Monday, July 9, 2018

12 MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018
news
2019: PDP BoT, govs, NASS members, others meet today
Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja
The National Chairman of
the Peoples Democratic
Party, Prince Uche Secondus,
has summoned a meeting of
the top hierarchy of the party
to discuss demands by those
planning to join the former
ruling party before the 2019
general elections.
Those expected at the
meeting, according to a notice
circulated by the National
Secretary of the party, Senator
Umaru Tsauri, are the party’s
presidential aspirants, all PDP
governors, former governors,
members and former members
of the party in the National
Assembly.
Others are members of the
Board of Trustees, PDP former
Ministers Forum and all the
37 state chairmen of the party,
including the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja.
The meeting, according
to Tsauri, holds in Abuja on
Monday (today) afternoon.
Termed “crucial meeting “,
our correspondent gathered
that Secondus would use the
occasion to explain the interim
report of the party’s Contact
Committee to the attendees.
The committee, which is
headed by a former Governor
of Cross River State, Senator
Liyel Imoke, was asked by the
National Working Committee
of the party to talk to
aggrieved members of the All
Progressives Congress and also
liaise with former leaders in the
country on how to wrest power
from President Muhammadu
Buhari in 2019.
The committee was said
to have met with former
Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo
and Goodluck Jonathan.
Secondus told our
correspondent that the Imoke
committee had been working
hard and that he would brief
the party’s leadership “soon,”
when asked last Saturday.
Though details of the
Monday meeting remained
secret as of the time of
filing this report on Sunday,
investigations by our
correspondent, however,
revealed that Secondus would
use the opportunity to brief
the leaders of the party on the
reconciliatory report by the
Imoke committee.
A top source in the party
said that the demands by
those expected to return to
the party or join afresh from
other political parties would be
tabled for deliberation.
The source said that
majority of those aggrieved in
the APC had agreed to return
to the PDP but were said to
have given some conditions.
The source said, “The
meeting on Monday afternoon
will discuss the report of the
Imoke committee and the
demands of those who had
agreed to return to us (PDP) or
join us afresh.
“These people want to
extract some commitments
from the PDP before coming.
They are likely to have learnt
from how they were treated in
the APC as they were actually
never accommodated and
seen as crucial partners in the
running of the party and the
•L-R: Commercial, Political, Cultural and Press Attaché, German Consulate General, Lagos, Mr Sebastian Polzin;
Special Adviser to the Governor on Overseas Affairs and Investment (Lagos Global), Prof Ademola Abass; and Economic
Attache, Embassy of France in Nigeria, Mr Barthelemy Blanc, during the Office Of Overseas Affairs & Investment’s
media launch of “Lagos to the World” in Lagos...on Friday. Photo: Lagos State Government
Ade Adesomoju, Abuja
The
Attorney-General
of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Mr.
Abubakar Malami (SAN),
has revealed that there are
ongoing plea bargains with
some politically-exposed
persons who have been
indicted and charged with
various corruption-related
offences.
The PUNCH, on Sunday,
•R-APC, others demand waivers, automatic tickets
government they collectively
formed.
“So, they have tabled some
demands which we will all
discuss and agree on.”
Asked if it would not be
wrong to assure fresh members
of positions before joining, the
source said that negotiations
were part of politics.
“We all negotiate and
agree on positions and
offices. Besides, negotiation
is a critical part of politics and
life. So, their position is not
strange, “the source added.
It was learnt that some
members of the National
Assembly were rooting for
automatic tickets from the
party to contest in 2019.
It was also gathered that
some others were asking that
they should be allowed to
nominate their loyalists to
join the members of the State
Working Committees in their
states and even at other levels.
Adelani Adepegba, Abuja
The Inspector-General of
Police, Ibrahim Idris, has
put all the State Command
Commissioners of Police and
their supervising Assistant
Inspectors-General of Police
and other police formations
nationwide on red alert.
The directive was sequel to
the July 2 attack and killing
of seven policemen at the
Galadimawa Roundabout,
Abuja by suspected bandits.
The Force Public Relations
Among those who were
said to have agreed to return
to the party is a former
Governor of Kano State,
Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso,
and the Governor of Sokoto
State, Aminu Tambuwal.
It was also gathered that
the President of the Senate,
Bukola Saraki, is being
expected in the former ruling
party.
It was gathered that
the meeting, which is an
expanded caucus meeting,
would also agree on waivers
for the returnees to the party
and its new members.
Specifically, the PDP
constitution says its new
members are to spend six
months before being allowed
to contest any position.
The Monday meeting, it
was gathered, would empower
the Secondus-led National
Working Committee to grant
new entrants automatic
waivers to vie for any office of
their choice in the party.
Secondus told our
correspondent that the party
would grant the newcomers
the waivers.
PDP to Buhari:
Publish beneficiaries
of $322m repatriated
fund
Meanwhile, the PDP
has called on President
Buhari to list those that
benefitted from the repatriated
$322m.
It also said that the
government should make
public, names and photographs
of all those involved in the
handling of the money.
The party said President
Buhari should do so to show
his transparency as well as
to enable Nigerians to know
and see the faces of those
superintending over the
repatriated fund.
The PDP, in a statement by its
National Publicity Secretary, Mr.
Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on
Sunday, challenged President
Buhari to order the Attorney
General of the Federation, Mr.
Abubakar Malami (SAN ), as
well, to make public, the APC
interests and the owner of the
consulting firm reported to
have been paid billions of naira
as consultancy fees for the
“sharing” of the money, which
he said did not pass through
the constitutionally required
approval of the National
Assembly.
He said, “President Buhari
needs to note that Nigerians
are utterly dismayed that
having hitherto postured as
a supporter of the ‘Talakawa’
and man of integrity, he has
taken no steps against this
bare-faced atrocity where
over 90 per cent of supposed
beneficiaries of the repatriated
fund are phoney names
supplied by fraudulent officials
Plea bargains with accused politicians
ongoing, await Buhari’s approval — AGF
perused a Federal Ministry
of Justice’s report presented
by the AGF, stating that the
ongoing negotiations were
aimed at recovering “cash
and properties worth billions
of naira to the coffers of the
Federal Government.”
The minister said the
negotiations had reached an
advanced stage.
Malami added that the
finalisation of the plea
bargains was awaiting
President Muhammadu
Buhari’s approval.
This is contained in a
report titled, ‘A Presentation
on Specific Activities
for Transforming the
Administration of Justice and
State Legal Affairs: Three-
Year Activity Review of the
Federal Ministry of Justice
(2015 - 2018)’.
The 50-page review which
contains reports from the
various departments of the
Policemen killings: Be on red alert, IG orders CPs, AIGs
Officer, Jimoh Moshood, in a
statement in Abuja on Saturday,
stated that though five suspects
had been nabbed in connection
with the killings, there is
the need to beef up security
throughout the country to
enhance and ensure adequate
security and protection of lives
and properties.
“To this end, the Assistant
Inspectors-General of Police in
charge of zonal commands and
Commissioners of Police in
State Commands are under the
strict instructions of the IG to
re-gird their crime prevention
and control strategies.
“They are to carry out a
massive deployment of police
personnel and logistics to
strengthen security in their
areas of responsibility and
deal decisively with suspected
criminal elements,” the
statement explained.
It added that attention
would be paid to places of
worship, schools, markets,
recreation centres and other
public spaces to forestall any
untoward incident.
Federal Ministry of Justice
was “presented” by the AGF.
It was signed by the
minister in April but was
distributed at one of the
ministry’s events last week.
The report disclosed
that negotiations with
politically exposed persons
were ongoing as part of the
ministry’s anti-corruption
activities which were
captured under a subtitle,
“Key intervention areas”.
The report did not name
the politically-exposed
persons the government was
negotiating with but it stated
that the persons were already
facing prosecution.
It said a memo had been
sent to Buhari for his approval
to finalise the negotiations,
although it did not state when
the memo was sent.
The report did not give any
timeline concerning the said
ongoing negotiations but said
it was being done in line with
the relevant provisions of the
Administration of Criminal
Justice Act.
of his government.
“Nigerians are completely
at a loss on why President
Buhari always fail to take bold
steps to expose and deal with
corrupt and sharp practice
by his appointees and leaders
of his APC, even when such
nefarious acts are directly
against the underprivileged
citizens already suffering the
harsh economic realities of his
administration.
“Since this issue was
raised and the PDP called
for a legislative scrutiny, the
Federal Government and the
APC have kept mum, perhaps,
thinking that by their silence, it
will be swept under the carpet
like others in the past.”
NABTEB panel
uncovers illegal
recruitment of
15 workers
Olaleye Aluko, Abuja
committee set up by the
A dissolved Governing Board
of the National Business and
Technical Examinations Board
to investigate malpractices
said 15 workers were illegally
recruited into the examination
body between January and
March 2018.
The committee, in its report,
said the alleged recruitment
of the 15 workers “did not
follow due process because
the positions were neither
advertised nor competed for as
obtained in other institutions.”
Our correspondent,
who obtained a copy of the
committee’s findings, had
reported that the committee
found out that NABTEB
“awarded 42 contracts
between February and March
2018 worth N154, 813,000
without going through due
process.”
The NABTEB Registrar,
Prof Ifeoma Abanihe,
however, in an official mail to
the Chairman of the dissolved
board, Prof Leonard Shilgba,
had said the examination
body gave out the contracts
because “the commencement
of the date of the examination
was approaching and there
was no more time to waste.”
The Minister of State for
Education, Prof Anthony
Anwukah, who supervises
the agency, had said in
an interview with our
correspondent that the
Federal Government was
investigating the allegations
and crises rocking the
examinations board.
On Sunday, our
correspondent gathered
from the committee report
that 15 workers were
allegedly recruited without
advertisement between
January and March 2018.
The committee report was
signed by Dr Charles Osahon
as the Chairman and Dr Titus
Umoru as the secretary.
The registrar, Prof
Abanihe, could not be reached
for comment on Sunday as her
line rang out two times.
A text message sent to her
line also had yet to be replied
to as of the time of filing this
report.