While the president is being praised by his supporters for walking 800 meters, opening his own bottle of water, and brushing his own teeth, the security of lives in the Federal Republic of Nigeria is threatened. Take over of villages at the Nigerian border persists and the armed forces is still not deployed to engage these attackers.
Author: Admin
-
Kidnapping Attempt of Oje of Ora Elect, Prof. J. U. Aisiku
The named suspects are Adamu Aminu, Teminor Dipreye and Ovie Raymond. One of them Adamu Aminu is the eldest son of the security guard for Prof. J. U. Aisiku whom they threatened to kidnap and assassinate.
The victim Prof. Aisiku resides in Ora, Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State where he engaged the services of the father of the initiator and informant of the suspected criminals for kidnapping or pay $16,000 (sixteen thousand dollars).
Adamu Aminu lives with his father on the premises of the victim. Adamu Aminu travelled to Port Harcourt to meet with Teminor Dipreye to perfect plans to kidnap the Professor or get $16,000 as ransom from the victim. Ovie Raymond admitted to providing the foreign account to which the ransom will be transferred to.
The suspects who have their gang members in Turkey started sending death threats through text messages to Prof. Aisiku’s mobile phone, one which reads, “I am currently on $8,000 (Eight Thousand Dollars) to end your life and political career, double this money to $16,000 and I will leak the information of the rival. You are playing with your life. You are not a wise man Mr. Aisiku you will hear from us tomorrow.”
Afraid for his life, Prof. Aisiku went underground. He then received another text message which caused him to be alarmed, “My disappointment comes with havoc, Mr. Aisiku, we know you better than you think, you have until 5 pm to send the money. We are watching, if you like you can report to your IGP friend to deploy all tactical forces you can buy for protection, but it won’t help. We will start with your sons and new grandchild in America don’t be stupid you are a man of many enemies”.
The suspects then contacted Ovie Raymond who provided the link to a foreign bank account in Turkey for the transfer of $16,000 which amounts to over seven million Naira. However, with the deployment of police high tech equipment these three suspects were arrested in Benin City.
CP, Johnson Babatunde Kokumo has vowed that there will be no hiding place for criminals in Edo State.
-
TRADERS IN UNIFORM!
The new Webster’s dictionary of the English language (International Edition) describes a trader as “a person engaged in some form of commerce”. Trading itself is an ancient occupation that has been practised by men, institutes and nations over the years. Trade disagreements have often led to several wars amongst the various people’s of the world. Inspite of this, trading remains one of the veritable tools in economic relations world – wide.
Even within Nigeria, trading is an accomplished phenomenon. From the days of King Jaja of Opobo, Nana of Itsekiri, Oba Ovoramwen of Benin Kingdom to the Alafin of Oyo, trading was the major economic activity of the pre-independence Nigerian societies. In today’s Nigeria, trading maintains its pre-eminent position as the nation’s leading activity since the manufacturing sector has virtually collapsed due to the inadequacy of generated power to sustain the sector.
The only strange development in all these is the presence in Nigeria of a peculiar set of traders. These special traders have no capital and need none. They require no collateral to secure any facility from financial institutions for the purpose of purchasing their wares. Nothing like that. They require no shops and are therefore spared the luxury of paying rent for their trading activities. They pay no taxes on the “goods” they trade on and require no form of advertisement. Their business is very lucrative and their profit margin is unbelievable. These super traders only require their uniforms and firearms purchased from the tax-payers’ money to carry out their activities.
Their trading points are very strategic. They operate from major roads, high ways, airports, seaports, border posts and Government offices.
Of all the uniformed traders, the one with the most notorious presence is the Police. This is so because of the nature of their statutory duties. The importance of their role in modern society is emphasized by Section 214 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This Section creates the Nigeria Police Force for the purpose of securing public safety, public order as well as the protection of public and private properties.
In these capacities therefore, they daily arrest persons suspected to have committed offences ranging from misdeamenour to felony. Suspects are upon their arrest taken to various Police stations. At these stations, the suspects are unduly detained without any notification of their rights. At the end of the game, such suspects are made to illegally part with their hard earned money after severe negotiations for the purchase of their “freedom”. These negotiations usually take place inspite of the conspicuous inscription that has become the favourite slogan of every Police Station; “BAIL IS FREE”.
A few weeks ago, I had cause to travel to Lagos by road from Benin City. On our way to Lagos, we did not encounter any problem with any set of persons. It was simply a jolly ride except for the bad patches common with Nigerian roads these days.
It was on our return trip from Lagos that we entered the real world of uniformed traders. From Shagamu to Benin City, there were several check points which were indeed trading posts. At these points there were long queues of cars, buses, trucks and other vehicular equipments. Some of them were for private use while others were on commercial journeys. The occupants of these vehicles milled around the policemen who manned these points waiting to take their turns in negotiating their exit. The commuters paid different amounts depending on the purported contravention for which they were stopped. They ranged from driving without an appropriate license, expired vehicle particulars, tinted wind screen without permit, non-possession of fire extinguisher and reflective triangle signs, to driving vehicles without registration number plates. The policemen savoured power and importance. They looked upon their victims and fined them various sums. Non – possession of driving licence attracted between N100 and N200 depending on the negotiating skills of the victims. Driving a vehicle with tinted wind screen without police permission or driving a vehicle without registration number plates were big deals. The victims had to cough out as much as N2,000 or stand the risk of having their vehicles impounded. These transactions were carried out in broad-day light without fear or favour. It did not matter whether other road users included senior public officers.
As the police tormented passengers from one check point to another, the vehicle inspection officers joined the fray. Their targets were rickety looking vehicles and trucks appearing to have exceeded their weight limits. These vehicles were pulled over for new rounds of negotiations. This time the victims would have to part with a minimum of N500 for rickety looks and N1,000 for overweight. Since the majority of victims in this category were on commercial journeys, the business was usually quick and to the point.
Thereafter, the officers of the Nigerian Customs would take the centre stage. They would point their guns menacingly at any vehicle without registration number plates or large trucks appearing to be carrying goods. The officers would demand for one form of documents or the other including non existing documents. Overwhelmed by the demands of the officers, their victims would surrender to a fresh bout of negotiations. Again, they are forced to part with some money. This is the story of the average commuter in our country.
Police check points have suffered from frequent policy summersaults. No one can really tell why these check points exist when they do. One or two previous Inspectors-General of Police purportedly banned them. They claimed at that time that all check points had been called off and purported check points were illegal and should be promptly reported to the Police. They may have been right, but we all know that the check points are validly back. What the police refer to as check points are actually not such. The present Inspector General should be told that Nigerians have no problem with genuine check points. The real problem is with the police trading points that exist till date. What operates today does not deter crime in our society. Indeed, criminals have been known to rob passengers on the highways very close to such check points with no rescue efforts made by those uniformed men who man such check points.
Those who have never visited any Immigration office to secure a Nigerian passport may probably not know what goes on there. The average official cost for the issuance of a standard passport is between N18,000 and N19,000 naira. I do not know of anyone who can recall paying just that to get his or her standard passport issued. Uniformed Immigration officers loiter around their office premises soliciting for clients who are in turn charged between N25,000 and N35,000 naira to obtain a standard passport. The innocent victims of these officers are compelled to patronize the emergency business centres opened in their office premises and owned by such officers for the purpose of completing their paper work if their applications for standard passports are to receive any attention. As the passport trade blossoms around their office premises, expatriates and foreign nationals are seen running around the senior immigration officers to grant them extension of their stay in Nigeria or to obtain some form of temporary work permit (T.W.P). This time, the senior officers do not reckon with our local currencies. Serious applicants must approach them with the US dollars, British pounds or the Euro currency. Anything short of this, whatever the application is would crumble like a pack of cards. Not even the spouses of Nigerian Nationals are spared from this ordeal. At the airports of the Nation, Immigration Officers, shamelessly demand bribe from returning Nigerian Nationals and visitors alike. Foreigners are known to sometimes keep between $20 and $50 notes inside their passports just to get into the Country having arrived without the appropriate entry visas. This is the extent to which these officers are prepared to compromise our national security just for a few dollar notes. As the Immigration officers persist in their trade, the Custom officers at the airport pretend to be busy searching such luggage for contraband or prohibited items. To those who are strange to the deal, they may assume that they mean business and end up actually opening such boxes for examination. The truth is that those Custom officers are really not interested in searching such boxes. Their real interest is in how much box-owners are prepared to offer for their own convenience.
An offer of N1500 naira to a Custom officer at the airport would not only earn you an unjustified exemption from a search, it would attract an additional official salute for a job well done.
Unlike the real economic traders, these uniformed ones have militated against our efforts at building a strong nation. They have brought distress, sorrow and tears to the Nigerian people. They have ridiculed our nation in the eyes of the international community. They are the real obstacles to the emergence of a disciplined and egalitarian nation.
If our Country wishes to realize its visions whether, in the year 2020 or in future, it must curtail the activities of these traders of doom in uniforms provided by tax payers’money. There is no other way than to do just this. Will President Buhari look in this direction in pursuit of corrupt public officials? Only time will tell.
-
DREAMING AS A NATION
The 2019 elections are fast approaching. The political tempo in the land is gradually cruising into high altitude. Whether the elections would be free and fair is of concern on one hand, while the other serious worry is whether those that would be elected have any worthy dream to rescue our very emasculated nation from the abyss of poverty, ignorance, disease, insecurity, human and capital flight. It would be wishful thinking to assume that the mere successful conduct of elections would deepen our democracy without a corresponding dream as a Nation to renew our national life in the hope of joining the league of developing nations.
Many, may, underestimate the power of dreams, but let no one make a mistake about its potency. Several of the leading Nations of the world and industry captains of today are where they are because they dreamed dreams and worked sincerely to realize those dreams. For those who are Christians, the Bible is not only a spiritual authority, it is a veritable source of the history of mankind and Nations. The Bible lends credence to the theory of the potency of dreams. Let me recount one of the most common accounts in the Holy Bible, this account can be found in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 41.
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt had a dream. In that dream, “Seven fat, healthy looking cows suddenly came up out of the river and began grazing along its Bank. Then seven other cows came up from the river, but these were very ugly and gaunt. These seven other cows went over and stood beside the fat cows. Then the thin ugly cows ate up the fat ones”. Pharaoh became very concerned about the meaning of that dream and sought the interpretation from one Joseph, a young Hebrew who had a huge reputation for interpreting dreams.
Joseph told Pharaoh that the seven fat cows represented seven years of prosperity while the seven thin cows stood for another seven years of famine that would follow those years of prosperity. He then advised Pharaoh to appoint a wise man to be in charge of a nation-wide programme to prepare for the famine that would follow the prosperity. He recommended that such officer should store 1/5 of the crops to be harvested during the year of prosperity into the royal store houses. In that way there would be enough to eat during the period of the expected famine. Pharaoh took no chances. He appointed Joseph to be in charge of such National programme. Joseph dealt with the situation in a prudent manner. As interpreted, the years of famine truly followed the years of prosperity but there was plenty to eat and a national calamity was averted from just a dream.
If anyone still doubts the power of dreams, how about this popular one that most of us already know. Martin Luther King (jr) was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, to the Reverend and Mrs. Martin Luther King. He followed his father’s foot steps and became a Baptist Minister in 1947. In 1955, Rosa Parks, a black Seamstress, took a seat in the section of a Montgomery bus reserved for whites in the USA. When the driver asked her to move to the back under the state’s segregation law, she refused and was arrested. Martin Luther King (Jr) then launched the Montgomery Bus boycott. He became the symbol of the civil u movement and America itself. On the occasion of the “March on Washington for jobs and freedom” the August in 1963, King delivered the famous “I have a dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln memorial in Washington to 250,000 civil rights supporters. The dreams were indeed many. I would only deal with the few that are related to this piece;
– “ I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”
– “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of slaves and the sons of former slave. owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood”
– “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”
King did not just have dreams. He worked hard to realize those dreams. By 1964 the world acknowledged his hard work and rewarded him with the Nobel peace prize. Even when he was aware of threats to his life, King continued to work for his dreams to come true. With a premonition of the imminence of his death, King said, “well, I don’t know what will happen now. We have got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountain top … And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land”.
Today, the American people have truly reached that Promised Land. America is living out the true meaning of its creed that all men are created equal. The election of Barrack Obama as the US president in November, 2008 marked the total realization of King’s dreams. Together, Obama and Biden sat at the table of brotherhood in the white House to preside over the United States. The content of Obama’s character prevailed over the colour of his skin. Such is the power of a dream.
The Nigerian Nation must therefore not despair in this trying moments of our national life. We must dream as other great nations did. Hon. Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court at the third Obafemi Awolowo Foundation Dialogue once asked a useful question: “can we make Nigeria greater than nature made her…?” The learned Judge provided his own answer. He said as follows: “my answer is yes … if and only if our leaders have the sagacity of an Otto Von Bismark, the wisdom of a Cavour, the adroitness of a Mazini, the patriotism of a Gandhi and the selflessness of a Nyerere. ”
Part of our National creed is to be found in the 1999 constitution of our country which states interalia; “AND TO PROVIDE for a constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of freedom, Equality and justice and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people”. Are we truly dreaming of living out the real meaning of this creed? Can we claim to have promoted the principles of equality and justice when there is no equal access to good Medicare and Education in our country? What is the state of our public schools today and how many of the children of those charged with the governance of this Nation attend such schools? What has happened to our public hospitals over the years and why have they become glorified death places for very minor ailments?
The truth is that there is neither equality nor justice in our national life. The Buhari regime may have had the heart to begin the process, but that momentum appears stunted by policy duplicity, official lethargy of public functionaries and excessive bloodletting of uncommon proportions. The regime may have learnt its lessons and the entire country now wants a better deal.
The good news is that we can begin to dream of it now. Let us start with the basic dreams:– That some day before year 2022, this nation would generate over 25,000 MW of power for the use of its millions of citizens.
– That someday, this nation would upgrade its public schools at all levels to globally accepted standards and the products of such schools would no longer face the international discrimination that they suffer today.
– That someday, this nation would upgrade its health institutions to health-care delivery levels away from its present day notoriety of being regarded as death centres.
– That someday, this nation would truly be governed by the rule of law and founded on equality before the law, where high profile thieves in public life would no longer scorn the law and make only petty thieves of necessity to face the law.
But these dreams would never come to pass until we find leaders who would “show the light and people will find their way” as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe epitomized by the slogan of his now defunct newspaper, the West African Pilot. Our Nation must learn from Queneau Raymond, a twentieth century philosopher who fizzled out all doubts about the need to dream in his famous statement that “man’s usual routine is to work and to dream”.
*Dr. Ehiogie West- Idahosa is a former Member of the House of Representatives, lawyer and public policy expert.
-
CAN A MEMBER OF THE MINORITY PARTY LEAD THE MAJORITY AS PRESIDING OFFICER IN PARLIAMENT?
There have been many views expressed on this topic by many. Significantly, the APC leadership has made heavy weather of the fact that this cannot be so. They have therefore called on Saraki to resign. One thing that is fundamental to Nigeria’s democracy is its very constitutional nature. There are so many threads of our national life woven neatly by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended. This is not so with the American model of presidentialism that we unnecessarily copied. We are not a union of voluntary federate states. We did not even mandate those who chose the model on our behalf to do so. More importantly , we did not write the said constitution for ourselves.
Having said that, we are stuck with our Supreme law and anything done which is inconsistent with its provisions is certain to fail the test of the law, no matter how well intentioned. Bearing this in mind therefore, it is settled that a presiding officer of a law making body is usually elected to the the seat by a simple majority of his colleagues for different reasons. They range from party affiliation, personal friendship to perception of competence.
Usually, Members of such bodies vote by roll call when the House first convenes. The practice is for individual members to nominate candidates of choice, but members normally vote along party lines and sometimes vote for any other candidate of their choice. In most parliaments, several parties would present candidates for the contest. The majority party normally wins, if their party members stay on line. However, an unfavored candidate within the majority party can reach a deal with other party members and still win the contest if he gets the majority of votes for that purpose on the floor of the House.
This was precisely the scenario in the 8th Senate. Saraki had a deal with PDP and won as Senate President. This is an acceptable worldwide practice in parliament. It is not strange. A good example in the United States is the election of James Clark of the Democratic Party as Speaker of the US House of Representatives. While he served as Speaker, the Democratic Party lost the plurality or majority of seats in 1917. They no longer controlled the House. The Republicans did. Congressman Clark retained his seat as Speaker as the majority of House Members kept him there.
Even in the Westministerial Parliamentary model where having majority in parliament is so pivotal to running government business, there are many instances where the Speaker was chosen from a minority party. In 1992, Betty Bothroyd, the first female speaker of the House of Commons in UK was a Labor MP chosen in a Conservative-controlled House of Commons.
What then is the whole fuss for? What we need most is visionary and pragmatic leadership tailored to meet our present unenviable circumstances in the interest of rapid national development. Such leaders must fully understand Gabriel Almond’s Structural Functionalism or Easton’s System Theory in managing the component parts of Nigetia and the various arms of government for the good of all.
Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa
Former member of House of Representatives, Lawyer and Policy Expert -
Edo people say no to cattle colonies
WHILE former Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was being crowned in Abuja during the weekend as the national Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), over 3,000 members of the ruling party decamped to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at Fugar, Etsako Central local government area of Edo state.
At a well attended ceremony which was described as a political tsunami by Edo state chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, rejected the new National Cattle Policy of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Orbih told the mammoth crowd which included the two former member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Abubakar Momoh (Owan), Johnson Abolagba (Owan); member of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mr. Sylvanus Eruaga (Etsako West 11), a former member of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mr. Pascal Ugbomhe and a host of others that the new federal government policy was an indirect way of instituting the discredited cattle colonies.
He advised Governor Godwin Obaseki not to cede any portion of Edo land for the purpose of the new policy on cattle which he insisted is a subtle way of grabbing Edo people’s land.
He said: “Edo people say no to cattle colonies. Edo PDP openly rejects the New National Policy on Cattle. It is an attempt at grabbing our land. No Edo community has agreed up till date to give a portion of their land for the purpose of establishing a cattle colony. We say no to the new National Policy on Cattle by President Muhammadu Buhari.”
The decampees who were led by a an erstwhile Secretary of the defunct Action Congtress of Nigeria (ACN) in Etsako Central local government included Capt. Phillip Itsede; Mr. Imakhue, a former PDP chairman in the council; Mr. Benjamin Enakpene, a former APC youth leader; Comrade Augustine Anomhe wet TT r3, former President of the Student Union Government of the Agenebode campus of the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi; and Mr. Felix Igbanoi, a former Supervisory Councilor of the council.
The decampees who were former members of the PDP said that it was sweet homecoming after wandering in the wilderness for a long time.
Itsede said that the lack of internal democracy and, the dictatorial tendencies of some of the leaders of the ruling party has resulted in a situation where the decisions of the party are being taken by people outside the council.
Left with no choice after persistent protest, Itsede said that he decided to go back to his roots, adding that the APC was doomed.
HENDRIX OLIOMOGBE- BENIN
-
Saraki/Ekweremadu’s Failed Removal: How APC Lost its Argument Morally & Constitutionally
By Chidiebere Nwobodo
Having failed repeatedly to effect leadership change in the Senate via unconstitutional means, embittered ex-wife called APC has resorted to blatant blackmail and mudslinging in its renewed quest to oust Senate president Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu from their coveted seats. The more they attack the duo, the clearer it becomes to Nigerians that we have a government run by tyrants, who does not give a freaking damn about survival of our hard-earned democracy. These anti-democratic forces are hell bent on setting Nigeria ablaze, just to have their way. I think the time has come to cage this beast and small tyrant called Oshiomhole; enough of his excesses cum impunity.
Section 52 of Nigeria’s constitution made it crystal clear that for a presiding officer of the senate like senate president or his deputy, to be removed from office, you need nothing less than two third majority of senators. In a Red Chamber of 109 senators, the 2/3 majority is 73 senators! The mind-boggling questions racing through the minds of discerning Nigerians are: can those tyrants in Presidential Villa and their foot-soldiers in the senate muster 73 senators to remove Senate President Saraki and his deputy, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu? Can they infiltrate the impregnable support base of current senate leadership? Can’t they accept the stark reality that they have been outfoxed in this political game of thrones once and for all? Is it too late in the day to give peace a chance, at least for the sake of impoverished Nigerians, that are desperately yearning for the “change” promised them over three years ago?
President Buhari and his mindless cabal, should be told categorically that they have lost this argument both in the eyes of the law and court of public opinion. They have also lost the moral aspect of the argument. For supporting Hon. Aminu Tambuwal to retain his seat as speaker of House of Representatives, having defected from PDP to APC in 2014, APC and its herd of zombies, masquerading as supporters, have lost the moral ground on which to demand Saraki’s resignation, using the benchmark of morality.
The APC should better wake up from its hallucination that Saraki and Ekweremadu will be removed “by all means” as leaders of senate. Saraki is not carrying any moral burden as senate president, because APC never supported him to emerge in the first place. Power-drunk APC leaders cannot take back what they did not give in the first place. Nigerian constitution never implied that senate president or his deputy MUST come from majority party (if APC is still majority). Saraki/Ekweremadu senate presidency has come to stay till June, 2019.
Any unconstitutional attempt to effect change of senate leadership, will be tantamount to toppling Nigeria democracy. President Buhari’s name will be written boldly in the hall of SHAME if he watch his party chairman, aides and conscienceless supporters push Nigeria down the deepest valley of anarchy and political turmoil. Oshiomhole and his fellow desperados in the APC, should know that Senators Saraki and Ekweremadu have become the rallying pillars and formidable shield to roll back the forces of fascism and dictatorship, of which President Buhari’s government has metamorphosed into. Nigerians are solidly behind them as commanders leading the army of democrats, against rampaging chariots and soldiers of tyranny, as we head into 2019 general elections.
-
Press Release: Response to Adams Oshiomhole
Press Release
August 10, 2018Response to Adams Oshiomhole
1. It is rather surprising that Mr. Adams Oshiomhole is behaving like a rain-beaten chicken, crying all over the place about Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, as if the Senate President is the apparition haunting his life and the sinking ship that he captains.
2. Having decided not to join the pigs in rolling in the dirt; we would not like to be involved in any meaningless exchange with the demagogue now in charge of APC. However, because he claimed that he was reacting to the issues raised by the Senate President during his World Press Conference, we thought it necessary to give the APC chairman some attention.
Alas, we found that instead of addressing any issue raised by the Senate President, his press conference merely showcased his obsession and those of his sponsors with Saraki’s removal, which he did without any decorum befitting of his age or his awarded office. He brimmed with hate, hurled abuses, threw tantrums, told lies, huffed and puffed. In the end, he said nothing.
3. It is indeed amazing that the same Oshiomhole, who is now describing Saraki as a politician of no consequence was the same one who only a few months ago was crawling all over the place pleading for Saraki’s support to become chairman. We are sure that those who took him to Saraki several times to plead his case must now be thoroughly embarrassed by his reckless and uncouth manner.
4. By his conduct and utterances, Oshiomhole, who accused Saraki of not acting in national interest needs to do more to convince Nigerians that his desperate desire to become party chairman is not simply to feed his over-sized ego.
5. The position of Oshiomhole and his cohorts in the APC that the Senate President must resign is a mere wishful thinking. They will continue to dream about their planned removal of the Senate President. They will need 73 Senators to lawfully remove Dr. Saraki and they will never get that in the present eight Senate.
6. The argument of APC that the Senate President must come from a majority party; that the Senate Presidency is their crown and National Assembly is their palace is only supported by ignorance and dangerous delusion. First, the issue of which party is in the majority will only be resolved when the Senate resume. Two, Section 50 (1) (a) of the constitution is clear that any Senator can be elected as Senate President. If the only thing left of the APC change agenda is to change the Senate President we can only wish them good luck.
7. Perhaps, Mr. Oshiomhole needs to be better educated about our parliamentary history when he Stated that “For the first time in parliamentary history in Nigeria, we had a situation where the APC had majority of Senators and went on to elect a PDP as Deputy Senate President”. Where is Mr. Oshiomhole when Senator John Wash Pam of the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) became Deputy Senate President in the Second Republic even when the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) had the majority. The same thing happened in the House of Representatives when NPP’s Rt. Hon. Edwin Umeh Ezeoke was elected Speaker in an NPN majority House. But then, it would require a level of education to understand these things.
8. What hypocrisy! To think that this same APC were jubilating when Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal retained his position after he defected from the PDP and still retained his seat, even when his new party was in the minority. These are people whose standards of morality are infinitely elastic.
9. We are sure the remaining APC Senators need to do a lot of work to bring Oshiomhole up to speed about parliamentary practice. His ignorance are too clear in his comments about how the Senate was adjourned on July 24, 2018, the distribution of committee chairmanship in the Senate and the difference between the post of Senate President and Minority Leader.
10. He has made so much song and dance about Mr. Godswill Akpabio resigning as Senate Minority Leader when he left the PDP to join APC. For this, Akpabio has become his hero and a symbol of honor. He obviously does not understand that the post of Minority Leader is a strictly party affair. And the PDP simply decided who to give it as it is not even a position that was mentioned in the constitution. Whereas, the Senate President position is a constitutional creation, which required majority votes of all the members. Again, we don’t expect people whose only experience in politics is at the provincial levels to understand this. No wonder they are talking of crowns and inheritance.
11. The fair distribution of the Committee chairmanship is one of the stabilizing factors in the 8th Senate and has helped it in achieving more than all its predecessors.
12. We need to inform this divisive element who now leads APC that if he wants to know why the 2018 budget was delayed, he should ask the heads of the MDAs. We reckon that should be easy for him since he is now their ‘headmaster’, moving around with canes to whip ministers into line.
13. Oshiomhole once again demonstrated his lack of sense of history by talking of Buhari winning more votes in Kwara than Saraki. We are sure President Buhari himself will disagree with the APC chairman. We invite the APC chairman to look at the figures of votes secured by the President in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 to know that the difference is clear, like a commercial advert stated.
14. We hereby assure this garrulous, tactless and reckless APC chairman that a million of Adams Oshiomhole cannot remove Saraki as Senate President. His illegal plots, can only feed his insatiable ego and keep him awake at nights. But it will remain an exercise in futility.
Signed
Yusuph Olaniyonu
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Senate President -
2019: Atiku PDP’s only hope – Showunmi
The PDP’s only chance of defeating the APC’s presidential candidate in next year’s presidential race is by fielding the versatile and most popular candidate- former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Segun Showunmi, the Director Media and Publicity of Atiku Campaign Organization, in this interview with Patrick Andrew, reveals why none of the other aspirants can match Atiku.
The siege of the National Assembly complex by heavily armed DSS men and the face-off between the PDP and the APC arising there from, must be a setback for democracy?
We must be very vigilant about what we allow, what can be acceptable, is tolerable and what is condemned in its entirety in a democracy. Investigation should take place by the appropriate authority on how such brigand, lawlessness, embarrassingly difficult to explain position came about. Suffice to say in a democracy, moderate conduct, independence of other organs, respect for the rule of law and separation of powers are what people look out for to say how your democracy is faring. What happened around the National Assembly complex is sad, unfortunate regrettable, unacceptable and condemned in its entirety. Every explanation that the managers and handlers of the Federal Government have in this matter only makes them incapable, unworthy, dictatorial and immature in handling democracy.
Without taking sides, how do you imagine other nations of the world would react to the commentary of every blessed day they wake up to read about Nigeria in newspapers and internet?
They read about all manner of things that suggest that we are almost turning our country into a Banana Republic. The rule of engagement on who controls what, gives what instructions, has what right to give what instructions, are clearly spelt out in the schedule of duty of the Federal Government; the operational manual of government. It would be difficult to accept that the top echelon of the Directorate of the State Security can be manipulated and moved about without some permission.
The kind of gears that you saw them wear, the military fatigue that they put on and how timely at which they moved, the coordination of the vehicles and the instrument of coercion and the guns they were holding all of these suggests that somebody must be responsible.
The APC seems to suggest that the incident (siege) was staged managed by the senate president?
We must be careful when we listen to rumors or react to rumors. Rumors are just as they are called rumors: unsubstantiated, unverified, unproven and sometimes out right falsehood that shifts out in this new information management opportunity that social media and the internet avail us. What you would expect a decent and responsible government, President Muhammadu Buhari to do is to investigate and determine what has happened. But you see, when a set of activities take place that is not good for democracy and it is ignored like what you saw in Benue State and what was happening around Ekiti State after the loss of the election, what you are going get, is that people get emboldened to continue in the direction that leads nowhere honorably. And had those who had the responsibility of managing the agencies of security been up and alive to their responsibility they would have sent a clear signal that that level of meddlesomeness and unprofessional conduct is not acceptable in a democracy. So, it is a regrettable, unfortunate needless set of activities that our country has been bedeviled with. And that is one of the reasons why we say to Nigerians that our democracy has a lot to learn from a democratic leader.
Atiku is a democratic leader who knows how to build consensus, listens to people, whose approach to problems is not the barrel, the stick and the guns, allows democracy to thrive through solution based discussions to resolve knotty issues.
The relationship between the Legislature and the Executive is always a topsy-turvy one all over the world. You see it in America, in Europe and sometimes when you are watching the Prime Minister of Britain address her colleagues in parliament and you see the level shouting you understand that truly in a democracy everybody must be given opportunity to have their way and separation of powers must be respected.
When you see how much time, effort and persuasion it takes the most democratic leader in the world- the American President- to get his way even with his own congress, you know that the principle of managing executive power in a democracy fits better with someone that has democratic credentials.
And I dare say that Nigerians would quickly yield the leadership of the country to my Principal the former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency the Wazirin Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar to be president now. Then all persons would learn and see that it is possible to be president, be democratic and still wield power in a way that institutions become bigger and better managed than converting it into a cult followership of just one man and his tendencies.
With the entry into the Presidential race of the Governors of Gombe and Sokoto States respectively, do you feel threatened?
A democratic party or a democratic process imagines that once it is time for people to present themselves in an aspiration for any office, the presidency none-the-less, people that are qualified and not exempted by law, it is within their right to push, market, and present themselves. What we will be looking for is to see that the processes are free, fair, transparent and credible and once you are presented to the processes that fit those minimum requirements then we would say, “may the best man win.”
What do we need to do to signpost who the best man is?
We will have to look at the situation in the nation at that point in time. The person that will lead must look in totality at where the life of that nation is. Based on the situation it is determined which man is best prepared to handle the nation.
Now give me the opportunity to say where Nigeria is today. Every Nigerian knows that right now our country is divided for some needless reasons: brothers are no longer smiling with their brothers, farmers and herders that have cooperated for thousands of years are no longer able to see themselves as friends and relatives or as neighbors or even contemporaries.
If you are a farmer and you hate a herdsman, what about asking yourself, is there no symbiotic relationship with manure and yourself? If you are a herdsman and kill a farmer are you not worried that you are at the base of the pyramid where all of you are trying to egg out a living and that you are just killing yourselves for nothing? People are divided across tribes. When you see a nation that is divided you need to ask which of the aspirants has the capability to unite them from previous earned-experience. I make bold to say that Atiku is. He is at home with the South West, he has businesses located there, he is at home in South East by marriage and some of his children are half Igbo, South-South through long-time relationships that has never created any problem, and he is very much at peace with the middle Belt as one of the highest non-indigene title holder in Benue State.
He is Fulani by tribe so nobody can come and wipe up any sentiment about and against Fulani. He is royalty being the Wazirin of Adamawa – Prime Minister of a large community, and connects with traditional communities.
He is a big consummate businessman that the business communities are at home with him, an employer of labor so that those in the business of creating employment are able to connect with him. That is Atiku for you.
Why is Atiku most qualified?
Look at the past, Atiku is someone with vision and great ideas, who effects or establishes them. Let’s look at some of them: the Pension Fund, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Privatization, Bureau of Public Procurement and the latter was interesting. Atiku had found out that there was a report by the World Bank sometime in 1999 that procurement in Nigeria was the most expensive in the world.
It means that if a Nigerian government agency wanted to buy biro or paper they found out that the price the agency was paying for the biro was more expensive than any other procurement in the world. That was dangerous, so Atiku came up with the idea of Bureau of Public Procurement as a policy to say that public procurement must fit into a particular template and it cannot be above it just to be sure that from managerial framework Nigeria’s procurement does not become the most expensive in the world.
If the PDP must go into the 2019 presidential contest it must go into the race with a strong brand. I believe that Atiku is that person. -
Impending dangers of Senator Godswill Akpabio’s defection to APC
August 3, 2018.
His Excellency,
Adams Oshiomhole
National Chairman
All Progressives CongressIMPENDING DANGERS OF SENATOR GODSWILL AKPABIO’S DEFECTION TO APC
We in the Akwa Ibom Progressives Watch (AKIPW) have noted with deep concern the broad chorus of disapproval and complete despondency amongst different strata of members of our party, the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom state over the defection of the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio to the APC.
Our group is an integrity watch team whose support for the APC is driven by the party’s change agenda, the fight against corruption as well as the near immaculate personality of the leader of the Party, President Muhammadu Buhari. We metamorphosed from Ibom Transparency Watch under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), working assiduously in the last seven years to entrench in the party sterling values, such as integrity, justice, accountability and transparency, which are lacking in our political system. Hence, we have been on the watch so that such persons with tendencies which violate these values are not found tip-toeing around our party.
For this reason, we feel sad, so are most members of the APC in Akwa Ibom State who looked up to our party as institution that will evict moral pervers as Senator Godswill Akpabio from position of authority, by the admission of Senator Godswill Akpabio into our party.
Senator Akpabio’s records of service show he is a spoiler everywhere he goes. In his first organisation of employment, EMIS Telecoms Nigeria Limited, Akpabio was Personal Assistant to the CEO of the company, Chief E. Okonkwo; suddenly he manipulated his boss and threw himself up as the company’s secretary. During his stint in that position, the company was defrauded to the tune of N4billion. Records suggest Akpabio was party to the fraud and must have benefited from the loot.
Your Excellency, you must be aware that Akpabio polarized ethnicity to its zenith in his bid to annihilate the Ibibio majority, and destroy the Oro ethnic nationality, when he was governor of Akwa Ibom State. In that mindless voyage, more than 80 prominent sons and daughters of the state were either kidnapped or killed; many were compelled to go on exile. Under Akpabio’s watch, an elder statesman, Gen. Edet Akpan Rtd., former DG of NYSC was kidnapped from a church. Four persons were killed during that operation. The wife of a BoT member of our party, Mrs. Sam Enwang, was kidnapped; the wife of Senator Aloysius Etok, who is now a stakeholder of our party was also kidnapped; Chief Senas Ukpanah was killed; a former deputy speaker of our state House of Assembly and member of the APC, Obong Okon Uwah was killed; mother of Mr. Udonwa, a governorship aspirant was kidnapped, killed and her naked corpse was dumped on the road, forcing the deceased’s son to dump his governorship ambition; a foremost traditional father, Edidem Ime Robert from Nsit Ubium was assassinated; an entrepreneur, Elder Paul Inyang was killed; three brothers called the Mbota brothers were killed; three brother to the televangelist Mrs. Helen Ukpabio were killed. The list of assassinations under Akpabio’s atrocious regime is endless.
Your Excellency, you may wish to call for report on Akpabio’s wild intolerance for our party members in Akwa Ibom State during his reign as governor. It is on record that Akpabio’s men masterminded the awful murder of 11 supporters of the defunct ACN in 2011 that were on a campaign visit to Ikot Ekpene. We have not forgotten how Akpabio sought to exterminate, Senator John Udoedehe, who was the governorship candidate of the ACN in 2011, over trump up charges.
You must have heard of the bare-face manipulation of the 2015 election in Akwa Ibom State against our party, by Senator Godswill Akpabio; or how Akpabio bragged on a state radio that he cross off the name of the winner of the PDP primary in Ikot Ekpene senatorial district in 2011 and replaced it with the name of Senator Aloysius Etok.
Senator Akpabio who is now seeking asylum in the APC called our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, very unprintable names during the 2015 electioneering. He ordered the immediate closure of the Ibom Airport on the day the Buhari, who was then the presidential flag – bearer of our party visited Akwa Ibom State. After our President won the 2015 election despite all their antics, Akpabio encouraged former President Goodluck Jonathan to challenge Buhari’s election victory in court.
Senator Akpabio breeds impunity wherever he goes. We strongly think he played significant role in the fall of his first love, the PDP. Akpabio’s schemes factionised the Nigerian Governors Forum, (NGF), and ultimately led to the creation of PDP Governors Forum as well as the eventual defection of five PDP governors to the APC. We have not forgotten how Senator Akpabio superintended over the NGF election where 17 votes were greater than 19.
Your Excellency, based on Akpabio’s antecedent and his dislike for our party, we strongly feel that the senate minority leader is joining the APC for many nocuous reasons. One, Akpabio is seeking an escape from prosecution for the crimes – particularly, financial, and human rights abuses – his regime committed. Two, he wants to give the party a bad image in the eyes of members of the public who looked up to the APC as the only institution that would evict Akpabio from position of authority and bring justice to those whose rights were unjustly stymied by the preponderance of his absolute powers. With his defection, members of the party and the public in extension are inured to think that the APC is a cover for plunderers of public assets. Three, Senator Akpabio wants to use our party to advance his selfish and insatiable quest for power. Four, Akpabio is on a mission to destroy APC for his man Mr. Udom Emmanuel to win a reelection in 2019. Five, Akpabio defection to the APC will provoke massive exodus of foundation members of the party to other political parties. Six, Senator Akpabio wants to catch in on the seeming feud between Mr. Chibuike Amaechi and Adams Oshiomhole to finish his oil well battle with the former Rivers state governor.
Consequently, in our honest consideration, Senator Akpabio does not deserve a welcome to APC because his despicable political idiosyncrasies dealign to the values our great party holds. In as much as much we appreciate defections like last month’s event where a former national lawmaker, Mr. Bassey Etim, defected with over 6000 people. Etim said he defected because of Senator Akpabio’s impunity which stopped his swearing in as Senator. Etim claimed that on the day he was to be sworn-in following a federal high court’s ruling; Senator Akpabio walked into the office of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, knelt down and begged him not to proceed with the swearing in.
Sir, we urge your leadership to look meticulously into the impending dangers of Senator Godswill Akpabio’s defection to our party. Also, the leadership of the party should resist the enticement of building our party structure around an individual.
We look forward to your prompt action.
Thank you for your time, Your Excellency.
We are:
Innocent Sylvanus
ChairmanUbong Victor