The Nation Newspaper

Tag: POWER

  • Power, business and politics

    The  influential  and well known Forbes  Magazine has released  its annual list of the rich and mighty  of the world  and as a Nigerian I am proud  that Nigeria’s Business  mogul,  Alhaji  Dangote at No 41 on the list,  is the most powerful  man in Africa . I  am sure that  the self – effacing  Nigerian business man who  made Dangote Sugar and Dangote Cement household  consumer  products in Nigeria  will be very amused by the categorization  which puts his assets at $16.1  bn .This   really should have made him the richest man in Africa and not the most, as even in Nigeria he himself will  be the first to admit that  he is not the most powerful, not to talk  of Africa.

    The list  has the first four most powerful persons  in the world as Russia’s President Vladmir Putin who  displaced US President Barak Obama to second place, with China’s President Xi Ping in third and Pope Francis, leader  of the Catholic Church,  as fourth. It  is my contention today that Forbes  erred in categorizing our Dangote as the most powerful man in Africa and should have categorized him as the richest and most socially responsible African,  given his public spirited philantrophy which  marks him out as a rare fish  in the murky waters of African politics and business; not to talk  of the corrupt cesspool in Nigeria from where somehow and some what, Dangote  has been successful to raise his head and those of  his many businesses above water  and  shine  globally like a million stars. I go  on to tell the publishers of Forbes Magazine that in Nigeria the most powerful man is the occupant of Aso Rock,  our presidential palace  and  it does not matter whether  he comes from Sokoto or Kano or from the creeks of the Niger Delta  or even Abeokuta or Minna  the two  towns  to have produced two former heads of state in this nation to date. The  incumbent at Aso Rock wields enormous power in Nigeria and that is what the 2015 elections is about to confirm and that does not mean the situation is right or wrong . It is plain reality  and political pragmatism which the highly influential Forbes magazine has ignored  to put  extravagant search light  instead  on a hard working Nigerian providing jobs and opportunites  for millions  of Nigerians regardless of their race, tribe or religion  by  assessing him on the wrong criterion of political power.

    Today  however  I comment on the first four most  powerful men in the world  and show why and how they deserve such honor, and my reservations, if any, on the categorization. I then sneak in some observations on the announcement by the President  Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya that he has opened a web site for Kenyans to  send information directly to him on corruption and corrupt officials in Kenya. Of course I  will  attempt a comparison with Nigeria in the light of Oduah gate  and the  Nigerian government’s approach  to the fight against corruption.

    On  the honor of being the most powerful man in the world,  let me first of  all congratulate the Russian president, especially for displacing the American president from the No1 slot. I say  this with all seriousness because no one has worked harder than the judo black belt Russian to hold on to power by all and any means and restore Soviet pride now ably replaced by Russian diplomatic power and now acknowledged globally by this Forbes Magazine recognition. In similar vein, no one  has been more assiduous than  the current US president and administration in ensuring that the US loses its premiere position or that of its president as the most powerful man in the world and the reasons are there to see even though they appear  lost in plain sight in Washington. To  me the Syrian  crisis and Obama’s handling of it after blowing hot and cold, torpedoed the US president from  the most powerful man in the world and ceded it to Russia, the nation that held the US by the balls and backed the butcher of Damascus to the hilt in spite of the use of chemical weapons which the US said several times it had evidence of its use, but could not muster  the will  topunish the culprit nation-Syria. Instead,  Russia under Putin put its feet down behind Syria and outsmarted US  foreign policy by floating a bait of  chemical weapons destruction which the US swallowed  blindly and forgot its pursuit of limited strike for the use of  chemical weapons on its own people by  the Assad Regime holed up in Damascus.

    The US diplomatic blunder in Syria has given a global boost  of recognition  to President Putin which can only magnify his hold on power and boost his popularity  at home, while making life more difficult for opposition Russian leaders who  have been encouraged to challenge Putin’s leadership in the last parliamentary and presidential elections  at US instigation and  offer to provide local support and international monitoring of violations of human rights by the Putin  regime. This categorization of Putin  as the most powerful man in the world makes his position in Russia unassailable as  this  has boosted the ego,  pride and patriotism of Russians that  now  has returned to its  pre eminent position as a rival to the US as in the Cold War  era  of the Soviet Union. Certainly  the US loss  of prestige in this Forbes categorization is Russia  and Putin’s gain indeed.

    With regard  to China’s President occupying the position of the third most powerful man in the world  I  see that as a very temporary situation indeed. In  a couple of years I see the Chinese leader occupying the No 1  slot as the most powerful  man in the world. I see him overtaking the US  president  who in a year’s time would have become a lame duck president and who right now is battling with even his allies to explain why the US National Security Authority has been bugging the leaders of friendly sovereign states –  especially Germany as revealed by the Snowden files being published at random by the European press. Again, as  if adding salt to injury the US

    Treasury Department in its latest report  this week queried the manner  and  direction of  economic growth of Germany based on exports and said that it is not good for EU growth which really was in bad taste at least in terms of timing.  On its own, in terms of global diplomacy China has been a consistent ally of Russia in foiling US attempts to act on Syria  and  is  also  the largest buyer of US treasuries. Given new Snowden files revelation that the US  asked Japan  to help it spy on China and Japan refused,  there is no limit to how low US prestige will plummet over the Snowden spy revelations especially with China. For  now China is busy making new friends with low interest infrastructure loans in Africa  especially Nigeria at a time when developing nations are shying away from IMF  loans and its never ending repayment arrangements and    socially destructive conditionalities. Yet  China  is a communist nation de facto and de jure,  with one million Communist Party of China card carrying members, lording it over a billion Chinese people. For now China holds five year party conferences to review party and government programs and changes its leaders once in 10 years  and that creates stability according to Chinese leaders. Which really is contentious but it depends on the type of democracy you want or hanker after  and its objectives and values.

    With regard to the fourth most powerful man in the world, Pope Francis, there is not much to say other than that he is certainly very different from his predecessor Pope Benedict xvi  the first Pope in 600  years  to abdicate. Benedict  XVI  fought cultural wars against gays and lesbians, abortion and insisted that the Catholic church must resist such’ fashions of the times‘ and remain  loyal  to its dogmas. But  the church  under him was plagued with the stigma of charges of child abuse  by priests and massive compensation  by the church  to avert embarrassing  trials. Pope  Francis has come in to highlight the plight of the poor and the care of prisoners like

    Francis of Assisi before him. In  addition Pope  Francis  seems to be asking for reprieve for gays and a need for married priests which may roughen some nerves in Africa  on cultural grounds. Yet  the Pope commands a lot of respect and love as his first act on being  made pope was to ask  the multitude to pray  for him. I have no doubt that he has the intellectual fibre to carry  the  millions  of the world’s Catholics with him but he certainly needs prayers  on gay rights and same sex marriage in Africa where the Catholic Church is growing fastest,  globally.

    Lastly  President Uhuru Kenyatta’s web site on corruption is a step in the right direction but Kenya should learn to respect cctv footage first to combat crime, terrorism  and corruption. This week two security operatives were  sacked  and jailed for looting during the West gate Mall nightmare in Nairobi. But  instead of Kenyan authorities acting swiftly on the clear cctv footage, they first asked the press  how it got the information and ominously  on  the use of unauthorized information. That certainly will deter people from visiting the Kenyan president’s web site to give information on corruption as no one wants to enter a  powerful security booby trap.

    It  is similar to the situation on our own Oduahgate when government‘s  first reaction was to find out  who  the whistle blower  was instead  of swooping  on the  NCAA  with security operatives. In the interim in spite of the daily revelations the Minister travelled to Israel to meet the president on pilgrimage and to sign an aviation treaty. Meanwhile  the National Assembly Committee on the matter was quarelling that the Minster had refused to meet it as requested for over 10  times which really is a grave charge if true. On  my part I

    think the Minister  should be given her day in the National Assembly when she returns from her Israeli  trip. Who  knows what spiritual transformation she could have undergone to make her explain  the reasons for the armored car purchases. Certainly if Saul  could be transformed on the way to Damascus a similar thing could happen to our besieged Minister as Israel is not far from Syria. The danger however is that modern Damascus  is under fire and going to Abuja may seem the same  to this Minister. Which  really, under the circumstances is a  great  pity indeed.

  • Jonathan promises stable power in 2014

    Jonathan promises stable power in 2014

    •Inaugurates Omotosho plant

    POWER supply will be stable before the end of 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday reassured Nigerians.

    He said the completion of the ongoing 10 Independent Power Projects (NIPP) spread across the country will make this become real.

    The President gave this assurance while commissioning the NIPP 500MW Omotosho II Power Station at Omotosho community in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo state.

    Jonathan noted that the 10 power plant stations when completed before the end of first quarters of 2014 will add 5280MW to the nation’s capacity.

    He said the projects were part of his administration’s effort in providing stable power supply.

    According to him” “My administration is committed to boost electricity supply in the country. Today, we are in Ondo State to commission Omotosho power plant that will also serves, the people of these areas and improve electricity supply in the country.”

    The President also explained why his administration privatised the power sector.

    He said it was to make the sector more vibrant like the banking and telecommunication.

    He stressed that the just commissioned Omotosho power plant would also be handed over to private company to commence proper work.

    Jonathan added that the confidence the private sector has in his administration had made them to invest $3billion for the development of the nation’s power supply.

    The President also disclosed that arraignments were under way to fund the electricity liability companies.

    On the agitation of workers of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the President assured that they will soon be paid their allowances, urging them not to embark on any industrial action.

    The Minister of Power, Prof. Ositadinma Nebo, said the newly commissioned project will serve people of Ondo, Okitipupa, Igbokoda, Ilu-titun, Akure and others thereby reducing the feeder pillers from Oshogbo in Osun State.

    Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, said his administration has embarked on a 30 megawatt power plant to supplement the newly commissioned power project.

    The governor added that the 30 MW when completed will serve the industrial sector of the state.

    He urged the President to quickly commence the transmission of the new power plant to the beneficiary communities.

     

  • Power play

    The above title is actually a wee bit misleading; it ought to be, playing with power – the power sector reform that is. If you have focused on Nigeria’s government as long as and as intensely as Hardball, you are bound to begin to see government officials as a bunch of comedians who have turned comical acts into statecraft or vice-versa. They seem to be possessed of the will, the wile and the immense capacity to do everything else but that which will benefit the people. And like people who are permanently afflicted with some peculiar dementia, they carry on their puppetry from age to age, from generation to generation without qualms.

    Why is Hardball going off the tangent in this manner? Simple, one would think that after all the hoopla about Nigeria’s power situation, all the money gone down the drains and the need to respond in an emergency fashion if need be, would drive the government of the day to pay an especial attention to the sector and deliver results at all costs. But that is not the way of the Nigerian government; nothing is sacred or sacrosanct for government around here it seems. The power roadmap which was presented to the public with fanfare by President Goodluck Jonathan had neither a road nor a map as it crashed shortly after the ‘show’.

    About two years down the line, the power sector reform agenda has been topsy-turvy with results (if really any) coming in fits and start. Just last week, labour issues of the staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, which have lingered for so long and which we were told was to be sealed last May still linger. PHCN workers vow to resist handover to the new power firms, was the ominous headline last Monday. And the story reads: “Employees of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria have vowed to resist the takeover of the electricity distribution and generation companies by successful buyers until all outstanding payments are made.”

    About N400 billion was reportedly set aside for this huge pay off after a most protracted – well, let’s call it negotiations – and we were told that 75 percent of these soon-to-be-laid-off workers have been paid. But here we are, the job apparently has only been done after the fashion of comedians. However, nothing has so far exposed the lackadaisical and duplicitous manner of the so-called power sector reform than the current shenanigans at the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, (Enugu Disco). Out of the 14 preferred bidders seeking to take over Nigeria’s generation and distribution companies, all but one met the August 21, 2013 deadline for paying up. The rule is that when the preferred bidder fails to pay on deadline, the reserved bidder almost automatically steps up to give a go at the bid.

    But the Bureau of Public Enterprises, (BPE) ,under such circumstance, ought to promptly trigger a meeting with the Technical Committee (TC) of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP). Such crucial meeting has however been stalled endlessly leaving the chairman of the TC, Atedo Peterside, with no recourse but to go to the press. Peterside says in a recent statement: “The reason we are unable to meet is because the DG of BPE… has surreptitiously vetoed all my efforts to convene a meeting of our technical committee of recent.” He added, “As you are all aware, the Technical Committee serves as an advisory/due process watchdog over the BPE and we are accountable to the NCP. Accordingly, I find the DG’s surreptitious attempt to keep us in the dark objectionable in the extreme.” It is said that Peterside had earlier written the DG of BPE informing him that allowing an extension to a preferred bidder amounts to granting it an unauthorised discount apart from degrading the integrity of the privatisation process.

    What is at issue here is power play; playing around with the destiny of the people and a troubling, ingrained corruption that seems to have no cure. Still wondering why we grope in the dark ages?

     

     

     

  • The new balance of power

    The new balance of power

    After the dust settled at the last general elections in 2013, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) retained its dominance in the polity – accounting for 23 out of the nation’s 36 gubernatorial seats. With the dramatic events that played at yesterday’s mini-convention in Abuja, the balance of power in Nigeria has been radically altered.

    With the factionalisation of the party – and almost certain loss of seven governors, the PDP will be left in control of just 16 states. That position could marginally improve if it manages to win at November’s Anambra State gubernatorial election. But that is still a far cry from controlling 23 states.

    Today’s reality is that a party with overweening hubris used to describe itself as ‘Africa’s largest party’, is fast shrinking before our very eyes in the run-up to 2015. With loyalty not the strong suit of the Nigerian politician, the prospect of more governors abandoning a sinking ship cannot be overruled.

     

  • IBM chief urges Fed Govt to fix power

    American multinational technology and consulting firm, International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation, has urged the Federal Government to attend to the power needs of the country so that application of technological solutions to solve problems could easily fall in line.

    The General Manager, IBM West Africa, Taiwo Otiti, said if the Federal Government focuses on fixing the power deficit, so many other things will be alright.

    He said stability in the services offered by telecoms operators is vital because it is on their networks that services like e-transaction, mobile money and other forms of electronic payments ride. He added that seamless transaction may be wishful thinking if there is no constant power supply.

    “I think the main issue in telecoms is not just stability, majority of the cell sites are running on generators. So if the Federal Government can fix the power (sector), you will see a big transformation because if a generator goes down, the cell site also goes down and therefore, the nearest cell site which might be congested at that particular moment, your PoS (Point of Sale) is diverted to that one. So there are many issues. The major issue around it is power. If you fix power (the success of the initiative would be assured). It (power) has a big role to play in ensuring the success of the initiative,” he said in an interview.

    According to him, operators run cell cites on generators. This situation implies that once in a while, there will be hitches in services as the generators will need to be refuelled and serviced at a particular point in time.

  • ‘Power should shift to Ekiti South’

    ‘Power should shift to Ekiti South’

    Former Group Managing Director, Wema Bank Plc and governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2014 election in Ekiti State, Mr Adebisi Omoyeni, has said that former governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose, and the Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade, are not in the race for the PDP gubernatorial ticket.

    Omoyeni, who spoke in Lagos, said he has never considered the duo as posing stumbling block to his clinching the PDP ticket.

    “I have said it elsewhere before now, that both Caleb Olubolade and Ayodele Fayose are not in the race.  Any party that picks a candidate from the South has won the election by 50 per cent in Ekiti State because people are ready; they know it is their time. And you know that we, the Ekiti people, don’t compromise. We don’t allow cheating and things must be properly done. There is an agreement in place and that agreement must be followed to the letter,” he said.

    Omoyeni said that it took him about two years to agree to the challenge to seek election “because I’m a very busy person with work to occupy my time 24 hours of the day,”. He added that his acceptance to run for in the next election was part of his service to the people of Ekiti State.

    “I am going there as service to my people. But, if we start talking of consensus, that means there must be criteria put in place. It is similar to going for an interview where specific criteria are used to assess every candidate, such as capacity, capability and integrity and I know I can scale through every one of them.

    “Also, another thing you have to realise is that, even in the South, Ikere is one local government and it is both Ikere and Ado-Ekiti by the strength of their votes – being the largest towns in Ekiti, that decide who becomes a governor. I’m from Ikere and my mother is from Ado and I have been a good child, not just to both local governments, but to the whole of Ekiti,” he said.

    Omoyeni said that, with what God has done through him, when he didn’t have any ambition, he believes that “the coast is clear; it is divinely arranged, it is beyond me.”

    Asked if he can still work with Fayose, whom he had previously served as deputy, Omoyeni said that, of all the aspirants, he is the only one that is not controversial.

    “I’m the only one that relates with everybody because a leader must be a leader and not to be seen teaming up with A to fight B and even, when they fight, you should be able to reconcile them,” he said.

  • Power sector and spin-doctors

    Power sector and spin-doctors

    Nigerian power problem seems to defy solution, not because of lack of good intentions or efforts on the part of our leaders, but because such efforts have often been designed to fail. Tragically, like most intractable man-made Nigerian problems, the same leaders, the source of the sector’s woes and some victims of their greed often go spiritual, asking for divine intervention. Like typical victims of underdevelopment, some have said the sector is doomed because its headquarters was dedicated to the Yoruba god of thunder. Some have even suggested three days of national fasting and prayers. Unfortunately, the current efforts of the Jonathan administration, designed and packaged by the same set of leaders that derailed the previous efforts including the Obasanjo roadmap, is not likely to end the nightmare of Nigerian victims of PDP inept handling of the power sector in the last 14 years. The omen from the unfolding events in the last three weeks, gives no assurance of any form of solace to troubled Nigeria electricity consumers.

    For instance, last week, about 60 licensed Independent Power Producers (IPPs), owned by some PDP leaders or their sympathizers, under the aegis of (IPPAN), led by its chairman, Professor Jerry Gana, a former minister of information, current chairman of University of Lagos Governing Council and a permanent feature in every PDP administration since 1999, visited the Ministry of Power to give

    government a set of conditions before the IPPS can effectively take off.

    Chief among the body’s demand is government granting to IPPs, a waiver for the importation of gas-related machinery and equipment.  Others include government funding and supply of pre-paid meters, government provision of funds that could be readily available should the bulk trader not meet up with its commitments and finally taking cognizance of uncertainties related to operating independent electricity plants, they appealed to government not to leave them alone entirely, but to consider taking shares in their various companies. “We are craving the support of government by way of equity participation. We are open to government coming to take 5 -10 per cent equity in our companies just like it is doing for the newly acquired DISCOs.” They are probably asking for what happened in the aviation industry.

    The government through the minister has agreed that ‘on equity participation, whenever the Federal Government through the National Council on Privatization (NCP) arrives at putting in shares in the

    sector, we will be ready to assist the IPPs by owning equities in the IPP companies. We are ready to do whatever will promote or facilitate an enabling environment for IPPs to thrive,” It is obvious those who will benefit from such self serving policy of government reinvesting in private firms after divesting its interest and selling public firms held in trust for the people to private concerns at such scandalous

    amounts which has prompted probes set up by government to direct some of the firms be taken back.

    If we need further evidence that president Jonathan Roadmap for Power Sector Reform  whose focus  is ‘market reform, change of the current ownership, attracting new investment in generation into the market, expanding the transmission capacity, providing for government divestment’, like the 2005 Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSR Act), which called for ‘unbundling the national power utility company into a series of 18 successor companies: six generation companies, 11 distribution companies covering all 36 Nigerian states, and a national power transmission company, is not going to bring relief to Nigerians soon, the interview Dagogo Jack, the chairman of the presidential task-force on power as well as member of presidential Committee on Power, is all that is required.

    Asked if there is a time frame for the new licensed firms to start yielding dividends, he said since government  has no control over private firms, the best government can do is to ensure they ‘sustain the current 4500MW level, if they cannot increase it’.

    What has become apparent is that PDP inherited a little over 200MW from Abacha’s regime.  This according to Segun Agagu, minister of power under Obasanjo, was moved up to 4,200MW in 2002. There was no evidence of any further improvement until the end of Obasanjo’s tenure. But then it was PDP men themselves that alleged a rip off.

    First, President Yar Adua, Obasanjo successor alleged that over ‘$10 billion was spent on power by the Obasanjo administration with nothing to show it’. The Speaker of the House Representatives, Dimeji Bankole’s put the amount frittered away at over $16 billion, while the House power probe committee Chairman, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu’s figure was $13 billion. President Jonathan’s own three year road map after an alleged expenditure of 8 billion dollars has pushed the power capacity to 4,517MW (miserable 4% of what South Africa generate) in December 2012.

    In other words, after eleven years, and expenditure of between 18 and 24 billion dollars depending on which of the PDP leading members’ figures you want to adopt, PDP secured a marginal gain of about 2500MW.

    This was in fact wildly celebrated by the then minister for Power, Professor Bath Nnaji who announced gleefully that “With regards to generation, Nigeria is moving ahead by ‘leaps and bounds’, adding that the ‘only problem facing the sector was that of transmission.’ (His transmission firm is to be commissioned soon in Aba by President Jonathan) In fact the president was less restrained. He told CNN Christian Amanpour in far away New York that Nigerians were celebrating his unprecedented achievement in the power sector, a claim which forced the ever resourceful CNN anchor woman to ask for prove from residents of darkness enveloped Lagos.

    But one thing has remained constant. The same set of PDP men, involved in PDP ‘family war’ over the power sector  are also today actively involved in the on-going new efforts either as ministers, governors, senators or IPPs members or as wild celebrants of the absurd.

    Two weeks ago, the nation witnessed a significant drop from the peak of 4,517MW attained on December 21, 2012 to 3,443MW, a drop Prof. Chinedu Nebo, the new power minister attributed to the shutdown of the Chevron gas plant, while admonishing to Nigerians ‘to learn to cope with this type of experience each time there was to be a routine maintenance’.

    And as if we are all pupils of kindergarten, it was this period Dr Doyin Okupe, the president’S Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs chose to celebrate the report of NOI polls, carried out in July 2013 which curiously indicated that 53 percent of Nigerians sampled in the exercise were satisfied with the President’s performance, with majority of respondents attributing the high approval rating to improvement in power supply across the country.

    Okupe remains unrestrained.  According to him, “It is expected that by the time most of the hydro power dams which are currently been rehabilitated also resume operations by the end of September, (40 days from now) most Nigerian cities will have more hours of power supply from the National grid…” Dr. Okupe was not done:‘The implication of this and other reforms, “is that without any doubt, before the end of 2014, Nigerians’ long held dream of joining the worlds list of countries with uninterrupted power supply will be closer in reality than it has ever been,’ he triumphantly declared.

    And working on the theory that Nigerians have short memories, he ignored the fact that it was in June, a month before the survey that the Minister of State for Power, Zainab Kuchi, after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC), publicly declared: “We have 160 million Nigerians now and we are only giving power to 40 million of that population, what it means is that there are about 120 million Nigerians that are without power and wish to buy power”.  The minister for power, Nebo, who was present at the press briefing also added “the situation where only 25 per cent of Nigerians have access to electricity is a nightmare caused by human beings used by evil forces”.

    I think it is pointless asking how Dr Okupe and his pollster arrived at 53%.

  • Retiring Rivers CJ slams politicians’ abuse of power

    Retiring Rivers CJ slams politicians’ abuse of power

    The retiring Chief Judge of Rivers State Dr. Iche Ndu, has advised judges to be wary of the antics of politicians in the discharge of their duties.

    Justice Ndu gave the admonition in his farewell address in Port Harcourt, the state capital, yesterday.

    He accused government of gross abuse of power and urged the judiciary especially the judges to be cautious in dispensing justice.

    The former CJ equally condemned indiscriminate seeking of exparte motion order of injunction by politicians saying it amounts to abuse of the judiciary.

    He lauded the State High Court judges for their steadfastness in upholding the ethics of their jobs and urged them to maintain same as his successor takes over from today.

    “Each of you remained honest and focused in your job; the result is that none of you ever faced the disciplinary trials of the National Judicial Council.

    “Continue to remain upright, fearless but fair and objective in your dispensation of justice, no matter whose ox is gored.

    “That is more so now that though 2015 is still far away, the High court are inundated with many political matters.

    “The time is therefore perilous and at such a time, remembers the admonition of St. Paul to the Christians in Ephesus: see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the times for the days are evil.

    “At this time you should pay attention to what they have always do; and that is the granting of ridiculous ex-perte order of injunction.

    “The jurisdiction of the court to grant an order ex-Parte is an extraordinary one , while it takes care of any urgent situation which if not made before a respondent, has been served leads to an irreparable damage.

    “ If granted, it is meant to last not more than seven days to hear the motion on notice on the same relieve. It is not the time to aid the applicant spring a surprise to respondent(s); such will amount to intolerable, if not illegal order.

    “And for goodness sake if on the day fixed to take a contentious ex-parte application the respondent or his counsel appears in court, there is no need hiding the motion away from him, this is because the essence of making application ex-parte is because there will be no time to serve the adverse party if an alleged irreparable damage is done

    “Again, a judge should not by a temporary order of injunction create a new status quo or destroy the existing one. Make sure you don’t put your career on the line no matter the pressure.”

    President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Okey Wali accused the judiciary of corruption in the discharge of its duties.

    According to him, “ Corruption is a major cause of poverty around the world. It occurs at all levels of the society, both local and national government, civil society, judiciary, large and small businesses, military and service chiefs among others.

    “The worse kind of corruption is judicial corruption. It is the specie that signal final decay, it is the venus that suggests societal suicide. Only the judiciary occupies a priestly office. The judiciary is entrusted with near divine office of deciding life and death, of adjudicating finally controversies and disputes among facet of the society including the other estates of the realm,” he said.

    The retiring CJ is the sixth CJ since Rivers State was created 46 years ago(1967).

    He served in the office for 12 years. The NJC has already named a serving female High court Judge, Ms. Diasy W. Okocha, elder sister to the past president of NBA, OCJ Okocha, as the next CJ.

    She is expected to assume office today.

     

  • Power: ‘Nigeria needs sight years to meet 10,000mw target’

    It will take Nigeria at least eight years to move from its current 4000 to 10000 megawath (MWs) of electricity, the General Manager, Shoreline Group, Mr Gabriel Okoebor, has said.

    The country will also need the same member of years to become self- sufficient in power distribution and generation.

    Speaking during the re-launch of the Shoreline Panel firm as Shoreline Panel Services in Lagos, Okoebor said it was not possible for the country to provide thousands of mega watts within a short-term period, in view of the cost and technicalities involved. Shoreline Panel Services is one of the entities within the group acquired from ADD Energy in 2005.

    He said: “Many thousands of megawatts are required in Nigeria and it could take eight years to be available. Focus and emphasis should be placed on industries as well. The banking sector is taking a positive step in the right direction as the Central Bank governor has issued a directive that all banks located in a specified areas should pull their resources together and use a single power plant instead of using big generators.”

    He added: “It takes a minimum of seven years to complete a power plant, while two years is needed to import install turbines.”

    He said investment in the energy sector is long-term, adding that the near incompletion of many power plants could be attributed to the problems in the industry.

    He also said the government’s efforts to provide stable electricity could only be achieved when the supply and distribution chains are well- taken care of.

    He added the firm has rendered services to local and international institutions in recent times.

    The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has pledged to support investments in Nigeria that will add 1,500 megawatts to the national grid between now and 2016.

    The firm said such investment would go a long way in providing electricity for no fewer than 8.0million people in Nigeria.

    Speaking with reporters in Lagos, the IFC’s Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Jean Phillipe Prosper, said the corporation had signed a mandate to provide financing for one or more power generation companies.

    He said the corporation aims to provide similar support for two or more generation companies, adding that it would also support close to three power distribution companies in Nigeria.

    He said the project is built into IFC’s Energy Business Plan, while it is also considering participation in the country’s gas-to-power project.

    According to him, under the Energy Business Plan, each World Bank institution will leverage its competencies and products to provide solutions to projects that encourage their viability and contribute to the sustainability of the sector.

    Prosper further said the World Bank Group has put together an Energy Business Plan that will allow IFC,the World Bank and MIGA to help address key project structuring issues and boost power supply in the country.

    He said IFC and other institutions of the World Bank Group are committed to supporting Nigeria with targeted interventions in the power sector that will facilitate demonstration projects and boost investor confidence to contribute to better living standards.

    Prosper said the corporation’s expenditure in Nigeria between July 1, 2012 and June 30, this year grew to $1.5 billion.

    He said the IFC plans to issue $1billion bond in the capital market before the end of the year, adding that the bond represents an evidence of great confidence IFC has in the nation’s economy.

  • Power can’t shift to North now, says Ebute

    Power can’t shift to North now, says Ebute

    Former Senate President Ameh Ebute yesterday faulted the agitation for power shift to the North.

    He said the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), led by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, lacked the mandate to speak for the three zones in the region.

    The lawyer and politician noted that the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the NEF were insensitive to the mounting support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition in the North, especially in the North Central and Northeast.

    He urged the region to be patient.

    Ebute said: “The North has ruled for an uninterrupted 16 years between 1979 and 1999. It produced five Heads of State – Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Gen. Sani Abacha and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar – and nobody organised Boko Haram during that long period.”

    The former Senate President, who described himself as a “Middle Belt elder” and not a Northern elder, praised Jonathan for his “unlimited tolerance”.

    According to him, the President has endured insults and attacks by party chieftains in an atmosphere of party indiscipline.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, who is also the leader of the “Congress for Equality and Change” and member of the “National Unity Group”, blamed the five PDP governors currently on nationwide consultation with eminent Nigerians for allegedly creating a crisis in the ruling party.

    He dismissed the conditions for a truce between them and the President, adding that their demands were against the 1999 Constitution, the PDP Constitution and the Electoral Law.

    Ebute addressed reporters in Lagos on the Jonathan administration, the Rivers State crisis, the PDP crisis and power shift to the North.

    He said the agitation for power shift to the North lacked merit, because Jonathan has millions of supporters in the North rooting for his second term ambition and because he has also performed well.

    The former Senate President said it was wrong to insinuate that the entire North was clamouring for power shift.

    He said: “The Middle Belt and North Central do not fall into the definition of the North they are talking about…”

    Ebute regretted that some politicians were twisting the meaning and interpretation of zoning, which he said has no clear definition in the PDP constitution.

    He said: “There is this unclear definition of zoning. We have six geo-political zones. Once the Presidency goes to a zone, the formula is being implemented. The South South has not produced the President before. It is fair and just that it should go to the South South, according to the PDP constitution.”

     

     

    “Zoning must have a human face so that the zone that has not had it before should have it. The North should wait until President Jonathan finishes his second term, since the President is from the South South. The North should wait. They are talking about the North. I don’t know whether the Middle Belt is inclusive. As soon as he completes his second term, it can come to the North and the three zones there will compete for it. The North is not solely the Northwest.”

    The Benue State-born politician blamed Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi for his alleged over-ambition.

    He said: “If I were the President, Amaechi would not have gone far. The President is tolerant. The action of Amaechi amounts to indiscipline. He is over ambitious. He wants to be the Vice President. This made him to take steps that amounted to anti-party activity.”

    Reminded that a qualified citizen has the inalienable right to vie for any position, Ebute said that “ambition should be expressed within the context of party discipline”.

    Ebute chided the five PDP governors for reeling out conditions that were against the law, advising them to retrace their steps.

    He added: “The demands of the five governors are contrary to the constitution, the PDP Constitution and the Electoral Law. They said the National Chairman of the PDP should be removed. The National Chairman was elected based on the PDP constitution. The President lacks the power to remove him. He can only be removed by the National Convention. They said they want to be state leaders of the party. They are already the leaders of the party in the states. This is not based on the law. The state chairmen of the party are the state leaders.”

    The Third Republic senator said the All Progressives Congress (APC) lacked the strength to dislodge the PDP in the proposed general elections. He described Gen. Buhari as a leader in his native Northwest zone and not the leader of the North. Ebute added: “If I go into the history of Nigeria, I will tell you that the merger will not work. I and Tinubu were detained in Lagos. Buhari was Abacha’s adviser as the Chairman of the PTF. Tinubu should be careful. What happened to us in 1994 may happen again.”