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A4 News /<strong>Independent</strong>ngr @independentngr www.independent.ng INDEPENDENT WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017 Commission Promotes 6000 Police Officers The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the promotion of over six thousand police officers. According to PSC sources, the list of promoted police officers will be sent to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris Kpotum, within the week for announcement. However, PSC says it has suspended special promotion for policemen until further notice. Mike Okiro, Chairman of the commission, who disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the suspension became imperative, following complaints and allegations by members of the public. “Given the avalanche of disparaging reports, comments and allegations revolving around special promotions, the commission has decided to put on hold all recommendations until further notice,” he said. Okiro said that the promotions already processed would be referred back to the I-G of police for more details on the beneficiaries. He said that the commission had also set up a committee to investigate allegations of bribery against some members of the commission by some police officers. According to the chairman, the chairman is expected to submit its report in two weeks. “As a responsible organisation, the commission ensures that promotions are given to only deserving officers based on merit to encourage hard work,’’ he said. He said that guidelines developed by the commission on procedures for promotion had been sent to the I-G of Police. “To ensure objectivity, transparency and accountability in the process, the commission has also developed and issued guidelines on special promotion to the Nigeria Police Force.” He said that the implementation of the guidelines was being monitored and reviewed by the commission regularly. Okiro said that officers considered for special promotion in the force must have sufficiently shown concrete evidence for meriting it. “It should, however, be noted that performance of normal or routine duty will not qualify an officer for special promotion,’’ he said. He said that officers with exceptional performance or behaviour would be considered for special promotion even if they have not served the minimum number of years on a rank. Okiro said that the commission does not unilaterally award special promotion to officers, adding, “The major source or recommendations for special promotion is the I-G of Police,’’ he said. •CONTINUED FROM .A1 being taken by ministers and senior government officials to the UK for approval by President Buhari. According to Adegboruwa, who was also a guest on the television programme, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has lost the moral right to retain power when the administration of President Buhari expires in 2019. He added that the citizens have the right to know the health status of their president who has been in the UK for 100 days, and that those asking him to either resume or resign were right. “Personally, we as Nigerians deserve to join the president in prayers to ask that he be healed and return to his duty post. But in terms of the length of stay, in terms of the manner of treatment, in terms of the strategy of relating with Nigerians concerning what the president is going through, it’s quite very discouraging and unfortunate because this is a party that came into power on the mantra of change and engagement and so we will be surprised that the president could be going through any circumstance of ill health which Nigerians are not entitled to know. “Today marks 100 days that the president has been out of the country on a consecutive basis Govt Officials Attempted To Undermine Osinbajo – Presidency and you wonder whether you can say you have such leadership in terms of the capacity of the executive president to manage the affairs of a nation. So I believe those agitating that the president should resume or resign are right in the sense that we didn’t anticipate that we will be ruled from another country because Nigeria is a sovereign nation,” he added. However, Shehu, who accused Adegboruwa of making reckless statements, said he is aware that the president sent back some senior government officials who tried to bypass the acting president by taking sensitive materials for approval in the UK. “I am surprised that he (Adegboruwa) as a lawyer has spoken so recklessly on so many matters about which he showed lots of dispassion about those matters. That was reckless of him because he said things that are just completely untrue. This man that has just spoken with Nigerians said this country is being run from the United Kingdom (UK). He said memos are being sent to the UK and that ministers are reporting to the president. That is false. He doesn’t know what he is talking about”. “Let me tell you this story. I am aware that senior officials of government have gone to President Buhari in the UK and taken some documents to him and asked him to deal with it. The president said ‘No, I won’t! The man responsible for the country is in Abuja, go back to him’. So, I think the idea is to make President Buhari look as if he is in charge but it is even disrespectful to the acting president”. Also speaking on whether it is morally right for the president to tell Nigerians the ailment he is receiving treatment for or whether he should resign if he feels he can no longer continue, Shehu said the constitution of Nigeria does not mandate the president to disclose to Nigerians the state of his health. He, however, said the president may decide on his own volition to tell Nigerians upon his return to the country if he deems it fit to do so. “You said morality, I have no competence placing morality in the realm of politics. However, I must say that I think the president has done the most that anybody can do in this circumstance. What I am saying is that there is politics and there is morality and they don’t always mix. “That is not to say that you can ask this question from the president if the president had said to you that ‘I will give full disclosure, one hundred percent of my health situation in all circumstances’. If the president fails to do that, then he has a moral problem. “When he campaigned, he said that I will declare my assets publicly. He got to office and lawyers of many colours are saying ‘sir, you don’t have to do it because there is no basis for it in law’. But because that commitment had been given, on the 99th day of the 100 days promise he made, the president published his assets. The vice president also published his assets. Therefore, had it been the president had reneged on this promise, people would have raised the issue of morality. As it is now, we are dealing with matters of law. “The constitution of this country doesn’t make it a requirement for him to say that he must disclose his health situation. He went to the UK in January and when he returned, without the prompting of anyone, he faced the television cameras and said this is what I went through. “So, let’s give him the benefit of doubt and a little bit of patience. President Buhari will return. I will not be surprised if he stands before everyone and says ‘this is what I went through and it’s all over’”, he said. Speaking on the occasion of the president’s 100 days in the UK, Matthew Urhoghide, representing Edo South Senatorial district in the National Assembly said the demands by some Nigerians that President Buhari should resign on health grounds is childish, saying the Nigerian constitution does not provide for that. Speaking in an exclusive chat with INDEPEN- DENT, Urhoghide said the fact that he is a member of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will not make him support an unnecessary demand. Urhoghide, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, said rather than dissipating energy on whether the president should resign or not, Nigerians should pray for the quick recovery of the president so he can resume his work for the betterment of the country. He added that the president has fulfilled constitutional requirements by handing over to his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, who is now the acting president. “If somebody is ill, it is not due to a desire of his. It’s just nature. I don’t know why people are making an issue out of it. To me, it is completely unnecessary. Let us pray for the well-being of this man so he comes back and continue his work. “All these people who are clamouring that the man should resign, do they want to take over his job? If they want his job, they should wait till 2019 and contest in the presidential election. Why do they want him out? “He has an acting president who is doing the job, why can’t they just allow the man to have some rest? That I am a PDP senator does not remove my opinion on what illness and wellness means. Everything comes from God and I don’t know why those clamouring for the president’s resignation over health issues are playing God. “Resign on what grounds? Does the constitution provide for that? That when somebody is ill, the person resigns? We don’t have such position in our constitution. These are things that are completely out of the spheres of influence of man. “These are things that are in the exclusive preserve of God. Mandela was ill for 33 years and there are other countries where you find important dignitaries falling sick. So, I believe asking the president to resign on health grounds is a childish demand”. •CONTINUED FROM .A1 EFCC Begins Probe Of Failed Federal Road Projects In South-East tioning. The EFCC’s Zonal Head of Operations, Johnson Babalola, said this on Tuesday in Enugu while briefing journalists on the activities of the commission in the past seven months in the area. Babalola said that probe became necessary in view of the deplorable condition of the roads in the zone. “The deplorable condition of federal roads in the South-East has caught our attention. The zone has one of the poorest roads in the country. Yet, the contracts were awarded. “So, we have invited the contractors and we are currently inspecting their records. Everything that surrounds the award of the contracts and execution of the roads will be probed.” Babalola urged members of the public to avail the commission of useful information that would aid it to do the investigation. He said that the whistle blowing policy of the Federal Government still subsisted and urged the people to leverage on it. “We solicit for useful information from members of the public in order to get to the root of the investigation we have started.” He said that anyone, including contractors, politicians or ordinary Nigerians found culpable during the investigation would be prosecuted. Babalola also said that the zonal office had created an office at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, to checkmate money laundering. He said that the effort was in partnership with other sister agencies that had roles at the airport. He said that the EFCC, under the supervision of Ibrahim Magu, had recorded significant feat in the onslaught against corruption. Babalola attributed the success story of the commission to the zeal of President Muhammadu Buhari who had been at the vanguard of the fight. “Since the inception of this administration there has been resurgence in financial crime fight.” Babalola said that though the commission’s successes had drawn the ire of some politicians and their cronies, the commission was not deterred.
INDEPENDENT WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017 /<strong>Independent</strong>ngr @independentngr www.independent.ng A5 News •CONTINUED FROM .A1 the attackers were pro-Buhari protesters. Charly Boy has been leading a protest demanding the resignation or return of President Muhammadu Buhari who is receiving medical treatment in the UK. Some of the traders said that the action of the protesters was politically motivated and not a representation of the minds of Nigerians. According to a trader, Charly Boy arrived the market on a power bike in company of other members of his group carrying placards and wearing T-shirts with inscription ‘Ourmumudondo’. He said some members of his group made efforts to gain entry into the market which was resisted by market officials leading to argument. “This attracted the youths in the market, believed to be loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari who launched a Anti-Buhari Protest: Charly Boy, Others Escape Death At Wuse Market counter-attack against the group. “The youths began chanting Sai Baba! Sai Baba!! Sai Baba!!! And descended on the protesting group, chasing and hurling sticks and stones on them. “It took the intervention of the policemen who fired tear-gas into the air to disperse the angry mob to save situation”, he said. “Charly Boy came to this market with some cameramen doing his protest here. “I was standing in front of my shop when I saw him running for his dear life, being chased by those youths,” another trader at the market said. “They nearly lynched him, because those youths almost overpowered police security near him.” He was rescued by security operatives who fired gunshots and teargas to disperse the angry crowd. The security operatives later returned to remove Charly Boy’s motor bike from the market, using tear-gas to disperse the protesters who tried to stop them. A jewelry trader, Malam Adamu Musa, said that the protesters had the right to protest but pointed out that they ought to know that the president was not on “honeymoon” in the UK. “These protesters should know that it is not everything that one should politicise, especially the issue of health,” Musa said. Filibus Abuh, a petty trader, said that they never expected the protest to be taken to the market where common Nigerians were looking for their daily bread. Abuh said that the protest disrupted business activities in the market for some hours. The spokesman of the Police Command in the FCT, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, said that the prompt intervention of the police averted a major clash between two opposing sides at the market. “The police had brought the situation under control at the market,” Manzah said. He said that to forestall further breakdown of law and order, the management of the market had ordered its closure. Manzah also said that a large contingent of policemen had been deployed to the market to provide security. Wuse market is Abuja’s largest and is dominated by northerners, many of them supporters of President Buhari. The group had also protested at the popular Unity Fountain in Abuja. Last week, police teargassed the protesters, including the popular entertainer, Charly Boy, alleging that hoodlums had infiltrated the protest march. Charly Boy also collapsed in the process. We’ll Not Be Stopped— ResumeorResign Group Meanwhile, Deji Adeyanju, convener of the ResumeorResign group, agitating for full disclosure on the health of President Muhammadu Buhari has said the group will not be deterred in its quest for the right thing to be done. In a statement, Adeyanju said that they were attacked by known supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari while on a visit to Wuse Market, adding that the assault was spearheaded by a member of the pro-Buhari support group. The statement reads: “This attack was completely unprovoked. This is the third in a series of attack carried out against us using a combination of policemen and paid hoodlums. “It is saddening that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari would rather commit scarce national resources to such underhand tactics than give full disclosure regarding the health of the president. “We reiterate commitment to remain resolute in demanding full disclosure regarding the state of health of the president. “It is the right of the Nigerian people to know the true state of health of the man they voted into power and for whose healthcare they are paying. “We also restate our commitment to remain law abiding in the face of such constant provocation. Our rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly are constitutional rights that we will not allow to be abrogated,” he pledged. •CONTINUED FROM .A1 where parties to the dispute hope to take significant steps towards the resolution of the issues raised by ASUU. The forum agreed on the forensic audit of the sum of N30 billion earlier given to ASUU in 2010 and further agreed on monthly remittances to ASUU while the audit lasts. Ngige said he wishes to assure members of ASUU and all Nigerians that government was already at work to resolve all outstanding issues in line with the resolve of the present administration to cast any form of disruption of universities’ academic calendar into the dust bin of history. The strike called by the Academic Staff Union ASUU, FG Meeting Ends In Deadlock of Universities (ASUU) on Monday paralysed activities in most of the 88 federal and state owned universities in the country. ASUU commenced an indefinite nationwide strike due to Federal Government’s failure to fulfill the 2009 agreement made with it. Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU President, said on Monday in Abuja that the decision to embark on the industrial action was resolved at its emergency National Executive Council meeting held on August 12. According to him, during the strike, “There shall be no teaching, no examination and no attendance of statutory meetings of any kind in any of our branches till government meets the union’s demands”. Biodun Ogunyemi said the action became necessary owing to breach of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the 2009 FG/ASUU agreement on financing of state universities; breach of the conditions of service; refusing to honour the Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) and re-negotiation of the agreement. Ogunyemi, while addressing a press conference on Monday, said the 2009 agreement revolved around conditions of service, funding, university autonomy and academic freedom all of which government has been lackadaisical in implementing. The Federal Government is believed to owe universities over N880 billion in intervention fund as a fallout of the NEEDS Assessment report. Also on the list of the union’s demands are: foot-dragging over ‘funds for the revitilisation of public universities, non-release of NUPEM- CO operational licence, non-payment of earned academic allowances, payment of fractions/ non-payment of salaries, retired professors and their salaries and university staff schools. In the 2013, in the MoU entered with ASUU, the Federal Government agreed to make funds available for the revitalisation of the university system, amounting to N1.3 trillion in six years, based on yearly release of N220 billion, starting with N200 billion in 2013. There was also an agreement to open a dedicated revitalisation account with the CBN to warehouse the fund, including setting up a central monitoring committee to monitor the implementation of the revitalisation of the universities. ASUU also accused government of reneging on payment of outstanding balance of the Earned Academic Allowances after verification of the payment made from the initial N30 billion, among others. It would be recalled that at a recent public function, Abdulrasheed Abubakar, Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), met with bursars of universities across the country, and stated categorically that university administrators should jettison clamour for full autonomy as the Federal Government would never concede to such demand. He explained that in view of the fact that public universities rely on government for subventions to operate, granting them autonomy would be tantamount to throwing away its regulatory rights, especially checking financial excesses in the institutions. A woman suicide bomber blew herself up and killed 27 others at a market in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, two local officials said, in an attack bearing the hallmark of Boko Haram militants. Two more suicide bombers detonated their devices at the gates to a nearby refugee camp, wounding many people, an emergency services official said. According to agency report, in all, 83 people were wounded in the three explosions near the city of Maiduguri, epicentre of the long-running conflict between government forces and Boko Haram. Nigeria’s military last year wrested back large swathes of territory from the Islamist insurgents. 27 Killed, 83 Injured In Boko Haram Suicide Attack In Maiduguri But they have struck back with renewed zeal since June, killing at least 143 people before Tuesday’s bombings and weakening the army’s control. The group has waged an eight-year war to create an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, and provoked international outrage by kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls known as the Chibok Girls in April 2014. Its better-known faction, led by Abubakar Shekau, has mainly based itself in the sprawling Sambisa forest, and been characterised by its use of women and children as suicide bombers targeting mosques and markets. A rival faction, based in the Lake Chad region, led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi and boasting ties to Islamic State, has in the meantime quietly become a deadly force capable of carrying out highly-organised attacks. Last month, an oil prospecting team was captured by al-Barnawi’s group. At least 37 people, including members of the team, died when rescuers from the military and vigilantes attempted to free them. The Boko Haram insurgency has killed 20,000 people and forced some 2.7 million to flee their homes in the last eight years. We’ll Carry Out Fresh Attacks In Maiduguri, Shekau Warns Meanwhile, Abubakar Shekau, leader of the Boko Haram sect, has threatened to carry out fresh attacks in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State. The ancient city has come under repeated attacks from the sect in the last one month. In a new video, Shekau vowed to deal with the people living in Maiduguri “because of their association with infidels. “You are finished, you the people of Maiduguri, we will finish you for choosing the way of the infidels, for embracing democracy,” said the sect leader who spoke in Arabic. Shekau also denied the claim of the military that he sustained injuries in an air raid. He added that if the military succeeds in capturing him, his ideology would outlive him. “I am fine, nothing has happened to me. I am even stronger than I was before,” he said. “I am nothing. Even if you capture me, you cannot capture the religion of Islam. You can capture me today because I am nothing. But it won’t stop the religion of Allah which we are committed to. This gun I am holding is nothing, we rely strongly on the ultimate power of Almighty God.” On July 22, Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff, gave his men 40 days to capture Shekau dead or alive. Boko Haram Attacks Two Villages In Adamawa Boko Haram insurgents also attacked and razed Muduvu and Nyibango villages in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa. The attack is coming few days after similar ones in Ghumbili and Mildu villages of the area where several lives were lost. Chairman of Madagali Local Government Council, Malam Yusuf Muhammed, said on Tuesday in Yola that the latest attacks lasted from 11pm to 12 midnight on Monday.
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