The Nation Newspaper

Tag: rejects

  • AFCON 2015: Enyeama rejects Kaduna

    AFCON 2015: Enyeama rejects Kaduna

    •Scared of likely Boko Haram attack

    Nigeria captain and goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, has expressed dissatisfaction with the choice of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna as venue for the 2017 AFCON qualifying match against Chad this weekend.

    The LOSC Lille Metropole goalkeeper explained that he is concerned about the current situation in the country and feels the safety of players and fans need to be taken into account.

    But the former Enyimba man said he believes that his country’s authorities know “exactly what to do to make us safe”.

    “I’m not satisfied with the choice of Kaduna and you know I’m a very outspoken person. I don’t like the choice of Kaduna based on what is happening in the country but then the government knows exactly what to do make us safe.

    “I am concerned because it’s not Kaduna but because of the security thing. I really don’t care where we play as long as there is going to be security and safety of the players and everyone coming to watch the match,” Enyeama told Brila FM.

    The Super Eagles start their quest to qualify for the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon in two years, and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has opted for the stadium in Kaduna after the men’s national team have played in Abuja, Calabar and recently the new Akwa Ibom Stadium in Uyo, where they have enjoyed little success.

  • Moses Simon rejects Dortmund, Fenerbache

    Moses Simon rejects Dortmund, Fenerbache

    Nigeria international Moses Simon has told AfricanFootball.com he has turned down several European clubs including Borussia Dortmund, Fenerbache and Liverpool in the English Premier League (EPL) to stay put at Belgian champions Gent.

    Simon, who is currently at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand with Nigeria, told AfricanFootball.com he wishes to stay at least another season at Gent before deciding his next destination.

    “Fenerbache, Dortmund and Liverpool were among the clubs that were interested in signing me, but I wish to stay at least another season at Gent before I decide what is next for me,” he revealed.

    “I still have three more years left of my contract with Gent, but the league in Germany or England would interest me at some point.”

    Simon’s immediate target will be next season’s UEFA Champions League.

    “We are all looking forward to featuring in the Champions League after, against all odds, we won our first Belgian championship in 115 years,” he told AfricanFootball.com

    “It’s a big stage for all of us and we wish to make the most of it.”

    The left winger scored seven goals after he joined up with Gent in January. It was a performance that saw him as the second best African player in the Belgian top-flight league this past season.

  • Borno group rejects PDP governorship candidate

    Concerned Borno State indigenes in the Southwest have kicked against the choice of Alhaji Mohammed Imam as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in their state.

    Members of the Yerwa-Oodu’a socio-economic society said yesterday that Borno State should be led by the best the state could offer, especially as it was passing through difficult times in the hands of the Boko Haram insurgents.

    The group said they either belonged to the PDP nor the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that its interest “is the future of the state”.

    The Borno State indigenes said this was why “we believe that the two leading parties ought to present credible candidates to enable the citizens make their choice”.

    They addressed reporters yesterday in Lagos.

    The Borno indigenes spoke through their Secretary, Haruna Wamdio, and Chairman, Alhaji Kachalla Bulama.

    The Yerwa-Oodu’a is a socio-economic society of Borno indigenes doing business and living in the Southwest. They expressed worry over the situation back home, having lost relations and friends to the insurgency in their state.

    Some of them said they were hosting in the Southwest family members who escaped from insurgency in their state.

    Wamdio said they were opposed to the candidacy of Imam, especially because he had not demonstrated good leadership in his private capacity.

    Besides, they said the PDP candidate was imposed on the party by former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.

    The former governor had been under fire for single-handedly replacing Imam with Alhaji Gambo Lawan, who was “validly elected” by PDP delegates as the party’s standard bearer.

    The Borno indigenes said Imam ought not to be any party’s candidate because of his antecedent.

    They claimed that Modu Sheriff once refused to allow his daughter to marry Imam because of certain misgivings about his person.

    They queried why Sheriff would “impose on the people of Borno State the same man he refused to allow to become his son-in-law? Why should a man Sheriff considered not suitable for his own daughter to suddenly become suitable to manage the affairs of the over three million people of Borno State?”

  • Osun PDP rejects result

    Osun PDP rejects result

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has rejected the result of last Saturday’s election.

    Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated Senator Iyiola Omisore of the PDP with 394,684 votes.

    Omisore had 292,747 votes.

    PDP State Publicity Director Prince Bola Ajao told reporters that his party refused to sign the result sheet because there were issues to be addressed about the poll.

    Representatives of 19 other parties, which participated in the election, including the Labour Party (LP) and Accord, signed the result sheet.

    Ajao said the party would not take a position on the outcome of the poll until it has critically studied it.

  • DISCO rejects N2m tariff review fee

    DISCO rejects N2m tariff review fee

    A representative of the Abuja Electricity Distribution  Company (Abuja DISCO) Engr. Bola Odubiyi yesterday asked the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to reduce the N2million proposed as application filing fee, arguing that it was unreasonable.

    He argued that since NERC’s  core mandate is not to generate revenue,  it should reduce the fee to N250,000.

    Making his input to the “Regulation for Tariff Review in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) in Abuja, Odubuyi insisted that the request is totally unreasonable because it is a legitimate responsibility of the commission to entertain such request.

    He added that the companies are already remitting funds to the commission on monthly basis.

    His said: “On the extra-ordinary we find the application of N2million to the regulatory body, and we are already  paying NERC every month. Asking us to pay N2million for what is a legitimate request is totally unreasonable.

    “We accept that if you charge some fees, which should not be more than N250,000. Remember that NERC is not a money making organisation. You are not a profit making organisation. You are supposed to cover your cost only, not to make profit.”

    Odubiyi also warned the commission on the danger of entertaining separate applications from different companies at different times, stressing that it would lead to staggered tariff in NERC.

    “We want to state clearly that for the extra-ordinary review, this process will lead to a staggered tariff for all market participants instead of what we have now where everything is done once,” he said.

  • Congress majority rejects Maigari’s impeachment

    Congress majority rejects Maigari’s impeachment

    A majority of the general assembly of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has rejected the impeachment of Aminu Maigari as president of the federation.

    A total of 26 state FA chairmen, who make up more than 50% of the 44-member congress and comply with requirements of Article 24 of NFF statutes, at a pre-general assembly resolved in a seven-page document made available to reporters that Maigari remains president of the NFF and he should immediately return to office.

    “That the undersigned having constituted more than 50%+1 of the members of the general assembly (as required by the NFF statutes for taking valid decisions at the congress) and in view of the mathematical impossibility of the remaining members to ratify the alleged dismissal pursuant to the NFF statutes, the President should immediately return to his desk and continue as President of the NFF until after the elective congress of Tuesday, 26th August, 2014,” read part of the resolutions.

    The FA chiefs said Maigari’s purported dismissal did not follow laid down procedures.

    They also declared that allegations of financial misappropriation, misapplication and maladministration against Maigari are unproven as the audited accounts of the NFF for the past three years were never queried in the last three annual assemblies.

    An extraordinary congress slated for Abuja on Thursday, which was to endorse Maigari’s impeachment, was on Wednesday shelved by the NFF executive committee due to what an official statement said were “unforeseen circumstances”.

    However, it is believed that the extraordinary congress was put off because those against Maigari “did not have the numbers” at the congress.

    The Abuja hotel where a majority of the congress put up ahead of the extraordinary assembly was Thursday sealed off by Nigeria security operatives as guests were barred from receiving any visitors.

    And as at press time, Maigari has been invited by the director of the State Security Service.

    Nigeria was recently suspended by FIFA after the country’s sports minister appointed a caretaker administrator for the NFF.

    Elections to the executive committee of the NFF are to be conducted on August 26.

     

  • Osun campaign: Lagbaja rejects Omisore’s offer

    Osun campaign: Lagbaja rejects Omisore’s offer

    Just when a number of his fans were lamenting the seeming eclipse of his singing career, mask-styled musician, Lagbaja, like a bolt from the blue, caused a stir at the weekend when he reportedly shunned an offer by the Iyiola Omisore Campaign Organisation to perform at the grand finale rally and reception for President Goodluck Jonathan scheduled to hold in Osogbo, Osun State, next week.

    The Koko Below crooner had reportedly been approached to thrill supporters of Senator Iyiola Omisore, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the August 9 governorship election in Osun State.

    However, the award-winning act, who would not want to sell his conscience for a pot of porridge, stoutly declined the offer. For a man who is seen as a social commentator of sorts, especially considering the oeuvre of his music, he was said to have rejected the offer purely on moral grounds.  In a very biting and soul-searching piece, he said: “Though the court of the land discharged and acquitted you (Omisore) in the murder case against the former Minister of Justice in Nigeria, the late Cicero of Esa-Oke and foremost nationalist, Chief Bola Ige, I have deep-rooted innermost conviction that you are culpable in the death of my mentor and benefactor. If you offer me all the allocation of Osun State during your four-year-tenure peradventure you win (which I seriously doubt), I will not perform for Iyiola Omisore governorship election.”

    Since the news went viral, there have been strong reactions from his fans saluting what some described as his daring stance, unlike some other artistes who would prioritise pecuniary motive over any other consideration.

  • Senate rejects presidential debates

    Senate rejects presidential debates

    The Senate yesterday rejected a proposal that makes presidential debates mandatory before any election.

    But it passed some amendments to the Electoral Act.

    It also gave the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the freedom to determine the procedure for voting.

    The rejection of the presidential debates was contained in the report of the Senate Committees on the Review of the 1999 Constitution and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), titled: “A Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act, 2010 to provide for Tenure of Office of Secretary, power to issue duplicate voters card, determine voting procedure and for other related matters, 2014.” It was presented by Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba at plenary.

    Also discarded was the proposal that sought to place the responsibility of proving the regularity or otherwise of any election on INEC.

    The committees said the burden of proof on electoral irregularities during election should be on the petitioner.

    The report of the committee reads: “On the other hand, a number of proposals were rejected by the committees. Some of the proposals rejected are:

    Senate Bill 297 – (Sought to vest the responsibility of proving the regularity of any election on the Independent National Electoral Commission). The Bill was rejected in its entirety as the committees were of the view that in law, the burden of proof lies with the petitioner.

    “Senate Bill 266 (Amendment of Section 25 to empower INEC to conduct elections into the office of the President, governor, Senate, House of Representatives and State Assemblies on the same day) – The committees  agreed that INEC lacks the capacity to manage an electoral exercise of that scale in a single day.

    “Senate Bill 379 (Amendment of Section 28 – to provide alternative authority for officers to swear oath of neutrality). This was rejected as it was already covered in Bill 455.

    “The Senate Bill 379 (Amendment of Section 87 to empower INEC where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of the Constitution or Electoral Act, to exclude the nominated candidate of that party from the list of nominated candidates for the election.

    “The committees noted that the court is the appropriate forum to determine the regularity or otherwise of a party primary.

    “The Senate Bill 266 (Amendment of Section 100 to make Presidential Debates mandatory before an election). Election debates, the committees felt, should remain outside the purview of the law.

  • APC rejects exco reshuffle in Niger

    APC rejects exco reshuffle in Niger

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the cabinet reshuffle by Niger State Governor  Babangida Aliyu as self serving.

    The party alleged in a statement issued in Minna, the state capital, that the action was aimed at securing the political interest of the governor.

    APC said: “The recent cabinet reshuffle was mere waste of government time and resources because it was just mere recycling of old hands to serve the governor’s political ambition for 2015 and to give himself safe landing from the years of emperor-like government where hypocrisis, self aggrandizement and greed are synonymous to excellence and qualify one to be appointed into political office.”

    The statement was signed by the state Publicity Secretary of the party, Comrade Jonathan Vatsa. He challenged the wisdom behind the creation of a new ministry for special duties, alleging that the new ministry was designed to drain the economy of the state.

    He advised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led government to stop deceiving the people with rhetoric and wild elephant ideas that only end on pages of newspapers.

    Vatsa added: “It is a known fact to all the people of the state that the administration is always out for window dressing and cosmetics that are usually embellished with gubernatorial rhetoric to deceive people.

    “This deception must stop. We urged all Nigerlites not to be deceived by the cosmetics of government, which beauty is in the rhetoric of governmental pronouncements with no practical achievement to show for it.

    “The PDP government under Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu in Niger State has only embarked on selective honesty while tactically encouraging corruption and disorder,” the statement accused.

    Vatsa advised the electorate  to away with the PDP and embrace the APC to salvage the state from further “misrule, financial recklessness and insensitivity to the plight of the common man in the state.”

  • Middle Belt rejects national conference modalities

    Middle Belt rejects national conference modalities

    The Association of Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities (ASOMBEN), an umbrella organisation for indigenous ethnic groups in the Northcentral Zone, has rejected the modalities for the national conference.

    Rising from a meeting in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, the association said the distribution of delegates was devoid of equity, fairness and justice.

    In its communique, the group said: “The modalities released on 30th January 2014 by Senator Pius Anyim Pius provided for only 90 delegates (less that 20 percent) for hundreds of ethnic nationalities, out of a total of 492 delegates, who will participateat the conference.

    “We consider this allocation far too small for ethnic nationalities who actually demanded for the national conference. We are therefore, using this medium to request Mr. President to kindly consider allocating not less than 75 percent of the total number of delegates to ethnic nationalities and to share this allocation equally among the 109 Senatorial Districts of Nigeria.

    “The modalities provide that Mr. President will nominate the following number of delegates from different segments of our society: 37 from among elder statesmen, six from among youths, six from among judicial officers, and the Federal Government will nominate another 20 delegates, thus giving Mr. President the opportunity to nominate a total of 69 delegates. State Governors and the FCT Minister will nominate another 109 delegates according to Nigeria’s Senatorial Districts.

    “This means that a total of 178 delegates, which is almost 40 percent of all the National Conference delegates, will be nominated directly by Mr. President, the 36 State Governors and the FCT Minister. It goes without saying that Mr. President and the State Governors will influence the nomination of the delegates to be nominated among traditional rulers, retired military and security personnel, retired civil servants and political parties.

    ASOMBEN added: “The combined effect of the provisions mentioned above is that Government is going to directly or indirectly nominate or influence the nomination of 80 percent of the delegates going to the national conference. With such a preponderance of government nominees, we doubt if the yearnings and aspirations of the millions of marginalised ethnic nationalities will be dispassionately treated. The national nonference would have lost its real purpose, which is to provide a platform for ordinary Nigerians to talk to each other about the things that are plaguing their lives.

    “The provision in the modalities that says the decisions and resolutions at the National Conference should be reached either by consensus or by 75 per cent majority means that Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities, who have been allocated less than 20% of the 492 delegates, would have been short-changed. The Federal Government’s almost 80 per cent share of delegates’ will easily have their views carried through.