The Nation Newspaper

Tag: race

  • Four in race for FIRS chairman

    Four in race for FIRS chairman

    Four professionals are in the race for the vacant office of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS), sources said at the weekend.

    The office became vacant in April after the completion of the two-term tenure of the former Executive Chairman of the agency, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru.

    Alhaji Kabir Mashi was appointed as acting chairman of the agency. But, shortly after Omoigui-Okauru left office, the jostling for the office by external and internal candidates began.

    FIRS workers are believed to be in favour of the appointment of one of the coordinating directors and directors, including the acting chairman, Mashi.

    Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, who is also the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has hired Phillips Consulting to screen more than 12 applicants for the top job.

    Those short-listed are Mashi; non-executive director and board member Dr. Mark Abani; and two directors of the FIRS whose name were not immediately known yesterday.

    It was gathered that a former woman deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who is a specialist in anti-money laundering policy, may also be considered.

    The selection is, however, generating tension, following the allegation that there are plans by the Minister of Finance to bring in an “expert from outside” to be the chairman.

    A source said: “The competition for the FIRS job is keen; Phillips Consulting has rated four of the applicants as suitable for the job. Another applicant is also said to be reputable and on standby.

    “Two of those short-listed are highly favoured. They are the acting chairman, Alhaji Mashi and Abani, a first class graduate, who had worked for HM Revenue & Customs in the UK since 1990.

    “Mashi(an internal candidate) is also going into the race with records of exceptional performance. Under his leadership, the FIRS has generated N3.401 trillion in the past eight months. The figure was N468.65 billion higher when compared with the total collection of N2.93 trillion for the same period last year, out of the N3.6 trillion provisional annual budget estimates for the year 2012.

    “Of this amount, oil accounted for N2.202 trillion. Non-oil taxes recorded N1.187 trillion of the cumulative figures from January to August.

    “The Service has less than N233.57 billion to achieve the N3.63 trillion target set for it by the government. An average monthly collection of N302.95 billion was set for the FIRS in the current fiscal year.

    “It is left to the Finance Minister to make his recommendation to President Goodluck Jonathan.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “The staff are clamouring for the appointment of one of them as the next Executive Chairman of FIRS. They are advocating adoption of NNPC policy where successive GMD of the oil firms had come from within the corporation over the years. They also cited the example of the Nigeria Customs Service which does not outsource its Comptroller-General of Customs.

    “The grouse of the staff borders on the fact that it usually takes any outsider up to one or two years to understand the FIRS operation and consolidate. They hardly come with any new idea; it is the same staff that they are saying are not good to head the agency that always put them through. We want one of us as the FIRS chairman.

    “If care is not taken, the appointment of a new chairman may result into an internal labour unrest if there is imposition of an outsider on FIRS staff.

    “The FIRS has over 700 qualified chartered accountants in its employment. Are they saying that none of them is good to head the agency? We have many co-ordinating directors and directors fit for this job.

    “We are appealing to President Goodluck Jonathan to show more than a passing interest in the choice of a new executive chairman. This agency is not a typical government parastatal at all. The government cannot afford to politicise this appointment.”

  • Imoke to flag off Obudu race

    Imoke to flag off Obudu race

    CROSS River state Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke (CON) will flag off the 8th edition of the Obudu international mountain race tomorrow at the Obudu Ranch resort in Obudu, Cross River state.

    Governor Imoke, according to William Archibong, chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the race, has accepted to once again flag off this year’s race which will witness the staging of the fourth edition of the African Nations Mountain Running Championships for both men and women.

    “His Excellency, the executive Governor of Cross River state, Senator Liyel Imoke (CON) has graciously accepted to flag off tomorrow’s race at the mountain resort in Obudu. He will be assisted by Bruno Gozzelino, the president of the world mountain running association and chief Solomon Ogba, president of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria,” said Archibong.

    Meanwhile the LOC has revealed an unchanged prize money outlay for this year’s edition.Two years ago the total prize money for the 6th edition of the race was increased by over $35,000 by the organisers following the introduction of the women’s version of the African Nations Mountain Running Championship.

    The total prize money which went up from $245,500 to $278,000 has been retained for this year’s edition.The prize money for the first to the 10th position for this year’s race remain the same with the winners in each gender category going home with $50,000 each while $20,000 and $9,000 respectively will go to the second and third placed finishers.

    The prizes for 4th -10th placed finishers in each category also remain at $4,500, $4,000, $3,000, $2,500, $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000 respectively.

    Archibong explains the reason for the retention of last year’s prize money structure for the 7th edition which holds at the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obudu,Cross River state.

    “His Excellency, the executive governor of Cross River state wants the race to maintain its status as the highest paying mountain race in the world. He is happy with the way the competition has been organised since its maiden edition in 2005 and wants us to make this year’s event even bigger and better in terms of the technical organisation of the race as well as the quality of athletes who will participate,” he said.

  • On the race for Ibadan S/West Council chair

    On the race for Ibadan S/West Council chair

    SIR: The much awaited local government elections in Oyo State will soon be here. His Excellency, Senator Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi, and the erstwhile Governor, Alhaji Lam Adesina, are two political gladiators whose personalities will influence the choice of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidates in the 33 local governments in the state. While the incumbent governor will possibly exercise his power of incumbency, Alhaji Lam Adesina will exert his influence as a national leader of the party who is highly revered within and outside the state. However, the burning questions in the minds of party loyalists is: Will the choice of either of these two political gladiators reflect the wishes of the people at the local governments, or the choice of either of the two gladiators?

    There are three leading aspirants. They are Hon. Taoheed Bolaji Adeleke, Hon. Fatai Olanrewaju Abimbola, and Hon. Quadri Olayemi Ayuba.

    Hon. Adeleke is the chairman of Ibadan South-west Local Government caretaker committee. A graduate of Physical and Health Education, he has embarked on various poverty alleviation programmes. His long standing relationship with the Ajimobis appears to be his advantage. But his inter-personal relationship with the party leaders is not so rosy.

    Next is Hon. Abimbola. He is a Chartered Accountant and economic guru. Mogaji, as he is fondly called by admirers, is known to have listening ears. He is philanthropic, kind-hearted and articulate. He proffers solutions to the problems of his people, putting smiles unto their faces. Hon. Ayuba is also a Chartered Accountant of many years. He equally has arrays of other certificate in the world of accountancy. A fairly educated mind as one would call him, the aspirant has established a firm of consultancy outfit where he trains young accountants. He is involved in various humanitarian and philanthropic projects. He is intelligent and friendly. However, politically, he is considered to be a green horn who does not understand the dynamics of politics.

    What also worries the minds of party faithful is the speculation making the round that Ajimobi and Adesina would present one candidate each from the three major ones. This means we might have two candidates from one LGA. How will OSIEC resolve this? This obviously will not augur well for the party. An amicable solution is for the two political gladiators – Ajimobi and Adesina – to urgently resolve their differences. Both should allow objectivity, and the choice of the people to be their guiding principles in nominating candidates for each of the 33 LGs in the state. This will further strengthen the party in the entire South-west and project it as a party that is ready for the social, economic and political integration of the entire region as proposed by great leaders like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Babatunde Fashola and Kayode Fayemi.

     

    Akinade Alamu,

    Ibadan, Oyo State

  • 2014: Battle for Anambra governorship race begins

    2014: Battle for Anambra governorship race begins

    Almost two years before the end of Governor Peter Obi’s tenure, the race over his successor has begun in earnest, reports Remi Adelowo

     

    The political scene in Anambra State seems quiet on the surface. But that may just be a façade after all if the intense jostling presently going on underground over who takes over the Government House in Awka in 2014 is anything to go by.

    The stakes are indeed high. For the incumbent governor, Mr. Peter Obi, nothing short of having his anointed candidate as his successor would be good enough. Some weeks back, the revered Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, had, during a visit to his palace by the governor, reportedly said that Obi deserves to have a major say on who succeeds him in 2014.

    But for other stakeholders in the state, both within the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and opposition parties, the traditional ruler may just be playing to the gallery. The governor, they have resolved, must be stopped on his track before he ‘foists’ his anointed candidate as the next governor of the state.

    Elected on the platform of APGA, Obi got into office in 2006 in a blaze of glory. For over three years, he was in and out of courts to retrieve his mandate from Dr. Chris Ngige, the then candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who was declared winner of the 2003 Anambra governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    His tenure was briefly terminated in 2007 when the Maurice Iwu-led INEC organised another election, which produced Dr. Andy Uba, the former Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as winner.

    Following the intervention of the Supreme Court at the request of Obi, who claimed that his tenure started on the day he was sworn into office, Uba entered the Guinness Book of Records as the first elected governor in Nigeria who lasted in office for only two weeks.

     

    Obi’s alleged ‘sins’

    Sources alleged that soon after Obi became entrenched in office, he fell out with majority of APGA chieftains and ‘foot soldiers’ who assisted him during the election and the struggle to reclaim his mandate in the law courts.

    Obi, his critics alleged, refused to appoint APGA members into his cabinet, preferring non-members not known in the party.

    This development was reportedly brought to the knowledge of the former leader of APGA, late Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who allegedly prevailed on the governor to redress the situation. But Obi, now elected for a second term in 2014, allegedly reneged on the agreement.

    Prior to his second term election, the governor had fallen out with the pioneer National Chairman of APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, who had accused him of alleged dictatorial tendencies and failure to fund the party.

    The Nation gathered that the treatment meted to Okorie left APGA badly fractured, with many of its members decamping to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The party has not recovered ever since.

    That APGA has lost steam in the last five years is evident in the strong showing of the ACN and the PDP both at the 2010 and the 2011 general elections. Presently, out of the three senatorial seats in the state, PDP has two senators-Andy Uba and Mrs. Margery Okadigbo, while ACN has one in the person of Ngige.

     

    Battle for APGA ticket

    With the personality crisis between Obi and the current National Chairman of APGA, Chief Mike Umeh yet unresolved, there are strong indications that the party may face the next governorship election as a divided house, according to sources in the party.

    But the question of who wins the party’s governorship ticket for the 2014 election appears to be the major concern today. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Obi is allegedly looking beyond the party to choose a candidate. And if feelers in the state are anything to go by, the Chairman/CEO, Capital Oil and Gas, Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, may get the governor’s nod for the ticket.

     

    Other candidates in contention

    Other notable personalities alleged to have serious interest in the race include former Minister of Information, Professor Dora Akunyuli and a member of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife.

    Akunyuli, who lost the Anambra Central Senatorial Seat to Chris Ngige in last year’s general elections, is not giving up on her political career, according to a source close to her. The Nation gathered that the former Director-General, National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) now spends more time at her hometown, Agulu, in an attempt to consolidate grassroots support.

    However, another source disclosed that it is very unlikely that Akunyuli will contest against Ubah, whom she is quite close to if the latter shows interest in the race. Ubah, according to the source, is a close family friend of the Akunyulis.

    Ekwunife, who is serving a second term at the National Assembly, is said to have an outside chance to win the APGA ticket in spite of her close political ties with the governor.

    Another candidate, whose name is being mentioned in whispers within the Anambra political circles, is Chief Chuma Nzeribe, who lost the Anambra South Senatorial election to Andy Uba last year.

     

    Who wins PDP ticket?

    Though serving his first term in the Senate, Andy Uba is still said to nurse a burning ambition to rule Anambra State. Alleged to have a deep pocket to prosecute the campaign, Uba, according to insiders, has in the last one year been working behind the scene to actualise his dream. “The bitter experience he had in 2007, when he served as governor for two weeks, has not discouraged him,” said a source close to the former presidential aide.

    The major challenge Uba may face, according to sources is likely to be from forces loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan, who is alleged to have frosty relationship with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, widely acknowledged as Uba’s godfather.

    But despite the fact that the Anambra State chapter of the PDP is controlled by supporters of Uba, sources revealed that many of the top party members are not rooting for Uba’s candidature.

    Some members of this independent group are instead canvassing for the drafting of former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, who was the party’s candidate in the 2010 governorship election, into the race.

    “The snag in the proposal is that Soludo is allegedly wary of committing his time and resources to another energy-sapping campaign”, said a source who added, “The man (Soludo) was betrayed by many PDP members both at the state and the national level. He wants to be given solid assurances before he throws his hat into the ring again.”

    Also set for the PDP governorship battle is Lagos-based businessman and philanthropist, Dr. Obinna Uzor, who contested for the ticket in 2003 and 2007.

     

    ACN not left out

    He personifies the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Anambra State. Across the state, Chris Ngige’s image looms large. His entry into ACN from the PDP has made the party a force to reckon with in Anambra State politics.

    In a recent interview, the first-term senator pooh-poohed the agitation of some stakeholders on the need for a power shift to Anambra North senatorial zone, which has not produced a democratically-elected governor of the state since its inception in 1991.

    Ngige had stated that since indigenes of the zone had contested for the governorship seat with people from other zones in previous occasions, it is only through a democratic process that the next governor of the state will emerge and not through a zoning formula.

    This statement, some analysts contend, is an indication that Ngige may contest the governorship race for the third time.

    As the countdown to the 2014 election begins, nothing for now looks certain on who takes over the Anambra Government House from Mr. Peter Obi.