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Tag: Uproar

Uproar in Senate over Buhari’s linkage to killer-herdsmen to Gaddafi

THE Senate was yesterday thrown into confusion over President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim that killer- herdsmen marauding in parts of the country were trained by the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gadaffi.

It took spirited attempts by Senate President Bukola Saraki to bring the situation under control.

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe stoked the fire, when he drew the attention of the upper chamber to what he described as the unbecoming statement of Buhari in London on Wednesday.

The President was quoted to have told the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in Abuja House in London that the killer-herdsmen terrorising the country were trained and armed by the late Gadaffi.

The President was reported to have added that when Gadaffi was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms to parts of West African countries, including Nigeria.

“We encountered some of them fighting with Boko Haram,” Buhari was quoted to have told Welby.

Abaribe appeared to have been offended by the president’s declaration linking Gadaffi to herdsmen attacks.

The Abia South lawmaker wondered why Buhari was still being indulged after what appeared consistent signs of weakness to protect the country.

Abaribe said: “This chamber has discussed the killings in Nigeria. I recall that on the matter of herdsmen and farmers’ clashes, two explanations were given by highly ranked security personnel. The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, said these killings were as a result of laws being passed by states.

“Secondly, the Defence Minister, Mansur Dan-Ali, said these killings were as a result of the blockage of grazing routes. And we continued to look at all these explanations.

“Yesterday, in London, the Commander-in-Chief and President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, said these killings were as a result of the people who were trained by Muammar Gaddafi.

“Mr. President was implying that these people, who are doing the killings in Nigeria, are invaders from outside of Nigeria.

“If so, it validates my point in this chamber that when a Commander-in-Chief says he cannot take care of invaders, why is he still a Commander-in-Chief?

“Why do we still continue to indulge this President that goes around to tell everybody outside this country that he is totally incompetent? It is obvious…”

Some senators found Abaribe’s choice of words distasteful and hard on the President. Intense murmuring ensued as some senators attempted to shout Abaribe down.

Abaribe stood his ground and insisted on having his way.

Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan promptly raised a Point of Order to cut Abaribe short.

Lawan raised Order 53 (7) on the need to avoid the use of offensive words in the Senate.

He said: “The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the leader of this country and deserves the respect and courtesy of this chamber and those of us in it. I was once a member of the opposition and I do not recall ever calling the then President incompetent or insult him. This is our institution. If we do not conduct ourselves with respect, nobody will. I want to ask my colleague to immediately withdraw his statement and apologies to this chamber.”

Saraki asked Abaribe to be guided as an elder-statesman.

He said it was obvious that Abaribe used certain words that were unacceptable.

The Senate President asked Abaribe if he had concluded his submissions as tempers continued to rise in the chamber.

He added: “We can make our points without using words that are offensive. Please be guided accordingly.”

Abaribe, who seemed to be determined to push to the end, said: “I am very well guided by you but there are words that there are no alternatives to. What I did was to interpret the words by Mr. President in London. If any word I used is misunderstood by anyone, I apologise.

“What I am saying is simple. The heads of security in Nigeria made several explanations for the killings of our people. It shows that there is a disconnect…”

Fresh rounds of discord in the chamber did not allow Abaribe to conclude.

Saraki responded to douse the rising tension.

“Leader came with a Point of Order and you have complied by an apology. Have you finished?

Before Abaribe could take the floor, Deputy Leader Bala Ibn Na’Allah raised another Point of Order also aimed at stopping the Abia South lawmaker from continuing on his line of action.

Na’Allah said senators are forbidden by the rule to discuss the conduct of the President or judicial officers without a substantive motion.

Saraki sustained Na’Allah’s Point of Order to halt Abaribe’s submission.

Some senators were seen crowding Abaribe’s seat after Saraki ruling in apparent move to prevail on him to sheath his sword.

Saraki quickly signal on Senate Leader to move to the next item on the Order Paper.

April 13, 2018
Day after BADOO uproar

ODOGUNYAN, a community in Ikorodu part of Lagos, was until six days ago a peaceful settlement. But the peaceful air that once prevailed in the community has given way to tension and trepidation. Sleep has become an essential commodity for residents, particularly at night. Disused tyres are now in high demand in the cosmopolitan community as relics of burnt tyres welcome a visitor to every street. The activities of a cult group called Badoo Boys has turned life in the community upside down.

Penultimate Thursday, suspected members of the dreaded cult attacked about four houses on one of the streets at about 3 am, resulting in the death of three people. While the residents were trying to pick up the pieces, the peace of the community was fouled again on Sunday as three men suspected to be members of the cult group were lynched by exasperated residents. They were alleged to have been caught with all the paraphernalia of members of the Badoo cult in an SUV around 2 am without any means of identification.

Before the incidents of Sunday and penultimate Thursday, there had been numerous attacks on hapless residents of Ikorodu by suspected Badoo members, resulting in gruesome killings. Worried by the ugly trend and determined to see an end to the menace, the residents decided to go spiritual. When The Nation visited Odogunyan on Wednesday, some of the Christian community leaders had just finished a prayer session at the palace of the community’s leader, popularly called Baale.

A source in the community said that prayers had become a ritual in day time, while the residents take their destiny in their own hands by keeping vigil at night to watch out for Badoo cult members. One of the Christian leaders, who had just participated in the prayer session, said the residents could no longer sleep at night as a result of the activities of Badoo Boys. Even the children in the community are not exempted from the horror.

The source, who craved anonymity for security reasons, said: “We have been praying. We don’t encourage anybody to move around at night. We only advised that if anyone suspects any strange movement, they should raise the alarm. We do not encourage jungle justice. If we apprehend anybody, we hand them over to the police. We hold meetings with the CDA (Community Development Association) chairmen and the Baale every now and then.”

One of such security meetings with CDAs was about to be held when two of our correspondents arrived the community on Wednesday.

Economic activities on hold

Right now, the tension in the community is palpable. Residents view any strange face with suspicion. A resident warned that it was dangerous for anyone who did not have genuine business or know exactly where he or she is going to, to visit the area at night, as he or she would be subjected to serious scrutiny.

Economic activities in the area are currently on hold, especially at night. While the situation appears calm in day time, nightfall is like a dreaded disease. It is a challenging period for residents in paid employment, particularly those who have to return home from distant parts of Lagos where their offices are based.

A resident blamed the travails of the community on continuous power outage, saying that the fact that the community has been plunged into darkness for a very long time makes it very easy for the Badoo Boys to operate under the cover of darkness.

“There has not been light in Odoguyan for a while now. And whenever they bring it, it is only for a short period,” he said.

“During the last attack, they took light. Shortly after those boys finished their operation, they restored light. I’m not saying that NEPA people are working with Badoo. But if there had been light, they probably would not muster enough courage to attack.”

‘Attacked family members ignored warning of imminent attack’

When one of our correspondents visited No 9 Adesiyan Street, the house where three members of a family were killed, gloom enveloped the building. The gate to the house was securely locked. Although it was suspected that someone was inside the building, the person inside was not ready to open the gate.

It took the intervention of one of the residents of the street for the occupant of the building to summon courage to open the gate to attend to our correspondent. However, all the efforts made to make him talk about the incident were politely rebuffed. There was anguish on his face.

The Nation gathered that while many of the streets were on the alert when threats of the attack were received, most residents of Adesiyan took it with a pinch of salt and so were not prepared for the unwanted visit.

“The residents of Aliu Adesiyan did not believe that the threat was real, hence they never prepared for the Badoo Boys. We have been keeping vigil here since we heard that they were attacking the community,” a resident said.

Poly students live in fear

When The Nation visited the campus of the Lagos Polytechnic near Odogunyan community, it was the same feeling of anxiety that pervaded the air. Many of the students approached by our correspondent were not willing to discuss the Badoo matter. Some male students who offered to talk said they were living in constant fear.

“Right now, it is difficult for us to sleep, as we join the locals to do vigilance at night. Although it is a voluntary thing, it makes no difference whether you are in your room or outside. The sound of the drums, the whistle and the bell will not allow you to sleep. The area was calm until the issue of Badoo crept in,” one of the students said.

He added: “In my street, we sleep around 8 am and wake up around midnight to patrol the street. The next morning, we come to school. We don’t sleep well, because we hear them banging on our gates, telling us not to sleep.”

While he agreed that the security that had been put in place was okay, he lamented that it is at a cost as the students don’t have enough time to read and rest.

Another student, who corroborated his colleague, insisted that the Lagos State Government ought to have given students priority with regard to security. He told The Nation that if nothing was done about the situation, it might affect them academically. How do you expect a student who does vigilante job at night to do well in his studies?” he queried.

The authorities of the Lagos Polytechnic are also not taking chances on the security situation. Well-armed men were seen manning the gates of the institution. Some of them engaged our reporters in friendly chats.

How community’s head, six children, others escaped mob attack

The Baale of Odogunyan was yet to recover from the shock of a raw deal he had with a mob when three suspected Badoo Boys were arrested last weekend. The monarch nearly lost his palace and his six children to mob attack on Sunday.

Narrating his experience with the mob, he said: “When those boys were arrested, from nowhere, a large crowd converged on this place where the boys were being kept. I tried to pacify them but they said I had collected money from them in order to shield them. They threatened to burn down the palace.

“The communities under Odogunyan are more than 42. They had communicated with themselves, so people came from far and wide that early morning. It is sad that upon all my efforts to pacify the people to let peace reign, some people went about to say that I had been collecting money from Badoo.”

The Baale said while he was making efforts to make sure that the suspects were handed over to the police, some were hell bent on carrying out jungle justice, though he stood his ground.

”The next thing I started hearing was noise. Some people had started damaging the CRV Honda-Compact Recreational Vehicle they recovered from the three boys. They started butchering the car and setting fire on it.

“I was afraid because there is a petrol station beside us. If not for the fish depot that always releases water into the drainage, it would have been difficult for use to prevent the fire from engulfing the whole community. They threatened to burn six of my children that night and accused me of collecting N15 million. Right now, my children sleep outside at night,” he said.

Although he succeeded in saving the community from being engulfed in fire, the crowd at his palace on that Sunday morning was too much for him to control.

“They opened the place where we kept those boys. They brought out a gun and I was shocked. I really don’t know where the gun came from. They just mobbed me and forcibly took the key to where we kept the boys,” he said.

An eyewitness said that even if the police had come, there was little they could have done, considering the number of residents that had gathered outside the palace from different villages on that Sunday morning.

The Baale assured that such a thing would not happen again in the future as the community development associations (CDAs) now constantly meet, adding that this would make it possible to at least identify some members of the community.

July 8, 2017
Uproar in Southeast over Igbo presidential ambition

WITH the mass defection of some political juggernauts in the Southeast to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a defection partly shepherded by the Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, the question on everyone’s lips is whether in the months ahead anyone in that unprincipled region would be left anywhere else. Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu,, now heading a shrinking army, has sworn to keep the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) banner flying in the region despite his Senate post being threatened and he himself assailed on all fronts by avaricious APC stalwarts and opportunistic Southeast politicians casting wary and envious glances in his direction. When Mr Okorocha gleefully announced two Saturdays ago that three governors would be defecting to the APC, thereby courting heated controversies, he was fixated on the big prize of the presidency. Whether that big prize can now be secured in the face of the uproar the defections and controversies have generated is hard to say.
But the ebullient Mr Okorocha, regardless of the abuse he has suffered in the hands of the pugnacious Anambra governor, Willie Obiano, is not an ordinary politician. His oratory, though it often lacks substance and backbone, is hugely striking. Given the chance and the pedestal, he can talk nineteen to the dozen. In fact the more important the occasion, the higher Mr Okorocha’s oratory soars. And as everyone knows, when oratory is in full flight, no one, least of all the ordinary voter, questions its relevance or lack of profundity. Oratory is but a stone’s throw from demagoguery; and demagoguery, historians have aptly noted, brought the mighty and enlightened Germany to heel in the 1930s, and can hold any people enthralled not only for moments but for longer duration than is god for their health.
No one of course says Mr Okorocha is a demagogue, for that would be belittling his fine accomplishments over the years, his unquenchable philanthropic zeal, his bold political permutations, and his general prescience. But he loves to hear himself speak. So, when he took the microphone during the Southeast political stakeholders’ meeting recently, he easily forgot, in his exuberance, the prudence of weighing his statements well before inflicting them on his animated audience. If it was true that three governors were in talks with him to defect to the APC, except he had mastered the Nixonian amenity of secretly taping his guests and subverting their privacies, there was no way his word would weigh higher than his guests’ in the court of public opinion. Yet, it was difficult to imagine the Imo governor telling a lie against the hypothetical three, nor that having misread the enthusiasm of his guests, he exaggerated the import of their discussions and intentions.
With the coming into the APC of virtually every Igbo politician of consequence, including the dour and ageing politician, Emmanuel Inwuanyanwu, and others like the publisher Orji Uzor Kalu, Jim Nwobodo, Ifeanyi Araraume, Emeka Offor, Tony Eze, George Moughalu, and Ken Nnamani to whom Mr Okorocha flippantly ceded leadership, it is not certain that any stouthearted politician remains outside the fold. After all, the enigmatic and level-headed Ogbonnaya Onu has been with the APC from the beginning, though not well appreciated or rewarded in a way that is commensurate with his effort to legitimise the party in the Southeast when it mattered. So, too, is the charismatic Chris Ngige, a sturdy politician and medical practitioner trapped in the unyielding and unexciting ministerial portfolio of Labour. And despite renouncing the APC with so much pageantry, nothing says that Senator Ekweremadu, nor any of the so-called hypothetical three, will not defect to the ruling party on a fortuitous tomorrow should the stock of President Muhammadu Buhari defy gravity and begin a relentless rise to the stratosphere.
To be sure, there are still enough men of clout in the other parties in the Southeast to give the APC a run for their money in 2019; but at the furious rate of defection at the moment, it is hard to see many resolute politicians remaining inured to the ruling party’s talisman. The Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) may rail all they can, but the casual and carefree inducement thrown to the Southeast by ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo is probably the most enticing bait the region has happened upon in a long time. Coupled with the Okorocha razzmatazz aforesaid, the noisy and almost tumultuous defections to the APC engineered by incredible circumstances in recent months, and the general lack of enthusiasm for opposition politics in the region, an avalanche may soon occur.
But first the uproar. Chief Obasanjo’s bait to the Southeast cannot be dismissed out of hand. Once nature gifted him the leadership of Nigeria in 1976, he brusquely shoved nature aside and took over the fortunes that came his way since then, and it seems also, the fortunes that came the way of most of his successors. He is himself neither a principled politician nor even a brilliant leader. He is in fact the perfect example of an average leader, a classic underachiever whose only redeeming feature is his inordinate love for hard work unrestrained by his well-known health challenges. Yet, this same proud and unfeeling and visionless leader has managed by dint of good fortune and unfathomable circumstances to crown himself the most successful kingmaker of this era. He badmouthed Ibrahim Babangida out of power, enthroned Umaru Yar’Adua as well as subverted him in the same ceaseless and reckless breath, emplaced Goodluck Jonathan and also ruined him with emphasis and completeness, and contributed immensely to returning the ossified and permanently disenchanted President Buhari to office. If the same man could therefore mention, no matter how glibly, that the Southeast should take a shot at the presidency in 2019, the region is likely to pay more than a cursory attention to his sweet nothings.
There has been much talk of whether Chief Obasanjo meant 2019 or 2023 when he admonsihed the Igbo to take a shot. Hear him, as quoted by a newspaper, and draw your own conclusions: “But, irrespective of the thinking of the people ahead of 2019, I personally think that the Southeast should have a go at the Presidency, too.” There is no other way to interpret that statement. He meant 2019, but probably without much or any reflection. The group inspired by Mr Okorocha would prefer to take the shot in 2023, having servilely endorsed President Buhari for re-election in 2019, of course irrespective of whether the president possesses the stamina to continue or whether his policies ameliorate the stifling conditions of the people. Like the Southwest, the Southeast may never be clear who should speak for them: the governors and powerful political groups or the socio-cultural and partly political organisation, the Ohaneze Ndigbo. But it does seem overall that the regnant wisdom in the Southeast is for the region to support President Buhari in 2019 and to take a shot at the presidency in 2023, perhaps with a coronation in view.
In short, the Southeast is gambling on the APC retaining its relevance and dominance in the foreseeable future, when in fact there are no objective conditions to suggest the bumbling party can manage to do so. Worse, by their sheepish and slavish mentality towards President Buhari, as exampled by their endorsement of his re-election when he has himself not said a word about his future electoral ambition, the group purporting to speak for the Southeast is taking a much huger and probably humiliating gamble. Who tells them that even if the contentious and fratricidal APC manages to keep its chin up till 2023, and by some celestial intervention President Buhari also holds out against his political and health challenges, that both the party and its truculent president would endorse a Southeast candidate? Do his present appointments, as skewed as they obviously are, indicate that admirable, equitable bent? Or is it simply because Chief Obasanjo suggested it could be their turn?
The Southwest may be fractious and regicidal, as stereotype suggests, but given the behaviour of Southeast politicians and the bewildering choices they often make, not to say their loathing for opposition politics and the tough discipline and overbearing regimen it imposes, the Igbo obviously need far more tutoring and ear pinching to get their priorities right than the other regions in the South. Those in the Southeast who endorse President Buhari for re-election in 2019, and who shun the value of staying strong and building a powerful, principled and ideological national party, give no consideration to ethics or historical examples. The region has obviously not learnt from others that where the president comes from is not as important as his capacity to rule, nor as his judgement and his sense of fairness and justice.
The Igbo must change course and deepen their politics. Apart from producing and nurturing a great politician with a pan-Nigerian outlook, the Igbo candidate must possess the sophistication these times call for, the ideology that can be sold by the aspirant and bought by the electorate, the charisma that will endear him to his immediate people and the rest of the country, and an admirable sense of justice that will shame that of President Buhari. In addition, the candidate must understand the geopolitical dynamics of Nigeria and get his permutations right. Nothing will come automatically. And unlike 2015 when there was a desperation to force out the more enlightened Dr Jonathan in place of the inscrutable candidate Buhari, that mistake will not be repeated, not in 2019, and not in 2023. The next president will be a democrat, and he will earn every vote that comes his way. The nonsense about ethnicity will be de-emphasised. So, too, will religion. Nigerians have seen where both superficialities have got them. And let the Southeast ponder what dilemma would confront them should the PDP, by a stroke of good fortune, start to rise in influence, ethics and appeal in the months ahead, as implausible as that might sound at the moment. For after all, there is a limit to how far rhapsodising the ruling party or the president can get a people.

February 5, 2017
Uproar in Senate over Buhari’s plea for SGF

•Clearing Lawal funeral service for anti-graft campaign, says Sani

There was uproar in the Senate yesterday its President Bukola Saraki read President Muhammadu Buhari’s letter on the Senate’s resolution that Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal, should resign following alleged abuse of office.
Senator Shehu Sani, (Kaduna Central), who said he was shocked that President Buhari could be misled to write such a letters, described it as “the funeral service for anti-corruption fight” in the country.
Senator Sani chaired the ad-hoc committee on “mounting humanitarian crisis in the Northeast”.
The Kaduna Central senator, elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), noted that Buhari had chosen to fight corruption with “insecticide when it has to do with the Judiciary, National Assembly and the larger society and uses deodorant when it has to do with the Presidency.”
He added: “It is unfortunate that we have a political atmosphere where you have a saintly and angelic Presidency and a devillish and evil society.”
Saraki appeared uncomfortable with the line of defence Sani’s submissions and attempted to cut him short.
There was instantaneous uproar in the chamber as senators across party line, urged Sani to “fire on.”
Saraki retreated and allowed Sani to continue. He explained how his committee arrived at its conclusions and recommendations on the need for Lawal to resign and be prosecuted for alleged abuse of office.
Many senators were also said to have doubted that President Buhari wrote the letter since it was “hurriedly sent to the Senate after President Buhari travelled to the United Kingdome for medical treatment.”
In the letter, President Buhari faulted the Senate for resolving that Lawal should resign and be prosecuted.
The President said due process was not followed before the Senate arrived at its resolution.
Buhari’s letter dated January 17, 2017 absolved Lawal of wrong doing in the handling of funds approved for the care of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) reads:
“Re-resolution by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria concerning the humanitarian situation in the northeast region particularly in relation to the alleged role of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. David Babachir Lawal in the contract implementation regime of the Presidential Initiative for the northeast (PINE).
“You may recall your letter with reference NASS /8X/R/01/5 dated 15th December, 2016 in respect of the Senate consideration of the report of its ad-hoc committee on the mounting humanitarian crisis in the northeast that conveyed the resolution of the committee as contained in paragraph 1 subsection 8 therein which reads as follows:
“Engr. Babachir Lawal having contravenes the provisions of part one of the 5th schedule of the 1999 Constitution as amended had breached his oath of office and should resign and be prosecuted by the relevant authority, S/075/02/01/16.
“Following the receipt of your letter, I set up a review team to consider the recommendations from the Senate committee.
“I have also conducted further investigation based on Engr Lawal’s response to the allegations and issues raised in the Senate resolution.
“I have come to the following conclusion that I believe will guide the Senate in the proper review of its interim report and eventual resolution.
“The report forwarded to the Presidency by the Senate which informed the decision that Engr Babachir Lawal should resign and be prosecuted by the relevant authority S/075/02/016 was an interim report as against a final report which ought to have been presented to the Senate in the plenary for adoption as a binding and final report before submission to the Presidency given the weight of allegations made in the report.
“The Senate committee set up to investigate the mounting humanitarian crisis in the northeast comprised of nine members namely, senator Oluremi Tinubu, senator Mohammed Hassan, Senator Solomon Adeola, senator Ben Murray Bruce, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, Senator Theodore Orji, Senator Yahaya A. Abdullahi, Senator Mallam Aliu Wakili and Senator Issac M Alfa.
“The review of the interim report shows that the interim report was only signed by only three out of the nine members namely Senator Solomon Adeola, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, and Senator Isaac M. Alfa
“The signing of the interim report by three out of nine members of the committee makes it a minority report of the Senate committee and not a committee report being an interim report. Thus, presenting a challenge for the Presidency to determine the weight to attach to the report as currently presented.
“I have also observed that the Senate ad-hoc interim committee report and the Votes and Proceedings of the Senate have not in its own right established that Engr Babachir Lawal was ever given an opportunity to appear before the committee and defend himself.
“It is also on record that a company linked to him Rollervision Engineering Limited was also not invited at anytime before the committee against the allegations which eventually formed the fulcrum of the Senate’s case against the company.
“You are invited to note that non application of principles of fair hearing by the Senate ad-hoc committee is a clear contravention of section 36 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and against all principles of rule of law as initiated in the Nigerian legal system as well as the roles of the National Assembly committees on handling of public petitions.
“Consequently, I am of the view that baring other consideration that may arise as a result of subsequent investigation of Engr Lawal by the interim ad-hoc committee, the current report as presented to the Presidency in its own right does not meet the principles of fair hearing and compliance with the Senate rules for conduct of investigations in matters relating to abuse of office by public officers.
“In replying on the foregoing, I am not able to approve the recommendation to remove and prosecute Engr Lawal on the basis of the Senate ad-hoc committee report dated 15th December, 2016.”
Senator Sani said: “It is shocking to me that such a letter can come from the Presidency with such misinformation and outright distortions.
“They lied by saying that the committee didn’t invite the SGF. The committee invited the SGF and the letter was acknowledged by the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the SGF.
“To make sure that we buttress our point, we made a paid advert in three or four national dailies: This one was published on Dec. 2, 2016 and the SGF is clearly mentioned as one of those that is expected to come and appear before the National Assembly.
“If they have the intention of simply reaching a pre-determined conclusion by covering up on the issues raised by the committee that is one thing.
“Secondly, issues were raised that only three members of the committee signed that interim report, that was also a second lie coming from the Presidency.
“I have a copy of the interim report which was initially signed by seven members of the nine members of that committee and I am going to submit it to the clerk of the Senate.
“Even if it is nine and then three people signed, we still have a quorum, but here I have seven people.
“I will say also that I listened to the list of the names that were read and they omitted the chairman which is myself.
“I know I am not very big in frame but I believe my name shouldn’t have been omitted.
“This shows clearly how the SGF and his minions in the Presidency misinformed the President to sign this letter.
“Secondly I will say this clearly, this letter is a funeral service for the anti-corruption fight.”
At this stage, Saraki tried to stop Sani from continuing.
The Senate President was overwhelmed by protests from senators.
“I stand by the report of that committee and it is very clear to us: if we can allow this committee’s report to be shredded into pieces then I think it would be in order for us to open all the 138 prisons in this country for all the convicts and awaiting trial inmates to go scot free.”
Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, told reporters after plenary that the “Senate stands on its resolution on Lawal.”
Abdullahi said Buhari’s letter absolving the SGF did not in any way change the position of the Senate.

January 25, 2017
Uproar in House over motion on fuel subsidy

THERE was uproar yesterday on the floor of House of Representatives over a motion calling on the Federal Government to be cautious on plans to remove fuel subsidy.

The motion enitled: “Alleged Plan to Remove Fuel Subsidy”, which was brought by a member, Albert Abiodun Adeogun (PDP Osun), became contentious and divided the House along partisan lines.

As Adeogun started his debate, a member, Herman Hembe, coming under point of order, noted that the rules of the House does not allow for motions hinged on speculation and hence it should not be entertained.

The House Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, opposed the motion, saying it was based on mere allegations.

He said the government approved payment for subsidy totalling N413 billion.

Gbajabiamila received applause for his observation.

But the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, would hear none of such arguments and insisted that the motion be allowed to go through the legislative process of presentation, debate and adoption or rejection.

There were shouts of “no! no! no! no! from majority of APC members on the floor.

At this juncture, the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, upheld Ogor’s position.

The PDP members in the chamber applauded the decision.

But the mover of the motion got jittery at this point and quickly withdrew the motion with shouts of approval from many members on the floor.

November 6, 2015
Uproar in House of Reps over leadership crisis

The crisis rocking the House of Representatives took a different turn, Thursday as members physically exchanged blows.

Details later…..

June 25, 2015
Uproar at Conference over revenue sharing, others

Deliberations stalled as Kutigi summons elders

Delegates lost their temper yesterday at the National Conference, screaming, shouting and swearing. The trouble was over the derivation principle.

Northern delegates, led by former Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Coomasie, vehemently opposed the recommendations of a select group of elders to peg the derivation principle for oil producing states at 18 per cent.

The proposal sought to increase the derivation principle from 13 per cent to 18 per cent for oil bearing states.

Another thorny issue for the conferees was the percentage of revenue sharing formula between the Federal and state governments.

The stalemate on the issues forced Conference Chairman Justice Idris Kutigi (rtd) to summon a meeting of “50 wise men” (a group of zonal elders) to seek a way forward for the conference.

Signs of trouble started early in the morning before the proceedings.

Deputy Conference Chairman Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi invited Prof. Anwalu Yadudu for a “private discussion”.

The convener of the Consensus Bridge Building Group, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, accused Yadudu of working in concert with others to break up the conference.

Akinyemi was said to have urged Yadudu to assist the conference in finding a common ground on some contentious issues.

At the beginning of proceedings, Akinyemi told delegates that on Wednesday, Ambassador Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, gave a verbal report of the consensus committee on derivation formula.

He added that Gambari had submitted a written copy of the report to the conference secretariat.

Hardly had Akinyemi concluded his speech when Alhaji Basir Dalhatu, a northern delegate, moved a point of order.

When he was recognised, Dalhatu said he was a member of the consensus negotiation team but did not sign Gambari’s report.

Dalhatu also told the House that most of the signatories were not original members of the team.

The conferee said that he asked Dokpesi, who produced the report, to meet with him for reconciliation of certain portions of the document.

He vowed not to accept the report unless certain sections of it were reconciled.

When Dokpesi walked into the chamber, Akinyemi told him that the document he served the House had been challenged on the floor.

Akinyemi said he had agreed with Kutigi to give Dokpesi and Dalhatu one hour to reconcile gray areas of the report.

One hour later turned into hours as other members of the negotiation team joined Dokpesi and Dalhatu.

As delegates waited endlessly for the consensus- building team to return, Mr. Isaac Osuoka, a member of the civil society, said the consensus group was unknown to the procedure rules of the conference.

Osuoka asked delegates to ignore the group as “it is self-appointed illegal assemblage of delegates.”

Justice Kutigi overruled him and insisted that delegates were free to form themselves into groups.

Dr. Haruna Yerima from Borno State said the conference should do away with voice vote.

He warned that any decision arrived at on the Committee of Devolution of Power report through voice vote would not be acceptable to the northern delegates.

Senator Musa Adede warned that the conference was drifting.

“This conference is deviating and drifting from how we started. Those attempting to intimidate the chairman must retrace their steps in the interest of this conference and the country. Nobody must be allowed to intimidate the chairman.”

As tension continued to rise, Justice Kutigi said the conference would skip derivation and go ahead to consider other recommendations of the Devolution of Power committee.

On revenue sharing formula, the committee recommended that the ratio should be 42.5%, 32% and 22.5% for federal, state and local councils to replace the subsisting 52.28%, 26.72% and 20.02%.

Some delegates proposed that the sharing formula should be 60% in favour of states and 40% for the federal government, bearing in mind that the conference had adopted the proposal that local council matters should be transferred to the states.

There was uproar as most northern delegates insisted that provision must be made for local government councils.

Senator Mohammed Saidu Dansadau from Zamfara State said: “The constitution states clearly that the revenue sharing formula shall be between federal, state and local government. Therefore any revenue sharing formula the conference want propose must be between the federal, state and local government. Nothing less of than that.”

Those behind the agitation to scrap local government councils shouted him down and reminded him that the conference had already adopted a proposal to make local government matters state affair.

Akinyemi reminded delegates that they voted to transfer local government councils to the state.

He said the voting had its consequences.

Proceedings were halted for over 45 minutes. The unfolding scenario compelled Akinyemi to warn that the leadership would no longer permit point of order or point of information.

Delegates were not deterred as they continued to discuss loudly in groups.

Akinyemi reeled out further proposals sought by delegates as the revenue sharing formula to include: 35% for federal and 65% for states; 42.5% for federal and 57.5% for states.

Akinyemi said the issue should be stood down for necessary consultations.

The acrimony between northern and southern delegates widened as the consensus building group walked into the chamber.

Akinyemi asked “High Chief Dokpesi where is the document?”

Northern delegates shouted “no document, no document, no document, no wuruwuru here”.

Akinyemi objected to the use of the derogatory word wuruwuru (deceit) as confusion continued in the chamber.

He asked that the microphone be handed over to Alhaji Coomasie, leader of the northern delegates.

Coomasie said: “I am the leader of northern delegates to this conference and a member of elders who have met for three days to arrive at some comprise on the issue of derivation.

“We failed to reach any comprise on the issue. Therefore any report submitted to the secretariat on the issue, do not have the backing of the northern delegates. We reject such report.”

Coomasie’s speech made delegates to cluster in groups while the shout of “no, yes, no, yes” reigned in the house.

Akinyemi said since consensus had failed, the conference must move forward.

He listed 18%, 21%, 21.5%, 25%,, 30%, 40%, 50% as the percentages of derivation delegates proposed to vote on.

He also read the proposal which sought the scrapping of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Amnesty Programme, and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs while their function should be transferred to the states.

Akinyemi read another proposal which wanted an interim bridging arrangement of 50% derivation which will be phased within 10 years and eventually increased to 100% over the years.

Justice Kutigi said the problem of the secretariat was that the ballot paper for voting has only the provision of “yes or no”.

“Our problem is how to group the proposals into two to record the voting pattern,” he said.

There was more confusion in the House as delegates began to shout on top of their voices.

Chief Olu Falae, leader of Yoruba delegates and a member of the consensus group elected to read the conclusions of the team, noted that Nigeria’s problems would come and go while the country would remain.

Falae said he is a member of the consensus – seeking committee that had been meeting for three days.

He asked for decorum to enable him read the committee’s conclusions.

The shout of “yes and no” interjected him.

Falae persisted to read the conclusion amid loud shouts of “no document!, no document!.”

The document read: “Proposed amendments to the report of the Committee on Devolution of Power.

“Amend recommendation (a) on page 39 of the report of the committee by substituting with the following:-

“1(a) Provided that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than eighteen percent (18%) of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural resources

“2(b) That not less than 50% of the total derivation fund accruable to a mineral bearing state shall be due and payable to the host communities within the state where the resources are derived in accordance with the production quota contributed by such communities.

“2. There shall be established a Solid Mineral Development Fund, which is currently 3% of the Federal Government Account referred to by the committee on page 40 of its report, it shall be increased to 5% and will be applied to Solid Minerals Development in the states.

“3.There shall be a National Intervention Fund, which will be 5% of the annual revenue accruing to the account of the Federal Government for stabilisation, rehabilitation and reconstruction of areas affected by terrorism and insurgency, in the first instance in the North East of Nigeria and any other parts of the country affected.

“Or in the alternative

“3,There shall be a National Intervention Fund which shall be 5% of the annual revenue accruing to the account of the Federal Government for the stabilization, rehabilitation and reconstruction of areas affected by terrorism and insurgency, in the first instance in the North East of Nigeria, North Central, North West any other parts of the country.”

Falae proceeded to the high table to hand over the document to Justice Kutigi.

There was commotion in the chamber.

Justice Kutigi made attempts without success to bring order to the house.

“Be orderly, please be orderly” Justice Kutigi shouted.

He said it appeared the consensus committee did not conclude its job as reported by Coomasie.

“Our intention is to give them more time to conclude their job,” he announced.

What followed was shouts of “no, no, no we want to vote!”

Amid the confusion, Justice Kutigi announced that proceedings would be adjourned till 9am on Monday.

He invited the committee of 50 wise men for a meeting today to look for a way forward for the meeting.

The Yoruba delegation dissociated itself from the report of the Consensus Group on resolving the impasse on derivation issue.

A statement by Dr. Kunle Olajide, Secretary South-West Delegation, noted that the report, which was presented by Gambari on behalf of the group, in addition to proposing 18 per cent derivation to the oil bearing states, also proposed 5 per cent first line charge for the development of mineral resources and another 5 per cent National Intervention Fund in Boko Haram devastated areas in the Northeast as well as other areas affected in Northcentral and Northwest.

It said: “The Yoruba delegates, arising from a caucus meeting, rejected the report, stating that it gave a wrong impression of what the intervention fund was set to achieve.

“The fund should be aimed to serve the collective interest of the country and not a sectional interest as presented by Prof. Gambari.

“Southwest delegates view Gambari’s projected amount to depletion of the Federation Account through nebulous funds to promote insurgency in the country.

“It is also aimed at legalising the impoverishment of non-oil bearing states in Southwest, Southeast and Southsouth as these states, neither benefit from derivation nor the so-called intervention fund.”

July 11, 2014
Uproar over ‘outrageous fee’

Students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, gathered on the campus to protest what they called “outrageous fee” in the university.

President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), Olusegun Ifade, said the fees were unaffordable for students, noting that the welfare of students must be paramount.

The students complained that the new fees were introduced to keep them out of school. “The same outrageous amount I paid in 100-Level is the same I paid in 200-Level and they want me to pay the same in 300-Level,” said an angry Law student.

Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, Olusegun said: “Students’ Union Government rejects the outrageous fee in and we view it as anti-education. So far, we are engaging in wider consultation on how to achieve a downward review of the exorbitant fees. The Ogun State Government, since 2011, has been reluctant in reducing the fees, thereby forcing hundreds of students to drop out of school every year.”

He continued: “We hope the state government will not wait to see students occupy Oke Mosan and the streets of Ogun before yielding to our demands. Let it be known also that apart from school fees reduction, we also demand proper funding of our university. It is surprising that since 2011, no single capital project has been initiated in the university.”

July 10, 2014
Uproar over Wike’s meetings with ex-militants

The meetings between ex-militant “Generals” and the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, are generating uproar in Rivers State. BISI OLANIYI reports

On April 26, the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, visited an ex-militant “General,” Soboma Jackrich, aka Egberipapa, at his palatial Usokun-Kalabari residence in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State. He was said to have gone there to solicit Jackrich’s support for his 2015 governorship ambition.

Jackrich, who is aspiring to be the Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government Council of Rivers State, is a strong supporter of Wike and President Goodluck Jonathan.

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi does not want Wike to succeed him, since both of them are Ikwerre.

During the visit to Jackrich, who is also the founder/leader of the Kengema Unity Forum (KUF), the supervising minister of education urged members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State to unite and work as a family, to enable the party win the 2015 general elections in the state.

Jackrich noted that Wike was loyal to the President and making efforts to reposition the PDP.

He assured that the KUF would continue to sensitise and mobilise Rivers people to ensure that President is re-elected in 2015.

The ex-warlord, who is also the Director-General of the Network for the Defence of Democracy and Good Governance (NDDGG), stated that the activities of the GDI in the area had tended to create division among PDP members, a situation he described as inimical to the continuous progress of the party.

The former freedom fighter assured the supervising minister of education of the support and cooperation of the KUF to ensuring that the party triumph in all elections in Rivers state in 2015, claiming that Nigerians has never had it so good, since independence in 1960.

On May 8, the supervising minister of education held a political meeting with another ex-militant “General,” Solomon Ndigbara, aka Osama Bin Ladin, and his boys at their Yeghe-Ogoni hometown in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The ruling APC, Rivers state chapter, however, accused Wike of insensitivity, wondering why he would opt for politicking, while the abducted Chibok girls are still in the den of the Boko Haram insurgents.

APC said: “As the global calls for the release of the abducted girls heightened this week, on Thursday (May 8) night, APC members who infiltrated the gathering of the PDP, confirmed that Nyesom Wike held a political meeting with notorious warlord, Solomon Ndigbara, aka Osama Bin Ladin, and his boys at Yeghe-Ogoni in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, where certain decisions (now in our custody) were reached.

“The APC in Rivers State is not surprised that Nyesom Wike, under whose watch as Minister of Education, the girls of Chibok Secondary School where abducted, returned to conduct nocturnal political campaigns in his home state of Rivers, while the entire world is pre-occupied and speaking with one voice, calling for the return of our abducted girls.

“For over 9 months, lecturers of polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria have been on strike, without the Supervising Minister of Education batting an eyelid.

“We are also not surprised that a supposed father like Wike would feel unperturbed about the harrowing experiences parents of the Chibok girls are going through at the moment. We are not surprised, because the Governor of Rivers State has already made it public that Nyesom Wike once swore with the name of his (Wike’s) children in vain; confirming that the minister is a man completely bereft of the values of family obligation and responsibility.”

Wike, while responding through the Director-General of the PDP in Rivers state, Emeka Woke, an engineer and two-term Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area, noted that the APC leaders needed help and should be ignored.

Woke said: “APC leaders and members are jittery. They are resorting to cheap blackmail. It is very obvious that they are afraid of Barr. Wike’s political sagacity and rising political profile. He has the right to hold private meetings. He has never abandoned his official duties.

“Chief Wike is doing what he ought to do on the abducted Chibok girls. You must bear in mind that the Federal Ministry of Education issued a warning that the Borno State Government should relocate the girls from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, which was ignored. The security agencies are also working hard to rescue the girls.”

Some politicians are insisting that the upland/riverine dichotomy should be considered in the choice of the next governor of the state, stressing that since 1999, all the governors, Dr. Peter Odili, Sir Celestine Omehia and Amaechi are from the upland part.

Still on Wike’s meetings with the ex-warlords, the PDP, Rivers chapter, accused the APC of prying into the internal and private affairs of its leader (Wike).

The Rivers Chairman of PDP, Chief Felix Obuah, insisted that the private visits of the supervising minister of education to “notable leaders” in the state were geared towards building a stronger, virile, progressive and united party.

PDP said: “Violation of one’s privacy has always been the handiwork of idlers, which the APC politicians symbolise. Rather than pokenosing into PDP’s private matters, the APC leaders should do well by looking inwards and devising ways to save its sinking boat and battered image, arising from its failed congresses.”

While pleading with the Rivers people not to give in to the APC’s “rabble,” the PDP also admonished Wike not to be deterred by the antics of the members of the APC.

In his response, Ndigbara, who described himself as the Nigerian Peace Ambassador and Gbenemene (Chief) Sira-Bara-Bateerah of Ogoniland, claimed that the leaders of the Rivers chapter of the APC, rather than focus on issues, chose to send “sniffing dogs” and “flies” to get information about people’s private life.

He said: “Let me make it clear that the meeting I held with the Supervising Minister of Education on Thursday, May 8, 2014 had in attendance, the President of the Ogoni Youth Council, Comrade Sunny Bekanwaa; two former Local Government Council Chairmen in Rivers State: Drs. Fred Kpakol and Jacobson Mbiinah; as well as a former Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Dum Deekor, and over 10,000 Ogoni youths, who came to show solidarity during the minister’s visit.

“It was a private visit from the minister to show his love and support on my recent victory in court, against those who persecuted me innocently and used the state security forces to chase me out of my home since 2011.

“I do not see how the private visit has frustrated any effort at moving Rivers State or Nigeria forward. I urge the members of the APC in Rivers State to focus on issues and not my private life.”

May 16, 2014
Uproar over Fuelling Poverty

The 30-minute film called “Fuelling Poverty” has been online for months, but only recently Nigerian officials have refused its director permission to show it publicly in this oil-rich nation of more than 160 million people. While free speech is enshrined in this democratic nation’s constitution, an ever-increasing drumbeat of complaints and critical articles about the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has seen authorities increasingly target journalists and others.

The film, sponsored by Soros Foundation’s Open Society Justice Initiative for West Africa, focuses on the protests around Jonathan’s decision to remove subsidies on gasoline in January 2012. Life in Nigeria ground to a halt before unions backed down. Later, a report by lawmakers demanded businesses and government agencies to return some $6.7 billion over the subsidy program.

Ishaya Bako, who directed the film that features civil rights activists and Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka, later applied for the right to show the film publicly. In a letter dated April 8, Nigeria’s National Film and Video Censors Board told Bako that the documentary was “prohibited for exhibition in Nigeria.”

“I am further to inform you that this decision is due to the fact that the contents of the film are highly provocative and likely to incite or encourage public disorder and undermine national security,” the letter signed by board lawyer Effiong Inwang reads. “Please you are strongly advised not to distribute or exhibit the documentary film. All relevant national security agencies are on the alert.”

Tanko Abdullahi, a spokesman for the board, initially told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the film wasn’t banned, but was “denied classification.” Later, in the same conversation, he acknowledged it couldn’t be shown over unspecified “security issues.”

“What is national security for Nigeria is different from that of the U.S.A.,” Abdullahi said. “We made that determination because of the content of the film. That’s why you have regulators.”

The government’s decision has seen more people watch the film online. It also has sparked outrage from human rights activists and press freedom groups.

“Instead of banning the documentary ‘Fuelling Poverty,’ authorities should look into the important questions it raises about corruption and impunity in the country’s oil sector and at the highest levels of government,” Mohamed Keita, an official with the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement. “We urge Nigeria’s National Film and Video Censors Board to overturn this censorship order.”

The move to ban the film comes as Jonathan’s government, which many voted for believing he would change the engrained interests and corruption of Nigeria’s government, has grown increasingly unpopular as extremists carry out bombings and the state-run power company cannot offer stable electricity. During the strikes, government officials put increasing pressure on broadcasters not to show images of protests, which at one point saw tens of thousands in the streets of Lagos.

Today, journalists at a newspaper face forgery charges over a story that claimed the presidency would try to disrupt opposition parties. Security agencies have harassed reporters at a weekly newspaper that wrote about abuses by the military in its crackdown against Islamic extremists. And workers who ran a call-in radio show in the northern city of Kano face charges over talking about rumors surrounding polio vaccinations in the wake of at least nine women vaccinators being killed.

Despite the outcry, however, the apparent crackdown continues, only fueling more of the same apathy for Nigeria’s government seen by those featured in the documentary.

“We don’t have government. It’s a whole big banana republic,” barber Emmanuel Tom Ekin says in the film. “They’ve been coming telling us story all the time, deceiving us. And right now, in our faces, they are still deceiving us.”

•Culled from AFP

April 22, 2013