians everywhere lie a lot and all too often try to cut corners. But in few countries, if any, do they do so with so much impunity as in Nigeria. Worse still, ours seems to be a country where not only does impunity, by definition, attract no punishment but, on the contrary, is even rewarded.

    Which explains why a top police officer would abuse his uniform, as Joseph Mbu did during his long tour as Commissioner of Police in Rivers State – there he once, for example, stopped the governor from driving into his residence through a particular route at the behest of the First Lady – and a short spell at the Federal Capital Territory where he once illegally tried to stop a demonstration for which he was rightly denounced by the Inspector General at the time, Mohammed Abubakar, and yet get promoted instead of getting sacked.

    This also explains why, now as Assistant Inspector General of Police based in Lagos, Mbu had the nerve to instruct his men to kill 20 civilians for every policeman killed in the event of a breakdown of law and order in the March and April general elections. Happily he has since been quickly denounced once again by his boss, this time Suleiman Abba. Sadly, however, he still remains in his post, and for all you know, may be the next Inspector General, given his purported intimacy with the powers that be in Abuja.

    This level of impunity in the country also explains how a governor-elect would invade the sacred chambers of a court room in his state with a mob, tear court papers and even rough up of a judge, all in a bid to stop the hearing of a petition against his election, and all you get from all three arms of government, the desecrated Judiciary in particular, is pin-drop silence.

    It is the same high level of impunity which explains why the authorities in Abuja would give conflicting and hardly tenable excuses for shifting of the dates of this year’s general elections. First they said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was not ready because it had not distributed enough permanent voters’ cards (PVCs). But when it transpired that INEC had distributed more cards than the average turn-out at Nigeria’s elections since the very first one, they resorted to the bogey of insecurity even though the role of the armed forces has always been the secondary one of last resort in case of serious breakdown of law and order during elections.

    And now that all but few Nigerians have their PVCs, INEC is being told to allow the use of temporary voter cards in a situation where card readers, as a great check against impersonation and rigging, can only read PVCs. Clearly, someone, somewhere, is frightened that for once he would not be able to write results of elections as he has been used to.

    One can go on and on with even more telling examples about why these are indeed interesting times in Nigeria, but AIG Mbu, Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State and the conflicting explanations by the authorities in Abuja for postponing our elections are sufficient evidence that the country has indeed been labouring under a curse.

    And what is true of the country seems to be perhaps even more so of one of its 36 constituent units – Niger State, my home state.

    Nearly one and a half years ago, on October 9, 2013 to be precise, I speculated on the outcome of this year’s governorship election in the state on these pages. My reference point was a full page advert in Daily Trust, which tried to promote the prospects of the deputy governor, Ahmed Musa Ibeto. I said then that Ibeto’s chances of even winning his ruling party’s governorship ticket were slim and his chances of winning the election itself even slimmer, in case he proved me wrong about his chances of clinching the PDP governorship ticket.

    “Chances are,” I concluded in the piece, “the next governor of Niger State may be Abubakar Sani Bello.”

    Since that piece, for which I was widely denounced by friends and foes alike, Bello, the son of Colonel Sani Bello, a former military governor of Kano State and a business mogul from Kontagora, has clinched the governorship ticket of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and, from all indications, the governorship of the state is his to lose.

    However, even in my wildest imagination I never thought Ibeto would lose his party’s ticket to someone who, until he was foisted on the party by Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, was virtually an unknown quantity in the politics of my state, except, of course, for the fact that he is the son of a prominent member of the so-called “Bida Mafia”  namely, the Class of ’62 of Government College, Bida, which has produced possibly the single largest number of army generals in Nigeria, including former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida and former head of state, General Abubakar Abdulsalami – incidentally, the father in law of Bello. Col Bello, the father, was also a member of the class.

    When I wrote my piece in question, I never, again in my wildest imagination, thought that the relationship between Aliyu and Ibeto would deteriorate to the extent that it has, with Ibeto decamping to APC in frustration and his boss ejecting him from executive council meeting last month and going over his head this month to appoint the Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly as acting governor for a period of 10 days while he was away on Umra, the lesser Hajj.

    Governor Aliyu has laboured hard to defend his moves against his deputy but, as is usual when people attempt to defend the indefensible, he and his men have been giving conflicting reasons. In any case, before he moved against his deputy, the governor had given his word that he would never allow his deputy’s defection affect their official relationship. This probably explains why his spirited denial of media reports that he recently said there is no morality in politics has met with widespread skepticism, even cynicism, from the public.

    When the governor announced Umaru Nasko, the son of Major-General Muhammadu Gado Nasko, a former military governor and minister of FCT, as his preferred successor, there was widespread consternation in the state, not least even among its elite. This was first, on account of Nasko Jr’s short-lived and mixed record of public service as a commissioner in the state, and second, on account of unflattering gossips about his rather exuberant lifestyle. Such was the depth of consternation in the state that even his father initially objected to the governor’s intentions of anointing his son as governor.

    However, in the end blood proved thicker than principle – the principle that merit rather than mere pedigree should be the overriding factor in determining who leads society. Here, it must be said that General Babangida deserves fulsome praise for firmly keeping his son, Mohammed, out of the race, essentially on account of the son’s perceived lack of experience in public service.

    What now remains to be seen is whether Governor Aliyu will realise his wish to be succeeded by someone whose main qualification is that he will ask few questions, if any, about the last eight years of virtual stagnation, if not decay, in the state, to put it nicely.

    Given the justly angry mood in the state against the incumbent, as in the entire country against the president – coupled with the fact that the courts on January 30 nullified the election of Dr Nuhu Zagbayi, the PDP candidate widely regarded as the governor’s proxy in the bye-election, which followed the death of Dahiru Awaisu as senator of the governor’s senatorial district, and awarded same to David Umaru, the governor’s APC rival in the March 28 election – it is highly unlikely that the governor will realise his wish.

    As I said nearly 18 months ago, chances are that Niger State’s governor on May 29 will be Abubakar Sani Bello – for better or for worse.

     

    Re:  Unlearn lesson of “June 12”

    Sir,

    With due respect to an eminent columnist, the title of your column (of February 18) should have been “The unlearned lesson of “June 12” not “unlearn.”

    +2348053215757.

    Sir,

    You had nothing to say today (February18) and even simple caption was “unlearnt” (not unlearn).

    +2348038720742.

    Both readers are right on account of the title. It was an inexcusable slip.

    Sir,

    In your column of today (February 18) you inadvertently referred to NRC as the National Republican Party instead of National Republican Convention.

    Sa’idu Liman,

    +2348036220413.

    Sir,

    Have you ever tasted alcohol or perhaps got drunk on it? Please go ahead and indulge yourself on a bottle of wine – you will discover why it is difficult for our leaders to learn from “June 12”.

    K. Banjo,

    +2348033192254.

    Sir,

    It is now evidently clear that Jonathan plans to use the army to rig the polls as in Ekitigate and damn the consequences. The recent attack on OBJ by DHQ points to that and Jonathan’s kinsman is COAS. The polls postponement is to perfect this strategy.

    +2348075476140.

  • FA ELECTION: Niger State inaugurates electoral committee

    TheExecutive Committee of Niger State Football Association has inaugurated a seven man electoral committee to organise and supervise the election of the next executive of the state’s FA.  The committee has been mandated to make a good show of the election scheduled for February 16.

    It also inaugurated a five man appeal committee headed by  Ibrahim Liman Wushishi that would look into all matters arising from the election.

    While announcing the committee, Niger State FA chairman Comrade Ahmed Yusuf Fresh enjoined the members to see the mandate as a service for the growth of football in the state and the nation at large. He reminded them that they had been chosen based on their track record and impressive reputation adding that they must do everything to live to expectation.

    He also said the process of organising and supervising the election process and decisions relating to the election should be in conformity with the NFF electoral code as approved by the NFF General Assembly in Abuja on December  29.

    Comrade Ahmed Yusuf Fresh, who was represented on the occasion by the 1st vice chairman Yabagi Baba extolled the members whom he describe as men of proven integrity.

    The electoral committee is headed by Justice Yusuf Kontagora.  Other members of the committee include Alhaji Yahaya Garba,  Suleiman Isah, Umar Ango Badeggi, DSP John Magaji, Maryam Abdullsalam, Comrade Musa Maitani and Alhaji A A Nagya. The appeal committee has  Liman Ibrahim Wushishi as chairman, while other members are Andy Bala Likate, Saidu Anaba, Abbas Sufiyanu Danlami. Secretary of the committee is Saidu Jagaba who will be assisted by Garba Danfulani.

    In his acceptance speech, the chairman of the electoral committee Justice Kontagora promised to organise an election that will be so free and fair that there would be no need for members to be aggrieved and forced to go to the appeals committee.

    “This assignment is a collective responsibility, I would not let the state football association down but would deliver credible election that members may not run to the appeal committee,” he said.

  • Podium collapses at pro-Jonathan rally, dignitaries wounded

    Podium collapses at pro-Jonathan rally, dignitaries wounded

    The North Central rally of Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) to garner support for President Goodluck Jonathan second term ambition nearly ended abruptly on Saturday  in Minna when thestand  accommodating dignitaries collapsed leaving many people injured.

    The programme was mid-way when at about 11:05am the stand carved in and dignitaries, protocol officers scampered for safety.

    The Niger State governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, deputy governors of Kogi and Sokoton Yomi Awoniyi and Muktar Shagari, the Secretary to the Federal government, Senator Pius Anyim Pius, Senator, Ministers of Information, Water Resources, Internal Affairs, National Planning and Minister of State FCT were among the dignitaries on the stand.

    But the wife of Niger State governor, Hajiya Jumai Babangida Aliyu, her protocol officer, the Senator-Elect for Niger East Senatorial zone, Dr. Shem Zagbayi Nuhu, Director General of Protocol,  Captain M. Baro, Director General Public Affairs, Alhaji Tanko dada, some protocol and detail officers attached to some dignitaries were not lucky. They sustained various degrees of injuries.

    The affected persons were rushed  in National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) ambulances to a Bay Clinic ( a private hospital) and General Hospital in Minna.

    Some of those who were injured had broken heads, hands and legs.

    No sooner peace returned to the arena that dignitaries that those who were not hurt were relocated to the podium set for speech making, while delegates abandoned other stands for fear of collapsing.

    The development forced many delegates to head for their vehicles and returned while the organisers continued to address a very scanty audience compared with the crowd before the collapse.

    Efforts to get the number of victims failed as calls to NEMA officials could not be reached, while government officials were not forth coming.

    The Niger state Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu in his address said that the incident ‎should be regarded as a sacrifice and a sign of success and victory for President Jonathan.

    He blamed the collapse of the VIP stand on the huge crowd on it as well as the crowd at the event, stressing that the place was overcrowded.

    “The place was overcrowded by dignitaries, their security and protocol officers, that is why the place craved in,” he said.

    He however thanked God for minimising the havoc to injuries sustained by few personalities.

     

     

     

     

  • Prisoners to get free education in Niger State

    Prisoners to get free education in Niger State

    The Niger State government is to extend its free basic education and skill acquisition programmes to the inmates of the two prisons in Minna, the Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Danladi Abdulhammed, has said.

    He disclosed this on Monday to journalists in Minna after visiting the two prisons.

    He said the extension of the free education policy to the prison was to ensure that inmates have access to education in order to make them better citizens after serving their terms.

    “We believe that with education, their characters can be remoulded and that they are entitled to education irrespective of their character,” he said.

    Aside from the free education, Abdulhammed promised the inmates that government would soon provide sporting and ICT facilities in the prisons for to help them keep fit.

    The commissioner praised the wife of the state governor, Hajia Jumai Babangida Aliyu for positively impacting the inmates through her literacy and computer training programmes under her pet project, the Life Rehab Programme.

    The state Comptroller of Prison, Musa Mayaki, while conducting the commissioner round the prisons, told him that only 69 of the 292 inmates at the medium prison Minna were convicts.

    At the old prison Minna, Mayaki said the facility with holding capacity of 296 inmates, currently harbours 65 convicts and 280 others on awaiting trial.

  • Terrorism: Niger dislodges radical Islamic sect camp

    Terrorism: Niger dislodges radical Islamic sect camp

    Niger State government on Wednesday dislodged members of a radical and controversial Islamic group, Madinatu Muheenu Nibassiya Islamic sect operating inside a forest near Lapai, Lapai Local Government area of the state.

    This is coming five years after a similar group – Darul Islam Sect was dislodged from a village near Mokwa town.

    No fewer than 240 members of the sect, mostly young men and women found in the camp situated inside the forest on the outskirts of the town were disloged  by joint military group led by Lt. Col Adamu Yakubu and over 40 thatched roof houses built of straws and a new building were levelled down.

    The sect, under the leadership of Sheik Mohammed Abubakar had been at logger heads with members of the public and the traditional ruler of the town, Etsu Lapai, Alhaji Umar Bago Tafida, who accused the leader of the sect of teaching and propagating wrong doctrines that have no root in Islam.

    Members of the group were also accused of fomenting trouble, attacking people who do not share their views, engaging in promiscuous activities and forcefully conducting marriages and dissolving them at will, while members see other Muslims as not well informed like them.

    The problem of the sect heightened when state government on May 13 revoked the Certificate of Occupancy of the land on which the camp was situated following complaints by members of the public that the sect was using the camp as training ground for terrorists.

    A special task force set up by the state government to dislodge and evacuate members of the sect later swung into action by ferrying the sect members out of the camp to their local government areas except for two members who are from Kwara State.

    The Nation learnt that the spiritual leader of the sect and three of his lieutenants are now under interrogation by a security agency in an undisclosed location.

    Addressing members of the task force earlier before the evacuation exercise, Etsu Lapai, Alhaji Umaru Bago Tafida commended the action of the state government in dislodging the group from their camp, saying, “if no action is taken now, the sect will grow to become a terror that will consume all. Already members of the sect have been harassing people unprovoked in the town.

    Speaking, on the development, the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Ndako Idris, said government revoked the land allocation when it was discovered that the land was fraudulently acquired.

  • Niger: Law banning more than four wives approved

    Niger: Law banning more than four wives approved

    Niger State House of Assembly has a passed a bill criminalising Muslims in the State from marrying more than four wives.

    The bill which takes effect from Wednesday, 26th February 2014, makes it a punishable offence for all professed Muslim who have more than four women as wives.

    The State, according to the bill will prosecute any Muslim who contravened the provision of the new law.

    Details later…

  • Sports development: Niger State draws road map

    The Niger State government said it has developed a road map for all round sports improvement in the state.

    The road map, according to state Commissioner for Sports Daniel Shashere will not only affect regular athletes in the state but will equally involve both military and Para military formations. Shashere, who was speaking at a stakeholder’s forum on sports, maintained that the importance of sports to the overall development of the state and by extension the country cannot be over emphasized

    “There should be a synergy between these bodies and the ministry of sports development so as to build a good platform that would make sports to grow in the state. My ministry will encourage cross fertilization of ideas in a bid to move sports forward”.

    The interaction which was first of its kind in the history of the state also explored other meaningful areas of partnership with stakeholders who were encouraged to bring their wealth of experience to bear on the attempt at taking all sports in the state to the zenith.

    Shashere assured that government is ready to intensify efforts in the provision and improvement of facilities with a view to encouraging all become fully integrated in sports in the state.