2015: PDP South East Declares Support for Jonathan at Awka Rally

2015: PDP South East Declares Support for Jonathan at Awka Rally

Chris Brown Suffers Seizure; Blames 'Extreme Emotional Stress'

Chris Brown Suffers Seizure; Blames 'Extreme Emotional Stress'

NEITI recovers $2bn education tax from defaulters

…Hails  $83.4m judgment against Mobil Oil
The Nigeria Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed that it recovered only $2 billion from the $9.8 billion uncovered by its audit reports as differential between what was paid and what government received.
The balance of $7.8billion, the agency said was still in the hands of companies.
NEITI said it also welcomed the recent bold decision of the Tax Appeal Tribunal which ordered Mobil to pay $83.4 million to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The judgment by the Tax Appeal Tribunal represented Education Tax liability of the company to the Federation Account  in year 2008.
NEITI said it found the courageous judgment by the Tribunal as a fundamental positive development in its efforts to draw national attention to the findings and recommendations on the issues of underpayment and underassessment in royalties, taxes, signature bonuses, rents  exposed by its independent audit reports of the oil and gas sector over the years.
In a statement signed Orji Ogbonaya Orji, Director of Communications, NEITI said the “judgment was also a vindication of its 2006 – 2008 findings of the independent audit of the Oil and Gas sector. In that audit, NEITI clearly revealed that Mobil owed $83.28 million Education Tax for 2008. However, before the litigation and landmark judgment by the Tax Appeal Tribunal, Mobil had insisted that it had no Education Tax liability to the Federation.
“It is on record that NEITI has consistently alerted the nation that out of $9.8 billion uncovered by its audit reports as the difference between what was paid and what government received, only $2 billion has been recovered through NEITI efforts, leaving a balance of $7.8 in the hands of companies.
“The judgment by the Appeal Tribunal was therefore a wake-up call for government agencies to rise up to the challenge and engage companies to remit outstanding revenues due to government.
“It is noteworthy that the judgment is coming at a time when Nigeria through the Petroleum Industry Bill(PIB), the European Union member countries, United Kingdom and United State are putting in place stringent regulations to compel extractive industry companies to embrace contract transparency, due diligence and corporate social responsibility.

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UK Police Officer Ibori Accused Of Corruption Is Cleared

By SaharaReporters, New York 

 

John McDonald, a British police officer with the Proceeds of Crime Unit who was accused of corruption by former Governor James Ibori of Delta State, has been cleared after a lengthy investigation by UK law enforcement authorities. A source involved in the investigation told SaharaReporters, “We found that DC John MacDonald was absolutely innocent of the allegation.”
Mr. McDonald was arrested last year after the British Parliament began investigating an allegation that a private investigation agency made illegal payments to police officers involved in Mr. Ibori’s money laundering case. British law enforcement had initially ignored the allegation, regarding it as a desperate ploy by Mr. Ibori and his defense team to undermine the integrity of the officers who investigated his extensive money laundering scheme.
However, British parliamentarians pressured police authorities to look into the matter.
Mr. Ibori and his jailed lawyer, Bhadresh Gohil, had orchestrated a campaign of calumny against the police officers involved in investigating the former governor’s network of corrupt activities around the globe.
Mr. Ibori and Mr. Gohil claimed that some serving officers of the Metropolitan police as well as a few retired officers employed by a private investigation agency took money and sold information regarding Mr. Ibori's investigations in order to pervert the course of justice.
Backed by powerful lawyers hired by Mr. Ibori, the allegation eventually received the attention of the UK parliament.
A UK-based Nigerian blogger, Daniel Elombah, used the allegation to write a series of propaganda reports believed to have originated from Mr. Ibori’s lawyers in the UK. SaharaReporters learnt that Tony Eluemunor, Mr. Ibori’s spokesman in Nigeria, arranged for Mr. Elombah to meet with the former governor’s lawyers in London.
In his reports, Mr. Elombah went as far as predicting that the criminal case against Mr. Ibori would collapse under the weight of allegations of corruption against his British police investigators. After Mr. Ibori pleaded guilty and was sentenced to jail, the bloggers and media sympathetic to him focused their attacks against the police officers that helped jail him.
A source within the Ibori camp stated that the former governor and Mr. Gohil, his rogue former lawyer, calculated that their convictions would be reversed on appeal if their propaganda succeeded in casting doubt on the integrity of the officers who investigated Mr. Ibori’s slew of money laundering activities. In the end, the appellate Royal Court of Justice declined an appeal to reduce Mr. Ibori’s prison sentence.
A press statement received by Saharareporters from Eddie Townsend of the UK Metropolitan Police revealed that three other persons involved in the investigation are to return to the police in September. It also stated that no further action would be taken against Mr. McDonald.

African countries supply 12% world’s oil – PwC

… As Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Egypt produce 91% natural gas
PrincewaterhouseCopper yesterday said Africa currently supplies about 12 per cent of the world’s oil, boasting significant untapped reserves estimated at 8 per cent of the world’s proven reserves.
The report said the continent has natural gas reserves of 513 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) with 91 per cent of the annual gas production of 7.1Tcf coming from Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Egypt.
According to a review issued by PwC, the oil and gas industry is grappling with the severe stresses of a challenging economic and political environment on the African continent fueled by poor physical infrastructure, corruption, an uncertain regulatory framework, and a lack of skills.
PwC Africa Oil & Gas Industry Leader and Deputy Country Senior Partner, Nigeria, Uyi Akpata, said: “The challenges facing oil and gas companies operating in Africa are diverse and numerous. Political interference, uncertainty and delays in passing laws, energy policies and regulations are stifling growth, development and investment in a number of countries around Africa.”
He added: “PwC’s ‘Africa oil and gas review’ analyses what has happened in the last 12 months in the oil and gas industry and in the major African markets.
The survey draws upon the valuable experience and views of industry players in Africa, including international oil companies operating on the continent, national oil companies, service companies, independent oil organisations and industry commentators, to provide insight into the latest developments affecting the industry.
The review shows that the oil and gas industry in Africa is poised for momentous growth due to recent large gas finds in East Africa. “Large gas finds in Mozambique and Tanzania, and oil potential in Uganda and Kenya, have sparked a flurry of exploration activity across Africa,” Akpata added.
Speaking on developing the business, he said that the major challenges identified by organisations in the oil and gas industry have remained largely unchanged with the top four issues in 2010 continuing to remain the biggest challenges in 2012. Adding that poor infrastructure and an uncertain regulatory framework were the two top challenges identified by the new emerging players/markets, particularly in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
In Nigeria, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) continues to face opposition from oil companies and politicians, and is likely to require further changes.

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Eagles attack worries Keshi

Kunle Solaja reporting live from Brasil

It was a mixed feeling for Coach Stephen Keshi yesterday after his boys beat Tahiti 6-1 to set a possible competition record. He was happy with the final result and the competitive edge it has given the Super Eagles, but was quick to add that his attackers were wasteful, a situation that worries him.
He was also delighted that none of the players was injured. “That is a big relief for me”, he remarked, saying that was what he was concerned about before the game, having lost four vital players of his African Cup winning side to injury.

“That would have compounded my headache as I know that the competition is now going to get tougher”. Despite rejoicing over the score line, he expressed worry over the wasted chances that the strikers could not convert. “The valuable chances they lost can prove crucial in the long run, considering that Spain and Uruguay will also still play Tahiti and score many goals.

“Worse still, they allowed Tahiti to pull a goal back and that boosted their morale and confidence as they dominated the game momentarily for about five minutes. “If the trend continues, we will be in great difficulty soon”. He said he would now focus on strategy that may see the Super Eagles eliminate Uruguay tomorrow, so as to ease tension when the Super Eagles face Spain on the last match day of the group stage.

He said even though he was not expecting the thunderous booing from the Brazilian crowd, he could not believe that it was owing to the dented image of the Super Eagles over the bonus crisis. “It is common for the weaker side to be supported, so that the standard of play can rise”, he said. “The booing did not have any impact on my players”, he remarked.

While Enyeama on Sunday said the issue of match bonus had not been resolved, Keshi said the issue was over and almost had an unsettling impact on the team. Monday’s win coincided with the defeat of another Oceania team by an African side in the Confederations Cup four years ago.

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20 govs shun Jang’s NGF

A faction of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), under the leadership of Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang yesterday met in Abuja, despite the protests from the camp of Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
Amaechi, who is the Rivers State governor, had on Sunday cautioned Governor Jang against calling the meeting of the NGF as the former claimed that he was the duly elected chairman of the Forum of 36 states governors in the country.

But at the meeting, which took place at a parallel secretariat located in Maitama area of Abuja, the Jang faction had only 16 governors in attendance. The same number of governors attended the commissioning of the secretariat last month.
In attendance at the meeting were Jonah Jang, Olusegun Mimiko, Sullivan Chime, Theodore Orji, Martins Elechi and Idris Wada, governors of Plateau, Ondo, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi States. Others were; Peter Obi, Ibrahim Shema, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Godswill Akpabio, Isa Yuguda, Seriake Dickson and Liyel Imoke, governors of Anambra, Katsina, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa and Cross Rivers states.
Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam was represented by his deputy, Steve Lawani, while Taraba State acting governor, Umar Garba was also in attendance. Daily Sun checks revealed that invitation was sent to all the 36 states governors for a crucial meeting to resolve grey areas of about N60 billion from the Federation Account owed the governors by the Federal Government.
State Commissioners for Finance had last Thursday boycotted the Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) meeting to protest the unpaid arrears.

Further investigation by Daily Sun revealed that some of the governors loyal to Governor Amaechi faction of the NGF arrived Abuja last night but shunned the NGF meeting called by Jang.
A media aide to one of the governors in Amaechi’s camp told Daily Sun that his boss and those loyal to him (Amaechi) were in Abuja last night but would only show up at the Presidential Villa for the meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at an enlarged meeting of all governors to discuss the impasse arising from the aborted FAAC meeting.

But speaking with newsmen at the end of the meeting, which was concluded at 9.30pm, Governor Jang told newsmen that the poor attendance was a non-issue, as he needed only 12 governors to form a quorum. “Some of the governors have traveled out of the country.

You cannot stop governors, because of NGF meeting. I need only 12 to form quorum.” Asked to react to allegation of impersonation by Governor Amaechi, the Plateau State helmsman told newsmen curtly: “What is the meaning of impersonation?
Am I saying that I am the Governor of Rivers State?” The governors later left for Presidential Villa for a meeting with President Jonathan.

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Boko Haram kills 22 in Maiduguri

No fewer than 22 people including students and fishermen might have died in revenge attack on a school and residents in Maiduguri by Boko Haram insurgents.

Some gunmen believed to be Boko Haram members were said to have attacked fishermen, local tea seller and some residents at Alau River near Maiduguri, killing about 13 people. Sources said the gunmen claimed they were on a revenge mission against some group of youths, who had been handing them over to security agencies in the area.

Also, the insurgents were reported to have attacked a private school in Maiduguri, where students that were writing their National Examination Council (NECO). “Nine of the students were shot dead by the insurgents while many of them were injured,” a resident claimed.
The gunmen were said to have stormed Ansaruden Private Primary and Secondary School at Jajeri, a Maiduguri suburb and opened fire on the unsuspecting students shortly after the commencement of examination.
Some parents of the deceased expressed shock over the killings and appealed to the federal and state governments to address the security situation in the area. Sources at the State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri hinted that over 20 corpses with gunshots were brought to the hospital.
The Boko Haram had weekend warned of its readiness to revenge continued arrest of its members by the youths in the metropolis, famously called “civilian JTF.”

“A full blown war have been declare against Borno and Yobe youths,” Abu Zinnira, the Boko Haram spokesman, who authored the statement said they would launch manhunt of their hunters (youths).
“We have established that youths in Borno and Yobe states are now against our course. They have connived with security operatives and are actively supporting the government of Nigeria in its war against us. We have also resolved to fight back, “ he warned, a threat which the youths insisted would not deterred them from assisting the security agencies to bring peace to the area.

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Jonathan gives scorecard, faults assessment of his ministers

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday in Abuja said that while assessing his government, he had discovered that a number of comments of his critics were 'based on heartbeats and not any visible criteria', as he implored Nigerians to assess his administration based on individual scorecards.

Jonathan said this while presenting the mid-term report of his four-year Transformation Agenda.

He specifically referred to an assessment done by a national newspaper which scored the Minister of National Planning and the Minister of Trade and Investment an average in terms of performance.

Jonathan said contrary to that assessment, the performances of the two ministers remained the best among the three ministers that had so far been in charge of those ministries under his leadership.

On the Ministry of Trade and Investment, the President said because of the hard work of Dr. Olusegun Aganga, foreign investors had been investing heavily in the country despite the security challenges facing the nation and that until Usman came on board, the Ministry of National Planning had remained relatively not in existence.

Sambo had earlier in his welcome remarks said all members of the Jonathan administration were united in their aspiration to transform Nigeria to a nation that would be respected worldwide.

He said the Democracy Day was not all about a public holiday but a day to look inwards and give account of stewardship, adding that was why the administration was using the opportunity to give account of its actions to the nation that gave them the mandate to serve.

Sambo urged all Nigerians to join hands to build a nation that would fulfil the promise of the past and work for the good of the present and the future generation.

He said constitutional and moral burdens were on all of them in government to uphold democratic tenets.

He said, 'To whom much is given, much is expected. We are grateful to the nation for the mandate we received from the freest and fairest election in recent time. The transformation agenda is decided on those things that should be done to reposition the country. In the last two years, we have pursued a resolute course to widen the political space.

'Our public institutions are being rebuilt. The National Assembly is very vibrant, the judiciary is truly independent. There is a general onsensus that democracy and government in Nigeria are getting better. We have laid a foundation of change in the last two years.

'In the face of unprecedented security challenges, the challenges call for caution from all of us. Nobody should make political capital on the issue. We seek your support and honest counsel in the areas we can improve upon. A bright future beckons on this land and its people. We assure generations unborn of a nation that will meet their needs.'

Anyim said the mid-term report presented by the President provided verifiable achievements of his administration.

He said the administration had protected the rights of citizens and the rule of law in its two years of existence.

He scored the administration high in the expansion of civic space, entrenchment of checks and balances, sanitisation of electoral process, federal character in appointments and anti-corruption fight, among others.

Okonjo-Iweala, on her part, said the administration's transformation agenda had been tailored towards addressing some of the nation's problems, including insufficient jobs, rising debt, high recurrent expenditure and falling reserves, among others.

She said in its two years, the administration had made the economy strong, exchange rate stable, and reduced inflation to 9.1 per cent from 12.4 per cent in May 2011.

The minister said the  Federal Government had started retiring its past debts and changed waiver and tariff policies from focusing on individuals alone to the entire sector.

She added that the government hired 50 forensic auditors to probe the fraud in the fuel subsidy regime, adding that sanity had so far been restored to the system.

She said following the audit, N14bn had been recovered out of the N234bn diverted funds while oil marketers had been reduced to 32, making it easier for government to monitor them.

'The contributory pension scheme is sound and it is being reformed to prevent fraud. Nigeria's credit rating has improved. International investors are investing more in Nigeria. Our banks are strong and the stock market is also strong with stock exchange index rising to 71 per cent,' she said.

Okonjo-Iweala said the administration had done well in the areas of rail rehabilitation, inland ports construction and the overhauling of airports.

The Founder/President, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Rev. Jesse Jackson, observed that leadership was not just about winning elections but about transforming the people.

He urged Nigeria to continue to deepen its democracy because the nation mattered to the international community.

He urged Nigerian leaders and followers to dream big about the nation, saying their resources must unite and not divide them.

'Nigeria must deepen democracy. Nigeria matters. In peacekeeping around the world, Nigeria matters. Dream, keep dreaming big. Dream Nigeria. Dream of one Nigeria,' he said.

Construction of Lagos-Ibadan rail to commence soon

The contract for the construction of  Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge double track has been awarded and the construction will soon  commence, Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, has said.

According to Umar, the government is currently carrying out necessary feasibility studies to create seven additional standard gauge lines in the country.

He said the  studies were expected to be completed by September this year after which the result would be advertised for potential investors for their development under the public private partnership.

Umar spoke during the inauguration of  the board of directors of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), headed by former national secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Kau Baraje in Abuja,.

He said  that efforts were on to ensure that the rehabilitation of the railway line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is completed this year.

He noted that the construction of Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri and Abuja-Kaduna are to completed and commissioned by next year.

The minister disclosed that the law establishing the Nigerian Railway Corporation is currently undergoing review with the aim of ensuring private sector, state and local government  participation in the rail transport sector.

Kano: JTF arrests foreigners, uncovers missiles, grenades

Operatives of Joint Task Force  on Tuesday night raided a warehouse at Gaya road of Bompai in Kano city where it found sophisticated military hardware.

The JTF  troops were said to have stormed the house following a tip off by a suspect who is under investigation.

Four foreign nationals, suspected to have hailed from Middle East, were arrested in the operation. Owner of the warehouse, who was identified as a Lebanese national, was among those arrested by the JTF, who put the  building  under surveillance.

Items said to have been recovered from the warehouse  included 40 air-to-surface missiles, 50 cluster bombs, 200 rocket-propel launchers, eight AK-47 rifles, 200 military hand grenades and some military hardware capable of destroying  Armoured Personnel Carriers.

The items  were said to have been carried away  to the headquarters of the 3rd Motorised Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Kano, alongside the foreign nationals.

Eyewitnesses estimated the number of  AK-47 riffles  evacuated from the scene at over 300.

Spokesman for the JTF Captain Ikedichi Iweha, promised to brief newsmen later on the issue, even as he declined comment on the incident, which occurred on Tuesday night.

'You would get the details tomorrow (Thursday) because of the Democracy Day celebration. We have resolved to talk to you after the break,' he said.

According to him, as a result of the Democracy Day celebration, security was fortified in the commercial city of Kano, with increased vehicular patrols by the military, JTF operatives and the police, as part of the measures to sustain relative peace in the city.

Governor Rochas Okorocha Sustains Head Injury In Car Accident

The convoy of the Governor of Imo State; Mr Rochas Okorocha has been involved in a head-on collision in Orlu local government area of the state and the governor sustained minor head injuries.

The Governor was on a scheduled inspection tour to some state projects in the area when the accident occurred.

A statement signed by the media aide to the Governor; Ebere Ozoukwa, stated that the Governor’s convoy was involved in the accident in Orlu town in Orlu Local government area of the state. According to Mr Ozoukwa, “the governor sustained a minor injury which is a minor cut on his head but he is presently in a good and stable condition and has been attended to by medical personnel.”

The statement advised the general public especially Imo citizens not to “panic and should go about with their normal duties since the Governor is in a good and stable condition and responding to necessary treatment.”

Constitution: Nigerians reject rotational presidency, immunity, state police

National Assembly building, Abuja
| credits: original

Nigerians have rejected the inclusion of rotational presidency, immunity for the President and governors as well as state police in the ongoing amendments to the 1999 Constitution.

They also kicked against the clamour for resource control by oil producing communities and the call to raise the derivation principle from the current 13 per cent to 20 per cent.

These views were in the collated results of their views on the amendment, made public by the House of Representatives in Abuja on Thursday.

The results came from the People’s Public Sessions conducted in the 360 Federal Constituencies on November 10, 2012 by its Ad-Hoc Committee on Constitution Review.

The committee, headed by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, produced a 43-item template for the public sessions, drawn from the memoranda submitted to it by many individuals and interest groups in the country.

According to the results, Nigerians neither want the presidency to rotate between the North and the South nor between the six geopolitical zones.

On a question, “Should a provision be inserted in the constitution for the rotation of the Office of the President between the Northern and Southern parts of the country”, 80  constituencies voted ‘Yes’, while 275 voted ‘No’. Five were undecided, making 360.

Similarly, 147 constituencies supported the rotation of the office between the six geopolitical zones, while the majority of 210 opposed it. Three constituencies were undecided on the issue.

At the state level, the results indicated that Nigerians did not want the office of governor to rotate between the three senatorial districts either. One hundred and eight-one constituencies voted against the proposal, while 175 supported it. Four constituencies were undecided.

 However, they supported retaining the present two-term tenure of four years for president and governors in the constitution.

They also rejected immunity for the President, Vice-President and Governors when it relates to criminal offences.

However, they backed immunity for the affected political office-holders on matters relating to “civil proceedings while in office”.

Two hundred and twenty-five constituencies supported amending Section 308 of the constitution to allow immunity to cover “only civil proceedings”, while 132 opposed it.

Nigerians also rejected the contentious issue of state police, according to the results.

The majority of 307 constituencies kicked against amending Section 214 (1) of the constitution to establish state police. Fifty-three constituencies supported state police.

On resource control, voters rejected a proposal to “implement the practice of federalism that allows states to control up to 50 per cent of their resources and pay the remainder to the Federation”.

While 123 constituencies supported resource control, the majority of 236 constituencies opposed it. Five others were undecided.

Other contentious issues voted on included financial autonomy for local government councils, independent candidature, voting rights for Nigerians in the Diaspora and parliamentary versus presidential system of government.

At the presentation ceremonies on Thursday, the Speaker of the House, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, promised Nigerians that they would respect their views while considering the results.

 He stated that the review process would continue to be “transparent”, adding that the House was open to criticisms and further suggestions.

Anambra 2013: Parties come alive to replace Obi

Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi

As the campaigns for 2013 governorship election begin to take shape, EMMANUEL OBE, captures the mood among contending political parties and candidates jostling to replace Governor Peter Obi

Things are beginning to look up in the political firmament of Anambra State as political parties and candidates get set to present themselves for the governorship election tentatively slated for either November or December.

Events in the state in the past week have indicated that it is not going to be an easy ride for any of the parties or candidates. Before now, the arena was calm and quiet.

 The three leading political parties in the state — All Progressives Grand Alliance, Action Congress of Nigeria and the Peoples Democratic Party — also witnessed developments that have left pundits guessing.

Positive signals seem to be coming more from the Peoples Democratic Party, which literarily went into coma due to a vicious factional wrangling which gripped it after it lost the governorship seat to APGA 10 years ago.

In a well-attended rally at Emmaus House, Awka, the major factions of the PDP came together under the chairmanship of Mr. Kenneth Emeakayi, and constituted a harmonisation committee, made up of representatives of the major factions, as directed by the National Working Committee of the party.

The party has since gone to the wards to conduct a fresh registration of its members. Given the huge following the party enjoys in the state as well as the clout of its leaders, PDP could spring a surprise if the current momentum is maintained.

The big names have started stepping out. Nicholas Ukachukwu, a veteran of the governorship race since 2003, and a candidate with a deep pocket, has opened a high-profile campaign office along the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway. Senator Andy Uba, who, in the guise of constituency visits, has been subtly campaigning, is also among the contenders. President Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Assistant on Technical Matters, Chief Akachukwu Nwankpu, who oversees the SURE-P scheme, has also been campaigning for the governorship seat. Dr. Obinna Uzoh, who has inaugurated a charity foundation, is among the party’s aspirants. The list that also has Dr. Alex Obiogbolu, Senator Emma Anosike and a lot of others is growing with each passing day.

Something fresh is also coming out of the Action Congress of Nigeria which is neck deep in a proposed merger with some opposition parties. The prime mover of the party in Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige, who had during the Christmas season, given an indication that he would use the Easter break to make pronouncements about his political plans went taciturn during the season.

Instead of the news about Ngige’s declaration for the governorship, the posters and billboards coming out in the name of ACN are those of Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, the publisher and Philanthropist, who recently built and handed a brand new NUJ Press Centre to the Anambra State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists.

In the past, Ngige had served as the party’s sole governorship candidate.

If Ezeemo is stepping out, chances are that he has the backing of Ngige, who might have decided to hold on to his seat in the Senate, and not bother about the money guzzling race for Government House.

However, the main focus is on the All Progressives Grand Alliance, which before now appeared to be well favoured to carry the day in any election before it was thrown off balance by a self-inflicted crisis that is widening its divisions.

With the crisis that exist in the PDP and the total control of the ACN by Ngige, the next party that could provide candidates with a solid platform is APGA. The case for APGA is strong because the incumbent, Peter Obi, having served his two terms in office, is no longer eligible to contest and would therefore pose little problem to candidates seeking a fresh mandate.

The popular choice of APGA could be seen from the manner many aspirants have been jostling to catch the attention of the governor, who however made it clear that his choice of a successor would come from the less privileged senatorial zone, Anambra North, that has not produced a governor since the state was created in 1991.

The nestling around Obi was largely informed by the fact that he had yet to name a successor, thereby leaving the contest open. Many political observers in the state believe that Obi’s quarrel with Umeh was due to Umeh’s frolicking with multi-billionaire petroleum products marketer, Ifeanyi Ubah, who though hails from Anambra South, has insisted on running for the governorship against Obi’s declared position.

The quarrel between Obi and Umeh, who had all along forged a united front, has taken a huge toll on the party, which, only a few months ago, appeared to be the strongest party in the state. The refusal of any of the parties to back down has not helped matters.

Parading the powers and money that go with his office, Obi had borne the burden of ensuring that Umeh was kicked out of APGA, at a time when his brother governor from Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, had boxed himself into a critical situation by declaring for the yet to be registered All Progressives Congress, without as much as carrying his party men along.

The removal of Umeh by an Enugu High Court however provided the needed fillip for Obi and his faction of the APGA, who proceeded to take over the national leadership of the party.

They were already feeling home and dry when the Court of Appeal, Enugu, came out like a bolt from the blue, declaring that Umeh should continue to hold onto his office until his appeal is tried and dismissed. That appeal court ruling technically put paid to all the efforts that culminated in the election of a NWC of APGA led by Chief Maxi Okwu, and placed Obi’s faction in jeopardy.

From the look of things, both factions of APGA might just spend the rest of the party’s election year slugging it out in court to the detriment of their chances at the poll.

With virtually every other APGA national officer having crossed over to the Obi faction, leaving behind Umeh and his national secretary, Alhaji Sani Shinkafi, on the other side, it appears that APGA’s political travail just begins in Anambra State.

 But Umeh can fall back on the support of the Anambra State Executive Committee led by Chief Mike Kwentoh, who was purportedly removed from office by the Obi faction two days before the national convention that produced Okwu as national chairman. Another loyalist of Umeh is Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, the leader of the APGA caucus in the House of Representatives.

Ekwunife parted ways with Obi when her governorship ambition clashed with Obi’s insistence that APGA would entertain only aspirants from Anambra North Senatorial Zone. Ekwunife, who like Obi, comes from Anambra Central Senatorial Zone, says inasmuch as she is not opposed to  zoning as a formula for picking candidates for the party, the issue has not been previously discussed. Even at that, she says if zoning is going to be adopted; it should start alphabetically, with Anambra Central, her senatorial zone,  taking the first slot.

The crisis seems to have touched raw nerves in the South East where the Igbo-speaking people, irrespective of party affiliation, consider the party as their own, which they can always fall back on when they cannot find accommodation in other national parties.

But Dr. Okey Umeano, the Anambra State Chairman and governorship aspirant of the United Peoples Party, says there is no need to cry over the crisis in APGA as UPP has come to give the people of the South East a voice. UPP was founded by Chief Chekwas Okorie, the founding chairman of APGA. Umeano, a former member of the House of Representatives, was the founding chairman of APGA in Anambra State.

It would seem that the smaller parties would as usual be waiting in the wings to profit from the fallouts of the rough games that will play out in the big parties. The  PPN, ADC, Labour Party and ANPP have also been renovating their secretariats preparatory to the elections.

 In the meantime, the Obi camp appears yet undecided on who to back for the governorship. Several of his aides are jostling for the position including the current Secretary  to the State Government, Mr. Oseloka Obaze; his brother, Dubem, who is the immediate past Commissioner for Local Government; and the immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Chief Paul Odenigbo. Callistus Ilozumba, who has served as the Commissioner for Works in the last seven years, has been going round churches requesting the people to pray for a governor that will build on the records of Governor Obi.

Most Nigerian roads’ll be motorable by 2015 – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that most Nigerian roads will be in good conditions in the next two years. Speaking during the inauguration of the WEMPCO cold steel plant in Magboro, Ogun State on Thursday, the President acknowledged that most Nigerian roads had been abandoned for a long time.

He, however, gave an assurance that most of the roads would be in good shape by 2015.

He said, “We assure Nigerians that we are intervening in our road reconstruction. It is not easy because this country is very big and the road networks appear to have collapsed due to long time neglect.

“There is no magic wand that the government will use to repair all the roads at the same time, but we are intervening massively, and if we progress at the rate we are progressing, God willing, most of Nigerian roads will be motorable in the next two years.”

The President was prompted by the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who complained that the federal/state road dichotomy was frustrating the state’s infrastructure development drive, especially in the area of road development.

“We have been trying everything possible to make Ogun State conducive for business. Our investment drive is being greatly hampered by an embarrassing dichotomy called the federal/state roads,” the governor said.

Amosun remarked that Ogun State had rehabilitated some federal roads considered very critical to the economic development of the state; adding that this had not happened without confrontations with the Federal Ministry of Works.

“As at present, our roads are wearing new looks and have high standards. However, we are been accused by agencies of the Federal Government of improving on roads in our dear state. The most painful thing is that these federal roads are very germane to our investment drive. The least we expect is for the Federal Ministry of Works to come and disturb us,” he said.

While lauding the effort of the Federal Government in rehabilitating the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Amosun said the state would not hesitate to partner with it to repair the road.

This, he said, had become imperative because 83 per cent of the road was situated on Ogun State land.

In response, Jonathan, said “I believe there is a communication gap between your government and the Federal Ministry of Works. If not, those issues were not supposed to have even come up at all. There is no controversy at all about a state or local government intervening in any federal road. “I will emphasise that the ordinary Nigerian does not want to know whether a road was built by the federal, state or local government.

“However, if you intervene in a federal road at a time we are not ready, and you want the Federal Government to partner in terms of cost, then we will give you what we have planned for the road. However, you must follow our procurement process for us to pay you.

“But if you have money to build the road, you don’t even need to bother with our procurement laws, you can go ahead and build the road, but we will not refund any part of the money.”

FG uncovers fresh N3.2tr Abacha loot

Billions of dollars stashed away in foreign bank accounts by the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, may far exceed the already established $5 billion, as a Special Investigation Panel (SIP), tracing what has now become ‘Abacha loot,’ has stumbled on fresh clues indicating that the stolen funds still trapped in offshore accounts stand at over N3.2 trillion.

A competent source close to the panel, whose office is in the presidency told Saturday Sun that about four different meetings between the SIP team headed by a retired senior military officer and a Switzerland-based lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, hired by the Federal Government to assist in the recovery of the Abacha loot in foreign jurisdictions, had taken place outside the country in the last eight months.

Monfrini is an Attorney-at-Law, Monfrini Grettol & Associés, Geneva, Switzerland.  The source, who preferred to be anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the subject, said: “In the course of the recent meetings between the Nigerian team and authorities in about four other jurisdictions as well as the team from the foreign legal firm, it was discovered that a lot of underhand dealings must have taken place in the recovery of the Abacha loot.


“This was largely responsible for the under-declaration of what has been recovered so far by three successive governments and worse still what is still trapped in offshore accounts, which, in our estimation, in our last meeting with our foreign team, stands at $210 billion.”  Some of the foreign jurisdictions, where the stolen funds had been traced to include Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. One of the latest discoveries includes a $550 million in a coded account in France.

“It has been very difficult to get details out into the public domain so far because the latest process is being secretly coordinated by the retired senior military officer heading the SIP in the presidency and the Attorney General of the federation, who provides legal advice for the team,” the source added.  The Federal Government was said to have been encouraged to dig deeper into the Abacha loot because of a recent statement credited to the Swiss lawyer, Monfrini, handling the case.

While giving further insight into previous efforts to recover the stolen money, the lawyer was quoted to have said: “Civil action was initiated by the Federal Republic of Nigeria before the High Court of London in May 1999. It resulted in the seizing of only USD 60 million in the United Kingdom. The ‘full account’ given by the members of Abacha family was notoriously incomplete, notably in respect of their Swiss, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg assets, totaling USD 1.5 billion, which were entirely omitted.

Less than USD 10 million of frozen assets been forfeited and recovered in the United Kingdom, none of which was through civil proceedings.”  Only the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been able to record the highest amount of $1.25 billion from the Abacha loot. The preceding regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar and the succeeding government of the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua could not do much in this regard notwithstanding the efforts also made.  Obasanjo recently gave an indication that much could still be trapped outside the country when he declared, at a function in Delta State: “When I was president, I called the World Bank.
I said, please, give me the list of the amount that has been stolen, where it is kept and who the beneficiaries are. I never got anything from the World Bank thereafter. We have on our own decided that we will investigate and get from one family, Abacha family alone.   “From the Abacha family alone, we recovered millions of dollars.


I got 1.25 billion dollars and the lawyer in Switzerland (he is still there), who was doing it for us, said, when I was leaving, that if we worked harder, there was still, at least, one billion dollars that we can get from that family alone.”  General Sani Abacha had ruled Nigeria as a military Head of State between November 17, 1993 and June 8, 1998, when he died suddenly of a heart attack. As a result, General Abdulsalami Abubakar became the head of state and within a short time, he re-established democracy in Nigeria, arranging for general elections that resulted in the emergence of Obasanjo assuming the presidency as the democratically elected leader of the country in 1999.

Before Obasanjo took office, Abubakar’s government had delivered a clear message that Abacha had looted huge sums, and they had to be restored. Members of the Abacha family and some of their accomplice then ‘voluntarily’ returned approximately $1 billion to the Federal Government. In 2002, the Obasanjo administration tentatively came to an agreement with the Abacha family to return another $1 billion out of the $1.1 billion that had been identified, traced and frozen, with the quid pro quo that the Abachas would be allowed to keep balance that had been assessed not to be of criminal origin.

The arrangement was not well received by the masses. Although the proposal caused a massive outcry for seeming to reward the theft of public funds, it was subsequently rejected by the late dictator’s son, Mohammed Abacha, who continued to maintain that all the assets in question were legitimately acquired.  The highest sum that had in the past been traced to the family ranged from $3 billion to $5 billion, which includes money allegedly derived from misappropriation of funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria, bribes received from multi-nationals, among others.


The Swiss government last December said that it has so far returned to Nigeria the sum of $700 million stolen by the late dictator and deposited in several Swiss banks. The Swiss ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Hans-Rudolf Hodel, had announced the figure at a media briefing in Abuja. In addition to freezing about $640 million, the Swiss judicial authorities handling the case have also indicted Mohammed Abacha and Atiku Bagudu under Swiss legislation regarding money laundering, fraud and taking part in a criminal organisation.


While the latest discovery of the volume of stolen funds still trapped outside the country may appear as an indication of a breakthrough in the renewed effort to recover the looted funds, the sad news is, however, that Nigeria may never get the money back through the legal means it has been following since 1999.

“In one of the last meetings before the SIP team stopped foreign trips on the case, the Nigerian government was told in plain terms that it will be too hard to get the money repatriated to the country through any court case or legal battles except through diplomatic negotiations with the foreign jurisdictions where these funds have been servicing their economies,” our source added.

It was further gathered that the Jonathan administration is already contemplating the idea of checking the record of recoveries made under the coordination of a former National Security Adviser (NSA).
As a result, the SIP was said to have recently interacted with a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Peter Gana who worked with the ex-security adviser on the recovery of the Abacha loot with a view to getting certain clues needed for further probe.

NCC ready for mobile number portability

In line with its function of protecting and promoting consumer interest against unfair practices, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has concluded arrangement to flag off mobile number portability(MNP).
The MNP, when implemented, would give consumers the option of changing their network at will while also retaining their mobile numbers. Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, who disclosed this in Ibadan, during the 72nd edition of Telecoms Consumer Parliament, added that the MNP would enhance competition and improve quality of service.

Juwah said: “It is an established fact that one of the most significant barriers to competition in the telecommunication industry is the reluctance of consumers to change their network even when they are not satisfied with the services provided because of the fear of changing their number.”

The porting process (process of changing network) would, according to him, be simple, free of charge and would be completed within 48 hours from the time when a request is made by a subscriber. Juwah noted that when the MNP becomes operational subscribers would no longer be compelled to carry many handsets at the same time for fear of network failure, adding that subscribers can always migrate to the best network of quality while retaining their number.

He added that the focus of the commission was to give the consumer a choice and freedom to be with best network at any time as well as enhance competition in the industry.

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