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Tag: threatens

  • UN threatens to prosecute promoters of violence

    UN threatens to prosecute promoters of violence

    THE United Nations (UN) yesterday warned that it would ensure the prosecution of any Nigerian politician, who promotes violence before, during and after the nation’s elections.

    It urged major political actors to remain committed to the Abuja Peace Accord and ensure its implementation by their political parties.

    The UN praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its preparations so far.

    UN’s Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, spoke for the global body in Abuja yesterday in the company of the UN’s Secretary General’s High Level Representative to Nigeria, Mohammed Ibn Chambas.

    Feltman, who completed a two-day official visit to the country yesterday, said after meeting with key stakeholders in the nation’s electoral process, he was convinced that many of them appreciate the need for a violence-free election and pledged to work towards it.

    “I encourage the political, electoral and security actors to continue working together to create an environment conducive for a violence-free and credible elections, and ensure that all Nigerians can freely exercise their constitutional right to vote, including those displaced by violence in the Northeast.

    “I urge political actors, particularly the candidates, to resolve any electoral disputes through existing legal and constitutional means.

    “Especially, given the important role Nigeria plays in the region and globally, the international community is closely watching the elections in Nigeria and that any persons responsible for violence will be held accountable.”

    “In the view of the UN, INEC has made noteworthy progress in the preparations for the elections, including the distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and the testing of card readers, despite the tight schedule and logistical challenges’

  • Fed Govt’s non-release of funds threatens election tribunal

    Fed Govt’s non-release of funds threatens election tribunal

    The President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, has said the various election tribunals constituted to handle disputes from this month’s general elections are currently being handicapped owing to the non-release of funds by the Federal Government.

    She said the 77 tribunals,  made up of 255 members, inaugurated since  February 2 this year had to rely on the assistance of foreign agencies to function. She said their duties would be hampered with the continued delay in the release of funds for their operations.

    Also, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, said the judiciary would resist any attempt by vested interests to manipulate it to attain selfish ends. He said the judiciary was ready to hear cases dispassionately and dispense justice without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.

    The CJN and PCA spoke in Abuja when the Deputy Chief Observer, Ms Hannah Roberts, and the Legal Analyst, Ms Eirini-Marie Gounari of the European Union Election Observation Mission Nigeria 2015, paid Justice Mohammed a courtesy visit in his office.

    Media aide to the CJN, Ahurakah Isah, in a statement, quoted the PCA as saying that the Court of Appeal had been depending on some foreign donors such as the International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support the training activities, compilation of a digest of decided electoral cases since the money budgeted for the elections petition tribunal activities is yet to be released.

    She said the panel chairmen and members had undergone training and would be posted to their respective states next week where they are expected to serve.

    ‘’Apart from the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal panel, there will be at least two panels per state and one for the Federal Capital Territory,  while some will be put on reserve in case there is need to add more in some states. Governorship election will not hold in six states, namely: Kogi, Osun, Ekiti, Bayelsa, Ondo and Edo and, therefore, there will be no Governorship Election Petition Tribunal panels in those states.

    ‘’However, we are experiencing challenges in Rivers State where there is no Chief Judge at present to take responsibility of the panel posted to that state. Besides, the chief judges of Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states have said that they won’t be able to guarantee the safety of the panel members due to security challenges in their respective states and advised that the panels for their states  be made to sit elsewhere,’’ the PCA said.

    The CJN said: “The judiciary, as an independent arbiter and interpreter of law has an immeasurable role to play under the 1999 Constitution (as amended) for the stability of democracy in Nigeria. I wish to assure the international community and indeed all Nigerians that the courts are not only ready to carry out these responsibilities, but will do so without being manipulated to compromise the elections.”

  • Lack of funds threatens Dream Team’s training tour

    Lack of funds threatens Dream Team’s training tour

    The proposed training tour of Turkey by the U- 23 national team may not take off at the end of the day as lack of funds’ complaints by the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) may stall the proposal.

    The Dream Team VI kick start their crucial phase of preparations and camping for the All African Games match against Gabon today at the Abuja National Stadium’s FIFA Goal Project Center and it is evident the team will have to make do with preparing at home in Nigeria.

    The disappointed Coach told NationSport that the training tour of Turkey may not materialize after all as a result of paucity of funds facing the NFF.

    “Yes we are commencing the crucial stage of our training for the Gabon match tomorrow (today) at the Abuja National Stadium’s Goal Project pitch and we will do everything within our powers to ensure we get the team ready for the task ahead.

    “I am not really sure of our going for the training tour in Turkey because the Nigeria Football Federation is facing cash crunch for now and they would have liked to sanction our going immediately if not for funds problems.

    “But the door is not finally closed on the issue because we are still looking the way of sponsors for the trip. This is the time the corporate bodies should come to the aid of the Nigeria Football Federation by helping sort out this problem. It will be very good for us to go for the training tour for concentration, tactical and technical reasons too”, Siasia told NationSport in Abuja yesterday.

  • Oil price fall threatens financial stability, says IMF

    Oil price fall threatens financial stability, says IMF

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that risks to financial stability have increased, but remain limited, as oil price fall continues.

    U.S oil fell further yesterday to $48.01, having fallen below the symbolic threshold of $50 a barrel for the first time since April 2009 on Monday.

    The prices of both Brent crude and US oil, known as West Texas Intermediate crude, have now fallen by more than 50 per cent since mid-2014.

    In its report titled Seven Questions About Recent Oil Price Slump, it said currency pressures have so far been limited to a handful of oil exporting countries such as Russia, Nigeria and Venezuela.

    It said  given global financial linkages, these developments demand increased vigilance.

    According to report: “Oil exporters will want to smooth out the adjustment by not curtailing fiscal spending abruptly. For those without savings funds and strong fiscal rules, budgetary and exchange rate pressures may, however, be significant. Without the right monetary policies, this could lead to higher inflation and further depreciation.

    “The fall in oil prices provides an opportunity for many countries to decrease energy subsidies and use the savings toward more targeted transfers, and for some to increase energy taxes and lower other taxes.”

    The report said oil prices have plunged recently, affecting oil  producers, exporters, governments, and consumers.  Overall, the IMF described this as a shot in the arm for the global economy.

    “Bearing in mind that our simulations do not represent a forecast of the state of the global economy, we find a gain for world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between 0.3 and 0.7 per cent in 2015, compared to a scenario without the drop in oil prices. There is however much more to this complex and evolving story,” it said.

    Oil prices have fallen by over 50 per cent since June, over 40 per cent since September.  Metal prices, which typically react to global activity even more than oil prices, have also decreased but substantially less so than oil.

    “This casual observation suggests that factors specific to the oil market, especially supply ones, could have played an important role in explaining the drop in oil prices,” it said.

    It said the fall in oil prices provides an opportunity for many countries to decrease energy subsidies and use the savings toward more targeted transfers and for some to increase energy taxes and lower other taxes.

    IMF said: “In the euro area and Japan, where demand is weak and conventional monetary policy has done most of what it can, central banks forward guidance is crucial to anchor medium term inflation expectations in the face of falling oil prices.”

  • Edo Commissioner threatens to sack players for protesting unpaid salaries

    Edo State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Chris Okaeben, has threatened to sack players of state-owned female football club, Edo Queens, for protesting the non-payment of their accumulated salaries of two years.

    Edo Queens is a top flight team in Nigeria Premier League (NPL). The players, who marched through some major streets in Benin City to press home their demands, decried what they described as neglect and inhumane treatment by the authorities of the club.

    Goalkeeper of the club and Nigerian International, Okeke Oyinye, who spoke for the aggrieved footballers, said the players were being owed between one to two years salary.

    Oyinye who was Nigeria’s goalkeeper at the 2014 under-17 tournament, disclosed that all efforts to get the authorities to pay part of the salaries to enable them celebrate the yuletide have been rebuffed.

    “We went to the ministry and were told that the government was already processing our payment and that we should proceed on holiday to resume on January 6th. And we are saying pay us because we don’t even have transport to travel to our respective states and celebrate with our family,” she stated.

    Among their grievances is an alleged reduction of their away match bonus from N3, 000 to N2, 500.

    In a telephone reaction to enquiries made by the chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Edo state council, Comrade Desmond Agbama, the Sports Commissioner, Okaeben who described the players’ protest as unnecessary, said the government had put arrangements in place to clear the arrears.

    He however threatened that the players would be sacked for daring to protest their unpaid salaries.

    “So you mean those girls are protesting? How many are they? They should consider themselves sacked because we are already in the process of paying them,” he threatened.

  • Presidency threatens Amaechi

    Presidency threatens Amaechi

    The Presidency yesterday threatened  Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi with legal action over his comments on President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    Speaking during the 7th anniversary of his Supreme Court victory in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Saturday, Amaechi, among other accusations, claimed that corruption under Jonathan has reached an industrial scale.

    But, in a statement issued yesterday, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, maintained that the claims were false and baseless.

    The statement accused Amaechi of making “totally false and baseless vituperations against President Jonathan, the First Lady and the Federal Government”.

    It described allegations as “completely unfounded and off-the-mark” and alleged “demagoguery, libel, blackmail and incitement of public disorder”.

    The Presidency maintained that Amaechi was using falsehood to incite the people against his perceived political enemies.

    The statement said: “We can only assume therefore that he is deliberately spewing malicious falsehood in a desperate effort to incite the people of Rivers State and Nigeria against his assumed political foes.

    “We warn him that there are legal, constitutional and moral limits to political rascality beyond which he will not be allowed to go without repercussions.

    “The immunity which he currently enjoys notwithstanding, Governor Amaechi should be under no illusions:  A day of reckoning will surely come when he will answer for all his actions and false allegations against President Jonathan, the First Lady and the Federal Government.”

    Continuing, the statement reads: “He should also know that Nigerians are aware of the truth and will never be fooled or swayed by his arrant opportunism and anti-Jonathan rantings.

    “Nigerians know that while Mr. Amaechi falsely accuses others of corruption, he cannot show or explain to the people of Rivers State what he has done with the billions of Naira that has accrued to the state under his tenure.”

    It went on:  “Nigerians will know too that while he falsely alleges that Rivers and other states have not received funds due to them from the Federation account, the only outstanding allocation was for September, which was released to all states well over a week ago.

    “The governor should stop trying to make President Jonathan the scapegoat for his woeful performance in Rivers State and look to his own very apparent failings and incompetencies.

    “He should also stop blackmailing the First Lady who has demanded nothing from him other than good governance, justice, equity, fairness, real development and progress in Rivers State.”

    Also yesterday, First Lady Patience Jonathan denied asking for money from the Rivers State governor.

    Amaechi had, while speaking in Port Harcourt at the joint graduation of the students of University of Ibadan and pioneer graduates of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, at the weekend, was quoted as saying that his problem with Mrs. Jonathan started after he rejected her demand.

    “I refused to give them money in Abuja because if I did that, I won’t be able to carry out any development project or finish the road from Rumuolumeni to Rumuepirikom.

    “The quarrel between me and the wife of the President is because she said I should bring your money, Rivers people’s money and share with her,” the governor reportedly said.

    But Mrs. Jonathan, in a statement by her media assistant, Mr. Ayo Adewuyi, said the statement was a deliberate attempt to malign her.

    The statement read: “Having waited patiently for Governor Amaechi to refute the statement credited to him about the First Lady, (with the assumption that he was misquoted), it has become clear that it was a deliberate attempt to malign Dame Patience Jonathan and score cheap political point.

    ”The governor may have been beclouded by the political uncertainty surrounding him to make such a jaundiced and unsubstantiated allegation that the First Lady asked him to bring Rivers State money to share.

    “This is a blatant lie designed to denigrate the person of Dame Patience Jonathan and undermine the Presidency. This is to say the least most unfortunate.

    “It is crystal clear that Governor Amaechi is looking for cheap excuse for his failure in the governance of the state. We say without any iota of equivocation that the First Lady never made such a request and could not have done so in any way either directly and indirectly.”

  • OBUH THREATENS TO WALK-AWAY FROM RANGERS

    OBUH THREATENS TO WALK-AWAY FROM RANGERS

    Rangers coach John Obuh has threatened to resign if “unnecessary interference” in his job by the management does not stop.

    Obuh, who was practically held hostage for over an hour after Tuesday evening training session by members of the management team led by the General Manager, Paul Chibuzor, told AfricanFootball.com he was being pushed to the wall by some unguarded utterances of some highly placed members of the management team.

    “I must state categorically that I am highly disappointed by the actions of Christian Chukwu, Innocent Obiokwo and Innocent Abana over my output in the team,” Obuh said.

    “How could Chukwu say that I don’t have the  tactics in prosecuting my matches because we lost a game out of seven? It exhibits sabotage from such highly placed members of the team, especially as we prepare for a tough encounter against Heartland.”

    He further stated, “If such actions from such people are not checked, I might just be forced to throw in the towel and have my peace and respect.

    “Let Chukwu, Obiokwo and Abana come and handle the team. They are not too old to coach Rangers.”

    The current uproar in the side is not unconnected with media reports that the former Nigeria U20 handler has indicated interest in helping the Super Eagles out of the current precarious situation they find themselves in the qualifying tournament for next year’s AFCON.

  • Bayelsa criticises contractors, threatens to revoke three contracts

    Bayelsa state government has begun the process of revoking contracts of three errant contractors at the ongoing new National Youth Service Corps Orientation Camp project in Kaiama, Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area.

    The state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructural Development, Mr. Lawrence Ehwrudjakpo, threatened to cancel the contracts after his weekly inspection of some projects in the state.

    He, however, failed to reveal the identities of the contractors.

    Ehwrudjakpo was disappointed at the slow pace and quality of work executed by the contractors and warned that the government might be compelled to revoke the contracts.

    He said: “I have directed the affected three contractors to see me urgently because we cannot continue to wait for people who don’t want to grow and do what is right.

    “If they don’t sit up, we will have no choice but to revoke the contracts and give them to people who are ready to work.”

    Ehwrudjakpo, who was satisfied with the pace of work at some of the projects, urged the contractors to ensure early completion of their projects.

    He said the administration of Governor Seriake Dickson was desirous to deliver the projects on time, to bring succour to the people of the various communities where the projects are sited.

    Reacting to the issue of blacklisting some contractors, one of the workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, assured the commissioner that they were ready to execute quality and standard job.

    The three companies were said to be the core contractors of the two-storey building of three hostel blocks in the new orientation camp.

  • Abia APC crisis: faction threatens to defect

    ABIA State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) leadership crisis heightens yesterday as a group opposed to the inaugurated state executives renewed its call for a fresh congress, starting from ward to state level.

    The group’s leader and former interim party chairman, Donatus

    Nwankpa, who spoke in Umuahia on the crisis, said the “Fabian Okonkwo-led executive has no democratic basis to operate.”

    He called on the party’s national leadership to come out with its position on the issue in order to enthrone peace.

    Nwankpa said anything to the contrary would lead to a breakup of the party into factions or mass exodus of members to other parties.

    The politician decried the inauguration of the APC executives along with other state executives by the party’s former national interim leadership under Chief Bisi Akande in Abuja.

    He insisted that the state executive body was never inaugurated, adding that his interim leadership was still intact.

    He added that the state’s APC members loyal to his leadership represent over 85 per cent of the party’s membership and have waited long enough for the national leadership “to correct the aberration” watch them join another party in droves.

    Nwankpa said: “We have decided to call on the substantive national chairman of the party to make a pronouncement on the correct status of the executive in Abia State. Anything short of that, we will have no other option than to take our destiny in our own hands.

    “We don’t want to lead our teeming supporters into political oblivion unless pushed to the extreme.”

  • APC threatens suit over Niger East by-election

    APC threatens suit over Niger East by-election

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger State has threatened legal action against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should the latter insist on conducting the Niger East Senatorial by-election on the 30th of this month.

    The electoral body, through the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Emmanuel Onucheyo, last Friday announced a change in the date for the by-election from August 16 to 30, a development that APC and Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) kicked against.

    The two parties declared the shifting of the election as illegal and unconstitutional.

    APC’s chairman alleged that the reasons advanced by the electoral body for the shift was a deliberate plan to adequately perfect its arrangement for the rigging of the election in favour of the ruling party.

    Imam argued that INEC’s claim that its action was in line with Section 30(3) of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended could not in any way supersede Section 76 of the Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.

    He insisted that INEC has no logistic problems as claimed.

    He said: “It is now clear that the change in date and other manipulations that is going on is the handwork of the PDP-led government, which is desperate to retain the Senatorial seat at all cost.