The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Pro-Jonathan

  • Pro-Jonathan OPC on the rampage through Lagos

    Pro-Jonathan OPC on the rampage through Lagos

    Lagos, Nigeria’s business and financial engine-room, was yesterday groaning under a crippling protest by the militia group, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC).

    Security agents looked the other way as the group’s members troubled the city, calling for the removal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega.

    The protesters were members of a faction of the OPC, led by Chief Gani Adams, one of those who have just won the controversial N9billion pipelines protection contracts. They were supported by an amorphos group – the Committee of Concerned Nigerians (CCN). Some Niger-Delta militants reportedly joined the protest.

    The protesters got traffic stuck for hours, smashed cars, harassed motorists and disrupted business in many parts of the city.

    They destroyed banners and camapign billboards of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates.  The streets were strewn with the pamphlets they gave out to terrified residents and satchets of water they consumed.

    “Had supportters of the APC reacted, the story would have been different,” an APC chief who watched the march said.

    The protesters smashed their way through the major streets— from Berger at the entrance into the city from Ibadan through Ojota to Maryland where they converged before marching  through Ikorodu Road to the National Stadium.

    The protesters followed in the footsteps of their fellow ethnic militia group in the Southeast  – the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) – whose members protested against Jega in Enugu, Owerri and Abakaliki last weekend.

    The groups are believed to be sponsored by the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Commuters on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, the old toll gate and Ojota   were stuck for hours.

    More than 5, 000 people with over 50 buses under the aegis of “ Coalition of Concerned Nigerians” blocked a section of the road, distributing pamphlets and causing a traffic snarl that lasted for hours.

    Lagos residents took to social media to vent their anger over the disruption of their lives by the protesting OPC members.

    One Diced Pineapples queried the police for “protecting that kind of unjust rally, causing stupid traffic for ordinary people.”

    Another citizen, Nike Fakorede, said: “It is the height of insanity. Ours is really a banana republic. Real shame.”

    Adebayo Bukola twitted: “To the OPC niggas protesting in Lagos, continue! We’ll soon have the video of how the protesters don’t know why they are there.” (Continued on Page 2)

  • ‘INEC should probe pro-Jonathan campaigners’

    ‘INEC should probe pro-Jonathan campaigners’

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Ahmed Raji, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to examine the legality of the activities of groups, such as the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN). In this interview with JOSEPH JIBUEZE, he speaks on the clamour by lawyers who are members of the National Assembly (NASS) to be awarded SAN.

    How do you think insurgency can be successfully tackled?

    Few suggestions. One is to clearly ascertain what is the root cause of terrorism in Nigeria. Is it because of the disconnect between the rulers and the ruled or is it because we have porous borders or is it because of the fall of Gadhafi and mercenaries are now let loose? Is it because of what is happening in North African countries or is it because of the prediction that Nigeria is going to terminate in 2015? Or is it a political gimmick to unseat the president and for some other people to come in? These are several areas to be looked into.

    There have been calls for the Nigerian Law School campuses in Kano and Yola to be shut due to insecurity, especially with the Chibok school girls’ experience. What’s your take?

    I would not dismiss the call for the closure of the two campuses, but one has to be cautious. After all we have Northerners from Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Yobe and Bauchi who may be more interested in Kano and Yola campuses than to come to Abuja or Lagos campuses. We should not rush to shut down the two campuses otherwise we will be offending the sensibilities of some sections of the country. It may mean shifting the campuses temporarily to another place pending when all these problems will settle down but I do not support closing down the campuses completely. What about other Universities and tertiary institutions in the North, are we going to close them down? What about other secondary schools? I think that is like conceding defeat that we have failed and that there is no solution to the problem. That will be too catastrophic for us. We should endeavor to overcome the present challenge and pray not to have a repeat of what happened in Chibok.

    During the last Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference (AGC) in Owerri, you delivered a lecture on combating terrorism. How do you see Nigeria’s anti-terror laws?

    There are several ways the law may be used to stem the tide of terrorism.  The law may be used as an instrument to discourage acts of terrorism. The law may be used in a way that it would give us a justice sector that is able to quickly and promptly attend to any terrorism issue. The law may be used if we know the root cause of terrorism, to address the root cause. If it is due to poverty, the law may be used to redistribute wealth.

    Do you think the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is still as vibrant as it was?

    The EFCC is not dead. It is working. Perhaps showmanship has reduced because that is not the way to do an investigation. May be they are doing it in the correct way now and they are being silent in the manner they go about their work. Because we are not reading about them daily does not mean they are not working. So, I disagree with you.

    What are your expectations as 2015 election approaches?

    There is the need to educate politicians and voters on political advertisement and this is where the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should collaborate to sensitise the people before the real activities will begin. Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution provides that no organisation apart from a political party should ask for votes. There is a body charged with monitoring political activities and dishing out appropriate sanctions and that is the INEC.

    What do you make of the activities of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN)?

    It is INEC that should be called upon to look into the enabling laws and ascertain whether what these people are doing amounts to a violation of the extant rules and regulation. But I do not think that President Goodluck Jonathan has done anything wrong because I have not seen him at any of those rallies. I have not seen any political party sponsoring it to the best of my knowledge. For people asking Mr. A or Mr. B to come out, I don’t think Mr. A or Mr. B is to be blamed. You only need to be wondering how idle or unoccupied those individuals are, but the appropriate authority is INEC who should be asked to look into the extant regulations. Perhaps INEC has not contemplated what is happening now. Maybe they need to give further guidelines and streamline it properly to take care of possible abuses of political advertisement if it is not in tandem with the law.

    Do you think senior lawyers in the National Assembly should be conferred the SAN rank?

    Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) as an award has its origin in what is known as Queens Counsel (QC) in England. A few commonwealth countries also adopted it and a good number of them no longer have it. If you go back to England there is no precedent where a member of either the House of Lords or the House of Commons, simply because of his delivery or output in parliament, has been made a QC.

    Does their legislative advocacy and law making not make them deserving of it?

    The Legal Practitioners Act clearly delimits and brings out the essence of SAN. It has to do with highest distinction in the practice of law. If you say lawyers in the National Assembly be awarded the rank of SAN, perhaps accountants there too will ask to be given one of the professional certificates and it will go on. We may find other ways of rewarding those of them who have performed well in the National Assembly such as by re-electing them or by getting them appointed or elected to other bigger offices. As far as professional career is concerned, I think it will be a little bit confusing. It will bring some disharmony into the system and once that one goes in, nobody can really know when it will stop.

  • Pro-Jonathan TAN rallies indecent, says APC

    Pro-Jonathan TAN rallies indecent, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has insisted that the rallies held across the country by the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) represent an assault on the intelligence and sensibilities of Nigerians, at a time of insecurity and health challenges.

    Responding to the defence of the rallies, the party said in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Lagos yesterday that no amount of inversion of reasoning by the TAN foot soldiers could wash them (the rallies) clean of shame and disgust.

    It said only those described as ‘morons and sycophants’ by Prof. Wole Soyinka could engage in celebratory rallies when soldiers were dying on the Boko Haram battle front, when citizens were daily being sent to their graves by insurgents and when the country was still reeling from the challenge of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which had killed many people.

    APC wondered how the inauguration of its regional executives in Sokoto could be equated with the rallies being held across the country by TAN, which was another name for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), another name for shame, incompetence, cluelessness, cruelty, insincerity and insensitivity.

    The party said if President Goodluck Jonathan had not been running a government hallmarked by impunity, there was no way any party would have begun campaign under the guise of a non-government organisation (NGO) coordinated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, ministers, governors and other public officials.

    “The PDP-led Federal Government and its ‘NGO’ called TAN are bare-faced liars and cheats. They have seized an undue advantage over every other party by defying the nation’s laws to start an early campaign, and no one, not even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), dares call them to order! Little wonder, their podiums are collapsing under the weight of their lies,” it said.

    APC slammed TAN’s self-serving Director of Communications, Mr. Udenta Udenta, for attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians by justifying the rallies.

    “We have the following posers for the deceptive and pigs-at-the trough TAN organisers: If Mr. Udenta and his co- travellers were parents, relations or friends of any of the over 200 missing Chibok schoolgirls, wouldn’t such TAN rallies offend their sensibilities? If Udenta or any of his co-travellers in TAN had lost a relation or dear one to EVD in Port Harcourt, wouldn’t such a rally in the same city about the same time offend their sensibilities? Can  Udenta tell Nigerians the source of funding of TAN? Can Udenta tell Nigerians how much TAN has spent so far in canvassing  Jonathan’s re-election or for that matter how much it spends daily on radio jingles, television and newspapers adverts, billboards, etc? Can Udenta tender to the public TAN’s audited account?

    “We know Udenta has no answers to these posers, but we have no iota of doubt that Nigerians know that TAN is funded and powered by the massive corruption of this government, including but not limited to the missing $20 billion, the over $1trillion fuel subsidy scam, the kerosene subsidy scam, the hundreds of thousands of barrels of our crude oil being stolen daily, the pension scam, the Malibu Oil scandal, etc. We also know through which top functionaries of government funds are funnelled to TAN,” the party said.

    APC said it would not stop calling for an end to the TAN rallies until common sense prevailed and the President, who waited for an international condemnation of his #BringBackJonathan hash tag before taking action, was again forced to call his selfish sycophants to order.

    “Our soldiers are combating Boko Haram literally with their bare hands and under the most intolerable conditions and our government is partying around town. As we write, a war plane has been declared missing in the battle zone and our government is celebrating. Clearly, if a fraction of the funds TAN has been expending in its multi-billion naira adverts on radio, television, newspapers, billboards, online and on London buses, not to talk of the mobilisation for rallies, can be made available to our soldiers, Boko Haram would have long been forgotten.

    “These times call for deep reflection and not for deep throats. These times call for cool-headed and decent men and women to realise that a nation at war cannot be celebrating, because it sends a wrong message to the men and women deployed in the battle zone to protect our nation. This is not about politics, this is about common sense, sensibilities and decency,” the party said.

     

  • Pro-Jonathan rally, security threat, says ACF

    Pro-Jonathan rally, security threat, says ACF

    The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)  yesterday said the infux of Nigerians  into Abuja for solidarity rallies in support of President Goodluck Jonathan is a security threat.

    In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mohammed Ibrahim, ACF said: “The mass movement of Nigerians into Abuja at the time of the rally might likely cause security breaches and possibly be hijacked by hoodlums…’’

    “In as much as ACF is not against any peaceful rally or solidarity march in support of the President or any cause, we should consider the present insecurity in the country.

    “The forum considered it as ill-timed, ill-advised and a disregard to the feelings of other Nigerians affected by the security challenges.

    “ACF advises the authorities to ensure that such rallies are guided to avoid security breaches,” it said.

  • Nollywood stars plan pro-Jonathan rallies

    Nollywood stars plan pro-Jonathan rallies

    Pro-government rallies, reminiscent of the Abacha era, are on their way back in the country.

    This time, they will be at the instance of Nollywood stars whose delegation met yesterday in Abuja with the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) ,Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to work out the modalities.

    The project is planned to include ‘peace’ rallies and concerts in the six geo-political zones, according to leader of the delegation, Emeka Ike.

    It is expected to be in collaboration with celebrities in the music industry and Nigerian footballers.

    The organisers said the rallies would be geared toward addressing the drifting socio-political situation in the country.

    Ike told the party chairman that the stars would mobilise Nigerian youths on the need for togetherness and peaceful coexistence in the country, most especially at the grassroots.

    The artists said the planned rallies would also focus on the need for the PDP to resolve its internal crises so that the ruling party could focus on governance in the interest of the Nigerian people.

    According to them, a module has been developed for infusing the culture of responsiveness and national interest in political office holders in the land.

    The event, they added, would also feature renowned footballers like Celestine Babayaro and music stars like 2-Face Idibia.

    The rallies will be preceded by a press conference in Abuja on Monday followed by mobilisation of Nollywood and football stars to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, which has been the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency.

    Ike said: “We would round off by mobilising the Nigerian youths, including Nollywood, football and music stars in our country to Maiduguri to campaign for peace”.

    Tukur expressed delight in the move by the stars to champion the cause of peace and national reconciliation in the country and urged other Nigerian youths to join the train.

    The party chairman said he was of the conviction that the stars could repackage Nigeria for a better image, stressing that the country was in dire need of such packaging at this point in history.

    He encouraged the stars to embark on the planned rally and promised to lend the required inspiration towards the success of the rally.

    “I am aware that you people have conquered Africa because your movies are being watched across Africa and the rest of the world. “Today, I want to encourage you to take ownership of your successes and move over to be global citizens,”the chairman said.

    A pro-government rally took place on October 6 at the Murtala Muhammed Square in Kaduna to solicit support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged bid to contest the 2015 election.

    However, the gathering tagged Northern Youth Rally ended in chaos after the participants began demanding their “share of the money,” the organisers allegedly collected from the presidency.

    Security operatives took away an official of the Northern Youth Forum (NYF) from the venue to prevent him from being lynched by the angry youths who threw sand, stones and sachet water at him.

    The youths shouted: “Give us our own share, give us our own share.”

    On August 25, the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, locked down the Federal Capital Territory metropolis with what she described as a mass rally and carnival organised to take “stock of the gains recorded so far in the empowerment of Nigerian women and the quest for peace in the country”.

    The rally was the brain child of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) in collaboration with the office of the First Lady of the Federation.

    The programme was organised as part of the ongoing underground campaign for President Jonathan’s 2015 presidential ambition.

    The women wore dresses with pictures of President Jonathan .

     

  • 2015: Pro-Jonathan group hits back at Asari Dokubo

    2015: Pro-Jonathan group hits back at Asari Dokubo

    •Accuses ex-militant leader of bitterness over termination of pipeline contract
    •How Asari-Dokubo became angry with Jonathan over pipeline contract-Group

    The Okrika National Youth Movement, a pro-President Goodluck Jonathan group, yesterday accused a former militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo of launching a media attack on the President because his pipeline security contract was terminated.

    The group also claimed that Dokubo is not happy that Jonathan refused to make his friend Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and is acting the script of some “over-ambitious persons within the presidency.”

    The President of the group, Mr. Anthony Amieyefori, and the Secretary, Comrade Ibiyoma Lloyd,in a joint statement in Abuja said Dokubo should be ignored by all.

    The former militant leader recently asked the President to jettison his desire for a second term in 2015.

    He also said it was wrong of the President to have engaged in a cold war with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    But the Okrika National Youth Movement said there was more to Dokubo’s attacks against Jonathan.

    It said: “We are not averse to the right of the young man to express his feelings, particularly under a democratic setting where the freedom of expression of the citizens is expressly guaranteed under the law.

    “But what we find astonishing is the manner in which the ex-freedom fighter tried vainly to muddle up personal interests with issues of national interest and importance, particularly at a time that the nation is desirous of peace and security.

    “Ordinarily, we ought not to have reacted since the Presidency has come out openly to put Asari where he rightly belongs. But a proverb says in our place that the head of the child can only bend in the market place if there are no elders.

    “For this reason, we wish to state that the unfortunate outburst of Asari was not only misguided; it was self serving and mischievous in all intents and purposes for the following reasons which we have confirmed to be true.

    “Asari owns a pipeline security outfit to stem the rising wave of piracy on the Niger Delta waters but failed to work for the objectives for which the contract was given after millions of dollars have been paid to him.

    “In spite of the shameful failure above, he and those in his category have mounted series of pressures on the presidency, the minister of Niger Delta Affairs as well as the petroleum minister for the renewal of such contracts. “This is most unfortunate and goes to show that unlike High Government Ekpomupolo (Tompolo) whose Oil Facility Surveillance Company is working in the Delta axis to rid the state of oil thieves, Asari’s supposed struggle is about self and self alone.

    “Still, Asari attempted to arm-twist the Federal Ministry of Transport to award to him another multi-million naira project. Upon failure in this regards he turned to the some presidency officials for assistance, which he never got on the basis that he had an outstanding job (PIPELINE SECURITY) which he never executed effectively, a situation that has given rise to the renewed wave of oil theft in Bayelsa and Rivers States.”

    The movement also alleged that Dokubo disagreed with the President over Jonathan’s refusal to appoint his friend, a former presidential aide, as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

    “In a nutshell, Asari’s comments do not reflect the opinion of the Niger Delta people as he speaks for himself and he is acting the orchestrated script of some unseen over-ambitious persons within the presidency.”