Buruji KashamuThe Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expelled its Ogun State Senator, Buruji Kashamu, from the party. Three other members of the PDP in Ogun State: Bayo Dayo, Segun Sarki and Sanimu Sodipo were also expelled.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan announced the expulsion today, Monday, at the end of an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party in Abuja.
Details later…
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has made it clear that the latest invitation by the Police on him to appear before them tomorrow, Tuesday, cannot stop him from moving to other political platform to realize his political ambition.
“While I continue to maintain that the issue of my position on the 2019 elections is not a personal decision for me alone to make, it should be noted that all these concoctions and evil plot cannot deter me. Those behind this fresh assault will fail as I have nothing to do with the robbery incident or any criminal matter for that matter.”
Reacting to the invitation letter which was signed and forwarded to him today, Monday, by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, in connection to the Offa armed robbery, Senator Saraki described it as a mere afterthought which is designed to achieve political purpose.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Senate President said that he has it on good authority that the Police had already decided on the suspects to arraign in court in Ilorin, Kwara State on Wednesday based on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mohammed U.E. and that the turn around to invite him was a ploy aimed at scoring cheap political points.
“I have been reliably informed that the police invitation was planned by IG as a ploy to stop an alleged plan by some Senators and House of Representatives members from defecting from the All Progressives Congress (APC). It was also said that if I was detained between Tuesday and Wednesday, that will abort the so-called defection plan.
“I am aware that following a request made by the Police on June 13, 2018 to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Fedeeation had written a legal advice dated June 22, 2018, in which he stated on page 5, paragraph (f) that “For the Senate President and the Kwara State Governor, this office is unable to establish from the evidence in the interim report a nexus between the alleged office and the suspects”.
“The Police have obviously corrupted and politicized their investigations into the Offa robbery incident. They have turned it into an instrument for the party in power to suppress perceived opponents, witchunt issue for blackmailing people from freely choosing which platform on which they want to pursue their ambition and a matter for harassing the people whose exit from APC would harm the chances of the party in the forthcoming elections.
“I want to make it apparent that I have no hand in either the robbery incident or any criminal acitivity. The Police in their haste to embarrass me sent the invitation to me at 8pm and requested that I report to the station by 8am tomorrow morning. This obviously demonstrated their desperation as I do not see why they are now in a hurry.
“They also stated in today’s letter that because in my response of June 7, 2018 to their own letter written on June 4, 2018, I stated that I was responding simply to the contents of the letter and that the full text of the statement made by the arrested suspects which they claimed indicted me was not made available to me, they were now including the suspects statements in the current letter. Yet, instead of including the suspects’ statements, they only attached two copies of my own letter to the invitation. No suspects statement was made available.
“This plot aimed at compelling me and my associates to stay in a party where members are criminalised without just cause, where injustice is perpetrated at the highest level and where there is no respect for constitutionalism is an exercise in futility and it will fail.
“Once again, my confidence in God and our judicial system remains intact and unshaken. The truth shall also prevail in this case.” [myad]
Media owners, including Newspaper publishers, those in the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) as well as Editors and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), have risen to oppose the New Media Bill currently before the National Assembly which they described as draconian, unconstitutional, anti-people, anti-business and anti-free speech.
This is even as the new media, Nigerian Press Organization (NPO) and other media stakeholders have joined in asking the National Assembly to drop the bill. They also asked the Senate to borrow from best practices in other jurisdictions that had expressly provided for and guaranteed press freedom without any form of government interference.
The NPO and others implored the Senate and the National Assembly, to enable the media in the exercise of its constitutional obligations, as spelt out in section 22, by passing laws that will promote transparency, accountability and open government such as mandatory delivery of the State of the Nation address by the President and State of the State Address by governors on specified days of the year.
According to them, this can also ensure by law, Presidential and governorship election debates before elections; complete transparency in election funding, including public declaration of sources of election finance by all candidates and political parties and ensuring the integrity of our electoral process, etc, Rising from a meeting in Lagos, weekend, NPO and media stakeholders in a communiqué signed by President of Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena; President of Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, and President, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Mr. Waheed Odusile. observed that the bill was unconstitutional and contrary to the rule of law. Bill subjudice
The communiqué, also signed by other media stakeholders such as Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Director, International Press Council; Akin Akingbulu, Executive Director, Institute for Media and Society, and Mr. Richard Akinola, Director, Media Law Centre, also noted that the bill was actually subjudice, given that a case on the subject matter was still pending in the highest court of the land— the Supreme Court— in view of which the bill should not have been drafted in the first instance. The communiqué It read further: “The meeting painstakingly studied the provisions of the proposed bill in the context of its implication for free speech, press freedom, media independence, the safety of journalists and the right to operate as a business in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “The meeting also took notice of the fact that a lawsuit instituted by Nigerian Press Organisation, NPO, on the same subject matters of the bill is pending at the Supreme Court. “The meeting resolved that the bill is, for all intents and purposes, draconian and anti-press freedom, being an amalgamation of the obnoxious Public Officers Protection Against False Accusation Decree No. 4 of 1984 and Newspapers Registration Decree 43 of 1993, both vestiges of the dark days of military rule and, therefore, incurably and irreparably bad, is also inconsistent with values of our democratic society.
“That the bill seeks to criminalize journalism practice, despite the fact the laws of the country already have enough provisions and avenues for seeking legal redress. “That the bill smacks of an attempt at undue interference in the operations of the media in Nigeria as businesses registered under the relevant laws of the federation. “That the bill seeks for the Nigeria Press Council to usurp the powers of the courts by assuming extra-judicial powers. “That the bill seeks to incapacitate the media in the exercise of the duties and obligations imposed on it by section 22 of the constitution to monitor governance and hold government accountable to the people. “The section states as follows: ‘The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.’ “That the bill violates the provisions of section 39 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) sections 1 and 2 which state as follows: ‘Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.’ “Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, every person shall be entitled to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions. “At the same time, it also violates Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement Act) No. 2 of 1983 to which Nigeria is a signatory and which is now part of the country’s laws.
“That the bill, through some of its other obnoxious provisions, seeks to indoctrinate Nigerians, through the use and misuse of curricula in training of journalists and usurp the powers of the regulatory bodies in the educational sector affecting media training, especially the National Universities Commission, NUC, and the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE. “That the bill seeks to create the impression that the Nigerian media community does not take the issues of ethics and self regulation seriously, whereas it is a well-known fact that the mechanisms actually exist, including the Code of Conduct of Journalists in Nigeria, the Ethics Committees of the NUJ and NGE and the recently launched Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage endorsed by media stakeholders. “Meanwhile, as responsible members of Nigerian society, we hereby state without equivocation that the media will continue doing all it can to further promote media ethics, professionalism, transparency, accountability and self-regulation, to ensure that the public interest is served at all times.”
Source: Vanguard
Former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-MaduekeThe Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday ordered the temporary forfeiture of a total of N387 million found in the bank accounts of four ex-officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which obtained the forfeiture order, told the court that the ex-INEC officials benefitted from the N23 billion, which a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, allegedly doled out to influence the 2015 presidential election in favour of then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
An investigator with the EFCC, Usman Zakari, said in an affidavit that the ex-INEC officials received the money through a non-governmental organisation, West Africa Network of Observers, which they formed to purportedly monitor the 2015 general elections.
According to Zakari, the NGO, WANEO, had a former INEC Chairman, Prof Maurice Iwu, as its National Coordinator.
The investigator claimed that though “WANEO was formed under the guise of monitoring the conduct of 2015 election, distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, sensitisation of voters, delimitation of electoral constituencies, etc, its primary objective was to ensure the victory of the PDP candidate in the presidential election.”
Zakari said through WANEO, the ex-INEC officials facilitated the disbursement of N510m Diezani fund to Osun, Ogun and Oyo states.
“After the conduct of the 2015 presidential election and in order to conceal the sources of the money collected by Ogun, Osun and Oyo states, the remainder of the money was fraudulently laundered,” the investigator added.
Zakari said the EFCC had, however, recovered N387m out of the N510m from the four ex-INEC officials.
The anti-graft agency gave the names of the said ex-INEC officials as Victor Chukwuani, Okesiji Adeniran, Gabriel Oke and Torgba Nyitse.
Counsel for the EFCC, Nnaemeka Omenwa, urged Justice Muslim Hassan, on Monday, to order the temporary forfeiture of the N387m pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, No. 14, 2004.
He said it would be in the interest of justice for the temporary forfeiture order to be made.
After listening to him, Justice Hassan granted the ex parte application. He gave 14 days for anyone interested in the money to appear before him to show cause why the N387m should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
Further proceedings in the case were adjourned to August 6, 2018.
late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) AbiolaThe world has not yet heard the last of the controversies surrounding the presidential elections held on June 12 1993. Not even the bold decision recently taken by President Muhammadu Buhari to honor MKO Abiola and some of his fellow travelers can finally bury the ghost of June 12.
The popular conventional wisdom in Nigeria is to heap the whole blame of the June 12 fiasco on the head of one man, the one who was the leader of the country at the time – President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. The man himself has accepted this tragic judgment by saying that as the President of Nigeria at the time, the buck stopped on his table. I will therefore not be wrong or cruel to say it serves him right.
But that is not the end of the story. More fundamental questions should be asked. There is no doubt about the fact that Ibrahim Babangida was the President of Nigeria at the time. There is also no doubt that even though he was called a president, he was not running a democratic government. It was a military dictatorship.
When he took over the government in 1985 from another military government, there was no transition program in place for the country to return to civil democratic rule. In fact, the military government he sacked that year had in one of its frightening edicts decreed a ban on all public discussions of theform of government that was best for Nigeria’s future. We were rudely told to our face that we were stuck with a military dictatorship.
The Babangida government therefore put a smile on the face of democrats when he rolled out a transition program for a return to democratic rule. It was an elaborate program with twists and turns, banning’s and unbanning’s – adding a generous dose of hiccups to the political drama. Is it possible as has been canvassed in many quarters that President Babangida deliberately put the country through this wrench and then finally decided to single handedly void all that had been achieved by the process?
I have followed pronouncements by those who were closely engaged in the June 12 event since President Buhari brought back the controversy to public space. What led a government which had invested so heavily in a transition program turn around to sabotage it at the end? Why did Babangida void an election that was globally accepted as free and fair?
These are difficult questions for an outsider like me to answer. I was however reading an interview granted The Point newspaper the other day by Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina and he had an argument which to my mind sounds the most reasonable under the circumstances we found ourselves in 1993. Senator Zwingina was in the vortex of the June 12 event where he played an immodest role as the Director General of Hope 93, Abiola’s campaign outfit. He was certainly in a position to know what happened. This is what he told The Point newspaper:
“A number of factors were responsible for the annulment of the election. I think there was a
The dangerous thing about military takeover of government is that once the men in arms and khaki get into power, they become a problem to society and even themselves. It is easy for them to take over especially from bloody civilians but it is not so easy for them to get out. In the case of Nigeria, they first ate the forbidden fruit in 1966. The beneficiaries of that original cardinal sin had to be forcibly pushed out of power the same year. Then those who pushed them out overstayed until they too had to be pushed out in 1975.
We had a brief relief in 1979 when the military said they had restored democracy that year. But it did not last long before they came back to reclaim their ‘rights.’ According to General Buhari who took over in 1984, the military came back to prevent the country from “imminent total collapse”. If he saved the country from “imminent total collapse”, he could not save his government from such fate. The following year he was shown the way out.
That is the tricky thing about military rule. You can get in. But how do you get out?
President Babangida found his way in. But how was he going to find his way out? If we are to believe the words of Zwingina, he wanted to get out. Zwingina should know because he played a role in helping him get out by organizing a powerful campaign that saw the country ignoring the ethnic and religious crack lines. Nigeria stood by Hope 93 with its odd combination of Muslim/Muslim ticket to help Babangida get out.
We did not know that the man was held hostage by those in the military who felt it was their turn to get in. They were the ones who played on the gullibility of the June 12 men. Babangida who perhaps knew better tried to rationalize what was going on by calling on Sonekan, Abiola’s kinsman to come and steer the ship briefly. But the June 12 people would have nothing but June 12.
That was how they fell into the trap of those who annulled June 12. They were enlisted to fight against and plot a coup against the government of Shonekan; then they were lured into a government they were made to believe would speedily make June 12 a reality.
That was the grand deception. Coup planning is high treason punishable with death under Nigerian martial laws. How will somebody risk his life to act treasonously so that another person will get to power?
That explains why the Abacha government turned violently against June 12 advocates when they started agitating for power. By the time they got to know the true identity of those who voided the mandate of June 12, it was too late.
It is like the story of the travelers who found out they had a mad man in their boat in the middle of a deep river. Pushing him out was risky because he was going to capsize the boat; going ahead with him was equally risky because nobody could even guess what his next move was going to be.
Senate President, Dr. Bukola SarakiThe Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris has formally invited the Senate President, Bukola Saraki in connection with the Offa robbery in Kwara State in which he was implicated.
A letter which the IGP personally signed and forwarded to Senator Saraki, asked him to appear at the head of the Investigation Team at the Intelligence Response Team at Guzape Junction, Asokoro Extension, Abuja by 8am tomorrow, July 24 to clarify certain issues relating to the investigation going on regarding the armed robbery.
The Police boss said that In response to several allegations leveled against the Senate President by some of the armed robbery suspects arrested, he (Saraki) said that by virtue of his participation in politics, he had a large followership which made it impossible for him to know all of them.
The IGP quoted Saraki as saying: “I can say categorically that I am in no way associated with the vehicle mentioned in your letter nor have I given any armsto any thug or other persons in kwara State or anywhere else. For the records, your letter under reference did not include the full text of the statements made by the accused persons”
“After a careful perusal of your letter to the Police, it was discovered that the statement requires further clarification and coupled with the fact that you stated that the full text of the statements of the suspects were not shown to you, it is imperative you report to the Police to make further statements after giving you the full text of the statements of the suspects.”
The full text of the IGP letter is reproduced here:
CR:3000/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL.131/ 707 23rdJuly, 2018
Senator Bukola Saraki,
The President of the Senate,
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
National Assembly Complex,
Three Arms Zone,
Abuja.
LETTER OF INVITATION
CASE OF OFFA BANK ROBBERY AND GRUESOME MURDER OF MORE THAN 31 PERSONS AND SNATCHING OF 21 AK47 RIFLES ON THE 5TH OF APRIL, 2018.
I refer to this office letter CR:3000/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL./130/ 571 dated 4th June 2018 and your letter of response NASS/8th/S/SP/IGP/15/6/18 dated 7th June 2018 on the above subject matter (copies attached) and to further restate as follows;
IGP IBRAHIM K. IDRIS, npm, mni
INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF POLICE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
FHQ – ABUJA. [myad]
Workers in Ekiti State have issued a fourteen-day ultimatum to Governor Ayo Fayose to pay all arrears of salaries and pensions of retirees or face their anger.
In a statement today, Sunday, the State Organized Labour, said that the Fayose government must clear all arrears of workers’ entitlements before a new government takes office on October 16. The workers’ demands also include payment of over seven months deduction, payment nine month arrears to local government workers and primary school teachers.
They also advocated for payment of eleven months and six months pensions to local government pensioners and state government pensioners respectively.
The statement reads: “Workers in the public service of Ekiti State have been suffering over the years with nobody to rescue them in relation to payment of salaries, pensions and other benefits.
“The import of this is that the condition of service of an average worker in Ekiti is deplorable or poor despite the huge funds allocated to Ekiti State from the Federation Account between 2014 to date.
“In view of the present development in the state occasioned by the result of the governorship election, it has become necessary to assess the implication on welfare of workers vis-à-vis the arrears of unpaid salaries.
“In order to avoid a situation whereby the incoming government may wish to foot drag on the payment of the arrears of salaries on the premise that the organized labour was inept to the payment of same by the outgoing government thus amounting t a huge financial burden on the new government.
“The state government is hereby given a 14-day ultimatum to meet these demands.”
Bolaji-AbdullahiThe All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to face it on its own strength in the 2019 general elections instead of looking for Coalition for support.
“We challenge the PDP to face Nigerians on their own merit in 2019 and stop shopping around for supporters.”
The national publicity secretary of the APC, Bolaji Abdullahi, in a statement today, Sunday, described the moves by the PDP to rebrand and lure APC members to be part of a coalition that it is building, as amounting to ”looking for life after death.’
“After three years in the wilderness, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is understandably excited with possibility of hiding its irredeemably bad image under the heap of a new coalition. Like the vulture, PDP sees every altercation as a potential opportunity for a feast.
“If PDP is not alleging wild conspiracies, they are threatening to boycott elections or announcing fake defections. What is clear with all these is that no matter how long a leopard lives, it cannot change its spots.
“What President Muhammadu Buhari and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of our Party are doing, persuading every aggrieved member not to leave the Party, is what responsible and sensible party leaders would do. Party politics is a game of number. And that game is addition. If the PDP had the same presence of mind in 2015, perhaps the calamity that befell them would have been averted.”
Professor Steve UgbaThe Nigerian Ambassador to Russia, Professor Steve Ugba has said that the airline travel agents who cancelled the return tickets of 230 Nigerian football fans that were stranded after the 2018 World Cup Tournament in Russia will be fished out and prosecuted for crime.
In an online video statement made available by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Tope Elias-Fatile, in Abuja today, Ambassador Steve said: “it is not a crime for you to come and at the end of the show, you want to go back. It is not a crime.
“But it is a crime for the person who sold you tickets and then, the second leg of going back you do not have tickets anymore. So, it is not your fault. We want to hold those responsible for this terrible behaviour to account for their action so that next time, they will not do the same.”
The envoy, in the 21-minute video, expressed gratitude to the President for ensuring that the stranded fans returned safely to the country.
Ambassador Steve made it clear that the Federal Government would not want the culprits to go scot-free, even as he asked the victims to produce any document they had to enable the government track down the agents.
“Give us any document that you have about the people who deceived you, or the people who scammed you, who did you 419 so that we can have them picked up and prosecuted in Nigeria.
“We do not want them to go free. So, give us any document you have that will tell us who these people are.
“We are waiting for them in Nigeria because the kind of behaviour that you exhibited here shows that you have character, shows that you have respect for yourselves, and shows that you have respect for Nigeria.”
Ambassador Steve, who addressed the stranded Nigerians in Moscow, Russia before their departure to Nigeria, said that the nation is proud of them who he said made out time to cheer the Super Eagles in Russia.
He said that the behaviour of the fans and the Super Eagles had earned Nigeria lots of friends in Russia.
Over 150 stranded Nigerian football fans had besieged the Nigerian Embassy in Moscow on July 12 for assistance at the end of the 2018 World Cup tournament. They had alleged that their return tickets were cancelled abruptly by airline agents, resulting to their being stranded in Russia without any hope of returning to Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari had, on July 16, directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; and his Aviation counterpart, Hadi Sirika, to evacuate the Nigerians to Abuja immediately.
Sequel to the directive, a chartered Ethiopian Airline had, on July 20, conveyed the 155 stranded Nigerians back to Abuja.
Source: NAN.
The Governor of Adamawa state, Muhammadu Bindow, has made it clear that despite that Abubakar Atiku, the Presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) comes from Adamawa State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is still the most popular party in the State.
Governor Bindow, who reacted to social media report that he gave N70 million to organizers of Atiku Abubakar’s rally in Yola, the state capital, yesterday, Saturday, said that the publication was an attempt to mask his rising profile, good virtues and sacrifice in upholding and promoting APC as the most popular party in Adamawa State.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Press and Media Affairs, Martins Dickson, the governor described the media report as false, malicious and misleading.
“The authors of the fabricated lies have run out of substance with which to discredit him and have resorted to cheap blackmail and childish stories.
“The good work of APC under Bindow is spread glaringly across the 21 local government areas of the state for all to see and there’s no amount of falsehood that will make anyone believe that a governor and party that have done so well in the state will be involved in any form of clandestine anti-party activity,”
Atiku Abubakar, who hails from the state, formally declared his interest in contesting for the Presidency on the platform of the PDP next year.
