The Eagle Gate

Tag: PDP

  • THAT UNBRIDLED REJECTION OF NECESSARY AUTONOMY BY EDO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY IS DANGEROUS TO DEMOCRACY

    THAT UNBRIDLED REJECTION OF NECESSARY AUTONOMY BY EDO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY IS DANGEROUS TO DEMOCRACY

    Edo State House of Assembly’s recent rejection of financial autonomy marks a new low ground in the on going legislative imperialism of State Assemblies in Nigeria. Executive expansion of dominance and exploitation of the weaker legislature has eroded the sense of placement inherent in the practice of separation of powers characteristic of modern democracy. The unequal exchange of perks of office has led to a final surrender of the power of the purse which is the strength and preserve of the legislature worldwide, by Edo State House of Assembly.

     

    In return, the lawmakers get aids in kind or cash, a few foreign trips and guarantee of second term Party tickets. But what would this mean against the loss of the innate right of the legislature to check the Executive from misusing public funds appropriated for public good? The answer is discernible.

     

    Who will deal with the debt burden of Edo State which has reached astronomical levels? The State’s scarce resources from internally generated revenue borne by the poor man and woman on the streets and federal allocations would end up servicing the huge debt without a wimp from the law makers whose autonomy has been voluntarily mortgaged at the risk of jeopardizing the balance of power in the State.

     

    Plunder of State resources, tax abuses, poverty, wide spread unemployment, disease, maladministration and a host of anomalies would become the cynosure of this new wave of legislative imperialism. The Assembly must save itself this embarrassment by reviewing their decision. A motion ought to be tabled to review that decision and vote on the side of sustainable democracy for the sake of the generations of Edo people alive and those yet unborn. Anything short of this, would entitle the present members of that House to an unenviable space in the political museum of infamy.

     

    The legendary Jimmy Cliff once sang about a hard to travel and a long way to go. I hope Edo State is not yet
    there.

     

    Dr. West-Idahosa (Nigerian lawyer and policy analyst)

  • NIGERIA’S RECENT POOR CORRUPTION RATING BY TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL VINDICATES THE CLAIM OF MANY THAT THERE IS GROWING CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA;

    NIGERIA’S RECENT POOR CORRUPTION RATING BY TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL VINDICATES THE CLAIM OF MANY THAT THERE IS GROWING CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA;

    Confirmation from the Sultan of Sokoto who is a very conservative religious/ traditional ruler that there is still high level of corruption in Nigeria and the recent poor ranking of Nigeria on the world’s corruption perception index by Transparency International, vindicate those who have persistently argued that corruption in Nigeria merely went underground and became more audacious.

    The civil service and many public institutions are experiencing the highest level of nepotism and wanton embezzlement. Some public servants preside over the award of contracts to themselves through their surrogates and have deeply limited the openness that is expected from such processes. A number of public servants are taking refuge in an unelected powerful cabal to inflict damage on the integrity of this government. The pain of it all is that the elected government still has so much confidence in a warped bureaucracy.

    A great number of political appointees have not helped matters at all. Leading the pack is the serving Attorney General. What a pity that President Buhari can stick with this man of the many competent and forthright lawyers available to pick from in this country. The AG must read the mood of the nation with respect to fighting corruption. The public wants this fight to be sustained on the basis of substantial justice. They way don’t want a fight based on technicalities. They want to see that those let off the hook are truly innocent and the guilty ones are behind bars. This desire is based on the renewed public awareness that the real people who have afflicted them with poverty are those who stole their common wealth, but move around the country as free men flaunting their ill gotten wealth.

    How can a government that takes the likes of Amaechi seriously be taken seriously by the rest of humanity. Who were those in PDP that caused that Party credibility problems? Were they from Jupiter? Most of those men and women are right in bed with this regime. It is not surprising that they are gradually afflicting the government with their moral leprosy.

    Buhari’s supporters are intolerant of criticism and hail the old man as infallible, but his inability to be promptly decisive on corruption matters surrounding his lieutenants may rob him of his place in history. For a man who rode to power on the fight against corruption, to have the country remain in the worst ranking on corruption in recent times by an International Organization with global neutrality is ironical of his journey to Aso rock.

    The government cannot run away from this rating or dismiss same as wailing by haters as they normally do. They must take it seriously. Each time they get a boost on improving the economy from figures by less endowed agencies, they celebrate it via formal and social media. They must accept this rating and work to improve it. They cannot approbate and reprobate about international rating agencies by picking and choosing which one to accept. Such discretion would be poor and laughable.

    This is a warning shot to the government. They must heed the call and do the needful. Time is running out.

    Dr. West-Idahosa.
    ( A Nigerian based lawyer and policy analyst)

  • CAN OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TRY JUDICIAL OFFICERS FOR ANY FORM OF MISCONDUCT?

    CAN OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TRY JUDICIAL OFFICERS FOR ANY FORM OF MISCONDUCT?

    Section 153 of the 1999 constitution provides for the establishment of the National Judicial council (NJC). The functions of NJC are set out in paragraphs b & d of Item 21 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution and includes the exercise of disciplinary control over judicial officers. This is the umbrella upon which the NJC frequently subjects judicial officers to disciplinary processes which may lead to reprimand, suspension, freeze of promotion or dismissal in some cases. However, section 158 of the same constitution does not allow the NJC’s activities to be subject to the control or direction of any other authority or person.

     

    NJC’s 2014 Judicial Discipline Regulations describes misconduct as one prejudicial to effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts or any conduct described as misconduct in the Constitution and Code of Conduct of judicial officers.

     

    Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the Code of Conduct of public officers. Paragraphs 6 & 8 prohibits public officers from receiving gifts for something done or undone in the discharge of his duties and no one is entitled to bribe them to discharge their duties. Public officers covered by the said Code of Conduct includes all judicial officers as contained in part 2 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution. The Code of Conduct Tribunal is set up to punish those in breach of any of the provisions of such code.

     

    Apparently, flowing from its disciplinary powers, NJC is positioned to deal with a breach of the Code of Conduct by judicial officers arising from their job. One of such is bribery in any form. Since the Constitution vests the power to discipline judicial officers on both the NJC or Code of Conduct Tribunal, either of them can exercise this power over serving judges, although it appears more convenient for NJC to do so on account if its greater preparedness for such activities.

     

    Allegations bothering on bribery of judicial officers flow from the discharge of their duties. They are not ordinary crimes. They bother on breaches of the code of conduct and oath of office contained in the constitution. They have to be dealt with in accordance with the method prescribed by the constitution.

     

    It does not mean that a judicial officer duly dealt with according to law and dismissed cannot be prosecuted by appropriate authorities for the crime of bribery under our criminal justice system. Judicial misconduct is sue generis and being in a class of its own, cannot be treated like any other crime. This is not peculiar to Nigeria. Some countries even have the The Court of the Judiciary where such matters are dealt with. The state of Tennessee in the US has such a court for dealing with judicial misconduct. In Canada, the the court of the judiciary investigates allegations of misconduct and recommends to parliarment, which has the ultimate power of removal as discipline.

     

    There is no doubt that the dominance of judges in NJC may lead to a perception that judges are getting off. This can have an adverse effect on public opinion confidence. Notwithstanding this,
    many judges have been nailed by NJC. The most important thing is for victims of judicial misconduct to have the courage to send petitions to the appropriate body and be guaranteed that they would not be victimized directly or otherwise by the judicial system.

    This is a personal opinion.

     

    Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa.

  • 2019 IN PERSPECTIVE; THE BUHARI REGIME AND CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS

    2019 IN PERSPECTIVE; THE BUHARI REGIME AND CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS

    Let me start by stating that political parties in Nigeria have no perceptible ideological divide. I expressed my views on this in a previous piece on platform mobility. The political parties exist in fulfillment of constitutional requirement as the only organ that can sponsor candidates for elections in Nigeria. They are barely able to control their elected officers and depend on government and a few moguls to fund their activities. As a consequence, political successes are predicated on the capacity and character of individual actors in Nigeria.

     

    Let me make certain positions clear before going further:

     

    1.  I have nothing against the age of president Buhari or that of former vice-president Atiku.

     

    I am not sure there is a problem with the age of any legally qualified person as long as such a person is mentally and physically fit enough to hold office.

     

    2.  I do not hold any of them in contempt. I supported President Buhari’s government until recent events in the policy cycle.

     

    President Buhari was a former military head of State and once presided over Nigeria’s oil sector. With the benefit of such background, he had more than enough exposure to rule Nigeria from day one upon his election in 2015. In addition, he had the benefit of running for office three times before he won on the fourth attempt if I am correct. In other words, he had nearly 16 years to prepare to be president. Against this background, much was expected from him in the area of policy making, implementation and monitoring. Many also expected that he would have been comfortably abreast with the economic and socio-political dynamics of our country. From the evidence on ground, he doesn’t appear to have measured up, even half way, with the broad expectations of the Nigerian people who voted massively for him. I will deal with a few areas briefly, due to need to promote brevity for want of time.

     

    SECURITY & WELFARE

     

    Section 14 (1) (b) of the Constitution provides that our country shall be a state founded on democracy and social justice with the security and welfare of the people being the primary purpose of government. Can we say that this obligation is being met under this regime? I do not think so. This regime was voted in as a corrective one, not a story telling one. The public was aware of the problem with Nigeria before mandating this regime to do the needful. This is the basis upon which a logical assessment can be done.

     

    It is conceded that some meaningful work has been done in the war against boko haram but the events of the group lately question the efficacy of the methodology adopted in this fight. With hundreds continuing to die innocently in the hands of this group, this campaign cannot be regarded as durably successful. An approach review is a desideratum.

     

    Whatever the gains of government in the Boko haram efforts, they lost it with Fulani herdsmen. Buhari is the best placed person to deal with this menace. Apart from his office, he is fulani himself. Yet he is unable to summon the courage to call his brethren to order. He cannot even set up a national commission to find lasting solution to this threat to Peace nation wide. How can a group of people move around with so much illegal weapon and kill men and women on the slightest provocation? Why should a group of people kill freely nation wide without remorse or fear of the law? The herdsmen obstinacy is an impetus of the Buhari regime. It was a scanty and localized threat before then. This is a major dent to the image of the regime.

     

    I need not tell anyone about the spirally geometric increase in kidnapping, armed robbery, human trafficking and ritualism nation wide. These crimes have always been around. The dimension that they have assumed smacks of official complicity by law enforcement agents. Coming from a regime like this, it is a let down. Imagine the number of lives that have been lost to perpetrators of this crime unchallenged. These are products if institutional failure that no one else but Buhari should take the blame for it.

     

    Today, many live in fear and suspicion. Life is no longer sacred. It is daily illegally terminated. Just like a discarded piece of toilet paper. Most of the victims are from the masses who are ironically the center of Buhari’s rise to power. There seem to be no end to this crises as it is closely connected to the social order. With more than three million dislocated from the Labour market and more Libyan refugees coming back home, we would need a miracle not to witness a further increase in this direction. With the type of police we still have, we may need serious fasting to avert a complete breakdown of law and order. Nothing has been done about the police. We all know this. When Buhari came, the police pretended for a few weeks and on seeing that he was not as capable as they thought, they are back in full swing. They are three times worse than they were before Buhari. Ask the public about this.

     

    ECONOMY

    YES, we are in a recession. It may be true that previous regimes did not do certain things correctly but there was a promise to do it right by Buhari. Did he get it right? He took 6 months to appoint about average ministers, prohibited the operation of domicilliary accounts and that pushed the dollar underground in a free world order. What did he expect? He got a bloody nose. Of course his poor communication skill pushed oil production down in the Niger-Delta due to increased Militant activities, until regional leaders intervened. While this was on, government lost revenue and recession crept in.

     

    It is correct that oil prices dropped and there was additional loss of revenue, but the choice of his cabinet did not help matters. A regime, whose leader so much chastised his predecessor in office ended up retaining many arrow heads of that regime and from the same political party that President Buhari discredited. It was clear evidence of a huge deficit in talent hunting and a demonstration of the act of double speaking.

     

    The perception held by many international rating agencies of the economic policies of President Buhari, is one of policy epilepsy and therefore hardly would recommend our economy to foreign investors. From a promise of creating three million jobs or so, this government has caused the loss of about the same figure of jobs due to lack of more creative ways of growing the economy. For example, limiting most categories of official cars to INNOSON cars alone would have created a boom in the auto industry and encouraged more people to invest there. Instead, billions of Naira are wasted on land cruisers, Lexus and prado jeeps, etc, for all sorts of public officers even during a recession. I will leave this alone for now.

     

    INDISCIPLINE

     

    It is not difficult to understand why there is so much policy failure by this regime. Just figure out the following:

     

    1.  SSS stops Buhari’s nominnee for EFCC chair in the senate and nothing happens.

     

    2.  Minister of Petroleum fights NNPC’s GMD in public over insubordination and non compliance with due process.

     

    3.  HOS accuses HON. AG of complicity in reinstatement of Maina. The same AG meets Maina in Dubai at a time when he was on the wanted list of criminals.

     

    4.  IGP maintains that he has the right to engage in romance with female police officers.

     

    5.  Opulent living style by many government officers during a recession that has led to the death of many and dislocation of many more.

    I would reserve my comments on the anti-corruption campaign, if indeed there is one for another write up. In my part two of this series, I will deal with Atiku and his ATIKULATION.

     

    Dr. West-Idahosa

  • IS PLATFORM MOBILITY THE REASON FOR POOR GOVERNANCE?

    IS PLATFORM MOBILITY THE REASON FOR POOR GOVERNANCE?

    By Dr. West-Idahosa

     

    Nigeria’s independence was not the product of any tough or ideological struggle. It came as a result of Britain’s political decision to let a number of countries off the hook following the popular crave for independence at that time. Nigeria happened to be one of them. There were no strong ideologies like the type that existed in some former colonies that got their political emancipation through ” blood and iron”.

    The early set of political elites probably founded their political parties on some sort of development theories. NPC was anchored on a catch-up- the south development prototype. Action Group was predicated on populist welfarism and NCNC on nationalism. Even then, the advent of decamping gained prominence in the then western region, when Action Group is believed to have instigated indigenes of the region to leave other parties for ethnic reasons. Nationalists like Azikiwe who had won elections in the west were left in bewilderment.

    Subsequent generations of politicians diminished in character and preparedness for real governance. The decline of the political environment led to the militarization of governance with the Babaginda era signposting the final fall of official morality. The post Babangida era politicians came in with an inherent settlement culture that commercialized the electorate at a time when everyone was expectant of a share of the national cake. The public became less interested in the quality of governance as long as their votes were procured.

    The political parties became zonked in patrimonialism and side effects like godfatherism, impunity, imposition, purchase of party tickets etc became characteristic of the partisan political system. Those who were lucky to occupy the positions of power and influence schemed to exclude rivals from the centre of control. Dominant elites squeezed life out of challenging elites.

    The survival struggles promoted platform mobility which enabled politicians to search for platforms of convenience. It must be remembered that the 4th Republic which has been the longest, started with the likes of Bola Ige preparing the manifesto of PDP, APP and AD in the same spirit but different semantics. There was no real difference. Ige and his co-travelers left PDP on the excuse that there were unwanted elements in their midst. They formed APP. They again left for the same reason and formed AD.

    The seed of platform mobility which they sowed germinated into a home grown acceptable political behavior. Innumerable number of politicians have benefited from this over the years. It can no longer be regarded as an aberration or can it be credited for the failure of any elected public officer in office. This practice existed before 1999 and has remained thereafter. There are very few real political operatives in our country who may not have changed their platforms. The likely reason for that may be that they are members of the clique that manipulate the party’s control apparatus. Once they lose it, they too may be on the move.

    The public is aware of this behavior and seem to have endorsed it over the years by continually voting for politicians without any regard for his platform history. This is clearly a ratification of such practice, which by evolution is now part of the political culture of our country.

    Can this be the reason why some public officers let the electorate down after being elected to office? Certainly not. Public officers fail for for many reasons. Some have no capacity to cope with the large demands from the office they occupy. Others are too neck deep in their plan to enrich themselves and nothing else matters to them than their plot to steal the nation dry. A category of elected officials are slaves to nepotism. They think corruption is all about stealing money and turn government appointments and contracts into a theater of mediocrity. Of course, they end up failing.

    Most elected executives end up larger than the political parties that sponsored them. They fail to consult with the parties or even glance at the manifestos of such parties. They maintain an olympian aloofness from their political parties. What a pity! The parties may have created their own irrelevance in the political system that we operate. When party leaders and delegates are paid to fly their parties’ tickets and sometimes by all manner of people, what really do they expect from such commercial contractual mandate? Can you eat your political cake and have same? I am sure you cannot.

    Platform mobility is not the problem with Nigeria’s political system. It is a mere symptom of other underlining political problems. We must look deeply into the causes of such mobility in order to proffer pragmatic solutions to the real problems with our political system in the hope that we can achieve our dream of an egalitarian society.

  • IBORI: HERO OR CRIMINAL

    IBORI: HERO OR CRIMINAL

    The question of whether IBORI is a hero or criminal has been settled by a British court. Following his conviction  and sentence for money laundering and related financial crimes, it is no longer open to debate that he did not commit crime. However, IBORI has served his prison term. He has atoned for his crime and is open to reintegration by the society. That is what those planning a grand reception for him are hoping to achieve. There are many worse than IBORI in this society who are still roaming the streets of Nigeria as public officers. Are there no  serving and former Governors, Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and other head of parastatals who bled the country dry that have not been tried in Nigeria or else where? Is there no senator who escaped from  criminal trial in the UK and still serving as a senator? Are there no Nigerians who are covered with perpetual injunction of Law Courts, from being investigated for any crime committed while they served in public office? Why are we so worried about Ibori who has received his fair share of punishment on earth for his sins? Our people often say that if a man sees a snake and a woman kills it, it is good as long as the snake is dead. If the legal system in Nigeria could not deal with Ibori and the Uk system did, blame our system. IBORI cannot be subjected to double jeopardy. His case is closed. Those who want to celebrate him are free to do so. There are people who worship the devil on earth. It is their right in a circular state like ours.
    Why are some worried that IBORI  is being celebrated by his own beneficiaries? One man’s meat is another’s poison. He certainly is not a model of moral excellence. There are many deltans who consider him their best governor since 1999. He did well with infrastructure, community relations, geographical spread of political offices and so on and so forth. He is still preferred  by many to Uduaghan and even the serving governor, Okowa. Others like me see him as a political Robin Hood who stole from government to empower a lot of people. A friend of mine lamented recently, that since the regime of Ibori, he had not been awarded a penny’s contract from Delta State Government despite being a registered contractor with proven records. He said that the irony is that he did not  and still does know IBORI in person. His good will is enormous and  he is politically sagacious. In many ways he is s political convict. He was convicted because he tampered with public funds as a political office holder. He got conviction because he was not favoured  by President’s Jonathan regime and ran to UAE where he was nailed by international police. Those who were worse than Ibori  but were lucky with the President Jonathan remained in Nigeria and continued the business of public looting. If Ibori had been a darling of the same regime, there would have been no need to go to Dubai. He too would have remained here like a political lord of the manor that he is in Nigeria. This is the truth. Hate it or like it.
    Ibori has been dealt with. Let’s face the grass cutters of change. They are in this Government making and implementing policies that deny IDP’s  needed funds to keep them alive arising from our failure to deal with needless insurgency early enough. Let’s deal with monetary policy makers who have turned FOREX to the new deal and creating billionaires from doing nothing other than trading in scarce foreign exchange to the detriment of our local manufacturers, importers of high technology, foreign students,  life saving medical trips etc. let us secure the conviction of those genuine thieves who are standing criminal trial in our courts based on the rule of law; not the horde of innocent persons being tried for their past political roles on the pretext of having committed financial crimes. There are some real economic criminals in Nigeria today and are making our economic recovery efforts difficult. Government should get them and put them behind bars. Some of them are Ministers  in the Government while others are in the Central Bank, NNPC, Customs, FIRS and so on. This is the job at hand ,  not James IBORI.
    Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa.
    ( Lawyer and former member of the House of Representatives1999-2011).
  • INEC acted as Judge on PDP Matters

    INEC acted as Judge on PDP Matters

    By Omololu Ojehomon-Ogbeni

    Having read the statement made by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu as published by the Nation Newspaper, titled “Court will decide Edo PDP candidate – INEC chairman”, on August 21, 2016, I became concerned about the explanation he gave to wave off the grave error done by his establishment as it concerned the elections in Edo State based on the list it published on its website.

    One thing I have understood, is that when it suits us we have selective amnesia, we choose when to acknowledge or ignore facts.

    This is the statement that worries me, “We have to submit the name of a candidate by the 11th of this month. But, when we did so, we put in bracket, court order. Again, Ize-Iyamu has dragged INEC to court and was granted an interim injunction by the judge saying that we should maintain status quo. So, apart from the leadership tussle in the state, there is this one about candidacy in Edo State.”

    How possible is this when there was an existing order On July 28, 2016, Federal High Court in Abuja sacked Markarfi as National Chairman and reaffirmed Sheriff as the national Chairman and held that every action the committee had taken since it emerged through a convention the party purportedly held in Port Harcourt on May 21, amounted to nullity. And that having regard to the order of the court, PDP had no lawful authority to hold the convention that led to the emergence of the Markarfi-led Committee.” It went on to say, “The convention was unlawfully held and the caretaker committee was unlawfully and illegally appointed and could not take any legal decision for the PDP in view of the subsisting order of the Lagos Division of this court. Consequently, any action taken by the Markarfi-led Committee, including the purported mandate for legal representation in this matter is hereby declared illegal. Parties have an uncompromising duty to obey court orders until it is set aside. The Lagos Division made order on May 12 and 20, forbidding the PDP from removing the Sheriff-led Caretaker Committee. That order is still subsisting.” And that Ali Modu Sheriff is the National Chairman of the PDP. Any decision NOT taken by the Sheriff-Led Committee is NOT binding on the PDP.

    What Status quo? The one that originated from an illegality, and a court order no one but the INEC was served, where they failed to publish the case number and date, where such order was given and by whom. And why was the other faction of the PDP not joined.

    It is true that the INEC are no police neither do they have police according to Prof. Yakubu, however, it is my belief that he found it necessary to make this statement to cover up for the error done by the INEC and to justify the action by one of their own who may have from all indication been on the take.

    So my concern remains the same that if in fact a final judgement comes will the Independent National Electoral Commission decide to do the wrong thing because of corrupt influences or will Prof. Yakubu do the right thing and maintain his integrity.

  • Sheriff and PDP – The facts

    Sheriff and PDP – The facts

    By Omololu Ojehomon-Ogbeni

    It doesn’t take a genuine to know that the amendment made to the PDP’s constitution was to create a balance of affairs within the party.  Even though the North wanted the presidency in 2015, the party had agreed to return Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as president. It meant the position of National Chairman was zoned to the North, the term for this office ends in 2018.

    After the elections the party was in crisis, Muazu was removed and was replaced by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff from the same zone in March 2016 as stated in the party’s constitution, the same constitution also states that the replacement serves out the existing term. Sen. Sheriff was perfect for the party, they needed someone who could take over the financial responsibility of the party and take care of its debt, which he did, paying backlog secretariat salaries for up to six months and handled all maintenance and party problems.

    On May 12, 2016, Judgement was granted in favor of Senator Sheriff and two others, for the following, the position of National Chairman is not vacant until 2018 and the positions of National Secretary and National Auditor are not vacant until 2017. This was not appealed by anyone singularly or collectively as the PDP and the Judgement held.

    On May 21, 2016 during the Port Harcourt Convention was stopped by a court injunction filed by a faction of the party which also tried to hold its convention in Abuja a similar court injunction also prevented them from holding and agreed to reconciliation. It was Senator Modu Sheriff who notified the press of this injunction and that the convention could not hold because of it.  However, there was a turning point when Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State as the convention chairman moved a motion to have a caretaker committee which brought in Senator Markarfi as Chairman.

    On June 3, 2016, Premium Times Newspaper reported on a conversation on Ray Power FM Radio Station Program “POLITICAL PLATFORM” on the Port Harcourt convention in which the INEC’s Deputy Director for Public Affairs, Nick Dazang was guest.

    He was quoted as follows: “We sent a high powered team led by a National Commissioner to monitor the convention. They have submitted their report as at now, but the Commission is yet to take a position in terms of who is supposed to be the chairman of the party. I expect that a very responsible party, a formidable party of that matter like the PDP will put its act together in time for it particularly to collect the forms for those that will conduct the elections in Edo and Ondo and also to conduct the primaries that will lead up to who will now be their standard bearer for Edo Governorship election to be conducted on Saturday, 10th September.  The Primaries are supposed to take place between 2nd June and 4th July, so we expect that between now and then the PDP should be able to resolve some of these issues in the interest of that election.”

    On June 20, 2016: Edo State primaries to elect a candidate of the party was conducted by the illegal Markarfi – Led Caretaker Committee.

    As regards the conduct of the primaries in Edo State there were at least three PDP constitutional violations as follows.

    1. That one of the aspirants Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu who participated was not qualified to participate in it.
    2. He had not done two years in the party which disqualified him.
    3. He did not have a waiver from the National Chairman which also disqualified him
    4. The state Chairman violated the party’s constitution when he refused to conduct new congress for the primary which will produce the delegates that will vote, rather used the doctored listed of the state congress that returned him to office.
    5. Senator Markarfi cannot conduct primaries in Edo State when there is a judgment from May 12, 2016 that retains Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the Chairman of the party until 2018 as is constitutionally correct.

    On June 21, 2016 the Sheriff-led NEC of the PDP declared the June 20, primaries conducted by the Markarfi – Led Caretaker Committee as illegal and set June 23 – 29, 2016 as dates for PDP congress in Edo State. Media reported this was communicated to the Chairman of INEC.

    Vanguard Newspaper Headline, “WE CAN’T MONITOR SHERIFF’S SHOW – INEC, on June 27, 2016 quoted Nick Dazang of INEC as saying, “INEC is yet to take a decision on that, even though I learnt Alhaji Modu Sheriff has written the Commission to say that he intends to hold one (primary), and that even though INEC monitored the recent PDP primaries, it is awaiting the judgement of the Appeal Court scheduled for 4th July. The judgement will determine which faction the Commission will recognize and was reported to have said that who made the position of the commission known, noted that timetable and schedule of activities of Edo Governorship provides that primaries are to take place between June 2 and July 4th. He said that the Sheriff’s faction had fallen short of the requirement for 21-day notice to INEC.

    On June 29, 2016, the Sheriff-led NEC of PDP conducted Edo State gubernatorial primaries and Hon. Matthew Iduorieyekhemwen was declared winner and candidate of the party.

    On July 1, 2016, Justice Okon Abang – Led Federal High Court in Abuja granted an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting list of candidates for the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo from other leadership of the party, except from the Ali Modu Sheriff-led National Working Committee (NWC).  The presiding judge directed INEC, the party and their agents to “recognize, deal with and accord all facilities required by law to the Modu Sheriff-Led NWC in the conduct of Edo and Ondo governorship elections. Injunction published in the national dailies.

    On July 4, 2018, A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt purportedly declared the May 21, 2016 National Convention of the PDP was duly constituted that elected the unconstitutional Markarfi – Led Caretaker Committee. Please keep in mind that there was an injunction stopping the convention which was honored by Senator Modu Sheriff, the PDP National Chairman. Therefore, anything that happened at that was convention is illegal, null and void.

    On July 9, 2016, Nick Dazang of the INEC stated that the Commission had not taken any decision on which candidate to accept and also said, “…as at now we have not received the certified true copy of the July 4 judgment of a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt on the matter. We are waiting for that judgment and other judgments so that we can study them. The commission, after studying the judgment and the advice from its lawyers, will then take a position, but we are still waiting for the last judgment which was the one on July 4. It will be like from next week by the time we receive them and when the commission sits, a position will be taken. It is when the commission has done that that it will then decide on any faction or candidate it is going to accept.

    On July 12, 2016, Media reported that the INEC had rejected the Sheriff-led NEC list because on July 11, 2016, Nick Dazang of INEC was reported to have said that the commission had rejected the list because it did not monitor the primary that produced Hon. Matthew Iduorieyekhemwen. On July 18 a list purportedly signed by INEC’s legal services, Mr. Matthew Ugwuocha in Benin was made available to News Agency of Nigeria according to media reports for 19 political parties.

    On July 28, 2016, Federal High Court in Abuja sacked Markarfi as National Chairman and reaffirmed Sheriff as the national Chairman and held that every action the committee had taken since it emerged through a convention the party purportedly held in Port Harcourt on May 21, amounted to nullity. And that having regard to the order of the court, PDP had no lawful authority to hold the convention that led to the emergence of the Markarfi-led Committee.”

    It went on to say, “The convention was unlawfully held and the caretaker committee was unlawfully and illegally appointed and could not take any legal decision for the PDP in view of the subsisting order of the Lagos Division of this court. Consequently, any action taken by the Markarfi-led Committee, including the purported mandate for legal representation in this matter is hereby declared illegal. Parties have an uncompromising duty to obey court orders until it is set aside. The Lagos Division made order on May 12 and 20, forbidding the PDP from removing the Sheriff-led Caretaker Committee. That order is still subsisting.” And that Ali Modu Sheriff is the National Chairman of the PDP. Any decision NOT taken by the Sheriff-Led Committee is NOT binding on the PDP.

    On August 9, 2016, INEC notified the public of plans to release the final list of gubernatorial candidates of Edo State September election. On August 11, 2016 INEC released on its website the list which included Edo State – Osagie Ize-Iyamu (by Court Order) signed by the secretary, Mrs. Augusta C. Ogakwu. Till date there is no court order supporting this sham and a clear violation of the judgment on July 28, 2016.

    Recently on August 17, 2016 Justice Valentine Ashi had in his judgment nullified the 2014 PDP Constitution amendment upon which Senator Sheriff is said to have been appointed as PDP Chairman. The court described the amendment of the party’s constitution as illegal and a violation of the Electoral Act and, therefore, declared all actions carried out with the document including anybody parading himself or herself as officer of the party as illegal.

    He went to say, “However, the court voided the said amendment on the basis that there was no compliance with mandatory provisions of Article 66 (2) and (3) of the PDP constitution.”

    Now, we must believe that this matter starts from the time of Adamu Muazu, it was this amendment that brought him in as the PDP National Chairman, and Sheriff was not in position then, everything that Mauzu did based on this amendment is illegal, including the nomination of the president, the governors, National Assembly members, the Edo State primary, etc.

    Whether PDP will remain as a party is another matter, because for obvious reasons it seems the center is falling apart.

  • The Facts About Government

    The Facts About Government

    Having worked twice at the Nigerian Presidential villa and once at the British Parliament, if there is anything I have learnt, it is that it is impossible to over inform a leader. You can under inform him, but no matter how much information you give a leader, you cannot give him too much information.

    In today’s world, strength and weakness are gauged differently than they were, say in 1984. In the millennial age in which we live in, information is power and lack of information is weakness.

    My concern is that there are a lot of weaknesses in Nigeria’s seat of power because not enough information is being given to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    I, like other Nigerians, have heard or read reports of ministers in President Buhari’s cabinet being afraid to challenge him or disagree with him. Perhaps unawares, the minister of state for petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, corroborated these reports in a recorded YouTube video now circulating where he revealed that the President ignores his ministers when they bring up issues that he does not want to discuss.

    Having such anodyne personalities around you just means that you are living in a bubble, seeing things as you want them to be and not as they are.

    On Friday May 20th, 2016, Dr. Yemi Kale, the Statistician General of the Federation and head of the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics revealed that Nigeria’s economy had not grown in the first quarter of the year but had rather shrunk by 0.36%, the worst contraction in 25 years!

    Since the announcement was made, there has been various reactions with pundits pointing at this or the other as being the cause of this setback. But I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubts that this negative trend owes more to President Muhammadu Buhari’s utterances on our economy and polity than to any other single causative factor.

    The bigger problem is that even though I suspect that his ministers know that what I have just said is true, they would rather pander to the President and like Dr. Chris Ngige, say that Nigerians are lucky to have President Buhari (obvious Ngige does not know the meaning of luck).

    In the last eleven months, the President had traversed the globe and has spoken about Nigeria’s economy as if he was the chief undertaker of our polity rather than the chief marketer that he is meant to be.

    Of what benefit is it to the President’s agenda or to Nigeria’s economic well-being for him to go to foreign nations and instead of highlighting the positive things that are happening in Nigeria, he begins to regale his hosts with the most unsavory stories about Nigeria.

    And some of the stories the President tells are just that-tales.

    They are not factual. At best they are arguable. You go to India for a summit where other world leaders are competing with you for the attention of venture capitalists and foreign investors and while your counterparts are talking about how great their countries are, you tell the audience how everybody in your country is corrupt except you and oh, can they come and invest in your country?

    Only a foolish investor would go and invest in a country whose President thinks his citizens are ‘criminals’ (as the President said to the Telegraph of UK in February) and whose officials are ‘fantastically corrupt’ (as the President said in agreement with British PM David Cameron when questioned by Sky News).

    The President speaks on the Nigerian economy and polity without any filters and his comments are causing his chickens to roost with devastating consequences for all of us.

    Never in the history of Nigeria has there been such a divestment of investment as we have seen in the past year.

    Truworths has pulled out of Nigeria, Virgin Atlantic has closed up shop, Iberia is pulling out, RenCap is pulling funds from Nigeria, both Alquity Investment Management Ltd. and Duet Asset Management Ltd. are divesting their Nigeria holding. Zenith Bank laid off 1,200 staff, FCMB let go 700 employees, Ecobank sacked 50% of its top management staff. The President of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Tony Ejinkeonye revealed that in just two months 50,000 staff were laid off in Abuja alone.

    The results are telling. A little over a year ago, Nigeria was projected by CNNMoney to be the third fastest growing economy in the world behind China and Qatar yet just two weeks ago the International Monetary Fund released its World Economic Outlook and Nigeria is not even among the top 15 fastest growing economies in Africa let alone the world!

    And when you try to raise the alarm, the refrain from the government and its horde of unofficial spokesmen is that the downturn is caused by the fall in crude prices.

    Yet this logic is flawed. The government’s own economic monitoring agency, the National Bureau of Statistics itself reported that the exponential growth Nigeria enjoyed especially from 2012 to its 2014 climax (when our economy overtook South Africa to be Africa’s largest economy) was spurred not by the oil sector, but “this growth was largely driven by improved activities in the telecommunications, building and construction, hotel and restaurant and business services” to quote the NBS.

    Yes, oil accounts for something like 90-95 percent of our foreign exchange revenues but it only accounts for a mere 15% of our GDP.

    The service sector and the commercial and real sector are the engine or used to be the engine of our economic growth. But these sectors are heavily capital and technology intensive and require cooperation with foreign investors and when you consistently bad mouth your economy and its regulators investor confidence tanks and the result is what we are seeing today.

    I support President Buhari’s anti-corruption war but it should not be a substitute for sound economic ideas or policies.

    And the way the President has carried out his anti-corruption crusade is in itself self-sabotaging and feeds the narrative of those who say that Nigeria is far too complex and dynamic a country to be run by someone who should be quietly collecting his pension.

    And President Buhari’s behavior is flowing down the pyramid. There is a contagious effect in the utterances of major figures in his administration. For instance, when Vice President Osinbajo tells the world that the Jonathan administration looted $15 Billion in security contracts, many people in the West who like to read such stories to justify their hidden opinion that the Black man cannot govern himself, will clap for him.

    Coming from the nation’s own Vice President, the Western press will report the news as a fact. At that level, such a statement carries the weight of an admission.

    But then ask yourself, what was the entire security budget for the five years that Jonathan was President of Nigeria?

    In 2011, defense and security had a budget of ₦348 billion or just over $2 billion. In 2012 it skyrocketed to ₦921 billion or $5.7 billion. It grew to ₦1.055 trillion in 2013 or $6 billion. In 2014, ₦968 billion was budgeted for defence and security or $5.8 billion. The 2015 budget was passed in April and President Jonathan handed over to President Buhari a month later so I cannot see how the previous administration could have ‘chopped’ that money.

    So of the $19 billion budgeted for defence and security while former President Jonathan was in office, how could $15 billion have been looted when more than half that amount went to paying salaries?

    Did Vice President Osinbajo think this accusation through?

    The President and his vice with their cabinet and their political appointees are not a court. They cannot convict anybody. As such when they speak this way, what it amounts to is propagandized activity.

    In an anti-corruption war one must separate activity from results. Results are convictions from a court after due and diligent prosecution. And when you look at it from that perspective, this administration has been delivering activity and not results.

    For instance, then candidate Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressive Congress, had called the subsidy payments made by the Jonathan administration a fraud! They claimed that the amount was too high at ₦1.1 trillion in 2014. Well if fuel subsidy had been a fraud, the first thing that should have happened naturally when President Muhammadu Buhari took over was that the amount should have reduced, but it DID NOT reduce. As a matter of fact, Nigeria spent over $5 billion on fuel subsidy in 2015 and President Buhari was in power for most of that year!

    The point I am making here is that the elections are over. President Buhari and his administration should stop tarnishing the image of Nigeria in the mistaken belief that they are rubbishing the person of former President Jonathan. The President should take in the big picture and realize that you need to be below somebody in order to pull him down.

    One year has come and gone and has seemingly been wasted pointing fingers in blame instead of at solutions. The time for blame games have gone.

    Only last month, President Buhari complained that the Sahara Desert was advancing southward. He should also realize that that is not the only thing going south. The Nigerian economy is going south at perhaps a faster rate and blaming others for it will never stem the tide.

    The President should focus on marketing his plans and policies when he travels abroad instead of de-marketing the plans and policies of former President Jonathan’s administration.

    It has been said that if you want a conversation with a habitual complainer to end abruptly, just ask him how he intends to fix the problem. That is the question Nigerians want answered by President Buhari.

    Under former President Jonathan, Nigeria’s economy exploded and became the largest economy in Africa and the 24th largest economy in the world. Let it not be said that under President Buhari that economy collapsed like a pack of clouds because the hand that should have steered the ship was too busy pointing an accusing finger.

  • I Remain in Politics – Philomena Ihenyen

    I Remain in Politics – Philomena Ihenyen

    Princess (Mrs.) Philomena Okojie Ihenyen, PDP South-South Secretary was on Monday, May 9, 2016 a guest speaker at the ITV Town Hall Meeting. She delivered her lecture on “Women Participation in Politics (The Road to 2016 Election in Edo State)”.

    Mrs. Ihenyen advised those present that she was here as a voice for all Edo women. Her lecture which brought to light women from past who had added value and changed history throughout the course of time in Nigeria, she also highlighted the contributions of women who had been appointed to positions of great responsibility since the second democracy which began in 1999.

    She noted that those discussed were “carefully selected not just for their personal attributes and political sagacity, but for the conservative, strong, cultural and traditional societies of their origin in which male chauvinism is a trademark. Yet in spite of these cultural and traditional gender prejudices prevalent in their times and places of origin as barriers, they were undaunted and against all odds and drawbacks, excelled in their given opportunities to make the difference that have now become legendary landmarks in the political history of their nations, communities and the world at large.”

    She then charged those present with the following reflections:

    • When will the Nigerian woman politician be recognized on her own merit to vie for legislative and executive offices at the highest level, as now happens in the judiciary?
    • When shall a level playing field come to be in the Nigerian political terrain, that women politician will be motivated to dare on their own to seek election to any office of their choice without looking over their shoulder to a looming male shadow?

    Mrs. Ihenyen then explained that she remained in politics not to seek personal comfort, but to work hard towards the enthronement of a just social system, where hard work is adequately rewarded and poverty is alleviated to tolerable limits; to mobilize and educate every Edo woman to be politically conscious and emancipated to the point of realizing the true value of her vote and not to sell it cheaply for a “mudu” of rice or garri; to push for electoral reforms such as to establish a level playing ground for all eligible candidates irrespective of gender, tribe or status; to see that true democracy is entrenched in our body-polity, such that the very brightest and best amongst us emerge to leadership position at various levels; and finally to see Edo state translate its enormous potential into reality and become truly the heartbeat of the nation.

    She emphasized that with the large number of women voters, more women can be elected into office.

    Mrs. Ihenyen is a well-rounded individual and she remains active in politics. She is tagged by a large following of women who believe in her ability to function as deputy governor of the state.  Mrs. Iheyen is fully equipped with the background, qualifications, education and meets all constitutional requirements to be the deputy governor of Edo State as was seen in Ekiti State and now Rivers State. She also comes from the Edo Central Senatorial District where the Peoples Democratic Party zoned the position of Deputy Governor.

    Also present at the town hall meeting were, Mrs. Lindsay Sorae, the PDP State Women Leader, Mrs. Okosun, the PDP Edo Central Senatorial Women Leader and Mrs. Maria Osamoje, PDP Edo North Senatorial Women Leader and many others.

    May God bless Edo State.