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Tag: President

  • President should assent the budget

    SIR: Almost a year down the line, the conditions of living of the citizenry have only gone from bad to worse,   the APC government has continued to blame every of their unpreparedness on the “atrocities” and “misgovernance” of the 16 years of PDP rule.

    The fact that the APC isn’t fully prepared for governance has been exposed through the series of crises and supremacy battles that the party have been enmeshed in since they took over the mantle of leadership. It became glaring that APC has no iota of idea or solution to the lingering problems and challenges confronting this country when some individuals and leaders of the party, instead of lending a voices and advising the president on how best to get Nigerians out of the present unbearable economic hardship, have continued to engage themselves in a battle for control of the soul of the party. The way and manner the APC has conducted itself so far since the crisis that characterized the selection of leaders of the National Assembly, the Kogi State gubernatorial election logjam, and the ongoing travails of the Senate President, to which the party has remained mute has portrayed the APC as a political party that is not well organized and lacked the capacity to resolve simple crisis.

    The controversies that have characterized the 2016 budget cannot be unconnected with the division and disunity in the APC. And just as Nigerians were expecting President Buhari to assent the 2016 Appropriation Bill already passed by the National Assembly, the executive instead is set to begin another round of controversy accusing the National Assembly of deliberately altering the budget by expunging some key capital projects only to replace them with others that are not in tune with the policy and thinking of the present government.

    The presidency and the APC should be properly advised on the implication of a further delay in assenting the budget on the wellbeing of Nigerians who are already passing through the most inhumane and extremely difficult economic challenges. There is no justifiable point in withholding or delaying assent since the President is empowered by law to transmit a supplementary budget which would capture the capital projects in contention to the National Assembly.  It’s high time the APC puts it house in order and stop grounding governance to a halt as a result of the “cold war” and crisis in the party. President Buhari should as a matter of urgency assume the leadership position of the APC and call the shots forthwith to curb the excesses of a few individuals who have constituted themselves into a cabal, using their vantage positions in the party to create chaos.

    The President should sign the budget now and commence its speedy implementation; this is what Nigerians and Nigeria needs at the moment. We have suffered enough!

     

    • Hussain Obaro,

    Ilorin, Kwara State.

  • Open Letter to the President

    SIR: As a common Nigerian, I decided to wait for a year before congratulating you on your electoral victory after three unsuccessful attempts.

    Explicitly, you ascendancy to the seat of power is the will of God coupled with the support of the majority of Nigerians, The nation wanted a change from men like you, with the support of honest citizens to fight that monster called corruption and unemployment which is the bane of the country’s development.

    Being eager for a change, I registered with the APC in August, 2013 when Chris Ngige wanted to contest the Anambra State governorship. At 70 years now with four unemployed graduates, (the first came out since 2003), I could no longer continue to feed or cater for them that’s why I used my vote and my little donation I can muster to effect a change.

    If employments were still done on merit, order of precedence or strictly competition as were done in the good old days when big companies and ministries rush to universities to pick young brilliant graduates for employment, people like me would still have hope. But my greatest fear today is that most appointments and promotions have become a reserve for a clique of privileged few, recycling their cronies. With all these excesses where then do we go from here?

    Agitations of the South-east should be given a holistic approach for no one is calling for secession but for a balanced relationship within the Nigerian state. The word Biafra has become a household name for all Igbo speaking people no matter their geographical divide for nobody can run away from his shadows. It is like calling Yoruba race Oduduwas or Arewas for the Hausa/Fulani North, still all of them are Nigerians.

    Give them additional one state to be on a par with other zones of the federation, for within this scenario they are loosing heavily both economically, financially and politically in the scheme of things.

    Second Niger Bridge work should be allowed to continue because of its vital economic importance not only to the former Eastern Region but the country as a whole.

    Rehabilitation of all federal roads and institutions in the zone especially that abandoned Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe Road. Create equal opportunities to our teeming unemployed youths.

    These to me are the core areas behind the cries of marginalization. My humble advice to this present government is to uphold the sanctities of our political parties. A country like ours needs two strong political parties for checks and balances in governance as were done in advanced countries. Even Ghana, our West African neighbour has strong political institutions. Let our National Assembly enact a law to ban carpet crossing of hungry politicians who jump from one party to another after elections. For one to do so, he or she must resign first from his former party and re-contest the seat or position which he or she wants to aspire. Most of them do so for their selfish interests, not the interest of the masses.

    Finally, I implore you to stick to your inaugural speech of May 29, 2015 where yiou told Nigerians that you belong to everybody and belong to nobody. Deeds are more recognized than words.

     

    • Egwuonwu E.E.

    Onitsha, Anambra State.

  • President didn’t reject budget, says Enang

    President didn’t reject budget, says Enang

    Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang,  said contrary to reports, President Muhammadu Buhari has not rejected the budget.

    He insisted in Abuja that media reports claiming that the budget had been rejected by the Presidency were untrue.

    Enang noted that before travelling to China, President Buhari sent the budget to ministries to get feedbacks that would inform his assent.

    He said: “The President received the budget and convened an emergency Federal Executive Council meeting.

    “He gave each of the ministers, departments and agencies the opportunity to look at the details as submitted by the National Assembly.

    “This is to enable him get opinion on the state of the budget to enable him take a decision.

    “The exercise was conducted on Friday and it is ongoing by the different ministers and ministries”

    The presidential aide noted that Buhari had not exceeded the constitutional time frame to assent to the budget.

    He said that it should not be assumed that the budget had been rejected.

    Enang added: “The constitutional time frame for Mr President’s receiving and considering the budget began on Friday last week.

    “The question has not arisen as to returning or otherwise.

    “But I want to say the best way we as liaison officers are handling this matter is to speak less and work more, creating interactions.

    “So, we will raise more interactions, consultations, engagements.

    “There is nothing for the country to worry about, because we do not want to have a crisis between the Executive and the Legislature, and it would not arise; this is one government,” Enang said.

  • We are no longer safe in Bayelsa, Igbo traders tell police

    We are no longer safe in Bayelsa, Igbo traders tell police

    Igbo traders in Bayelsa State, yesterday, marched the streets of Yenagoa, the state capital, in protest of the continual murder of Igbo businessmen in the state capital by unknown gunmen suspected to be armed robbers and hired assassins.

     

    They were particularly angry over the gruesome murder of Agodo Martins by gunmen at his Yenagoa residence early hours of Monday.

     

    The hoodlums were said to have broken into the house of Martins, who owns a popular boutique called Omars Fashion Plaza at the Ompadec area of the Yenagoa-Mbiama Road.

     

    It was gathered that the gunmen who stormed the house of Martins located at the Punch Road area demanded money from their victim.

     

    The deceased reportedly told his assailants that there was no cash at home because shops in the capital city were shut down for about four days in honour of the late Governor of the state, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was buried on Saturday.

     

    After ransacking his house, the gunmen were said to have shot and killed Martin in cold blood in the presence of his new wife.

     

    The traders led by the President, Ohaneze Youth Council (OYC), Chief Chinedu Arthur-Ugwa, also lamented that Martin was killed a few days after gunmen suspected to be assassins murdered another successful Igbo businessman, Ugochukwu,  popularly called Ugo Best.

     

    It was gathered that Ugochukwu was killed along the Azikoro village on his way home after business of that day.

     

    A source who spoke in confidence said: “He was close to his house in company with his wife when gunmen operating in commercial tricycles blocked his car. They dragged him out of the car and forced into the tricycle.

     

    “His corpse was discovered the next day at the Azikoro cemetery with his hands and legs tied up. He was a successful businessman who built a big house at the Azikoro village. We are scared”.

     

    The traders also related how another businessman was gruesomely murdered at the Tombia area adding that others were being harassed and injured by arm-bearing youths.

     

    The traders assembled at the front of Omars boutique, forced shops to close down and marched with anger to the state command of the police.

     

    They were received by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Peter Ogunyawo, and other senior police officers.

     

    Presenting their grievances, Arthur-Ugwa said: “The Igbos are no longer safe in Bayelsa. We are being killed by gunmen. One was killed at Azikoro, the other one was killed at Tombia and today another one who just got married was killed in cold blood.

     

    “We are not happy and we have closed down our business to come and tell you at the headquarters that we are not safe. If you cannot guarantee our safety, we will relocate our business and families out of the state. We are pleading for your assistance”.

     

    Ogunyawo in his response, told the grieving traders that crimes exist everywhere and were not targeted at the Igbos.

     

    He said death is one debt everybody must pay and that nobody knows how it will be paid.

     

    He said the command was doing everything possible to check the crime wave in the state and asked the traders to furnish the police with information to enable them become effective.

     

    “We can’t be effective if you don’t partner with us. Once you have feelings of any crime, let us know. You don’t need to run to anywhere because crimes exist everywhere”, he said.

  • Fred Amata takes oath as DGN president

    Fred Amata takes oath as DGN president

    At a time when Nollywood is in search of plausible frontiers, activities leading to the inauguration of new executives of the Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN), presented an exemplary transition which may enjoy positive references for a long while.

    As popular actor and director, Fred Amata, was being sworn in as President of DGN, at Ojez Lounge, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, last Friday, not only did the presence of the top-notch players in the film industry reflect the respect bestowed on his person and the association, his predecessor’s repertoire of transferred documentation received award-winner’s applause from all.

    Anchored by pioneer president of the Guild, Mathias Obahiagbon, who was head of the inauguration committee, the ceremony started, after some preambles, with a valedictory speech by outgoing president, Andy Amenechi, who chronicled the achievements of his administration to include the establishment of an effective banking system, creation of members’ database and capacity building initiatives.

    “We have run a race and set the pace. It is now time for someone else to take up our place to continue and improve our modest milestones,” Amenechi said.

    He challenged the incoming exco to brace up to the challenges of new times, saying; “…please be informed that DGN can never be the same again. There is just too much awareness and accountability is the new mantra. Members will ask you questions and you must have plausible and progressive answers.”

    Thereafter, Amata took the oath of office, followed by his executives which include Mike Ogunwusi as Vice President; Ugezu Ugor as Secretary; Uchenna Agbo as Assistant Secretary and Oduala Taiwo as P.R.O.

    The oath of allegiance was administered by Hon. Babatunde Ogala, a Lagos lawyer and former Chairman, House Committee on Justice, Lagos State House of Assembly.

    Before delving into his acceptance speech, Amata urged the DGN Electoral Committee, headed by Fidelis Duker to, as a matter of urgency, conduct elections into the two vacant offices of the Guild: offices of Director of Finance and Provost.

    “On Friday, February 26, 2016, in Asaba, DGN did not only elect a new president, DGN initiated a new clarion call, which is ‘DGN Is One,’” Amata said in appreciation of the process that brought him to office.

    Recall that Amata, who got the backing of initial co-contender, Dickson Iroegbu, defeated Lancelot Imasuen and Kingsley Omoefe at the elections which took place on February 26, 2016, at the Tourist Garden Hotels and Resort, Asaba, Delta State.

    Unlike other elections in the film industry, most of the contenders drank together after the results were announced. The presidential candidates, especially, were seen together in photographs displaying the ‘oneness’ finger sign.

    “Motivated by that oneness,” Amata said, as he continued his acceptance speech, “we have been energised, encouraged to have a new president in an election lauded as the freest and fairest election this guild has ever witnessed.

    “Today, another Friday, we are here. And I am further motivated by the exclusive assembly of your distinguished presence to witness this event in an atmosphere where no winner, no vanquished was declared. This momentum of unity was further manifested when the newly voted executives sat together in their first ever meeting that produced the mantra of this administration. That mantra is ‘Together We Can’. The ‘Together We Can’ mantra is like the famous words of John F Kennedy ‘Ask Not What Your Guild Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your Guild.’

    “So it’s a challenge to all of us. It is a challenge to you and I to collectively determine our future. I will like to thank the outgoing president, Mr Andy Amenechi, and his sterling executives for raising the bar and establishing standards that have taken DGN forward,” he said.

    Also present at the ceremony were prominent members of the DGN Board of Trustees such as Alhaji Sadiq Balewa and Chief Eddie Ugboma. Others are ANTP president, Pa. Ashaolu, TAMPAN president, Dele Odule, former AGN president, Ejike Asiegbu, AMP President, Ralph Nwadike, ANCOP President, Alex Enyengho, CDGN President, Iyen Agbonifo-Obaseki, Franca Brown, Paul Obazele, Lilian Amah-Aluko, Charles Novia, Charles Inojie, Zik Zulu Okafor, Lancelot Imasuen, Yibo Koko, Keppy Bassey Ekpenyong, Kingsley Omoefe, Collins Onwochei, Dj Tee, Tonih Anih and Famous Otakponmwen, among others.

  • President to Nigerians: I feel your pains

    President to Nigerians: I feel your pains

    President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded Nigerians for their perseverance while urging them not to lose confidence in the ability of his Administration to bring about the change they so much desire.

    Speaking at the 2015 Vanguard Awards in Lagos on Friday night, where he was honoured with the Personality of the Year Award 2015, the President said he is keenly aware of the difficulties that Nigerians are facing at this time, resulting mostly from the fuel scarcity, poor power supply, inflation etc.

    He said, ‘’As a government that was propelled into office by the power of the people, we cannot but feel the pains of our compatriots, and we deeply empathise with them. We are working round the clock to ease the pains of Nigerians, and the efforts of the government have started yielding fruits as we seek to make the petroleum products available nationwide, restore gas supply to the power generating firms, reflate the economy and put Nigerians back to work,’’ he said.

    President Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said he understands that Nigerians have started questioning whether this indeed is the CHANGE they voted for, while some have even gone as far as saying that by voting for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigerians have entered ‘’One Chance’’.

    ‘’Well, I can tell Nigerians that our CHANGE AGENDA is real, and that indeed, they will get the change they voted for. Nigerians have not entered ‘One Chance’, because the ‘One Chance’ drivers and their conductors have been driven out of town.’’

     

     

  • I’m confident Buhari will be great president- Okorie

    I’m confident Buhari will be great president- Okorie

    Following the current socio-economic and political pressure in the country, some Nigerians have expressed doubt over President Muhammadu Buhari’s ability to bring the much desired change.  But Chief Chekwas Okorie, the presidential candidate of United Progressive Party (UPP) in the 2015 election, thinks otherwise. He told Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, that Buhari has what it takes to succeed

    BARELY 49 days to the first anniversary of President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government, Nigerians are battling with harsh socio-economic pressure, a development that has led critics of the administration to express doubt over Mr. President’s ability to actualise the much desired change in the country. But one of the presidential candidates, who contested with Buhari in the last election, Chief Chekwas Okorie of the United Progressive Party (UPP), in an encounter, told The Nation that the current challenges notwithstanding, he still has confidence Buhari will deliver democracy dividends at the end of the day.

    “Let it be appreciated that the Buhari administration is one that has transited from a ruling political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to an erstwhile opposition political party, the All Progressive Congress (APC).  The PDP did not prepare for a defeat.  It was taken unawares and therefore caught napping.  Handing over power was not smooth.  Grappling with taking over the reins of power from an unprepared and an unwilling loser was a major challenge that the Buhari administration was confronted with.  This took its toll on the new administration.  It was understandable if Buhari’s presidency often referred to this as part of the reason for their late start.  The startling discoveries of monumental corruption, sordid and messed up records, could dislodge a new and inexperienced administration.  Since government is a continuum, Buhari is further saddled with implementing the already appropriated 2015/2016 Budget of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan administration,” he said.

    He added however, that “with nearly one year down the line, President Buhari can no longer be granted the benefit of further excuses.  It is time for him to begin to prove that his government has something to offer to Nigerians. I however remain confident that he will be on record as a great president.  He has the integrity, will-power and courage to take hard decisions that will ultimately lift Nigeria high on all fronts, socially and economically. He needs everybody’s co-operation at this time.”

    Expressing disappointment with the current state of politics and politicking in Nigeria, he said, “politics used to be robust and vibrant and the electorate used to look forward to the next election when they could renew the mandate of those who have served and represented them satisfactorily or vote out those who failed in delivering on their mandate.  The implication at the early period was that the electorates, who were the sovereigns, reserved the power to decide who was in power on their behalf and who was not.  Over the years, our politics and politicking began to deteriorate so rapidly, that at this point in time, our politics and politicking can best be described as rudimentary, pedestrian, uninspiring and nightmarish. Politics and politicking in Nigeria have become dangerous, brutish and do-or-die exercise.”

    He blamed the military coup of 1966, which he said halted the development and growth of our politics and revised the gain already recorded in deepening democratic practice and culture in Nigeria. “The quasi federalism that Nigeria enjoyed, based on regional structure was destabilized, and indeed replaced by the military that introduced a centralized government.

    Cry for self determination

    Okorie, who holds the traditional title of Ojeozi Ndigbo, also commented on the pressure that led to the rising cry for self determination in the South-East zone. As he puts it: “The Biafra-Nigeria War formally ended in January 1970, about 46 years ago. The victorious Nigerian Government declared that the war ended on a note of No victor-No vanquished.  To further give the impression of magnanimity in victory, the then Head of State of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon, also declared a policy of Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation (3R) in favour of the former Biafrans, which covered the people of the defunct Eastern Region:  All the aforementioned federal government postures were largely observed in the breach.  To make matters worse for the defeated people, obnoxious policies were enunciated and in some cases promulgated into laws to marginalize mostly the Igbo people of present South-East geopolitical zone.

    “As these policies and laws began to take their toll on national development, unity, economy and security, the people of the South-South, South-West and recently North-Central geo-political zones joined the South-East to clamour for the restructuring of the Nigerian polity to allow for true federalism. Calls for national or constitutional conference to address these issues were unheeded or in some cases truncated.  Twenty nine years after the end of the civil war, some restive youths, mainly of Igbo extraction, embarked on the clamour for exit from Nigeria back to Biafra.  Their agitations were ignored and scorned derisively.  The failure of subsequent Nigerian governments to address their grievances resulted in the emergence of several variants of the agitation, resulting in violent clashes with government forces in some cases.  The protests have been carried out in about 180 countries, thereby internationalizing the agitation for a separate state of Biafra from Nigeria.  The agitation for a separate State of Biafra and the clamour for self-determination by other sections have become wide-spread and sustained.”

    Asked if realisation of the Biafran dream will not make a mockery of the efforts of those who fought for the unity of the country, he said, “the efforts at unification will certainly be in vain unless such efforts lead to the unity of Nigerian nation states and their peoples. It is a big fallacious provision in the Nigerian Constitution that Nigeria’s unity is indivisible and indissoluble.  No human contraption can ever be indivisible and indissoluble.  Even marriage, which is the oldest institution established by God, can only be sustained if it is serviced by love predicated on mutual respect, fidelity, trust, sacrifice, tolerance, etc.

    “National unity in a country as diverse and as heterogeneous as Nigeria can only be sustained  and nurtured as a nation if there is equity, justice, fairness, equality, security, welfare of its people, etc.

    The way out

    Acknowledging the unfortunate situation Okorie however believes it is not beyond redemption. “I dire say time appears to be running out on Nigeria, unless the Buhari administration is able to rise to the occasion. I strongly recommend the implementation of the recommendations of the previous national conference and the convocation of another one to continue from where that one stopped.

    “I believe our politics and politicking can only be sanitised and moderated if and when eligible voters who are the true sovereigns are restored their inalienable right to freely vote into various elective offices men and women of their choice:  This can be facilitated by adopting the Electronic Voting System in subsequent general elections.  Already, Nigeria has acquired Electronic Voters Register and Electronic Voters’ Cards.  All that is required to smoothly transit to Electronic Voting System is the enabling legislation.

    “Restructuring the Nigerian federation into definable federating units and devolution of powers to make the control of the centre less attractive is another way to elevate our politics and deepen our democracy.

    On what he would have done if he was the one occupying Buhari’s seat today, he said, “I will dig deep into my 2015 Presidential Manifesto which I robustly canvassed during the presidential campaigns and at the 2015 Presidential Debate where I squared up with former President Goodluck Jonathan and others.  I will tackle corruption with the same zeal and passion President Buhari is confronting it.  I will without delay initiate the convocation of a national conference with a view to restructuring Nigeria to make the country more accommodating, devolution of power and permit the federating units to develop at their own pace.  I will introduce state police and community policing to make every citizen a stakeholder in security matters.  I will declare a state of emergency in electricity supply and provision of road and railway infrastructure.  I will revisit the post-war policy of reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation.  I will embark on comprehensive electoral reforms with a view to going electronic and restoring confidence in the democratic process.”

  • President receives budget details

    President receives budget details

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday received the details of the 2016 Appropriation Bill from the National Assembly.

     Buhari had insisted on getting and scrutinising the budget details before assenting to the bill passed by the National Assembly.

    The 1,800-page budget details was signed for and collected on behalf of the President by the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

     He received it from the President’s Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang; and the Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), Samaila Kawu.

      After getting the document, Kyari led Enang and Kawu to Buhari’s office where they met briefly.

     They came out from the President’s office a few minutes later, with Enang still holding on to the document.

     Briefing State House correspondents, Enang said constitutional procedure would now follow the formal submission of the document.

     He said: “The budget details was transmitted to Mr. President today; the constitutional process begins thereafter.

     “We have transmitted it to the Office of the President and the constitutional process of timing starts.”

    The receipt of the budget details coincided with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s denial of ever signing Appropriation Bills without details.

    When Buhari insisted on receiving details of the 2016 Budget before signing the bill into law, some members of the House of Representatives claimed that Obasanjo and the late President Musa Yar’Adua signed Appropriation Bills into law without receiving the budget details.

    Fielding questions from State House correspondents after meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Obasanjo denied the claim.

    He replied the question with: “Eh en? I signed budget without details? Anybody who told you that, go and ask him again.”

    Asked to speak on the 2016 Budget, he said: “Before I will be able to tell you something about the budget, I have to read it and know what it contains and know what to talk about.”

    On the delay in signing the budget, he said the constitution allows the executive to continue with the budget provided it does not go beyond the previous year’s budget up to the middle of the year.

    Obasanjo declined to speak on the corruption war, saying: “Eh en?”

     Asked to speak on the travail of the Senate President Bukola Saraki, Obasanjo said: “Eh en? What is wrong with him?”

    On the purpose of his visit, he said: “You know that not too long ago, I was out there. I have come to share some of my experiences with him.”

    When asked to speak on the experiences, he said: “Ha! Ha! If I say I shared experiences with my wife, you will ask me wetin I talk with my wife?”

    Obasanjo, who arrived the Villa around 12:13 pm in a tinted black Toyota Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) marked ABJ 425 PY, exchanged pleasantries with reporters, who cracked a joke with him on his “dancing steps” in Ebonyi State during the burial of the late mother of Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi last week.

    When reminded that his dancing steps were great, he replied: “So you don’t want me to dance?”.

  • Malawi President attacks TB Joshua

    Malawi President attacks TB Joshua

    Malawian President Peter Mutharika yesterday attacked Pastor Temitope Balogun. Joshua of  the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), over an alleged prophecy that he would die before April 1, Malawi state television reported yesterday.

    “I’m told there is a man in Nigeria called Joshua and he is saying that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Peter Mutharika will die before April 1,” he said, adding: “Let me tell you, Joshua… you will fail. What you did in 2012 will not happen again this year,” the president told a rally in the capital Lilongwe.

    In 2012, Joshua reportedly predicted the death of a president of an unnamed southern African country. Mutharika’s brother, Bingu, who was president at the time, died within the predicted timeframe, giving the prophesy strong currency in Malawi.

    Mutharika did not say when or where Joshua made the latest prophesy.

    In January, Joshua reportedly gave a televised prophecy, telling his congregation to pray for the leaders in southern Africa, saying: “End of February to April this year, peculiar months for Southern Africa.”

    But Mutharika questioned Joshua’s credentials as a prophet, pointing to the collapse of a guesthouse in his sprawling SCOAN in Lagos in September 2014, which left 116 people dead, mostly South Africans.

    “Why did he not foretell this tragedy?

    “This all shows that he is a liar. He just wants to raise money,” said Mutharika, who is in his mid 70s, pledging to be around in 2019 for the next presidential elections, and in also 2024, when — if reelected — he will wrap up his last term.

    Mutharika came to power in 2014 after defeating Joyce Banda.

    Banda, who succeeded Bingu Mutharika, made several visits to the Lagos headquarters of Joshua’s church and once described the evangelist as her ”spiritual father”.

  • Strip president, govs of immunity —Arewa chair, Coomassie

    Strip president, govs of immunity —Arewa chair, Coomassie

    Former Inspector General of Police and Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomassie is canvassing a drastic reform of the political process and the judicial system.

    Top of the political reform Coomassie wants is the removal of public office holders’ immunity, which, according to him, will help in sanitising the electoral process and reduce abuse of office.

    He spoke at the International Conference on ‘Deepening Democracy Through Elections in Nigeria: An Assessment’ organised by the Department of Political Science and International Studies of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

    The ACF Chairman who chaired the conference said the political reform has become imperative to safeguard the nation’s democracy.

    Citing the 2015 elections, the former IGP said: “From one source alone, a staggering $2.1billion earmarked for procurement of arms to fight insurgency in the North-east was diverted to secure the electoral victory of the PDP.

    “Indicators suggest that most government agencies and departments were forced to cough out funds to aid in the electoral victory of the PDP, making it the most expensive election in the nation’s history.

    “Now that we have a new government in place, which campaigned for and won because it promised change and is therefore amenable for the reform of the whole political processes. We must avail ourselves with the opportunity to make far-reaching reforms that will safeguard this democracy.”

    On the immunity clause, the former IGP said: “It is time to expunge this immunity clause in the constitution or amend it to give the President and Governors only immunity from civil litigations. This is one of the many steps that will help sanitise not only the electoral process, but reduce the abuse of office that have become the hallmark of elected public office holders in Nigeria.

    “As chief law officers, they are expected to be above board. From 1999 to date, this has not been the case. The democratic process has been characterised by impunity, disregard for service delivery and high levels of corruption.

    “Similarly, the Buhari administration should as soon as possible initiate a major reform of the judicial processes in Nigeria. Nigeria inherited the judicial system from the British at independence and since then, it has undergone minimal reforms.

    “Matters before our law courts suffer long and unnecessary delays. Prosecutors of criminal offenders suffer great frustrations at the court, especially when serious cases before our eminent jurists get thrown out on simple technicalities.

    “Strict penalties should be introduced for all electoral offences. After more than 50 years as an independent nation, and after several tries at the democratic governance, Nigeria must once and for all get her acts together. After 17 years of uninterrupted civil rule, Nigeria’s democracy can no longer be described as an experiment We must strive to consolidate this gain by not only making sure that our electoral processes are fool proof, but that attempt to tamper with them will meet the full wrath of the law.”

    The ACF Chairman also called for abolition of the State Independent Electoral Commissions saying local government elections should be conducted by the Independent National  Electoral Commission (INEC)  which should  computerise all electoral processes to allow for absolute credibility.

    Earlier his address, ABU Vice Chancellor, Professor Ibrahim Garba said it was time for the academia to rise up and shape public discuss through conferences like this.

    According to him, the academia, especially political scientists have a duty to examine and analyse the fierce struggles leading to primitive accumulation of wealth and  have resulted in contemporary class conflicts, ethnic violence as well as the present phase of insurgency which is threatening national security.