Nigerian Judge Sacked In Gambia Over Bribe

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A Nigerian judge Justice Joseph Wowo has been sacked for soliciting a N2.3 million bribe from a Gambian-based Dutch businessman in return for a favourable judgment in a land dispute case, an online medium, Premium Times, reports.

Wowo, who hails from Delta State, was a former President of the Gambian Court of Appeal.

He was caught on tape holding a surreptitious meeting with the former Gambian Justice Minister, Lamin Jobarteh (who has also been sacked), a Dutch national, André Klaarbergen, and his Nigerian lawyer simply identified as Mene, negotiating a price to subverting the judgment of a Gambian High Court over a land dispute case, which Mr. Wowo agrees the Dutch rightly lost.

“How much are you willing to offer first so that we can negotiate,” Wowo was heard saying on tape, now posted on Youtube. “You know my position; based on my position I’m not even supposed to come here in the first place. I’m the President of the Court of Appeal and now I’m acting Chief Justice,” he continued, openly admitting he was sabotaging the course of justice by even agreeing to be at the meeting.

“I’ve read your file at the Court of Appeal, (and) that is why I said you don’t have any case at the Court of Appeal. You will lose at the Court of Appeal because the way they deal with the case at the Court of Appeal, the lawyer messed it up. That is why I called your lawyer and said let us see how we can help you,” confirming that the lower court had made the right call in the case.

Jobarteh then cut in and suggested a quick resolution of the matter.

“The fact of the matter is that the error has been made and it’s irrecoverable. The issue now is how we can meet each other to correct the problem,” he said.

Wowo then demanded a bribe of 2.5 million Dalasi (N12.3 million) but Mr Klaarbergen, who complained that his business had been slow lately, offered to pay 500,000 Dalasi.

The disgraced attorney-general, with a tone of threat, then appealed to Wowo to accept the bribe.

“Come a time you people will come running to me and in view of all other consideration and the man’s financial predicament now, I appeal to you to accept the 500,000,” he said.

“Because of Justice Jobarteh, honourable minister, that is why I’m accepting,” Mr Wowo replied.

Even when the Dutch businessman expressed some reluctance and suggested talking to his partner, Justice Wowo asked him to “go and borrow” if he could not raise the agreed bribe.

Fearing prosecution, Mr Wowo is feared to have fled the Gambia furtively.  His whereabouts is currently unknown, and he did not respond to series of calls to his Gambian mobile telephone.

Spain Train Driver Arrested For Manslaughter

The driver of a train that derailed in Spain killing 78 people has been accused of “reckless manslaughter”, the interior minister has said.

Jorge Fernandez Diaz said, Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, who was slightly hurt in Wednesday’s accident, had been taken to a police station.

Mr Garzon is suspected of driving too fast on a bend. Reports said the train was travelling at more than double the speed limit at the time of the crash. He has however, refused to answer questions.

At least 130 people were taken to hospital after the accident near the north-western city of Santiago de Compostela.

About 32 people were seriously injured, including children.

People from several nationalities were among the wounded, including five Americans and one Briton. One American was among the dead.

PM Mariano Rajoy, who hails from the city of the crash, declared three days of official mourning on Thursday.

Meanwhle, he has been detained while a judge was due to  try him on alleged crimes  of reckless manslaughter. But he had been under police surveillance in hospital since the accident but he was discharged on yesterday and taken to a police station.

Spare Nigeria Another Political Crisis

Going by the provision of the Electoral Act 2010, a political party known as the All Progressives Congress (APC) was born on July 10, 2013. This is because a formal request for merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) dated June 5 was received by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on June 10. Section 84 (4) of the Act says: “On receipt of the request for merger of political parties, the Commission shall consider the request and, if the parties have fulfilled the requirements of the Constitution and this Act, approve the proposed merger and communicate its decision to the parties concerned before the expiration of 30 days from the date of the receipt of the formal request- 

“PROVIDED that if the Commission fails to communicate its decision within 30 days the merger shall be deemed to be effective.”

INEC wrote back to the chairmen of the merging parties on June 12 forwarding 35 copies of the commission’s Form PA 1 for completion and return along with 35 copies each of the APC proposed constitution, manifesto and affidavit in support of claims in Form PA 1. The APC submitted the requested documents on July 1. Although INEC had stated in its June 12 letter that it would commence the processing of the request after receiving the demanded documents, that is not what the Electoral Act quoted above specifies. The words are “… 30 days from the date of the receipt of the formal request”, not 30 days from the date 35 copies of certain documents are submitted to INEC.

But when an official of the APC stated that the party had been registered after July 9, INEC said it was still processing the application. On Friday, INEC spokesman Mr Kayode Idowu told this newspaper that what was “proper” (not what the law says) was to take the date of application “from the day they (APC) furnished the commission with the necessary documents”.

If all goes well, the APC may still accept to wait until July 30 or 31 to get INEC’s confirmation before calling itself a political party as prescribed by the Electoral Act. But the worrying issue is that certain forces within and outside INEC seem bent on manipulating the electoral umpire and the law to frustrate APC’s registration. Right from the outset, these forces were visible in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP): no sooner had the merging parties announced their new name than sponsored groups started seeking the registration of other “parties” with the acronym APC. One of the three or so nebulous “parties” has gone to court to challenge the registration of another APC, but, as Idowu himself stated, there is no injunction restraining INEC from performing its duties regarding the merger.

Some INEC commissioners who were/are card-carrying members of the PDP have, however, been the puppets pulling the strings for the PDP from within INEC. Authoritative sources have confirmed that these “eyes” and “ears” of the presidency and the PDP have been pressuring INEC chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega and their fellow top guns to frustrate the merging party without recourse to provisions of the law. It is up to INEC and Jega to choose between selfish interests and national interests. But we must warn the anti-democrats in the Nigerian polity to desist from plunging the nation into another round of avoidable political crisis. Registering a party does not translate to winning an election; so we wonder why some people in the ruling party are feeling uneasy. In any case, nothing can stop the registration of a party that has met all the requirements prescribed by the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution. Even if the name must be changed to AAA or ABC, the emergence of a mega party that will provide an alternative platform to confront the PDP in 2015 is as sure as death.

Why are some people jittery? Why is the presidency getting scared over the emergence of the APC? If anybody is interested in protecting and preserving democracy in the country, he ought to support a strong party that could prove a viable opposition to the ruling party. A one-party state is the last thing needed in the nation’s Fourth Republic. We have stated several times that democracy cannot flourish in this country so long as elections are not free, fair and credible and so long as we practise politics of winner-take-all. Only a strong opposition can ensure free polls and keep the ruling party on its toes.

APC is a mass movement whose train cannot be stopped by the enemies of democracy. Delaying its registration or forcing it to change its name will not be an impediment to the struggle to remove a party that has failed to perform after 14 years in power. Ultimately, it is the people – the electorate with whom sovereignty lies – that will determine the party to lead Nigeria from 2015.

One of the merging parties, the ACN, has urged INEC “not to compromise its neutrality and integrity by acting contrary to the law”. And INEC has affirmed that it would do what is right. Let’s give it the benefit of the doubt. It’s time for INEC to prove its independence. The world is watching.

Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri Christians Seek FG’s Compensation

A lawyer and national secretary, Tarayyar Masihiyawan Nigeria (TAMANI), an association of Hausa/Fulani and Kanuri Christians in Nigeria, Yakubu Saleh Bawa, has appealed to the federal government to pay  compensation to the victims of post-election violence in the country.

Bawa, who spoke with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND in Jos, Plateau state wondered why two years after the violence the federal government is yet to compensate them.

He pointed out that the inability of the federal government to disburse the money through the various state governors has brought untold hardship on the affected people.

Bawa added that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Malumfashi and Funtua branches in Katsina State were the worse hit as over 500 Christians were affected by the post-election violence of 2011 in the area.

The secretary added that apart from those Christians who lost their lives, others lost their houses, cars, business premises adding that over ten churches were lost as a result of the violence in Malumfashi alone.

He lamented that Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State promised to assist the Christian communities whose property were destroyed during violence, saying “till now nothing has been done to alleviate the suffering of the victims.”

Suswam Gives Condition For Returning To Northern Govs Forum

Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam has given some conditions that would prompt his return to the Northern Governors Forum, saying until he was sure that him and his colleagues could take decision and abide strictly by it, he would not rejoin the fold.

Suswam had angrily called it quits with the forum of Northern governors recently on the ground that he felt betrayed by his colleagues during the election of a new chairman for the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).

He told State House Correspondents after he met with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja that he did not really vow never to rejoin the forum as being rumoured.

He said until he was confident that he and his colleagues in the forum could agree on a common stance and all stand by it, he would rather not be a member.

Rivers Attack: S’South Youths Apologise To Northern Govs

Youths from the South-South geo-political zone of the country have resolved to apologise and pay visits to governors of four northern states that were recently attacked in Port Harcourt while on a solidarity visit to Rivers State governor, Mr Chibuike Amaechi. The governors include Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Alhaji Sule Lamido (Jigawa) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).

The four governors were in Port Harcourt to pay a solidarity visit to Rivers State governor and chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Mr Chibuike Amaechi, when protesters believed to be members of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) pelted their convoy with stones as they made to leave the VIP Lounge of the airport.

Speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, leader of the South-South Youth Democratic Vanguard (SSYDV), Alafaa Princewill, described the attack on the four governors, who are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as an embarrassment, which could lead to ethno-religious crisis if not properly handled.

Princewill said, “We met to deliberate on the issue of the embarrassment given to the Northern governors because it is not in our character to embarrass strangers that have come to visit one of our own, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the executive governor of Rivers State.

Underage Marriage: We Were Blackmailed - Mark

The Senate President, Sen. David Mark, on Wednesday in Abuja said that some senators were blackmailed into voting that section 29 (4) (b) be retained in the 1999 Constitution.

Mark said this when he received different women groups under the aegis of Gender and Constitution Reform Network (GECORN), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) who visited him.
Some of the women groups consist of former Ministers of Education, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, Mrs Josephine Anenih and Justice Mariam Uwais.

``They were simply blackmailed and on that day, if they didn’t do what they did, nobody knows the outcome or what the consequences will be today.
``The people outside can say this man, you are a Muslim and you didn’t vote for something that is of Islamic interest,’’ Mark said.

The Senate president said that it was the desire of the senate to remove the clause since out of the 101 senators who voted the first time, 85 voted that it should be removed.
 ``There was hardly any dissenting vote the first time but once it got mixed up with so many other issues, it didn’t get the required 73 votes anymore.’’ 

He said that the castigation of the Senate by Nigerians was largely due to misunderstanding.
Mark reiterated that the Senate was on the side of the people and that was why the Constitution Review Committee had recommended the deletion of that clause since it was discriminatory against women.

Mark promised that the Senate would try to re-visit the issue with the aim of deleting the clause from the constitution and stressed the need for Nigerians to get more education on the issue.

FRESH FG OIL CONTRACTS – REPORT

SUBSIDY FRAUD FIRMS GET FRESH FG OIL CONTRACTS – REPORT

One of the subsidy protest in Edo State

The Federal Government has expanded its list of fuel suppliers to include companies previously named in the multi-billion naira subsidy fraud investigation, Reuters news agency reported, quoting sources familiar with the matter.

Nigeria relies on fuel imports because it lacks the capacity to refine its own crude oil, and government tried to remove petrol subsidies last year but was forced to partially reinstate them after a wave of strikes and protests.
A House of Representatives investigation later found the subsidy administration had facilitated more than N1 trillion of corruption over three years, with half the approved fuel imports never arriving or being sold to neighbouring countries.
The list of petrol importers compiled by Reuters using information from five sources showed around 3.4 million tonnes was allocated for the third quarter to more than 40 companies, expanded from 30 last year.
The list showed four companies that failed to cooperate with the House of Representatives probe were named as suppliers. These were Nepal, Fresh Synergy, Ibafon and Techno, which the parliamentary report showed collectively claimed for subsidies of nearly N9.7 billion.
Nepal’s website lists its CEO as Barrister Ngozi Ekeoma who has twice been arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in relation to fraudulent subsidy payments. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Phone calls to her company went unanswered.
At least three other companies awarded third quarter allocations - Masters, Matrix and MRS - were also ordered to account for their shipments or refund falsely claimed subsidy money in another government report released last June.
Matrix provided documents to Reuters showing it had since been exonerated by Nigerian authorities.
The other firms declined or did not respond to repeated requests for comment by email and telephone, Reuters reported. It was not clear if these companies had since repaid their debts or been cleared.
The Finance Ministry would not comment on specific firms but provided a document which showed that in total only N14 billion out of N232 billion in questionable claims, or around 6 per cent, had so far been refunded.
The ministry has previously said importers will not be delisted so long as they paid back money owed to the government.
Nigerian authorities have taken some measures to improve controls,” said Marc Gueniat of Swiss NGO The Berne Declaration which campaigns against corruption in the developing world.
“But the fact that certain companies accused of participating in the fraud are continuing to benefit from allocations raises the question of whether the political will to change is sincere,” he added, quoted by Reuters.
Absent from the list of petrol importers are large trading houses like Vitol, Mercuria and Trafigura which have historically played an important role in supplying fuels to Nigeria but have been replaced by local firms.
However, some still provide fuels indirectly to the country or via crude-for-product swap deals.
The government has arraigned some fuel marketers and industry sources say the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has introduced measures designed to limit abuse of the system.
Officials at PPPRA’s public affairs department did not respond to Daily Trust’s request for comment on the Reuters report.
Industry sources suggested the rise in the number of importers may have been partly an attempt to stave off future supply problems, as some importers struggled to get bank loans.
“What they are doing now is giving smaller allocations to more and more companies because of the credit situation. The number is creeping higher and it could be a cause for concern if it continues,” said Dolapo Oni, oil and gas analyst at Ecobank.
The supply list showed Nigerian energy firm Oando PLC won the biggest allocation of 135,000 tonnes while Total and Folawiyo, in which global commodity merchant Glencore is a minority stakeholder, won 90,000 tonnes each.
Petrol subsidies soaked up N1 trillion last year, equivalent to 20 per cent of the federal budget and exceeding a budgeted N888 billion.
For this year, the Federal Government budgeted N971.138 billion to pay subsidies but PPPRA executive secretary Mr. Reginald Stanley was quoted to have said last month that no marketer had been paid for this year’s supplies yet.
The Finance Ministry had been paying backlog of subsidy claims for supplies made last year, and a total of N240 billion “verified claims” had been settled by July 15.
“There has been no payment for any marketer importing petroleum products in 2013. This is caused by delays in the payment of subsidy claims by the Federal Ministry of Finance, resulting in interest as foreign exchange differential claims request by marketers,” Stanley had said while briefing a Senate committee in Abuja on June 5
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SENATE PANEL SEEKS TRANSFER OF RIVERS POLICE CHIEF

SENATE PANEL SEEKS TRANSFER OF RIVERS POLICE CHIEF

Senator Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya

The Senate committee on State and Local Government has indicted the Rivers State police commissioner over the crisis in the state, Daily Trust learnt in Abuja yesterday.

The committee, chaired by Senator Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya (ANPP, Kano), was on 10 July mandated by the Senate to visit Rivers and investigate the remote and immediate causes of the crisis in the state House of Assembly.
Gaya yesterday submitted the report to the Senate in plenary session including video recordings of their proceedings and submissions made by different parties.
Contents of the report were not made available, but a source told Daily Trust that the commissioner was criticised in the report for his role in the violence at the state assembly in which some lawmakers were injured.
The source said the panel condemned the action of the Rivers State commissioner of Police Mr. Joseph Mbu who they accused of not leaving up to expectation, and called for his withdrawal from the state.
The investigation followed a motion sponsored by Senator Magnus Abe (PDP, Rivers), who raised a point of order citing matters of personal explanation drawing the attention of his colleagues to the fracas in the state assembly
Gaya and his committee had held hearings between 11 and 14 July in Port Harcourt where it received submissions from the warring factions.
The Senate is scheduled to consider the report today
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You can’t bury PDP, Presidency fires back at five Northern govs

ABUJA — The Presidency, yesterday, dismissed as empty boast the threat by five Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors to bury the party, if they are unable to resolve the crisis in the party.

The five Northern governors — Sule Lamido, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Aliyu Wamakko, Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu and Murtala Nyako — who have been meeting with political stakeholders in the country, had threatened on Monday to help bury the PDP if their efforts to solve its problems flopped.

Although Nyako was not present at the meeting with Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, he immediately released a statement aligning position with the four other governors, saying that it was time something was done to salvage the party or bury it.

President Goodluck Jonathan

The governor, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Sajoh Ahmed, noted: “We have held consultations with former heads of state on the need for them and other major stakeholders to save the party from dying.

“We will continue to make our efforts to save the party. But if our efforts do not work, we have no alternative than to fold our arms, and see PDP die and help in burying it.”

But firing back at the governors, Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, said the five governors were incapable of bringing down the PDP.

Gulak, who also accused the governors of trying to force out President Jonathan, said, however, that they would fail, as their agenda was not in the interest of the generality of Nigerians.

The Presidential aide also said that all those working with the five governors would also fail in their selfish bid to unseat Jonathan because Nigerians were wiser than all of them.

The political adviser said: “They (the governors) cannot bury PDP, as the party is above them.

“Their agenda is not to bury PDP but to get President Goodluck Jonathan out but they will certainly fail. I can assure you that all those in that group and sharing their agenda will also fail woefully, as Nigerians are wiser,” the Presidential adviser said.

The governors, who had earlier met with Governor Rotimi Amaechi in Port Harcourt last week, during which they narrowly escaped being injured by irate political demonstrators, later moved to the country home of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and had a lengthy discussion with him.

Although their meeting with Obasanjo coincided with that of President Jonathan, who came out to say that he visited the former leader as part of his condolence visit to his media aide, Reuben Abati, over the demise of his mother, the details of what the four governors discussed with Obasanjo have not been made public barely a week after.

The motive of the governors notwithstanding, former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, on Monday described them as ‘real patriots’ and poured encomiums on them for taking the trouble to find answers to the nation’s crises.

Babangida said: “I just want to commend the governors and some of their colleagues. I am very impressed because they see the problems of this country as their problems and they have taken the right steps to make sure that they consult widely in trying to find solutions to some of the nagging problems. It shows they are real patriots and I am very happy with the
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Mixed reactions greet govs’ visits to ex-leaders

Mixed reactions have continued to trail the visits of some Northern states’ governors to three former Nigerian leaders – Generals Olusegun Obasanjo,   Abdusalami Abubakar and Ibrahim Babangida.

Four of the governors – Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Sule Lamido(Jigawa); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); and Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano) – had  last Saturday visited Obasanjo in Abeokuta where they discussed issues that have to do with the polity, especially the 2015 general elections.

On Monday, Wamakko, Lamido, Kwakwanso and Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu  headed for Minna, where they reportedly discussed similar issues, including the political crisis in Rivers State with Abubakar and Babangida.

At the meeting which was to have also been attended by Nyako, the governors appealed to Abubakar and Babangida to ask President Goodluck Jonathan to  urgently bring the Rivers State crisis to  an end.

While the main opposition political parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change –  described the visits as a welcome development, the  Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen and the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, disagreed.

In a   telephone interview  with  one of our correspondents,  the National Publicity Secretary  of the  ACN,  Alhaji Lai Mohammed,  said,   “I think the four or five governors made their case. They are worried and concerned about the growing climate of political intolerance and impunity and that these have consequences not only for democracy  but for the 2015 elections.

“They are concerned that the current attitude and frame of mind of the President regarding some governors even those considered as dissidents   is worrisome to them.

“They are saying that at the rate things are going there might be no election in 2015.

“This is aligning with our own position about four months ago that we are concerned about certain actions of  the government.  Then we  cried out about the despotic nature of the President but we were taken on by the President’s spokesperson that it was not despotism.

“This is what these governors are seeing now and what they are saying by their visit; in calling on all of these former Heads of State and elder statesmen is to appeal to the President to allow for democracy and a peaceful election in 2015.”

Mohammed’s counterpart in the CPC, Rotimi Fashakin, argued that some of the issues   raised by the governors  were capable of derailing the nation’s democracy if not urgently addressed.

He  said, “There is nothing wrong with people going round to troubleshoot  and  bring about   resolution of crises.

“You  will find out that in situations like this,  you must be able to explore all avenues.

“The   First Lady has confessed that as far back as four years ago, she bore a grudge against the Rivers State governor  and it was because of  this that we are witnessing what we are seeing now.

“Some of these issues are capable of derailing this democracy; it is understandable why they will continue to   explore avenues for peace.

“They are going round to see people they feel can have some influence on the President and his wife to speak up now so that we can have a stable polity.”

Their arguements were supported by  the  Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr. Otelemaba Amachree, who said the visits  were  capable of restoring peace to the PDP and ending the crisis in  the state.

 Amachree,  who spoke through his Media Assistant, Mr. Jim Okpiki, argued that Obasanjo, Abubakar and Babangida   were still relevant to the  Nigerian political  clime.

 He said, “The truth is that we cannot remove Babangida and Obasanjo in today’s politics. Apart from that, Babangida and Abubakar  are very influential people that can make things happen.”

However, the convener of the CNPAPB, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, believes that the visits  were  not to salvage the country but the PDP.

Mohammed said that if  the governors’ actions were to save the country, they should have also visited a former President, Shehu Shagari, and another ex-Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.

He said, “As far as I can remember,  Shagari was a President of this country and he is alive and well. General Gowon,  like the others,  is a former  Head of State, who did this country proud.

“These men were not  visited  and this goes to prove that these visits have nothing to do with salvaging the country.  Indeed,  the goal is to  salvage  the PDP as a party  and  they have more to do with public relations.

 “None of these men that they visited  is in a position to salvage the nation. If the nation is to be salvaged, it will not be Babangida  or any of these people; it will be salvaged by forces beyond these individuals.   As a public relations exercise, I don’t mind the governors going to visit former Heads of State but I mind  the way it was done because Obasanjo, Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and  Gen. (Theophilus) Danjuma, who  is  also being considered for a similar visit ,  have only one thing in common:  They are stinkingly rich.”

To the   Rivers State chapter of the PDP, the   governors  are desperadoes  looking for exit plans as their tenure  is  drawing to an end.

The party, in  a statement   by the Special Adviser on Media to its  Chairman, Mr. Jerry Needam, argued that the visits were not borne out of genuine interest to resolve the lingering political crisis in Rivers State, but to fuel it.

 It  wondered why the   governors who are now “patriots” of democracy could not remove the logs in their eyes before removing the speck in other people’s eyes.

 “How can any serious minded governor not be worried that the average Northerner today lives in grave fear of insecurity and poverty and yet these busybody governors are wasting tax- payers’ money, flying on chartered executive jets to stoke trouble in Rivers State,”  the party said.

Voting device stalls House of Reps’ proceedings

ABUJA — THE much orchestrated electronic voting on the constitution review report, yesterday, stalled proceedings in the House of Representatives as members adjourned to start afresh today, following malfunctioning of the device.

Indications that the proposed voting on the report would fail emerged when the House resolved to have a closed door session before plenary.

On investigation, Vanguard discovered that NIGCOMSAT, a government agency had volunteered to install a software that would enable members vote electronically.

Tambuwal

But after installation and the distribution of Joyless powered by MTN, the device failed to work.

During the closed door session, Vanguard reliably gathered that members were angry when they discovered that the device had repeatedly failed.

A source told Vanguard that “despite assurances the agency gave us that it would work, the device woefully failed. “

Another source revealed that “eventually after several attempts, we succeeded in test-running it at about 2.15pm”.

”We had no choice than to adjourn till tomorrow (today) to enable us vote without hitches. “

Minority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, reacting to the failed electronic device, said:  “ We were unable to get our system to work.

“So, we are trying to improvise and look for other ways to do it. And we brought NIGCOMSAT to help us but the system they brought did not carry it, so we shifted to tomorrow (today).

Meanwhile the various state and zonal caucauses held late night meetings on Monday to articulate the way they would have voted yesterday.

Action Congress of Nigeria, AC N, Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and ANPP also held nocturnal meetings on Monday night.

The Peoples   Democratic Party, PDP, because of its large membership, had to go underground as nobody knew where they held their meeting.

But a source close to the House leadership disclosed that all the meetings would fail if the party members refused to vote along the dictates of the people’s public sessions held across the country last year.

He said:   “On Wednesday, all these long stories would come to an end as constituents would now know their true representatives.

”The voting pattern would not be regional, rather it would be based on sentiments of certain powerful people.”

AL-MUSTAPHA’S KADUNA VISIT PROMPTS 2015 CAMPAIGN SPEECHES

AL-MUSTAPHA’S KADUNA VISIT PROMPTS 2015 CAMPAIGN SPEECHES

Chief Security Officer to late General Sani Abacha yesterday turned his visit to Kaduna state into a 2015 campaign speeches.

Al-Mustapha, who had been in detention for nearly 15 years, was acquitted by the Court of Appeal Lagos recently over the killing of Kudirat, wife of M.K.O Abiola, the presumed winner of 1913 presidential election.
Major Al-Mustapha, arrived Kaduna state metropolis from Zaria where he paid a visit to the Emir of Zazzau, Dr. Shehu Idris around 2.10pm.
Hundreds of youths trooped out to receive him and  chanted , “ 2015: Major Al-Mustapha for president.”
Al-Mustapha  seized the moment and responding to the youths under the umbrella of Arewa Youth Forum (AYF) said: “For those of you that believe there is hopelessness in the country, we must all team up to make the direction for change. You may not understand now but when the direction is defined, when the rail is laid you will know it.
“I was told that when I was released in Lagos, youths in Kaduna, Kano and other parts of the North trooped out to celebrate my release. Those in the south also did same, because I was told. I thought I was forgotten but this has shown me that you love me and I love you all.
According to him, his release was a victory for democracy and that he would meet with all youth bodies and organisations in both North and South in order to chart a new course.
In his address, the National President of AYF, Comrade Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu said the situation they found themselves in was unfortunate and that they will change the norm at all cost.
Speaking when he received the former CSO in his residence; Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Gumi urged him to see his incarceration as the will of Allah and that he should forgive all those that played role in it.
 “It is indeed a happy day for us and as he said it is a big plus to democracy and judiciary in Nigeria. We have come of age where no innocent person should be incarcerated for no reason. We pray  Allah will give peace to our nation and for everybody to live in peace and in a peaceful environment
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PDP crisis: Sheath your swords, Jonathan tells Tukur, Gana, other

sPDP crisis: Sheath your swords, Jonathan tells Tukur, Gana, others

MOVED by the lingering crisis between the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and the Professor Jerry Gana led Special National Convention Planning Committee, President Goodluck Jonathan has pleaded with them to sheath their swords and embrace peace  in  the interest of the party.

The President  has also urged Tukur, members of the National Working Committee, NWC  and members of the Convention Planning Committee to go and perfect  arrangements  on the forthcoming national convention of the party slated for August 31st.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that these were part of the resolutions reached at a meeting President Jonathan and Bamanga Tukur had on Thursday night at the  Presidential Villa.

FILE PHOTO: From Right, President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP National Chairman Bamanga Tukur at 61th National Executive Committee of PDP held in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.

At the Thursday meeting,  President Jonathan was said to have  directed Tukur to have a meeting with members of the NWC  on how to have a hitch- free convention.

The Thursday night  meeting was a follow-up to the one the President had with both Tukur and Gana on Tuesday as part of ways to nip in the bud,  disagreements between them  on arrangements  for the mini convention where national officers of the party will  be elected to replace those who resigned following observations by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC that the 2012 national Convention was held amidst some irregularities.

Saturday Vanguard also gathered that at the Thursday meeting,  the sharing formula on who to produce Chairmen for the subcommittees of the Convention Committee was also discussed.

Following the tall order from the President,  Tukur immediately  met with the NWC members in Abuja yesterday  afternoon on how to present their demands for chairmanship of the subcommittees to the Gana-led Convention Committee.

The  meeting  discussed those to be nominated for the positions being demanded by the NWC members, even as Tukur and the NWC members are demanding that they be allowed to produce those who will head subcommittees like Publicity, Organising, Welfare, Protocol, Screening and Election.

It will be recalled that Gana’s committee had fixed the convention for August 31 and Tukur met with his members three days after and instructed that all plans concerning the convention be put on hold.

Al-Mustapha victim of injustice – Fasehun

Against the backdrop of the recent  Appeal Court verdict which gave Al-Mustapha his freedom after 14 years in detention, Dr. Frederick Fasehun,  President, O’dua People’s Congress, explained the rationale behind his support for the contentious development  in this interview with Saturday Vanguard. Excerpt

After 14 years , how would you describe the release of Al-Mustapha?

Democracy is the true manifestation of  justice and truth.  Al-Mustapha was  accused of conspiracy and murder; whereas, conspiracy is an element of at least two people and nobody has come out to say Al-Mustapha conspired with him because nobody can conspire with himself.

Frederick Fasehun

The witnesses that gave evidence in court  initially said Al-Mustapha gave them an assignment to kill Kudirat Abiola. For the first two years of Al-Mustapha’s arrest, no charges were levelled against him. During that period, they were fishing for charges but the Nigerian constitution says “no Nigerian should be detained for more than 48 hours before appearance in court”.

It took the Nigerian security system two years to file charges against Al-Mustapha, and when they cooked up charges against him, they brought few witnesses who gave evidence that Al-Mustapha sent them on the assignment to kill Kudirat Abiola. However, three years ago,those witnesses appeared in court again saying they lied against an innocent man.

Perhaps,some political giants promised them   houses in Abuja and salary in foreign currencies, telling them their wives would be given N50, 000 monthly for sustenance which was enough reason for them to concur to any arrangement. Also,look at  the case of Cazato who  earlier gave evidence that he was the one who  drove the assassins to the site of the assassination and that he later went back, but could not recognise the car they drove. At first, Cazato said it was a 504 station wagon and later Cherokee jeep. Afterwards, he returned to court inserting his evidence that as at the time of the murder in June, that same year, he was nowhere near Lagos.

The day Kudirat was murdered, Al-Mustapha was getting married in his village in Kano State. So how was it possible for him to have been invloved in the murder of  Kudirat? After the wedding, Al-Mustapha went for his honeymoon and yet, the judge gave her judgment on  those retracted evidence.

What  were your contributions to Al-Mustapha’s release?

I took interest to look into it and realised what we had was injustice in the decision of the High Court. Al-Mustapha went to the Appeal Court under Justice Aminat, and the court reversed the High Court’s judgment. The High Court had written 366 pages of judgment in search of dishonesty, falsehood and lies. But, the Appeal Court was able to have its head screwed to its neck. And in this case, three heads were better than one.

Why are you sympathetic to the cause of Al-Mustapha?

I am always sympathetic to the course of  justice. I am not sympathetic because it is Al-Mustapha. I am crusading for justice because I knew he was suffering injustice. I knew he was up against political giants who do not believe in truth and justice, whose goal is squandering money to suppress justice, and that was what happened.

Al-Mustapha at the Lagos High court Igbosere Lagos

What was your  reaction the day Al-Mustapha was sentenced to death?

Well, I thought Al-Mustapha would be released that day. That was why I stormed out of the court. On that day, the presiding Judge used some abusive words even before they were sentenced, which was  biased. I attended virtually all the court proceedings and even the day after the sentence, the reports in the newspapers were the opposite of what really happened.

Al-Mustapha’s words were exaggerated and that was enough to make him commit suicide, believing that the entire society was mobilised against him. But thanks to God and some noble Nigerians who had the nerves to intervene.

How about when  the case was taken to the Appeal Court?

I never envisaged that the Appeal Court would pronounce justice. But I knew the court is saddled with the responsibility of “sieving the chaff from the grain” and it has  done so.

What are the similarities between you and Al-Mustapha, could it be as a  result of being a security officer?

I’m not a security officer; neither am I supporting Al-Mustapha because he was a security officer.

What is your message to the Abiola family?

We regret the death of their parents, but they should insist on justice. Perhaps, the case can be reopened. This murder case should not be swept under the carpet like some other cases in Nigeria.

Besides, when Chief Abiola was in detention, there was evidence that Al-Mustapha  gave him special treatment which Al-Mustapha himself said  in court. He also said there was a time when Abiola was going to be killed by the authorities and when the news filtered to his hearing he had to change Abiola’s room.

He also testified about how he arranged for Kudirat to see her husband whenever she wanted. When the Americans paid Abiola a visit at the prison, Al-Mustapha was not there. That has been certified by Susan Rice, former Ambassador of the United States  of America to the United Nations (UN). When Rice was questioned on that issue, she said, “Don’t ask me, ask Abdulsalam.”