07022019 - POLLS: EU tackles El-Rufai over ‘body bag' threat to observers STORY

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VOL. 26: NO. 63739 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

POLLS: EU tackles El-Rufai over 

‘body bag' threat to observers 

STORY ON 

PAGE 5 

•PDP threatens to pull out of peace accord, calls for international travel ban on El-Rufai 

•CSOs flay Kaduna gov •Gov calls for outrage to stop

2 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 —3 

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4 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Lagos gov poll: I’ll spend 

50% annual budget on 

education — AGBAJE 

L 

A G O S — 

GOVERNORSHIP 

candidate of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, in 

Lagos State, Mr. Jimi 

Agbaje, yesterday, 

promised to jumpstart the 

economy of the state 

through certain decisive 

actions, including spending 

as much as 50 per cent of 

the State’s annual budget 

on the education sector. 

Mr. Agbaje, who stated 

this while delivering a 

paper entitled The 

Transformation of Lagos: 

Education as Anchor, The 

Big Idea, at the Lagos 

Business School in Lagos, 

said his vision for Lagos is 

anchored on an educationdriven 

economy. 

He said: “I will as 

Governor of Lagos State, if 

necessary, be prepared to 

spend as much as 50 

percent of our annual 

budget on education, 

education eco system, and 

education value chain. 

“I will bet the future of 

I BADAN—PASSERS- 

BY and jubilant 

residents of Iwo Road, 

Ibadan, on Tuesday, 

Lagos State on an elaborate 

education and skills 

development value 

proposition. I will create an 

education-driven 

economy.” 

He also disclosed that if 

elected, his administration 

will: “Invest massively in 

the eco system that 

surrounds education, its 

infrastructure and facilities 

requirements, including the 

value chain of activities of 

that deliver and facilitate it. 

This will include massive 

investment in engineering 

and information technology. 

“We do not have a choice. 

Lagos State’s education 

focus will be significantly 

about technology. We will 

partner with the best 

providers globally.” 

Explaining his manifesto 

which focuses on reanchoring 

Lagos, he said: 

“The big idea is about the 

rejuvenation of the inner 

city, urban redevelopment 

and securing the long term 

future of Lagos State.” 

Ajimobi rescues, evacuates 

accident victims 

They had sustained 

commended the 

humanitarian gesture of the 

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of 

Oyo State, when his convoy 

rescued and evacuate 

victims of an accident to the 

University College 

Hospital, Ibadan. 

The governor, who 

personally escorted the 

male and female victims to 

the Accident and 

Emergency Ward of the 

hospital around 5pm, had 

just returned from Ado- 

Ekiti, where he had 

attended President 

Muhammadu Buhari's reelection 

campaign rally. 

Sources at the scene of 

the accident had claimed 

that a hit-and-run driver 

had knocked the motorcycle 

conveying the victims from 

the rear around 4pm, 

thus flinging the rider 

and his female 

passenger to the ground. 

Diamond Bank moves to boost 

SMEs 

LAGOS — SMALL and 

Medium Enterprises, 

SMEs, operators converged 

at Diamond Bank former 

Corporate headquarters in 

Lagos, to interface with the 

bank’s elites SMEs partners 

to network, share 

knowledge, ideas, 

information and strategies 

to boost their businesses in 

the country. 

Addressing journalists at 

the event, Head, Emerging 

Businesses, Diamond 

suspected head injury and 

fractures. 

One of the eyewitnesses, 

Tajudeen Adebare, who 

sells tyres along the road, 

said: “Everybody was 

afraid of going near them. 

A reckless driver who 

ought to obey the ‘drive 

slowly’ signs placed along 

the road because of the 

expansion works ignored 

the signs and drove 

recklessly into the area. 

“He hit the motorcycle 

rider from behind and ran 

away. The rider and the 

woman he was conveying 

sustained serious injuries, 

which scared people from 

moving near them. Nobody 

wants to get into trouble 

with the police. 

“With their condition we 

cannot start taking them to 

the police station to first 

obtain report before taking 

them to the hospital. We are 

afraid that if we take them 

to the hospital they will ask 

for police report before 

treating them.'' 

Bank, Ayodele Olojede, 

said: “This is in line with 

the bank’s mandate to 

support SMEs in all 

ramifications to thrive even 

in the obvious harsh 

economic weather for 

national development. This 

is an avenue for our SMEs 

customers to meet our elite 

partners in business, 

potential clients and have 

access to the market, share 

business ideas and solutions 

as we work towards meeting 

other financial and nonfinancial 

needs.” 

LAUNCHING: From left— Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa, UBA, Plc, Kennedy 

Uzoka; President, Republic of Mali, His Excellency, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita; Chairman, UBA Plc, Tony 

O. Elumelu; and the Prime Minister, Republic of Mali, Soumeilou Boubeye Maiga, at the official launch 

of UBA Mali in Bamako, making it the 20th subsidiary of the Pan African Bank in Africa. 

REDEPLOYMENT: Lagos, Oyo, Kwara, 

Anambra get new CP 

By Evelyn Usman 

L Inspector-General AGOS—THE 

of 

Police, Mr. Mohammed 

Adamu, yesterday, ordered 

the posting and 

redeployment of senior 

Police officers from Assistant 

Inspector-General of Police 

and Commissioners of 

Police. 

Consequently, the baton 

of leadership in most Police 

Commands has changed, 

with Lagos having a new 

Commissioner of Police. 

He is CP Mu’azu 

Zubairu, who takes over 

from CP Imohimi Edgal. 

Others affected by the 

shake-up are CP 

Mohammed Wakili (Kano 

Command); CP Austin 

Iwero Agbonlahor (Cross 

River); CP Damian 

Chukwu (Borno 

Command); CP Sumonu 

Abdulmalik, (Yobe 

Command); CP Asuquo 

Amba (Ekiti Command); 

CP Abiodun Ige (Osun 

Command); and CP 

Ibrahim Sabo (Niger 

Command). 

Others are CP Alkasim 

Sanusi (Taraba Command); 

CP Garba Mukaddas 

(Adamawa Command); CP 

Omololu Bishi (Benue 

Command); CP Bola 

Longe (Nasarawa 

Command) CP Isaac 

Akinmoyede (Plateau 

Command) and CP Aminu 

Saleh (Bayelsa Command) 

Also affected are, CP 

Adeleke Yinka (Delta 

•Zubairu takes over in Lagos 

Command); CP Bashir 

Makama (Akwa-Ibom 

Command), CP Awosola 

Awotunde (Ebonyi 

Command); CP Belel 

Usman (Rivers Command); 

CP Bello Makwashi 

(Gombe Command; CP 

Abdulrahman Ahmed, CP 

Kaduna State Police 

Command; CP Bala 

Ciroma, (FCT Command); 

CP Akeem Busari, CP Kogi 

Command. 

Also affected are CP 

Undie Andie, (Ondo 

Command), CP Olukolu 

Sina (Oyo Command), CP 

Ali Janga, (Bauchi 

Command); CP Rabiu 

Ladodo (Jigawa 

Command); CP Buba 

Sanusi (Katsina Command) 

and Ag. CP Odumosu 

CSOs demand arrest, prosecution of 2015 

electoral violence offenders 

•Advocate visa ban by foreign embassies 

By Gabriel Olawale 

LAGOS—A coalition of 

civil society groups, 

yesterday, raised the alarm 

over likelihood of violence 

in some parts of the country 

if the necessary checks are 

not undertaken by the 

Federal Government and 

various authorities across 

the land. 

Addressing a world press 

conference in Lagos, 

Convener of Coalition 

Against Electoral Violence, 

Olufemi Lawson said that 

they are amazed by the 

gathering storm waiting to 

be unleashed on the 

people of Bayelsa State in 

the forthcoming general 

elections. 

They also demanded that 

the Bayelsa State 

government, commence the 

immediate implementation 

of the reports of the Justice 

Margaret Akpomiemie led 

commission of inquiry, 

which investigated the 

violence, mayhem and 

grave breach of the peace 

that occurred in the state 

before and during the state 

2015/2016 governorship 

election. 

Lawson said:”You may 

want to ask, why Bayelsa 

State? Yes, Bayelsa is in our 

focus at this moment based 

on our earlier experience 

during the assessment of 

the 2015/2016 Bayelsa 

governorship election and 

the unprecedented level 

of violence witnessed 

Religious leaders warn INEC, security 

agencies against bias 

LAGOS — 

RELIGIOUS 

leaders in the country, 

under the umbrella of 

Interfaith Dialogue 

Forum for Peace, IDFP, 

yesterday, called on the 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, 

INEC, as well as security 

during the period. 

“During the said election, 

the world witnessed an 

unimaginable height of 

violence, unleashed on the 

innocent people of the 

State, leading to the death 

of many, with properties 

immeasurable destroyed. 

They lamented that nearly 

three years after a report on 

electoral violence which 

they submitted to the 

relevant authorities, none of 

them, including INEC, the 

Federal government, the 

Bayelsa State government 

and other relevant security 

agencies. 

agencies to demonstrate 

total neutrality and 

impartiality during the 

general election. 

In a 12-point 

communique issued as 

the outcome of the 

meeting they held in 

Abuja, the forum pointed 

out that “INEC should 

Akeem, CP Edo Command. 

Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, 

whose earlier redeployment 

from the Explosive 

Ordinance Device Unit, by 

the immediate past IGP, 

Ibrahim Idris was reversed 

by IGP Adamu, was 

deployed to the Kwara State 

Police Command as the CP, 

while CP Ahmed Illyasu 

remains CP Ogun State 

Police Command. 

A statement by the Force 

Public Relations Officer, 

Mr. Frank Mba, an 

Assistant Commissioner of 

Police, also showed that the 

changes affected Assistant 

Inspector-Generals. 

They included AIG 

Wilson A. Inalegwu, AIG 

Zone 9, Umuahia; AIG 

Abdul Dahiru Danwawo, 

AIG Maritime; AIG 

Adeyemi O. Ogunjemilusi, 

Staff NIPPS; AIG Maurice 

A. Yusuf, Research and 

Planning; AIG Ibrahim 

Lamorde, Force 

Intelligence Bureau; AIG 

Murtala Mani, Force CID; 

AIG Tijani Baba, Zone 7, 

Abuja; AIG Dibal Yakadi, 

Zone 5, Benin and AIG 

Haruna Huzi Mshelia, 

Zone 3, Yola among others. 

The IGP charged the 

AIGs and CPs to diligently 

and professionally 

discharge their duties 

according to the laws 

adding that “the posting 

and the redeployment of 

the affected Senior Police 

Officers is with 

immediate effect.” 

display their independence 

and be impartial in the 

conduct of the 2019 general 

elections.” 

The leaders also urged 

that “the security 

agencies should be 

unbiased and remain 

neutral 

while 

discharging their duties 

during the forthcoming 

general elections.”

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 — 5 

POCKET CARTOON 

SYMPOSIUM...From left: Bishop Hassan Matthew Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto; 

Prof. Ifeoma Utomi, Prof. Pat Utomi, host; General Yakubu Gowon, Chairman of the occasion; Hon. 

Eugene Nagbe, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Liberia, representing President George 

Weah of Liberia and Dr Muiz Banire, panelist at the 16th CVL Annual Lecture and International 

Leadership Symposium themed 'Is Democracy Making Life Better in Africa' held in Lagos, yesterday. 

Photo: Lamidi Bamidele. 



•PDP threatens to pull out of peace accord, calls for international travel ban on El-Rufai 

•CSOs flay Kaduna gov 

•Gov in unusual plea, calls for outrage to stop 

•Buhari supporters frown on nomination of Obasanjo’s friend as head of observer team 

By Emmanuel 

Aziken, Political 

Editor, Ben Agande 

, Victoria Ojeme & 

Dirisu Yakubu 

A 

B U J A — 

EUROPEAN 

Union election 

observation missions, 

yesterday, said it will 

continue to do its work 

across the country in the 

run-up to and beyond 

the February 16 

elections. 

Reacting to the 

comment of Governor 

Nasir El-Rufai of 

Kaduna State, the EU in 

a statement said: “We 

are aware of the 

comments by the 

Governor of Kaduna 

about non-interference 

by foreigners during a 

talk show on the 

elections Tuesday 

February 5.” 

The EU said in the 

statement issued in 

Abuja yesterday: “ The 

EU only deploys an 

election observation 

mission when it is 

invited to do so by the 

authorities of a country. 

“The EU has been 

invited to observe all of 

the general elections in 

Nigeria since 1999. 

Thus, this is the sixth 

time the EU is observing 

elections in Nigeria. 

‘’The Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission invited the 

EU to deploy an 

observation mission for 

the 2019 general 

elections. 

“EU election 

observation missions 

give commentary and 

analysis, and make 

recommendations about 

the electoral process. 

“EU election 

observation missions are 

impartial, do not 

interfere in the electoral 

process, and operate 

according to a strict code 

of conduct. 

“While the security of 

EU observers is of 

paramount importance, 

and will remain under 

constant review, EU 

observers will continue 

their work across the 

country in the run-up to 

- and beyond the 

February 16 elections. 

‘’For the last month the 

mission’s team in Abuja, 

as well as 40 long-term 

observers across the 

country, have followed 

the elections. 

“ We have met with a 

wide range of 

candidates, parties, 

election officials, security 

agencies, and civil 

society organisations, 

and have enjoyed good 

cooperation at federal 

and state levels. 

“The mission looks at 

all aspects of the election, 

including the campaign 

tone, the transparency of 

the 

election 

administration, the 

neutrality of security 

forces, and the 

independence of the 

judiciary.” 

Peace accord 

threatened 

Meanwhile, the peace 

accord initialled by the 

nation’s political parties 

ahead of the forthcoming 

general election was, 

yesterday, under threat as 

a result of mutterings by 

the Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, following 

strong invocations by 

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of 

Kaduna State against 

major western powers. 

The PDP called for an 

international global travel 

ban against El-Rufai upon 

the governor’s assertion 

that those seeking foreign 

intervention in Nigeria’s 

internal affairs would 

leave the country in body 

Continues on Page 49 

Mr & Mrs 

Can endorsement of Buhari, Atiku influence your vote? (1) 

By Bose Adelaja, Ebun Sessou, Yinka 

Latona, Sophia Ogu & 

Chiamaka Uba 

As far as I am 

concerned, these 

endorsements are 

fraudulent. They are 

politically motivated. 

This will not influence 

me to vote for any of 

them if I am not pleased 

with their manifesto. 

Finally, the outcome of 

the election will depend 

on voters and not 

endorsements. 

Mrs. Vickie Onyekuru 

Activist 

Endorsements of 

President Buhari 

and Atiku by different 

stakeholders cannot 

influence my vote.I 

already know the person 

I will vote for and this is 

based on the candidate's 

manifesto. I am 

personally tired of 

recycling the older 

generation. Anybody 

can endorse whosoever 

they like but that will 

have nothing to do with 

my personal opinion. 

Miss Oluwaremilekun 

Ojo Teacher 

As an informed, 

exposed, educated 

and a free Nigerian, I am 

competent to choose a leader 

I deserve. Most of these 

so-called leaders have no 

followers. The time has 

gone when some people 

without influence decide 

for Nigerians. 

To a very large extent, 

many of our politicians have 

disappointed us. We must 

be able to take responsibility 

for our choice, good or 

bad, both at individual and 

group levels. I will vote for 

a leader I can trust. 

Mr. Julius Adegunna, 

Writer 

I 

am not surprised at 

the recent 

endorsements of Alhaji 

Atiku Abubakar by the 

Afenifere, and 

Ohaneze, Middle Belt 

. 

There is hunger in the 

land and all we need to 

do is get Nigeria 

working again. Without 

doubt, I know who I will 

vote for. 

Mr. Lawal Afeez 

Lekan Activist 

We are all entitled to 

choose whomsoever 

we desire to vote for, 

nobody can influence or 

cajole me. 

Gone are the days when 

religious or traditional 

leaders, and pressure 

group will urge us to vote 

for a candidate of a particular 

party. I am going 

to vote based on what the 

candidate has to offer, 

which must be a realistic 

plan and not promise and 

fail that we are currently 

facing. Mrs. Odebode 

Esther, School Proprietress 

I 

am not even sure 

that I will participate 

in the voting exercise 

because I am not sure 

there will be adequate 

security during the 

election. 

Moreover, if the 

atmosphere on election 

day is fair enough, I will 

vote for the candidate of 

my choice and not based 

on endorsement by any 

stakeholder. Mr. 

Oghenekevwe Victor 

Fashion designer

6—Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

NURTW 

chairman to 

die for killing 

Police officer 

By Henry Umoru 

A 

Lagos High Court 

sitting in Ikeja, yesterday, 

sentenced the Aiyetoro Unit 

Chairman of the National 

Union of Road Transport 

Workers, NURTW, Saheed 

Arogundade to death by 

hanging for killing a police 

officer, Gbenga Oladipo. 

Arogundade was convicted 

after Justice Olabisi Akinlade 

found him guilty of a two count 

charge of murder and 

conspiracy to murder. 

He was initially arraigned 

alongside five others: 

Mustapha Layeni, Adebayo 

Abdullahi, Seyi Pabiekun, 

Sikiru Rufai and Yusuf 

Arogundade, who were later 

discharged and acquitted by 

the court. 

According to the state 

prosecutor, Mrs Rotimi, the 

Police officer was brutally 

stabbed to death on April 10, 

2010 by the NURTW 

chairman and some thugs at 

Gbara Junction of the Aiyetoro 

area of Ajegunle, Lagos. 

Earlier during the trial, the 

second prosecution witness, 

Ismaila Lukman, told the court 

that he witnessed the murder 

of the police officer. 

Lukman, a commercial 

okada rider, said the 

deceased, on that day, called 

him to give him a ride to his 

mother’s house at Layinka 

area of Aiyetoro, Ajegunle 

when he was ambushed and 

killed by the convicts and some 

men. 

He said: “The deceased 

called me to give him a ride to 

his mother’s house when four 

men approached us and 

dragged the deceased down 

from my motorcycle. 

“One of them, Arogundade 

brought out a knife and 

stabbed him at the back. I ran 

off to go seek for help from 

fellow riders but when I 

returned, the other three men 

were hitting the deceased with 

their fist. 

“I could see the faces of the 

other men clearly because I 

was gazing at Arogundade 

who stabbed him. When I got 

close to the deceased, I 

realised he had been badly 

stabbed all over his body and 

was bleeding severely. 

“I rushed him to a nearby 

hospital where he was 

confirmed dead. The hospital 

security officers later took me 

and his corpse to the police 

station and filed a report. The 

deceased's body was carried in 

an ambulance to Ajeromi 

police Station. 

“I made a statement of what 

happened at the station and 

his body was then taken to 

Isolo General Hospital 

Mortuary,” he said. 

500 ex-staff of Savannah Sugar Coy die awaiting benefits 

By Umar Yusuf 

YOLA—NO fewer than 500 of 

the 1,731 staff of Savannah Sugar 

Company, Numan, in Adamawa State 

have been confirmed dead while 

awaiting their benefits 17 years after 

their retrenchment following the 

privatisation of the organisation in 

2002. 

The Chairman of the Pensioners 

Association of the laid off staffers, 

Chief Polycap Mbande, disclosed this 

in Yola yesterday, at the verification 

of the ex-staff by the Pension 

Transition Administration 

By Evelyn Usman 

A47-year-old woman, Mrs Joy 

Egeonu, has been arrested for 

beating her husband’s 11-year-old 

nephew to death, for allegedly 

stealing N6,500 in Agbado area of 

Ogun State. 

However, it turned out that it was 

Joy’s husband that took the money. 

Thereafter, the mother of six— four 

boys and two girls— took the lifeless 

body of the deceased, Chibuike 

Egeonu, to Ifo, where she hurriedly 

buried it. 

However, after the death of the boy, 

the missing money was discovered 

to have been taken by her husband, 

Romanus Egeonu. 

Vanguard gathered that mother of 

late Chibuike, Ijeoma Egeonu, had 

him out of wedlock at a very young 

age. She was said to have handed 

him to her elder brother and his wife, 

until tragedy occurred. 

The distraught mother said to have 

been informed about her son’s death 

yesterday, reported the matter to 

policemen at Agbado Division, 

consequent upon which the 

Divisional Police Officer, CSP 

Omonijo Olatunji, led a team of 

detectives to Opeilu community, to 

effect the suspect’s arrest. 

During interrogation, the suspect, 

said: “I flogged him with a cane 

because I suspected he stole the 

money. In the process he collapsed. I 

was rushing him to the hospital, when 

Arrangement Directorate, 

PTAD, preparatory to paying 

the retrenched workers their 

entitlements. 

He expressed regret that their 

deceased colleagues died of 

frustration owing to the inability 

of successive administrations to 

pay them their entitlements. 

Mbande said representatives 

of the affected workers have 

made representation to the 

National Assembly and other 

pension bodies for several years, 

but their plea fell on deaf ears 

until the Buhari administration 

he breathed his last. 

“By the time I called my 

husband on phone to tell him 

what happened, he said he was 

the one that took the money. My 

husband and I took the boy to 

Ifo, where we buried him.” 

The Ogun State Police Public 

Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola 

came to their rescue. 

Some of the ex-workers of the 

company who turned up for the 

verification exercise expressed 

the optimism that they would 

at last be certified for their 

benefits after so many years of 

waiting. 

Mrs Ronica Dickson, who 

said she served the company 

for 16 years before being laid 

off 17 years ago, said it has 

been terrible while she waited 

for her benefits. 

Her words: “This 

government has tried by this 

intervention. We believe we will 

at last get what is due to us. It 

will be a huge relief because there 

have been so many things 

waiting to be done in our 

individual lives.” 

Executive Secretary of PTAD, 

Sharon Ikeazor, said in a notice 

made available to newsmen in 

Yola, that the verification exercise 

is in furtherance of President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s 

commitment to improve the 

welfare of Nigerian pensioners, 

“especially those neglected by 

previous administrations.” 

Top left: Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State (left), supervises the 

rescue and evacuation of hit-and-run accident victims along Iwo Road, 

Ibadan, to the Accident and Emergcney Unit of University College 

Hospital, where he paid their bills. Above: One of the victimsof the 

accident. Left: The governor and medical personnel at the hospital. 

Woman beats boy to death for 

‘stealing’ N6,500 her husband took 

A 

43-year-old guardian, 

Nkechi Ibrahim, who 

allegedly beat and tied a sixyear-old 

girl for eating a plate 

of rice, yesterday, appeared 

before an Ikeja Magistrate’s 

Court. 

The Police charged Ibrahim, a 

resident of Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, 

with assault, but she pleaded not 

guilty. 

According to the Police, the 

defendant beat and tied the girl 

to table on January 17 for eating 

her daughter’s plate of rice. 

The Police said: “When the 

minor was hungry, she ate rice 

meant for the defendant’s 

daughter. 

“When the defendant 

discovered it, she flogged her 

with a cane which caused 

injuries on her. 

“Not satisfied with the beating, 

she tied her hands and legs to 

a table, locked her inside the 

room and went to church. 

“The landlord, who had been 

Oyeyemi, who confirmed the 

arrest, said the suspects led 

policemen to where the boy 

was buried. 

Oyeyemi said: 

“Meanwhile, the 

Commissioner of Police, CP 

Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered 

the immediate transfer of the 

hearing the girl's cry decided 

to find out what happened. 

“He peeped in, saw the girl 

tied to a table and he reported 

the case to the Police. The 

defendant was arrested and 

the girl rushed to a hospital.” 

The case has been adjourned 

suspects to homicide section of 

the State Criminal investigation 

and intelligence Department for 

further investigation. 

“He also ordered the arrest of 

the suspect’s husband, who 

assisted in burying the boy in 

order to cover up the criminal 

act of his wife.” 

Guardian beats, ties up 6-yr-old over plate of rice 

By Onozure Dania 

LAGOS—A Lagos State 

High Court, sitting in 

Igbosere, yesterday, sentenced 

a 37 years old trader Ahmed 

Ayanyemi, for raping his 

neighbour’s six-year-old 

daughter. 

Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya 

jailed him after he entered a 

plea bargain and pleaded 

guilty to the offence. 

The judge said that the 

convict’s jail term takes effects 

until February 25 for mention. 

Magistrate B. O. Osunsanmi, 

granted the defendant N200,000 

bail with two sureties who, she 

ordered must be gainfully 

employed and show evidence of 

two years’ tax payment to Lagos 

State Government. 

Man jailed 21 years for defiling 

neighbour’s 6-yr-old daughter 

from November 19, 2016, when 

he was first remanded in prison 

custody. 

Ayanyemi, committed the 

offence at 61 Kaka Zone II, in the 

Ayobo area, at about 7pm, on 

October 25, 2016 . 

He was said to have also 

performed foreplay with the minor 

before raping her. 

He was first arraigned on 

October 26, 2016 before an Ogba 

magistrate's court for raping his 

neighbour’s six-year-old 

daughter.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019—7 

l was under spell says guard that 

sodomised prophetess, stole her N700 

By Dayo Johnson 

AKURE—A 39-year-old 

security guard, Longbab 

Bouguen, has confessed that he 

was under a spell when he 

raped a 43 year old prophetess 

in Agbogbo area of Akure the 

Ondo State capital. 

Bouguen , according to the 

state police command, 

ambushed the victim, forcefully 

removed and tore her pants, 

had sexual intercourse with her 

through the anus and robbed 

her of N700. 

The suspect was paraded 

alongside another security 

guard, Daniel John, who he 

shared the money he stole from 

the victim with. 

In an interview, the suspect 

who confessed to the crime, 

attributed it to the handiwork of 

the devil. 

His words: “Honestly, I cannot 

explain what came over me 

before l raped the woman. I did 

not penetrate the woman but 

ejaculated on her after which l 

allowed her to go. I collected the 

sum of N700 from her.” 

Bouguen while exonerating 

the other suspect, Daniel John, 

said: “When he came to me 

begging for money for food, I 

gave him N200 out of the money 

By Innocent Anaba 

AFederal High Court sitting 

in Lagos, yesterday, 

remanded four men charged 

with producing adulterated 

engine oil by Standards 

Organisation of Nigeria, SON. 

Trial judge, Justice Oluremi 

Oguntoyibo, ordered the 

defendants, Johnson Uche, 

Olaide Shittu, Kingsley Meteke 

and Abdulquadri Olayinka be 

remanded in prison pending 

their arraignment. 

According to SON, the 

defendants and others at large 

on January 2, 2019 at 2, 

Esugbayi Street, NPA 

Quarters, Marine Bridge, 

Apapa, Lagos, produced 

adulterated/substandard 

engine oil for public 

consumption. 

They allegedly claimed that 

the products were genuine 

engine oil and sold them to 

unsuspecting motorists. 

The prosecution said the 

engine oil did not comply with 

mandatory industrial 

standards, an offence that 

violated Section 26 of the SON 

Act 2015. 

In the second count, the 

prosecution said the 

defendants, on the same day 

and place, “did indulge in 

dealing in and offering for sale 

adulterated/substandard 

engine oil,” and they claimed 

that the substandard product 

l collected from the woman 

because he was hungry. 

He knew nothing about 

the incident” 

Addressing 

newsmen, the Police 

image-maker, Femi 

Joseph said that “one 

prophetess of 

Celestial Church 

of Christ 

(name 

withheld) 

o f 

Agbogbo 

area, 

Akure/ 

O w o 

Road, 

reported 

that one 

security 

guard , 

Longbab 

Bouguen, 

suddenly 

dragged her to 

a secluded area 

and forcefully tore 

her pant to have 

sexual intercourse 

with her through the 

anus. 

“The suspect threatened 

the victim by brandishing 

a cutlass and knife in his 

hand while putting on dark 

was genuine, contrary to 

Section 1 (18) (ii) of the 

Miscellaneous Offences Act of 

2004. 

In the third count, the 

defendants were accused of 

dealing in 128 drums and 945 

litres of substandard engine oil, 

which they claimed to be of high 

quality to unsuspecting buyers. 

In count four, they were alleged 

to have “failed to comply with 

SON Conformity Assessment 

Programme” by dealing in 

adulterated engine oil that did 

Police arrest 2 ladies over 

child abduction in Enugu 

ENUGU State Police Command 

said it has arrested and 

commenced investigations on two 

ladies who allegedly abducted a 

child in Udenu Local Government 

of Area of the state. 

The Police Public Relations 

Officer in the command, SP Ebere 

Amaraizu, said in a statement, 

yesterday, in Enugu that the two 

ladies were arrested on February 

4. 

Amaraizu said the ladies were 

arrested by Police operatives in 

Udenu Division who acted swiftly 

following intelligence information 

about the child/baby abducting and 

selling syndicate. 

The PPRO alleged that the 

suspects were trying to abduct a 

child coming out from a certain 

Nursery/Primary School located at 

Imilike Ani community in Udenu 

eye glasses and also 

dispossessed the 

victim of N700, 

which he 

consequently 

shared with his 

co-security 

guard, Daniel 

John. 

“The victim, who 

was returning 

home around 

8:30p.m., was 

dragged 

into the 

bush in 

the area 

by the 

suspect, 

where 

he had 

canal 

knowledge 

of her.” 

Joseph 

said the 

state 

command 

would 

charge 

the two 

suspects 

to court 

a f t e r 

completing 

i t s 

investigation. 

Longbab Bouguen 

Bizman remanded for producing, 

selling adulterated engine oil 

not have the requisite 

certification, an offence that is 

punishable under Section 26 

of the SON Act of 2015. 

The defendants could not be 

arraigned because their 

lawyer was absent. 

Prosecuting counsel, 

Adeleke Olofindare, from the 

Federal Ministry of Justice, 

prayed that they be remanded 

in prison. 

Justice Oguntoyibo ordered 

their remand and adjourned 

until March 1 for arraignment. 

Local Government Area before 

police operatives arrested them. 

He said: “Following their 

arrest, the suspects had 

revealed how they carried out 

abduction of a four-year-old 

school boy identified as Ugwu 

Levi Chiagozie from another 

nursery/primary school also 

located at Imilike Ani 

community on January 18. 

“They later handed over the 

four-year-old school boy to a 

nurse in Anambra State for sale. 

Recovered from the suspects are 

little children’s wears, biscuits, 

chin chin, candies and other 

items that allegedly can be used 

to entice little children.” 

Amaraizu said the suspects 

had been helping the Police 

operatives in their ongoing 

investigations. 

... with Emma'nKen (08163121378) 

Mr. Iyam, this is hustling, 

what you'll be doing abroad 

First, Joseph the interpreter wants 

to know if you have driver's licence 

Sure bro. E plenty small. 

Exact measurement

8—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE VISIT: From left, Dr. Alimi Abdul Razak; Hajia Rahila Abdul-Razak; 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Senator Khairat Gwadabe during the house-to-house visit to 

Abdul Razak family by All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential campaign team in Asokoro, 

Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida. 

Benue belongs to Buhari, says Ortom 

•As he receives president’s campaign team 

•NNPC to begin oil, gas drilling search in Benue — Buhari 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

GOVERNOR Samuel 

Ortom of Benue State 

said, yesterday, that the state 

belongs to President 

Muhammadu Buhari. 

This is even as the 

president announced that 

Nigerian National Petroleum 

Corporation, NNPC, will 

soon commence drilling for a 

deeper search for oil and gas 

in the Benue trough. 

The governor, who stated 

this while receiving the 

president who was on a 

campaign in the state at 

Nigerian Airforce Base, 

Makurdi, also said the 

president could do whatever 

he wished in the state, being 

the President of Nigeria. 

He said: “He is the 

President of the Federal 

Republic of Nigeria and 

whatever he is doing, it is our 

responsibility to give him 

adequate protocol. 

“He is our President, and 

this is beyond party… so I am 

doing all the needful. There 

is no special thing in what I 

am doing, it is what I am 

supposed to do as governor 

of Benue State, irrespective 

of party because he remains 

my President and I respect 

him. 

“I have no personal issues 

with him; we talk about 

policies and issues, there is 

no personal grudge. So, I am 

here to receive him, and I 

have made adequate 

arrangement. This state 

belongs to Mr President. So 

he has access, he can be here 

and do whatever he wants.” 

Ortom defected from the 

ruling All Progressives 

Congress, APC, to Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, in 

July, having fallen out with 

the Federal Government. 

Speaking while addressing 

traditional rulers at the 

Banquet Hall, Government 

House, Makurdi, President 

Buhari announced that 

NNPC will soon commence 

drilling for a deeper search 

for oil and gas in the Benue 

Trough. 

He said the oil and gas 

drilling search in the Benue 

Tough will be the next after 

commencement of drilling in 

Kolmani River area, located 

within Bauchi and Gombe 

states. 

He recalled that as Minister 

of Petroleum in the 70s, he 

had seen “very interesting 

seismic surveys” that 

revealed discovery of oil and 

gas from the Chad Basin 

through the Benue Trough 

down to the Delta region. 

According to him, for mostly 

commercial reasons, 

investment was directed to 

Niger Delta, given the 

promise of quicker results. 

He narrated past efforts by 

him as Military Head of State 

to diversify the country’s 

sources of oil to strengthen its 

unity, promising that his 

administration will intensify 

efforts in this direction. 

Buhari welcomed the 

observation by the Tor Tiv, His 

Royal Majesty, Professor 

James Ayatse, that peace had 

been restored to Benue State 

and the fact that he had so 

far conducted a decent and a 

peaceful campaign. 

The President promised to 

look at requests for more 

roads, bridges and tertiary 

institutions made by the royal 

father. 

Earlier, the Tor Tiv had 

expressed appreciation to 

Buhari for the manner he had 

conducted a peaceful 

campaign, without riots, 

violence, stressing that the 

president had set good 

example. 

“We had a challenging time 

in 2016. Thanks for your 

intervention, for accepting our 

appeal to step up security. 

Operation Whirl Strike has 

succeeded in chasing away 

violent herders.” 

He also called for a closer 

look at the border to stop 

“criminals and bandits” from 

crossing into Nigeria. 

Polls: Atiku’s endorsement won’t affect 

outcome of elections —ACF 

By Ben Agande 

K ADUNA—AREWA 

Consultative Forum, 

ACF, has dismissed the 

endorsement of presidential 

candidate of Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji 

Atiku Abubakar, by some 

socio-cultural groups in the 

country, saying it may not 

affect the outcome of the 

election significantly. 

Reacting to an enquiry by 

Vanguard on the implication 

of the endorsement of Atiku 

by the groups, Secretary of 

ACF, Anthony Sani, said the 

endorsement was “nothing 

new,” adding that ACF does 

not share the views of 

Northern Elders Forum, 

NEF. 

He said: “Many media 

houses have been asking for 

reactions on the endorsement 

of PDP presidential 

candidate in the person of 

former Vice President Atiku 

Abubakar by factions of 

Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Pan 

Niger Delta Forum, 

PANDEF; Middle Belt 

Forum and Northern Elders 

Forum. 

“We thought there was no 

need for the reaction because 

it is nothing new, but because 

of the generated public 

interest, we react as follows: 

The endorsement is nothing 

new because apart from NEF 

faction, led by Prof. Ango 

Abdullahi, all the other sociocultural 

groups in the 

endorsement actually 

endorsed and worked for 

PDP in 2015, yet APC 

prevailed in the elections. 

“What is new in this 

endorsement is the fact that 

only a faction of Afenifere, 

faction of Ohanaeze, and 

faction of Northern Elders 

Forum,are actually involved. 

"As a result, the 

endorsement may not affect 

the outcome of the election 

significantly, since factions 

cannot possibly represent the 

whole, let alone the regions 

which the platforms profess to 

represent. 

“You may wish to know that 

ACF, which is the umbrella 

body for the North, does not 

share the views promoted by 

a faction of Northern Elders 

Forum, led by Prof Ango 

Abdullahi. 

“The endorsement of 

President Buhari by about 71 

Generals has dispelled the 

rumors bandied about that 

retired Generals have ganged 

up to unseat President 

Buhari electorally.” 

Nigeria losing $14.2bn 

annually from JV oil 

contracts —RMAFC 

By Michael 

Eboh & Princess 

Owoh 

REVENUE Mobilisation 

and Fiscal Allocation 

Commission, RMAFC, has 

lamented that Nigeria is 

currently not benefitting from 

existing Joint Venture 

Contracts, JVCs, disclosing 

that the country is currently 

losing $14.235 billion 

annually in revenue from 

JVs. 

Speaking in Abuja at 

National Policy and 

Development, NPOD, 

Summit 2019, with the 

theme: ‘Interrogating the 

change agenda,’ Tuesday, 

acting Chairman of RMAFC, 

Mr. Shettima Abba-Gana, 

noted that the federation 

earns between 55 per cent 

and 60 per cent share of all 

JVCs operated by NNPC, 

while companies under 

Production Sharing Contracts 

contribute between 15 per 

cent and 20 per cent to the 

Federation Account. 

According to him, the 

federation has not benefited 

significantly from the 

respective JVCs due to 

continuous decline in crude 

oil production, arising from 

pipeline vandalism, asset 

integrity issues and general 

low investment in JV crude 

production over time. 

He said: “Currently, JV 

crude oil production dropped 

from 1.8 million barrels per 

day to between 700,000 

and 900,000 bpd leading to 

loss of revenue of about 

$14.235 billion annually.” 

Abba-Gana noted that PSC 

was introduced in 1993 and 

had not been reviewed ever 

since, explaining that the 

review was expected when 

oil prices reached $20 per 

barrel or 15 years of 

production, which was 2008, 

whichever came first. 

Also speaking, Brigadier- 

General Muhammed 

Marwa (retd), said he was 

optimistic the Federal 

Government had learned its 

lessons that change was not 

possible without requisite 

human and material 

resources. 

According to him, 

government is all about 

combining human and 

material resource to deliver 

services and projects, 

adding: “This is why anticorruption 

must be a 

recurring decimal in 

governance because without 

it the goats will eat the yams." 

Ganduje makes U-turn, okays Sani Abacha Stadium for PDP 

presidential rally 

By Abdulmumin 

Murtala 

K ANO—GOVERNOR 

Abdullahi Ganduje of 

Kano State has ordered the 

contractor handling 

renovation works at Sani 

Abacha Stadium, Kofar 

Mata to immediately 

demobilise to pave way for 

Peoples Democratic Party, 

PDP, presidential 

candidate, Atiku Abubakar, 

to use the stadium for his 

rally. 

Ganduje was the butt of 

public outrage over the 

directive to the contractor to 

mobilise to site, a directive 

that was taken in some 

sections of the polity as 

aimed at frustrating plans 

by the PDP to hold its rally. 

The rally is expected to 

hold on Sunday. 

A statement signed by 

Labour begs FG to exempt 

minimum wage from taxation 

By Victor 

Ahiuma-Young 

ABUJA— 

Nigeria 

Labour Congress, 

NLC, has pleaded with the 

Federal Government to 

amend the present income 

tax law to exempt the new 

minimum wage from 

taxation. 

This followed the 

adoption of a motion 

submitted by National 

Union of Textile Garment 

and Tailoring Workers of 

Nigeria, NUTGTWN, at 

the plenary of the 12th 

delegates conference of the 

NLC in Abuja. 

In the motion presented 

by NUTGTWN’s General 

Secretary, Issa Aremu, 

Labour noted that there 

was “twin assault on the 

real income of Nigerian 

Commissioner for 

Information, Youth and 

Culture, Malam 

Muhammad Garba, 

however, indicated that the 

directive to the contractor 

to stop work does not affect 

ongoing overhaul of the 

Indoor Sports Complex. 

The contractor, according 

to the statement, has been 

directed to remove all 

machinery from the 

precinct of the stadium till 

workers caused by unrestrained 

devaluation of 

naira and high rate of inflation.” 

The union also expressed 

worries that the process for 

the new minimum wage 

was taking too long, calling 

on NLC to discuss 

strategies and plans for 

effective implementation of 

the new minimum wage, 

particularly at the state 

level. 

Aremu noted that it was 

important to put pressure 

on the Federal Inland 

Revenue Service, FIRS, to 

raise the tax bar in such a 

way that N30,000 minimum 

wage would fall below 

taxable income, calling for 

tax holidays for some 

categories of Nigerian 

workers. 

after the campaign rally, 

while the state’s darling 

team, Kano Pillars, have 

been told to use the Pillars 

Stadium, Sabon Gari for its 

training sessions. 

The general renovation of 

the stadium, it was 

disclosed, is aimed at 

giving the stadium a facelift, 

including installation of 

new scoreboard, race track 

and provision of sources for 

steady water supply to all 

parts of the stadium.

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019—9 

By Clifford 

Ndujihe, Deputy 

Political Editor 

IN SPITE of numerous 

challenges, former Head of 

State, General Yakubu 

Gowon (retd), yesterday, said 

military coup was unattractive 

in Nigeria and urged 

Nigerians to deepen and 

sustain democracy by 

exercising their franchise in 

the 2019 general polls 

beginning next week. 

Gowon’s call was echoed 

by Bishop of Sokoto Diocese 

of the Catholic Church, 

Matthew Kukah; Liberian 

President, George Weah; and 

Founder of Centre for Values 

and Leadership, CVL, Prof. 

Pat Utomi. 

They spoke at the 16th 

CVL annual lecture and 

international leadership 

symposium themed: ‘’Is 

Democracy Making Life 

Better In Africa?’’ held at 

MUSON Centre, Lagos. 

Gowon, who went down 

memory lane, chronicling 

how he joined forces to abort 

the first military coup in 

Nigeria, and became military 

head of state by accident, said 

without good civil service, it 

would be difficult to ensure 

delivery of ‘democracy 

dividends.’’ 

Gowon, who chaired the 

How to make democracy work in Nigeria, by 

Gowon, Kukah, Weah, Utomi 

•Despite challenges, military coup remains unattractive— Gowon 

•How and why we aborted first coup; •Keeps mum on why he reneged on 

return to civil rule in 1976 

symposium, said: ‘’In 10 

days, Nigerians will go to the 

polls to exercise their 

franchise to elect a new 

president to lead the nation 

for the next four years. This 

will make the fifth successive 

cycle in 20 years that citizens 

of our nation would have 

unfettered say in deciding 

who leads them. 

‘’This has not always been 

so in the history of our soon 

to be 59 years old nation, 

given our record of military 

interregnum since 

independence in October 

1960. But it is commendable 

measure of the depth of our 

growth and development as 

a nation. Indeed, it is a 

graphic illustration of my 

personal answer of ‘yes’ to the 

question of the day: Is 

Democracy Making Life 

Better in Africa? 

"My answer to this question 

is a distinct and resounding 

yes. I look around and see 

that a good number of 

participants at this 

symposium have lived the 

history of Nigeria either on 

account of age or by learning 

and might be tempted to 

conclude that my answer is a 

contradiction in terms. Why? 

Because I was a General in 

the Armed Forces of the 

Federal Republic of Nigeria, 

which had a record of 

interventions in governance. 

"I accidentally became 

head of state by virtue of the 

power considered to issue 

forth from the barrel of a gun, 

which is very undemocratic. 

And because no general 

elections held during my 

nine-year, two terms plus one 

year grace of tenure as 

military head of state for 

overstaying my term, not 

because I did not want but 

because as the press put it, 

that I reneged on my promise 

to do so. 

How and why we 

aborted first coup 

"To take this position is to 

miss the important point that 

governance by the military is 

not necessarily antidemocracy. 

While I was on 

board a ship, MV Aureol, 

headed for Nigeria from 

Liverpool in December 1965 

during which about three 

coups dé’tat took place 

successively within two weeks 

in West Africa, my copassengers 

asked if I thought 

another coup was possible in 

Nigeria. 

"I initially discountenanced 

the idea before I 

philosophically admitted the 

possibility but insisted that the 

few patriotic ones among my 

colleagues in the army would 

do our best to ensure the 

return of democracy. 

‘’This is the mindset of a 

democrat even in uniform. 

Soldiers by training, serve as 

protectors of democracy, 

which by its basic definition 

remains government of the 

people by the people and for 

the people. By the time we 

arrived Nigeria, the January 

13 coup took place, I joined 

forces with other patriotic 

officers to ensure that the coup 

did not succeed in Lagos and 

in most parts of the country." 

Keeps mum on why 

he reneged on 

return to civil rule 

in 1976 

"So what went wrong and 

why did I ‘renege on my 

promise to return to civil rule? 

Answers to that question are 

outside the immediate scope 

of today’s event but suffice it 

to say that in 20 years, 

Nigerians, military and 

civilians alike, have continued 

to act in ways that make 

military incursions into politics 

both unnecessary and 

unattractive regardless of the 

challenges of our democracy. 

‘’By extension, it can safely 

be said that by our collective 

resolve to continue to vote 

and ensure that our votes 

count, we all agreed that there 

are inherent benefits in 

entrenching democracy. The 

Nigerian example, again, by 

extension, has continued to 

spread across Africa, thus 

solidifying the tenets of 

democracy. 

"One sure thing, though, is 

that democracy cannot be 

strengthened in the absence 

of enduring structures like 

the judiciary, the legislature, 

the public service, among 

others, but the strongest I 

consider being the public 

service. I speak from 

experience. 

We need long 

period of 

democratic stability 

for growth —Utomi 

In his welcome remarks 

entitled: ‘’A Harvest of 

Paradoxes,’’ Professor 

Utomi, who noted that 

poverty was growing in 

Africa and Nigeria on 

account of bad leadership, 

and sit-tight leaders who 

plunder the countries’ 

resources among others, said 

there is still need to deepen 

democracy in Nigeria. 

‘’If Africa is to embrace 

development, it must enjoy 

a lengthy period of political 

stability that is garnished 

with integration into global 

economy. This opportunity 

can come if the continent 

subscribed to liberal 

democracy in all its 

ramifications,’’ he said. 

Free press, 

independent 

judiciary, 

legislature, key to 

virile democracy 

— Weah 

On his part, President 

Weah, who was represented 

by Liberian Minister of 

Information, Culture and 

Tourism, Mr. Eugene 

Nagbe, spoke on the 

"Imperatives for making 

democracy work for the 

people - The Liberian 

Experience." 

He said: ‘’Democracy can 

only work for the people if 

we create and strengthen 

institutions of the state 

apparatus to ensure good 

governance" and take care of 

young people because "the 

message inadvertently 

communicated most times to 

most young people by the 

society around them is that 

they are not needed. 

Democracy creates 

opportunities, 

possibilities 

— Kukah 

Kukah, who also stressed 

the need to entrench 

democracy, said it was 

unfortunate that many 

dictators were now claiming 

to be democrats. 

He picked holes in the 

comment attributed to former 

US President, Barack 

Obama, that Africa needed 

strong institutions and not 

strong men, noting that strong 

men in US and some parts of 

the world had helped to 

enthrone strong institutions 

and wondered what 

Nigerian strongmen did with 

their strength. 

He said democracy 

remained the best form of 

government because it 

reduces everyone, 

irrespective of status and 

class to one vote per person 

and offers opportunity for the 

poor to get to the top. 

Urging people not to expect 

much from leaders, he said 

democracy was not meant to 

be about physical 

infrastructure, rather 

‘’infrastructure of the brain is 

the most important 

infrastructure." 

Vote me, I won’t change, 

Buhari tells Nigerians 

By Peter Duru & 

Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

A BUJA—PRESIDENT 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

yesterday, promised to 

remain steadfast in 

delivering effective 

leadership, if re-elected in the 

February 16 presidential 

election. 

President Buhari, who 

stated this at All Progressives 

Congress, APC, presidential 

campaign in Makurdi, the 

Benue State capital, assured 

that he would not change 

from what he is. 

“I assure you, I am not 

going to change. I am going 

to be consistent, I will remain 

steadfast. Anybody who 

abuses trust will be exposed 

and dispossessed," he said. 

He said with the crowd at 

the Aper Aku stadium to 

identify with his re-election 

bid, he was convinced that 

Benue people believed in 

what his administration was 

doing to transform Nigeria. 

Buhari said the country had 

made tremendous success in 

improving the economy as 

well as tackling the 

challenge of insecurity in 

parts of the country and the 

fight against corruption. 

He said: “I stand before you 

to thank you most sincerely 

for defying the weather and 

standing for hours to come 

and see and listen to us. I am 

very grateful. 

“I am convinced that you 

believe in what we are doing 

and that you stand to support 

us even further. When I came 

to look for your vote in 2015, I 

promised three fundamental 

issues based on our party 

manifesto. Security, economy 

and fighting corruption. We 

will do roads, rail ways and 

provide electricity with 

monies recovered from 

looters.” 

The President also stated 

that his government would 

dispose all assets recovered 

from corrupt Nigerians and 

plough the proceeds into the 

economy. 

He promised to remain 

steadfast in his fight against 

corruption, stressing that his 

government was winning the 

war. 

Buhari also noted that his 

administration had recorded 

successes and delivered on 

most of the promises.


EFCC seeks bench warrant against ex-NIA 

boss, wife 

L Economic 

AGOS—THE 

and 

Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC, is 

seeking a bench warrant 

against the former Director 

General of the National 

Intelligence Agency, NIA, 

Ambassador Ayodele Oke 

and his wife, Folashade. 

This followed after their 

arraignment failed to hold 

again yesterday, as the antigraft 

agency said it was yet 

to serve the charges on the 

two defendants. 

At the Federal High 

Court Sitting in Lagos 

yesterday, EFCC 

Prosecutor, Rotimi 

Oyedepo, told the trial 

Judge, Justice 

Chukwujekwu Aneke, that 

since the commission was 

finding it difficult to secure 

the attendance of the two 

defendants in court, it 

intended to make an oral 

application for the issuance 

of a bench warrant for their 

arrest. 

Justice Aneke told the 

EFCC prosecutor that he 

was yet to see the case file 

of the matter and would 

need time to go through 

same before entertaining 

any application. 

The judge then 

THE 

Progressive 

Impact Organization 

for Community 

Development, PRIMORG, 

has called for a more 

comprehensive approach 

to improve popular 

participation in the 

Nigeria’s democratic 

process. 

In the report, which 

incorporates findings from 

field observation and a 

survey in the six North 

VISIT: Governor, State of Osun, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola (2nd right), his Deputy, 

Mr. Benedict Alabi (2nd left), 1st Vice President, University of Lagos Alumni 

Association, UNILAG, Chief Fassy Yusuf (right), and Public Relations Officer, 

PRO, Mrs. Regina Ogbodo, during a courtesy visit to the governor at the 

Governor's Office, Osogbo, yesterday. 

adjourned the case to today 

for EFCC to move its oral 

application seeking a 

bench warrant against Oke 

and his wife 

The EFCC had instituted 

a four-count charge against 

Oke and Folashade. 

Some of the charges 

against them read: ‘’That 

you, Amb. Ayodele Oke, 

Mrs. Folasade Ayodele 

Oke on or about the 12th 

central states of Nigeria 

and Abuja, the group said 

the number of registered 

voters as released by INEC, 

compared to the population 

of citizens who qualified for 

registration was not a good 

report for a democracy that 

thrives on popular 

participation. 

It noted that the 

Indepedent National 


INEC, National 

Orientation Agency, NOA, 

political parties and other 

day of April 2017 in Lagos 

concealed the sum of $43, 

449, 947, 000 property of 

the Federal Government 

of Nigeria in Flat 7B, No. 

16 Osborne Road, 

Osborne Towers, Ikoyi 

Lagos, which sum you 

reasonably ought to have 

known formed part of 

proceeds of an unlawful 

act to wit: criminal breach 

of trust and you thereby 

Group calls for effective approach to citizens’ 

engagement 

I'll attract federal projects — Delta 

North APC candidate, Uboh 

THE Delta North 

senatorial candidate 

of the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, Mrs Doris 

Uboh, has declared that she 

will win the February 16 

election. 

Speaking through her 

media consultant, 

Onyekachukwu Isaalah, in 

a statement, Uboh said the 

incumbent, Senator, Peter 

Nwaoboshi, of the Peoples 

Democratic Party (PDP), 

would be defeated. 

Isaalah told reporters 

yesterday in Kwale, 

Ndokwa West Local 

Government, that the 

Anioma people would vote 

Nwaoboshi out over his 

poor representation. 

The director recalled that 

the senator once boasted 

that he was foisted on the 

people by a former 

governor. 

He said: ‘’It means he 

was not voted for by the 

people, and that 

underscores the electoral 

irrelevance of the Delta 

North people to him. For 

this “insult”, the people will 

reject him at the poll.” 

Isaalah noted that since 

APC candidates were 

running a campaign based 

on integrity, the people 

would never back anyone 

alleged to be corrupt. 

The media aide said Mrs. 

Uboh would give the 

people quality 

representation, change the 

narrative of the district, and 

ensure the people were the 

focal point of her tour of 

duty in the Senate. 

The candidate’s focus, 

Isaalah said, would be to 

empower youths and 

ensure meaningful welfare 

and care for the elderly, 

adding that Uboh would 

attract federal projects to 

the district, and ensure her 

constituency efforts were on 

ground for the people 

to benefit from. 

He said: As a seasoned 

politician, Uboh would 

ensure the district, being 

an oil and gas producing 

area, got the rightful 

place in the polity.'' 

stakeholders, including the 

media, needed to work 

harder and develop 

templates to be able to 

mobilise more Nigerians for 

involvement in elections 

and other democratic 

processes. 

The report specifically 

pointed out that the 

schedule for the release of 

PVCs after registration was 

not good enough to promote 

the encouragement of 

would-be voters as over 74% 

of survey participants were 

not satisfied that it took 

months for INEC to deliver 

PVCs after registration. 

The report, however, 

revealed that nearly 80% of 

the survey participants are 

willing to vote in the 2019 

elections, a clear indication 

that all the efforts by INEC 

and the stakeholders to 

mobilize Nigerians to be 

interested in voting might 

resonate positively in a 

relatively larger number of 

voters in the coming 

elections, compared to 

previous elections. 

A summary of the 

findings revealed that 

81.4% of respondents have 

registered to vote in the 

forthcoming elections, 

while 17% were yet to 

register. 

For instance, the report 

said a little above 1.6% were 

indifferent, adding that 

majority of Nigerians are 

willing to take part in the 

forthcoming February 2019 

general elections in 

Nigeria. 

However, some of the 

impending challenges 

likely to be faced by 

prospective registrant may 

be the reasons for the 

remaining 18% who were 

yet to register as voters. 

committed an offence 

contrary to Section 15 (2) (a) 

of the Money Laundering 

(Prohibition) (Amendment) 

Act 2012 and punishable 

under Section 15(3) of the 

same Act. 

‘’That you Amb. Ayodele 

Oke and Mrs. Folasade 

Ayodele Oke between 25th 

day of August 2015 and 2nd 

day of September 2015 in 

Lagos, within the 

jurisdiction of this court 

indirectly used the sum of 

$1, 658, 000 property of the 

Federal Government of 

Nigeria to acquire Flat 7B, 

No. 16 Osborne Road, 

Osborne Towers, Ikoyi 

Lagos which sum you 

reasonably ought to have 

known formed part of 

proceeds of an unlawful act 

to wit: criminal breach of 

trust and you thereby 

committed an offence 

contrary to Section 15 (2) 

(d) of the Money 

Laundering (Prohibition) 

(Amendment) Act 2012 and 

punishable under Section 

15(3) of the same Act. 

‘’That you Amb. Ayodele 

Oke and Mrs. Folasade 

Ayodele Oke between 25th 

day of August 2015 and 2nd 

day of September 2015 in 

Lagos, within the 

jurisdiction of this court 

directly retained $160, 777, 

136. 85 property of the 

Federal Government.'' 

POLLS: We'll withdraw police 

personnel attached to some 

VIPs — IGP 

By Joseph Erunke 

ABUJA—THE acting 

Inspector General of 

Police, Mohammed Adamu, 

has hinted that police 

personel attached to some 

personalities and those 

currently on non-essential 

duties will be withdrawn. 

Adamu said the decision 

to withdraw perssonnel in 

the Special Protection Unit, 

SPU and the Counter 

Terrorism Unit, CTU, from 

where they had been, was 

to ensure full mobilisation 

and deployment of 

perssonnel for election 

duties. 

Speaking during a 

meeting with SPU and CTU 

commanders in Abuja 

yesterday, the police chief 

tasked the officers to exhibit 

what he called the ”highest 

level of professionalism, 

given that their conducts 

will be subjected to national 

and international scrutiny. 

“In order to ensure full 

mobilisation and 

deployment of perssonnel 

for these duties, we shall in 

the coming days prune 

down or order withdrawal 

of SPU and CTU operatives 

that are currently on nonessential 

duties, 

including those attached 

to certain categories of 

personalities,” he said. 

MR Zubairu Muazu 

was born on 

December 12, 1960, and 

has served the force for 30 

years. He is reputed to be 

a dogged crime fighter and 

abhors every facet of 

corruption. 

He enlisted into the 

Nigeria Police Force on 

March 15, 1988, and was 

trained in the Nigeria 

Police Academy from 

March 1988 to August 1989. 

He served in 

Administration, Training, 

and Criminal Investigation 

including being a 

Divisional Police Officer. 

‘Only review of privatisation’ll revive 

power sector’ 

PRESIDENT of Good 

Governance Initiative, 

GGI, Mr. Festus Mbisiogu 

has backed the calls for the 

review of the privatization 

of the power sector by the 

Nigeria Labour Congress, 

NLC, saying it is the only 

option that could lead to 

the revitalization of the 

sector. 

Mbisiogu, who said this 

in a chat with newsmen 

yesterday said the lingering 

controversy between the 

Generating Companies, 

GENCOs, Distributing 

Companies, DISCOs, and 

the Federal Government 

would pave the way for 

efficiency, if the 

privatization terms were 

revisited. 

The police boss, while assuring 

officers and men that 

will be deployed for election 

duties that adequate provisions 

had been made for 

their welfare, however, 

charged them to reciprocate 

by exhibiting highest 

level of of professionalism. 

He said: “In performing 

your election duties, let me 

assure you that adequate 

provisions have been made 

for your welfare. In return, 

we expect the highest 

possible level of 

professionalism from you, 

knowing that your conducts 

will be subjected to national 

and international scrutiny. 

“I am confident that you 

have the professional depth, 

strength of character and 

strong sense of commitment 

to duty which are needed to 

guarantee your optimal 

performance and the 

success of the exercise.’’ 

He explained that the 

CTU was established as a 

specially trained strike force 

with the capacity to address 

the threat of terrorism and 

sundry insurgency threats 

to national security, while 

the SPU was a police 

detachment that was 

dedicated to the provision of 

specialised security escort 

duties for high-risk 

individuals and corporate 

organisations that may be 

under security threat. 

Meet new CP Lagos State, Zubairu 

Muazu 

By Emma Nnadozie, 

Crime Editor 

The NLC had called for 

the reversal of power sector 

privatisation due to what it 

called “chronic failures’’ to 

deliver quality power 

supply to Nigerians. 

However, Mbisiogu said: 

“I welcome the call by 

Labour Congress and I see 

it as one of the ways to 

resolve the logjam we have 

been experiencing in our 

power sector which has 

turned into a nightmare. 

“Only last week, I held a 

press conference in which 

I noted that the objectives 

of letting the Generating 

Companies (GenCos) and 

the Distribution Companies 

(DisCos) privatization to 

fully take charge of the 

power sector in Nigeria 

have not achieved the 

desired results.'' 

.Muazu 

An experienced detective 

having served several 

years at the Criminal 

Investigations Department, 

CID, of the Force and the 

Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, 

EFCC, Muazu specialised 

in the investigation of 

fraud, economic and 

financial crimes, corruption 

and money laundering. 

An experienced law 

enforcement trainer, he 

served at the Nigeria Police 

Central Planning and 

Training Unit, Police Staff 

College, Jos. Also, he was 

involved in local police 

training and development 

at United Nations Mission 

in Bosnia (1998) and 

Kosovo (1999) in 

collaboration with the 

OSCE and other agencies. 

He also served at 

Nigeria’s Economic and 

Financial Crimes 

Commission Training and 

Research Institute as an 

Assistant Director incharge 

of Curriculum 

Development and 

Planning.


SEC shuts down illegal capital market operator in Kano 

By Nkiruka Nnorom 

SECURITIES 

and 

E x c h a n g e 

Commission, SEC, has 

sealed off the premises of 

Dantata Success and 

Profitable Company, Kano, 

for carrying out investment 

operations that falls within 

fund management without 

registration. 

SEC, in a statement, also 

said the promoters have 

been arrested. 

INDUCTION: From left—Chief Operating Officer, Egbin Power Plant, Mr. Paul Harriman; 

graduating student, Charles Ndonah; Group Managing Director, Sahara Power Group Plc, Mr Kola Adesina; 

another graduating student, Omojola Olanike, and Director General, National Power Training Institute of 

Nigeria, NAPTIN, Mr. Bolaji Ahmed-Nagode, during NAPTIN/Sahara Power Graduating Engineering 

Induction in Lagos. PHOTOS: Akeem Salau. 

Bayelsa REC warns politicians 

against inducement of voters 

By Emem Idio 

YENAGOA—AHEAD of 

elections, the Resident 

Electoral Commissioner, 

REC, in charge of Bayelsa 

Achieftain of People’s 

Democratic Party, PDP, 

in Ika South Local 

Government Area of Delta 

Sate, Dr. Chukwuma 

Nwaonicha, has called on 

eligible voters in the state, 

who have not collected their 

Permanent Voter’s Cards, 

PVCs, to do so immediately. 

He said: “Get your PVCs, 

as the best appreciations 

Deltans have for Okowa 

this year is to vote 

massively for his re-election 

to enable him continue the 

good works he is doing for 

us. A vote for Okowa and 

other PDP candidates is a 

vote for progress and better 

Delta State.”. 

Nwaonicha, who spoke in 

Agbor, said the possession 

of PVCs by eligible voters 

was very important as it was 

the tool needed to exercise 

one’s franchise, pointing 

out that those without PVC 

should get theirs now, as 

the Independent National 


INEC, has fixed February 

8 as the last day for PVCs 

According to it, “they do 

not have registration with 

SEC and the Commission 

has powers, according to 

Section 13 of ISA 2007, to 

shut down any company 

carrying out capital market 

activities without due 

registration. 

“Nigerian laws provide 

that business activities in 

the country has to be 

regulated, in this case SEC 

is supposed to regulate 

them.” 

State, Pastor Tom Udoh, has 

warned politicians in the 

state against inducement of 

voters and urged them to 

play according to the rules. 

The REC, who called on 

collection. 

He said: “The weapon of 

any eligible voter is his or 

her PVC. This has become 

a clarion call because we 

have a huge and serious 

task ahead of us this year: 

the re-election of Governor 

Ifeanyi Okowa and also 

achieving victory for the 

presidential candidate of 

our great party, Alhaji Atiku 

Abubakar, as well as all the 

candidates of the party for 

the national and state 

house of assemblies.” 

... as Okowa Team 

preaches dividends 

Meanwhile, Director 

General of Team Hilary for 

Okowa, Engr. Dan Ossai, 

said re-electing Governor 

Okowa will bring more 

dividends of democracy to 

the people of the state. 

He stated this when the 

Team met with Progressive 

Forum Support group, to 

intensify campaign for 

Governor Okowa and all 

PDP candidates in the 

forthcoming election. 

On Dantata Success' 

mode of operation, SEC 

said: “The company solicits 

funds from people by 

enticing them with returns 

of monthly interest of 

between 25 percent to 50 

percent. 

“They also indicated a 

registration period of 

February 5 to 15 in one of 

their numerous notices, 

directing all prospective 

customers to make deposits 

into their bank accounts. 

the political class to move 

away from the era of vote 

buying, as it is was denting 

the country’s political 

process, also advised the 

people of the state to resist 

Ika residents urged to vote for Okowa 

Engr. Ossai, who is also 

Senior Special Assistant to 

Governor Okowa on Project 

Monitoring, charged 

members yet to obtain their 

PVCs to get theirs because 

“elections are not won by 

wishful thinking but by 

voting, the civic 

responsibility to citizens.” 

Also, Chief Sunday 

Enebeli, Chairman of 

Progressive Forum, 

commended Ossai for his 

effort in making Obi-Edike 

quarters get dividends of 

democracy. 

He added: “We have 

decided to stand behind 

Engr. Dan Ossai in reelecting 

Governor Okowa 

back to office because we 

can testify that Governor 

Okowa is truly the people’s 

governor.” 

Also speaking, Oji Chidi, 

Co-ordinator for Team 

Hilary for Okowa, Ukwuani 

chapter, who also doubles 

as Councillor for Ward 4, 

thanked members of the 

Forum for supporting 

Okowa. 

“The company sells its 

forms to prospective 

investors according to their 

investment plans, ranging 

from N1,000 to N3,000. The 

minimum amount 

investable is N50,000 while 

the maximum is N5,000,000 

“The investment period of 

the scheme is pegged at a 

minimum of 30 working 

days to a maximum period 

of 12 months with offer of 

interest rates on short and 

medium term basis.” 

the temptation to sell their 

votes as they are entitled to 

their independent choices. 

Udoh, who disclosed this 

to newsmen in his office 

shortly after resuming duty 

as the new Bayelsa INEC- 

REC, said 85 percent of the 

Permanent Voter’s Cards, 

PVCs, had been distributed 

in the state, adding that the 

commission will ensure that 

the remaining PVCs are 

distributed before deadline. 

Udoh, flanked by the 

Administrative Secretary, 

Mr. Leberi Sampson, said: 

“The political class should 

allow the people to vote 

their choices without 

inducing them with cash or 

asked for proof of who they 

cast their votes for. 

“I want to tell our 

politicians to move away 

from the era of votes buying 

as it is denting the image of 

our democracy. I want to reassure 

the people of 

Bayelsa State that 

everyone’s vote will count 

in this election. 

“We are making 

arrangements with boats 

owners association for their 

services and so far, we have 

hired over 300 boats to 

transport our officials and 

logistics to the hinterlands 

to make sure that all votes 

count particularly in the 

riverine part of the state.” 

Killings in Zamfara: 

Police, DSS should quiz Yari, 

says APGA gov candidate 

By Dirisu Yakubu 

A 

B U J A — 

GOVERNORSHIP 

candidate of All 

Progressives Grand 

Alliance, APGA, in 

Zamfara State, Alhaji 

Sani Shinkafi, has called 

on the Police, Department 

of State Services, DSS, 

and other security 

agencies to invite 

Governor Abdulaziz Yari 

for questioning, following 

increasing spates of 

killings in the state. 

The governorship 

candidate, who made the 

call in Abuja yesterday, 

said the governor’s recent 

utterances were capable of 

undermining national 

security if left unchecked. 

He also accused 

Governor Yari of 

threatening to scuttle the 

polls in Zamfara, a threat, 

he stressed, has 

culminated in increasing 

hostilities few days to the 

elections. 

His words: “We demand 

MEND backs Buhari, 

warns oil assets vandals 

By Etop Ekanem 

MOVEMENT for the 

Emancipation of 

the Niger Delta, MEND, 

has directed “affiliate 

militant groups to support 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari at this year’s 

polls.” 

According to Jomo 

Gbomo, the group’s 

spokesman, in a 

statement yesterday, 

“although MEND didn’t 

officially accept the 

Federal Government’s 

amnesty programme, 

President Buhari has, till 

date, kept faith with a 

programme that has 

positively impacted on 

youth development in the 

region. 

that Yari be invited by 

security agencies to 

explain his threat as 

would have been the case 

in civilised societies. 

“Brutal killings have 

been going on in Zamfara 

State for quite some time 

now and with the recent 

attacks on our people, 

which resulted in the 

killing of many people 

including the elder sister 

of a serving senator. 

“In the past, Governor 

Yari had threatened a 

particular APC Primary 

Election Committee 

Chairman with dire 

consequences if he dares 

step his foot in Zamfara 

State, just because he 

wasn’t satisfied with the 

performance of the person 

in previous exercise. 

“During the crisis, he 

had also threatened APC 

National Chairman, 

Adams Oshiomhole, in a 

similar fashion. These 

unguarded utterances 

poses serious threats to 

security.” 

“Amidst other 

development efforts 

stalled by funding 

problems partly 

occasioned by oil assets 

vandalism, it is our view 

that President Buhari’s reelection 

bid be supported 

to enable him 

demonstrate avowed love 

for the Niger Delta. 

“This peaceful approach 

is not cowardice and we 

warn militant groups to 

shun vandalism of oil 

facilities. 

“In giving this support, 

we know the world is 

watching and hopes that 

Buhari will reciprocate 

rather than fritter away 

this sufficient goodwill 

freely given for his reelection.” 

CUPP threatens to pull out 

of peace pact if Egbetokun 

emerges Kwara CP 

By Joseph Erunke 

A BUJA—THE 

Coalition of United 

Political Parties, CUPP, has 

alleged that the Federal 

Government plans 

deploying Deputy 

Commissioner of Police 

Kayode Egbetokun, as 

Commissioner of Police in 

Kwara State. 

CUPP, therefore, 

threatened that it may no 

longer participate in the 

final peace accord signing 

being arranged by the 

National Peace 

Committee. 

CUPP’s spokesman, 

Ikenga Ugochinyere, in a 

statement yesterday, 

alleged that the acting 

Inspector General of 

Police, Mohammed 

Adamu, “is set to, among 

other politically-tainted 

postings, announce the 

appointment of Deputy 

Commissioner of Police 

Kayode Egbetokun, a 

former CSO to Bola 

Tinubu, as Commissioner 

in charge of Kwara State.”


Ayade presents N1.04trn 

budget estimate 

By Emma Una 

C ALABAR— 

GOVERNOR Ben 

Ayade of Cross River State, 

yesterday, presented a 

budget proposal of 

N1,043,967,000,000 for the 

2019 fiscal year to the state 

House of Assembly. 

Ayade who tagged it 

‘Budget of Quabalistic 

Densification,’ said it will 

migrate the state from third 

world to a first world by 

transforming the 

infrastructure and economy 

to meet the expectations of 

the people. 

He said, “It is a magical 

budget of concentrating all 

of our ideas and ideals into 

a cumulative action point. 

The budget seems to 

address the fundamental 

thrust of our governance 

because it focuses “on the 

realisation of the core 

mandate of this 

government which is 

shifting Cross River State 

from third world to first 

world within eight years.” 

Ayade dedicated 30 per 

cent of the budget estimate 

to infrastructure, saying 

that the 2018 budget 

achieved 74 percent 

performance and assured 

that the 2019 budget will 

exceed that of last year in 

realising the expectations 

of majority of the people. 

“This budget is in 

tandem with our strategic 

long term plan of 

industrialising every local 

government area and 

connecting them to the 

super highway, serving as 

the main nexus that 

connects the industrial hub 

and serves as the 

evacuation corridor and 

empties into the Bakassi 

Deep Seaport for export of 

raw materials. 

That is the overall 

executive master plan of 

my government to create 

a new Cross River State 

that is industry-based and 

draws its raw materials 

from our natural resource 

base.” 

US not interested in candidates, 

parties, but peaceful election 

—Consul General 

By Jimitota 

Onoyume 

WARRI—THE United 

States of American 

government has said it was 

not interested in any 

candidate or political 

parties in Nigeria’s coming 

general polls, stressing that 

all it wanted was a peaceful 

and smooth election 

exercise. 

Consul General of the 

United states Embassy in 

Lagos, Mr John Bray, who 

spoke at the palace of the 

Olu of Warri, Delta State, 

noted that he was in the oil 

rich city as part of steps to 

spread the message of 

peace in the Niger Delta 

region ahead the general 

election. 

He enjoined the people 

to shun violence during 

the elections, adding that 

effort should be made by 

all stakeholders to ensure 

a free and fair elections. 

The Olu of Warri, 

Ogiame Ikenwoli thanked 

the government of United 

States for preaching peace 

in the country, adding that 

as traditional rulers, they 

will always harp on the 

value of peace before their 

subjects during and after 


Dickson urges Nigerians 

to defend votes, resist 

intimidation 

By Samuel 

Oyadongha 

Y ENAGOA— 

GOVERNOR 

Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa 

State, yesterday, said the 

state will not succumb to 

any form of intimidation or 

harassment from the 

Federal Government. 

He spoke at a Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP 

Women Town Hall Meeting 

In Yenagoa, with the wives 

of the PDP Presidential and 

Vice Presidential flagbearers, 

Dr. Jennifer Atiku- 

Abubakar and Mrs. 

Margaret Obi, in attendance. 

Dickson in a statement 

by his Special Adviser, 

Media Relations, Mr. 

Fidelis Soriwei, said that 

Bayelsa was not just like 

any other state but the 

headquarters of the Ijaw 

nation. 

He said Bayelsa became 

the headquarters of the 

PDP in Nigeria since the 

party lost control of the 

Federal Government in 

2015, being the only state 

to achieve the feat of 

winning re-election in a 

hotly contested 

gubernatorial race. 

Earlier in their separate 

speeches, the wives of the 

PDP Presidential and Vice 

Presidential candidate, Dr. 

Jennifer Atiku-Abubakar 

and Mrs. Margaret Obi, 

expressed delight at the 

colourful reception. 

Rivers APC: A-Court stays judgment on 

delisting of APC candidates from ballot 

•Justice creeping in —Cole 

•Too early to celebrate, PDP tells APC 

By Egufe 

Yafugborhi 

PORT HARCOURT— 

THE Appeal Court in 

Port Harcourt, Rivers State, 

has stayed the judment of 

the Federal High Court 

sitting in Port Harcourt, 

barring the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, in Rivers 

State from contesting the 

2019 general election, this 

time in the case between 

the People’s Democratic 

Party, PDP, and APC. 

The three man panel 

Appeal Court led by Justice 

A. Gumel said the ruling, 

yesterday, was informed by 

urgency of the matter, just 

as it rejected the application 

by Ferdinand Obi, SAN, 

counsel to the PDP, asking 

the Justices to withdraw 

from the matter. 

The court insisted it would 

continue to hear the case 

since the President of the 

Court of Appeal was yet to 

respond to same request on 

discontinuity in a letter 

written by the PDP on the 

matter. 

The Appeal Court, 

however, granted the 

application of the PDP 

counsel to withdraw from 

the matter on ground that 

further participation in the 

case would be of no benefit 

to his client. 

The court adjourned till 

February 13, to hear 

pending motions on the 

matter after hearing 

applications in three 

appeals arising from the 

matter for which the PDP 

went to court asking that 

APC should not present 

candidates in the coming 

election. 

The lower court had on 

the substantive matter, ruled 

in favour of the PDP. 

The court also adjourned 

to today for ruling on the 

application brought by the 

All Progressives Grand 

Alliance, APGA, to be 

joined in the case between 

Tonye Cole and Senator 

Magnus Abe. 

Reacting to the ruling, 

factional governorship flag 

bearer for Rivers APC, Mr 

Tonye Cole, through the 

Spokesman for his 

campaign organisation, 

Ogbonna Nwuke, urged 

Rivers people to be calm 

and focus on success of the 

APC in the coming 

elections. 

“We are pleased that a 

sense of justice has 

prevailed in righting a clear 

injustice designed at 

depriving the electorate of 

the freedom to choose who 

they desire to lead them,” 

Cole said. 

Not yet uhuru for 

APC —PDP 

PDP through its Rivers 

Chairman, Felix Obuah, 

said: “The Appeal Court 

stay of execution does not 

in any way give the APC 

edge over PDP in the 

forthcoming elections. 

“It’s not yet uhuru for 

APC. Our advice is for them 

not to jubilation yet as the 

end result might be suicidal 

considering the plethora of 

cases before the Appeal 

Court and the Supreme 

Court respectively.” 

Focus on 2019 elections, Wike tells international 

community 

forthcoming general 

RIVERS State governor, 

Mr Nyesom Wike, has 

called on the international 

community to focus on the 


election to stop the alleged 

planned manipulation by 

the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, Federal 

Government. 

This is as the British 

Government said that it 

expects the 2019 general 

election to be peaceful, free 

and fair. 

Wike said it was 

incumbent on the 

international community, 

especially the United 

Kingdom, United States of 

America and the European 

Union to repeat the 2015 

feat when they monitored 

all the processes. 

He spoke, yesterday, at 

the Government House, 

Port Harcourt when he 

granted audience to the 

British 

High 

Commissioner to Nigeria, 

Catriona Laing. 

He said: “We appeal to 

the international 

community to focus on the 

AWARD: Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Foreign Investment Network (FIN), 

Michael Dragoyevich (left) and the Managing Director, Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Trading, Inuwa Waya, during the conferment 

of the Foreign Investment Network (FIN) Oil & Gas Outstanding Personality 

award on Waya at the Petroleum Industry Award Night in Abuja. 

election. This is not the first 

time the international 

community will be doing 

this. In 2015, the United 

Kingdom, European Union 

and the United States 

actively monitored the 

elections.” 

Noting that that the 

government and people of 

Rivers State were 

committed to peaceful 

polls, Governor Wike 

charged the United 

Kingdom to prevail on 



INEC and security 

agencies not to manipulate 


“Talk to INEC and the 

Police to allow Nigerians to 

vote freely and for their 

votes to count. Any attempt 

to manipulate the elections, 

will make the issue to be 

out of control of the people,” 

he said. 

Earlier, British High 

Commissioner to Nigeria, 

Catriona Laing encouraged 

all stakeholders to work 

towards peaceful and 

credible polls. 

She said she Rivers State 

was important to the 

country, pointing out that 

peaceful polls in the state 

would have positive 

multiplier effect. 

Electoral observers, CSOs demand arrest, 

prosecution of 2015 electoral offenders 

A 

coalition of civil society 

groups has raised the 

alarm over alleged stock 

piling of arms and the 

rising tension leading up 

to the 2019 election in the 

Niger Delta region and 

Bayelsa State in particular. 

The groups which 

addressed newsmen in 

Lagos, lamented that 

nearly three years after 

submission of a report on 

electoral violence to the 

relevant authorities, none of 

them, including 



INEC, the Federal and 

Bayelsa State governments 

and other relevant security 

agencies as well as the 

international community 

had taken it upon 

themselves to act on the 

report, which detailed the 

atrocities and extreme right 

violations, witnessed 

during the election. 

Mr Bayo Obatughase, 

Deputy National 

President Campaign for 

Democracy, Femi 

Lawson and Ologun 

Ayodeji of Coalition 

Against Electoral Violence, 

and Isaac Atani of 

Save Bayelsa/Save Niger 

Delta Group, said they 

took it upon themselves, 

to embark on a post-election 

assessment of the situation 

which eventually led 

to the production of a detailed 

report on the election 

violence in the 2015/ 

2016 Bayelsa governorship 

election

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 — 13 

Kwara'll never bow to Lagos godfather, 

Saraki boasts 

By Demola 

Akinyemi 

I LORIN—Senate 

President, Dr. Bukola 

Saraki, yesterday, exuded 

confidence that there is no 

way Kwara will bow to Lagos 

godfathers, who he said are 

desperate to annex the state 

through the forthcoming 

general elections. 

He said those who 

dumped the political dynasty 

and formed majority of those 

in the opposition party did 

so because of selfish 

interests, having been asked 

to allow others to also benefit 

from the elective and political 

appointments they were 

occupying. 

Saraki, speaking during a 

rally for Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, candidates in 

Fufu, Danialu- 

Agbabiaka,Tanke wards, all 

in Ilorin South local council 

of the state said the political 

dynasty in the state had 

remained solid and more 

united now than ever such 

that it will not give way to 

such move during the 

approaching elections. 

His words: “Our political 

structures are intact and have 

advanced the needs of the 

people of the state that no 

one from Lagos can retrieve 

from us. 

“My people in Kwara are 

solidly behind me and have 

resolved to reject Lagos 

politicians that are planning 

to annex Kwara for Lagos 

through the elections.” 

Saraki, who described 

those behind O to Ge 

movement in All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, in the state as selfish 

politicians, noted that most 

of them have benefited 

immensely from the political 

dynasty. 

He said: ”Most of them 

have occupied positions like 

special assistants, special 

advisers, commissioners 

among others and they 

decided to leave here 

because of their selfish 

agenda. 

“My offence is that I asked 

them to give others in the 

political dynasty chance to 

take their time but I know 

that the people will show 

where they are during the 

polls.” 

Saraki, who used the 

occasion to call on the people 

of the local government area 

to vote for the presidential 

candidate of PDP, Alhaji 

Abubakar Atiku, his vice 

presidential candidate, Mr. 

Peter Obi, and all the 

candidates of the party in the 

state, said PDP government, 

if voted into office, would 

address youth 

unemployment and other 

infrastructural development 

in the state. 

He said PDP remained the 

only party in the country that 

has programmes capable of 

bringing new lease of life to 

the people of the country. 

He noted further that the 

APC-led Federal 

Government had failed 

Nigerians and the people of 

the state and urged the 

electorate to vote them out 

and bring much needed 

growth to the populace. 

Also speaking, PDP 

governorship candidate, 

Razak Atunwa, urged the 

people to reject the seasonal 

politicians who are hell bent 

to annex the state for Lagos. 

He said the affected 

politcianns had no interest of 

Kwara at heart but wanted to 

annex the state for their 

political godfather in Lagos. 

Atunwa promised to 

provide social infrastructure 

and improve the well-being 

of the rural area in the state, 

if elected. 

FORUM: From left; Mr Chris Uwaje, Chairman of ocassion/Chief 

Executive Officer, Connect Technologies'; Mr Felix Duke, Performing 

Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria, PMAN, Executive 

Officer, and Mr Don Pedro Aganbi, Founder/ Coordinator, Nollywood 

Economic Outlook, during a stakeholders forum on Nollywood 

Economic Outlook, Broadband, Digital Content, and Creative 

Industry, in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi. 

Boko Haram attacks worsen since Nov; 59,000 

displaced, more towns captured — IOM 

I NTERNATIONAL 

Organisation for 

Migration, IOM, has said an 

upsurge in violent attacks in 

crisis-ravaged North-East 

Nigeria has displaced 59,200 

people in the last three 

months. 

The UN migration agency 

warned in Geneva that 

North-East Nigeria 

displacement crisis had 

continued due to “increased 

sophistication” of attackers. 

The agency noted the 

armed extremists, notably, 

Boko Haram militants, had 

contributed to a decade-long 

humanitarian crisis in Borno, 

Adamawa and Yobe states, 

that had spilled over into the 

Lake Chad region. 

“Since November, we have 

seen 59,200 displaced,” IOM 

Nigeria’s Chief of Mission, 

Frantz Celestin, said, noting 

that in the last two years, “we 

have not seen that many 

people on the move.” 

The last two months of 2018 

were also marked by “an 

increased sophistication” of 

non-state armed groups 

accompanied by “an 

increased number of attacks 

and success in taking towns,” 

Celestin explained. 

According to him, civilians 

continue to bear the brunt of 

conflicts that have led to 

widespread forced 

displacement and violations 

of international humanitarian 

and human rights law. 

Since the start of the crisis, 

more than 27,000 people have 

been killed in the three Northeastern 

states, according to 

UN Office for the 

Coordination of 

Humanitarian Affairs, 

OCHA, while thousands of 

women and girls have been 

abducted. 

“Government efforts to drive 

back the non-state armed 

groups that operate in the 

North-East of the vast country 

have been hindered by the 

Harmattan dust cloud, an 

annual phenomenon that 

sweeps across West Africa 

from approximately 

November to March. 

“In the town of Rann, which 

was attacked in January, 

nobody was spared in one 

assault. 

“The MSF (Médecins Sans 

Frontières) clinic was burnt, 

the IOM hub was attacked, 

the UNICEF clinic was 

attacked, the WHO/ICRC’s 

compounds were attacked,” 

Celestin said. 

He said amid ongoing 

insecurity, humanitarian 

access was limited, 

hampering the ability of aid 

agencies to assess needs 

comprehensively. 

Tens of thousands of 

civilians have fled into 

already overcrowded camps, 

mainly in Maiduguri, the 

capital of Borno, the IOM 

official added. 

“One of our biggest issues 

in North-East Nigeria in 

addition to the security issues 

is the access to land. 

“We have a number of 

camps that are overcrowded, 

in fact, if we were to take all of 

the camps together, we would 

have more than 249,000 

people in camps that are 

completely congested, with 

Monguno (Borno) being the 

largest one of them.” 

Educate girl-child for better 

future, Sanusi tells northern 

govs 

By Abdulmumin 

Murtala 

KANO—THE Emir of 

Kano, Muhammadu 

Sanusi II, has called on the 

northern governors to provide 

proper education for girls from 

primary to at least secondary 

level, describing it as an 

effective way of improving 

Maternal, Newborn and 

Child Health, MNCH. 

“I call on northern 

governors to ensure free 

education for girls from 

primary to at least secondary 

school or tertiary level. This 

would help them know how 

to live a good life and master 

the dangers associated with 

marriage and maternal 

health,” he said 

Speaking at a one-day 

workshop on the Role of 

Traditional and Religious 

Leaders in Improving 

Maternal, Newborn and 

Child Health, at Kano 

Government House, the emir 

noted that educating the girlchild 

would enable them 

know how to live a healthy 

productive and maternal life. 

At the workshop with the 

theme: "Achieving better 

health outcomes through 

engagement" with traditional 

and religious leaders, Sanusi 

said education would help 

girls know the importance of 

becoming future mothers, 

comprehend the nitty-gritty of 

getting married and the 

challenges of coping with 

marital life. 

The monarch also pointed 

out that, it was a burden of 

proof on the shoulders of 

northern governors to strive to 

ensure they have adequately 

shouldered the responsibility 

of educating young women to 

an appreciable level. 

In his remark, the state 

governor, Dr. Abdullahi 

Ganduje said affordable, 

reliable and sustainable health 

care delivery were of top most 

priority in the present 

democratic dispensation. 

He also said his 

administration had initiated 

series of intervention 

programmes in collaboration 

with notable development 

partners for health care 

delivery system to be 

formidable. 

Completion of Dangote 

refinery'll help Africa’s sloppy 

economy 

NIGERIA and other 

African countries 

would soon heave a sigh 

of relief from the sloppy 

economic situation 

occasioned by crude oil 

price instability with the 

imminent completion of the 

Dangote Refinery and 

other modular refineries in 

Nigeria. 

Already, President of 

Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, 

said at a forum in Egypt 

that his country was 

anxiously waiting for 

Dangote refinery to save 

his government of 

economic distortion caused 

by massive importation of 

KEDCO, varsity bicker over 

inferno at girls' hostel 

By Abdulmumin 

Murtala 

K ANO—KANO 

Electricity and 

Distribution Company, 

KEDCO, has dismissed 

allegations pointing at it as 

causing the fire outbreak at 

Dangote female hostel of 

University of Science and 

Technology, Wudil, Kano, 

saying it is sheer 

negligence on the part of 

the university. 

KEDCO spokesman, 

Kandi Muhammad, told 

newsmen in Kano that it 

was funny how people 

blame fire disaster on the 

distribution company 

without recourse to 

investigations. 

Muhammad’s reaction 

came following claims by 

authority of the university 

that the fire outbreak was 

ignited by restoration of 

power supply after an 

outage by KEDCO. 

Deputy Head of 

Information and Public 

Relations Unit of the 

university, Alhaji Abdullahi 

Abdullahi, in a statement 

said the fire destroyed the 

female hostel completely. 

Abdullahi said: “We were 

informed that the fire 

started when electricity 

was restored after an 

outage in the town this 

evening.” 

petroleum from Europe. 

Technical Adviser to the 

President of Dangote 

Group on Refinery and 

Petrochemicals, Babajide 

Soyode, said the 

completion of Dangote 

refinery and other modular 

refinery projects in Nigeria 

would culminate in the 

integration of the 

downstream industries, 

lower cost of business and 

stabilise the prices of 

petroleum products across 

the African sub-region. 

He spoke during a panel 

session on ‘Refining, 

Transportation and 

Petrochemicals Forum’, at 

the just concluded 2019 

Nigeria International 

Petroleum Summit in 

Abuja, emphasising the 

need for the Federal 

Government to fully 

deregulate the downstream 


According to him, “by the 

time Dangote completes 

the largest single train 

refinery, in addition to what 

other investors are doing, 

Nigeria will have more 

than enough petrol for 

domestic use and for 

export.” 

He, therefore, stressed the 

need for government to 

allow private sector run the 

downstream industry. 

“First of all, the refinery 

will save Nigeria from 

importation of refined 

products, which will help 

to boost the value of the 

naira, he added.



Buhari has failed Nigeria in all aspects 

— TITI ATIKU •Says her husband'll unify Nigeria 

By Gabriel Olawale 

LAGOS—WIFE of the 

Presidential 

candidate of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, 

Alhaja Titi Atiku- 

Abubakar, yesterday, 

e x p r e s s e d 

disappointment over the 

way and manner 


Buhari is running the 

country. 

Speaking during a 

town hall meetingin 

Lagos, Mrs Abubakar 

said Nigerians no longer 

enjoy the dividends of 

democracy since they voted 

in the All Progressives 

Congress, APC. 

She said: “This 

government has failed 

Nigeria and we must not 

allow them to terrorise us 

during the forthcoming 

general elections when 

we will be sending them 

packing. They have 

failed us in all aspects of 

life and our vote is the 

only tool we can use to 

right the wrong. 

“During the election, 

they are going to bring 

soldiers to intimidate us, 

but we need to stand by 

our vote and ensure it 

counts. As you all know, 

my husband is going to 

run an all inclusive 

government. 

“My husband, Alhaji 

Atiku Abubakar, the 

Waziri of Adamawa has 

promised to give youths 

30 percent slot in his 

administration while 40 

percent is for women. He 

is going to give youths 

some ministerial posts so 

that they can learn 

governance. 

“He is not a religious 

bigot, he is not into 

nepotism, and he is not 

tribalistic in nature. 

Atiku is a unifier and a 

sellable material that 

will unify Nigeria.” 

Speaking in the same 

vein, former Deputy 

National Chairman of 

PDP, Chief Bode George, 

urged Nigerians to 

assess their present 

status before voting. 

George said: “If you 

have been in Nigeria 

from age 18, ask 

yourself before voting 

COMMISSIONING: From left: Executive Director, Business Development, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), 

Mrs. Bukola Smith; Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; Olota of Ota town, Oba Adeyemi Obalanlege; 

wife of the Chief Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre (FMC Abeokuta), Dr. Titilayo Musa; Onitetiku of 

Owode-Ota, Oba Wasiu Ogungbayi and Zonal Service Head, Ogun, FCMB, Mr. Oluwafemi Adesanoye, during 

the commissioning of the new FCMB Cash Centre at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta in Ogun State. 

Leadership tussle tears YCE apart 

By Ola Ajayi The cold war had been on resisted every attempt to 

until the bubble burst when elect a new president. He 

Iappear BADAN—THINGS the YCE scribe, Dr. Olajide, had unwholesome actions, 

to have fallen spoke with newsmen that including bringing 

apart within the apex Yoruba the association did not have uniformed bouncers to 

socio-cultural organisation, any leader for now and that terrorise members at a 

Yoruba Council of Elders, the person who is seen as meeting. On another 

YCE, following the the leader was yet to be occasion, he brought 

controversy that trailed the declared as the president. miscreants and thugs to 

appointment of Col. Samuel Olajide said Sofolahan disrupt the meeting of state 

Agbede (retd) as the died suddenly on March 23, chairmen. 

president of the association. 2018 and attempt to elect a “At a point, he got five 

The disagreement is successor to him on June 27, members to pronounce him 

between the Secretary 2018 ended in chaos. It was president and he had 

General of the association, therefore decided on the insisted he remains 

Dr. Kunle Olajide and some same day to appoint ‘an president without due 

other elders of the council. Interim president’, process.” 

While Dr. Olajide unconstitutional though, to His comments, however, 

maintained that there was oversee the affairs of the 

never a properly constituted council briefly. 

elders meeting where Col. He said: “Col. Agbede 

Agbede was unanimously (retd), who had never been OSOGBO—WIFE of 

chosen as the president, the a member of the National Osun State governor, 

president of the council did Executive Council, NEC, Mrs. Kafayat Oyetola, has 

his choice enjoyed a popular before was appointed in the paid the N2.5 million 

agreement by the elders of belief that he was not likely medical bill for Master 

the association. 

to be ambitious and will Dodanim Abioye, who is 

Since the death of the therefore be able to down with heart disease. 

former president, Chief impartially supervise the She paid the money 

Sofolahan last year, the election of the new during a visit to Obafemi 

association has been president. 

Awolowo University 

embroiled in crisis over “Unfortunately and Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, 

who wears the mantle of unbelievably, he became so where the patient is 

its leadership. 

ambitious that he has receiving treatment. 

whether you are better 

off today than before. 

“If you are better, then 

vote for APC but if you are 

not then you need to vote 

for a reliable alternative 

which is PDP.” 

He expressed concern 

over change in voting 

arrangement saying “they 

said they will do 

accreditation 

simultaneously with 

voting, how will you know 

the number of those who are 

accredited to vote? 

“If they don’t do it 

properly, the rest of the 

world is watching, 

Nigeria is already a 

lamp that the rest of 

Africa is watching so we 

cannot afford to do what 

is undemocratic.” 

drew the ire of Agbede, 

who discarded Dr. 

Olajide’s claims. 

He alleged that the YCE 

scribe was eyeing the 

position but could not enjoy 

the support of the other 

elders. 

While justifying the 

authenticity of his choice by 

the elders of the council, he 

noted that they were not 

divided in their decision to 

choose him. 

Similar crisis erupted 

shortly before the 2007 

general election which 

led to the suspension of 

Dr Olajide from the 

council over some 

irreconcilable differences. 

NEWS HOTLINES 

018773962, 

08052867058 

OSUN GOV TUSSLE: APC closes 

defence 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

A State BUJA—OSUN 

Governorship 

Election Tribunal sitting in 

Abuja, yesterday, fixed 

March 7 for adoption of final 

written addresses in the 

petition seeking to nullify 

the election of Governor 

Adegboyega Oyetola of All 


APC. 

The Justice Ibrahim Sirajoled 

three-man panel 

adjourned on a day APC, 

which is the 2nd defendant 

in the matter, closed its 

defence after it produced 

two witnesses before the 

tribunal. 

In his testimony, one of the 

witnesses, Kazeem Oladejo, 

narrated how the 

governorship candidate of 

the Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, Senator Ademola 

Adeleke, allegedly 

attempted to induce voters 

with money. 

The witness, told the 

tribunal that Adeleke had as 

part of his campaign 

strategies, promised to give 

money to the electorate that 

participated in the 

September 27, 2018, 

governorship rerun election. 

According to the witness, 

Adeleke visited his 

community, Idi-Iya in Orolu 

Osun gov’s wife pays heart patient’s medical bill 

The one year threemonth-old 

Master Abioye, 

has hole in his heart. 

Mrs. Oyetola, who is the 

President, IleriOluwa 

Development Initiative 

(IOD-Initiative), described 

the gesture as a necessity 

to support life and healthy 

living of the people in the 

state. 

She said the gesture is 

also in fulfillment of the 

Local Government, Osun 

State, to campaign, during 

which he allegedly made 

open promise to give 

money to those who would 

vote for him. 

Oladejo, who gave the 

account while he was being 

cross-examined by 

Governor Oyetola’s lawyer, 

Chief Wole Olanipekun, 

SAN, said: “In between the 

first election and when the 

rerun election was 

conducted, the first 

petitioner came to my 

village to canvass for votes. 

“He came to our town, 

went to our Oba’s palace 

and went around the town, 

dancing and campaigning 

and saying, I am coming 

fully now. 

“He said it categorically 

that Femi Otedola and 

Dangote have given him 

money. He mentioned all 

kinds of money, like dollars, 

pound sterling and Euro. 

“He danced around the 

town and danced out of the 

town, while he was leaving 

after the campaign.” 

Under further crossexamination 

by Adeleke’s 

lawyer, Mr. Nathaniel 

Oke, SAN, the witness, 

admitted that his ‘votebuying’ 

allegation 

against the 1st petitioner 

was not contained in a 

written deposition he 

earlier tendered before 

the tribunal. 

2019 elections: Aare Adams flays 

INEC for disenfranchising him 

•As Osun religious leaders task stakeholders 

on peaceful polls 

By Dapo Akinrefon 

& Gbenga Olarinoye 

LAGOS—LESS than 10 

days to the general 

elections, Aare Onakakanfo 

of Yorubaland, Iba Gani 

Adams, yesterday, warned 

Chairman of the 



INEC, Professor Mahmood 

Yakubu not to disenfranchise 

him and the rest of his 

family. 

Speaking on the delay 

encountered in collecting 

his Permanent Voters Card, 

Adams, in a statement by his 

special Assistant on Media, 

Kehinde Aderemi, said he 

is yet to receive his PVC, 

several months after 

registration, saying the 

delay is suspicious. 

He said: “I think it is 

suspicious, and I feel bad 

that as I am speaking to you 

now, I am yet to receive my 

PVC, and likewise my wife 

and the rest of my family. 

cardinal objectives of the 

IOD-Initiative towards 

ensuring a virile, healthy 

and wealthy society. 

Mrs Oyetola, who doled 

out sum cash and gift items 

to other patients in the 

hospital, described 

caring and support to the 

needy, particularly the 

vulnerable in the society 

as basic responsibility of 

privileged citizens. 

This is not good for us 

as Nigerians. It portends 

grave danger for our 

democracy and the nation in 

particular. Remember, the 

whole world is watching, 

especially, at a time when 

elections are a few days 

away. I am saying this not 

because I have any 

preferred candidate in the 

coming elections, but 

because it is my right and 

that of other Nigerians to 

vote and be voted for, and I 

know many Nigerians 

would have been 

disenfranchised as a result 

of INEC’s failure to make 

PVCs available to the 

electorate.” 

Meanwhile, religious 

leaders in Osun State have 

urged INEC, security 

agencies and the media to 

be neutral, fair, just and 

transparent in their conduct 

before, during and after the 

polls. 

Addressing a joint press 

conference in Osogbo, 

yesterday, the Catholic 

Bishop of Osogbo, Most 

Rev. John Akin Oyejola and 

Chief Imam of Osun, Sheik 

Musa Animasahun noted 

that peace is crucial to 

success, hence the need for 

all stakeholders to pursue 

peace. 

They warned politicians 

who after they have failed 

in the political arena would 

return home with cock and 

bull stories colored with 

religious sentiments in order 

to cheaply win, which they 

could not, to desist.


Impeachment of Anambra Speaker: APGA 

lifts suspension on three masterminds 

By Vincent 

Ujumadu 

AWKA—THE 

All 

Progressive Grand 

Alliance, APGA, yesterday 

lifted the suspension on the 

deputy speaker of 

Anambra State House of 

Assembly, Harford Oseke; 

the majority leader, Victor 

Okoye and the member 

representing Aguata 11 

Constituency, Ikem 

Uzoezie, who were 

masterminds of the 

purported impeachment of 

the Speaker of the House, 

Mrs. Rita Maduagwu in 

November last year. 

Anambra State chairman 

of APGA, Norbert Obi told 

reporters in Awka that the 

lawmakers had shown 

remorse, hence the decision 

to pardon them. 

During the crisis that 

almost cost the speaker her 

position, the leadership of 

APGA handed down an 

indefinite suspension on 

the three lawmakers for 

allegedly causing 

embarrassment to the party 

and its supporters. 

According to the 

chairman, the party had 

carefully been monitoring 

them since the incident, 

expressing happiness that 

they have realised the 

futility of their action. 

Obi said: “Recall that on 

Tuesday 15th day of 

November, 2018, following 

the purported 

impeachment of the 

Speaker of Anambra State 

House of Assembly, Rt Hon 

Rita Maduagwu, following 

a motion moved by Hon 

Ikem Uzoezie and 

seconded by the minority 

leader, Mr. Onyebuchi 

Offor, the party met and 

after deliberating on the sad 

development, arrived at a 

decision to suspend 

indefinitely the ring leaders 

of the aborted 

impeachment. 

“Since then, the party has 

been closely monitoring the 

activities of the suspended 

lawmakers and has come to 

the conclusion that they 

have shown enough 

remorse and should be readmitted 

into the party. 

“This decision by the 

party has, therefore, given 

all APGA members the 

impetus to start relating 

with the lawmakers again 

in the state.” 

INVESTITURE: From Left—Monsuru Yinusa, National Chairman, Nigerian Institution of 

Environmental Engineers, NIEE/Chairman of the occasion; Mrs Abiola Kosegbe, Incoming 

Chairman of NIEE, Lagos Chapter; and Olagoke Macaulay, Outgoing Chairman, NIEE, 

during the institution's investiture of Kosegbe as the 4th Chairman of NIEE Lagos Chapter 

and inauguration of new executives in Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau. 

Igbo pressure group faults Army's planned 

clampdown on IPOB “Operations Safe 

By Clifford 

Ndujihe 

LAGOS—A LEADING 

Igbo pressure group, 

Nzuko Umunna, has 

kicked against the recent 

directive by the Chief of 

Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur 

Buratai to GOCs and field 

commanders to clamp 

down immediately on 

members of the Indigenous 

People of Biafra, IPOB, over 

alleged plans to disrupt the 


elections. 

Aligning with the 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo position 

on the issue, Nzuko 

Ummuna said the planned 

clampdown on IPOB and 

militarisation of the 

forthcoming polls in the 

South-East are ‘’ totally 

misplaced and uncalled 

for’’ because ‘’the claim by 

General Buratai that the 

activities of IPOB and its 

‘splinter groups’ are 

gaining momentum in the 

South Eastern part of the 

country is not borne by 

facts, as the South East zone 

has remained perhaps the 

most peaceful and safest 

part of Nigeria.’’ 

In a statement by Mr. 

Ngozi Odumuko, 

Coordinator; and Mr. 

Paschal Mbanefo, General 

Secretary, the group urged 


Buhari to prevail on the 

military hierarchy to 

immediately call off the 

Uzodimma vows to restore Imo pride 

By Olayinka Ajayi 

IMO State All 


APC, gubernatorial 

candidate, Senator Hope 

Uzodimma has pledged his 

preparedness to restore 

Imo State's pride of place 

among other states in 

Nigeria if given the 

mandate on March 2. 

Speaking when he 

received the presentation of 

a branded Tundra truck for 

his campaign by the Hope 

Reality Movement ,HRM, 

a group which has vowed 

to provide support and 

cooperation towards 

ensuring that he 

(Uzodimma) emerges 

victorious in the 

Conduct.” 

‘’The planned onslaught 

against its members may be 

prejudicial to the appeal 

filed by IPOB at Nigeria’s 

Court of Appeal to set aside 

its January 22, 2018 

proscription by the Federal 

High Court, thereby 

foisting a fait accompli on 

the appellate court,’’ it said. 

March2,2019 governorship 

elections in Imo State, 

Uzodima reaffirmed his 

readiness. 

During the presentation, 

chairman of the group, Mr. 

Obi Vitalis Chikere 

Polls: Mbaka charges 

journalists on objective 

reporting 

By Chinedu 

Adonu 

E NUGU—FIERY 

Catholic Priest and 

Spiritual Director of the 

Adoration Ministry 

Enugu, Nigeria, AMEN, 

Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka has 

urged journalists to be fair 

and objective in their 

reportage during the 

2019 general elections. 

Fr Mbaka stated this at 

the Thanksgiving Mass 

in honour of Prince Petrus 

Obi, who was elected 

Vice President, South 

East, Zone C at the 6th 

Triennial Delegates 

Conference of the 

Nigerian Union of 

Journalists, NUJ in 

Abeokuta, Ogun State. 

The priest expressed joy 

for Prince Obi to have 

remembered that he 

should thank God for 

what he did for him and 

prayed that he would 

receive more blessings. 

Fr. Mbaka who narrated 

the story of the ten lepers 

who were healed by Jesus 

Christ but only one of them 

came back to show 

gratitude, urged 

Christians to always 

remember to give due glory 

to God whenever their 

needs are met, stating that 

the attitude of gratitude 

brings more blessings. 

At a grand reception 

organized in his honour by 

South East journalists at the 

82 Div, Army reception hall 

in Enugu, Prince Obi 

commended journalists in 

the zone for their profound 

support, promising to make 

the welfare of journalists his 

top priority. 

In his own speech, the 

National President of Sports 

Writers’ Association of 

Nigeria, SWAN, Mr 

Honour Sirawoo called on 

journalists in the South East 

to give the Vice President 

great support to enable him 

achieve enviable goals set 

out by him. 

The event attracted top 

journalists from both print 

and electronic media from 

south east and other states 

across the federation. 

Man bags 7-year jail term over 

N4.4m fraud 

By Chinedu 

Adonu 

ENUGU—AN Enugu 

State High Court 

presided over by Justice 

C. C Ani has sentenced a 

businessman, Mr 

Nicholas Emenike to 

seven years 

imprisonment over N4.4 

million fraud. 

Emenike was 

arraigned by the 

Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, 

EFCC, on a two-count 

charge of deceiving a 

man to supply him rods 

for the execution of a 

multi-million naira 

building contract he 

claimed to have won and 

issuing of a dud cheque. 

In his judgement, 

Justice C.C Ani on 

January 4, 2019 found 

him guilty on count one 

bordering on obtaining 

by false pretence and 

discharged him on count 

two, bordering on 

issuance of dud cheque, 

and sentenced him to 

seven years in prison 

A statement by EFCC Ag. 

Head, Media and Publicity, 

Tony Orilade said that: 

“Emenike was on March 

27, 2017 arraigned along 

with his company, Raso 

Construction Company 

Limited, at an Enugu State 

High Court on a two-count 

charge of obtaining money 

by false pretence to the tune 

of N4,467,500. 

“His ordeal began in 

2015 when he was reported 

to the EFCC by a 

complainant who alleged 

that Emenike deceived 

him into supplying rods for 

the execution of a multimillion 

naira building 

contract he claimed to have 

won. 

“After supplying the rods, 

Emenike issued a postdated 

cheque, which was 

returned unpaid. 

“Investigation by the 

EFCC however revealed 

that Emenike was never 

awarded any contract, as 

there was no document to 

support his claim. It was 

further established that he 

sold the rods and diverted 

the proceeds to his personal 

use. 

UNICEF alerts on new trend of female genital mutilation 

By Dennis Agbo 

ENUGU—THE United 

Nations International 

Children's Emergency 

Fund, UNICEF, has 

revealed a new trend of 

Female Genital Mutilation, 

FGM, which it said is 

mostly perpetrated by 

grandmothers who come 

to nurse their children's 

babies. 

UNICEF child protection 

‘’Rather than quell any 

perceived excesses of 

IPOB, this ill-advised 

military operations is bound 

to foul the peaceful political 

climate in the South East 

Zone and provoke 

restiveness among Igbo 

youths. This will turn the 

South East zone into yet 

another killing field." 

expressed hope that at this 

critical period in the life of 

Imolites, only a man of 

Hope could be counted 

upon to provide the kind of 

leadership the citizenry 

deserve. 

specialist, Mrs Nkiru 

Maduechesi said the 

grandmothers use warm 

water to press the epiglottis 

of the new born babies till 

it becomes non sensitive. 

Maduechesi made the 

revelation in Enugu during 

a sub zonal media briefing 

in commemoration of 2019 

International Day of FGM/ 

Cutting in South Eastern 

Nigeria. 

She said the trend was a 

new form of genital 

mutilation which makes 

sex undesirable for the 

affected ladies and leads 

them to becoming 

promiscuous in search of 

sexual pleasure. 

Maduechesi also stated 

that the practice was 

dangerous as it could lead 

to body damage or 

complications during child 

birth. 

She advised nursing 

mothers to watch out for the 

trend when grandmothers 

bath their female new 

borns. 

Chief of UNICEF Field 

Office Enugu, Dr. Ibrahim 

Conteh in his contribution 

called for increased 

funding and for agencies to 

push the fight against 

FGM in Nigeria.

16—Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

ABUJA—HUAWEI on 

W e d n e s d a y 

commissioned a $1 million 

telecommunication 

equipment laboratory at the 

Digital Bridge Institute, 

DBI Abuja. 

The laboratory is 

equipped with transmission 

equipment and ultramodern 

next-generation 

core network switching 

centre, which gives 

complete end-to-end 

telecoms set-up. 

The equipment valued at 

$1 million which is fully set 

for learning purposes is also 

equipped with worldwide 

industry standard training 

systems that combine 

hands-on skill training with 

the required theory. 

According to Huawei, the 

learning systems integrate 

seamlessly into any 

operational and production 

set-up and cuts across 

various technical fields. 

The lab is also said to be 

effective for technicians, 

engineers, field workers 

and anyone needing further 

understanding and skills in 

wireless telecommunications. 

In his remarks, the DBI 

Administrator, said one of 

the major benefit of the 

equipment is that it uses 

real-world industrial quality 

Mainstream Delta APC to engage 4,000 

canversers 

By Festus Ahon 

A 

S A B A — 

MAINSTREAM 

of the All Progressives 

Congress, APC in Delta 

State, would formally engage 

4,000 canvassers on 

Saturday, February 9 in 

Asaba for the 270 wards in 

the state as part of effort towards 

securing another 

four year-term for President 

Muhammadu Buhari. 

Leader of the mainstream 

Delta APC, Olorogun 

O'Tega Emerhor in a 

statement, declared: "I write 

to thank you and to congratulate 

you for your steadfastness 

in the face of the 

challenges, Delta APC has 

faced since the contentious 

party congresses and primaries. 

As you are aware, 

to resolve the issues that 

arose therefrom, there are 

pending court cases. 

"Also, I can report that we 

are at a point of 

breakthrough in the 

reconciliation talks that 

have commenced and God 

willing, a unity agreement 

may be signed before the 

fast approaching elections! 

"However, while we are 

still at this stage, one area 

where Delta APC has unity 

of purpose is that Delta must 

contribute to getting President 

Buhari four more years 

in office. To this end, I have 

been working assiduously 

with our party structure ably 

led by Chief Cyril Ogodo 

to ensure that we, the mainstream 

of the party in Delta 

State contributes our quota 

to getting votes out towards 

giving our dear President 

PRESENTATION: From left— Founder, Rethinking Cities, Deji Akinpelu; 

Coordinator, Housing and Projects, Nigeria Slum and Informal Settlement Federation, 

Chief Raymond Gold; General Secretary, Fedaration of Informal Workers of 

Nigeria, Gbenga Komolafe and Manager, CivicHive, Iyanuoluwa Bolarinwa, at the 

public presentation of DON'T GET ELECTED TO GET US EVICTED campaign in 

Lagos. 

Huawei donates $1m 

equipmet to DBI 

components to help students 

become better prepared for 

what they will encounter on 

the job with industry 

relevant skills that make 

them ready for the job 

market. 

‘‘Each equipment has 

elements that incorporate the 

another four years in office. 

"I'm therefore, happy to 

announce to you that 

working with our party 

structure, we are organising 

a conference for the inaugural 

and commissioning of 

4000 canvassers for a door to door 

campaign program in Delta State 

for the re-election of President 

Lawyers laud peaceful resolution of 

Ambode, lawmakers feud 


LAGOS—NIGERIA Bar 

Association, NBA, Epe 

branch, Lagos State, has 

commended the recent 

peaceful resolution of 

planned impeachment of 

Governor Akinwunmi 

Ambode by the Lagos State 

House of Assembly. 

Addressing newsmen, 

yesterday, chairman of the 

Epe branch of NBA, Prince 

Sunday Abimbola, said the 

association “really appreci- 

Mission mobilises clerics, youths to pray 

for peaceful election 

By Monsuru 

Olowoopejo 

LAGOS—BARELY two 

weeks to general 

election, a Christian 

religious movement, Great 

Commission Movement of 

Nigeria, GCMN, has 

mobilised clerics and youths 

to pray for free and fair 

polls. 

According to the faith 

based mission, mobilisation 

has been intensified across 

the country to ensure that 

Christians participate in the 

voting exercise because it is 

skill development needed 

for the modern telecom industry. 

From operation to 

complex troubleshooting, 

the embedded learning 

systems deliver job-ready 

skills needed for the 

telecoms sector. 

‘‘DBI is committed to 

Mohammadu Buhari. This Conference 

is slated for Saturday 

February 9th, commencing 8am 

at Grand Hotel, Asaba. 

"The aim is to train a 4000 

strong force of canvassers and 

equip them with materials 

(Buhari flyers, posters etc) to proceed 

on a door to door campaign 

in the 270 wards of Delta State. 

their civil responsibility. 

GCMN disclosed their 

activities at a press briefing 

in Ilupeju, Lagos State, to 

herald their 50th 

anniversary celebration, 

designed for community 

transformation. 

Director, GCMN Lagos, 

Rev. Ambrose 

Massaquori, stressed that 

the aim of the mission 

during the poll was to 

ensure that the country 

achieves greatness. 

“We don’t want to be 

partisan in the forthcoming 

ensuring that our campuses 

are properly tooled to provide 

students the necessary 

skills that enhance their 

employability and competitiveness 

in the market place. 

‘‘We will continue to invest 

in streamlining technologies 

and making DBI a first, 

rather than last option for 

young people seeking ICT 

career. 

Each canvassers shall be charged 

to bring in a minimum of 100 votes. 

"The 4000 Canvassers are 

therefore expected to get out 

a minimum of 400,000 votes 

for our President. This will 

be in addition to the expected 

efforts of our other 

party members and leaders. 

ates” the Lagos State 

House of Assembly for the 

peaceful resolution of the 

matter. 

He said, “While we acknowledge 

the fact that the 

plan to start impeachment 

process was public knowledge 

within the print and 

electronic media, NBA, 

Epe is grateful to all members 

of the House of Assembly, 

its Speaker in particular, 

the All Progressive 

Congress, APC, in Lagos, 

its National Leader, Senator 

Bola Tinubu for the wisdom 

used in resolving the 

issue.” 

He advised the House of 

Assembly to "painstakingly" 

address the conflict in Section 

122 of the constitution 

of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 

1999 (as amended) 

and Section 22 of the Finance 

(Control and Management) 

Laws of Lagos 

State with effect to how the 

governor can spend part of 

the appropriation bill before 

same is passed into law by 

the House of Assembly." 

election. We believe that 

every Christian has the responsibility 

to participate in 

politics especially in terms 

of casting their votes. 

“We believe that this is 

where they make the critical 

decision as it concerns 

casting their votes. God 

desires leadership for any 

nation,” he added. 

On their support towards 

free and fair poll, Director, 

Leaderimpact Nigeria, 

Lepan Tyoden, disclosed 

that they have adopted different 

modes to participate 

in the exercise. 

IMF approves $2 bn loan payment 

for Egypt 

THE International Monetary Fund has lauded 

Egypt’s robust growth and acknowledged progress 

in stabilizing its economy, instilling market confidence 

and cutting debt. 

The IMF said late Tuesday it approved a $2 billion loan 

payment to Egypt, the latest in the country’s three-year 

aid program. 

Egypt has now received about $10 billion since the 

government secured a three-year $12 billion loan in 

2016 and launched an austerity program that included 

subsidy cuts. 

The previous loan portion was approved in July last 

year but this fourth review of Egypt’s ambitious 

economic reform program had been awaiting board 

approval since October. 

Egypt’s economy is still recovering from a 2011 popular 

uprising and years of political instability. 

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights 

reserved. This material may not be published, 

broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 

$3.8bn to boost mining in Saudi Arabia 

SAUDI Arabia will invest around $3.8bn to enhance 

access to geoscience data and reduce regulatory red 

tape as it looks to boost mineral exploration, senior 

government officials said on Wednesday. 

Government plans to jump-start the Saudi mining sector 

form part of a broader industrial strategy aimed at 

diversifying the economy and attracting private-sector 

investments worth 1.6- trillion riyals ($426bn) over the next 

decade. 

Investments will be made through the National Industrial 

Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), part of 

Vision 2030, a reform strategy led by Crown Prince 

Mohammed bin Salman and intended to wean the 

economy off oil while creating jobs. 

“For some time Saudi mining has been characterised by 

a lack of publicly available geoscience data, longer 

processing times on licenses and a lack of transparency,” 

Khalid Al-Mudaifer, vice minister of mining, told an 

African mining conference. 

Argentine cenbank buys $75 mln forex 

in two interventions 

ARGENTINA’S central bank said it bought a total of $75 

million in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, 

as part of its program of containing the value of the local peso 

currency. 

The bank announced its purchase of $50 million late in the 

morning at an average price of 37.432 pesos per U.S. dollar. It 

later said it bought $25 million at an average 37.376 pesos to 

the greenback. The bank has set a no-intervention trading 

band of 38.021 and 49.203 pesos to the dollar. 

So far this year the bank has purchased $835 million in 

interventions aimed at keeping the peso in the trading band, 

which was established as part of the country’s $56 billion 

standby financing deal with the International Monetary Fund. 

KPMG Nigeria reinforces commitment to 

other sector, seeks devt 

KPMG Professional Services, one of the 'Big Four' 

Professional Services firms in Nigeria, recently 

donated abouttwo million naira to the National 

Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi (NOHI), Lagos (popularly 

called 'Igbobi') to cater for patients' surgeries and other 

medical expenses as part of its health initiatives. In 

addition, the firm also presented gifts and hosted a 

party for the patients at the children's ward. 

Victor Onyenkpa, Partner and Chief Operating Officer, 

KPMG in Nigeria, saidwhile giving his 

statement:"KPMG remains committed to ensuring a 

healthy population which is essential for the Nation's 

economic growth, hence,nearly a decade ago, we 

developed and maintained strategic partnership with 

NOHI and have continually replicated same with some 

other local healthcare providers. "We are inspired, by 

the lives impacted so far and are thankful for the 

opportunity to continue to make a difference; we are 

driven to do more." 

Victor Onyenkpa presented the cheque on behalf of 

KPMG Nigeria and Mrs. R.O. Adedoyin, Deputy 

Director, Admin, NOHI received same in proxy of the 

Medical Director, NOHI, Dr. Mustapha Alimi. 

Indeed, it was a joyful celebration at the children's 

ward as we had a children's party which involved the 

distribution of gifts, face painting and singing to the 

children. We brought the KPMG difference as we 

inspired confidence and encouraged the children. 

Gloria Ibeziako, Head, People, Performance and 

Culture, KPMGin Nigeria, mentioned during her 

remarks: "The KPMG Nigeria Health Initiative is 

absolutely amazing and being able to strengthen the 

hope of these patients proves that the initiative is 

fulfilling its intended purpose, and truly, KPMG through 

its citizenship,is impacting lives and improving 

communities. It's gratifying to be a part of this."

The Judiciary, its own enemy (2) 

ICONCLUDE this series with permitting abuse of ethics and 

an excerpt from a previous rules of professional conduct with 

piece titled ‘The Judiciary Waiting the attendant consequences that 

For Buhari’ written about four many so called Ministers of the 

years ago (May 19, 2015) and a Temple of justice are now willing 

Postscript from another ‘On Justice perverts of the very course of justice 

Onnoghen’ (Feb. 09, 2017). This they are sworn to uphold. Nor is 

mostly chronicles the revelations this helped by our ‘body’ of laws - 

of one of the Chief Justices of a relic of our colonial and 

Nigeria, the late Justice Dahiru postcolonial experiences- whose 

Musdapher whose eleven month complex hyacinth of technicalities 

reform-frenzied tenure was about only aids lawyers and judges to 

the most eventful, most revealing pervert justice. Our ‘corpus juris’ 

of the sordid entrails of this remains, still, the epitome of 

otherwise esoteric institution. obsoleteness and archaism, 

…none (had) captured (the rot in yearning for the redeeming grace 

the Nigerian Judiciary) any better of a corrective Legislature. 

than the eminent jurist, Justice The consequence of this rot 

Kayode Esho, in a memo on the naturally manifests in a serious 

Musdapher Reform Programme downturn in the system’s public 

where he said: “There has been no perception index, so that over the 

time in the history of the judiciary years the Nigerian Judiciary has 

of this nation that the institution lost a great deal of the confidence 

has sunk this low”. And Justice of the public, and Nigerians no 

Musdapher it was who had the longer believe they can get justice 

rare courage to break the yoke of from the courts of their land. In 

judicial esoterism by publicly fact, many identify the Judiciary 

confessing to serious challenges more as a zone of despair in 

bothering particularly on the seeking justice than as the 

ethical and moral substructures of proverbial ‘last hope of the 

the Nigerian judicial system -its common man’. The judicial 

dilapidated courts and its decrepit process has especially acquired a 

administrative machinery; and its sickening notoriety for 

dismal continuing-education complexity, from filing to final 

programme for which already a judgment; and this, added to the 

serious decline had set in, in the growing juridical and 

intellectual capacity of judicial advocatorial incompetence in the 

officers to effectively and system, conduce to occasion 

efficiently deliver justice. And this unwarranted delays that make a 

decline is not helped by a culprit mockery of that fair maxim of 

Nigerian Bar which -although equity which asserts that ‘delay 

outside the court is famed for defeats justice’. Said Musdapher 

moral suasion and a toga of it takes “an average of eight to ten 

‘corrective’ disposition- in court it years to determine a matter from 

is prosecutorally indecorous, the commencement of court 

Testing the grit of the Public service 

IT is the title of the autobiography of 

Liman Ciroma, who once combined the 

posts of Secretary of the Government of the 

Federation and Head of Service in 1977- 

79, and as I related on this page, last week, 

the book dealt mainly with the travails and 

successes of his extraordinary career in the 

public service that saw him rise to the 

pinnacles. The book was presented to the 

public on the penultimate Saturday, in 

Kaduna. Perhaps, it was not a coincidence 

that the event was chaired by another 

extraordinary public servant, Yayale 

Ahmed, who was not only Secretary to the 

Government of the Federation and Head of 

Service at different times but also the 

Minister of Defence, all under a succession 

of Presidents - Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and 

Jonathan. 

The bulk of the book is mainly about 

Mallam Liman’s role in the Public service 

particularly because he served at a time in 

the 1960s and 70s when the country was 

going through plenty of turmoil; military 

coups and countercoups, a devastating civil 

war and the rush to rehabilitate and develop 

infrastructure at all costs. It was all about 

his role in those affairs but he also lovingly 

wrote about his birth place, Fika, a tiny rural 

enclave tucked away in Yobe State, that is 

reputed to have turned out far more Public 

Officers that have held high public office, 

per square metre, than any other place in 

Nigeria. 

He was a student of distinction and was able 

to be one of the very few to get into Barewa 

College, in 1945, then the only institution in 

the whole of Northern Nigeria providing 

secondary school education. It was in 

Barewa that he was thrown into the company 

of other boys of distinction, Ali Akilu, 

Zakariya Maimalari, Yakubu Gowon, 

Sunday Awoniyi, Abba Kyari and several 

others who in a few years would be holding 

the levers of Nigerian Government. 

After college he elected to join the 

Department of Antiquities after listening to 

a talk by the legendary Bernard Fagg, of 

Nok terracotta fame. Mallam Liman 

worked in the Ibadan headquarters and even 

assisted Fagg to build the Jos Museum. 

When the headquarters moved to Lagos, 

Mallam Liman went along. He was posted 

C 

M 

YK 

in Lagos in 1953 when he secured a Northern 

Nigerian scholarship to study in the UK. He 

graduated from Birmingham University 

with a degree in Archaeology in 1959, the 

first Nigerian to do so. He returned to 

Nigeria and re-joined the Nigerian 

Antiquities Department, now as a senior 

staff. He worked at excavation sites of the 

old city of Ngazargamu, once the capital of 

Borno Empire and was also part of the team 

that excavated at Igbo-Ukwu, near Onitsha 

that made those ground-breaking finds of 

ancient bronze that are now world famous. 

Independence 1960 found him a senior staff 

in the Department of Antiquities. In those 

early days of independence, all governments 

of the federation were embarking on series 

of measures to indigenise the senior 

segments of their respective public services, 

particularly the administrative cadre. 

Mallam Liman was seconded to the Public 

Services of Northern Nigeria in 1961 and 

was posted as an Assistant Secretary in the 

In all interactions with the political 

class, Mallam Liman found that the 

top civil servants and the political 

bosses worked harmoniously and 

never at cross purposes 

proceedings to final judgment”. 

You need only add ‘delay’ to the 

serious infamy of unfair judgments, 

judicial impropriety, absence of 

judicial integrity and above all 

corruption at virtually all levels of 

administration of Justice, to 

complete the parade of judicial 

negatives. 

Justice Musdapher in one of his 

appraisals of the judicial and 

extrajudicial underpinnings 

leading to a hemorrhaging 

judiciary had observed among 

others, an ‘unprecedented invasion 

of the judiciary by prevalent 

societal currents especially politics 

which he said had continued to 

chip away at the Institution’s 

capacity to dispense justice. He 

observed a near total collapse of 

the dictates of conscience in many 

President Jonathan was 

said to have returned it to 

the NJC, insisting that the 

Council should do the 

needful by respecting its 

time-honored tradition of 

sending three candidate 

Premier’s office in Kaduna. He worked 

closely with the Premier, Sardauna Ahmadu 

Bello and even rose to become a Permanent 

Secretary. 

Mallam Liman had very good regard for 

the Northern Nigerian Public Service. He 

wrote glowingly about it, particularly its 

leadership, the Sardauna himself and other 

public officers. He wrote: “the Northern 

Nigerian Public Service was taking off on a 

firm foundation, rooted in a combination 

of age-old traditions which are traceable to 

our pre-colonial tradition of good 

governance, and from the legacy and virtues 

of British Colonial Service. That is a blend 

of our tradition and modernity. By 1961 

when I joined this Public service, it had 

become a Public service that was already in 

the mould of an ideal bureaucracy. It was 

still small though, but growing in strength 

and in capacity. It was above all loyal, yet 

apolitical and professional. The hallmark 

of its cadres, high and low, was high sense of 

judges and pervasive judicial 

corruption which he said had 

placed a virtual strangle-hold on 

its capacity to dispense justice 

without fear or favour, affection or 

ill will. Worst of all he said was the 

unfair use by lawyers of legal 

technicalities especially in 

‘procedure law’ to the detriment 

of substantive matters. Most so 

called ‘best lawyers’ in Nigeria are 

really faint hearted, lily-livered 

Mayweathers of the judicial 

boxing ring who rather than fight 

fair and square on the turf of 

substantive matters, prefer the rut 

of procedural technicalities. 

Justice Musdapher said that the 

Nigerian Judiciary is dogged no 

less by human foibles than it is by 

the existence of bad laws and 

procedures which must be 

amended. And in his crusade he 

was not all lamentation and no 

remedy. He had suggested reforms 

that were no less holistic and many 


of which were in fact radical and 

revolutionary. He had called 

among other things for: 

1) review of the requirements for 

appointment of judges so that in 

addition to pure merit, morals of 

prospective appointees should 

count; 2) extending the current 

mode of judicial appointments 

(especially into superior courts) to 

include candidates outside the 

judiciary –so as to provide wider 

diversity of experience and add 

quality to judicial deliberations in 

court. He also recommended: a) 

the need to relieve the National 

Judicial Council NJC of the duty 

of dealing with petitions, discipline 

and removal of judicial officers so 

that it concentrates on the 

responsibilities of formulating 

broad policies for, and judicial 

appointments in, the judiciary; b) 

the creation of a separate 

discipline-only body and to which 

should be added the duty of 

‘Intelligence Measurement 

Performance System’ for weeding 

under-performing officers out of 

the judiciary; c) an elaborate 

mechanism both for the 

punishment and insulation of 

judicial officers for and against 

corruption. 

To reposition the Judiciary, 

Musdapher’s Judicial Reform had 

proposed to the NASS, a ‘Fifth 

Alteration’ Draft Bill. The Reform 

was targeted at restoring five key 

universal components of judicial 

administration, namely: 1) an 

INDEPENDENT JUDICIAL 

SYSTEM with a self-governing, 

independent ‘budget-authority’ 

and a ‘rule-and-policy making’ 

autonomy; 2) a TRANSPARENT 

JUDICIAL SYSTEM that 

guarantees open judicial selection, 

promotion, discipline, removal of 

judicial officers and open access 

to court proceedings; 3) an 

ACCOUNTABLE JUDICIAL 

SYSTEM with an effective case 

management, clear judicial 

productivity and performance 

standards; 4) an EFFICIENT 

JUDICIAL SYSTEM with 

responsibility, self-esteem and 

discipline, hard work, high 

sense of integrity and 

commitment to rule of law and 

due process.” 

This ideal bureaucracy then 

was attained because the 

political class, the Sardauna, 

Aliyu Makaman Bida, 

Shettima Kashim Ibrahim, 

Ibrahim Imam Aminu Kano, as well as the 

leading civil servants, Mohammet Lawan, 

Ahmed Talib, Yahaya Gusau, Ahmadu 

Coomassie, Ali Akilu, Bukar Shuaib, 

Ignatius Durlong, Buba Ardo, Dr. Russel 

Dikko, Muhammadu Gujbawu, 

Muhammadu Monguno were all 

contemporaries at the defunct Katsina 

College or the Barewa College that grew 

out of it. 

Mallam Liman posited that it was probably 

because they had known themselves during 

their school days that good understanding 

was fostered among them thereby building 

confidence and facilitating good working 

relationship. He added: “In fact, 

relationships, understanding, hard work, 

loyalty, discipline and respect which had 

been cultivated within and between 

individuals and groups through years of 

schooling together, were systematically and 

successfully imparted and passed on to the 

younger members of the Northern Region 

Public Service.” 

After a short stay in the Premier’s office, 

Mallam Liman was posted out to have a 

feel of other ministries. Eventually, he was 

sent out of Kaduna to garner the ultimate 

experience as Provincial Secretary to handle 

grassroots matters, firstly to Plateau 

Province and later to Minna Province. It was 

in Minna that he handled the 1963/64 

census. On his return to Kaduna in early 

1964, he was deemed sufficiently 

experienced to be appointed a Permanent 

Secretary. He was posted to the newly created 

Ministry of Water Resources to work with 

Ibrahim Biu, the Minister whom he would 

later encounter in the North-Eastern State 

as his Commissioner of Education. 

In all interactions with the political class, 

Mallam Liman found that the top civil 

servants and the political bosses worked 

harmoniously and never at cross purposes. 

The political bosses, ‘related with civil 

servants maturely, respecting them as 

standardised training and 

education, improved access to 

justice, and one that is fast, certain, 

consistent and predictable in 

delivering justice; and lastly; 5) a 

DIGNIFIED JUDICIAL SYSTEM 

that enjoys the respect, awe and 

confidence of the public and before 

which every citizen feels a sense of 

duty to willingly subjugate. 

POSTSCRIPT 

Prior to the appointment of the 

late Justice Dahiru Musdapher as 

Chief Justice in 2011, the National 

Judicial Council, NJC had always 

proposed to the President names 

of the three most senior justices of 

the Supreme Court in order of 

their seniority. The President then 

had the ‘privilege’ -not ‘right’- to 

select any one. Interestingly, no 

President was known to exercise 

that privilege in the disfavour of 

the most senior of the three. It was 

to frustrate the attempt (by 

President Goodluck Jonathan) to 

exploit this privilege for geo-ethnic 

motive that the NJC under 

Musdapher ended this succession 

tradition by insisting that the NJC 

present the name of the most 

senior justice only –namely Aloma 

Muktar; giving Jonathan a virtual 

Hobson’s Choice. Behind Justice 

Aloma were justices Mahmud 

Mohammed and Walter 

Onnoghen in that order, but 

information had reached 

Musdapher indicating that 

Jonathan had been advised by his 

hawkish kinsmen to ‘damn the 

consequences’ and skip both 

Aloma Mukhtar and Mahmud 

Mohammed to pick ‘his own’, 

Onnoghen. And it is on record that 

on receiving the NJC list 

containing only the name of Justice 

Aloma, President Jonathan was 

said to have returned it to the NJC, 

insisting that the Council should 

do the needful by respecting its 

time-honored tradition of sending 

three candidates, -a demand which 

the Council rebuffed again by resending 

Aloma’s only name as the 

Council’s nominee. This was the 

Onnoghen. Concluded 

experts and professional administrators. In 

fact, Permanent Secretaries were almost at 

par with the Ministers. They were seen and 

treated as such’. 

The grit of the public service was, however, 

to be severely tested early in 1966 when the 

soldiers struck in a coup. The top civil 

servants woke up that morning of Saturday 

January 15,1966 to find their political 

leadership decapitated. But for the public 

service life had to go on even if it involved 

walking on a very tight rope. When the 

Permanent Secretaries were invited for a 

meeting with Major Nzeogwue, the 

following Sunday, they trooped along. 

They were led by Ali Akilu, the Secretary to 

the Government whom Nzeogwue said he 

was replacing. It was after that statement 

that Nzeogwue announced Ignatius 

Durlong as Secretary to the Government. 

Mallam Liman wrote: “Durlong 

immediately and angrily rejected the 

appointment. He was calmed down by 

Ahmed Talib - - -.” It was their first victory 

which emboldened them to remain resolute 

and strong. This enabled the Public Service 

to remain together and were able to whether 

many other storms and run the system as 

seamlessly as possible till the following year 

when the regions were broken into States by 

General Gowon, whence Mall Liman found 

himself in North-Eastern State. 

Mallam Liman wrote about the 

disillusionment that followed the coup. He 

dismissed the coup as a premeditated 

murder of one’s colleagues and of unarmed 

civilians who as leaders had served the 

nation in one form or the other to the best of 

their ability and to the admiration of the 

majority. He said: “You don’t forcibly 

remove a prime minister from his home, 

shoot him, dump his body in the bush and 

gloat over the matter as an act of revolution 

or courage.” 

We shall return to the subject next week. Keep 

a date with this page.

18 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

IT is hardly surprising that the 

Borno State Government has resorted 

to enlisting the services of local 

hunters to assist in the war against 

the Boko Haram Islamist insurgents. 

The recent trip of a delegation of 

Borno leaders to the Presidential Villa 

to cry for urgent help to contain the 

resurgence of terrorism showed a 

need for extra measures by all 

stakeholders. 

On Wednesday, January 30, 2019, 

Governor Kashim Shettima, the 

Governor of Borno State, oversaw the 

swearing of the oath of loyalty “not 

to betray our troops” by about 500 

hunters drawn from all parts of the 

state. The hunters were asked to swear 

on the Quran and the Bible, 

depending on their religions. News 

of this event raised a lot of eyebrows 

and elicited a lot of discussions on the 

Social Media and several radio 

networks. 

Borno hunters to the rescue 

The questions on the table were: in 

what way could these oaths guarantee 

the loyalty of the hunters? How 

effective has oath-swearing been in 

keeping politicians and senior 

government officeholders true to 

their words? How has it promoted 

honesty, transparency and integrity in 

public office? 

In spite of the oaths we swear on 

assumption of office, Nigeria is still 

rated as one of the most corrupt 

countries in the world. Oath-swearing 

has rather become the sanctimonious 

smokescreen that people hide behind 

to perpetrate the very malfeasances 

they swear to avoid. 

However, the Borno State 

Government has made it clear that the 

oaths are merely the icing on the cake. 

After ten years of living under the 

scourge of Boko Haram terror, the 

North East has gathered some useful 

experiences to cope. The hunters are 

being recruited to join the gallant 

Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) or 

“Civilian JTF” as a support vanguard 

for the heroic troops in providing 

vigilante and intelligence services. 

According to Isa Gusau, the 

Director of Press to Governor 

Shettima, these hunters and vigilante 

members are carefully nominated, 

approved by community leaders and 

sent for screening and training by the 

Directorate of State Services (DSS) to 

ensure they have no links to the 

terrorist networks. 

It is heart- warming that in spite of 

the depth of terror Boko Haram has 

inflicted on the people over the past 

decade, the spirits of the Borno 

people and their government have 

not been dampened. The terrorists 

have not yet succeeded in cowing the 

people into submission. The ordinary 

people are still willing to confront 

these foreign-backed anarchists until 

victory is assured. 

We have, on this forum, repeatedly 

called for this manner of closing of 

ranks between the military, the 

populace and governments at all 

levels in the war on terror. No army 

can win a war without adequate 

civilian support. 

To defeat the terrorists is a task that 

must be done. 

By E. K. Clark 

AS we approach the General 

Elections, there is need to lend 

one’s voice to ensuring that a peaceful, 

free, fair and credible election is 

conducted by Independent National 

Electoral Commission, INEC. Shortly 

before the former Inspector General of 

Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris left office, I 

watched a programme where there was 

an argument of who should be in 

control of Police personnel posted to 

work with the INEC, during elections 

between him and the INEC Chairman 

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. Whilst the 

former IGP was of the opinion that the 

Police should be in charge, the INEC 

Chairman thought otherwise, stating 

that INEC ought to be in charge. 

Recently, there has been an over 

bearing attitude of state actors, 

especially officials of the Nigeria Police 

Force in political affairs. As a free 

citizen of this country, I think we have 

had enough of Police interference in 

electoral affairs. Therefore, as we 

approach the 2019 General Elections, 

there is need to put up measures to 

check the activities of some politicians 

and officials of the Police Force, who 

will collude with them. 

Therefore, I want to align myself with 

the INEC Chairman that INEC should 

be in charge of Police personnel 

posted to it during elections. 

Former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele 

Jonathan signed into Law Section 29 

(3) of the Principal Act as Amended 

which states that: 

“Notwithstanding the provisions of any 

other law and for purposes of securing 

the vote, the Commission shall be 

responsible for requesting for the 

deployment of relevant security 

personnel necessary for elections or 

registration of voters and shall assign 

them in the manner determined by the 

Commission in consultation with the 

relevant security agencies: 

PROVIDED that the Commission shall 

only request for the deployment of the 

Nigerian Armed Forces only for the 

purposes of securing the distribution 

and delivery of election materials and 

protection of election officials”. 

The Nigeria Police Force and INEC 

should sit down for INEC to work out 

how many Police Personnel it will 

require to conduct the election 

nationwide. 

If there is any misconduct, let INEC 

be the body to call them to effect take 

care of the issue. 

In order to ensure that security 

personnel remain neutral, I am 

proposing the India model of 

conducting elections. 

In India, many of the organisations 

that work during elections, are led by 

the Election Commission of India, ECI. 

The national Indian Police Force called 

the Central Armed Police Force, CAPF, 

and the State Armed Police, SAP Force, 

OPINION 

INEC and the responsibility for management 

and control of 2019 electoral security 

join together to provide adequate 

security and monitoring during 

elections, although the CAPF is the 

main body; they are under the control 

of the ECI. And both forces maintain 

absolute neutrality and conduct 

themselves in line with the demands 

Notwithstanding the 

provisions of any other law 

and for purposes of securing 

the vote, the Commission shall 

be responsible for requesting 

for the deployment of relevant 

security personnel necessary 

for elections or registration of 

voters and shall assign them in 

the manner determined by the 

Commission in consultation 

with the relevant security 

agencies 

of the ECI. At the end of the elections, 

the ECI pays them and in fact rewards 

those of them who perform well. 

It must be remembered that India is 

the largest democracy in the world with 

a population of over 1.3 billion and an 

electorate of over 863 million. It uses 

this method of the electoral body 

controlling the Police Personnel posted 

to it during elections, and that is the 

reason Indian election is largely free, 

fair and credible. 

This method will avert the system of 

direct posting whereby the Nigeria 

Police Force will just wake up on the 

eve of election, to announce, that it has 

deployed 30 thousand Police personnel 

or so and so number, to a State to 

provide security during election. 

Whether these personnel are on 

ground or not, nobody knows, whether 

they are up to the numbers quoted, 

nobody knows. The payments made to 

security personnel who work during 

elections by the ECI, are in public 

domain. 

There is so much tension, fear and 

apprehension concerning the forth 

coming General Election ranging from 

the activities of security agencies to the 

activities of some government agencies. 

However, one feels some respite with 

the “bond” of Mr. President in his 

Christmas Message to the country 

when he said “My avowed 

commitment to free, fair credible and 

violence-free polls is not ruse or yet 

another vain political promise. My 

word is my bond”. 

We want to believe that he will keep to 

this vow, because so far nothing seems 

to indicate that this noble vow will be 

kept by State actors. 

A writer once said that: ‘Political Parties 

come and go, but Nationalities remain’. 

* Dr. E.K. Clark, wrote from Delta State.


Buhari assents to Competition and Consumer 

Protection Bill 

•It will expand economy, support SMEs – CPC boss 

By Emeka Anaeto, Business 

Editor 

THERE are indications that 

consumers of goods and 

services in the country may soon 

be receiving a more robust 

protection and redress from 

unwholesome products and 

services. 

The director general of the 

Consumer Protection Council 

CPC, Babatunde Irukera, gave 

this indication yesterday as 

President Mohammadu Buhari 

assented to the Federal 

Competition and Consumer 

Protection Bill, thereby making 

it the Federal Competition and 

Consumer Protection Act 2019. 

He stated: “We at the 

Consumer Protection Council 

will engage every tool and 

provision in this new law, and 

any other enactment for the 

protection of consumers to 

ensure fair treatment and 

respect for Nigerian 

consumers.” 

Commenting further on the 

implication of this development, 

Irukera said, “By this, Nigeria 

has promulgated perhaps the 

most prolific legislation for 

promoting consumer 

confidence, choice and fair 

pricing. By the same token, 

the law deepens the framework 

for encouraging and supporting 

small and medium scale 

businesses by ensuring a 

playing field that eliminates 

entry barriers and operational 

obstacles which prevent 

sustainability and profitability. 

“By this law, the Federal 

Government has cemented the 

most needed efficient and 

transparent framework for 

meaningful and credible 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

SDR 

DANISH 

RAND 

$104.95 0.10 

2,272.00 53.00 

$12.81 -0.01 

$61.88 -0.10 

$53.50 -0.16 

305.7 306.2 306.7 

397.7157 398.3662 399.0167 

349.3234 349.8947 350.4661 

305.2117 305.7109 306.2101 

2.7798 2.7844 2.7889 

0.5156 0.5256 0.5356 

426.8789 427.5771 428.2753 

45.3081 45.3827 45.4572 

81.5091 81.6424 81.7758 

426.7878 427.4858 428.1839 

46.7817 46.8583 46.9348 

. 22.8684 22.9058 22.9432 

CBN Exchange rate as at 06/02/2019 

disposition of public 

enterprises, expanding 

economic growth and assuring 

shared prosperity. As a 

leading market in Africa, a 

vibrant competition framework 

is a key tool in reducing 

poverty, increasing value for 

money and ensuring consumer 

satisfaction. 

“This demonstration of 

fidelity to consumers and 

citizens while continuing to 

promote Nigeria as a leading 

destination for investment is an 

outstanding achievement, and 

a historic milestone in the 

development of Nigeria and 

prioritization of her people both 

from consumer protection and 

economic competitiveness 

standpoints. 

From left : Zonal Head Securities and Exchange Commission Kano Zonal Office, Mr. Danladi 

Mohammed, Managing Director, Dantata Success and Profitable Company, Kano, Alhaji Lawan 

Sani and DSP Mukthar Hussaini Aliyu of the SEC Police Unit during the Enforcement 

action on Dantata Success and Profitable Company, Kano, Wednesday. 

National Collateral Registry facilitates 

N1.2trn loan to 155,000 SMEs 

By Babajide Komolafe 

THE National Collateral 

Registry has assisted over 

154,000 Micro, Small and 

Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) 

to access N1.2 trillion loans from 

628 financial institutions. 

The Central Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN) disclosed this in a report 

made available to Vanguard 

yesterday. 

The NCR is an initiative of the 

CBN in collaboration 

with the International 

Finance Corporation 

(IFC) designed to 

foster financial 

inclusion and 

sustainable and 

inclusive economic 

growth. 

Among other things 

the NCR seeks to 

deepen credit delivery 

to MSMEs through 

enhanced acceptability 

of movable assets such 

as equipment, 

machinery, vehicle, 

tricycle, crops, 

livestock, account 

receivables, 

inventories, 

jewelleries, amongst 

others, as collateral for 

loans by financial 

institutions. 

The report showed 

that the number of 

MSMEs that have 

used their movable assets to 

obtain loans from financial 

institutions through the NCR 

rose to 154,827 as at December 

19, 2018 from 100,049 in the 

first year, 2017, indicating 

increase of 54 percent. The 

report also showed that 22,251 

of the MSMEs were female 

entrepreneurs. 

Further breakdown showed 

that 146,777 of the borrowers 

were individuals, 3,416 were 

micro businesses, 2,169 were 

medium businesses, 1,777 

were small businesses and 687 

were large businesses. 

Lending under the NCR rose 

by 146 percent per cent to N1.2 

trillion in 2018 from N487 

million in 2017. The upsurge in 

lending activities, according to 

the CBN was due to the 

increase in the number of 

microfinance banks on the NCR 

portal as well as increased 

participation of deposit money 

banks and non-bank financial 

institutions. 

As a result the number of 

participating financial 

institutions in the NCR rose to 

628 in 2018 from 103 in 2017. 

The number of participating 

Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) 

rose to 21 from three in 2017, 

microfinance banks rose to 551 

from 96, Development finance 

institution rose to four (4) 

from one(1), merchant banks 

rose four from one, finance 

companies rose to 13 from 2 

while non interest bank rose to 

one from zero in 2017. 

FDC expects lower inflation figures for January 2019 

By Peter Egwuatu 

NIGERIA’s 

headline 

inflation is expected to show 

a drop to 11.35 percent in the January, 

2019 reading, down from 11.44 

percent in the preceding month, 

according to a forecast by Financial 

Derivative Company, FDC. 

The FDC explained that this is 

likely to be a reflection of a fall in 

disposable income in January, 

leading to a decline in aggregate 

demand for consumer goods. 

“The pattern of slow demand early 

in the year is seasonal and is 

empirically validated. In recent times, 

January inflation numbers have 

declined, as shown in the graph 

below. This validates that the assertion 

in personal income compression in 

January is partly because of the 

payment of school bills and the post 

Christmas expenditure effect. 

“The moderation in the headline 

inflation would come as a relief to 

policymakers who are concerned that 

inflation will continue its upward 

movement which started in 

November. Notwithstanding, the 

inflation number is still a mile away 

from the CBN’s comfort zone of 6-9 

Merchant Navy 

petitions 

NIMASA over 

Chinese 

domination of 

Cabotage trade 

By Godfrey Bivbere & Cynthia 

Alo 

THE Nigeria Merchant 

Navy Officers and Water 

Transport Senior Staff 

Association has petitioned 

Nigerian Maritime 

Administration and Safety 

Agency, NIMASA, over what it 

described as the domination of 

Chinese seafarers in a refinery 

project currently going on in 

Lekki area of Lagos. 

The petition dated 18th 

December 2018, and addressed 

to the Executive Director of 

Maritime Labour and Cabotage 

states: “Our attention has 

been drawn to the influx of 

Chinese Seafarers into the 

Nigeria Maritime industry in 

contravention of the Cabotage 

Act, 2003. Information at our 

disposal reveals that a particular 

Refinery project at Lekki, Lagos 

shall be deploying two Anchor 

Handling Tug Supply, AHTS 

and lay barge for its use. The 

vessels will be used for 

installation of pipelines, Single 

Bouy Mooring, SBM and etc. 

“The Anchor Handling Tug 

Supply vessel have minimum 

crew complement of twenty-two 

each and the lay barge is to carry 

200 staff strength onboard. With 

their back to back, the total 

workforce would be 500 

personnel approximately and 

the duration of the contract is two 

years plus. 

“All Nigerians onboard the 

HYSY698 were sacked as we are 

also informed that the vessel 

HYSY698 managers said they do 

not need any Nigerian to work 

with them. The vessel was 

detained by NIMASA for failing 

to comply with the manning 

requirement of the Cabotage law 

and was later released after three 

days which is not acceptable. 

According to the report, the 

vessels which would commence 

operation soon at the worksite 

will be of no benefit to the 

indigenes. 

percent.” 

On Month-on-Month, MoM 

price index down, FDC said: “The 

MoM inflation (which is more 

reflective of current prices) is 

projected to decline to 0.72 percent 

(8.96 percent annualized) from 

0.74 percent (9.31 percent 

annualized) in December 2018. This 

we believe will be driven by the fall 

in the prices of the food basket. The 

most significant is the sharp drop in 

the price of onions which declined 

to N18, 000 per sack after staying 

stubbornly high at above N30,000 

per sack for five months.”


Emefiele, CBN, Governor 

CBN, Dangote target Nigeria’s self sufficiency in tomato 

production 


Nigeria is set to achieve self suf 

ficiency in tomato production in 

the next one year following the attainment 

of daily production of one million 

tomato nurseries. 

The daily production of tomato nurseries 

was driven by the intervention 

of the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) 

through its Anchor Borrowers Programme 

(ABP) which led to an off taker 

arrangement between Dangote Tomato 

Processing Factory and farmers 

in Kadawa, Garun Malam Local Government 

Area of Kano State. Speaking 

during a facility tour of the factory 

CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele 

said that the apex bank is committed 

to ensuring Nigeria achieve self sufficiency 

in tomato production. 

He expressed optimism that another 

revolution, similar to what was recorded 

in the production of rice is about to 

occur in that produce noting that from 

what is happening in Kadawa, he can 

rightly state that Dangote Tomato Plant 

is the only real processing plant in 

Nigeria for now, unlike others that 

were merely importing tomato puree 

and concentrates and packaging same 

in the country. 

He further stated that the initial 

challenges encountered by the project 

have been overcome with the acquisition 

of the greenhouses for the 

production of high yield seedlings 

with the collaboration of the CBN. Mr 

Emefiele therefore, expressed delight 

that “with the initial daily production 

of a million tomato nurseries alone, 

more people would be encouraged to 

embrace farming thereby creating jobs 

for our people along the entire value 

chain and reverse the exportation of 

jobs”. 

The CBN Governor also hinted that 

going by the brief he got from Chairman 

of Dangote Farms, Alhaji Sani 

Dangote, when the factory become fully 

operational, the country would not 

only be self-sufficient in tomato production 

in the next one year but will 

also be able to export to other African 

countries in the next three years”. 

While assuring tomato farmers of all 

the necessary support with the formal 

take off Anchor Borrowers Programme 

for tomato production as a result of the 

off-taker arrangement with Dangote 

Factory, Mr Emefiele also used the 

opportunity of call on well-meaning 

individual to come out and support the 

efforts of the Bank to create jobs in 

Nigeria. 

On his part, the Minister of Agriculture, 

Chief Audu Ogbe assured the 

Audu Ogbe, Minister of Agriculture 

farmers that with the firm commitment 

by CBN, he can only assure the farmers 

that “better days are here” just as 

he assured the farmers of protective 

policies which may include inclusion 

of tomato in the import prohibition list. 

The Deputy Governor of Kano State, 

Alhaji Nasir Yusuf Gauna in his remarks 

during the facility tour, stated 

that the state has really keyed into large 

scale agricultural production by partnering 

with Dangote Farms by way of 

rendering all necessary assistance for 

the take-off of the project. According 

to the Deputy Governor, the state government 

has also been subsidizing 

farming activities in several ways. 

On his part, the chairman of 

Dangote Farms, Alhaji Sani Dangote 

expressed the readiness of the company 

to produce about one million 

seedlings daily in addition to processing 

enough for domestic consumption 

provided there are right policies in 

place including restriction on importation 

of tomato puree. 

The Kano state Governor, Dr Umar 

Ganduje had during a courtesy visit 

by the CBN Governor and the Agriculture 

Minister, enumerated various 

incentives offered to farmers in the 

state in terms of land, irrigation facilities, 

pesticides and resuscitation of 

the moribund fertilizer plant which 

UBA’s e-banking App trends in 17 African countries 

By Cynthia Alo 

United Bank for Africa (UBA Group) 

has said its electronic application 

, ‘Leo’ is currently trending in 17 African 

countries within one year of its existence. 

Disclosing this at a session of the ongoing 

social media week in Lagos, the 

bank also said the app has gained one 

million patronage from subscribers. 

It will be recalled that Leo was launched 

in January 2018 to enable customers of the 

bank have access to select banking services 

including account opening, loan applications, 

account balance checking, 

cheque confirmations, bill payment, account 

freezing and instant notifications. 

The bank stated: “Leo has surpassed 

one million users on the bank’s mobile app, 

in just twelve months because of its numerous 

benefits and acceptability, a feat 

its close rivals have not been able to attain. 

“The AI-driven virtual assistant, which 

Sani Dangote (MD Dangote Tomato 

Processing Limited) 

also has Facebook and WhatsApp banking 

capabilities, was first unveiled in January 

and today, one year later remains 

the preferred chat banker in Nigeria and 

across Africa where UBA is present , because 

it has clinically leap frogged others 

in every sense of it.” 

“The formulation of this product is consistent 

with the bank’s customer first philosophy, 

where we are doing things not 

the way we like, but focusing on what the 

customer want, where they want it and in 

the exact platform they want it,” Kennedy 

Uzoka, UBA’s managing director said at 

the unveiling of the chatbot in 2018.” 

In a paper presentation tagged, 

‘Game of Bots’ at the Social Media week 

, the bank’s head of online banking, 

Mr.Augustine Abolusoro,stated: Leo is not 

just the first artificial intelligence (AI) powered 

chatbot in Africa; it is also a multilingual 

chatbot with capability to speak 

languages like English, French, and Portuguese. 

The company plans to include 

Ganduje, Kano State Governor 

L-R: Samuel Oluyemi, 

Head, Vertical Markets, 

Nigeria Interbank 

Settlement System 

(NIBSS); Dr. Aminu 

Gwadabe, President, 

Association of Bureaux 

De Change Operators 

of Nigeria (ABCON); 

Adebola Ayedun, Ass 

Director, Trade & 

Exchange Dept, Central 

Bank of Nigeria (CBN); 

and Adamgbe Williams, 

Senior Detective Superintendent, 

Nigeria 

Financial Intelligence 

Unit (NFIU) at the 

launching of the AB- 

CON’s Automation 

Portal in Lagos yesterday. 

has now adequately catered for the 

farmers needs all year round. 

Dr Ganduje also called for synergy 

among the stakeholders and agencies 

of government towards achieving the 

desired results of repositioning agriculture 

as wealth creating endeavors. 

Representatives of the tomato farmers 

in the area were resolute in calling 

on the government to expeditiously 

put in place some fiscal measures in 

place to protect local farmers. According 

to the coalition of farmers there is 

urgent to safeguard investments by restricting 

importation of tomato puree 

among other agricultural produce into 

the country. 

Yoruba and other Nigerian languages very 

soon. 

“Leo was developed with best in class 

AI technology: Natural language processing 

and machine learning,” says Abolusoro. 

“It enables financial inclusion.” 

He continued, “As we continue to advance 

our work on AI-driven developments, 

it is important that we listen to our 

users today and further enhance Leo to 

align to client feedback in order to better 

meet and anticipate needs and even give 

them increased value as Leo clocks one,” 

Abolusoro added. 

He noted that Leo is also available on 

Facebook, WhatsApp and has hosted 

70 million conversations. 

“Leo has five per cent of the subscriber 

population is within the age of 65 and 

above, an overwhelming 72 per cent are 

between 18 and 34 years. 

“The Leo platform has the same kind of 

authentication you find on all our digital 

platforms.”

Nigeria and other 

African countries 

would soon heave 

a sigh of relief from the 

sloppy economic situation 

occasioned by 

price instability with 

the imminent completion 

of the Dangote 

Refinery and other 

modular refineries in 

Nigeria. 

Already, the president 

of Ghana, Nana 

Akufo-Addo has said 

at a forum in Egypt 

that his country is anxiously 

waiting for the 

readiness of the Dangoe 

refinery to save his 

government of economic 

distortion 

caused by massive importation 

of petroleum 

from the Europe. 

Technical Adviser to 

the President of 

Dangote Group on Refinery 

and Petrochemicals, 

Engr. Babajide 

Soyode has said that 

the completion of 

Dangote Refinery and 

other modular refinery 

projects in Nigeria 

would culminate in the 

integration of the 

downstream industries, 

lower cost of 

business and stabilise 

the prices of petroleum 

products across the Africa 

sub-region. 

He made this assertion 

during a panel session 

on ‘Refining, 

Transportation and 

Petrochemicals Forum’, 

at the just concluded 

2019 Nigeria 

International Petroleum 

Summit in Abuja. 

He thus emphasised 

the need for the Federal 

Government to fully 

deregulate the downstream 


According to him, 

“by the time Dangote 

completes the largest 

single train refinery, in 

addition to what other 

investors are doing, 

Nigeria will have more 

than enough petrol for 

domestic use and for 

export.” 

He therefore stressed 

the need for government 

to allow private 

sector run the downstream 

industry. “First 

of all, the refinery will 

save Nigeria from importation 

of refined 

products, which will 

help to boost the value 

of the naira, he added. 

Soyode said there is 

no need for the Federal 

Government to continue 

to subside petrol. 

“Government should 

remove subsidy and 

allow private sector to 

manage the downstream 

sector. Regulation 

is not going to 

stay forever. Regulation 

of petroleum 

products has been in 

existence in the last 32 

years. What have we 

gained from it? Do you 

know any single poor 

man whose life has 

been improved through 

this policy? 

“I think people 

should demand that 

Vanguard THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 — 21 

From left, Founding Dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, Dr. Pramath Sinha; 

Nigeria’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah; President/CE of the 

Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, and former Managing Director of McKinsey & Company/Co-Founder, 

Indian School of Business, Mr. Rajat Gupta, on a courtesy visit to Dangote at the Head Office of the 

Dangote Group. 

Completion of Dangote refinery 

will help Africa’s sloppy economy 

ECONOMY 

ulated. Nigerians are 

dynamic. We don’t 

need government’s 

regulation with respect 

to the price of petrol. 

What are they regulating? 

There is no country 

that has ever succeeded 

in regulating 

commodity product,” 

he added. 

He emphasised the 

need for the Nigerian 

National Petroleum 

Corporation (NNPC) 

to rehabilitate the nation’s 

refineries and 

bring them to full capacity 

utilization. 

Soyode stated: 

“Dangote’s construction 

of 650,000 bpd refinery 

is not new to 

Nigeria. Although, 

Dangote is presently 

constructing the biggest 

refinery in the 

world, Nigeria has 

been a big player in petroleum 

refining. 

NNPC refineries are 

gold mines and they 

are sited in the best 

market in Nigeria. Why 

can’t NNPC reactivate 

and upgrade its refineries? 

NNPC has some 

of the best manpower 

in the world. Regulation 

is not going to 

stay forever.” 

Speaking also at the 

panel session, Chief 

Executive OVH Energy 

Marketing, Huub 

Stokman, commended 

the federal government 

for its efforts in tackling 

the accumulated petro- 

I think people 

should demand 

that 

subsidy be 

removed and 

the downstream 

sector 

should be 

deregulated. 

Nigerians are 

dynamic. We 

don’t need 

government’s 

regulation 

with respect to 

the price of 

petrol 

subsidy be removed 

and the downstream 

sector should be deregleum 

subsidy debt to 

oil marketers. 

Dwelling on the need 

for the federal government 

to deregulate the 

downstream industry, 

Stokman insisted that 

Nigeria cannot continue 

to import petroleum 

products. “Modular 

refinery is going to 

play a major role in Nigeria’s 

for self-sufficiency”, 

he said. 

Chairman, Integrated 

Oil & Gas Limited, 

Emmanuel Iheanacho 

said there is need for 

the country to address 

the imbalance where 

Nigeria exports its 

crude oil without value 

addition. 

Iheanacho added 

that only full deregulation 

can bring the 

much needed investment 

to the sector. “We 

need a programme that 

will allow us refine our 

product locally.” 

He posited that full 

liberalisation and deregulation 

of Nigeria’s 

downstream oil sector 

will remove all the hindrances 

and bottlenecks 

that have been 

discouraging improvement 

of private investment 

and market competition.


Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 —23


Vice President Yemi 

Osinbajo has said 

the 

federal 

government is 

planning to establish an 

Entrepreneur Bank to 

provide flexibility in 

the provision of 

facilities to businesses 

across the country. 

Osinbajo disclosed this 

at a programme for 

women in business 

tagged, "Next Level 

FG plans to establish Entrepreneur Bank 

Conversation" in 

Abuja. The women, 

who were mostly 

entrepreneurs, were 

drawn from the 

e d u c a t i o n , 

environment, 

agriculture, real estate, 

hospitality sectors, 

among others. 

The vice president said 

that the federal 

government was giving 

prominent attention to 

the issue of giving 

cheap loans to small 

businesses. According 

to him, government 

has been able to deal to 

some extent with small 

and micro businesses. 

He stated: "We have 

T r a d e r M o n i , 

MarketMoni and 

FarmerMoni, which are 

basically very small 

credit schemes. We are 

also looking at an 

Enterprise Bank or an 

Entrepreneur Bank 

which is one of the 

types of establishment 

we are looking at. We 

think there is a need for 

a bank that will be a bit 

more nimble about 

entrepreneurship; a 

bank that has a bit more 

flexibility. 

"Of course, we will need 

a bill in the National 

Assembly. In the 

meantime, we think we 

can start with a bond to 

put a lot around it 

without necessarily 

building another big 

bureaucracy,'' he said. 

Osinbajo also said that 

the 

Federal 

Government would 

synergise with state 

and local governments 

to curb multiple 

taxation which had 

adverse effect on 

businesses. 

N-power to engage 7000 youths 

in softw 

tware development 

elopment 

Stories by Yinka Kolawole 

The federal 

government has 

said it plans engage 

7,000 youths from 

across the country in 

software development 

programmes under the 

N-power initiative. 

The Senior Special 

Assistant to the 

President on Job 

Creation and Youth 

Empowerment, Mr 

Afolabi Imoukhuede, 

disclosed this at a forum 

in Abuja. 

N-Power is a programme 

initiated by the Federal 

Government to address 

the challenge of youth 

unemployment by 

providing a structure for 

large scale and relevant 

work skills acquisition 

and development while 

linking its core and 

outcomes to fixing 

inadequate public 

services and stimulating 

the larger economy. 

Imoukhuede said that 

the programme would 

be introduced as part of 

the mandate of the 

scheme to economically 

empower the youth in 

the country. 

He noted that no fewer 

than 50,000 Nigerian 

youth were already 

engaged in skills 

acquisition programmes 

in different parts of the 

country with additional 

500,000 graduates 

engaged as volunteers in 

N-Agro, N-Teach and N- 

Health since 2016. 

The presidential aide 

said there is need for the 

country to begin to use 

technology or new 

thinking to solve some 

perennial challenges 

confronting the country. 

"We are to stimulate a lot 

in young people for them 

to begin to think out of 

the box or even imagine 

a no box at all and really 

bring up ideas," he said. 

I m o u k h u e d e 

emphasised the need for 

the country to 

strengthen efforts 

toward unlocking the 

potential in Small and 

Medium Enterprises 

(SMEs) through 

technological 

innovations. 

He stated: "SMEs are 

greater core not only to 

our youth but to all, and 

that is where an average 

youth will blend as a 

micro player. In looking 

at job creation, we 

realised that SMEs are the 

engine of any formidable 

economy. 

"So for us, we looked at it 

that it was with the least 

attention or the greatest 

challenge. We designed 

strategies targeted at 

unlocking the binding 

constraints that had 

hitherto hampered the 

successful entry of our 

micro enterprises into 

mainstream business. 

That is one of the areas we 

Why SMEs should pay tax — FIRS 

The Federal Inland 

Revenue Service 

(FIRS) has called on Small 

and Medium Enterprises 

(SMEs) to pay taxes to 

attract investors. 

FIRS Deputy Director, Mrs 

Angel Fadahunsi, made 

the appeal at the Techpoint 

Build expo held in Lagos. 

Techpoint Build is a 

conference and exhibition 

that connects start-ups 

and SME community with 

industries, bringing 

together people from 

across Nigeria and 

neighbouring countries. 

According to her, taxes 

are collected from 

business owners to sustain 

the nation and to provide 

amenities that will 

enhance both lives and 

businesses. 

"SMEs need to pay taxes, 

firstly because it is the law, 

needed for the 

development of the 

nation, provision of social 

amenities like road, 

hospital, taxes are needed 

looked at because that in 

many ways is to unlock 

entrepreneurship. 

When you begin to look at 

unemployment we must 

wake up to the reality that 

the white collar jobs are 

not there in the number 

to match the number of 

our teeming graduates 

that are getting to the 

labour market. So the 

earlier we begin to 

redirect them in the area 

of innovations using 

technology to promote 

entrepreneurship the 

better for us." 

to sustain these things. 

"Lots of SMEs are looking 

for investors that will 

invest in their business but 

an investor will only 

invest in businesses that 

pays tax to avoid being 

shut down," she said. 

Fadahunsi also advised 

SMEs that in planning for 

their business, they 

needed to factor paying of 

bills like taxes into it, 

noting that tax payment, 

whether to the federal, 

state or local government, 

Standard financial 

management for MSMEs (2) 

We have started a new series focusing on 

financial management for small businesses. 

In last week's discussion we highlighted the 

importance of sound financial management 

practices for grooming a successful business, no 

matter what type of business. 

We also highlighted some key aspects of financial 

management that an average small business owner 

should maintain. They include setting up or 

opening a business bank account; creating and 

maintaining a budget; establishing an accounting 

system and book keeping method, and this would 

be subdivided into two other practices, viz, account 

review and establishing a credit control system. 

Going forward from this we address the first issue, 

opening and maintaining a business account with a 

bank. The first thing to note here is the practice of 

separating your personal money from your 

business money. It is akin to separating your 

business from yourself to ensure the discipline of 

establishing a life for your business, distinct from 

your own life. 

BUSINESS BANK ACCOUNT: The first step in 

developing a financially distinct business entity 

different from your personal finances is opening a 

business bank account. This will enable you to 

monitor income from the business and expenses 

incurred in doing the business to determine how 

profitable or otherwise the business is. Also this will 

allow you to easily extract business records for 

purposes including credit monitoring and taxation. 

If you're operating a company, partnership or a trust 

you must have a separate bank account for tax 

purposes. 

Note that you have to register a business name 

before you can open the account in the name, 

otherwise you can still use your name to open an 

account dedicated to the business only. 

was essential to avoid 

business closure. 

She advised SMEs to 

register the business from 

the onset to get the Tax 

Identification Number 

(TIN) free. She also urged 

them to keep proper 

records of their business 

expenses as much as 

possible, so that when 

they start making profit, 

they would be able to make 

the right tax payment. 

"Tax is laid on profit 

between 20 to 30 per cent 

and that is why proper 

business records is 

required. If the business 

did not make any profit in 

a year, it behoves the 

owner to file the returns so 

that the FIRS will know," 

she said. 

Also speaking, Mrs Kemi 

Balogun, Team Lead, Tech 

and Service Partnership, 

AXA Mansard Insurance 

PLC, said insuring 

businesses was necessary 

to protect them from 

unforeseen events.


C 

M 

Y 

K



C 

M 

Y 

K


Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 —29



GENERAL Muhammadu 

Buhari was elected 

president in 2015. He was not 

a good, rounded person for 

the job. He lacked knowledge 

of economic management. His 

economic philosophy, 

Buharinomics, as military ruler 

from 1984 to 1985 damaged 

Nigeria’s economy. He also 

lacked the quality of inclusive 

leadership; he couldn’t treat 

all Nigerians equally; 

championing, for instance, 

Fulani herders against non- 

Fulani farmers. Furthermore, 

he wasn’t well. This was 

apparently disguised during 

the 2015 election, but illness 

later hobbled his presidency. 

But none of those mattered 

in 2015. There was public 

anger against insecurity and 

corruption, which the 

incumbent, Goodluck 

Jonathan, was incapable of 

tackling. So, cometh the hour, 

cometh the man! Nigerians 

turned to a former military 

dictator, who launched the War 

against Indiscipline, jailed 

politicians for up to 200 years 

each for corruption and 

ruthlessly suppressed 

insurgencies. In that moment 

of national crisis, with 

ravaging insecurity and 

debilitating corruption, 

Nigerians ignored Buhari’s 

weaknesses and focused on 

his perceived strengths. 

However, once in office, 

those weaknesses became 

dominant and the perceived 

strengths subdued. Buhari 

took over a struggling 

economy but made it worse 

through misguided and 

damaging policies. Under his 

watch, poverty and inequality 

became rife, with youth 

unemployment rising from 3m 

in 2015 to 13m in 2018 (a 

Vote Buhari, get the Cabal 

versus Osinbajo 

263% increase over 3½ years). 

Nigerians are hardly safer now 

than they were before he took 

over in 2015. And his fabled 

reputation for fighting 

corruption? Well, the latest 

Transparency International 

corruption perception Index 

shows that, despite nearly four 

years of Buhari’s anti-graft 

war, Nigeria still ranks 144 out 

of 180, or scores 27 out of 100! 

One of Buhari’s historic 

weaknesses – clannishness – 

also re-emerged. His 

government is controlled 

behind the scenes by a small 

clique of powerful people, 

known as cabal. 

In 2016, Buhari’s wife, 

Aisha, cried out to the BBC, 

with barely disguised 

anguish, that her husband’s 

government had been 

“hijacked” by a cabal. She 

repeated the accusation last 

December, saying that two or 

three men were “caging” her 

husband. “If 15.4 million 

people can bring in a 

government, only for the 

government to be dominated 

by two people”, she lamented, 

asking: “Where are the men of 

Nigeria?” 

Despite the above, Buhari is 

seeking re-election. But I can 

only see turbulence ahead for 

Nigeria if he is re-elected. The 

But, let’s face it, 

Buhari is 76 years 

old. He said in 2015 

that he wished he 

was younger, 

saying, candidly: 

“Now at 72, there is 

a limit to what I can 

do”. But he is now 

76. Half-way 

through his second 

term, if re-elected, 

he would be 

nearing 80 

reasons are twofold. First is 

policy sclerosis and inertia, 

which would lead to further 

deteriorations in Nigeria’s 

economic, political and social 

situations; second is greater 

dysfunctionality in a second 

Buhari administration. 

Take the first. Buhari is 

running for a second term 

without fresh ideas. His “Next 

Level” manifesto focuses on 

the same issues of corruption, 

security and poverty, but 

ignores the fact that these are 

symptoms of acute underlying 

structural economic, political 

and institutional problems. A 

second Buhari administration 

would do nothing differently, 

but more of the same: more 

statist economic policies; more 

money thrown at poverty 

through social intervention 

programmes; and, of course, 

continued rejection of political 

restructuring. Remember 

Einstein’s description of 

“doing the same thing over 

and over again and expecting 

different results”? That’s the 

point! 

Now, the greater 

dysfunctionality. Buhari’s 

current administration is 

dysfunctional because of his 

illness and laidback 

leadership style, which allows 

a shadowy but powerful cabal 

to hold sway. Vice President 

Yemi Osinbajo (Thank God for 

saving his life during the 

recent helicopter crash) was 

frequently undermined by the 

cabal when holding fort for the 

president during his medical 

holidays. They were behind 

Buhari’s letter of transfer in 

2017, which described 

Osinbajo’s role as 

“coordinating the activities of 

the government” instead of 

“performing the duties of the 

office of president”, as S.145 

of the Constitution clearly 

stipulates. The cabal 

persuaded the ailing president 

to relegate Osinbajo’s role 

from “Acting President” to 

“Coordinator”. Chief Bisi 

Akande, an APC leader, said 

then that “political interests at 

the corridor of power were 

exploiting the president’s 

illness”. 

Yet, it’s a taboo in Nigeria to 

discuss the health of a 

president, even a presidential 

candidate. But American 

presidential candidates 

routinely publish their medical 

records. Furthermore, if 

President Trump was admitted 

into hospital for just one day, 

Americans would know the 

nature of his illness. But 

Buhari went on medical 

vacation for 50 days and then 

for 105 days, yet his illness 

remains mysterious. The 

reality, though, is that 

President Buhari is still not 

well. His stuttering 

performance recently on TV 

interview and the campaign 

trail, with several gaffes, was 

cringing, suggesting all is not 

well. 

But, let’s face it, Buhari is 76 

years old. He said in 2015 that 

he wished he was younger, 

saying, candidly: “Now at 72, 

there is a limit to what I can 

do”. But he is now 76. Halfway 

through his second term, 

if re-elected, he would be 

nearing 80. Given his medical 

history, he would, rightly, 

spend a lot of time looking 

after his health. But what 

about the government? Well, 

it would be riven by a tuff war 

between Osinbajo and the 

Cabal. Which is why a vote for 

Buhari is a vote for more 

intense fights between 

Osinbajo and the shadowy 

Cabal. Leaving aside the 

policy inertia, that would be 

bad for Nigeria, and bad for 

democracy! 

By Bisi Omoyemi 

THE All Progressives Congress, 

APC, has been in power in Lagos 

State for so long time, it seems like 

eternity. Obviously, this has led to the 

belief of most of its ardent supporters 

to think beyond doubts that it cannot 

lose an election. They forget that the 

party won elections to get power and 

that elections have to be contested 

periodically and won to stay in power. 

That, according to experts on politics, 

is the arrogance of power that is going 

to be the undoing of the party in the 

coming elections in the state. 

The signs are there for all to see 

except the party's members. First it is 

difficult for APC members in Lagos 

State to stand criticism of any kind of 

the party and its government. Even 

when non-partisan members of the 

public expressed sympathy for their 

governor who lost the primary, APC 

members toed only the party line and 

decision and simply chorused that the 

unfortunate governor deserved his 

fate. They insist he was put there by 

the party in the first instance and must 

never argue with the party. 

When one complains about the 

excesses of public agency like 

LASTMA and how its officials have 

been terrribly comprised particularly 

in the area of free flow of traffic and 

other traffic related issues, they turn a 

deaf ear and say they are government 

agents and should be allowed to 

function. 

Such disdain for constructive 

criticism in a democratic setting is 

common with supporters of the APC 

in Lagos State. The obstinacy to admit 

Power show of Lagos politics 

failure of performance of the party in 

governance is unbelievable. a mere 

mention of congestion on the bridges 

and how trailers and heavy duty 

vehicles have taken over pratically 

almost all the bridges in the 

metropolis, the response one gets is 

that this is not peculiar to Lagos and 

that trailers constitute nuisance on 

federal roads and there is nothing that 

the State government can do about it. 

If reminded that it was better under 

Babatunde Fashola, former governor 

of the state also on the APC platform 

in a Peoples Democratic Partycontrolled 

federal government, they 

tell you the situation is not the same. 

If one follows up with a reminder that 

under an APC-controlled government 

at the centre, Lagosians waste useful 

hours that would have been spent on 

businesses and other productive 

ventures that would have great impact 

on the economic on the roads daily, 

they are deaf to such complains. 

The worst complaint APC members 

don’t want to hear on the Lagos traffic 

congestion on and of the three Lagos 

bridges is that the Vice- President, 

Professor Yemi Osinbajo came to Lagos 

to tackle the traffic congestion on the 

Apapa-Badagry Expressway all to no 

avail. There was temporary relief and 

movement for two days and the 

situation got worse. What could be 

worse than the recent explosion of a 

petrol tanker on the Lagos-Badagry 

Expressway, Ojo where two persons 

lost their lives and property worth 

millions of naira destroyed as a result 

of bad road? Why do people’s lives 

have to be sacrificed because of 

politics? Is this also a fall-out of the 

“self-proclaimed owners” of Lagos? 

Who is thinking of the suffering masses 

of Lagos? 

Yet, the APC is seeking the election 

of a new candidate in the face of the 

very traumatic traffic situation in the 

The traffic gridlock on 

Lagos roads has made 

daily commuting a 

psychological 

nightmare for all who 

work in the state 

state. The traffic gridlock on Lagos 

roads has made daily commuting a 

psychological nightmare for all who 

work in the state and this group of 

persons constitute the electorate. 

As Jimi Agbaje said recently, “This 

(traffic) issue is not a political matter 

because everyone is affected including 

state businesses. If nothing is done to 

find urgent solution, it may cripple the 

state in terms of movement and 

commercial activities.” 

Of course, the electorate in Lagos 

know they have a choice in seeking 

redress for their woes. The persistent 

traffic gridlock on the roads is not only 

detrimental to businesses but to their 

health. 

That for now is the PDP’s candidate, 

Jimi Agbaje who has all the humility 

and understanding to make life better 

for Lagosians by resolving the 

perennial traffic congestion posed by 

trailers and heavy vehicles on our 

roads and bridges. “What we’re 

experiencing right now is a perfect 

storm: poorly maintained infrastructure 

evident in the increase of potholes 

dotting all across the city as well as 

the nuisance caused by trucks and 

trailers on our roads and bridges,” said 

Agbaje. Continuing , he said, “In my 

opinion, this terrible state of traffic is 

clearly a result of the fall-out between 

the “self-acclaimed owners” and the 

current Governor of Lagos – who now 

seems to lack the authority to mandate 

the required agencies to fix the roads 

and manage traffic. Since these socalled 

owners do not regard the 

governor, they should at least think 

about us, Lagosians, who suffer on the 

roads daily. 

The solution to the traffic issue is one 

that requires a multi-modal approach 

involving a full- scale rehabilitation 

and expansion of our road 

infrastructure; better use of transit 

routes in ways that encourage less use 

of cars, and an increased usage of our 

waterways.” 

But this is a problem that Lagos 

APC’s arrogance of power has refused 

to see and solve. With the guber polls 

just weeks away, Lagosians should 

vote wisely. 

*Mr. Omoyemi, a public affairs 

commentator, wrote from Lagos.


japhdave@yahoo.com 

08066625505 

Jagagba, Abdul-Qudus Ibrahim’s play wins N1million 

2nd BFC prize 

By Japhet Alakam 

BEETA Universal Arts 

Foundation, BUAF led 

by the award-winning actress 

and producer, Bikiya Graham- 

Douglas demonstrated its 

mission to take art to the next 

level with a successful hosting 

of the 2nd edition of Beeta 

Playwright Competition, BPC 

which produced another 

winner in the person of 

Abdul-Qudus Ibrahim, who 

beat nine other finalists to 

smile home with the sum of 

N1,000,000 with his play, 

Jagagba. 

The event which was attended 

by many art lovers 

including veteran actress, 

Ego Boyo, Shaiub Hussein, 

Ogochukwu Ekezie Ekaidem 

of Union Bank, Theo Lawson 

of Freedom Park, Actress 

Chioma Akpotha, Ijeoma 

Aniegbu, 1st edition winner, 

Kenneth Uphopho, the finalists 

with the friends and family 

members, theatre arts students 

of Unilag and many 

others, was held at the 

Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos. 

It was indeed a decision day 

for the 10 finalists of the second 

Beeta Playwright Competition 

as all of them were 

called to the gallery for announcement 

of the winner. 

The journey was not easy for 

them as they were selected 

from 348 entries received from 

across the nation. The entries 

were judged by a panel 

chaired by award-winning 

playwright, Prof. Ahmed 

Yerima, where the shortlist of 

10 was created for the final 

stage: Tick Tock More Talk 

(Shehu Zock-Sock); Mr. 

Macaroni (Rukee Ejigbo); 

Beyond the Wig (Joshua 

Alabi); Echoes of the Drum 

(Ubonla Adenike); Jagagba 

(Abdul-Qudus Ibrahim); A 

Love like This (Kehinde 

Ademoye); Room 7 (Ekpeno 

Ukut); Transparent 

(Kelvinmary Ndukwe); Shark 

Boy (El Osas Iyalekhue) and 

Queen Akhadze (Elias 

Ozikpu). 

After a thorough job by the 

judges, Ruhee Ojigbo 

emerged as the 2nd runnerup 

with his play, Mr Macaroni 

while Joshua Alabi was 

declared the 1st runner-up 

with his play, Beyond the 

Wig. Then came the man of 

the moment, Abdul-Qudus 

Ibrahim with his play, 

Jagagba which emerged as 

the winning play, earning 

him a cash of N1 million, a 

publishing deal with Paper 

Worth Books Limited and a 

production of the play by 

BUAF at Terra Kulture Arena 

as well as a campus tour. 

Speaking after the 

presentation, the winner, 

Ibrahim who confessed that 

he has no plan of how to 

spend the money for now said 

that he actually heard about 

the competition late and the 

story came to him just a week 

before the deadline. On how 

he felt, he said: “I am so 

*A drama medley presentation by UNILAG Theatre Arts Students 

excited, so amazing. I was 

surprised when they 

announced my name as the 

winner. When I didn’t hear 

my name in the 1st and 2nd 

runners-up, I concluded that 

I will not win, but when I 

heard my name I was so 

excited.” 

On the secret, “I didnt give 

up, it is not good to give up, I 

continued to press on. 

“I have improved over the 

years, I went to Royal Arts 

Academy to learn more on 

how to write and that really 

helped me. I entered into 

many competitions, I was a 

finalist in the 1st edition but I 

did not win, but this time, I 

am one of the finalists and I 

won.” 

Earlier in her speech, the 

founder, Bikiya Graham- 

Douglas, said: “It is a national 

competition to find the new 

voices of Nigerian Literature 

and we received 348 entries 

from 30 states across Nigeria.” 

According to her: ”Our first 

edition was very successful 

with the winning play, Our 

Son the Minister produced 

multiple times across the 

country. Our winner, Paul 

Ugbede worked with the biggest 

producers in Nigerian 

Theatre and has also been 

shortlisted for the African 

Playwriting competition. One 

of our finalists, Soji Cole 

went on to win the NLNG 

Prize for literature for 2018. 

We are excited to unveil the 

winner of the second Beeta 

Playwright competition and 

look forward to exciting times 

ahead.” 

On her part, Ogochukwu 

Ekezie-Ekaidem, Head of 

Corporate Communications 

for Union Bank noted that 

Union Bank was keen to intervene 

in youth talent development, 

adding: “One area of 

focus for us is talent development. 

It’s a way we can really 

empower our youths. We’re 

glad to be part of this 

relationship. The country is 

rich in art and culture, but 

there is a gap and we need to 

help tell our own stories. We 

believe telling our own stories 

is important. There are many 

platforms through which we 

can tell our stories. We commend 

your (the contestants) 

talent.” 

Also speaking, last edition’s 

winner, Paul Ugbede, 

commended the finalists and 

Beeta Universal Arts 

Foundation for its work in providing 

a platform for youngsters 

to excel in their craft. 

According to him: ”The one 

million naira is not the issue, 

but the most important thing 

is the platform this contest 

gives you all. I can tell you 

that my play, Our Son the 

Minister, was the most performed 

in Lagos last year. I 

*From left: Bikiyi Graham-Douglas, Founder of BUAF, 

Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem, Head of Corporate 

Communications, Union Bank, Abdus-Qudus Ibrahim, winner 

and Mr Shaibu Husseini, judge during the presentation. 

9 years Ebube triggers book donations to her school library 

By Elizabeth Uwandu 

FOR little Oluebubuchukwu 

Michelle Nwokeoma fondly 

called Ebube by her loved 

ones, a Basic Six pupil of Dominican 

Nursery and Primary 

School, Mafoluku, being appointed 

Library Prefect spurned 

her to call for books donation in 

the school’s library in order to 

improve reading culture among 

her peers. 

Speaking at the occasion that 

saw the unveiling of over 120 

books on different subject areas 

donated by Clever Clogs Books 

in partnership with PEA Foundation 

at the school’s premises, 

Ebube who called for caution in 

handling the books said her 

dream was to refurbish the library 

to a very high standard. 

According to her: “ Ever since 

I was made the Library Prefect, I 

noticed that there was not a lot 

of books in the library. So in order 

to improve reading culture 

among my friends, I shared my 

passion with my parents who in 

turn got the support of Mrs Olubunmi 

Aboderin- Talabi of Clever 

Clogs Books, a non-governmental 

organisation who donated 

books to my school library. 

“ I am grateful to the donors, 

my parents and to my school for 

making my dream come true. I 

sincerely hope that the books will 

be handled carefully,”said the 

Basic six pupil. 

Mrs Talabi in her speech titled, 

The Lifelong benefits of reading 

and developing productive reading 

habits, stated that cultivating 

right reading habits aside the 

improvement of vocabulary and 

communicative skills of an individual, 

also exposes one to logical 

and critical reasoning. 

She, however, called on parents 

and other stakeholders to 

encourage reading among children. 

“If your child asks you why 

should I read? Tell them leaders 

*Ebubechukwu Michelle Nwokeoma (2nd right), her parents, Mr 

& Mrs Nwokeoma(3rd & 4thnd right); Mrs Olubunmi Aboderin- 

Talabi (left) and Rev. Sr. Adaku Igwe at the book donation by Clever 

Clog Books to Dominican Group of Schools’ library 

came to pursue my Lagos 

dream. This is a platform to 

grow; this is a family to grow.” 

While giving the N1 million 

star prize to the winner, 

Shaibu Husseini, one of the 

Judges who represented jury 

chair, Ahmed Yerima, 

commended the quality of 

works submitted, saying they 

were very high. On the winning 

play, he said: “It will not 

only come alive but also go on 

tour. This is the passion that 

Bikiya has and we encourage 

her. The judging process was 

exciting for us all.” 

All the contestants expressed 

excitement at coming 

thus far in the contest and the 

opportunity it gave them to 

express themselves. 

The event also featured a 

drama medley presentation of 

some of the plays by the 

Theatre Arts students of 

UNILAG and the presentation 

of awards of recognition to institutions 

for supporting the 

arts and culture sector. The 

awardees include Freedom 

Park, Union Bank, Lagos 

State Government, British 

Council and MTN Foundation 

for supporting the sector. 

This event was sponsored by 

Union Bank and supported 

by WAPIC Insurance, 

Oyewole & Olajide LLP, 

NIMASA and others. 

of sustainable organisations; innovators 

; people who shape 

nations and people with sustainable 

wealth all have something 

in common. They read,“ 

she noted. 

On her part, Rev. Sr. Mary 

Adaku Igwe, the Head of School, 

Dominican Nursery and Primary 

School, who appreciated the 

contribution of Mrs Aboderin- 

Talabi to the intellectual development 

of her pupils, commended 

little Miss Nwokeoma and 

her family for her memory legacy 

in spearheading the book 

donation. 

Rev. Sr Igwe added: “ It is my 

belief that through this laudable 

initiative, many of our pupils will 

be challenged to read more 

books and so empower themselves 

with knowledge. 

Pens and books are the weapons 

that can defeat ignorance; I 

believe that only the way we can 

create global peace is through 

educating not only our minds, 

but our hearts and souls,” she 

said.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019—33 

Politicians now do executive 

rigging— Anglican Bishop 

•...says credibility of coming elections in Nigerians' hands 

By Festus Ahon 

A SABA—ANGLICAN 

Bishop of the Sapele 

Diocese, Delta State, Rt. 

Revd Blessing Erifeta has 

said politicians have left 

what he descibed as 

‘thuggery rigging’ and 

moved on to ‘executive 

rigging,’ co-opting 

prominent persons and 

officials of the Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission, INEC. 

The cleric also advised 

Nigerians to vote for 

credible candidates 

irrespective of political 

party affiliation in the 

interest of the country's 

By Chioma Onuegbu 

UYO—A chieftain of 

Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, Air Commodore 

Idongesit Nkanga, has 

said it was worrisome that 

All Progressives Congress, 

APC, at all levels of 

leadership failed to live to 

the expectations of 

Nigerians in the past three 

and half years despite its 

current status as the ruling 

party at the centre. 

Nkanga, who is also the 

Director General of 

Governor Emmanuel’s 

Divine Mandate 

Campaign Organisation 

spoke in Uyo yesterday, 

while reacting to claims by 

some APC stakeholders in 

Akwa Ibom State that 

Governor Emmanuel has 

underperformed in his first 

term in office. 

He said: “Their claim is 

born out of ignorance and 

mischief. And people of a 

development, noting that 

whether the forthcoming 

elections will be free and 

fair is in the hands of 

Nigerians. 

Speaking at the end of a 

communion service to mark 

the 10 years anniversary of 

the Diocese at the St. Paul 

Anglican Church, Osubi, 

Okpe Local Government 

Area of the state, Erifeta 

charged INEC to be above 

board by ensuring that 

Nigerians’ votes count. 

He said: “Nigerians 

should vote for candidates 

who can remove this 

country from this bondage. 

“Vote for credible 

candidates irrespective of 

level that could be looked 

at as leaders should stay 

away from misdirecting our 

people, because if 

knowingly you are 

misinforming people, you 

are carrying a curse. 

“This governor has done 

a lot of things that even the 

blind can see and feel. 

Sometimes when they say 

things like that, they just 

whatever party they belong, 

as long as they have what 

it takes to free this country 

from its numerous 

challenges. 

“Until Nigerians allow 

God to take His place, there 

won’t be free and fair 

elections. What they call 

credible elections are not 

credible in the real sense. 

“The results are 

sometimes arranged by 

INEC and some influential 

politicians. What they call 

free elections can’t be 

classified as ‘good.’ What 

they are now doing in 

today’s politics is 

‘executive rigging.’ 

“They have left ‘thuggery 

ridicule themselves. 

“The immediate past 

administration of Godswill 

Akpabio promised us 31 

industries for the 31 local 

government areas, he 

didn’t do even one in eight 

years he was a governor. 

“Now another governor is 

doing that. At least those of 

us that have eyes can see 

that in just three and half 

rigging’. This executive 

rigging lies between who 

is who in the society and 

some INEC officials. Until 

that stigma is removed, 

don’t think of any credible 

elections. 

“It is humans that will 

make the exercise credible, 

free and fair. The credibility 

of the 2019 general election 

is with us (Nigerians), 

including the politicians 

and INEC.” 

He appealed for nonviolent 

polls, stressing that 

Nigerians should vote for 

only candidates who can 

move the country forward, 

irrespective of their tribe or 

political lineage. 

AIRTEL TOUCHING LIVES: From left—Regional Director, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Olushina 

Adegoke; Baale of Ilaje community, Chief Sunday Ogunkeyi; Chairman, Eti-Osa East LCDA, Olufunmi 

Olatunji, and Director, Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Oparah, at Airtel 

Touching Lives Season 4 prize presentation of borehole with water treatment plant to Ajah-Ilaje community. 

Opposition’s claim that Udom didn’t 

perform mischievous—Nkanga 

A 

Chieftain of All 

Progressives 

Congress, APC, in Delta 

State, Chief Tony Erukeme, 

yesterday, asked Governor 

Ifeanyi Okowa and Delta 

State Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, not to take 

advantage of the national 

home-grown school 

feeding programme, for 

Primary 1 to 3 pupils in 

public schools. 

Erukeme told newsmen 

that PDP had turned the 

national feeding 

programme into politics 

when they have not 

contributed anything to it. 

According to Erukeme, 

“the programme was an 

initiative of the APC 

government and to be 

assisted by state 

governments. 

“But Delta State 

years, Udom Emmanuel 

has attracted about 15 

industries to the state and 

still counting. 

“They are there for people 

to see. Those people saying 

that Emmanuel has not 

done anything are mischievous. 

APC states cannot 

even pay salaries, so Akwa 

Ibom people cannot 

embrace such party.” 

APC chieftain accuses Okowa of 

politicising school feeding programme 

government has not 

contributed anything, yet 

was using the generosity 

of the Buhari-led 

administration to garner 

supports for their party 

and claiming glory over 

where they did not sow.” 

He called on the 

Federal Government to 

intervene before Delta 

PDP forcefully takes all 

APC members. 

It’s immoral to change 

Delta power sharing pact 

for Ogboru—Izoukumor 

By Emma Amaize, 

South-South Editor 

COORDINATOR of 

Governor Ifeanyi 

Okowa Re-Election 

Committee in Warri 

South-West Local 

Government Area, Delta 

State, Chief Favour 

Izoukumor, has said it 

was wrong to rupture the 

power-sharing 

arrangement in the state 

because Chief Great 

Ogboru wants to rule the 

state. 

Izoukumor, who is the 

Commissioner 

representing Ijaw on the 

board of Delta State Oil- 

Producing Areas 

Development 

Commission, 

DESOPADEC, said: “No 

one is undermining the 

popularity of Great 

Ogboru, the All 


APC, standard bearer. 

“But you would agree 

with me that in a 

democracy, victory is 

determined by the 

electorate with whom the 

Ex-agitators want review of 

pipeline surveillance contract 

By Gab Ejuwa 

EX-AGITATORS, on 

the platform of 

Federated Niger Delta 

Communities of Nigeria, 

have demanded the 

review of pipeline 

surveillance contract in 

the Excravos-Warri 

evacuation line to accommodate 

ex-agitators to 

forestall any form of crisis 

in the region. 

The ex-agitators, in a 

letter by Abuge Mene, 

Chairman, and Wilson 

Boyo, addressed to 


Buhari, expressed 

dissatisfaction “with the 

negative politics the 

handlers of the contract 

are playing in the 

Escravos-Warri zone, by 

Vote buying is anti-devt, 

politicians told 

RECLAIM Naija, a 

non-political 

organisation, has 

cautioned politicians 

against vote buying, 

saying it was a wrong 

signal for the country’s 

development efforts. 

Speaking at a one day 

voters’ sensitisation 

programme in Benin 

City, Edo State, 

Coordinator of Reclaim 

Naija, Rosaline Osawe, 

noted that the “Election 

is not a do-or-die affair. 

power lies. 

“The people of Delta 

have spoken that the 

incumbent, Okowa, has 

done very well and they 

will re-elect him— it is very 

clear. 

“Besides, Delta State 

has a power-sharing 

agreement, howbeit 

unwritten, and Delta 

Central, from where Great 

Ogboru hails has enjoyed 

power for eight years 

through Chief James Ibori. 

“Delta South has also 

enjoyed it through Dr. 

Emmanuel Uduaghan 

and it is only just and right 

for Delta North to have 

their full term. 

“This arrangement is on 

moral grounds and it is 

working positively for 

the sitting governor. 

Ogboru is from Delta 

Central and all Deltans 

feel that since the other 

two senatorial districts 

have enjoyed this 

arrangement, it is 

germane for Delta North 

to have the same feel, 

particularly with a man 

who has done very well.” 

awarding the contract to 

some party loyalists living 

outside the zone without 

considering the exagitators.” 

They explained in the 

letter that they had written 

several letters to the 

company to draw its 

attention to the anomalies 

in the Escravos-Warri 

zone, which led to the 

hijack of the contract by 

few for political gains. 

They said: “We demand 

total and immediate 

review of the pipeline 

surveillance contract to 

accommodate the exagitators 

to forestall any 

form of uprising that may 

thwart the aim of this 

project and give the 

Federal Government a 

negative image.” 

Politicians should stop the 

idea of corrupting the 

electorate through vote 

buying. 

“All they need to do is to 

sell their programmes to 

the voters. And if they are 

able to get the sympathy 

of the voters, they will get 

the required votes. We 

don’t need their foodstuff, 

money and other forms of 

gratification. 

“We need to do the right 

thing so that Nigeria will 

work again.”


PDP vice chairman, wife 

die in auto crash 

By Chinenyeh 

Ozor 

N SUKKA—BARELY 

two weeks to the 

general elections in the 

country, the vice chairman 

of People’s Democratic 

Party, PDP, in Nsukka Local 

Government Area, Enugu 

State, Phillip Agu, has 

reportedly died in a motor 

accident with his wife while 

driving to the state capital 

for domestic issues. 

Agu was said to be going 

to Enugu with his wife, a 

lawyer when the wife who 

was driving noticed that 

one of the car tyres was 

wobbling and alerted her 

husband, who only 

suggested she should 

reduce her speed. 

Vanguard gathered that 

as their journey 

progressed, the problem 

increased and on getting 

close to Elim Estate along 

Nsukka /Nike road, few 

metres away to the capital 

city of the state, the tyre 

IDU to Manager: We're praying for 

your success 

THE re-election bid of 

the lawmaker 

representing Delta South 

senatorial district, Senator 

James Manager, has gotten 

a boost from apex cultural 

body of the Isoko nation, 

Isoko Development Union, 

IDU, as the group said it 

was praying for his reelection 

come February 16 

during the National 

Assembly election. 

The union also appealed 

to him to continue to 

remember the Isoko people 

when he returns to the 

Senate for a fifth term as 

Senator representing the 

district. 

The disclosure by IDU 

was made during a special 

meeting with them at 

Asaba to appeal for their 

allegedly pulled out while 

the car somasaulted 

severally and the two died 

on the spot. 

Reports revealed that a 

young girl that was in the 

car with the couple from 

Nsukka lost consciousness 

but survived the accident 

while the couple were 

taken to Enugu State 

University Teaching 

Hospital where they were 

confirmed dead. Their 

bodies were deposited at 

the hospital's morgue. 

Reacting to the incident, 

the PDP chairman, 

Nsukka Local 

Government Area, Chief 

Fabian Onah said the 

members of the party 

received the news with 

rude shock, adding that the 

deceased vice chairman 

was a strong member of 

the party committed to 

party affairs at all times. 

Onah said the party 

cancelled PDP campaigns 

for two days in honour of 

the deceased and his wife. 

Atiku, best option for 

Nigerians —Udeogaranya 

By Ebun Sessou 

CHIEF 

Charles 

Udeogaranya, former 

All Progressives Congress, 

APC, Presidential aspirant 

who decamped to the 

Peoples Democratic Party, 

PDP, has urged Nigerians 

who desire a better country 

to vote for Atiku Abubakar 

in the forthcoming 

presidential election. 

In a statement issued in 

Lagos, Udeogaranya said, 

“To the undecided voters 

and leaders who 

genuinely desire a better 

Nigeria from 2019, I had 

hoped that my presidency 

will grant you most of your 

aspirations but the APC 

delayed my vision for a 

better Nigeria. However, 

delay is not denial as I 

have since left the party to 

support a credible and 

alternative option and on 

this instance, Atiku 

Abubakar of PDP. 

“Though we have over 

seventy presidential 

candidates, only two have 

a realisable path to the 

presidency and that is 

Atiku Abubarka of PDP 

and Muhammadu Buhari 

of APC. These two options 

are not close in nature but 

contrast of each other. 

“While Atiku is a 

nationalist, Buhari is a 

champion of nepotism 

and Nigeria needs a 

nationalist as President, a 

mould that Atiku fits in 

properly." 

support ahead of the 

forthcoming elections. 

Addressing Manager, 

IDU President-General, 

Chief Iduh Amadhe, said: 

“You are the only Isoko son 

contesting the Senate seat. 

We want you to know that 

we are praying for your 

success at the polls and we 

want you to continue 

remembering the Isoko 

people when you return to 

the National Assembly.” 

Those who were present 

to welcome the lawmaker 

aside the IDU executives 

include; HRMs of Aviara, 

Oyede, Olokpoko, Idu- 

Ide, Hon. Tim Owhefere, 

Hon. Prince Johnson Erijo, 

Hon. Kenneth Ogba, 

Chief Fred Useh, Etad 

Enahoro, president 

generals from 12 Isoko 

clans and a host of others. 

Diaspora Ohanaeze backs endorsement 

•No document to show Ohanaeze adopted Atiku —Ex-scribe 

of Atiku 

By Anayo Okoli & 

Ugochukwu 

Alaribe 

U MUAHIA— 

MEMBERS of 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo North 

Carolina, USA branch, 

have expressed their 

support for the 

endorsement of Atiku 

Abubakar, the PDP 

Presidential candidate for 

the February 16 election by 

the parent body, saying that 

President Buhari has 

consistently marginalized 

Ndigbo in all his 

appointments. 

The group said that its 

support of the endorsement 

was to save Nigeria from 

relapsing into a pariah state 

going by the way President 

Muhammadu Buhari is 

managing the affairs of the 

country. 

The group also said that 

it has been observing with 

dismay that despite his oath 

and the provision of the 

Constitution of the Federal 

Republic of Nigeria, 

mandating even 

appointments to reflect 

Federal Character, 

President Buhari has 

willfully sidelined Ndigbo 

in his major appointments. 

In a statement issued by 

its president, Nwachukwu 

Okafor and the Secretary, 

Emma Obi, and made 

availble to Vanguard, they 

said that “the government 

of President Buhari has no 

regard to the rule of law and 

shows wanton disregard to 

the Constitution of the 

country which he swore to 

uphold”. 

The group said it believed 

that Akiku can “rescue 

Nigeria from the 

downward trajectory and 

usher in a new era of justice, 

fairness, peace and 

prospertiy which its 

teeming population has 

been endowed by our 

creator”. 

To ensure that Atiku/Obi 

presidency becomes a 

reality, the group called on 

“all Igbos in Diaspora to 

convince their dependents 

in Nigeria to come out 

enmasse on Fedruary 16, 

2019 to vote for Atiku/Obi 

ticket”, saying that the 

“Atiku/Obi ticket gives us a 

ray of hope based on solid 

promises made by Alhaji 

Atiku Abubakar that 

Nigeria will be made to 

work again for all”. 

No document to 

show Ohanaeze 

adopted Atiku 

—Okwukwu 

However, former 

Secretary General of 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Uche 

Okwukwu, has challenged 

anyone with the records of 

the meeting on how the 

group adopted the PDP 

presidential candidate, 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to 

publish it. 

Okwukwu, who was 

sacked last week for 

questioning the 

organisation's endorsement 

of Atiku, threw the 

challenge in an interview 

with Vanguard in Aba, 

explained that Ohanaeze 

Ndigbo could not have 

adopted a candidate 

without the consent of the 

five governors of the South 

East zone, members of the 

National Assembly as well 

as some eminent Igbo 

elders who are members of 

the Imeobi. 

He noted that Imeobi was 

held while President 

Buhari was on a campaign 

visit to Enugu and Anambra 

states. 

According to 

him,”Governor Dave 

Umahi wanted the meeting 

postponed but Chief Nnia 

Nwodo insisted on the 

meeting to satisfy his 

interest.” 

COMPETITION: From left—Founder Beeta Universal Arts Foundation, BUAF, Bikiya Graham- 

Douglas; Head of Corporate Communications, Union Bank, Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem; 

winner of the Beeta Playwright Competition, Abdul-Qudus Ibrahim; and Shaibu Husseini, 

during the BUAF grand finale for its second Playwright Competition, in Lagos, yesterday. 

Intersociety demands $4.1bn compensation over 

alleged killings in S’East by security agencies 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

N NEWI—THE 

International Society 

for the Civil Liberties and 

the Rule of Law, Intersociety 

has demanded a 

compensation of $4.1 

billion from the Federal 

Government over its 

alleged sponsor of the 

massacre of over 480 

civilians in South East. 

In a statement issued by 

the chairman of the Board 

of Trustees of the group, 

Emeka Umeagbalasi, the 

organisation alleged that 

the present administration 

allegedly sponsored the 

massacre which was done 

by two categories of 

perpetrators. 

It said that “a total 

compensation or reparatory 

payment of $4.1 billion is 

for the vicarious and direct 

involvement of the present 

Federal Government and 

the security chiefs and other 

public office holders in the 

mindless, wicked, ruthless, 

brutal, genocidal, unlawful 

and indefensible massacre 

of no fewer than 480 

unarmed and defenseless 

citizens and injuring of over 

500 others during military 

operations in Eastern 

Nigeria between 

30th August 2015 and 14th 

September 2017. 

“While $3 billion of the 

$4.1 billion under demand 

represents general 

Campaign won't stop my visit to 

schools, says Obi 

VICE 

Presidential 

candidate of the PDP, 

Mr. Peter Obi has said 

electioneering 

engagements for the 

February poll will not stop 

him from his routine visits 

to schools. 

Obi said this yesterday 

during his visit to St. 

Patrick’s Secondary School, 

Ugwuagba, Obosi. 

Obi who encouraged 

students to remain focused 

in their academic pursuits, 

told them that education 

remained the most 

essential currency for 

competition in the world of 

today. 

Obi assured the students 

that an Atiku-led 

government would make 

education a priority. 

“Atiku is educationfriendly. 

I have had many 

sessions with him on how 

we would tackle the 

problem of education in 

order to get it right. He is 

damages and costs 

inflicted or incurred by the 

victims of the massacre 

operations, $1.1 billion 

represents the economic 

losses incurred during the 

massacre and its aftermath 

by the People of Southeast". 

saddened by the incessant 

strikes by lecturers of 

higher institutions and he 

is determined to end the 

menace". 

Speaking on behalf of the 

students, the Senior Prefect, 

Master Onyekachukwu 

Obasi thanked Obi for his 

wonderful stewardship in 

Anambra. He said it was 

under him that their school 

got brand new buses, 

computers, generators, 

internet connectivity, 

among other necessary 

infrastructure.


Los Angeles City Council 

honours Stephanie Linus 

Ahead of the 2019 edition of Pan- 

African Film and Arts Festival 

(PAFF), a festival heldannuallyto 

celebrate black history, the Los 

Angeles City Council has recognized 

and honored Nollywood actress, 

Stephanie Linus, for impacting the 

world with her 2014 movie, 'Dry', a 

movie with special focus on vesicovaginal 

fistula condition and underage 

marriage among young women in 

Nigeria 

"I got a Special Recognition for 'Dry' 

at the Los Angeles City Council, ahead 

of Pan African Film and Arts Festival 

(PAFF) Screening. 'Dry', in 2019 is still 

making great impact around the world. 

The movie has been selected to screen 

for the second time at the highly 

coveted Pan African Film and Arts 

Festival (PAFF) in Los Angeles, USA 

this February. As a prelude to the 

festival I was 

recognized at 

the first ever 

'Blacks in 

Cinema' 

presentation. 

L o s 

Angeles 

City Council 

President, 

Herb J. Wesson 

kicked off 

t h e 

•2Baba 

2Baba, EiE, 

reward Nigerians 

who have PVC 

To mark the 2nd anniversary of the 'One 

Voice Nigeria' protest, afro-pop music 

legend, 2Baba, in collaboration with Enough 

is Enough Nigeria (EiE), NDI, and YDI, 

yesterday, February 6, 2019, rewarded 

Nigerians who already have their Permanent 

Voter's Card (PVC), with a free access to watch 

'Power of 1' movie, in selected cinemas across 

Nigeria. 

To encourage Nigerians to obtain their 

PVC, registered voters with permanent voters' 

cards (PVC) did not only get free access to 

the cinemas but also got the chance to watch 

the film in the company of star cast and 

celebrity project ambassadors such as Annie 

Idibia, Prince Jide Kosoko, Padita Agu, 

Michelle Dede, I Go Dye, Mr. Jollof, MC 

Amana, Yibo Koko, MI2 and others at the 

selected cinemas across Nigeria. 

'Power of 1' movie was largely inspired by 

events surrounding the 'One Voice Nigeria' 

protest, which took place in Lagos and Abuja 

on the 6th of February 2017. 

Black History Month by honoring 

actors and filmmakers who 

paved the way for people from 

all from walks of life to be 

represented in film. With the 

help of some legendary African- 

American actors and 

filmmakers, the day was 

officially proclaimed 'Blacks in 

Cinema' in Los Angeles", she 

said, while celebrating on 

social media. 

During her acceptance 

speech at the presentation in 

Los Angeles, the actress 

stressed the need for Africans 

to unite, in order to break 

barriers and make the world a 

better place. 

"We need to make the 

world a better place for 

all of us. Also, coming 

from Africa, I think there 

is need for we from Africa 

to come together, especially 

with the African-Americans, so 

we can break all the barriers and 

misunderstandings that we've. That 

is why Pan-African Film and Arts 

Festival is very important for us 

because we see it as an avenue where 

we can all connect. So I'm so happy 

to be here; I hope we to continue tell 

wonderful stories to create a better 

world for all of us. Thank you so much 

for having me", she said with 

excitement. 

In 2016, 'Dry' won Best 

Narrative Feature at the PAFF. 

It screens again on Feb 9th, Feb 

13th and Feb 18, with an 

interactive session after the 

opening night. 

According to the actress, the 

movie has made immense 

positive impact across the 

world in changing the 

narrative concerning child 

marriage and other forms 

of social injustice. It was 

recalled to the festival 

this year due to its 

world-class production 

quality and 

c o n t i n u o u s 

importance in global 

human rights 

R ising 

afropop 

musician, 

Ikebunna 

Christopher 

Uzoma, aka 

'Browny 

advocacy. 

Without education 

I can become a star 

- Browny 

Pondis', is not 

an artiste to give up because of the 

hard knocks of life he has to grapple 

with because his passion for music 

continuously spurs him on. 

In a chat with E-Daily, the singer 

who graduated from secondary 

school 4-years ago but has found it 

difficult to sponsor his university 

education after losing his dad 2-years 

ago, said though education is 

important, he can still become a 

successful artiste without it. 

"No, I don't think education is vital 

to the success of a music career; but 

I'm not saying musical artiste 

shouldn't go to school, because 

education would help add up to your 

career and will make people see you 

in a special way. But I don't think if I 

don't go to school I won't succeed in 

the music industry," he said. 

With five singles to his credit, 

'Oweah' (2015), 'Baddest' (2016), 

'Kollect' (2017), 'Pondis' (2018), and '10 

Bottles' (2018), Browny who has been 

fending for himself since his dad died 

in 2017, said his 

parents death has affected him a lot. 

"Yeah I'd say it affected me so much 

because at first I wasn't able to grow 

up without a mom and I didn't get 

that motherly love from anyone since 

my dad was an Aquatic Agent. He 

was always on the sea; we didn't have 

much time to spend together when I 

was little. When he died 2-years ago, 

it seemed that the world wanted to 

come to an end. I couldn't do music 

for a while because I was not 

focused but when I got 

through that pain I 

dropped a new song last 

year", he said. 

Why I dislike big 

boobs, butts 

- TundeTdot 

Tunde Akinsanmi, a.k.a TundeTdot, 

ex-member of popular music 

group, Style Plus, has confessed that 

he fancies ladies with medium-sized 

boobs and butts than those with big 

ones. This, he said, has been his taste 

long before he met and married his 

pretty wife, Joke Akinsanmi, in 2010. 

In a chat with E-Daily, the singer 

said unlike most men, though he 

enjoys the suppleness of boobs and 

butts, seeing too much of them in a 

woman turns him off. 

"In terms of her physical features, 

well-rounded front and backsides 

appeal to me but they must be 

moderate in size. Heavy backsides 

turn me off." 

However, the RnB music 

singer, who recently dropped 

his debut single titled 'African 

Lady', under PEC Records, 

maintained that truthful, 

adventurous, mature and loyal 

women appeal best to him. 

•Stephanie 

"My ideal woman is one that I can 

trust to tell me the truth even when it 

hurts; someone who is kind to others 

and can hold a 

conversation with 

anybody. She 

must be 

m a t u r e , 

rational, 

adventurous, 

and loyal. 

On his latest 

single, he said he 

wrote and recorded 

'African Lady' to 

celebrate the beauty of 

African women and 

their capacity to inspire 

the men in their 

lives to 

•TundeTdot 

greater 

heights. 

•Browny


Why l pulled out of presidential 

race 

Continued from yesterday 

AT that instant, sitting on the 

sidelines of Politics was no longer 

a reasonable option for me. 

When the ACPN leadership approached 

me in a series of visits 

to appeal that I run for office on 

their platform, the party appeared 

to be a good fit. It was founded 

by some disgruntled PDP members 

some years ago, but when 

its prime founder decided to return 

to the PDP, a core of its membership 

refused to move back with 

him. I was told that they stayed 

back because of their opposition 

to the ways of the PDP. Considering 

my vocal disapproval of the 

PDP and the APC, I admired the 

ACPN’s decision to stand firm and 

refusal to be co-opted. 

Also, the party came fourth in 

the popular votes count for the 

2015 elections. So this was not exactly 

a mushroom party. 

Meetings before I chose to 

run on the ACPN platform, 

We held several meetings before 

I chose to run on the ACPN 

platform, and in each of those 

meetings, I was clear to all that if 

the target was the same transactional 

money-grabbing politics 

that has held us back, I would never 

go along with it. My public 

stance that the nomination form 

for Presidency should not be 

above N100,000 was acceded to 

by the Party while they pressed 

me to join their fold. I also privately 

and publicly during the 

convention that adopted me as 

their presidential candidate disclosed 

that there was no personal 

war-chest for politics available 

to me and called on the Party to 

get ready for all of us to disrupt 

the traditional way of campaigning 

by the dominant parties. You 

may have seen some of the videos 

from those early meetings. You 

would notice that they repeatedly 

assured me that we shared common 

values and principles. We 

shook hands and made it formal. 

I knew that along the way I 

will face tests of my values, but I 

didn't expect it so soon and not 

from the party members who had 

assured me privately and publicly 

that they were on the same 

page with me. In truth, our values 

were poles apart. The ACPN 

leadership demonstrated in 

deeds that they did not believe 

in my advocacy for a cleaner politics. 

They were not really interested 

in being a vehicle to break 

the bad politics championed by 

the #APCPDP. In fact, the ACPN 

leadership began to act like a junior 

sibling to the twin #APCPDP 

party. 

At one point, we were supposed 

to have a meeting with all the state 

coordinators of the party. Instead of 

the ACPN leadership to be honest 

about the strengths of the party and 

explain that some states did not have 

coordinators at the time, they hired 

fake coordinators, and asked the 

campaign to fly them into Abuja. You 

all saw how they demonstrated their 

preferred brand of politics last week 

by endorsing the ruling APC in a classic 

summersault. Deceptive politics 

of transactions at its worst! God forbade 

that I should be in any way participate 

in such. 

Their actions last week did not 

surprise me one bit. My relationship 

with the ACPN became problematic 

once they faced the reality of my 

modest financial means that I had 

transparently disclosed to them from 

the beginning. Their mistake was 

that they harbored two wrong assumptions 

about me. First, they assumed 

that I was one of those who 

served in government and had a stash 

of looted public funds hidden somewhere 

to expend on the elections. 

When they realized that was not the 

case, they made a second wrong assumption 

by believing that I would 

be willing to go and obtain foreign 

cash to prosecute my campaign. The 

leadership of the Party became frustrated 

that I was not using my global 

network to get “some countries, 

organizations and foreigners to donate 

money to their Party like the APC 

and PDP do. The more I told them 

that I was committed to abide strictly 

to the provisions of the Electoral 

Act and INEC rules on campaign 

finance and was not going to negotiate 

that in order to satisfy their monetary 

demands, the more frustrated 

they became. 

Ladies and gentlemen, in all 

these, the options before me were 

clear. I could give in to the ACPN’s 

desperation and use any means necessary 

to satisfy those fellows or I 

could uphold my values and leave 

their fold. I could succumb to their 

pressure, pretend as though I did not 

see how utterly corrupt their ransom 

demands were and continue with the 

campaign or I could step up at great 

personal cost to myself, and say 

ENOUGH. 

Immediately I expressed my options 

in those clear terms, the choice 

was easy. I cannot do anything that 

contradicts my eternal values. For 

someone who was running for office 

with a promise to fix our politics, 

getting mired in the mud of transactional 

anti-people politics would 

have represented a quick fall. God 

forbid! I had to live my values; I had 

to follow my truth. And I am proud I 

did. 

The only thing I now owe the 

ACPN is a total and immediate separation 

from their camp. I have earlier 

today returned my ACPN membership 

card, party flag and other 

paraphernalia in order to signpost 

my complete separation. 

INEC’s position on my 

withdrawal 

I acknowledge INEC's position 

on the withdrawal of my candidacy. 

Based on the Electoral Act, the time 

has elapsed for withdrawal so the 

law still sees me as a presidential 

candidate. However, I have suspended 

my campaign and INEC’s position 

on my candidacy will have little 

effect. I will work hard to ensure that 

those who would have voted for me, 

cast their votes instead for the consensus 

candidate who will hopefully 

emerge from the coalition of willing 

credible alternatives in the coming 

days. My lawyers have officially written 

to INEC in a symbolic gesture to 

make them aware of my separation 

from ACPN. 

Lessons from campaign 

This entire process has been a great 

learning experience for me. I have 

confirmed some of the theoretical 

beliefs I held about the political process 

in Nigeria, and in some cases I 

have emerged with a newer, fuller 

understanding. 

I have come face to face with these 

political entrepreneurs who run the 

political industrial complex that has 

held this nation down for far too 

long, and I have experienced their 

deviousness at work. Bad politics is 

not limited to the two dominant 

failed parties at all; its tentacles have 

dug deep into most other parties 

where an old order mindset still 

Oby Ezekwesili. 

reigns. 

There are many issues for which 

we must have important national 

conversations around if we are to 

make progress as a people. Things 

like the weaponization of political 

corruption by incumbents using state 

institutions. Things like upturning 

the undemocratic custom of regional 

zoning of candidacy. Things like 

what should be the optimal number 

of political parties in the country, 

how to ensure internal democracy 

in the parties and issues around political 

party reforms and funding. 

We have not given critical attention 

to the role of Political Parties 

not just in our elections but in the 

emergence of a new mindset in our 

Polity and wider society. Even among 

the newly registered parties, there 

are many in the image of the old order. 

We must start by building new 

parties on the set of new values we 

wish to see dominate our political 

landscape going forward. 

We held several 

meetings before I 

chose to run on the 

ACPN platform, and 

in each of those 

meetings, I was clear 

to all that if the target 

was the same 

transactional money-grabbing 

politics 

that has held us back, 

I would never go 

along with it 

Rebalancing the mindset that dominates 

our political landscape would 

require massive entry into politics 

by those with the sets of dominant 

Values that can overrun and upturn 

the current predatory mindset of the 

Old Order political class. What our 

Politics most needs now and into 

2023, is an army of values-anchored 

Nigerians committed to collective 

action and building the social structures 

for a New Nigeria of our 

dream. It does not require more than 

5% of our population to achieve this. 

After all the number of politicians 

in our corrosive political system that 

cause Nigeria’s daily deterioration 

and decline are not up to that number. 

Can we find from among our 

population of 190 million, a little 

less than 1 million people with the 

mix of character, competence and capacity 

to lead at different levels and 

are prepared to become our new 

political class? I honestly think we 

can. It is a lesson worthy of my three 

months presidential race. 

We must have important national 

conversations on a public campaign 

financing model that will remove 

barriers for young people and 

women. As citizens we must talk 

about why there seems to be an appetite 

for a new order in our politics 

and governance, but an unwillingness 

to walk and work towards 

achieving our desires. 

In the coming months and years, 

I am committed to be right in the 

mix of these conversations, working 

hard to build a more perfect republic. 

The journey ahead would be 

tough. There are some who may 

even interpret the rottenness of my 

experience in the ACPN as proof that 

there is no hope, that real change is 

impossible. We must not allow ourselves 

to give in to those claims. As 

always we have to pick ourselves up 

and press with hardwork and determination 

to build the nation of our 

dreams. 

Long time advocate of 

grand coalition 

In the immediate term, the way 

to continue this fight for Nigeria is 

for a coalition of alternatives to 

come together and end the poverty 

escalating reign of the #APCPDP in 

two weeks. We have to ensure that 

come February 16th, it is not just 

the #APCPDP that will be on offer 

for Nigerians. 

I have always advocated for credible 

alternatives coming together to 

take on the failed ruling class. You 

may have seen videos online where I 

told ACPN leaders that a coalition 

with other parties was the best route 

in this election whether I end up as 

the consensus candidate or not. Last 

year as part of a Citizens’ movement, 

we held a Summit of the Alternatives 

(SOTA) in conjunction with six 

civil society organizations to set in 

motion the process to produce a credible 

alternative who will face off with 

the APCPDP. 

While that process was still ongoing, 

I got a call from a group of Presidential 

Aspirants Acting Together — 

PACT saying some of the candidates 

were working among themselves to 

arrive at a consensus. It was the candidate 

of the ANN, Fela Durotoye, 

who reached out to me and explained 

that they unanimously 

agreed that I should be the one to 

monitor the process based on rules 

they came up with themselves. It was 

not a convenient time due to an already 

scheduled trip, but I was convinced 

to do it because it was something 

I had always clamored for. The 

sad saga of PACT was most unfortunate 

and in turn became a contributory 

factor to my ultimate decision 

to enter the Presidential race. 

After I became a candidate, I submitted 

myself to several citizens’ led 

processes to arrive at a consensus 

from among the alternatives. Fellow 

candidates who attended those meetings 

would agree that I was always 

ready to sacrifice my candidacy for 

the common good if it came to it, as 

long as there was sincerity of purpose 

from all sides. Unfortunately 

those meetings did not yield the desired 

end, for various reasons. 

I had to go through all that background 

to make the point that my 

stepping down to work for a consensus 

arrangement is not an afterthought. 

I’ve always believed in it. It 

is my sincere hope that the credible 

alternatives left in the race are willing 

to sacrifice for Nigeria’s common 

good which is a New Order of 

Politics of Character, Competence 

and Capacity . 

My immediate commitment is to 

help in any way possible to build this 

coalition. Since the suspension of my 

campaign, I have taken actions to 

reach out to six of the key alternative 

candidates and sought the involvement 

of one of our most respected 

elders in getting them to the place of 

sacrificial leadership required to ensure 

a workable consensus from 

among them. Citizens wish to see 

them make this sacrifice, and my sincere 

charge to the alternatives is to 

do all it takes to form a coalition of 

the willing with one strong candidate 

that will bear the mandate of 

those who seek good governance for 

Nigeria. 

Looking ahead 

For me, I will get some needed rest, 

and go back to my professional work. 

But as a citizen, I have two big priorities 

going forward. 

The first is FixPoliticsDotOrg, a 

values-based movement to disrupt 

our politics and reconstruct this 

country. In a way this is what I sought 

to achieve by joining politics in the 

first place. I realise that it would not 

be a quick fix, it is a marathon but 

the best time to set out is now. We 

must drive a citizens’ movement built 

from the bottom-up and which possesses 

a clear identifiable philosophy. 

You will hear more about our 

agenda soon. 

The second big priority for me is 

the establishment of a multi-partisan 

school of politics and governance; 

a leadership school that helps 

us grow a pipeline of leaders from 

the base. Nigeria has not been deliberate 

in raising the next generation 

of leaders as some other countries 

like South Africa has. We must change 

that, otherwise we would continue 

to repeat this cycle where there are 

not enough people with the character, 

competence and capacity taking 

over leadership from the council level 

to the assemblies and state houses, 

up to the presidency. 2023 must not 

find us only trying to make change 

happen from the presidential level. 

We have business schools like the Lagos 

Business School, being deliberate 

about growing business leaders; 

there is no reason why we cannot 

have an equivalent for political leadership. 

It can be done and we will do 

it. 

Closing appreciation 

I ask all those who are disappointed 

that we could not go all the way 

this time in our quest not to lose faith. 

We will work hard together for the 

coalition candidate, whoever that 

might be, and afterwards, we would 

begin our long-run vision of building 

a massive political movement 

that will reflect the values we share 

together - the values of a new political 

order that has parties as solid 

organizations with clear values and 

philosophies. We have a lot to look 

forward to. Let us not dwell on what 

has passed or wallow in self-pity as 

though we have no hope. The future 

beckons and life is too short to dwell 

on what might have been when there 

is still so much that can be. I hope 

and pray that you all will support 

me in these efforts. 

To my supporters and fellow citizens 

who we met on this journey 

across different states, and who had 

already made up their minds to vote 

for me, I thank you most sincerely. 

To colleagues and allies who 

stood strong with me every step of 

the way, I appreciate your friendship 

and leadership. 

To my husband and my family, I 

could not have done this without you; 

your support means the world to me. 

To volunteers and self-sustaining 

Oby for President groups, donors, 

and my extraordinary executive 

team, who gave freely and willingly 

because of your belief in our vision 

and your love for country, thank you 

for working so selflessly. Some of 

your dropped work and other activities 

to commit fully to the campaign, 

travelling around the country with 

me, making big sacrifices… I feel so 

blessed that I could count on all your 

support. God bless you all mightily. 

This is now the time to match confidently 

towards the future knowing 

that we are not powerless; knowing 

that we have all it takes to effect the 

real, powerful change that this country 

desperately needs. This chapter 

may be closed; but our story is far 

from over. In life there is always a 

Third Way when the other Two Ways 

have core similarities that produce 

same undesirable outcomes no matter 

how many time you rotate your 

choice between them. Finding the 

Third Way may be hard. But, it is 

worth seeking diligently. And we 

shall surely find it. 

Thank you all. God bless you, and 

God bless the Federal Republic of 

Nigeria. 

*Text of Oby Ezekwesili’s 

Press Conference on 4-2-2019. 

Concluded.


By Henry Ojelu 

08152060944 

Bar, , Bench must t fight invasion of judiciary y by 

politicians - Babatunde, SAN 

Mr Layi Babatunde, 

SAN, is a legal 

practitioner and publisher of 

Supreme Court Law Reports. 

He is one of the few lawyers 

advocating for reforms in the 

judiciary. In this interview, he 

shares his view on what needs 

to be done to reinvent the 

justice sector. 

Excerpt: 

With all that is happening in 

the country today especially 

the current crisis over the 

suspension of the Chief 

Justice of Nigeria, would you 

say that the three arms of 

government are truly 

independent as enshrined in 

the constitution? 

What I can say is that it can 

be better managed, in the 

sense that if you look at the 

provisions of the Constitution, 

sections 4, 5 and 6, seem to 

follow after each other, but 

they are not alike. They are 

like neighbours occupying 

different compounds, perhaps 

demarcated by fences to use 

that illustration. They are not 

even similar in any way, in 

terms of the responsibilities 

and what is expected of each 

of them. 

And I think in the case of the 

judiciary, it is with a view to 

further strengthening their 

independence and ensure 

non-interference, that the 

National Judicial Council, 

NJC was also separately 

provided for in the 

constitution. The NJC is 

constitutionally empowered to 

handle issues of appointment, 

promotions and discipline of 

judicial officers. So in essence, 

to a very large extent, the 

constitution envisages that 

the judiciary, the executive and 

the legislature, (although they 

co-habit within the system) are 

supposed to be independent 

in their actions. 

By practice, the president 

still appoints the CJN, by 

recommendation from the 

NJC, and some people have 

reasoned that if someone is 

responsible for appointing 

someone into a certain 

position, then the person who 

is being appointed won’t 

really be independent? 

If you look at the procedure 

for appointment, I do not think 

it is as simplistic and 

straightforward as that. It is a 

chain of processes. At the 

federal level, the president 

doesn’t start by recommending 

anybody for Judicial 

appointment. The president 

doesn’t do that. It is the NJC 

for instance that recommends 

a person to be appointed into 

the office of Chief Justice of 

Nigeria; Presisent of the court 

of appeal etc. after which they 

are screened by the legislature 

and if found fit, further sent to 

the President to be appointed. 

*Layi Babatunde, SAN 

But that also is a form of 

interfere with the 

independence of the 

Judiciary.. 

Not exactly because the 

judiciary on their own through 

the State or Federal Judicial 

Service Commission, SJSC or 

FJSC as the case may be, the 

NJC spots the candidate, looks 

at their paper work, then 

recommends them. They will 

ask them questions, look at 

their background and their 

pedigree and then if they 

consider them suitable, they 

will say 'ok, you are good to 

go' and then it goes to the next 

stage and then to the 

president’s table in the case of 

the CJN; president of the court 

of appeal etc. Neither the 

head of the legislature nor the 

executive branch tells the NJC 

ab initio who to recommend for 

appointment. 

Does the suspension and 

removal of anybody also have 

to follow that process? 

If you talk about removal, it 

also emanates from the NJC 

and goes through the process. 

In the case of the CJN, of 

course it involves the 

legislature in certain 

circumstances. The 

fundamental thing is that it is 

the NJC that recommends the 

removal of the judge, even for 

judges who are in the states. 

If anyone has a complaint 

against a judge and believes 

strongly that a judge is not 

worthy of his calling and ought 

to be removed from the branch, 

he sends a petition against 

such a judge and the NJC will 

deal with the petition on its 

merit. 

So anybody that has an issue 

must come before the NJC, 

then NJC will take the decision? 

The issues of appointment, 

promotion and discipline are 

strictly for NJC. There are 

judicial authorities in support 

of this position. 

So you mean there is no 

interference from any other 

body? 

It is the NJC that looks at 

issues then takes a decision 

and puts it forward for the 

appropriate authority to 

implement. It may not be a 

perfect process because the 

NJC is itself listed in the 

constitution as one of the 

federal executive bodies ditto 

the CCT. Perhaps, these are 

some of the issues to be looked 

at in the future as our 

democracy matures. The 

independence of the Judiciary 

should not be toyed with but 

reinforced. 

What would you say was the 

idea behind it? 

To be honest with you, I 

don’t know what informed it. 

But on one hand, I get the 

impression that the intention 

is to ensure that the judiciary 

The fundamental 

thing is that it is the 

NJC that 

recommends the 

removal of the 

judge, even for 

judges who are in 

the states 

should be able to function 

without any interference from 

outside bodies. But when you 

now have the NJC, and you 

say it’s part of the federal 

executive bodies, there is 

something to be looked at in 

that regard and very closely. 

May be it has to do with 

funding. 

The current crisis between 

the presidency and the 

judiciary over allegation of 

non-declaration of asset by 

the suspended CJN has 

thrown up issues about the 

level of corruption in the 

judiciary. As a senior lawyer, 

how corrupt is the judiciary 

and what is the nature of 

corruption you find in the 

judiciary? 

I do not wish to comment on 

the ongoing proceedings for 

obvious reasons , but the point 

must not be missed that what 

is before the CCT are 

allegations bordering on asset 

declaration not bribe-taking or 

perversion of justice. Having 

said that, the truth of it is that 

in spite of the challenges, the 

Judiciary has been more 

forthcoming than other arms 

of government in exposing 

and punishing its members 

found to be corrupt or 

otherwise wanting. From the 

NJC output, it appears that a 

number of the casualties are 

victims of corrupt practices 

related to the conduct of 

election petitions. They 

probably could do more in 

swiftly fishing out and 

punishing bad eggs on the 

bench. So to the extent that the 

NJC has shown some judges 

the exit door on grounds of 

corruption , it does not require 

my saying that there is 

corruption in order to validate 

what is already in public 

knowledge and is being 

addressed. How effective it 

has been is a different 

question. 

At least, the Judiciary admits 

there are enemies within and 

they are making efforts to deal 

with the situation. The 

legislature and the executive 

will do well to look inwards too 

so that we can cover the field 

as it were. 

However, the fact that the 

NJC has punished some 

judicial officers for corruption 

and some others are yet to be 

identified and sent packing is 

no justification for branding 

the entire Judiciary as corrupt 

and rotten! That will be unfair 

to the majority of judges who 

are hardworking and honestly 

too. As the National 

Association of Democratic 

Lawyers pointed out in their 

well circulated statement, 

Nigerians must realise that 

sleaze is not the defining 

characteristic of the Nigerian 

Judiciary. Come to think of it, 

if the reverse were to be the 

case, every practising lawyer 

will probably have 

explanations to make as to 

whether or not they are bribegivers. 

But I know from my 

experience in practice that is 

not the case. That is not to say 

there are no bad eggs. There 

are. It ‘s our duty to decimate 

their number, working with 

the NJC. It is indeed a time 

for sober reflection for the bar 

and the bench. This is not a 

time to play to the gallery. 

Most of the corruption 

cases against judges usually 

involve politicians, why do 

you think this is so? 

I think it is the nature of door-die 

politics politicians 

practise in this country. For 

most politicians, it is do-ordie. 

They want to get 

whatever position they are 

aspiring to at any cost and see 

the judges as obstacles to be 

overcome by all means 

possible. It is unfortunate 

that they sometimes find 

some willing judges and 

justices who play along with 

them. But I think those in the 

judiciary are already learning 

their lessons because when 

the chips are down, it is the 

judges and justices that get 

punished and nothing 

happens to the politicians. 

Some of the politicians on 

account of which some 

justices were punished and 

sent packing are still on the 

ballot or party leaders. 

How do you think the 

judiciary and by extension, 

judges and justices, can 

handle this sinister 

encroachment by politicians? 

The Bar and the Bench 

must come together to fashion 

out a workable solution; even 

retired judges whose 

institutional memory can be 

of tremendous help. A lot of 

them are still around and 

their experience will be of 

tremendous benefits. We have 

to come together to ensure 

that politicians don’t create 

political wings on the Bench. 

The work of the judiciary is 

too sensitive for us to stand 

aloof and allow people to deal 

with it the way they want to, 

by ensuring that they get 

their boys and supporters 

appointed into the Bench. You 

cannot use judiciary for 

political compensation. No! 

You can’t do that because the 

bench is meant for the best, 

the diligent, courageous, 

industrious and those not 

lacking in integrity. 

If we allow people who are 

being pushed onto the Bench 

so that politicians can fall 

back on them later in life, 

then we are all going to be in 

trouble. The Bar and the 

Bench must work together to 

arrest this situation. You 

cannot use judicial 

appointment 

as 

compensation for your 

political lackeys and Man 

know Man. In the interest of 

the future of our profession, 

and the need to deliver 

justice unpolluted, the Bar 

and the Bench need to come 

Continues on Page 39 

C 

M 

Y 

K


Is there a war against corruption? (2) 

By Awa Kalu, SAN 

In the first part of this 

article, published on 31st 

January 2019, we drew 

attention to the fact that 

according to various sources 

and particularly the Black’s 

Law Dictionary, corruption 

is symptomatic of depravity, 

perversion or taint and may 

suggest an impairment of 

integrity, virtue or moral 

principle, especially the 

impairment of a public 

officer’s duty by bribery. 

What this wide ranging 

definition means is that the 

war against corruption itself 

must be faithfully fought 

with some transparency and 

visible humaneness. 

Innocent bystanders may not 

be unanimous in deciding 

whether or not the war 

against corruption has been 

purposeful, transparent and 

even-handed in its 

prosecution. This war ought 

not to be interpreted in the 

likeness of the African 

proverb concerning; 

“arming the tortoise with a 

knife and providing a tuber 

of yam, expecting the 

tortoise to be equitable in 

cutting the yam and 

distributing it.” A survey of 

a few events in the past few 

years would give the reader 

an indication of what the 

proverbial tortoise has done 

with the tuber of yam. 

Sometime in 2015, the 

former National Security 

Adviser, Colonel Sambo 

Dasuki (rtd) was charged 

with the unlawful 

possession of firearms and 

was remanded in custody. 

Dasuki, according to facts in 

the public domain, has by 

order made by courts of 

competent jurisdiction been 

granted bail on terms which 

he has reportedly met. 

However, the Federal 

Government has failed, 

neglected or refused to obey 

any of the orders. The 

prosecution of any person 

who allegedly has 

committed an offence, 

against either the laws made 

by the Federal Government 

or by any State for that 

matter, places a burden on 

the prosecution as well as on 

the defence to obey all such 

orders as are made by the 

court, in order to smoothen 

the playing field for the 

administration of criminal 

•Kalu, SAN 

justice. It seems to us that 

it will not augur well for the 

war against corruption, for 

any government to arraign 

before a court any person 

who has allegedly 

committed an offence, and 

then to hold that person 

captive after an order for 

bail has been granted. Its 

wider implication is that the 

prosecution for a crime is a 

license to take a person’s 

personal liberty, which is 

guaranteed by the extant 

Constitution, away without 

due process of law. To eat 

one’s cake and still have it, 

is a fiction unknown to 

mankind. Accordingly, once 

the government, a 

corporation or private 

individual, resorts to a court 

of law and surrenders to its 

jurisdiction, what the rule of 

law requires is unbridled 

acquiescence to orders 

made in the course of 

judicial administration of 

justice. 

Fidelity to law is an 

undisguised element in the 

successful prosecution of 

the war against corruption. 

What has posed a challenge 

for the war against 

corruption is the pretence 

that the bigger the animal 

that the hunter catches, the 

more potent and successful 

the hunter would become. 

Our experience of arresting 

and arraigning only big 

‘animals’ is the extreme 

heat that such arrest has 

often generated. For the 

better part of the year 2017, 

the country watched the 

drama of an attempt to bring 

the Senate President, 

Bukola Saraki to book, for an 

alleged failure to declare 

his assets. What the records 

show, is that on each 

occasion when the Senate 

president was to appear at 

the Code of Conduct 

Tribunal, CCT, legislative 

business at the Senate of the 

National Assembly came to 

a standstill, and political 

watchers as well as 

commentators, came to the 

conclusion that Saraki’s 

arraignment was a political 

war in disguise. It is for this 

reason that it was said that, 

the decision to prosecute, 

which is made by a 

prosecutor, such as the 

Attorney-General, is not an 

easy one. Sir Elwyn Jones, 

one time Attorney-General 

in Britain stated with 

emphasis that:”the decision 

when to prosecute, as you 

may imagine, is not an easy 

one. It is by no means in 

every case where the law 

officer considers that a 

conviction ought to be 

obtained that it is thought 

desirable to prosecute. 

Sometimes, there are 

reasons of public policy 

which make it undesirable to 

prosecute the case. Perhaps, 

the wrongdoer has already 

suffered enough. Perhaps, 

the prosecution may enable 

him present himself as a 

martyr. Or perhaps, he is 

too ill to stand his trial 

without great risk to his 

health or even to his life. 

All these factors enter into 

the consideration.” The 

exercise of the discretion on 

whether or not to prosecute 

is one that goes on from 

time to time. 

In a great debate in the 

British House of Commons, 

Sir Hartley Shawcross noted 

that: “the truth is that the 

exercise of a decision in a 

quasi-judicial way as to 

whether or when I must 

take steps to enforce the 

criminal law is exactly one 

of the duties of the office of 

the Attorney-General. ...It 

has never been the rule in 

this country – I hope it 

never will be – that 

suspected criminal offences 

automatically be the subject 

of prosecution. 

The public interest...is the 

dominant consideration.” 

Elaborating on that theme, 

the former Attorney-General 

emphasized that:”It is not 

always in the public interest 

to go through the whole 

process of the criminal law 

if, at the end of the day, 

perhaps because of 

mitigating circumstances, 

perhaps because of what the 

defendant has already 

suffered, only a nominal 

penalty is likely to be 

imposed.... 

It is the duty of an 

Attorney-General in 

deciding whether or not to 

authorise a prosecution to 

acquaint himself with all the 

relevant facts, including for 

instance, the effect which 

Stakeholders make case for 

independence of the judiciary 

the prosecution, successful 

or unsuccessful as the case 

may be, would have upon 

public morale and order.” 

What lends credence to 

the suspicion that the Senate 

President was being 

harassed for political 

reasons, was the 

subsequent allegation that 

he either aided or abetted a 

bank robbery in Offa, Kwara 

State. The police, who chose 

to try the Senate President 

in the media was not totally 

convincing in providing 

facts that cleared the 

impression that the entire 

operation was calculated to 

“pull him down.” 

Prosecution, for the purpose 

of pulling any person down 

is not one that may be 

justified in the public 

interest. 


Worried by the perennial 

conflict of interest 

between the judiciary and 

other arms of government, 

some stakeholders have 

advocated for financial 

autonomy for the judiciary. 

Speaking during a memorial 

lecture for Justice Adetunji 

Adefarasin organised by the 

Christian Lawyers Fellowship 

of Nigeria, CLASFON, the 

stakeholders insisted that for 

the judiciary to be truly 

independent, it must be 

allowed to exercise financial 

autonomy. 

Speaking at the event, Lagos 

High Court judge, Justice 

Morenike Obadina noted 

that the domineering role of 

one arm over the other arms 

of government will engender 

antagonism and conflict. 

She admonished the 

legislative arm to minimise 

personal interest in politics 

in the overall interest of the 

nation and partner with the 

executive to deliver 

dividends of democracy to 

the Nigerian populace who 

are yearning for 

development. 

“Nigerian legal system must 

be able to deliver social 

justice, equity and 

development to the people if 

properly organised and 

motivated. It will serve as a 

powerful and legitimate 

instrument for transforming 

the country’s decadent sociopolitical 

system into a 

progressive and transparent 

one. The legal system can be 

of help in altering the 

corrosive pattern of 

behaviour in public life 

which has scuttled Nigeria’s 

development,” she said. 

Also speaking at the event, 

Wemimo Ogunde, SAN, 

called for restoration of 

judiciary’s glory and 

charged the bar and the 

bench on self assurance. 

He said: “We need to do all 

we can to prevent gossips 

and untrue stories being 

peddled about the judiciary. 

With regards to the sanctity 

of the bench, I want to plead 

with our judges to lend a 

helping hand to lawyers.” 

Pastor Dele Adesina said: 

“The country is fast 

descending into a society of 

lawlessness. If we can only 

hold on to the constitution, 

the bench must insist on the 

right things being done 

accordingly, and the problem 

of judiciary will be a thing of 

the past.” 

CLASFON’s president, 

Prince Okey-Joe Onuakalusi 

in his contribution said the 

dispensation of justice is a 

collective duty of the 

members of the bar and 

bench. 

“We all are members of the 

same temple of justice and 

owe a fiduciary duty to ensure 

justice attained by all men,” 

he said. 

EDITORIAL 

Innocent Anaba 

( Head) 

Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

Contributors: 

Henry Ojelu, 

Onozure Dania 

C 

M 

Y 

K

FGN V CJN: Appeal Court t Judgment on Justice Nganjiwa(2) 

a(2) 

A 

cumulative reading of 

these relevant provisions 

of Section 153(1), 158(1), 

paragraph 21 (b) of Part 1 of 

the’ Third schedule of the 

1999 Constitution (as 

amended) is to the effect that 

the National Judicial Council, 

NJC, is the sole body with 

authority to recommend to 

the President for the 

appointment and removal of 

any Judicial Officer 

at misconduct and or, 

misbehaviour and shall 

attract disciplinary action.” 

Rule 3 makes provision in 

relation to fidelity to the 

Constitution and the Law. 

“3.1 A judicial officer should 

be true and faithful to the 

constitution and the Law, 

uphold the course of justice 

by abiding with the provisions 

of the Constitution and the 

Law and should acquire and 

maintain professional 

competence.” 

Rule 10 prohibits the 

acceptance of gift, bequest, 

Continued from Page 37 

disastrous. For instance, look 

at the pervasive feeling the 

politicians throw in the air 

against the judiciary. They 

just come and pollute the air 

and go on with their 

campaign. The Bar and the 

Bench need to unite to 

protect the integrity of the 

justice system. We must also 

make sure that the elements 

that are polluting the system 

are also dealt with according 

to the law. We need to do 

something about the 

perceived rupture between 

us and our consumers. 

Doing something about it 

means that only the best of 

us end up in the bench and 

those who find their way 

there somehow and are not 

doing well are removed. 

Trust is very key in justice 

delivery. 

Financial autonomy is still 

a major challenge for the 

judiciary. Do you think 

there is a need to rethink 

the constitution in order to 

solve this challenge? 

I think as at today, what is 

required is the political will 

to give vent to financial 

independence for the 

judiciary. There is so much 

talk about financial 

independence but in actual 

fact, it is not being carried 

out. I am sure if we 

collaborate together, if we 

identify the problems as one 

solid Bar, and we decide to 

confront this problem, we 

can tackle that problem. But 

we should not just wait until 

something happens then 

we will start calling 

meetings and issuing 

statements. There is nothing 

bad about that, but like I said, 

if we had taken steps since 

that incidence of Justice Ayo 

Salami, and tried to deal 

with the issue of executive 

and judicial relationship and 

loan, favour, benefit, 

advantage, bribe etc. It 

provides: 

1. iii. A Judge shall not give 

or take and shall not 

encourage or condone the 

giving or taking of any 

benefit, advantage, bribe 

however disguised for 

anything done or to be done 

in the discharge of a judicial 

duty. 

The Appellant, presently a 

Judge of the Federal High 

Court, was charged vide a 

Criminal Information for 

conduct/acts which are 

tantamount to a breach of his 

Oath of office and breaches 

contained in the Revised 

Code of Conduct of February, 

2016 and which are at the 

same time offences under the 

Criminal Law. The Judicial 

Oath is administered at the 

swearing in of Judicial Officer 

as contained in the 7th 

schedule of the Constitution. 

As a serving judge, the 

Appellant is under the 

management, control and 

disciplinary jurisdiction’ of 

THE COURT OF APPEAL 

HOLDEN AT LAGOS 

JUDICIAL DIVISION ON 

MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 

2017. 

BEFORE THEIR 

LORDSHIPS 

MOHAMMED 

GARBA- 

JUSTICE, YARGATA NIMPAR 

ABIMBOLA OBASEKI- 

ADEJUMO 

APPEAL-NO: CA L 969‘3 2017’ 

‘ BETWEEN 

JUSTICE HYELADZIRA 

NGANJIWA -APPELLANT 

AND FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF 

NIGERIA - RESPONDENT 

JUDGMENT DELIVERED 

BY ABIMBOLA OBASEKI- 

ADEJUMO J CA 

the National Judicial Council 

as envisaged under 

Paragraph 21(b) Part 1 of the 

Third Schedule to the 1999 

Constitution (as amended). 

The foregoing has been 

affirmed in a host of judicial 

authorities including ELELU 

-HABEEB 85 ANOR v A.G. 

FEDERATION: OPENE v 

Bar, , Bench must t fight invasion of judiciary by 

politicians - Babatunde, SAN 

some other allied matters, 

perhaps some of the things 

that are playing out today 

would have been taken care 

of. So for the Bar and the 

Bench, we need to come 

together because now it’s 

obvious that we have 

common problems 

challenging us. We need to 

see how we can collaborate, 

how we can work together 

to make sure that the 

integrity of the bench is not 

stained and that we also 

carry out our job, as it is 

expected of us. 

Some people have 

suggested a political solution 

to the current CJN trial. Do 

you subscribe to this? 

We can’t speak from both 

sides of our mouth. This issue 

is before the NJC. Under our 

constitution, they are 

empowered to deal with the 

issues referred to them. My 

candid advice is this: let us 

wait for the outcome. 

The NBA has made some 

interventions on the current 

issue involving the 

suspended CJN. How 

would you assess the 

effectiveness of the NBA in 

tackling national issues in 

the country? 

I believe the Nigerian Bar 

Association has to do more. 

The people are watching us 

and how we engage certain 

issues. We cannot afford to 

erode the confidence which 

has been reposed on us. The 

Bar needs to work closely 

with the Bench for the interest 

of the justice system. We 

need to collaborate more. 

Is there any forum where 

judges and lawyers come 

together to interact and set a 

common goal? 

I think we need to make the 

activities of the Bar less 

ceremonial and serious in 

nature. Sometimes we have 

functions like the Bar and the 

Bench forum where 

somebody comes and 

delivers a lecture and that is 

all. We need to have the 

bench and bar forum as an 

ongoing active process in 

which we can address 

ourselves honestly and 

frankly and proffer solutions 

to our problems. The bar and 

bench forum we have is just 

ceremonial. It is not 

functional and deep enough 

as it ought to be. If we wanted 

to boycott court as was 

recently planned, then the 

Bar and Bench forum would 

have been the best place to 

discuss it first. Cooperation 

between the Bar and the 

Bench as a group does not 

translate to compromise of 

cases. That is why we are 

professionals. For instance, 

what does the bar try to do? It 

is to defend the integrity of 

the bar and the bench. So that 

is the common objective and 

we should unite to do that. 

Some have suggested that 

retired judges and justices be 

appointed to handle 

petitions. Do you agree with 

this suggestion? 

I think that should be 

seriously considered. I know 

that there has been an 

argument in the past that if 

we engage retired justices 

and issues come up, the NJC 

may not be able to discipline 

them because they are no 

longer under the NJC 

control. But I believe that that 

is something that can be 

dealt with. If you are a retired 

judge and you go and sit on 

a tribunal, and you are 

corrupt, the ICPC and EFCC 

can always take up the matter. 

If we have the tribunal 

comprising of retired judges 

and justices, then there is no 

harm in also engaging 

respected members of the 

society for the tribunal. After 

all, in the composition of the 

NJC, there are 

non-lawyers 

there. Of course 

there will be 

issues of law, but 

that can be 

resolved 

appeal. 


case of a Federal Judicial 

Officer or the Governor of the 

State in the case of a State 

Judicial Officer and/or take 

other actions appropriately. 

When this is done and 

accepted by the appropriate 

NJC (supra) ; ABDULLAHI 

authority in compliance with 

very GOVERNOR, KANO the provisions of the 

State ‘(supra): The 

Constitution, then the 

allegations against the 

relevant law enforcement 

Appellant are purportedly Agent or Agency is at liberty 

committed against the 

to make the said judicial 

guidelines contained in the 

officer face the wrath of the 

Revised Code of Conduct. law. 

See Rule 7 and 10 thereof. 

Any act done by the law 

enforcement Agent or 

Agency in violation of the 

above is tantamount to 

denying the NJC its powers 

to discipline Judges in 

accordance with the 

provision of section 153 (1) 

and paragraph 21 part 1 of the 

Third Schedule, of the 1999 

Constitution (as amended). 

See paragraph 21 (a) 85 (b) 

of the Third Schedule, Part 1 

of the 1999 Constitution (as 

at 

Misconduct has been defined 

by the Black’s Law 

Dictionary, 9th Edition at 

page 1089, thus: (1) 6‘ 

Dereliction of duty or 

improper behavior, official 

misconduct has also been 

defined by the same 

dictionary and on the same 

page. A public Officer’s 

corrupt violation of assumed 

duties by misconduct in office 

or official corruption, also 

corruption in office, when a 

judicial officer is said to have 

misconducted himself/ 

herself in office, it means he 

has corruptly violated his 

duties.” 

Whenever a breach of judicial 

oath occurs, it is a 

misconduct itself, then the 

NJC is the appropriate body 

to investigate such breaches 

by the judicial officer and if 

found to be so, such judicial 

officer shall face disciplinary 

action and the NJC may 

recommend the removal of 

such a judicial officer to the 

appropriate authority which is 

either the President in the 

amended) respectively. 

Whenever there is an 

allegation of official 

misconduct against a judicial 

officer and the above stated 

process is not adhered to, it 

amounts to jumping the gun 

and ipso facto a direct 

violation of the Constitution. 

Recourse to the National 

Judicial Council is a condition 

as clearly set out by the 

Constitution, and any attempt 

by any Agency of Government 

to by-pass the Council will 

amount to failure to observe 

condition precedent thereby 

leading to flagrant violation of 

the Constitution. 

To be Continued


Bello to sponsor 2000 women, 

youths in rice outgrow scheme 

By Boluwaji Obahopo 

LOKOJA - Wife of the 

Governor of Kogi State, 

Rashida Bello, has promised 

to sponsor and support 2000 

youths and women in the 

value Rice Farming 

Outgrowers program. 

She made this known on 

Saturday at the Ejiba Rice Mill 

while meeting with women and 

youths who participated in the 

Omi Dam Rice Farming Out- 

Growers program. 

Mrs Bello expressed 

excitement at the level of 

involvement of women in the 

scheme which she launched 

last year in conjunction with 

the Kogi State Ministry of 

Agriculture and Agri 

Integrated Service Africa 

Limited. 

She said: “I have received a 

lot of positive feedback and I 

am happy that our women and 

youths are gradually 

embracing farming and are 

benefiting immensely from the 

By Josephine 

Agbonkhese & Elizabeth 

Uwandu 

Speakers and audience at 

the recently held Night of 

Ideas organised by the French 

Embassy in collaboration with 

the Institut français du Nigeria 

and Alliance française Lagos, 

have identified equal 

education for boys and girls as 

panacea for the menaces of 

gender inequality and illegal 

migration bugging the 

African continent; especially 

Nigeria. 

“Education plays a very big 

role here. With education for 

boys and girls, we can achieve 

more equality between 

genders, get people to treat 

everyone with respect and 

create same opportunities for 

boys and girls,” said 

Monsieur Jerome Pasquier, 

French Ambassador to 

Nigeria, while speaking at 

the event themed: Facing our 

Time. 

Pasquier who reiterated 

that society must develop a 

means of regulating 

migration so as to have 

positive migration instead of 

negative ones, noted that the 

problem of poverty was 

currently playing a huge role 

in illegal migration even 

though not all poor persons 

wished to migrate. 

Emphasizing the need for 

contemporary Africans to 

draw from traditional African 

society which supported 

gender equality, one of the 

Rice Mill project being 

established in Ejiba. 

“My husband, Governor 

Yahaya Bello, saw the 

potential of the Omi Dam and 

the huge farming opportunities 

and job creation that can be 

derived from the Omi Dam 

farmland if fully developed. 

On that day, he made a 

promise not to allow the place 

to lie fallow, and we thank the 

Almighty Allah that today, we 

have a 50-ton per day rice 

milling plant that can process 

over 2,500 tons of paddy rice 

per month in Ejiba. 

“My office did not hesitate to 

utilise the value chain the rice 

mill has brought to the people 

of Ejiba by empowering our 

women and youths to 

continuously grow paddy rice 

that will be processed at the 

mill. I believe with this 

intervention, Ejiba land will be 

a rice-farming hub, and the 

women and youths of Ejiba 

will go to all other local 

speakers, Ugoma Adegoke, a 

cultural entrepreneur, said 

there was need for reorientation 

on how best to 

bring up male and female 

children. 

“We have to go back to 

systems that are fair, 

sensitive, communal, and 

where respect for everyone is 

guaranteed,” she said, adding 

that several factors 

contributed to the rise in 

governments in Kogi State to 

train our women and youths 

on the best practice in rice 

farming. 

“Based on the reception and 

the willingness I have seen in 

our people to go back to 

farming, our program will be 

enrolling 2000 women and 

youth Out-Growers for the 

next wet season farming come 

April. So please make sure 

you enroll for the program and 

fully participate in order to get 

all the benefits that will come 

after. 

“I was told 75 people 

enrolled for the program last 

year, I can understand that 

based on past experiences 

from previous governments, 

our people have lost their 

zeal to participate in 

empowerment programs. 

But remember our Governor 

did not just promise Ejiba 

land a rice mill but delivered 

on his promise. Hence, I want 

gender inequality in Africa. 

Reeling out the factors, 

Adegoke said: “Colonialism 

and dynamics between men 

and women is one. Another 

is corruption, especially 

where unfair practices have 

become the order of the day, 

leading to the celebration of 

inequity; all these combined 

become sources of gender 

disparity. 

“The role of educators also 

to charge all the women and 

youths of Ejiba land to also join 

hands with me to push my 

vision in making Ejiba land 

the home of rice farmers.” 

French Embassy’s Night of Ideas explores gender, migration 

issues across Africa 

cannot be underestimated. 

Teachers are very important 

to the upbringing of young 

ones. Proper education is 

needed in order to raise 

children who are empathic, 

sensitive and who are 

interested in progressing 

their skills and abilities 

rather than engage in gender 

prejudice. 

“Another is the role of 

fathers in enabling women 

and female children to fly. The 

*From left: Aurelien Sennacherib, Attache for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs, French 

Embassy; Monsieur Jerome Pasquier, French Ambassador to Nigeria; Mrs Ugoma Adegoke 

and Prof. Tancrède Voituriez at the 2019 edition of Night of Ideas held in Lagos last Thursday. 

tragic contribution to a system 

where women sometimes 

encourage their sons not to 

serve because they are boys, 

has also contributed to the 

chaos we see today.” 

On his part, Prof. Tancrède 

Voituriez who spoke on 

Migration and its effect on 

development, noted that 

rather than limit the flow of 

migration, legal and 

voluntary migration should 

be encouraged as it was a 

catalyst for development. 

His words: “What is assumed 

is that when a poor country 

grows and becomes less poor, 

there will be less migration 

from that country to richer 

country. But what we observe 

is exactly the opposite. 

“However, development and 

migration strengthen one 

another; when there is more 

development, there is more 

migration. So the issue is not 

to prevent migration generally 

but to prevent illegal and 

irregular migration. In 

addition, we need to 

encourage safe, legal and 

voluntarily migration,” said 

Prof Voituriez. 

Earlier in his address, 

Aurelien Sennacherib, 

Attache for Cooperation and 

Cultural Affairs, French 

Embassy, said this year’s 

theme: Facing Our Time 

explored global challenges 

through the lenses of human 

rights, citizenship, economy 

and the arts. 

C 

M 

Y 

K

Vanguard, THURSDAY,FEBRUARY 7, 2019 — 41 

2019 World Cancer Day: 

Women call for 

proactive attention to 

reduce cancer menace 

By Gabriel Ewepu 

ABUJA- AS Nigeria joins the 

rest of the world to mark 

World Cancer Day on February 

4, 2019, with theme: I am and I 

will, women under the auspices 

of Voice for Less Privileged 

Organisation, VOLPO, across 

the country have called on 

government at all levels to take 

proactive action and pay 

attention to end cancer menace 

ravaging mostly the women 

population. 

This call was made by the 

Founder, VOLPO, Dr Ego-Queen 

Ezuma, who said the cancer 

menace has assumed a 

dangerous dimension, which has 

become a threat to women’s 

health, especially younger 

women who are dying daily and 

leaving their families in jeopardy. 

According to Ezuma, the 

passion of VOLPO has made the 

organisation to embark on many 

advocacies and sensitisations 

about the deadly disease across 

the country to create awareness. 

She further lamented that most 

cancer cases in the country would 

have been nipped in the bud if 

there was aggressive campaign 

by government, nongovernmental 

organisations, 

religious and traditional bodies. 

She, therefore, called for 

synergies, engagements, town- 

hall meetings, public 

enlightenment and other ways of 

communication in the language 

the people would understand the 

causes, risks, treatment, 

management and most 

importantly, prevention through 

awareness creation. 

February 4th is observed as 

World Cancer Day, every year. 

The day is dedicated to everyone 

across the globe fighting cancer, 

the statistics of which is 

absolutely alarming. Over 9.5 

million people are known to have 

cancer at a severe stage in the 

year 2018. 

The most common types of 

cancer in men are lung, prostate, 

colorectal, stomach and liver 

cancer while breast, colorectal, 

lung, cervix and stomach cancer 

are the most common among 

women. 

According to reports, in 

Nigeria, cancer leads to over 

80,000 deaths per annum. This 

number is set to increase given 

that there are over 102,000 new 

cases of cancer every year. 

Available data also shows that 

cervical cancer kills one 

Nigerian woman every hour, 

breast cancer kills 40 Nigerian 

women on daily basis while 

prostate cancer kills 26 Nigerian 

men daily. The report also 

indicates that the highlighted 

three common cancers daily kill 

90 Nigerians. 

She said: “It is very worrisome 

to see cancer cutting short the 

lives of most people in Nigeria, 

particularly women. The death 

rate is threatening and 

alarming, and most families are 

put in serious jeopardy, 

especially young children left 

behind by their late mothers who 

are mostly bread-winners and 

pillars to the families. 

“We in Voice for Less 

Privileged Organisation, 

VOLPO, have taken it upon 

ourselves to carry out 

enlightenment and other 

Enact laws to protect Nigerian 

widows, cleric tells N/A 

By Ebun Sessou 

CONVENER, Great Life Changers 

Foundation, Bishop Chioma Grace 

Dauji, has called on the National 

Assembly, to as a matter of urgency enact 

laws that will protect the rights of Nigerian 

widows in accessing the wills meant for 

them and their children.Dauji also 

proposed all states of the federation 

should ensure that bills protecting the 

rights of widows are sponsored, approved 

adopted and also enforced accordingly.In 

a statement signed and made available to 

WO, Dauji explained that the legislative 

arm of government should formulate laws 

and also review existing policies to protect 

the rights of widows in the society. 

The said law, she reiterated should 

criminalise all forms of unhealthy and 

abusive traditional practices against 

widows in the country.According to her, 

“There is an urgent need for traditional 

rulers who are the custodians of our 

culture to review all customs and 

traditional practices which tend to 

humiliate widows. Husbands while alive, 

should state in specific terms their wives’ 

share of property in event of death. She 

added that they should also update their 

life and employment insurance, banking 

and other relevant records to reflect their 

spouses as next of kin. 

”All relevant stakeholders should join 

forces in tackling the challenges of 

widowhood through developmental 

projects and empowerment. 

•Bishop Chioma Grace Dauji 

We in Voice for 

Less Privileged 

Organisation, 

VOLPO, have 

taken it uApon 

ourselves to carry 

out 

enlightenment 

and other 

advocacies to 

create awareness 

of the disease. 

•Dr Ego-Queen Ezuma, Founder, Voice of Less Privileged 

Organisation, VOLPO 

advocacies to create awareness 

of the disease. We have been 

doing this at the grassroots to 

make them aware of hygiene, 

diet, check-up, dangers of selfmedication, 

unhealthy habits of 

drinking mixtures including 

alcohol and others. 

“The 2019 World Cancer Day 

with theme: I am and I will, should 

“Opportunities should be provided to 

widows for skills acquisition and 

training to guarantee employment and 

income generation. Widows should be 

encouraged to form cooperative societies 

at both local and state levels of 

government to provide opportunities for 

counseling, mentoring and advocacy for 

actions among others.” 

There is need for massive enlightment 

and campaigns on harmful cultural 

practices against the fundamental 

human rights of widows including oathtaking, 

cutting of hair, sacrifices to the 

dead, incarceration or mourning house, 

marginalisation, among others. 

“Shelter and refuge centers should be 

established for widows in crises and 

other vulnerable groups. Bills should be 

passed on how to alleviate the 

challenges of the following set of widows 

in Nigeria: Those married without a 

child within a certain age or to the event 

of the death of the husband. Those 

married and blessed with female 

children where tradition denies female 

children of their inheritance. 

”Those married and blessed with 

children who could not take care of their 

mothers as a widow but are in 

possession of the family estate,” she 

said. 

be a wake-up call to all Nigerians 

to realise that cancer is real and 

ravaging the population on daily 

basis, and also its time for action 

by government at all levels and 

non-governmental organisations 

to sit up and roll up sleeves to 

proactively tackle the menace of 

caner that has eaten deep into the 

health of Nigerians, particularly 

women.” 

Being optimistic about the 

reduction in number of deaths 

and having cancer awareness 

develop in Nigeria, the VOLPO 

boss said deliberate efforts 

should be made in fighting the 

disease. 

“Our hospitals should be 

equipped with cancer-treating 

state-of-the-art equipment, 

cancer treatments cost should be 

subsidised by the government, 

more professionals employed to 

mount the facilities, more 

cancer-treating facilities should 

be built across the local 

government areas of the country, 

more support given to nongovernmental 

organisations to 

penetrate the grassroots with 

cancer awareness programmes, 

cancer detection surveys should 

be stepped up to know those 

living with it, and other 

preventive measures put in 

place”, she stated. 

Meanwhile, she commended 

non-governmental organisations 

like Pink Oak Trust, which is a 

cancer foundation whose mission 

is to raise as much money as 

possible, to pay for the treatment 

of as many cancer patients in 

Nigeria as possible. 

She called on well meaning 

Nigerians to support cancer 

patients with their resources to 

give them life and hope so they 

can regain their health and 

become productive again.


•Traffic gridlock caused by trucks 

Apapa - Oshodi traffic crisis 

Task force members 

go berserk 

•Beat up motorists, including journalists 

•Indulge in shady deals: Extort and escort truck drivers 

•As trucks take over entire expressway, inner link roads 

By Mike Ebonugwo, Emma Nnadozie, 

Evelyn Usman & Bose Adelaja 

AGAIN, the nightmare experience has 

returned for motorists and other road 

users plying the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, 

especially the Rainbow to Berger/Tin Can axis 

of the road. Reason? The entire stretch of the 

road from Rainbow inward Mile Two-Apapa has 

once again been re-invaded by articulated 

trucks, including tanker trucks and containladen 

trailers, which seem to have returned with 

vengeful fury after a period of temporary respite 

following intermittent government 

interventions. To worsen the situation, drivers 

of these trucks have now resorted to parking 

them illegally in the inner link roads adjoining 

the expressway, consequently choking and 

paralysing traffic on these roads, with attendant 

untold suffering for motorists, commuters and 

other road users. 

For instance, Vanguard Avenue has virtually 

been turned into an illegal parking bay for these 

trucks, with the result that staff of organisations 

located there are daily denied access to their 

premises or spend hours before they can 

negotiate way in-between these articulated 

vehicles. Before now, these trucks took 

adjoining roads like Mba, Ajeromi and Old Ojo 

road, to link Apapa. Most times they parked 

on these roads making it impossible for other 

road users. 

But residents who were at the receiving end, 

protested against the illegal parking. To put an 

end to it, these access roads have been 

barricaded with iron bars, thereby preventing 

trucks from passing through. Vanguard 

observed, yesterday, barricades mounted at 

Orege and Old Ojo road, in the densely 

populated Ajegunle area of Lagos. Also, streets 

like Warehouse Crescent, among others, in 

Apapa were also mounted with these iron bars. 

Vanguard’s investigation further revealed 

that these truck drivers still park on Lagos 

bridges, against earlier warning by Chairman 

of the Joint Task Force set up to address the 

gridlock, Rear Admiral Okon Eyo. The 

articulated vehicles were sighted in their 

•Osuagwu...brutalised by task force members 

PHOTO KEHINDE SHONOLA 

numbers on Berger and Ijora bridges 

yesterday. 

Excesses Task Force members worsen 

situation 

Unfortunately, the response of the Joint Task 

force set up to control the traffic crisis and bring 

sanity to road has left much to be desired. 

Indeed, the situation has taken turn for the 

worse due to the excesses of overzealous Task 

Force members who have resorted to extortion 

of truck drivers and brutalisation of motorists, 

including journalists. 

For instance, Vanguard's Hi-Tech Editor, 

Prince Osuagwu, yesterday, had a taste of their 

brutality during an encounter with them at 

Vanguard Avenue while on his way to the office. 

According to Osuagwu:“You may never 

appreciate the trauma a victim of military 

brutality goes through until it happens to 

you. Nothing is more humiliating for a man 

to watch his fellow man inflicting bodily harm 

and causing severe damage to his property 

and could not do anything just because his 

tormentor is putting on a military uniform”. 

Osuagwu said he was thoroughly 

humiliated yesterday by a military officer 

identified as Lieutenant S.P Salaudeen. His 

ordeal began after wading through the 

terrible Oshodi-Apapa traffic and negotiating 

into Vanguard Avenue where he ran into a 

Continues on page 29

•Members of the traffic task force on the Oshodi-Apapa expressway 

Task force members go berserk 

Continues from page 28 

power-drunk Lt. Salaudeen, who was 

escorting some imported used vehicles out 

of the narrow road. 

Trapped in the traffic caused by 

Salaudeen’s convoy on the narrow road, little 

did Osuagwu know what was about to 

happen until Salaudeen and another private 

with him jumped out of their car, ordered 

him to reverse. Explanations that it was 

impossible to do so, given the number of cars 

behind him fell on deaf ears, in fact 

considered an affront. 

“I was surprised that a military officer of 

that rank could behave that way. He saw that 

there were many vehicles lined up behind 

me and he was still commanding me to 

reverse. When I asked him to tell those behind 

me to reverse so I would be able to do so, he 

said I should have obeyed him first. That 

was when he started 

flogging me with a 

whip he made out 

of twisted electric 

wires. 

“When all that 

could not satisfy 

him he descended 

on my car, 

damaging in the 

process, and at the 

same time boasting 

that he was 

untouchable 

because he who 

sent him on the 

errand would 

always protect him, 

The gridlock has 

spilled over to the 

inward roads in 

and around the 

entire area 

comprising 

Amuwo-Odofin, 

Festac Extension, 

Mile2, Otto 

Wolfe, Kirikiri, 

Vanguard Avenue 

even if he killed 

me. At that point I was terrified and started 

calling for help. It took the intervention of 

an unidentified Lieutenant Colonel who later 

revealed he was in charge of Mile 2 axis to 

rescue me. Perhaps, if not for that God-sent 

Lieutenant Colonel, he probably would have 

carried out his threat of killing me. I am only 

appealing for the authorities to instil proper 

discipline to their officers. As for my loss, 

who am I to challenge the almighty military”. 

It has been observed since the beginning of 

the year that rather than deal with errant truck 

drivers, the Task Force members prefer to do 

shady deals with them for financial gains, 

allowing them to park illegally in adjourning 

streets to the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway so that 

they can subsequently gain access to the tank 

farms and ports. 

This is why the gridlock has spilled over to 

the inward roads in and around the entire area 

comprising Amuwo-Odofin, Festac Extension, 

Mile2, Otto Wolfe, Kirikiri, Vanguard Avenue, 

Orile Road, Satellite Town, among others. 

The Task Force set up by Lagos State 

government and headed by a senior naval 

officer, is made up of the Navy, the Police, the 

Lagos State Transport Management Agency, 

LASTMA; the Civil Defence Corps and the 

Federal Road Safety Corps. But it would appear 

that members of the Task Force are presently 

working at cross-purposes, with some blaming 

the Navy for the problem on account of the 

alleged overzealous attitude of its personnel 

in the Task Force. 

Sources said they have all been made to “just 

siddon dey look” by the naval men who have 

taken over sole control of the traffic but in the 

main, they are after what goes into their 

pockets. “Police members of the Task Force 

are not happy about the situation. The naval 

men do not give them an inch and in so doing, 

they have been unable to partake in the joint 

efforts and that is why the traffic situation has 

worsened, “one of the sources told Vanguard. 

Truck drivers and motorists interviewed 

alleged that Task Force members openly 

engage in illegal collection of tolls from them 

instead of creating easy passage way for 

motorists. According to one of the drivers 

who claimed to have been in the traffic for over 

a week after travelling all the way from Taraba 

State: “For me to get to this spot (Fagbem Busstop), 

I have parted with almost N5000. I 

paid members of the Task Force at different 

locations on the way from Cele Bus-stop, 

spending N5000, only to end up here. I am 

yet to get to my destination which is Apapa 

Wharf, and only God knows how much I will 

pay at the end of the day. Some pay more to 

be able to have their way. In fact, the more 

we pay, the easier we get to our destination 

whether there is a queue or not.” 

Vanguard was also informed that the corrupt 

Task Force members have since upped the ante 

of their extortion operation. They now require 

truck drivers asking for permission to pass 

through restricted lanes on the road to make 

transfers of an agreed amount into their 

accounts. The Vice Chairman of a volunteer 

traffic group called Bond FM Traffic 

Ambassadors, Mr Oyemakin Muritala, blamed 

the development on poor supervision by both 

the state and the Federal Government. He said: 

‘’The problem with Apapa is in many parts: 

the government, truck drivers and drivers, law 

enforcement agents and touts in the sense that 

all have been found wanting in combating the 

traffic gridlock in Apapa. 

"The two roads leading to Apapa are Ijora 

and Mile 2- Coconut but it is a pity that adequate 

measures are not taken by the powers that be. 

The truck drivers prefer to stay on the road 

because they are permitted by the law 

enforcement agents who have turned the 

drivers to ATM cards. Thousands of naira 

exchanged hands daily and the law 

enforcement are happy about this and can no 

longer curb the excesses of the drivers”. 

A tanker driver, Comrade Ila Jimoh, blamed 

the situation on over-extortion by uniform men. 

He said: ‘’Part of Apapa has been sold to a 

private company. If you want to see the problem 


of Apapa, try and come 

around by 2am and you 

will see how security 

operatives are leading 

hundreds of trucks to the 

port. Some articulated 

vehicles should have 

been off the road by now 

because of expired 

document but they 

prefer to settle the 

security operatives to 

lead them to the ports. 

"Apapa gridlock is not 

caused by tankers but 

by containerized 

vehicles. The tankers 

are well parked with 

valid document but law 

enforcement agents 

prefer to lead Hundreds 

of trucks at Berger to 

the ports thereby short 

changing the tankers 

who are on the queue”. 

However, despite 

efforts, Vanguard could 

not reach Rear Admiral 

Eyo for his reaction on 

Force members and why the he excesses has failed of the to apply Task 

same magic wand used in addressing the 

gridlock at Marine Beach and Ajegunle areas. 

He was not on seat when Vanguard visited. 

Vanguard was informed that he personally 

led members of the Task Force to clear the traffic 

on some roads ahead of President 

Muhammad Buhari’s visit to Lagos. 

Aside the worsening traffic gridlock, the 

continued deadly attacks by traffic robbers has 

continued unabated. Many motorists and 

even commuters are worse off for it as it has 

led to the battering, wounding and even killing 

of people. The situation is such that many 

Lagosians and even visitors avoid the area 

like a plague. 

The present traffic crisis in coming weeks 

after motorists enjoyed relative relief from the 

onslaught of the trucks following the reduction 

in their number during the last festive 

celebrations. The prevailing situation has 

brought back the painful and better forgotten 

memory of July last year, when the entire 

stretch of the dual carriage Oshodi-Apapa 

Expressway was seized by over 5000 

articulated trucks, putting it on permanent 

shutdown. At the same time, over 7,000 other 

behemoths also took their turns in parking 

illegally in different parts of Lagos, almost 

bringing the state to a standstill. 

FG intervention 

through Osinbajo 

Prompted by public outcry following a media 

campaign about the development led by 

Vanguard Newspapers, Vice President Yemi 

Osinbajo had paid an unscheduled visit to 

Lagos to see things for himself. In the event 

he had ordered that the illegally parked trucks 

be removed from the expressway and set-up a 

joint Task Force to carry-out the task. 

His order was promptly carried out but only 

achieved partial or temporary success. This is 

because a couple of weeks after the trucks were 

dislodged from where they were illegally 

parked on the road, they began a gradual 

return to the expressway and soon began to 

obstruct the free-flow of traffic as usual. 

This seem to have become a pattern because 

in 2017, the tankers and trailers were similarly 

dislodged by the Task Force on Port Reforms 

and other state agencies. Backed by heavily 

armed mobile policemen and military 

personnel, the task force, which carried out its 

operation at night, succeeded in seizing over 

80 illegally parked trucks from the road. The 

action immediately paved way for the return 

of sanity on the road as relative free flow of 

traffic returned. But the sighs of relief this 

elicited was short-lived. 

This is because not quite long after, the entire 

stretch of the road within that axis was once 

again invaded and seized by another armada 

of trucks. That is the same story today.

C 

M 

Y 

K 

44 — Vanguard, THURSDAY,FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

ASUU Strike: No 

resumption, no 

election – NANS 

As 22.3m students register for PVC 

By Dayo Adesulu 

U NDERGRADUATES 

who are affected by the 

ongoing strike embarked upon 

by the Academic Staff Union 

of Universities, ASUU and the 

Academic Staff Union of 

Polytechnics, ASUP, have 

vowed to disrupt the elections 

slated for February 16 if the 

three-month old strike is not 

called off. 

In a chat with Vanguard, the 

leadership of National 

Association of Nigerian 

Students, NANS said the 

industrial action by both 

unions has not only hindered 

their academic pursuits, but it 

has also disenfranchised about 

22.3million students who had 

registered at the INEC offices 

nearest to their institutions. 

Its president, Comrade 

Danielson Bamidele Akpan 

said: ‘’The continuous strike 

action by both ASUU and 

ASUP has not only brought 

increased pain on students 

and their parents, it is now 

seen by us as a deliberate ploy 

to disenfranchise our 

members, especially those who 

registered within their school 

environments and are 

presently in their various 

homes. 

Operation no 

resumption, no election 

"Consequently, Nigerian 

students have decided to take 

their destinies in their hands, 

enough of the politics being 

played with our future. 

"We wish to inform the 

general public that Nigerian 

students would resist any 

election from holding in any 

part of the country should our 

campuses remain shut till 

election date. 

He said the students are 

citizens of Nigeria "and on no 

account shall we allow this 

sinister disenfranchisement of 

the largest voting population 

of our citizens in a major 

election to pass due to no fault 

of theirs. We have 22.3 million 

registered students, eligible to 

change the destiny of the 

nation. We refused to be 

sacrificed in exercising this 

obligatory duty to our nation 

at this crucial moment. Our 

voices must be heard and our 

votes must count." 

Akpan said: "After a careful 

observation of the continued 

insensitive shut down of our 

universities due to the strike 

action embarked upon by the 


Universities and the Academic 

Staff Union of Polytechnics 

wish to unapologetically 

declare Operation no 

resumption, no election. 

Going down memory lane of 

the academic disruption faced 

by tertiary institutions in the 

last one year, Akpan said: "On 

4th November, 2018, the 


Universities embarked on an 

indefinite strike which 

grounded all academic 

activities on our campuses till 

date. Prior to theirs, the 

Colleges of Education 

Academic Staff Union, 

COEASU, had also embarked 

on same industrial action, 

shutting down all Colleges of 

Education. 

"NANS quickly swung into 

action requesting and forcing 

the Federal Ministry of 

*NANS during one of their protests 

Education, NCCE and 

COEASU to an immediate 

negotiation table while NANS 

observed the proceedings of 

the discussions for quick 

resolution. Compromise was 

reached and the strike action 

was called off without 

unnecessary delay of 

academic resumption. 

"However, after few days of 

COEASU suspending their 

strike, the Academic Staff 

Union of Polytechnics began 

theirs. Both ASUU and ASUP 

have since been on strike, 

forcing millions of our 

members to stay at home with 

possible consequence of 

disenfranchisement in the 


elections beginning on 

February 16th. 

"In solidarity, Nigerian 

students embarked on 

simultaneous nationwide 

protest across the 36 states 

of the federation with a 

mother rally at Abuja on 

November 19th, 2018. The 

rally was tagged: Save 

Education Rally across the 

federation, to create 

awareness on the state of 

education in the country, 

after which we presented a 

position paper of our 

demands to the Federal 

Government, the Press and 

general public. 

"Sadly, it appears that the 

gains recorded in the last few 

weeks had been eroded by the 

continued shut down of our 

schools and barely 12 days to 

commencement of the general 

elections. It is also instructive 

to note that the students' 

constituency constitutes the 

largest segment of registered 

voters with 22.3 million as 

released by INEC. 

Untrained architects, inferior materials, bane 

of building collapse -- RECTEM Rector 

By Oghenefego Obaebor 

THE Rector, Redeemer’s 

College of Technology and 

Management, Professor Adedeji 

Daramola said that collapse of 

building would be a thing of the 

past in our country if architects 

were properly trained and quality 

materials used. 

Daramola, a professor of 

architecture, trained in Nigeria 

and abroad, during the maiden 

matriculation of RECTEM in 

Ogun State, said many reasons 

are responsible for the collapse 

of buildings in the country. 

Among other causative agents 

of building collapse, he identified 

poor training background, low 

quality of education, inadequate 

laboratory and the quality of 

supervision during construction 

as major causes. 

To forestall building collapse, 

he urged building engineers and 

landlords to go for quality 

materials, querying the numbers 

of science laboratory we have in 

the country that could give us the 

accurate strength of our materials 

during building construction. 

“We need to know the qualities 

of our supervisors when they are 

engaged on site. How competent 

are they and what is the quality 

of their training background?” 

According to him, for us to avoid 

the collapse of buildings, we need 

to look inwards for quality 

training, quality institutions and 

quality artisans and exposure of 

supervisors. 

Meanwhile, Daramola posited 

that RECTEM was established to 

correct so many things in our 

polytechnics. 

Matriculating 52 pioneer 

students, Daramola said: “I must 

confess that the Redeemed 

Christian Church of God has 

invested heavily in this school. 

“When I said heavily, I am talking 

in terms of billions of naira. The 

General Overseer of the church, 

Pastor EA Adeboye had a clear 

concept of what he wanted in 

terms of the type of quality 

education that we need. 

“We did not just start, it took us 

four to five years to handle the 

project. Just about three months 

ago, we had the licence to 

commence. 

“So, our workshops are well 

equipped, quality of our training 

is high and we are not 

compromising the quality of our 

students. You don’t need a 

professor to be a Rector of a - 

polytechnic, but they went for the 

best- got a professor to be the 

rector. 

“Adeboye practically dragged me 

from my former university, Caleb 

University to this place. If they do 

not want the best, they would not 

go for a professor. 

“The quality of our training is 

based on industry focus and 

practical orientation. Because we 

are training the middle level 

manpower, they will eventually be 

the people that would handle the 

sites, laboratories, workshops 

and research institutions. 

“They’re the people to be in 

charge of real side of the 

economy in terms of productivity. 

We are training people who will 

go out as site engineers, as 

middle level technologists. 

“We are talking about computer 

science and accounting. What we 

did is to introduce them to 

practical level. We have reequipped 

our laboratory, library, 

so that anybody that comes 

around will have access to the 

real technology. 

“National Board for Technical 

Education, NBTE, 

acknowledged it. They came 

three times and when they were 

not satisfied, we added more 

equipment. That was why we 

have not started mechanical 

engineering until we are set. 

"This is one of the private 

polytechnics in this country that 

is running full engineering 

courses from inception.''


*Dr Ayodele Ogunsan, Chairman, Executive Trainers; Mrs Ajoke Ogunsan, CEO, Executive 

Trainers; Prof. Jihad Nader, Vice-President for Institutional Advancement and Development, 

American University of Dubai; Prof. Eddious Evangelos of American University, Dubai and 

Mrs Alexandra Liccione, Manager, American University of Dubai during Executive Trainers' 

Collaborative/Business visit to American University of Dubai in UAE. 

What Polytechnics Staff must know about 

CONTISS 15 

By Dayo Adesulu 

CONSOLIDATED Tertiary 

Institutions Salary 

Structure, CONTISS 15 migration 

scheme was developed in 

2009 by the National Board for 

Technical Education, NBTE. 

However, many polytechnic 

staff do not understand in details 

what it entails and how 

to benefit from it. 

CONTISS 15 migration refers 

to the movement of staff 

from one salary grade level to 

the next salary grade level 

provided they meet all necessary 

requirements. Some of the 

mandatory requirements include 

that staff must have been 

employed before August 2009 

since the CONTISS 15 was 

developed in 2009 by the 

NBTE. 

Besides, a staff who will benefit 

from the the migration 

scheme must have spent a 

minimum of two years on a 

post before the year of migration. 

Moreover, such staff of 

the polytechnic must possess 

the required academic, professional 

or both qualifications. 

Therefore, staff that are qualified 

to be migrated are those 

in the service of the polytechnic 

as at August 1, 2009(meaning 

as at July 31,2009). Also, 

such staff must have spent a 

minimum of two years on their 

present designation (i.e. 

whose last promotion was in 

2014). 

For Lagos State Polytechnic, 

the documents used in the 

implementation are 2013 

Scheme of Service as used by 

other polytechnics in Nigeria, 

NBTE traditional modalities 

and individual staff member 

personal file. You will recall 

that some days ago, some Staff 

of LASPOTECH who do not 

understand how the CONTISS 

15 works, went rioting, intimidating 

and attacking the institution’s 

principal officers. 

The source of the disagreement 

in the implementation as 

reported by the media last 

week, was the continuation of 

faulty implementation of 

CONTISS 15 migration which 

is at variance with the NBTE 

transitional modalities. 

According to the Public Relations 

Officer of LASPO- 

TECH, Mr Lanre Kuye, Lagos 

State Government had 

Stakeholders advocate use of math 

for credible polls 


AS 2019 general elections ap 

proach, speakers at the annual 

Mathematics Conference and Exhibition, 

AMCE themed: The Mathematics 

of election: choices , voting and outcome, 

have advocated the use of mathematics 

for effective representation of 

all voters especially women and uneducated 

ones. 

Speaking at the fourth edition of 

AMCE organised by Mathematics for 

Life Foundation, Mr Omoniyi Osuntuyi, 

president of the foundation, stated 

that: “In choosing the theme for this 

year’s event, we looked at the situation 

around and observed that Mathematics 

will serve as veritable tool in 

the forthcoming elections nationwide. 

Again, we believe based on our assessment 

of the practice and love for Mathematics 

and Nigeria, coupled with our 

vision to use the subject tools to make 

life better; Mathematics eradicates incidences 

of manipulations; rigging, 

thereby giving everyone the chance to 

make right and firm decisions,“ Osuntuyi 

added. 

On her part, Prof. Olabisi Ugbebor, 

one of the guest speakers, lamented 

that voting which ought to shape the 

future due to the use of mathematical 

tools such as Pattern Recognition and 

Markov Chain formula, has become 

the tool to deny some Nigerians especially 

women and illiterates, their fundamental 

right to choose credible leaders. 

She noted that, “ The voting pattern 

hitherto is expected to shape the future. 

It is expected to shape what will 

happen in February. But this is not 

good enough because the premises are 

not Mathematical. When I look at elections 

in Nigeria, what do I see? 

made its position known on 

CONTISS 15 migration when 

it approved the implementation 

in July, 2018. He said the 

Lagos State Government also 

approved that "CONTISS 15 

migration should be implemented 

by the Polytechnic in 

accordance with the NBTE 

guidelines.’’ 

Kuye explained that the 

State Government in an act of 

magnanimity overlooked all 

payments made to staff involved 

in the migration 

scheme before the approved 

implementation date, adding, 

"All the affected staff must be 

duly communicated by the 

Polytechnic management." 

Meanwhile, Kuye said: 

"Steps taken by the polytechnic 

management include: series 

of meetings between the 

staff, management and Governing 

Council to explain the 

position of CONTISS 15 migration. 

Besides, letters were 

written to every member of 

staff involved in CONTISS 15 

migration by the Registry and 

implementation of CONTISS 

15 migration in accordance 

with the NBTE guideline and 

as directed by the Lagos State 

Government. 

UNILAG launches first 

campus TV in West Africa 

Following the success of 

the first cycle of its Boys’ 

Conversation Café, BCC, 

Initiative, Women at Risk 

International Foundation, 

WARIF, has kicked off the 

second cycle of this project to 

educate a wider range of boys 

in Nigeria about gender-based 

violence and its effects. This 

project aims to instil in the boys 

the role they have to play in the 

reduction and prevention of 

rape and sexual violence. 

Recording the success of the 

BCC which was launched in 

April, 2018, 40 boys between the 

ages of 13 and 17 years in 

Surulere Secondary School were 


THE University of Lagos, 

Unilag has launched its 

television station, Channel 184 

on StarTimes Digital Broadcasting 

Channel. By virtue of this, 

Unilag has become the first university 

to run a campus TV not 

only in Nigeria, but in West Africa. 

Speaking at the launch, the 

Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin 

Ogundipe, said the official 

kick-off of the institution's 

TV after two years of obtaining 

operating licence from government 

became reality through 

the efforts of the management 

board under Prof. Falaiye and 

the doggedness of Prof. Ralph 

Akinfeleye in the facilitation of 

World Bank support in the donation 

of equipment for the station. 

His words: “ Today, I am very 

glad that the university has invited 

you to announce that 

Unilag has blazed the trail 

again by establishing the first 

Campus Television not only in 

Nigeria but in the whole of West 

Africa, “ he said 

Prof. Ogundipe noted that 

Campus TV, first of its kind 

which will be privately run, will 

be a reference point for credible 

and factual information that 

will take broadcasting in Nigeria 

to the next level. 

“Unilag TV will fly on the 

platform of StarTimes Digital 

Broadcasting Channel 184, 

with the state-of-the-art equipment 

and technical facilities in 

place. 

''The TV would deliver premier, 

local, national and international 

news as they unfold, 

and become the most trusted 

news source in Nigeria. 

“Unilag TV Channel 184 

would serve as a reference point 

in sports, documentaries, quality 

entertainment and as an instrument 

for educational advancement. 

It will also have a 

time belt for our Distance Learning 

Teaching Packages. 

“In other words, the television 

will also serve as an instructional 

facility for our Distance 

Learning students,“ the Unilag 

VC explained. 

Ogundipe who added that the 

TV station would comply with 

the National Broadcasting 

Code, NBC will be of benefits 

to its host community and the 

students in particular. His 

words, “Another significant benefit 

is that Unilag TV channel 

184 would be deployed to keep 

our students and the wider community 

informed of developments 

in the university through 

the dedication of one hour to 

Unilag news. 

According to Falaiye, “ This 

WARIF educates youth on 

sexual violence 

trained on the identification of 

the signs and prevention of 

Gender-Based Violence in their 

communities. The four-week 

intervention program impacted 

a significant success rate in 

terms of immediate behavioral 

change. Some of the notable 

changes in the boys were: 

pornography addiction 

dropped by 41per cent, about 

85 per cent of the beneficiaries 

strongly agree that consent of a 

girl to have sex is important and 

should be respected, and 98 per 

cent of the beneficiaries 

strongly agreed to take a stand 

in any case of sexual abuse 

rather than be by-standers.


08052202308(sms only) 

NLC gives voice to the voiceless, says Wabba 

By Victor Ahiuma- 

Young 

THE 

12th 

Quadrennial National 

Delegates Conference of 

Nigeria Labour Congress, 

NLC that took place in Abuja, 

with the theme “Towards a 

Decade of Activism for the 

Promotion of Labour Unity, 

National Re-birth and Development”, 

will for sometime 

to come continue to dominate 

the discourse in the Labour 

circle for several reasons. 

Some of these will be discussed 

in subsequent 

edition. 

Nevertheless, the conference 

attracted dignitaries 

from within and outside the 

country. Government officials 

and employers including 

Nigeria Employers 

Consultative Association, 

NECA were also at the 

conference to fraternize with 

NLC. 

Addressing delegates and 

guests, NLC President, Ayuba 

Wabba, informed them that 

the theme of the conference 

summarized the efforts of the 

NLC in the past ten years to 

foster solidarity in the labour 

movement and engage government 

and employers on 

values the congress held 

dearly especially issues of 

good governance and 

protection of human, social 

cum workers’ rights. 

Struggles to free workers 

from exploitation 

According to him: "Our 

leadership has led from the 

front in many struggles to free 

workers from exploitation. 

We have promoted and defended 

the economic, 

political, social rights and 

wellbeing of Nigerian 

workers, pensioners and our 

trade unions. We have fought 

for decent work. We have 

resisted casualization of 

work. We have canvassed for 

good governance at all levels, 

championed the fight 

against corruption, promoted 

social justice and respect for 

the rule of law. Overall, we 

have defended the cause of 

a Nigerian nation that is just, 

democratic, transparent, inclusive 

and prosperous – a 

society built on social justice 

and where all citizens can 

access education, healthcare 

and can create sustainable 

wealth. 

"In defending and promoting 

the cause of Nigerian 

workers, our focus is to build 

workers’ power. We have 

worked tirelessly to promote 

causes that can enhance the 

quality of life and improve 

the income cum other working 

conditions of workers. We 

have paid close attention to 

workers’ education through 

our increasingly improved 

education programmes especially 

the Rain and Harmattan 

Schools. 

"Our collective leadership 

has provided voice to the 

voiceless. As a matter of top 

priority, we have confronted 

the huge inequality gap in 

our society. Like they say, 

charity begins at home. We 

have expanded the platform 

of participation for our women 

and youth. For the first time 

in the history of Congress, we 

have created a democratic 

youth structure with visible 

representation at the highest 

organs of Congress. We have 

also strived towards the attainment 

of gender equality 

and improvements in the conditions 

of women in the world 

of work and society in general. 

We have encouraged our 

affiliates to emulate this." 

Unemployment 

The NLC president reminded 

his listeners that the 

National Bureau of Statistics, 

NBS, report for the third quota 

of 2018 indicated that the 

general number of persons 

unemployed in the country 

had increased by 3.3 million. 

He said : "The report further 

indicates that the combined 

rate of unemployment 

and under-employment rose 

from 40.0% in the 2017 third 

Labour tackles Minister of Health over perceived injustice 

By Luminous 

Jannamike 

NIGERIA Labour 

Congress, NLC, has 

drawn a battle line with the 

Federal Ministry of Health 

over acts of discrimination 

and injustice against 

members of the Joint 

Health Sector Unions (JO- 

HESU) allegedly 

perpetuated by the Minister 

of health, Professor Isaac 

Adewole. 

Leaders of NLC and other 

Labour leaders had 

Monday stormed the Ministry 

to protest the alleged 

unfair treatment of JOHE- 

SU member. 

Speaking during the protest, 

NLC President, Ayuba 

Wabba, threatened that 

members of the Congress 

would occupy Adewole’s 

office and official residence 

indefinitely unless he rescinded 

some alleged hostile 

decisions the Ministry 

took against JOHESU 

members. 

According to him, some 

of the perceived unjust decisions’ 

of the ministry 

under the Minister’s watch 

include; disrespect of court 

orders related to the dispute 

between the JOHESU 

and the Federal Government, 

the withholding of 

salaries of JOHESU 

members for the months of 

April and May 2018, the 

refusal to approve 

headship of hospital departments 

for other health 

professionals who are not 

medical doctors, the failure 

to upwardly adjust the 

CONHESS salary structure 

for workers in the 

health sector, and the nonimplementation 

of consultancy 

cadre for health 

workers amongst others. 

*Pioneer President of NLC, Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu, President of NLC, 

Ayuba Wabba, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss 

Mustapha, Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, and the Permanent 

Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs Ibokun Odugote, at the 

opening ceremony of the 12th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference 

in Abuja 

quarter to 43.3% in the third 

quarter of 2018. We should 

be worried that the 

increased pool of graduates, 

skilled and unskilled youth 

in the unemployment 

market especially rural 

unemployment is a time 

bomb. Any attempt to sack 

Wabba, who is the immediate 

past president of the 

Medical and Health 

Workers’ Union of Nigeria 

(MHWUN), said; “This is 

just the beginning of the 

struggle. Get your mattresses 

and cooking pots 

ready. We’ll occupy both 

the Minister’s house and 

office until he sees reason 

to do justice and fairness 

in the health sector. 

“We are going to deploy 

all the provisions of the 

labour laws to ensure we 

assert our rights and also 

demand that the court 

judgment particularly the 

NICN judgment must be 

respected. We must be 

paid what is due to us. 

“Adewole cannot 

continue to perpetuate 

falsehood and think he’ll 

have peace. He can’t have 

peace because he has not 

accepted the fact that he 

is the minister of health 

and not only of medical 

doctors. Certainly, he can’t 

leave visible track records 

and succeed as a Minister 

of Health without a 

well-motivated workforce. 

How can he alienate 90% 

of health workers and 

claim he is doing the right 

thing. 

“He took the unions to 

court and abandoned the 

court processes and other 

dispute resolution mechanisms 

put in place. He 

cannot have peace until 

he is ready to drop the 

steps he has taken which 

brought hardships and 

difficulties to many families 

of ordinary Nigerians.” 

Similarly, Chairman of 

JOHESU, Josiah Biobelemoye, 

informed that 

the protest had nothing to 

do with the substance of 

any matter between the 

workers under any guise as 

it happened in Kaduna 

State will complicate the 

situation. 

In 2016 we witnessed an 

80% increase in the pump 

price of refined petroleum 

products. Our national currency, 

the Naira, also 

Unions and the government 

still pending in court. 

He said; “The labour 

centres (NLC/TUC) have 

taken over the struggle 

suffered massive 

devaluation of up to one 

hundred and twenty percent 

(120%) between 2016 and 

2017. The resultant inflation 

has almost entirely wiped off 

the purchasing power of 

workers and citizens. 

from us. The dispute for 

which we are rallying here 

are not in court. We are rallying 

against the Ministry’s 

decision to violate the 

According to the National 

Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment 

rate in Nigeria 

soared to a record high of 

23.01% in the third quarter of 

2018. 

"The over dependence of 

our economy on crude oil revenue 

and the 

mismanagement of our vast 

oil wealth through corruption 

perpetrated by successive 

governments continue to expose 

us to severe shocks from 

price fluctuation in the international 

crude oil market. This 

was how we landed in the last 

recession. While we commend 

the efforts of the current 

government on economic 

diversification particularly 

through agriculture, we are 

not unmindful of serious structural 

issues that undermine 

the progress being made, 

deeply limit inclusive growth 

and impact negatively on sustainable 

development. We will 

therefore continue to call on 

government to pay serious attention 

to these issues." 

order of court. They took 

us to court through a mercenary 

and turned around 

to frustrate the court 

processes."

Trump vows to build border wall, warns 

Democrats against investigations 

President 

Donald 

Trump vowed in his 

State of the Union speech 

on Tuesday to build a border 

wall, which is a source 

of a deep partisan divide, 

and said Democratic attempts 

at “ridiculous partisan 

investigations” 

could damage U.S. prosperity. 

Trump spoke to a joint 

session of the U.S. Congress 

facing political discord 

over his demands 

that Democrats end their 

opposition to funding for 

a U.S.-Mexico border 

wall he says is needed to 

stem illegal immigration 

and smuggled drugs. 

During his 82-minute 

speech, he outlined his 

political priorities without 

providing specific policy 

details. 

Trump called illegal immigration 

“an urgent national 

crisis,” but stopped 

short of declaring a border 

emergency that would 

allow him to bypass Congress 

for wall funding. 

Instead, he urged Democrats 

and Republicans to 

find a compromise by a 

Feb. 15 deadline. 

“In the past, most of the 

people in this room voted 

for a wall, but the proper 

wall never got built. I will 

get it built,” Trump said in 

the House of Representatives 

chamber, with his 

main Democratic adversary, 

new House Speaker 

Nancy Pelosi, watching 

over his shoulder. 

Democrats call the wall 

a waste of money and ineffective. 

During the 

speech, Democratic Representative 

Pramila Jayapal 

tweeted her opposition 

to the wall, saying: 

“The border is more secure 

than ever. Enough.” 


A 

Russian court has 

sentenced a Jehovah’s 

Witness to six years 

in prison for promoting extremism. 

“I hope today is the day 

Russia defends religious 

freedom,” Dennis Christensen, 

who pleaded not 

guilty in the trial, said 

as he walked down the 

hall of the courthouse before 

the verdict was read. 

A Danish citizen with a 

Russian residency permit, 

Christensen was arrested 

at a worship service in 

May 2017 by armed police 

in the western city of 

Orel. He had unlocked 

the entrance to the building 

and delivered a sermon 

that day but he was 

not a staff member of the 

organization, according 

Human Rights Watch. 

A local court had banned 

his chapter of the Jehovah’s 

Witnesses organization the 

previous year. A month before 

his arrest, the Supreme 

Court banned the Christian 

denomination as an extremist 

group, classifying it 

on par with the Islamic 

State. That ruling dealt a 

blow to the nearly 400 chapters 

of Jehovah’s Witnesses 

across the country. 

Christensen spent 20 

months in pretrial custody. 

In court, a “secret witness” 

accused him of being a leader 

in the city’s Jehovah’s 

Witness chapter. Prosecutors 

presented transcripts from 

intercepted phone calls 

with other worshipers, including 

conversations about 

shoveling snow at their 

place of worship. 

Climate change: World heading for warmest decade, says 

Met Office 

Russian court sentences Jehovah’s Witness 

to 6 Years In prison for extremism 

The world is in the 

middle of what is 

likely to be the warmest 

10 years since records 

began in 1850, says the 

Met Office. 

It’s forecasting that temperatures 

for each of the 

next five years are likely 

to be at or above 1C compared 

to pre-industrial levels. 

There’s also a small 

chance that one of the next 

five years will see global 

temperatures temporarily 

go above 1.5C. 

That’s seen as a critical 

threshold for climate 

change. 

If the data matches the 

forecast, then the decade 

from 2014-2023 will be the 

warmest in more than 150 

years of record keeping. 

The Met Office says that 

2015 was the first year in 

which the global annual 

average surface temperature 

reached 1C above the 

pre-industrial 

level, 

which is generally taken 

to mean the temperatures 

between 1850 and 1900. 

Each year since then, 

the global average has 

hovered close to or above 

the 1C mark. Now, the 

Met Office says that trend 

is likely to continue or increase 

over the next five 

years. 

Amid uproar, 

Vatican clarifies 

Pope’s comments 

on sexual 

slavery of nuns 

A 

day after Pope Fran 

cis created an international 

uproar by saying 

Catholics nuns had been 

subjected to “sexual slavery” 

by the founder of a 

French order, the Vatican 

sought to clarify his remarks. 

“When the Holy Father, 

referring to the dissolution 

of a Congregation, 

spoke of ‘sexual slavery,’ 

he meant ‘manipulation,’ 

a form of abuse of power 

which is reflected also in 

sexual abuse,” said Vatican 

spokesman Alessandro 

Gisotti. The Pope’s 

shocking comments were 

the first time he has publicly 

acknowledged the 

sexual abuse of nuns by 

Catholic bishops and 

priests. To date, much of 

the clergy abuse scandal 

has focused on minors, 

who represent the vast 

majority of cases. 

But many Catholics say 

abuse of vulnerable 

adults, including nuns 

and seminarians, has long 

been a problem in the 

church. Some hope the 

church will address the issue 

at the upcoming meeting 

on the abuse crisis to 

be convened by Pope 

Francis from February 21 

to 24 in Rome. 

The Vatican’s own newspaper, 

L’Osservatore Romano, 

last week said 

abuse of nuns by priests 

and bishops at times is 

“made even worse by the 

fact that abuse of women 

brings about procreation 

and is therefore at the origin 

of forced abortions 

and children who aren’t 

recognized by priests.” 

If the church “continues 

to close its eyes to the 

scandal,” wrote Lucetta 

Scaraffia, “the condition of 

oppression of women in 

the church will never 

change.”




NEWS HOTLINES 

018773962, 

08052867058 



Continues from Page 5 

bags. 

Besides the PDP, civil 

society organisations, 

including the Transition 

Monitoring Group, TMG 

and Civil Society 

Legislative and Advocacy 

Centre, CISLAC, also 

kicked against the 

statement which they 

described 

as 

inflammatory. 

El-Rufai’s caution made 

on the governmentowned 

NTA on Tuesday, 

was followed by 

objections by the Buhari 

Media Organisation, 

BMO, to the nomination 

of former President 

Jakaya Kikwete of 

Tanzania as the head of 

the Commonwealth 

Observer Mission for the 

elections. 

The pro-Buhari group 

claimed that Dr. Kikwete 

was a well-known friend 

of former President 

Olusegun Obasanjo who 

had recently taken strong 

positions against Buhari’s 

second term aspiration. 

What El-Rufai 

said 

Governor El-Rufai had 

during an interview 

session with Cyril Stober 

on NTA Tuesday Live, 

warned against alleged 

foreign intervention in the 

Justice Walter Onnoghen 

matter as expressed by 

the US, EU, and the UK. 

“Those that are calling 

for anyone to come and 

intervene in Nigeria, we 

are waiting for the person 

that would come and 

intervene, they would go 

back in body bags. We are 

trying to run our country 

as decently as possible,” 

the governor said. 

The governor’s 

assertion was followed 

yesterday by outrage, 

with the PDP threatening 

to pull out of the peace 

accord signed by the 

political parties ahead of 

the election. 

The peace accord was 

brokered by the General 

Abdulasalami Abubakarled 

National Peace 

Committee. 

Efforts to get a key 

member of the committee, 

Bishop Matthew Kukah, 

NAIRA WATCH 

Naira appreciates to N358 in parallel 

market 


were unsuccessful 

yesterday. 

PDP seeks travel 

ban on El-Rufai 

The PDP, which made its 

position known at a world 

press conference 

addressed by its National 

Publicity Secretary, Mr. 

Kola Ologbondiyan, 

yesterday, also called on 


community to 

immediately impose a 

travel ban on the 

governor. 

“The PDP after due 

consideration of 

comments, threats and 

incendiary actions by the 

All Progressives 

Congress, APC, and the 

Presidency, which are 

directly inimical to a 

peaceful, free and fair 

election, the PDP is left 

with no option than to 

consider a review of its 

signatory in the national 

peace accord, if no action 

is immediately taken to 

curb this trend. 

“Nigerians are still in 

shock over comments by 

the Governor of Kaduna 

State, Mallam Nasir el- 

Rufai, who declared on 

national television that 

members of the global 

democratic institutions 

that are working for a 

peaceful election in 

Nigeria would return to 

their countries in body 

bags. What a threat? 

“We call on the 

international community 

to immediately impose a 

travel ban on El-Rufai for 

this inciting comment 

against peaceful elections 

in our country,” the party 

said. 

TMG reacts 

The TMG in a strongly 

worded reaction to El- 

Rufai’s assertion 

articulated by its 

chairperson, Dr. Abiola 

Akiyode-Afolabi, said: 

“The TMG condemns in 

strong terms the 

unguarded statement 

made by Gov El-Rufai of 

Kaduna State against the 

international election 

observers from the US, 

U.K, and EU. 

"The statement to us, is 

an embarrassment to 

The Naira yesterday appreciated to 361.72 per 

dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) 

window. 

Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative 

exchange rate for the window dropped to N361.72 

per dollar yesterday from N362.58 per dollar on 

Tuesday translating to 86 kobo appreciation of the 

naira. 

The appreciation was in spite 21 percent decline 

in volume of dollars traded which fell to $348.48 

million yesterday from $441.38 million on Tuesday. 

The naira however remained stable at N358 per 

dollar in the parallel market. 

APC RALLY IN BENUE — President Muhammadu Buhari (right), Emmanuel 

Jime, APC Governorship candidate (second right), Adams Oshiomole, National Chairman, APC 

(third right); Senator George Akume (second left), and Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture, during 

the party's Presidential Campaign rally at Aper Aku Stadium in Markudi, Benue State, yesterday. 

Photo: Abayomi Adeshida. 

Nigeria as a country 

among the comity of 

nations, given that it is 

coming from a sitting 

governor who also 

represents a strong voice 

of the ruling party. 

“Such reckless 

statement is an indication 

of the governor’s 

intolerant disposition to 

constructive criticism. The 

statement regrettably is 

an incitement against the 

international election 

observers and is a strong 

hate speech that is 

capable of propelling 

violence against those 

democrats who are 

working towards credible 

electoral process. 

“We, therefore, call on 

leaders of political parties 

to desist from heating up 

the polity as speeches of 

this nature would do 

more harm than good to 

the forthcoming elections. 

We, therefore, warn the 

governor and other of his 

kind that we will not 

hesitate to send a petition 

to ICC to report these 

form of incitements. 

“Nigerians will not wait 

for people like El Rufai to 

throw us to unnecessary 

violence such as what we 

saw during post-elections 

in several African 

countries in recent past.” 

FG must protect 

observers 

—CISLAC 

Mallam Awaal 

Rafsanjani, Executive 

Director of the Civil 

Society Legislative 

Advocacy Centre, 

CISLAC, affirmed that 


observers were coming at 

the behest of the federal 

government and called on 

the authorities to reinforce 

security for the visiting 

observers. 

“Government of Nigeria 

must take steps to ensure 

and guarantee the 

security and safety of all 

the election observers 

both foreign and local 

observers because this 

threat should not be taken 

as a joke. 

"In the past local 

election, observers had 

been attacked by some 

political thugs and no one 

arrested for their violence 

against peaceful election 

observers in Nigeria. But 

this time around, you 

have a sitting governor 

who makes such careless 

statement. 

“If by any way his 

utterance leads to an 

attack on election 

observers, surely it can 

cost the nation serious 

diplomatic crisis, and, 

therefore, I will strongly 

recommend that our 

security agents ensure the 

success of this election by 

providing safety and 

security to all.” 

Buhari Group 

kicks against 

Commonwealth 

team leader 

The assertions 

nonetheless, the Buhari 

Media Organisation 

raised the ante when it 

expressed concern over 

the nomination of Dr. 

Jakaya Kikwete, who it 

described as a known 

friend of President 

Obasanjo as head of the 

Commonwealth Observer 

Team. 

The group said in a 

statement signed by its 

chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, 

and Secretary, Cassidy 

Madueke: “Many 

Nigerians are worried that 

the head of the 

Commonwealth observer 

group may be swayed by 

Obasanjo’s skewed preelection 

position that the 



INEC, does not have the 

integrity to conduct free, 

fair and credible elections. 

“This concern, we know, 

is as a result of the longstanding 

friendship 

between the two former 

Presidents which began 

long before Kikwete 

became the head of the 

Tanzania government in 

2005. 

“But we are encouraged 

by the values that the 

Commonwealth holds 

sacrosanct and the fact 

that the head of the 

election observer team 

has a track record as a 

peacemaker, especially in 

the Great Lakes region of 

East Africa. 

“So we hope that Dr. 

Kikwete would resist the 

pressure that will surely 

come from former 

President Obasanjo who 

believes that he has a 

divine role to determine 

the winner of the 

Presidential election.” 

BMO, however, assured 

the Commonwealth team 

and other observer 

missions of the readiness 

of the Buhari 

administration to ensure 

a favourable atmosphere 

for a credible general 

election. 

“As someone who had 

previously been on the 

wrong end of shoddy 

electoral processes before 

his electoral victory in 

2015, President Buhari 

has, on many occasions, 

given his word to the 

world about his readiness 

to ensure a credible 

election after benefitting 

from one. 

“He has consequently, 

over the course of three 

and a half years, made 

sure that the election 

management body has 

everything it requires to 

conduct a very credible 

election. And like the 20- 

man Commonwealth 

observer team would 

found out when it visits 

INEC, the commission 

has been operating 

without any form of 

interference from the 

President who is keen on 

ensuring that the 

elections are the most 

credible in the nation’s 

political history. 

“He has also openly 

assured Nigerians that 

he has no interest in 

rigging the forthcoming 

elections, and would not 

allow anyone to rig. 

"It is against this 

backdrop that we at BMO 

demand fairness and an 

open-mind from Kikwete 

and his team of election 

observers as they arrive 

Nigeria on February 8.” 

What I meant 

— El-Rufai 

Yesterday evening with 

the outrage pouring out, 

Governor El-Rufai bent 

over to plead for 

understanding. 

He said in a statement 

issued by his spokesman, 

Samuel Aruwan: “When 

Malam Nasir El-Rufai 

appeared on NTA’s 

Tuesday Night Live, he 

made comments every 

patriot can understand. 

"He stood up for 

Nigeria’s dignity in the 

wake of those who would 

traduce their country and 

reduce it to the status of a 

colony in their vain quest 

for power. 

“The video of his 

comments is in 

circulation. Any fairminded 

person with 

modest familiarity with the 

English language and 

u n i m p a i r e d 

comprehension can 

understand it. It does not 

contain any call for 

violence. 

"It is also a powerful 

defense of sovereignty. 

Are some sections of our 

political class implying 

that they will acquiesce in 

or collaborate with foreign 

intervention in our 

country? 

“Affirming that a country 

will defend itself against 

needless intervention is 

the kind of statement you 

expect to hear from a 

patriot. It is not a call to 

violence. Warning about 

the consequences of 

meddling in another 

country’s affairs is 

legitimate. 

“Non-interference in 

the affairs of other 

countries is a basic 

principle of international 

law. Threatening to 

intervene in another 

country implies the use of 

force. Those who are 

basing their electoral 

calculations on foreign 

intervention need to be 

discouraged. Only the 

lawful votes of the 

Nigerian people should 

make or unmake 

governments. 

“Malam Nasir El-Rufai 

has issued a powerful call 

for vigilance and a clear 

notice that other countries 

should not mistake the 

supine posture of the 

opposition for national 

weakness. 

“Malam Nasir El-Rufai 

has stood firmly against 

those who have been 

trying to divide Nigerians 

on ethnic and religious 

lines. He is resolutely 

opposed to violence and 

firmly committed to peace 

and harmony. Let the 

false outrage stop."


YOUR LUCK TODAY 

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 

TAURUS: Mercury will start to go on backward motion 

soonest, therefore you will need to re-examine both your 

personal ideas and advice given to you by other people. Be 

family minded. 

GEMINI: Avoided you don’t allow others to mislead you, 

things will not go wrong. The more willing you are to take 

the initiative the better for you. Take your love life more 

seriously. 

CANCER: Although you will need to be as secretive as 

you can, your success will attract others’ attention to you to 

the betterment of your cause. Be ambitious. 

LEO: People who more influential than you will be willing 

to support your cause but you will need to 

make the necessary move. The more self assertive you are 

the better. 

VIRGO: Challenges of yesterday will today bring you 

good opportunities along your career/business 

lines to the betterment of your finances seek supporters of 

powerful ones. 

L E I S U R E 

TAKE HEART — ELLA RANDLE 

We’re made of star stuff. We are a way for the 

cosmos to know itself.”- Carl Sagan- 

“Each of us represents a star in our universe of dreams. 

Sometimes we shine with the rest, sometimes we 

twinkle alone and sometimes, when we least expect 

it, we make someone else’s dreams come true. Some 

people make the world special just by being in it. - 

Ella Randle- 

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” 

SAYINGS OF 

OUR PEOPLE 

Roosters’ tail 

feathers: 

pretty but 

always behind. 

~Malagasy 

Proverb 

By Kola Fayemi 

LIBRA: Think of the best way to improve on your working 

pattern in order to enhance your career 

prospects if you listen to your creative self, things will work 

out fine for you. Be more loving. 

SCORPIO: Success is boldly printed on your cards today. 

Think of both immediate and far future while you are 

savouring goodies offered you but mother nature. 

SAGITTARIUS: You should not have it tough while trying 

to win the needed supports of others. Take good advice 

from some of your friends who are creatively gifted. 

CAPRICORN: Your creativity ...... is enhanced today and 

if you demonstrating this within your working arena, you’ll 

earn success and consolidate on your recent progress. 

AQUARIUS: As mercury prepares to go on backward 

motion it is important you don’t take things for granted. 

Watch carefully what you agree to do. 

PISCES: Better than yesterday. Others will be willing to 

give you the needed co-operation both at home and within 

your working arena. This is a good day for lovers. 

DUDU in “ROLLING HOT” By A.O. OLAIDE 

ARIES: Those of you who are more enterprising will have 

much to show for your efforts. The more cooperative you. 

Don’t neglect love. 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

Send your date and place of birth to the Astr 

trological 

Counselling, P.M.B 100 

007, Apapa, Lagos 

WHAT DOES FUTURE HAVE FOR ME 

Dear Joshua, 

I don’t want you to publish my data. However, I want 

to know how the planets lined up when I was born. And 

which day of the week was I born, would I record success 

in life ? When would my success come? 

Ganiyu, Lagos. 

Dear Ganiyu, 

You were born on a Jupiter ruled day - Thursday. 

You’ll succeeded earlier than you think. 

Your Horoscope Data 

DAY OF BIRTH: THURSDAY 

SUN SIGN = PISCES: SUN IN 25TH DEGREE OF 

PISCES 

MOON SIGN: PISCES: MOON IN 21ST DEGREE 

OF PISCES 

MERCURY IN 28TH DEGREE OF AQUARIUS 

VENUS IN 28TH DEGREE OF ARIES 

MARS IN 7TH DEGREE OF CANCER 

JUPITER IN ZERO DEGREE OF AQUARIUS 

SATURN IN 27TH DEGREE OF CAPRICORN 

URANUS IN 22ND DEGREE OF LEO 

NEPTUNE IN 11TH DECREE OF SCORPIO 

PLUTO IN 6TH DEGREE OF VIRGO 

NORTH NODE IN 6TH DEGREE OF PISCES 

CARDINAL AND MUTABLE STAR SIGN HOSTED 

THREE PLANETS EACH, FIXED AND WATER FOUR 

EACH, FIRE EARTH AND AIR HOSTED TWO EACH. 

PUSHFUL INFLUENCE = 40% 

NON-PUSHFUL INFLUENCE = 60% 

HIGHLY HIGHLIGHTED STAR SIGN = AQUARIUS 

FINAL DISPOSITOR = SATURN 

ANALYSIS OF THE HOROSCOPE DATA 

Saturn as the final dispositor-the most influential 

planet at home when you were born, pointed to you as an 

ambitious person who must have a well developed career. 

You are a disciplined person with higher degree of 

leadership quality in yourself. 

Although, you can be emotional, you are stable and 

reliable. Less than 50 per cent of push-full influence in 

you is an indication of your being an amiable person. 

Both your natal sun/moon in Pisces and Aquarius are 

indications of characteristic of star signs are highly pronounced 

in your inner-self Having your hands on public 

pulse will always bring you unexpected success and 

fulfilment. 

Around your 30th birthday an endless cycle of great 

success and achievements will start for you. Oil-petrol 

chemicals will feature in your life when the predicted 

great cycle gets started for you. 

Congratulation. 

VIRGINIA 

HOME & ABROAD 

dadadekola@yahoo.com 

By Lawrence Akapa


RETREAT: From left; Chief Operating Officer, Nosak Group, Mr. Thomas 

Oloriegbe; GM, Corporate Banking, FCMB, Mrs. Folake Fajemisin and 

Chairman, Nosak Group, Dr. Toni Ogunbor during the 2019 Annual Group 

Management Retreat in Lagos. 

ITSEKIRI CELEBRATION: From left, Mr. Felix Okorodudu, Mr. Sunday 

Madamedon, Mrs. Margaret Cheke, Mr. Friday Akuyoma, Mr. Lawrence 

Edema, Chairman, Itsekiri Community, Ajegunle; Madam Eyewu Okpaghoro, 

chairperson, Itsekiri Community, Ajegunle; Madam Queen Edun, Mrs. Roli 

Afolabi, and Mrs. Blessing Eduje, when Itsekiri Community in Ajegunle 

celebrated its end-of-year get together, in Lagos. 

PRESENTATION: Rotary district governor for District 9142, Chief Dan 

Ajawarah (middle) with members of Rotary International of Enugu metropolis 

and beneficiaries during the presentation of cheques to beneficiaries of Enugu 

Rotary endowment fund for education in Enugu. 

AWARDS CEREMONY: Front Row (From left); Mrs. Aniagolu, mother of awardee, 

Chidinma Aniagolu (awardee), Olawale Abdulsalam (awardee), Itunuoluwa 

Folorunsho (awardee), Mrs. Olubukola Adebonojo (Managing Partner, Axiom 

Learning Solutions), Mrs. Theresa Orji (Vetiva Trustees Limited, Trustee Manager to 

the Foundation) at the Charles Bebeye Ndiomu Foundation’s Armed Forces 

Remembrance Day Scholarship Awards ceremony. 

Arsenal hope to force Ozil 

transfer 

UNAI EMERY is leaving 

Mesut Ozil out of the 

Arsenal squad in an attempt 

to force him out of the club 

in the summer. 

BBC Sport journalist 

David Ornstein revealed 

that the Gunners are 

desperate to save millions 

by taking him off the wage 

bill. 

Ozil, 30, took advantage 

of Alexis Sanchez's move 

to Manchester United in 

January bysigning a 

staggering deal worth 

£350,000-a-week until 2021. 

The deal upset a number 

of people within the club, 

with some thinking the ex- 

Germany international 

didn't deserve a new 

contract while others 

thought the wages on offer 

were far too much. 

Ozil has made just 13 

Premier League starts this 

season and was an unused 

substitute in the 3-1 defeat 

to Manchester City at the 

weekend. 

Last year he became the 

fastest player in Premier 

Bordeaux 

Coach 

defends 

Kalu after 

red card 

Bordeaux coach Eric 

Bedouet has defended 

Samuel Kalu after the 

winger was shown a 

straight red card in his 

side's 1-0 loss to Olympique 

Marseille. 

The Nigeria international 

took the walk of shame in 

the 25th minute after a 

poorly timed tackle and 

from behind on Marseille 

midfielder Lucas Ocampos. 

At the post-match press 

conference, Bedouet 

defended his number ten, 

saying he slipped as he 

made the tackle. 

''I think he slipped, he 

arrived quickly and could 

not control his movement,'' 

said Bedouet to reporters. 

''We should not do this 

gesture, but it might 

happen." 

If Kalu's red card is not 

appealed, he is sure to miss 

the upcoming league match 

against Paris Saint- 

Germain at Parc des 

Princes. 

The 21-year-old has 

recorded 28 appearances for 

Bordeaux in all 

competitions and has had a 

hand in eight goals, logging 

1,973 minutes. 

•Kalu 

•Ozil 

League history to reach 50 

assists - in 141 appearances 

- but in this campaign he 

has mustered just one. 

Peak milk donates 

wheelchair-accessible bus to 

Para-powerlifting Federation 

F WAMCO rieslandCampina 

Nigeria Plc, 

makers of Peak milk, 

presented a new mobility bus 

with wheelchair access to the 

Nigeria Para-powerlifting 

Federation at the company's 

headquarters in Lagos thus 

fulfilling its promise to the 

Para-powerlifters. 

The International 

Paralympic Committeeapproved 

mobility bus seats 

12 people and 15 wheel 

chairs. This first of its kind 

mobility bus in Nigeria is 

equipped with automated lifts 

and other features to ensure 

convenience and the safety of 

athletes. 

At the presentation, the 

Honourable Minister of 

Youth and Sports 

Development, Solomon 

Dalung, who was 

represented by the Permanent 

Secretary, Olusade Adesola 

said: "With this donation, 

FrieslandCampina WAMCO 

Super Eagles former coach, 

Christian Chukwu has 

said that the current squad of 

Flying Eagles possess the 

right qualities to replace the 

Super Eagles in the future. 

Chukwu, who made the 

assertion in an interview with 

the News Agency of Nigeria 

(NAN) in Abuja, described 

the performance of the Flying 

Eagles as “exceptional” in 

their match against South 

Africa in the ongoing AFCON 

U-20 tournament. 

He, however, pointed out 

that the team’s finishing 

should be worked on ahead 

of their next encounter, saying 

the improvement in their 

scoring abilities would make 

them the team hard to beat 

during the tournament. 

“The Flying Eagles I see 

playing in Niger Republic 

are good as future Super 

Eagles. 

“What the coach needs to 

work on now very seriously 

is finishing,” Chukwu said. 

The former Green Eagles 

captain also urged the 

players to embrace team work 

The January signing of 

Denis Suarez appears to 

have further pushed Ozil 

down the pecking order. 

has elongated its catalogue of 

support to the Parapowerlifting 

team who has 

continued to contribute 

positively to Nigeria through 

global para-sports. 

"FrieslandCampina 

WAMCO has remained a 

reliable and supportive 

partner of the Nigeria Parapowerlifting 

Federation; by 

this donation, the company 

has opened up space for 

greater inclusion in sports 

development in Nigeria," 

Dalung said. 

The Managing Director, 

Ben Langat, in his 

introductory speech 

highlighted the company's 

support to the Nigeria Parapowerlifting 

Federation and 

clearly explains 

FrieslandCampina 

WAMCO's purpose as a 

company and the belief that 

every Nigeria has the right to 

reach for their Peak. 

F/Eagles have qualities to 

replace Super Eagles - Chukwu 

•Chukwu 

during their match against 

the host country, Niger 

Republic which is their last 

group match. 

Flying Eagles will have to 

play their final group game 

before they can be assured of 

a place in the semi-finals of 

the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup 

of Nations. 

Qualification for the semifinals 

enables a national team 

to pick up one of the four 

tickets for the World Cup. 

The Coach Paul Aigboguntutored 

side were held to a 

barren draw by South Africa 

on Tuesday at the Seyni 

Koutche Stadium in Niamey.

52 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, FABRUARY 7, 2019 

F/Eagles’ll go for a 

win against Niger 

— Aigbogun next game will be very 

dangerous for us to look 

Flying Eagles coach Paul 

Aigbogun has revealed 

that the national team will 

go all out for a victory in their final 

Group A match against hosts 

Niger at Stade Général Seyni 

Kountché, Niamey tomorrow. 

After two rounds, the Nigeria 

U20s lead the way in their group 

with four points and even a draw 

would be good enough for them 

to qualify for the semifinals of the 

U20 AFCON as well as the 2019 

FIFA U20 World Cup in Poland as 

one of the CAF representatives. 

Nigeria missed a chance to top 

the group after two matches 

following the goalless stalemate 

with South Africa on Tuesday 

evening. 

In his post-match reactions after 

Tuesday’s game, Aigbogun told 

reporters : ‘’To say that we are 

satisfied with the result is not 

entirely obvious since we had 

prepared well for this match but 

unfortunately we came across a 

well-organized team and we had 

difficulties to break them down.” 

‘’We wanted to win this match 

but we settled for the draw. The 

for a draw. We will go 

into that game hoping to 

win as in our first 

match.’’ 

Nigeria are the 

most successful 

team in U20 

Africa Cup of 

Nations 

history with 

seven titles 

won. 

*Flying Eagles 

Barca boss rules out Neymar move 

Paris Saint-Germain star 

Neymar is not being lined 

up as a transfer target for 

his former side Barcelona this 

summer, according to the club’s 

president, Josep Maria Bartomeu. 

The 27-year-old ended a fouryear 

spell at the Camp Nou 

for a world record €222m 

transfer fee to join Paris 

Saint-Germain in 2017, 

where he’s gone on to 

score 48 goals and claim 

27 assists in just 53 

Hazard to cost Madrid 

over £100m 

CHELSEA will demand more than 

£100million from Real Madrid if they try 

to sign Eden Hazard this summer. 

Hazard has put his future at Stamford Bridge into 

more doubt after giving an 

interview to RMC Sport 

where he said: “I know 

what I’m going to do, I 

have decided.” 

It is understood the 28- 

year-old wants to push 

ahead with plans to 

move to the Santiago 

Bernabeu. Chelsea will 

not let him go without a 

fight, however, and are 

putting a huge price tag on 

his head — even though his 

contract runs out next year. 

They have been prepared to 

offer well in excess of £300,000 

a week to ensure he remains at 

Stamford Bridge. 

•Hazard 

HIFL season 2 set for kick off 

ALL is now set for the 2019 

Higher Institutions Football 

League, which commences next 

month through August. 

Over 70 schools will take part in 

the qualifiers that will produce 32 

teams for the league proper. 

According to the organisers, this 

year’s league will be bigger, 

bolder and bound to elicit more 

enthusiasm among participating 

teams because of the success 

recorded last year, which he said 

was only an experimental 

competition. “Now, we are better 

prepared and more experienced in 

terms of organisation. 

“We are going to cover more 

cities that will witness 66 games 

over 21 weeks, “ said Olamide 

Adeyemo of Pace Sports and 

Entertainment Marketing, at a 

well attended press conference 

held yesterday at the Sheraton 

Hotel and Towers in Ikeja Lagos. 

He informed that the HIFL was 

already creating the desired 

impact in the society as some of 

the students who excelled in the 

competition last season had been 

awarded scholarship and others 

signed on by some top clubs in the 

appearances across all 

competitions. 

It’s been suggested for some 

time that Neymar is becoming 

frustrated at the lack of 

competitiveness in Ligue 1, but 

Barça’s president has played 

down the chances of offering 

the Brazil international a 

route back to Catalonia. 

“I have never spoken to 

them, nor have the father or 

player called me to return to 

Barça. They have not called,” 

Bartomeu told El 

Nigeria Professional Football 

League. 

“David Ebuka, for instance has 

been signed on by Kano Pillars, 

while Nasarawa United signed 

another, “ Adeyemo said. 

L-R: Board Member, Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Chief 

Solomon Ogba, Music star, D’banj; Chairman, Lagos State Sports 

Commission, Dr. Kweku Tandoh and Head of Marketing, Seven-Up 

Bottling Company Ltd. (SBC), Norden Thurston at the Lagos City 

Marathon press conference in Lagos recently. 

Partidazo de COPE (via 

FourFourTwo). 

“We are preparing for next 

season and the name of Neymar 

is not on the table. We are talking 

about a PSG player and I do not 

think that PSG want to get rid of a 

player like him.” 

Neymar made 186 appearances 

for the Blaugrana following his 

high-profile move from boyhood 

club Santos in 2013. He scored 

over 100 goals for the club won 10 

bits of silverware while at the 

club. 

CAF Confed Cup: 

Rangers won’t play 

under pressure — Ajani 

RANGERS Football Club of Enugu striker 

Ibrahim Ajani has admitted that he respects 

CS Sfaxien pedigree in the CAF Confederation 

Cup but is confident of 

getting a result. 

The Flying 

Antelopes travel to 

•Neymar Sfaxien next week 

Wednesday and the 

former Enyimba 

striker from Ogun 

State has highlighted 

the Tunisian’s organisation. 

“We will continue to raise our game 

knowing well that the Tunisians are 

always tactical in their approach. 

“We will be hoping to repeat our 

home form away. When we play away 

against the Tunisian side, we will not 

be playing under any pressure. 

Ibrahim Ajani 

FIFA tasks 

Morocco’s El 

Jadida to pay 

Lobi N36m 

WORLD soccer governing 

body, FIFA has urged 

Moroccan club side Difaa El 

Jadida to pay Lobi Stars $100,000 

(about N36m) being sign-on fees 

for CHAN Eagles top striker 

Anthony Okpotu. 

This followed a FIFA ruling on a 

petition filed by Lobi Stars. FIFA 

ordered Difaa El Jadida to pay 

within 30 days starting from 

January 21, 2019. 

FIFA also ordered Difaa El 

Jadida to pay Lobi Stars a further 

interest of 5% of the transfer fee 

for delaying this payment. 

The Moroccan club will also pay 

FIFA and Lobi Stars 10,000 Swiss 

Franc as proceeding costs. 

*Opkotu 

Infantino set 

to win FIFA 

re-election 

GIANNI Infantino is set to 

serve four more years as 

FIFA president, as the only 

candidate for election. 

FIFA says only Infantino had the 

required nomination letters from 

five of the 211 member federations 

when the deadline passed at 

midnight on Tuesday in Zurich. 

Infantino must now pass 

eligibility and integrity checks for 

the election on June 5 in Paris. 

The 48-year-old Swiss lawyer 

has been widely expected to win 

unopposed with support already 

pledged by most FIFA members. 

Since being elected in February 

2016, Infantino oversaw 

expanding the World Cup to 48 

teams in 2026, and picking the 

United States, Canada and 

Mexico to host it. 

He is completing the term of 

•Infantino 

Guardiola: Goal difference 

could decide EPL title 

Pep Guardiola says the competition at the top of the Premier 

League is so fierce that the title is likely to be decided on the final 

day of the season, and may even come down to goal difference. 

Champions City have been reinstalled as favourites for the title by 

bookmakers after Liverpool stuttered to two draws in their last two 

matches, but Guardiola believes Jurgen Klopp’s team will push his 

side all the way. 

He said: “The first message is to win the game and the second one is: 

if you can score, score, and if you can 

avoid conceding, do it, because maybe 

you could win the Premier League on 

goal difference. 

“While we are not going to say to the 

guys today we have to win 25-0 - I never 

say that - first you have to win the game 

and then second try [to score], because 

it can happen [winning the title on goal 

difference 

“I’m pretty sure the winner will be 

[decided by] the last fixture or the last 

two. I’m sure of that.” 

•Klopp with Guardiola


C 

M 

Y 

K



C 

M 

Y 

K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

FRIDAY’S ANSWER 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

THURSDAY’S SOLUTION 

How to Play Sudoku 

ACROSS 

1 Formerly (4) 

3 Deathless (8) 

9 Three-pronged 

spear (7) 

10 Cast, shed (5) 

11 Prohibited (5) 

12 Stableman (6) 

14 Not readily 

noticeable (13) 

17 Language of the 

Middle East (6) 

19 Take forcibly (5) 

22 Electronic communication 

(1-4) 

23 Without Assistance (7) 

24 Young person (8) 

25 Slender rod (4) 

DOWN 

1 Go far ahead of (8) 

2 An upward slope (5) 

4 Movie (6,7) 

5 Group of eight performers (5) 

6 Underwater projectile (7) 

7 Grassed area (4) 

8 Fame (6) 

13 Moved up (8) 

15 Slaughter (7) 

16 Free-and-easy (6) 

18 Strong very light wood (5) 

20 Asian country (5) 

21 Period of fasting before Easter (4) 

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two 

of the same number). 

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines 

from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine 

blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no 

number can appear twice in any block, column or row. 

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or 

multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. 

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri-Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Hotline: 

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